Chapter 4: Isobet

Note to readers, with this chapter we will be leaving James’ POV and picking up Isobet’s, as this will now be her story, and James will be at most a peripheral character.

There will be some overlap with the end of Chapter three as we learn some things to which James was not party.

I was a real tomboy growing up. My favorite thing in the whole world was sailing with my Daddy. While other girls dreamed about becoming a model or an actress, I wanted to be a pirate.

While Granny and my mother began teaching me about my heritage around my ninth birthday, things really changed when I turned 13.

“Isobet,” my mother said, “it’s time to start your training.”

“Training? What training?” I asked suspiciously.

“It’s time you learned the ways of your ancestors. Granny will teach you, with my help...”

“No!” I yelled, and went running to my father as my mother called after me.

“Daddy, take me sailing,” I said, looking up at him with my best “wrap Daddy around my little finger” look.

My mother came into the room.

“James...”

“Come on, Honey, she’s still so young, there’s plenty of time.”

My mother just sighed and shrugged her shoulders, and Daddy and I went off for a day of sailing.

My mother had to be content with the occasional evening as my schoolwork allowed, though she and Granny did manage to pry me away on the Saturdays when the weather was bad, which seemed to happen more and more often.

Eventually, mother and Granny wore Daddy down, and sailing became a rare treat.

My attitude began changing somewhat when I was younger and Granny started to teach me about spells, excuse me, charms.

It was fun when the bullies had to stay home when I made their hair fall out, but Mom and Dad tried to make me see that that wasn’t the right thing to do.

As a child I didn’t totally agree, but I was a good girl, so pretty much obeyed. I don’t think Dad was too upset when I made a charm to chase the rain away so that he could play golf. Though I never actually told him, I think he suspected. I also suspected that the bad weather that kept us from sailing wasn’t entirely a coincidence.

I know I gave Daddy a shock when I went to the Prom with both Paul and Sharon. I’m not really bi-sexual, I just like beautiful people, and if I find someone attractive, I don’t care what their sex is. I rarely actually play with more than one person at a time; the Prom thing was just a lark.

As fate would have it, Sharon and I were assigned as roommates, and although we dated others, both male and female, many nights found us sharing a bed.

While I’m not lesbian or even bi, there is something about the female body that I find more appealing than a man’s body, the softness, the curves, the smell.

We made quite the contrast, I was tall, with coffee-colored skin and a large mass of black curls, like my mother, while Sharon was a tiny thing, barely five-feet tall with long, straight blond hair.

People didn’t know quite what to make of us when we’d go into a club and start dancing together. Usually it was a woman who asked one of us to dance first; I guess they thought we were lesbians.

Eventually, a guy would get up his nerve and ask one of us to dance, and once that happened it was like a dam breaking. The only time we sat down was when we needed a break, and we rarely paid for drinks.

Sometimes one or both of us left with someone else; if it was just one of us, the other would go home, and we had quite a toy collection.

Sometimes we went home together, and were so wound up that we fell into bed together, “just to relieve the tension” we told ourselves, though I don’t think either of us really believed it. We were really drawn to each other.

Neither of us pledged a sorority. We were far too busy with our studies, and when we wanted to let our hair down and par-tay we were quite capable of doing it on our own. My frequent trips home for my training with Granny put a little crimp in our fun and games, but we certainly made up for it when I returned!

Whenever I went home for a visit, I spent most of the time with Granny as she taught me much about our ancestors and the ancient religion, though it was more than a religion: more a way of life.

“There is a great danger coming, my child,” Granny said.

“A danger?” I asked. “What kind of danger?”

“I’m afraid that the signs are unclear, only that it involves the realm of the Dead.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You remember we taught you about the loa?”

“Yes,” I said, “They’re sort of like saints, between humans and Gods?”

I thought Granny wanted to say more, but she just shrugged and continued. “loa Baron Samedi and loa Maman Brigitte are the loa who rule over the domain of death,” she said. “There are signs of mischief.”

I just looked at her, puzzled.

“There have been unexplained deaths in the Caribbean.”

