Ashley steered the van down a barely visible, narrow gravel road where the home of an extremely dysfunctional family towered in the distance. A small community of RV’s, trailers and single-room shacks clustered the wooded property, but the inhabitants, if any, failed to make an appearance. No one spoke as they winded their way through the over-hanging oak trees. A watchtower stretched above the canopy of moss and a tall barbed wire fence protected the vast acreage of sugarcane fields. Row after row, the green cane stalks rippled in the wind and shrugged off the winter climate.

Paige surveyed her surroundings and felt as though she’d traveled back in time where southern royalty bathed in decadence and slaves tended the crops. Restless ghosts drifted between realms in search of justice, unaware that time had passed them by and unconcerned with the lateness of the hour, but the trees remembered. The ancient oaks bore witness to the pain of the unknown faces who toiled the troubled land. Paige sensed a ripple in her own life, a kink in the hose that prevented a normal flow. She too felt lost in time, a stranger to herself the longer she gazed out the window. She imagined herself running through the rows of wispy cane stalks, disrupting the soft green fields with a tall and slender young man by her side.

The dark shadow she’d encountered mystified her, but fear never touched her palette of emotions. It used to be Gabriel’s home, the little yellow house on the edge of the street had been his retreat when visiting the city he so loved. She remembered being there, in a dream or a vision or as a troubled ghost drifting through time, Paige recognized the dwelling with great fondness. She wondered if the dark figure, who’d shielded her from the exploding glass, had somehow found his way home after a rough night on Bourbon Street.

She knew she’d been the one. Her intense concentration stirred some sort of forgotten ability, but she recognized the power and the invigorating energy it produced. The display case had been under her control. She’d been the one who manipulated the glass causing it to bend and expand and shatter. The dots were lining up, and her connection to Gabriel felt more like a logical explanation than a shocking revelation. The troubled land with the fields of sugarcane was as familiar as the yellow house, but dread now filled her heart. She tasted it in the air, damp and rotting from the inside out, the sickening smell of mildewed sugar tainted the beauty of sweet southern charm.

Michael and Ashley chain-smoked as two rounded rooftops came into view. Paige twirled her hair, wrapping her bleach-blonde strands around her finger and then pulling it loose–her idle hands found purpose while she thought about her parents. She questioned how well she really knew them. She questioned how much they knew, and what they knew and if they knew. Her stomach rejected the negative light now cast upon her one-dimensional mom and pop, but he allowed me to go to the show, she thought, why didn’t he just tell me the truth? Feeling like a patsy or some sort of sick offering to the God of Eternal Youth, Paige questioned how well her parents knew Vincent.

Immortalized by wealth and power, Vincent, the devil in the yellow hat, the man with the medicine, the man with the gold pocket watch terrorized Paige. His presence felt heavy and suffocating like a shadow looming in the basement stairwell, she lost her breath at the mention of his name. Vincent–the mad scientist who created her, the illusionist, the great deceiver, and according to Abbey, her parents’ good friend and colleague. Vincent–the all-seeing eye in the sky.

Coming to the end of a long hallway of perfectly lined trees, the Shady Oak Plantation house proudly appeared in the secluded clearing, aged, but much like its ancestry, untarnished. Wooden steps curved up to the long white-pillared porch where rocking chairs creaked in the wind. Black storm shutters covered the multiple windows of the white wood-paneled house, closed and tightly sealed as if a hurricane brewed in the Gulf. Two connecting wings towered above both sides of the house, circular and beautifully carved at the base with ivy and flower designs. Paige gazed upon a small room that protruded from the flat roof of the grand house, a lonely position fit for an attic. Forgotten and dwarfed by the rounded towers, the solitary room glowed against the backdrop of the cold gray sky. A red light shone through the window, illuminating the attic and adding color to an otherwise bleak portrait. Paige leaned in closer and peered through the front windshield as the red glow darted across the room and disappeared from sight.

Ashley pulled into the graveled courtyard where a statue of a winged male stood atop a stone fountain. Before averting her eyes, Paige noticed that two small horns protruded from the statue’s head. Dusk settled in and she glanced again at the attic window, dark and overshadowed by the rising of a yellow moon. Kendal slid open the door and a gust of cold air blew through the van as Paige shivered and folded her arms across her chest. She gazed at the dark house while her imagination laid out the floor plan, room by room, providing a virtual tour in her head. A checkered floor spread out before her and books lined the walls of the last room she envisioned. A bright light enveloped her in that familiar room. She remembered something; she forgot something.

“Paige, you ready?” Ashley hid the keys under the driver’s seat and peered around to check on her. She nodded, slid across the seat and jumped out onto the loose gravel, looking back at the sleeping professor before slamming the door. Michael wrapped his arm around Ashley’s neck as he slumped out of the van, almost falling to his knees before Ashley grabbed his waist and pulled him back up. His complexion appeared gray and his amber-green eyes lost their gleam as he motioned for Paige to join them. She stood by his side and helped carry his weight as they followed Kendal toward the back of the house. Two cylindrical concrete structures stood a few yards away, about fifteen feet high and twenty feet in diameter, they resembled aboveground wells, or primitive cells at a death camp–Paige could almost hear the screams of imprisoned slaves. They stopped before reaching the twin structures and stood beneath an old magnolia tree. The tangled limbs dipped and stretched out their branches, sweeping moss across the ground after a strong gust of wind. Nestled off to the side of the two concrete structures sat a small yellow cottage, quaint and out of place, Paige trembled as the door opened and a tall dark figure emerged. He steadily approached, his arms swinging by his side and his pace brisk and direct. Kendal stepped forward and greeted the tall stranger with a long hug. Michael smiled and held out his hand, his body frail and his wrists dripping blood.

