Chapter 5 Voodoo Unlocked

Onika tended to Sam's wounds as Chris propped Ramon on an empty chair before lifting his sister.

"Hold still," Onika said as she softly caressed Sam's wrist. "Ponyamkonohou." She chanted and pink spiritual energy seeped from her hands, covering Sam's wrist as they began to heal themselves.

"That's a neat little trick," Sam said.

"Simple healing spell. If you practiced with the covens, you could have done it yourself."

"You know why I couldn't practice with you guys."

"We could have protected you. We still can you know." Onika tried to assure him.

"Young lady as much as I appreciate your help, I would also appreciate you to keep your coven as far away from my nephew as possible." Chris interrupted Sam's and Onika's conversation.

"Uncle Chris, you saw what happened to the Chow Pow. Maybe the coven isn't a bad idea." Sam tried to reason with his uncle.

"I have told you before that the coven is off-limits. Ever since your mother..." Chris started but was interrupted when Sam busted with anger.

"I'm not my mom. I won't end up like her."

"You're damn right you won't because you are not joining those people," Chris said without leaving room for discussion.

"Those people are like family to me, Sheriff," Onika said. "Things have changed since Mr. Styng and Colonel Ethol left".

Sam's heart fluttered and his teeth nibbled on his lip as he heard his father's name.

"I would appreciate it if you can try not to bring up my late brother-in-law's name." Chris frowned.

"I'm sorry," Onika said, clasping her hands together before she continued. "Colonel Harrison Ethol was a beloved returnee in New Orleans. Even my dad admitted his respect for him."

"Funny, everyone talks about my old man but I never had a chance to meet him." Sam admitted." I don't even have the gold watch he gave to my mom."

"The pockets watch?" Onika asked.

"You know where it is?" Asked Chris.

"I do. Follow me."

Onika helped Chris put LaToya in bed and then she left the room for a brief second.

"Maybe it was a mistake to bring you here." The Sheriff said immediately Onika left.

"Where else was I supposed to go?" Sam replied. "Besides, I had to see my mom again."

"I don't want it to happen like this. I wanted to wait until you were old enough to handle seeing her."

"You've been saying that for years. Every time I bring her up, you brush it off."

"She attacked you, Sam." Chris almost screamed at Sam, annoyed that he could not see things from his perspective.

"Maybe because she needs my help. If you can allow me the coven..." Sam was saying but was suddenly interrupted by his uncle.

"Absolutely not."

"Why not?" Sam asked confused.

"There is more to that coven than you know. You'll just have to trust me about..." Chris was also interrupted when Onika entered the room back and announced.

"I found it."

Onika came back into the room with a locked metal box in her hands. "We keep any personal items that belong to the patients locked away so they can't use them to hurt themselves".

We'll finish this later." Chris said to Sam, referring to their previous conversation as he took a close look at the metal box.

"Am I interrupting something?" Onika asked, noticing how Chris talked.

"No, you're good Onika," Sam answered.

Onika reached in her pocket and pulled out a pair of keys to unlock the box. She lifted the lid and offered it to Sam.

The young voodooist investigated the box to find the golden watch and a picture of a man and a woman with a symbol of a hornet on the man's forehead.

"Who are these people?" He asked.

Chris walked over and let out a sigh of dread. "Sam that is Donald and Cleo Styng. They were amongst some of the most notorious serial killers in New Orleans."

Chris pressed his hand on Sam's shoulder before continuing his sentence.

"They are also your grandparents."

Sam's emotions fell into a flux of turbulence after hearing of his heritage. "Wait a minute, grandpa and granny died when I was twelve."

"Those were my parents but not LaToya's." Uncle Chris clarified.

"She was adopted?" Sam asked.

"My parents took her in when she was seven. I was only thirteen when the Styngs killed each other and left LaToya an as orphan." Chris explained.

"Why did they kill each other?" Sam asked with confusion.

"No one knows. But the Styngs left behind a history of murdering innocent people to gain more power from the vodon. My father was the sheriff during that time. He tried to prove that the Styngs were using voodoo to commit murder, but he could never catch them.

"How did they keep getting away?"

"The Styngs had a small group of followers in the city who worked in secret for them in exchange for whatever their hearts desired," Onika said.

"How do you know that?" Sam asked.

"My mom told me about my granddaddy being Donald's apprentice during the '50s. Back then, a black man was an easy target for racist white men to lynch. So after he left Mississippi, he studied and devoted his soul to the vodon to protect himself." Onika explained to him.

"It wasn't just humans who were in debt to them," Chris added. "Many supernatural creatures, or folklore as normal people call them, came to the Styngs for power. After the Styngs died, there was a disturbance in the vodon."

"What kind of disturbance?" Sam said.

"Centuries ago, there was a power those demons named Express." Chris began.

"You mean the boogeyman?" Sam replied.

"Yeah, he bonded with the source of the vodon so he could outrank other demons. But he was stopped by two tribes of spellcasters: The Ethol's and the Styngs. The only way Cypress could be freed was if one blood relative from one of the tribes killed the others in a battle of voodoo." Chris explained.

"You think my mom killed those people at the Chow Pow?" Sam asked.

"I never said that." Chris immediately denied.

"But you're thinking it?"

"Sam. Let's not assume the worse." Onika intervened.

Sam relaxed his shoulders, giving his mother the benefit of the doubt. "Why would either tribe want to free Cypress after they worked together to banish him?"

"Whoever free Cypress would become his familiar, and essentially the god of Voodoo."