VooDoo Follies Read Online Free PDF

whispering the same two words
throughout the whole first part of the ceremony. "What if I don't
die again?" "What if I go to hell now that I killed that
bum?"
    These were things I didn't want to think
about. "Shhh," I wanted to try to calm her. "It'll be okay. Your
body will be there in the ground, but it is only a shell. The part
of you that thinks and feels will go back to where ever it was
called from."
    She nodded her head and began to move. A
moment of panic set in as I thought she was about to bolt out of my
circle again, but then I realized she was just squatting down. No,
not squatting down. She laid down on top off her grave.
    "I think it might be easier if I am already
laying down."
    I nodded at her again and then she was looking
up at the sky. I turned my attention back to the task at hand and
found the words that I never got to chant the other night. The ones
that would send her back into the ground, and what ever part of her
that allowed for thought back to where it had come from. As I
finished the last words, I felt the ground tremble beneath my feet
again. This time, instead of hands coming clawing out of the
ground, it was as if the ground was opening up to welcome back what
I had taken. Adrianna's eyes were closed now. She was slowly
sinking into the ground and the earth was filling in the space
above her. When everything stopped shifting and settled down again
I set the contents of the bowel on fire. In a matter of minutes the
flame died out and ashes were left behind in it's wake. I poured
the ashes on top of Adrianna's grave, reciting the words that would
seal it from any further magical uses. When I was done, I packed up
the rest of my supplies and broke the protective circle. Stephen
was standing there waiting for me with his hands in his
pockets.
    "She's really gone now?" He looked sad and
relieved all at once.
    "Yeah, I think she is."
    "What about the body? Should we call someone
about the bum or let the police discover him on their
own?"
    We walked back over toward the tree line to
get a better view, but I think the lack of light in the night was
affecting our barrings because the body wasn't where we thought it
was. "Where is it?"
    "I don't know, he was right here. Look,"
Stephen bent down and pointed to the puddle of congealing blood in
the leaves. "This is where he was."
    "Oh, no!" I whispered. "Oh, no!" This time it
came out louder, riding the edge of panic in my voice.
    "Seraphine?" Stephen was trying to get my
attention and finally he managed. "Can a zombie make another
zombie?"
    "I don't know, but we need to find that
bum!"
    ***

 
    The VooDoo Follies

Part Two: The
Infection
     
    Original Publication Date:
    Aug. 9, 2011
     
    I am Seraphine LaLande, and I have a zombie to
find and put to rest. The only problem is I have no clue where the
dead bum took off to. Finding him is not proving as easy as I had
hoped and to make matters worse, I am grounded for having a boy in
my bedroom!
    Stephen was my only hope for tracking down
this zombie, but now I wonder if the price we had to pay was worth
it. The secret Stephen revealed to me, well let's just say, it's
hard to know how I feel now!
    ***

The Missing Piece
     
    "Oh, Stephen, what are we going to do?" I
looked at the sandy-haired boy standing beside me, hoping he
wouldn't simply ditch out on me now that his best friend was dead
again. What in the world was I supposed to do about a zombie bum
running around the streets of Baltimore?
    "We could try following his stench. Adrianna
was rambling about him smelling like pee when she told me what
happened." Stephen shrugged and looked back at me.
    "Great, do you smell anything?"
    Stephen shook his head at me, "no,
you?"
    I inhaled so deeply I thought my lungs would
strike back, and sadly that intake of breath didn't yield anything
beyond the decaying fall leaves and dirt. "Okay, you go that way,
I'll go this way, we'll circle through the trees and out the other
side by the rec center. Maybe, he's just