“I thought Regan was meeting us,” he said, shaking his brother’s hand. Alain mirrored the Doucet siblings with his short dark hair and electric green eyes, but he stood about an inch or two taller than Michael.

“Regan flew the coop,” Alain said, wiping his hand on his pants. “You look like death, Michael. Back up a bit, these are new shoes.”

Michael stumbled back and suffered a violent coughing fit while Ashley and Paige supported his weight. After recovering, he removed his hands from his mouth and spit blood onto Alain’s new shoes.

“Give me the medicine,” he coughed.

Alain laughed and shook his finger, “No, no, my brother, we wait for father. He’ll be along shortly. I can take you up to your old room if you’d like.”

Holding tighter to Paige, Michael answered, “Maybe later. You’re out of the band, by the way.”

Laughing, Alain replied, “You kicked me out years ago. I’ve since moved on.”

“So you have,” Michael said. “Enjoying your puppet show?”

Straightening his posture, Alain replied, “Enjoy death, Michael. It’s been a long time coming.”

Michael lost his balance and coughed up more blood. Wiping his mouth, he answered, “Tell me where Regan is.”

Kendal stood beside her twin brother and whispered something in his ear. Grabbing her wrist, Alain dug his hand into her pocket and pulled out another small bag containing the white powder. Glaring at his ailing brother, he licked his thumb, dipped into the bag and rubbed the medicine across Kendal’s wounded cheek. He then dumped the rest onto the wet ground. Her deep cut faded and disappeared while Alain admired a patch of dead grass that instantly turned green. Kendal pulled away from her twin and stomped on the revived grass before turning on her heels.

“I’m getting Billy!” she yelled and sprinted off toward the van.

Michael smiled and shook his head, “He’ll kill you too. Sooner or later, when you’re no longer needed, he’ll replace you too.”

“Maybe,” Alain shrugged, “but I’m done fighting him. I sold my soul the night Gabriel died. Served him the tainted cup myself.”

Ashley let go of Michael and pulled out a gun from the inside of his jacket. A gunshot split the air. Michael fell to the ground as a second shot exploded behind them. Paige whipped around to see the professor standing next to the devil and his gold pocket watch.

“See here,” he shouted, “I’m certainly up for some gun play!”

Professor Faraday stood with his hands cuffed behind his back and a shotgun lodged in his mouth. Kendal appeared from around the corner and screamed when she saw her twin brother. Sprawled out on his back, Alain lay motionless with his new shoes pointed at the yellow moon. She wailed and fell to her knees as blood spilled from the back of his head.

“Eye for an eye!” yelled Vincent. “That was a warnin’ shot, next one’ll shave the beard off his face!”

Ashley targeted Vincent but lowered his weapon when he glanced back to see Michael lying on the ground. Paige knelt down and checked his pulse shaking her head as tears streamed down her face. Turning around, Ashley held up his hands and inched closer to Vincent.

“Dat’s far enough boy, slide duh gun my way!”

Slowly bending down, Ashley tossed the gun away from his feet. “Please,” he said, holding his arms in the air, “Please, he told me he killed Gabriel, and I, please, help Michael.”

“Alain did my biddin’. It’s alright boy, we gonna make it all better, Paige over der gonna see to it.”

The cold wind burned her wet face as Paige stood from the ground. Motionless and covered in blood, Michael lay only a few feet away from his brother. The yellow moon relaxed and eased its pull, climbing higher into the sky as Paige brushed the hair away from her eyes. Her face smudged with dirt and hands red with blood, she cradled herself and walked over to stand next to Ashley.

“Dere’s a good girl. Paige’ll be just fine if we all do what we oughta.” Vincent pushed the professor along, removing the shotgun from his mouth and aiming for the back of his head. “Tell me where Regan is, an I’ll give Michael what he needs.”

“I don’t know where she is,” Ashley said. “Please, Vincent, I have no idea.”

Kendal covered Alain with her jacket, approached her father and begged him to spare her twin brother, but Vincent only scoffed and pushed the professor onto his knees.

“Alain ain’t comin’ back. Now listen here, lover-boy gonna join him if yuh don’t watch it. Dis duh plan, Ashley comin’ with me, an you gonna put Paige in timeout. Billy Boy gonna wait in duh van, lest we disagree.”

Kendal shook her head, “Daddy, please, not the pi–”

“Daddy?” Vincent asked, jabbing the long-range barrel against the side of the professor’s beard. “Well ain’t dat somethin’? I ain’t been Daddy for over fifty years. I mean it now, let’s get goin’.”

“What about Michael?” Ashley asked. “He did his part, please, the medicine.”

“We discuss that soon as Kendal does what she’s told.”

Surrounded by a muddy red glow, Kendal mouthed an apology as she looked at Paige with swollen eyes. Paige backed away. She averted her eyes and looked down at her shoes, but her mind quickly clouded over and her legs trembled, unable to support her weight. Kendal grabbed her arm and led her away from the scene, pulling her toward the two concrete structures. Paige tripped over her feet and stumbled to the ground as Kendal grabbed her other arm and dragged her along. Overcome by drowsiness, Paige fought to stay awake, but the dizziness crippled her stomach and her mind surrendered, tricked into a sense of security as resistance washed away. Closing her eyes, she succumbed to the peace and tranquility of sleep.