Bones that walk and talk (Invite)

[Atabei Narcisse]

Somewhere, in the deep depths beneath the city of Harper Rock, there was a shell of something slowly pulling together and materializing into what appeared to be the form of a human being. Bones that seemed to be in a random order with no rhyme or reason melded together as it became encased with muscle and tissue mass around each bone, making the outlay of what would eventually become a person. This was a slow and gradual process and anyone walking by wouldn’t see this transformation process. What they would see was bones, and what they would assume was the remains of flesh that had yet to decay; when in truth it was the other way around. The flesh had failed to take its shape around the speckled beige and Kobicha colored remains that had been there for centuries.

What had been missing from years of rot, or the occasional disruption from vampires and humans alike through the course of time. The backward process of rejuvenation would take an entire evening due to both the absence of some bones, and the wear and tear on the others due to time, the conditions of the air quality and the disruption of living factors; such as bugs, insects, people and vampires.

When the process was complete, a naked woman with skin the color of chestnut, lying on a cool, semi moist, hard floor, eyes peering up at the ceiling that matched what was below her; unknown to the woman at the time. Since Atabei could ‘feel’ a surface beneath her back, she knew she was out of that dark place and once again ‘alive.’ What she didn’t know was...where had she returned to, exactly? How long had she been gone? Weeks? Months? Years? All things she would find out in time, when the time was right. She would know everything when it was time and not a second before or after. What was, will be.

Atabei opened her eyes again, slower than the time before as her eyes turned into the surrounding area around her. There were indistinguishable noises behind her, so the woman tipped her head back to try and see what those noises were and who was making them. As she did this, her fingers roamed over the grey cracked tile beneath her, her fingers more than sensitive to the feel of the surface and when it hit a jagged gash in the ground, she felt her skin tear at the tip of her left index finger. Atabei did not cry out, though her fangs did pierce down on her lip. It was the will of the spirits and the Bondye.

The naked woman found a new position on her derriere, one leg crossing over the other, and an arm coming to rest on both her knees at the tip of her elbow, as to not let any passerbyer see her entire naked form. Her fingers on the other hand rubbed together, coating her blood on three of her four fingers before the woman slowly came familiar with her surroundings. She remembered being here a couple times before her time in the dark domicile she had become accustomed to.

“Tha creatures.” Atabei said to herself, not caring who was around; as the woman juggled her memories of this place around in her mind. “‘Wit ‘dem bones. Bones I be’a need’un.” That’s what she had been doing down here before she died. “Cullec’n ‘dem damn bones.” Atabei’s head oscillated up and down a couple times before the woman slowly stood with shaky knees, her long, piano like fingers swinging out to grasp a surface to help her stay up. “Must be mur ‘dan a ‘ew weeks.” The woman said with a scratchy voice as her pitch raised to a low mutter instead of a hushed whisper.

“I ‘dun be know’n ‘wut ‘da spirits purpose be, but I ain’t lett’n no ‘un be see’n ‘wut ain’t be mean’n to be seen.” There were others here, she could hear them with her acute sense of hearing’ moving around in the mausoleum around her. With both arms crossed over the other so that her hands came to rest below her navel, Atabei started roaming through the catacombs, attempting to find her way out-unsuccessfully. The only door she came across brought her into another chamber or room of the mausoleum, which had the woman parading around with more than what should be seen, even in today’s day and age.

With butt cheeks and breasts exposed, the woman made her way from what is known as the south catacombs, to the North and finally to the sewers where the woman pressed the front of her body to the darkened wall. It was a welcomed sight to the woman and she exhaled, breathed in and exhaled again as the woman’s right cheek rested against the cool wall. It was different to her; the walls and flooring of the sewers, but oddly familiar. It reminded her of darker times, much darker times for those who wore the skin of shades darker, similar and lighter than hers. But as dreary as those times were for her people, there were places like these that existed. Places of safety and places that promised freedom.

