2. Faubourg Marigny and the Canals

Faubourg Marigny and the Canals

Figuring out our next move wasn't hard since I was filthy from digging and rolling around in grave dirt. So when Luc asked where we were going, the answer was easy. "Home."

"And where is home?"

"Marigny. It's outside the French Quarter, and you know, it's a quirky little community. A lot of artists. And…it's in the other direction." With a huff, I reoriented. "Okay, it's probably a two-hour walk either way. We can go down to Norman before cutting over. Come on." As if he had a choice.

"I'm quite interested to see your home, Austin."

"It's a shit hole. So don't get excited."

We talked about other things as we walked. Not about my gambling addiction. Not about music. Those felt like topics that were too deep in the middle of the night. Instead, I told him about New Orleans and the changes he missed in the last hundred years. About cell phones and airplanes and, when a fancy sports car passed us, the automobile industry. And computers. Space travel. Luc didn't believe half of it. What was left unsaid was whether he would actually need that information.

"Maybe…" he looked down at his shoes—cool ass shoes.

"Maybe what, Luc?"

"Do you think I could ever come back? I mean, I've thought about it a lot. Had plenty of time to think. I don't know how, but I'd like a second chance, you know."

"Not moving on? Like to the afterlife?" I had to know. Why would he want to come back as a human here in a strange world he was grasping to understand?

Luc shrugged. "I've thought about both, but after meeting you. You know? I think I'd like a shot at it."

If we could find a way to bring him back, we would. Otherwise, he might be stuck in that ring forever. And likewise, the other alternative was figuring out how to get him out of the ring so he could move on to whatever the afterlife had to offer. I had to admit that last bit was distasteful to me, especially if he wasn't ready for it, and it sounded like he wasn't. And…I kind of wanted him to stick around. He was probably the most interesting thing to happen to me in a long time, maybe ever. "If we can figure it out, we'll bring you back. I'll certainly give it a shot. Okay?"

"That sounds wonderful."

It took a little under two hours. But I was tired. Running through the Quarter, digging a grave, being beaten, and walking all the way from Charity Hospital Cemetery to Marigny all left me exhausted and aching. I hoped like hell I had Tylenol at the house.

Finally, my little row came into sight when we turned the last corner. The one I rented was painted a cute yellow with blue trim and shutters that covered the windows and door, and there was a huge hedge in front of it that someone had shaped into a little man. I didn't love living here, but there was a certain fondness for the originality of it.

"This is me." I rubbed my hand over the bush man before stepping up to the stoop and opening the shutters, then unlocking the door. Luc went in ahead of me and looked around. I knew what he would see. A shotgun house with rooms all in a row. The living room opened to a kitchen area, and behind that was a tiny bathroom and a bedroom behind that. I hardly needed to flip a light on since Luc was glowing up the place, but I did anyway, and his aura was dimmed by the dingy illumination. "It's okay. All I can afford, and actually." I scratched my head. "I can't afford this. Anyway. I'm gonna grab a shower."

I didn't think about what I was doing, simply going through the motions, and ended up naked in the shower, unsure of how I got there. I climbed into the tub and turned my face up to the water. When I turned around, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Luc stood there, watching me with a sly look. "Where you go, I go."

"Fuck. I forgot."

His eyebrow over one eye quirked up as he examined me. "I don't mind."

"Yeah?" I smirked. I wasn't too bad looking, maybe a bit scrawny since I hardly ate, and bruises had started to form in reddish-brown.

"Yeah. Too bad I can't give you a hand with that…washing."

My cock betrayed me, standing up tall for my spirit friend. "You can…watch." I grabbed the soap and used it generously over every part of my body, neck, shoulders, chest, abs…then my dick and balls, stopping to stroke my hardness.

Luc's eyes widened and he licked those perfectly kissable lips. "My, my. You are a fine-looking man. Show me how you pleasure yourself."

I slowly rubbed over my cock with soaped-up fingers, playing with the head, sliding down the shaft. I rubbed my balls, then began for real. I felt the need building, and getting off was the goal. I didn't know if Luc could do the same, but I was going to try to make it enjoyable for both of us as much as I could.

