Punished Read Online Free PDF Page B

to make my own choices. I wasn’t going to simply leave and blindly follow Lucus. “You can leave if you want. I need to try. This could be your chance; maybe he could at least tell me what I need to do. I want to help you.”
    “I can tell you what you need to do, just ask me to show myself,” said the voice.
    Excitement surged through me. “He says he can help!”
    “Arelia.” Lucus’ voice was strong. “Please don’t, I beg of you.”
    “What price do I have to pay?” I asked the voice, as I ignored Lucus.
    “I like rum,” it answered.
    “He only wants rum,” I advised.
    “Arelia…”
    “Fine, show yourself,” I instructed.
    “No!” Lucus screamed. “Do not.”
    “Excellent choice Arelia,” said the voice.
    At that exact moment, I knew I had made a horrible mistake. The pit of my stomach sank, and goose bumps rippled through my body. Lucus grabbed me by the hand and tried to pull me away from the gate again, but my feet were glued to the muddy gravel below. What appeared before me was a sight so hideous and horrifying, I was sure I was going to vomit.
    The spirit took shape and appeared before my eyes in the form of a dark old man dressed in nothing but ratty brown shorts. In his left hand, he carried a bottle of rum. His scrawny body was hunched and covered head to toe in sores. His yellow eyes bulged wildly from their sockets. A few wisps of hair rested on his otherwise bald head, and his mouth was twisted into a cruel snarl. It obviously wasn’t Papa Legba. Legba was supposed to be a cute old man dressed in a plaid shirt, cigar in mouth, dog by his side. I didn’t see a dog, and this guy definitely wasn’t cute.  
    “Arelia, what is it?” Lucus asked.
    Lucky for him, he wasn’t able to see the revolting sight. I tried to move my mouth, but no words came out.
    The obnoxious old man danced around madly as he took rapid gulps from his bottle of rum. “Free, free, it feels so delightful to be free on a night like this. I am immensely thirsty tonight,” he sang.
    “You’re not Legba,” I said, as I addressed the spirit.
    “I never said I was Papa Legba, I said I could be Papa Lebga. I hope I haven’t disappointed you.” His dreadful mouth twisted into a fake frown. As he came closer, I could smell the repulsive combination of rot and rum.
    “You have really bad breath,” I said the first thing that popped into my head.
    “Hahaha, you pathetic little girl,” he snarled, as he brought his claw like had to my face and stroked it softly. “I can smell your fear.”
    “Gross!” I shrieked, as his pungent breath met my skin.
    Sensing my utter discomfort, Lucus seized me by the waist in an attempt to pull me away from the gate. Sadly, he was tossed back like a rag doll by the spirit. He landed with a loud thump against a nearby oak tree.
    “Don’t you dare hurt her!” Lucus shouted. He was like a blind man frantically searching for a vision that he would never be able to see. He tried to get up, but he couldn’t. The spirit was keeping him down by some sort of force.
    “Let him go, what do you want, who are you?” I questioned. I tried to disguise the quiver in my voice, but he was one ugly-ass spirit. It was clear that I had messed up big-time. I was so stupid for thinking that I knew everything about the loa. Obviously, I was majorly wrong.   
    “It’s so sad that you don’t know my name,” said the spirit.
    “If you tell me, I’ll be sure to remember.” I needed to make him happy.
    “You promise, you’re so pretty Arelia, I bet you taste delightful as well.”
    I swallowed hard. “Taste delightful? What’s your name?”
    “I’m sure you’ve heard of me, I go by Sousson Pannan. Such a noble name, isn’t it?”
    My blood ran cold. That name sounded familiar. I thought hard to where I had heard it before. No. It couldn’t be. Last year, there had been a brutal crime in our neighborhood. Lily Dubois’s husband had been found dead, completely drained of blood in