The woman would stay like this for a few minutes before she heard a couple of murmurs and chuckles rising from the chest of a couple of people behind her. Her head, and just her head swung around to see just who was behind her to get a good look. Right now there was nothing she could do, but later...if their paths ever crossed. “‘Watchew be star’n at? Go’un and shoo!” Atabei waved her left arm at the people more or less gawking at her as she stood there pressed to the wall, completely naked from head to toe. ”Crazy bitches everywhere in this city. Wasn’t I just saying that last night at The Met?” A tall, thin brunette said as they all stood there, not really moving until the male in their group slapped the back of his hand against the arm of a blond heavier set woman next to him and between he and the brunette.“Let’s go guys.” He said, looking to the right, where Atabei came out of.

The blonde took the cue and started to leave slowly, not wanting to leave the man behind or her other friend. The brunette rolled her eyes, snorted and then nodded her head. ”Yeah, okay.” She moved past Atabei, intentionally bumping into her with a shoulder, at which point Atabei would turn and do the same in a fracture of the time the other had done to her. Her right arm snaked out at the same time and tugged some of the woman’s hair out of her head, then pushed her away to make a quick jumping run through the depths of the sewers. Her run was a mix between jumping, hopping and running bowlegged as the woman re-familiarized herself with how to run on legs again.

Every so often the woman’s soles of her feet would scuff the surface resulting in the small woman tumbling against the walls of the sewers, or falling on her knees. Though Atabei had some setbacks, those dark strands of hair remained contained in her tightly clenched hand as she finally came across an entrance, which wasn’t that far from where she began. She had suspected that she ran in a circle a couple times before darting right to find a set of metal rungs in the walls, which led her to the city, where she saw another familiar, but adapted structure. What had once been a small graveyard with no more than twenty-five or thirty gravestones were now replaced with what she suspected may be vaults or something of the like, behind a church.

This change in scenery implied to the woman that she had been gone for more than a few weeks, or months as mankind could not erect such a structure in just a few weeks. Months seemed unlikely as well, so Atabei began to suspect she had been dead years. Her first idea was to go and bury herself in the earth in the graveyard to hide her naked form and formulate a plan; such as finding her sire to get the things she needed, but as the woman’s attention deviated behind her to the sounds of gasps and shouts at her, Abatei’s took off bouncing again, not wanting to draw any more attention to her than she already had; she hobbled away to the wilderness, a place that might be a far better choice to dig a hole and lay low for the rest of the night and during the daytime hours. She just had to find a location far enough away from human eyes.

[Valentine]

Long fingers tipped with yellowing, pointed nails danced along the table as eyes peered over the edge. “She’s here, Harmony. She’s here! The bones tell it is true.” He shot up and twisted his large frame only to drop down once more to peer at the bones that lay upon the wooden surface from another angle. Gold teeth were put on display and glistened in the light offered by the single flame that flickered atop a mostly melted candle; casting a sinister glow over the face that seemed to dance, disembodied, in the surrounding darkness. “The Dark Queen is awake.” He stood and swept up the small bones that looked distinctly human and returned them safely to his pocket. “Get your things, girl. We’ll not be back here.”

He was a large intimidating, figure with a much larger than life presence. He stood close to seven feet tall without his top hat. His shoulders were broad though he was not necessarily a muscular man. His age was indistinguishable and even on close inspection it would be difficult to narrow it down anymore than being able to say with absolute positivity that he was older than thirty something but not quite in his seventies. His dark chocolate coloured skin was smooth and though weathered from from his journeys retained a certain youthfulness that belied the sound of age and wisdom when he spoke. His voice was smooth and melodic yet could fill a room with a booming resonance that would be heard in every corner and when he laughed it was a sound of mirth that came from the depths of his belly.

Valentine claimed his origins in the swamps of Louisiana though the truth of such claims were questionable as he would deliver a different story upon being questioned. Tales of his birth ranged from being the blessing of a forbidden relationship between a woman and a giant serpent to him having torn his way out of the belly of a gator, grown yet naked as baby. The stories were intricate and varied and he was more than happy to weave a tale or two for any who cared to listen though most tended to avoid him as they felt uneasy in his presence despite his outwardly easy going nature.

There were whispers, and often they would follow the man as he wandered the streets of the towns he visited. Everyone seemed to know of a person that had a friend who knew the cousin of the woman who was friends with the neighbour of the guy who used to live next door the man who called himself Valentine, claiming that one day he just up and lost his mind, murdering his entire family. A wife, two sons and a baby daughter who had not yet seen her second birthday, taken into the swamps and never returned. He never never argued such gossips but simply laughed when confronted and then tipped his hat before being on his way.