Bucking into my hand, I moaned, hoping to give him a show along with my orgasm. I slammed my other hand against the cheap fiberglass surround. Knowing his eyes were on me had me coming in record time. I shot out hard toward him, letting my seed fall into the bottom of the tub.

"Wow." He reached a hand toward me. "I wish I could touch. Feel you."

"Can you, uh…do that yourself?"

"No. I can't feel anything."

"We have to fix that." I wanted to touch him more now than anything now. I wanted to know what his skin felt like against mine, what his lips felt like around my cock, and what his kiss tasted like.

"I have some thoughts about that. You know, a hundred years of being stuck out there, you get thoughts."

"You ever speak to other spirits?"

"Yes, that too."

"Let me get dressed and we'll figure out our next move." I didn't add that we needed to do it fast because I had no idea how long it would take those goons to show up here looking for me.

"You want to go where?" I pulled a shirt over my head and sat on the edge of the bed.

"We need to consult the spirits of nature. We need to go to the swamp."

"Fuck. It'll be morning before we get there."

Luc shrugged. "I'm as much here at any time of the day as at night. I don't eat. I don't sleep."

"Okay. But I do those things." And I was hungry for sure, but I'd never let that slow me down before. I reached under the bed and pulled out my old hiking boots, and wondered if I had bug spray because I was wearing shorts if we were heading out to the swamp.

We still had about three or four hours until sunrise. Maybe we could get there and back.

I was wrong. It took three hours to get there. Walking sucked sometimes. But we spent that time getting to know each other better. Luc told me about his life, playing in clubs, chasing men, and running from women.

"Including Rose?" I asked, putting two and two together. He had sung about a rose in his song, but I hadn't thought about whether it was a person or a flower. I was guessing the latter now.

"Yes. I ran from her, but not fast enough."

"This is her fault? Who was she?"

"Yes. She was related to the mob boss at the time. Silvestro Carollo. She was his niece or something. I'm not sure, but when I didn't reciprocate her intentions, she cried to him."

"And he killed you."

"No. Actually, he turned her down, but she was determined. She found a voodoo mambo to trap my soul in the ring. She lied though. Told the mambo I defiled her. So with my soul trapped and a dead body at her feet, Carollo had no choice but to step in, but he wasn't happy about it."

"Guess not. She forced his hand."

"Yes, well, he took the ring, stuck it on my finger and dumped my body in an unmarked grave."

"In the one place no one would give a damn about."

"True."

His story was sad, and it made me more determined to help him. So I slapped at mosquitoes as we left Harbor Drive and slid into the unauthorized personnel area of the canal. "Following the canal will take us farther and farther into swamp land. If we go far enough, we'll hit a lake, but damn," I slapped another bug, this time around my neck, "I don't want to go that far."

"Me either."

The only light was coming off of Luc, but at least I had that to see by. I didn't know what we would find as I sloshed through the marsh, or even what we were looking for…until we found it. Or him.

The first indication was a laugh that came from the trees around us, but it wasn't pleasant. It wasn't evil, but not benign either. Luc turned this way and that. "I think this is it."

"What's it?" I asked.

But another voice answered, it matched the laughter I'd heard. "Looking for me, boys?"

Before I had a chance to say no, Luc answered, "Yes. Can you help me?"

The figure didn't so much as step out of the woods as simply appear there, becoming more solid by measures with each step toward us. "Maybe I can help. Maybe I cannot. Depends on what the needing is."

He wore a jester cap and his face was painted white with red circled cheeks and black lips. His eyes sparkled like black diamonds. For a jolly figure, he was fucking scary. "Who are you?" I asked, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

"Oh, I go by lots of names or none at all." The laughter swam around us, but he hadn't opened his mouth, merely cocked his head to the side.

It was Luc who answered. "He's the Wildman. The jester. The spirit of New Orleans, of Mardi Gras, and of the night. He's the joker from the tarot deck."

"This can't be good."