“I know,” I said, “it’s been on the news.”

“What hasn’t been on the news is the missing bodies, and the rumors of zombie sightings.”

I had to suppress a laugh until Granny gave me a stern look.

“This is serious business, Isobet! It is no laughing matter.”

Now, I was a big fan of The Walking Dead, but I didn’t believe that zombies could really exist. Granny gave me books, like Haitian Vodou: An Introduction to Haiti’s Indigenous Spiritual Tradition and Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic: A Materia Magica of African-American Conjure. If I didn’t quite believe as Granny did, my mind was more open to the possibility.

One night, my mother told me a strange story. It was about when my father was a young man, he bumped his head and somehow traveled back in time. While there, he visited Haiti, and met a Vodou priestess at a hut in the jungle.

They made love, and when he returned to his ship, she was pregnant. This woman was my many greats grandmother. I was afraid that I might be the product of incest, since Daddy was my mother’s many greats grandfather, but Mother assured me that I had nothing to worry about. I was confused, but accepted her word.

Graduation was a bore, though I was happy to get my degree and make my family proud.

Despite Daddy’s teasing the morning after Prom, Sharon and I had never really done any real fooling around with Paul, and since we were all going our separate ways decided to skip the various graduation parties and have our own.

Sharon and I wrapped our arms around each other, then she tilted her head up as I bent mine down until our lips melted together in a passionate kiss. I looked out of the corner of my eye and noticed Paul shifting uncomfortably as he was obviously trying to adjust his hard-on.

“Let’s give him a show,” I whispered in Sharon’s ear, and she gave me a quick nod of agreement.

I pushed her down onto the bed and climbed in beside her. We continued kissing and rubbing are hands all over each other, outside our clothes.

I turned to Paul, and said, “Aren’t you going to join us?”

He moved towards the bed, but I held up my hand and he stopped.

“Lose the clothes,” I said.

Paul hesitated just a moment before he got out of his clothes so quickly I’m surprised he didn’t rip them. Though I had occasionally felt his cock when slow dancing, despite all of our teasing, I had actually never seen him naked, and his cock was very nice.

He climbed into the bed between us, and we snuggled into his arms, each kissing a side of his face, while his hands sought out our breasts.

I freed myself from his grasp so that I could move down his neck to his torso, then moved back up so that Sharon could make her way down.

As we met again at his face, Paul spoke.

“I think a couple of us are over-dressed.”

Sharon and I looked at each other, shrugged and stood up.

We quickly shed our clothes and climbed back into bed, as Paul’s eyes bugged out. I don’t think he ever expected us to actually do it.

We resumed our positions snuggling into him, though now our nipples were exposed to his attention, which he wasted no time in giving them, sending chills through our bodies.

We each freed ourselves from his embrace do that we could kiss our way down his body. As we sucked on his nipples, sending small shivers through his body, we reached down towards his crotch. I gently stroked his cock as Sharon caressed his balls. Judging by his reaction, I’m not sure how gentle she was being.

We not so slowly kissed our way down his body, occasionally raising our heads to swap a little spit, until we met at his beautiful cock.

We kissed and licked up each side of his cock until we kissed over the top, teasing him, then kissed making a sandwich out of his cock-head.

“Girls, if you don’t stop, I’m going to blow,” he moaned.

“Why is that a problem?” I asked as I rose up and took his cock in my mouth, while Sharon went after his balls.

I hadn’t sucked his cock very long, when with no warning, he exploded in my mouth. He started to apologize, but I just put a finger to my lips and smiled.

I carefully pulled off of his cock, not wanting to lose his cum, then took Sharon’s head in my hands and kissed her full on the lips, snow-balling his cum. We pulled back smiling and licking our lips, enjoying the look of shock on his face.

I was both surprised and pleased that he had lost little of his hardness, but Sharon immediately went down on him to return him to full duty.

When he was ready, I swung my leg over him and lowered my wet pussy onto his cock, taking him all the way in one motion.

Not to be left out, Sharon got up and sat on Paul’s face, and by her reaction, Paul was quite ready for her.