He caused no trouble and brought no harm to those who brought no harm to him or Harmony.

Harmony, his unlikely companion and ward, had the body of a woman and the mind of a child, something that too many in this world take advantage of, came into his life just over a decade ago in the wake of the hurricane that reeked havoc on his beloved home. He was wondering the ruined streets of New Orleans. A spectator in sea of faces that could do nothing but watch as nature tore the earth apart. He had come across her, at the age of eleven, trying to befriend one of the many rats that infested the devastated city and her gentle nature brought him to stand still as he observed.

and before she could get to close enough to possibly contract one of the many diseases her new friend likely carried he intervened. It did not take long for Valentine to realise that her mind was broke. She was far too confused and much too young to be left alone on these raped and ravaged streets. So he took her with him. She did not even know her own name or how she come to be there. He had thought that perhaps in time it would come to her but ten years later he was no closer to solving the mystery he had name Harmony, named so because of the beauty that came from within when she sang.

At first it was simple nursery rhymes. Remnants retained from a time she had lost among the shards of her scattered memories. Over time he had taught her a couple of more complicated verses though even then her memory came and went like a summer breeze. And even amid the crazy ramblings and the odd things she would come out with Valentine noticed things that appeared to be almost prophetic in essence and witnessed them manifest some time later. He truly believed Harmony to be an oracle.

“Finally our travels are over, child.” His voice oddly soft as it so often was when talking to her and only her. He took the leash that he had kept on her to keep her from wondering off as she tended to do when left to her own devices, and wrapped it about the hand in which he carried his cane and led her out of the abandoned apartment they had found the very same night they had arrived in Harper Rock.

All that was left was the faint flickering of a candle and a booming laugh that bounced from the walls until it faded into darkness at the very same moment the tiny dancing flame in the centre of the room died.

[Harmony]

The woman known as Harmony stood from her crouched position in the corner and clapped her hands excitedly. She was dressed eccentrically in a tattered black dress covered with a pale pink sweater that had seen better days. On her legs were bright pink tights with white stripes and well worn black pointe ballet shoes encased her small feet. Her long red hair was swept up into two long pigtails that clashed with the color of her sweater but Harmony saw nothing wrong with her attire. It was completely natural for her to dress in whatever caught her eye but she always wore something black. If she had nothing black to wear, then there was trouble to be had. “The Dark Queen,” she whispered in reverence. Valentine had been talking about the Dark Queen for a very long time now and his own respect and loyalty inspired the same in his young ward. Harmony rose up onto her toes, lifted one foot in the air and started to spin in a pirouette until Valentine told her to gather her things, which she did so with haste. The Dark Queen was awake, no time to linger.

Harmony hadn’t always had the mind of a child but she had always had a problem with her mind. After being diagnosed at a young age with paranoid schizophrenia, Harmony’s parents had grown to resent her for upsetting their perfect family dynamic. They were upper middle class, both prominent figures in their small community and having a daughter with obviously altered mental facilities was an embarrassment to them and their circle. So ashamed of it that they had their daughter institutionalized shortly after her diagnosis. Once harmony was safe in the costly, private facility her parents had wiped every single trace of her from existence. Her name was never spoken and even though the doctors at the facility tried to explain that there were medications and treatments to treat her, the girl’s parents didn’t care. She was dead to them and before too long, Harmony quit asking for them.

When Katrina hit New Orleans Harmony was only eleven years old. Somehow, during the evacuation of the facility she had been forgotten, left behind and at the mercy of the powerful storm that wreaked havoc on the city. Because of the trauma she had endured at mother nature’s mercy Harmony’s mind shattered leaving her with the mind of a child. With no one to look after her and nowhere to go, she started wandering. When she got hungry she would scavenge through the trash to find something to fill her stomach but because of the devastation there was nothing to be found. One day, she’d found a nest of rats in an alley and Harmony, being as lonely and starved for attention as she was had attempted to make friends with one. Her hand had reached out to pet it but before her fingers could make contact she was stopped. That was the first time she lay her eyes on Valentine, a giant of a man that should have terrified her but Harmony wasn’t afraid. Somehow, she just knew that he was there to save her. And save her he did. He named her Harmony and she called him her Angel.

“I bet she’s lovely Valentine.” She accepted the leash he wrapped around her wrist without any fussing. Even with her shattered mind she understood that it was there for her protection. It was the one thing that Valentine had repeated over and over and somehow it managed to stick with her. Every so often she’d get the urge to explore and manage to free herself. And every single time Valentine found her again. He had the patience of a saint when it came to her, never spoke a harsh word to her and always had a smile for her even when the darkness that lived in the back of her mind tried to invade her thoughts. If anyone ever tried to separate them it would end badly. They’d been together for over ten years now. He was all she had. Until now. Now, they would have the Dark Queen.

[Atabei Narcisse]

A couple individuals were following her as she bounced to the wilderness, shouting at her. Asking if she was alright, or if they should call for help, but the woman did not answer in any form. Atabei was too focused and determined to find a safe, secure place for her, even if it was only a handful of hours into the night. She would not stop until the unfamiliar sounds of the city were nothing but a whisper in her ear, and the people inquiring about her state had stopped chasing after her.

When this happened, Atabei’s run would slow to a stiff walk, the strands of hair still held tightly in her hands, her nails biting into the palm of that very hand. The silence was not necessarily comforting to Atabei, but accepting to her. The woman was not yet ready to embrace the world, this time period yet. First, there were things to be done. Finding her sire and the white man she had sired. Clothes should come first, not that the woman was overly shy or modest. But if she were to walk through the streets of the city, then she would have to be dressed in whatever fashion was required to navigate through those streets.

Atabei remembered a time where she wore very little clothing in her childhood. In the woman’s village, all that was available to the women were skirts made from animal skins or even the bark of trees. However, some women adorned their necks with various jewelry self made or head dresses that consisted of a variety of beads. Some women preferred to wear nothing at all but beads of paints, not necessarily used to paint over the lower genitals or what some would consider private parts, but done to fetch the eyes of a possible suitor or done for ritual or war purposes.

With arms at her sides, the woman moved through the woods, crawling over fallen trees, stumbling over rocks and wading through small tributaries, which could eventually lead her to a river. Safe not only underground but under a river seemed a double measure of protection for the woman. Uncertain if that was where she should be going, the woman bent down and picked up a pointed branch, then stood once again. “What is it ‘ya be’ see’n? Go’un ‘an be show’n ‘ole Atabei ‘da way.” Atabei asked out loud as the woman lifted the branch and shoved it right into her left eye socket and started carving the eye out from its socket.

The removal of the Haitian woman’s eye was sloppy and the eye was not only punctured from the branch, but bloody as it laid comfortably on her palm. The woman slowly spun around, letting the eye ‘look’ around the wooded area to determine where Atabei should head to next. When her circle was completed and the eye was starting to droop, the chestnut skin toned woman was back where she started and the woman bobbed her head up and down. “Ju’s as I be a’tink’n.” To the river it was, for she ‘saw’ the way she was supposed to be going.

While the woman moved gingerly in that direction, the moonlight bathed over her skin and revealed a sight for sore eyes. Year of manual labor and abuse were there as if it had just happened to her this very night, a reminder of the harsh times and conditions Atabei lived in during her time in the domain of Wabash, in Louisiana and then in Natchez for her short time in Mississippi. Multitudes of switches that crossed over her body had never healed due to the depth of the skin that it touched, nor had some of the brand marks pressed against her skin for practicing her beliefs in the middle of the Christian services provided to the slaves on Sundays at her last master’s house. Had any of those people been alive today, more than half of the slaves would still wear that brand. The only difference was that those wounds would be raised scabs, while hers were still embedded into the skin and seared in Atabei’s mind. Maybe it was the sharp memory that made it feel as if it had just happened; what some would consider modern day post traumatic stress syndrome, or the burns and switch marks on her back really did burn and bite into the woman’s skin. Something she had almost forgotten about while in the dark holding place she was sent to after her death.