We were facing each other, and able to play with each other, but we were soon overwhelmed by Paul’s efforts, and each had powerful orgasms.

We were sweaty and tired, but not nearly finished yet, though Paul looked as if he might be down for the count, but Sharon hadn’t had the full measure of Paul’s cock yet, and wouldn’t be denied.

While I snuggled with Paul and enjoyed the show, Sharon attacked his cock hungrily, unconcerned by our combined juices. She soon had him hard and climbed on him, though facing away so that I could enjoy watching her delightful ass bouncing up and down.

After coming twice, Paul lasted for a while. Sharon already had two more orgasms before having a third just as Paul came again, then conked out.

“Men!” I said, as we pushed him to one side. We spent another hour enjoying each other before sleep overtook us as well.

We woke up to find Paul leering at us with a shit-eating grin.

“Don’t get any ideas. That was a one-off, not to be repeated experience,” I said as he gave a fake pout, then got up to take a shower.

“Don’t use up all the hot water,” Sharon and I said together, giggling.

He actually had the balls, pun intended, to come out of the bathroom stark naked, drying his hair.

I took one look at his cock, licked my lips and was about to reconsider my “one-off” statement, when Sharon grabbed my arm, pulling me off the bed.

“Come on, Isobet, let’s take a shower ... together,” as we walked off with a little extra wiggle in our butts, leaving Paul with his tongue hanging out.

We made sure that Paul could hear our moans, and when we came out, naked, he was long gone.

We had a good laugh, got dressed, and said our good-byes.

The next day we had a small family party. It was quiet, my parents seemed to be tired and it ended early. After my grandparents left, Granny got out of her wheelchair. Her legs were shaky, but she waved us off when we tried to help. She led us to a back room where she once again had the circle of white powder. The candlestick had a black candle this time, and there were four mats, placed at the North, East, South and West.

We helped Granny onto the South mat, my parents took East and West, and I sat on the mat at the North end.

Granny assumed the usual position, arms bent at the elbow, palms up, and began the ceremony by saying, “Ago.”

She started chanting, and without realizing it I found myself joining in.

The crystal began to glow and pulse, and Granny reached across and took my hands in hers, and our chanting increased in intensity as the crystal glowed ever brighter.

There was a blinding flash and the crystal was gone, and I felt at peace as never before, and a presence that I couldn’t immediately identify suffused over me. I couldn’t see it, but there was a red glow surrounding me.

Granny raised her arms and said, “Ayibobo, it is finished,” and fell over. Daddy felt for a pulse and shook his head sadly while mother called 911.

I suppose I should have felt sad, but instead I felt transformed. I soon identified the presence I had felt; it was Granny!

“Be at peace, Child. I am with you; I will guide you on your journey.”

Before I could absorb what I had heard? Felt? My parents grabbed me to help them clean up the signs of the ceremony before the EMT’s got here.

All through the funeral and mourning period, I greeted everyone and said all the right things, but I didn’t feel the grief that I felt I should feel. As we left the cemetery, my mother pressed a book into my hands. It was the journal that she had kept during my training with Granny.

“Keep this. Study it; it will help you.”

She then placed the pendant, which I now knew to be a piece of Granny’s red crystal, around by neck.

“Wear this always. It will protect you.”

When the mourning time had passed, I had to have a difficult talk with my parents.

“Mom, Daddy, I know that now that I’ve got my degree that I should be starting a career, but I feel like there’s something else I need to do, like, like a calling.”

I was expecting a big argument, but my mother simply said, “We know.”

Puzzled, I looked over at my father, who simply shrugged his shoulders.

“I can’t pretend to understand it all, but I’ve seen too much to fight what seems to be inevitable. Go, do what you must, just know that we are always here for you.”

I looked to my mother who nodded her agreement, then I hugged both of them and went to my room to prepare ... prepare for what?

I fell asleep to strange dreams. There was a living skeleton wearing a top hat and dark glasses. He was in a graveyard, surrounded by what could only be described as zombies. He was trying to raise more dead, but a strange woman seemed to be trying to stop him. She seemed to be looking right at me as her mouth formed the words, “Help me,” but I could hear no sound.

I woke up in a cold sweat, to a faint voice saying, “You must help her.“

Help her? I thought. I had no fucking clue who or where she was!

“Patience, my Child, you will find a way.”

What was with these voices in my head. Was I losing my mind? I could only think of one thing to do.

“Mom, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Of course, Dear,” my mother said. “What can I help you with?”

Shit! Now what was I going to do? If I told my mother what was happening, she’d call for the men in the white coats. Well, I started this, might as well see it through.

“Since Granny died, I’ve been having strange dreams. I ... I’ve been hearing voices. They almost sound like Granny, but she’s dead! I’m afraid I’m losing my mind.”

My mother chuckled. How could she laugh at a time like this?

“You’re not losing your mind, Isobet. Have you already forgotten the teachings that Granny worked so hard to impart to you? What you have been experiencing are signs that you are becoming...”

“Becoming what? A boku?”

My mother seemed lost in thought.

“Nobody can ... nobody knows for sure. This has never been done before.”

“So, I’m some sort of a ... science experiment?”

My mother just shook her head and looked down, as I went to my room and slammed the door.

“Do not worry, my Child, you have been well-prepared.”

There was that voice again! I hoped my mother was right, or else I really was losing my mind. I went to sleep, for once without any weird dreams.

My parents were very patient with my not starting out on any particular career path. I made some spending money with the occasional temp job, but spent much of my time reading the books Granny had given me, my mother’s journal, and meditating.

One beautiful Saturday morning, Daddy came to my room.

“Isobet, it’s a great day for sailing. Why don’t you take a break, let’s take out a boat.”

I so wanted to go with him, and I almost did, but something held me back.

“I’m sorry, Daddy, but I have so much studying to do.”

I could tell that he wanted to say more, but my mother put her arms around him, led him away and I went back to my books.

One night during a new moon, I pulled out Granny’s candlestick held a black candle in my left hand, offered a libation of coffee and water in my right hand and put the candle in the candlestick. Sitting cross-legged in front of it, I lit the candle. I assumed the usual position, my arms bent at the elbow with my palms up.

I said, “Ago,” and began chanting. I had no idea where the words came from, they just flowed out of my sub-conscious.

Suddenly. I had a vision of my dream woman in front of a dilapidated hut. I had no idea where it was, but somehow, I knew that it was in Haiti, and that I must go there.

I said Ayibobo then heard Granny’s voice saying, “It is finished.” The candle flared and extinguished, and I just sat there, spent, dreading the conversation I had to have with my parents. Fortunately, that would have to wait for another day as I needed to sleep.

The sun shining through my window stood in stark contrast to the dark day I feared I was going to face later when I told my parents my plans. I knew my father would strongly object, and I wasn’t sure that I would have my mother’s support either.

Daddy made his famous omelets, and I had a surprisingly good appetite, considering the conversation we were about to have.

The dishes were cleared and we sat down with fresh cups of coffee. I gathered my resolve and began.

“Mom, Dad, I’m still not sure about everything, but one thing I do know is that I have to go to Haiti.”

Daddy slammed his hand down on the table and nearly knocked his chair over as he leaped to his feet.

“No! It’s too dangerous, I forbid it.”

Mom gently put a hand on his arm and got him to sit down.

“Daddy, I’m a grown woman, this isn’t the 1800’s, you can’t stop me.”

“I may not be able to stop you, but I don’t have to pay for it,” he said, stomping off.

I was crushed, but Mom put her arm around me, comforting me.

“Don’t worry, Honey, he’ll come around.”

“B ... But he was so angry,” I sobbed.

“Daddy still doesn’t really understand all of our ways. He isn’t angry, he’s just worried about you. I’ll talk to him.”

Things were a little tense the rest of the day, and judging from the sounds coming from their room there wasn’t much talking going on, but the next day Daddy agreed to let me go to Haiti.

We timed my trip to coincide with the new moon. I packed light, making sure my mother’s journal was in my carry-on so that I could read it during my flight.