Atabei kept trudging onward, even though by this point the woman was hungry. Starved. Sadly, nothing in these woods would satisfy her appetite and going to the city to hunt for her meal wasn’t an option. Tonight, she would use a power she hated to use more than anything, but leaned on when times were tough. Just like tonight. It wouldn’t be enough, not even to satiate the woman’s thirst for blood, but she would live to see another night and tomorrow would hopefully bring a much more promising nightfall...

[Valentine]

The pair stuck to the outer edges of the city and the lesser populated areas as Valentine led them north. Each had their bedrolls strapped to their backs that had all they possessed rolled tightly within and bound by rope so that they packs could be easily carried slung over the shoulder. While their trip had been long it hadn’t been entirely too terrible. Valentine had spent many years surviving off the land so was more than able to provide and he had discovered early on by complete accident that Harmony could extract money from the pockets of strangers just by singing. The first time that had happened was by complete accident.

It was hot and the girl had wanted to stop for a rest under a rather large, tree on the edge of a park. Valentine, who always had a particularly hard time denying her any request had relented despite the amount of people who had similar ideas, but upon finding a nice patch of grass had to admit that he too was thankful to get out of the sun for a little while. The pair had shared water and and as he rested against the old aged trunk, Harmony had begun to sing as she danced to a tune that only she could hear. Valentines eyes were closed but he smiled and rested as he was lulled by the melodic sounds of the young woman’s voice. His hat sat on the ground beside him and within minutes he was roused by the sound of change being dropped into his top hat. A young couple smiled and dipped their heads as they walked off hand in hand. He watched as a small crowd began to gather to listen to her sing and added even more money to the aged and worn top hat.

Valentine simply observed and when Harmony had grown tired of singing she dropped onto the soft earth and started chattering like she never even noticed the people that seemed to filter off slightly disappointed. At first he wasn’t sure about reaching for the hat as if he was possibly doing something wrong or expected to have some lawman come running up and snatch it away but when that didn’t happen he grabbed up the hat and clutched it close to inspect the cash that had so willingly found its way in there. That night they stayed in a hotel. Nothing fancy. But it had soft beds, running water and and they were able to eat until their bellies were full. Valentine never took advantage of Harmony’s abilities to draw people but when he felt the girl needed a good bath and and a hearty feed he put his out and let her do what she enjoyed doing most. They only took as much as they needed and no more.

“We’s gettin’ closer, child. The bones tell it so.” He said holding his hands up to show Harmony the small bones that lay within. “She’s been this way.” He looked up around and noted the old church and graveyard. His arm stretched out and her held the hand that contained the bones open as he watched them for a moment before curling his long fingers around them once more and put them in a pocket for safekeeping. “There.” He said pointing past the graveyard and into the wilderness beyond. Just behind the graveyard he stopped and dropped to his knee shrugging off his bedroll and rested his cane against it.

“You must stay close now, Harmony. “ He spoke like one would to any child, his voice soft and soothing as he dug out a small plastic bag from the centre of of his pack and laid it atop the roll which he used a makeshift table. From the plastic bag he pulled a length of cloth, about four feet in length and coated in petroleum jelly. The plastic bag was then restuffed into the centre of his bedroll and he lifted his cane to wrap the end with the length of cloth which he then tied off. A old and battered looking zippo lighter appeared in his hand and it sparked several times before catching a flame. That flame was then transferred to the to the cloth that caught alight and turned his cane into a makeshift torch. “Fire. Will keep us safe from the hungry beasts that hunt the night.” He explained as he slung his gear over his shoulder and instead of the leash this time he took her small hand in his.

The golden flame was held aloft as he peered into the darkness. “Maybe you should sing for us, child. I think both the Dark Queen and he beasties will like that. Even the monsters aint able to resist the voice of an angel.” His smile looked sinister in the in the firelight as he lead her into the darkness preceded by the sound of his booming laughter that echoed through the ever vigilant and stoic trees ahead.

[Harmony]

Harmony swayed as she walked. She’d walk a few steps, giggle, then skip for three. Her excitement over the Dark Queen came off of her in waves to the point that it was almost tangible. She didn’t understand anything about the bones that Valentine so heavily relied on to guide them in their travels but so far they had never steered him wrong. She didn’t need to know how they worked. The only thing she needed to do was trust that he would get them to where they were going safely, and without issue. That was a simple thing for her to do, put her trust in her Valentine.