Wandering through Port-au-Prince I felt strangely at home, though the odd looks I got made me feel a little uncomfortable.

As we approached the new moon, I was meandering through the central marketplace when I got caught up in a crowd of costumed musicians and dancers and was carried towards the edge of town.

As the performers drifted away, I found myself on a path into the jungle and was drawn to follow it.

As I turned a corner, I saw a dilapidated hut, similar to the one my parents had told me about.

There was a young woman about my age there, kneeling in the center of a circle similar to Granny’s, except that it was made from black powder. Instead of a candlestick she had a mat with strange figures drawn on it, and was casting stones of different shapes and colors, muttering some sort of chant that sounded nothing like Granny’s.

She didn’t immediately notice my approach until a twig snapped under my foot, and she spun around.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” she said in a decidedly unfriendly tone.

“My name is Isobet? What’s yours?”

“Suzanne,” she said. “You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”

I wasn’t sure how to answer, and decided to tell her a part of the truth.

“I was drawn here,” I said. “I suppose I could ask you the same thing. You don’t look like you’re from around here.”

She seemed somewhat taken aback by my explanation, and continued.

“I guess you could say that I was drawn here also. I’ve always been interested in magic. Not the David Copperfield type stage magic, more the spiritual aspects.

“As I got deeper into my studies, my interests tended more to the dark side. I read many things by Richard Cavendish. I started devising my own spells, and soon felt something guiding me.

“I was led here, and have been casting spells for days, to no avail, It seems like I’ve hit a brick wall. I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve been fooling myself, that it’s all just fake.”

I spoke without thinking.

“No, it’s not fake. You’ve just been doing it all wrong.”

Her head jerked up.

“How would you know? What makes you such an expert?”

Shit! Me and my big mouth. Now what was I going to do? I couldn’t tell her about Jacienthe and Daddy.

“Let’s just say that I’ve had some training and let it go at that.”

“Maybe you could help me!”

Damn, just what I didn’t want to do, but then maybe this is why I, why we, were both drawn here.

I wasn’t sure just what to do, so I just followed my instincts. I placed my bag down and removed my pouch of white powder. Taking a large handful, I walked around Suzanne’s black circle, and made a wavy line of white powder on top of it.

I pulled out Granny’s candlestick, placed a black and white twisted candle in it, put it in the center of the circle and lit it.

We sat cross-legged on opposite sides of the candle, and I assumed the usual position, arms bent at the elbow, palms facing upward, and waited for her to join me.

After a moment of silence, I said, “Ago,” reached across to take Suzanne’s hands in mine, and began my chant, soon followed by Suzanne doing hers.

At first, it was atonal, but soon the two chants seemed to flow together. Time seemed to stand still, I don’t know if we chanted for five minutes or five hours, then there was a blinding flash. Suzanne seemed to shimmer, then her shape shifted and she became the woman from my dreams.

Her hair was flaming red, her skin almost translucent.

“Who ... Who are you? What have you done with Suzanne?

“She is here. I have just ... borrowed her body for the present.

“As for who I am, why I am Maman Brigitte.”

I was thunderstruck. This couldn’t be. The loa were creatures of legend; they weren’t real.

“You don’t believe me. You don’t think I am real, despite the evidence of your own eyes. Have you so soon forgotten the lessons of you Grandmama?”

She knew about Granny? How was that possible?

“All is possible to those who know where to look, but now I am in need of your help.”

“You need MY help? You just took over someone else’s body!”

“Yes, with your assistance, and I fear that more of your help is required.”

I was speechless.

“My mate, my husband, Baron Samedi, instead of guiding the dying into the realm of the dead, has been raising the dead, trying to form an army of the undead, for what purpose I do not know.”

“You’re his wife, why can’t you stop him”

“Normally I could, but he has gained strength, I know not how, and I need allies to force him to stop, to return to his duties.”

“And you think that I can be one of those allies.”

“Yes. You have a strength, a power that has never been seen in one of your kind before. We can only hope that it will be enough.