As they walked flashes of memories from earlier times in her life flitted across her mind. Fragmented shards that didn’t mean much to her unless it was a particularly memorable occasion. One such instance stuck in her mind, the day she’d sang in the park under the tree. It was something that she had observed during their travels. Street performers with their hates and instrument cases open beside them as they sang or played. People would drop money in these objects and for some reason that stuck with Harmony. The day she’d asked for a rest under the tree she wanted some place soft to sleep for the night. Her mind brought those memories of the street performers to the front and in and in a rare moment of clarity she used those memories to her advantage. Valentine had been pleased. Most would expect the pair to take advantage of that but they never did. Only when Valentine felt it necessary or to escape the elements of a particularly bad storm. Since the hurricane Harmony was terrified of storms to the point where her fear was debilitating.

Her long red pigtails spilled over her shoulders as she peered at the bones in Valentine’s hand. They didn’t hold any meaning to her but the told him what he needed to know. Her eyes followed his hand as it pointed to the wilderness that lay beyond the dilapidated graveyard. “The Dark Queen,” she whispered. “The Dark Queen waits.” Seeing the graveyard forced another fragment to the front of her mind of a movie that some of the older kids had snuck to watch while they were in the institution. It had been Halloween time and they were playing a marathon of horror movies and Harmony, being the ever curious child, snuck out of her room after bed check to watch too. She didn’t retain much, but certain things would resurface given the right circumstances. “They’re coming to geeeeet yoou Harmony!” She cackled hysterically and rose on her toes to spin in a circle, the tattered hem of her dress fluttering in the breeze she made on her own.

Harmony nodded her head, eyes wide as she listened to Valentine. He always knew what was best for her. “Bad things await us in the wild Valentine,” she said with absolute conviction. She didn’t know what, but she had a bad feeling about the area they were about to enter. Her fingers curled in the pocket of Valentine’s jacket, for once not trusting the leash he kept a tight grip on to keep her safe. But if Valentine’s bones were right, and the Dark Queen was waiting for them in there then Harmony knew that she would protect them from whatever harm might come their way. Still she kept close to her protector but the icy finger of dread that appeared every so often caressed the back of her neck and swept down the length of her spine. Suddenly, the clarity she had experienced was gone and the serious woman was replaced with the happy, carefree child like woman. “What should I sing Valentine?” Whatever he chose, she hoped that the Dark Queen approved.

[Atabei Narcisse]

Atabei had only taken a couple of steps towards the river when a circular spark of bright red orange that was floating around in the depths of the woods caught her attention. The motion it was making was captivating and her pupils fixated on it and watched it moving in a steady, solid fashion. The way this ember colored globe moved in the woods didn't appear to be threatening; thrashing around attempting to find something. But whatever it was- or possibly whoever it was, was coming right in the Haitian woman's direction, causing light to show the things she hadn't seen while passing by a tree, or a type of foliage on the ground. Not that her feet would have felt it, for they were as rough as a set of worn out tires from years of harsh conditions as a slave in a variety of fields.

It could be a coincidence...if the woman believed in all that nonsense. However, Atabei didn't believe in coincidences. No, this orb was coming towards her, so in Atabei's mind if was coming for her. "So it be beg'n'en." Atabei would wait to see what was approaching her. Could it be a petro loa? Maybe a human? Another vampire? Only the spirits knew.

When the orange and red hue light was only a couple yards away, she heard the sounds of four feet traipsing over the wet grass and newly formed plant life due to the wet conditions of the spring. Atabei cleared her throat as softly as she could and called out in a scratchy, and hoarse voice. "Who is 'dat a'cumin?" The heavily scared woman didn't shrink back from the two things coming towards her, now hearing the soft, sweet and melodic sounds of a song she wasn't familiar with.

Atabei didn't believe that something that sounded so sweet meant her any harm. But if it did - then she would defend herself and win, defend herself and flee, or defend herself and die. Only the spirits would know what was in store for this Haitian woman this very night.

[Valentine]

”Go to sleep you little baaaabeh….”

Valentine sang softly in a deep voice in the same way he had sung that very same song to her many times when she had trouble sleeping or was scared by the weather.