“Come, it is late. Tomorrow will be a busy day,” she said, as we picked up our packs. She took my hand and led me into the hut, which was in much better condition than I would have expected based on the exterior.

We dropped our packs next to the comfortable looking mat that I was surprised to see there. I pulled a bottle of water out of mine, took a deep swig and passed it to Suzanne, or should I say Brigitte?

She took a long drink, dropped the bottle on the ground, then took my face in her hands and kissed me hard on the lips.

While I was momentarily startled, this wasn’t exactly virgin territory for me. I grabbed the back of her head and kissed her back, slipping her some tongue in the process.

She broke the kiss, her breasts heaving as she caught her breath.

“I see this isn’t your first time tasting the fruit of a woman’s lips,” she said with a sly smile.

“You could say that,” I replied, returning her smile.

“Well, why are we standing here wasting time,” she said as she reached for the bottom of my T-shirt, pulling it over my head, as I in turn removed her top, revealing that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Not that she needed one, her breasts were perky, with large erect nipples.

I removed my bra, exposing my breasts to her lustful view. While not quite as firm as Brigitte’s, they had very little sag, with nipples just as impressive as hers.

We closed for another kiss, gently mauling each other’s breasts as we lowered ourselves onto the mat.

She was first to reach my belt and lower my shorts and panties with one motion. My panties were damp with my arousal, and my scent filled the hut. Brigitte tried to make a move, but I rebuffed her so that I could strip her naked.

I was surprised that unlike my landing strip, her pussy was completely natural, not even trimmed. It did nothing to mask her musky aroma, and I took advantage of my position to be the first to taste the other and dove right in, kissing and licking her inner thighs while reaching up to caress her breasts and tweak her nipples.

That triggered a fresh flow of juices, further moistening her already damp pussy, and I had what was a unique experience for me of sucking her juices off of her hair.

Before I could explore her any further, she pushed me off and over, and climbed on top of me. Unlike me, she started at my breasts, sucking hard at each nipple in turn, sending small shocks through me.

She made her way down my body, stopping for just a short detour at my belly button before approaching my pussy. She seemed fascinated by my shaved pussy, which puzzled me until I realized that she probably had little to no experience with modern women.

Once she began licking and kissing, I knew her lack of experience only related to modern women, and she soon had me thrashing in ecstasy.

As soon as I could recover my senses, I threw her down, ready for my turn, but first I had to kiss her lush lips, relishing the taste of my own juices mixed with her sweet lips.

I made my way down her body, teasing her by going agonizingly slowly. I spent a lot of time teasing her nipples before slowly making my way to her lush forest.

“When we’re done, I’m going to have to shave this jungle bald,” I said, her eyes widening in shock until she realized that I was only teasing. With more seriousness I grabbed her mound and said, “Well, maybe just this part.” She then shocked me by nodding her agreement.

We took turns giving each other pleasure until I introduced her to the sixty-nine. I was actually surprised that she didn’t already know it, but that didn’t detract from our mutual pleasure.

When we had exhausted ourselves, we flopped on our backs, and I put my arm around her, pulling her head onto my breast.

As she idly drew circles with her finger around my nipple she spoke seriously.

“When we encounter Samedi, you must be careful, his powers can be very seductive to mortal women.”

“You can’t be serious,” I said laughing. “He’s a skeleton.”

“Do not take him lightly. Many have fallen under his spell, to their everlasting sorrow.”

Brigitte was so serious that I didn’t laugh again, though I still had my doubts. I decided I would just have to cross that bridge when we came to it.

We fell asleep in each other’s arms, untroubled by strange dreams.

When we awoke, we had a light breakfast, packed up our gear and headed out. I had no idea where we were going, but Brigitte seemed to know, although she refused to share anything with me.

While we were walking along, Brigitte was muttering about what she was going to do when we found Samedi.

“When I get my hands on his scrawny little neck he’s going to wish he never crawled out from under whatever slimy rock he’s been hiding under.”

“Um, don’t you think we should be coming up with some sort of a strategy? You yourself said that he’s been gaining strength. If we get too reckless everything might blow up in our faces.”