”Go to sleep you little baaaabeh….”

He repeated as he searched the darkness ahead, lit only by the glow of the flame he carried.

Immediately Harmony picked up and started singing as Valentine took to softly humming the tune.

“Your momma's gone away and your daddeh’s gonna stay. Didn't leave nobody but the baaaabeh.”

She started softly at first, sounding a little unsure until she got the rhythm. The sweetness of her voice echoed through the undergrowth and broke the silence with a gentleness that one had to be born with.

Once she was wrapped in her singing , Valentine stopped humming and sniffed at the air. Death and life had come together here. He could smell it as sure as he could hear the angel who sang next to him as they walked deeper into the wilderness. Sticks snapped under their feet sending a sharp warning to anything or anyone ahead of their presence.

"You're a sweet little babeh, You're a sweet little babeh. Honey and a rock and the sugar don't stop, Gonna bring a bottle to the babeh.”

There was a sense of apprehension in the air and while Valentine had waited all this times for these signs he suddenly had to wonder if he was doing the right thing. It was only a fleeting moment of hesitation. He wasn’t always going to be around and Harmony was going to either need to be able to take care of herself or have another to look out for her. He had hopes that the ancient powers that be might be able to bring peace to the girl's broken mind and make her whole again. Valentine had no intentions of going anywhere anytime soon but the Dark Queen’s arrival was something he had been waiting on for far too long to not come looking.

Harmony continued to sing as they crept through the thick flora side by side in search of something that most would be running from. The firelight caused the red of his irises to glow unnaturally in the darkness though by now he was being led more by scent than sight, even as it shifted vigilantly, there were many predators in these parts. He knew this to be true.

The large man halted suddenly and gently squeezed the small hand wrapped in his. He thought he heard something, a soft muttering perhaps, but he couldn’t be sure that the night was simply not playing tricks on Valentine so he took another couple of steps and then he heard her. Plain as day. He stopped again and held up a finger to halt Harmony’s singing.

“None that be meaning you any harm, Ancient one.” He headed towards where the voice had come from until he saw her. Immediately he handed the flaming cane to Harmony as he shrugged off his bedroll and then his coat. He held it out and approached her slowly. The scent of decay filled his senses but not even that could detract from her beauty. “We been waitin' a long time for you. The bones did tell you were comin.” His voice low as he held his long, black, undertaker’s coat, decorated with what appeared to be human hair, open for her to slip into. He did not miss the scars that crisscrossed her body which only cemented in his mind that this was indeed the very same woman he had heard tales of as a child. Those marks told a story that far outdated any who walked the earth these days.

Once she was safely wrapped in his offering he removed his hat and bowed low, bringing his arm across himself as he did. “Valentine. At your service, Madam.” He paused before pulling himself to his full stature and reached to place a large hand on Harmony’s shoulder. “And this sweet creature be known as Harmony.” His unusual gaze fixated on the tiny woman who he knew to be much stronger than she appeared.

[Harmony]

Valentine started singing, a tune that she recognized almost at once. The song was one he had sang to her many times, so much so that even with her fragmented memory the lyrics came to her immediately.

“Your momma's gone away and your daddeh’s gonna stay. Didn't leave nobody but the baaaabeh.”

Harmony sang softly at first, sticking close to Valentine as they walked through the wilderness. The night was so very dark and the only light seemed to come from the makeshift torch in his hand. Her eyes dancing wildly over their surroundings but because of the blackness that surrounded them she couldn’t make anything out.

Honey and a rock and the sugar don't stop
Gonna bring a bottle to the baby

Don't you weep pretty baby
Don't you weep pretty baby

Harmony could remember the first time Valentine had sang the song to her. They were traveling and it was a particularly humid evening. All day long the sky had been dark but they had kept ahead of the storm. Valentine had known the storm was coming and had been doing his best to keep them moving at a steady pace to find shelter before it hit. Harmony had remained unusually quiet, somehow sensing the urgency of their situation. A quiet rumble through the heavy air followed by a bright flash of lightning had her jumping and clinging to her savior. Valentine had tried his best but they weren’t fast enough. He had spotted a dilapidated barn just ahead of them but before they could cross the threshold the sky opened up and the fury of mother nature washed over them in sheets. The thunder was loud, so very loud that Harmony had covered her ears but she couldn’t drown the sound out. She’d cried and screamed and trembled and nothing Valentine did was enough to calm her. All out of options, he started to sing to her and when the song ended he’d start it all over again until her sobs quieted and she fell asleep huddled against him.

She's long gone with her red shoes on
Gonna need another loving baby

don't you weep pretty baby
don't you weep pretty baby

She was oblivious to anything around them until she felt pressure on her hand, signaling her to stop walking. She obeyed at once and stopped singing as he requested but she could stop her curious question.. “What is it Valentine?” She whispered to him and stood on her toes to try and peer around him but he was so very tall that it was an impossible feat for her. Harmony heard a heavily accented voice and her eyes went wide as Valentine addressed the voice in the shadows. “The Dark Queen!” She started to bounce in place unable to contain her excitement over finding the woman that they had been searching for As Valentine removed his bedroll and coat Harmony had to step back. Her grip on the leash tying her to her savior remained tight because although she was excited to finally be near the Dark Queen, her natural instincts still screamed that something just wasn’t right. What that was though, Harmony didn’t know.

[Atabei Narcisse]

What was once thought to be an orb became better defined to Atabei when the woman focused once again on it when the thing approached. She turned to her side so that whoever was approaching only saw the silhouette of her naked frame; but could see more of the scars that lined her body; her back holding the majority of them. The male voice wasn’t exactly familiar, but the pronunciation of his words reminded her of the nights she walked as both a human and a vampire. It reminded her of her time in the south-the dialect from the north and south had not gone unnoticed to the woman when she escaped from Master John’s plantation however many years ago that was, with Jasper.

Atabei had heard from the master himself about some of his slaves that he was trying to recapture, and bet his life on them going through that ‘damn railroad system, everyone was talking about.’ She had told Jasper; the slave that had been purchased alongside of her, from his cousin’s plantation in Louisiana and together they devised a way to get passage from the south to the north. This took months of patience and waiting until Jasper found another at the plantation a mile or so down the road, who had paid a hefty fee for their freedom and told him that they would too. Silver was as good as gold (almost) back then and that’s what Atabei would have to steal. An entire drawer of silver for the safe passage for the both of them.

The old memory from a dangerous time for slaves who not only ran away, but stole from their master’s vanished as the woman’s eyes fell on the pair as the light illuminated both their features. Most would probably find the sight before the Haitian woman funny, but she found it perplexing. How a black male, even in a free country managed to ‘own’ a white woman. At least that was what it appeared to Atabei as she looked at the woman on a chain of some sort around her very neck.

The woman reached out for the coat, slowly and shakily, with the hand that didn’t hold her eye, which resulted in Atabei turning around to face the two as she did this. This would reveal her eye in the other hand and the empty eye socket of the woman as her fingers clasped over the neckline of the coat, the thing hitting the ground due to the vast difference in Valentine’s height over her own. The mention of bones did not go amiss with Atabei, but she didn’t comment much on it yet. “Did they?” She asked as the woman dragged the coat to her body, and draped it over her shoulders so she could slide her arms through the holes that protected any arms within it from the weather.

He gave his name and his slave’s name to Atabei, her eyes moving to the white woman who had the most beautiful voice she had heard since her momma’s singing days. She appeared to be an excitable little thing, who referred to her as the dark queen. This caused the woman to chuckle a little and shake her head. “Ohhhh, sweet chil’. I be t’nk’ng we all gots a ‘lil bit a dark in us.” The woman’s eyes held a glint of humor to them as she said that, Atabei craning her neck just a little to better see the woman that was peering over Valentine’s body. “‘Thu’ white man call’n me Ada.” Her tone was slightly bitter, but still scratchy, thinking back to how they renamed each slave to have a good ‘ole christian name. Erasing their heathen and imperfect natures in the eyes of the white man.

“‘Ow did ‘chew git ta be hav’n her, Valentine?” Atabei moved closer to them both, eyes still on Harmony as her shaky fingers buttoned the coat from her knees on up after storing her eye safely in one of the coat’s pockets. “Wur’ did ‘chew cum from, tha both of yous?”