"Huh. You." The joker man pointed at me. "Someone is after you. The big baddy, bad daddy."

"Who—?"

"Carlos Marcello. Wants your life." The joker danced around, stood on one hand, then leaned against a tree and pulled out a cigarette. He had a shot glass in the other hand. "Too much merriment. Too many demands. I can't help your spirit, friend, but I can help you. Beware Carlos Marcello."

Then he was gone.

"That was useless." I shook my head and turned back. I needed to get the fuck out of this swamp land.

"Not really. He told us who was after you. Now we can plan."

"Luc. Carlos Marcello is dead. He's been dead for years. I doubt I believe anything that joker dude said."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Austin, I'm dead. But I'm here."

"Okay, you have a point, but I don't know what to do with that."

The joker appeared in front of us out of nowhere. "One more thing, boys. To find what you need, you need to focus on the needs of others. A need is a need, and everything depends on the needing."

Then he was gone again as quickly as he'd come.

"Cryptic much?" I stomped too hard on the ground, splashing water around my feet. I was pissed because he'd scared me with that bullshit.

The sun started peeking over the horizon, casting a soft pink hue over the city, but it was hardly enough to light the way. I still had Luc, though he grew quiet, and I didn't want to make things worse for him. We were both a little disappointed—well, at least I was. And maybe a little too tired as well because I wasn't paying too much attention to our surroundings other than being back on the dirt road leading out of the swamp area.

"Austin. Austin, stop."

"What?" I stopped and looked over at Luc. He pointed ahead and to the side at a break in the trees. Something was there. It growled. It was as big as a man, maybe taller than me, but that's where the similarities ended. Beady eyes peered out from a goat's head, but this goat had sharp teeth that snarled with saliva drooling from blood-red gums. "We are truly fucked."

"Should you run?" he asked me, but I certainly didn't know the answer. Sometimes, that made things worse. Predators could be triggered by running, movement, but if you stayed still, they might walk away. This thing was not walking away. In fact, it took a step closer and lowered its head.

A second growl from behind caught my attention, but I was afraid to take my eyes off the beast. "Luc, what was that?"

"A…A…I don't know."

"Shit."

"I think it's a Rougarou."

"A what?"

"Werewolf."

"Great." We were truly fucked. At least Luc was already dead. Sort of. I supposed when your soul was sucked from your body, that made you dead. And, oh shit, my brain was rambling. "What do we do?"

The Rougarou leaped around us and ran toward the other creature. Now, in my sight, I saw that the second monster on the scene was bigger and bulkier, but maybe not as fast. The other disappeared back into the woods, and then the Rougarou turned and faced us. It looked very wolfish and hairy, but as it walked toward us, it shrank and changed. The snout retreated into the face and quickly, a woman was left. A naked woman. "The Grunch won't bother you now. You're safe to go." She gestured down the road.

"Th-Thank you?"

"That sounds like a question. I saved you."

"I-I know? But what was that?"

"Grunch. I said."

I had no idea what she was talking about, but Luc filled me in. "Oh, that's a creature from the depths of hell sent to keep the Freakshow people safe."

"Freakshow?"

"You know, Carneys. Sideshow. Whatever. They came here and were persecuted."

I held my hand out. "Stop. I got it."

The woman tilted her head to the side and looked between me and Luc. "I was about to ask why you were out here alone. Now I see. You're not alone. For what good your spirit guide did to protect you."

"Luc is not a guide, and we didn't know what to do."

The woman snorted. "I'm Cecile, by the way. You're lucky I was out here."

"Yes and thank you for sure. I think we're going back to town." I started walking, Luc beside me, and Cecile turned to walk with us. It wasn't weird at all that a naked woman accompanied me. After finding Luc and meeting the joker man, not to mention the Grunch, I figured anything was possible.

"What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Looking for advice. Trying to figure out how to get Luc back." I still wasn't sure it was even possible. "You know, corporal--needs a body."

The sun rose a little above the trees as we walked, shining down on her dark brown hair that fell around her shoulders. "You should be happy with what you have. But if you are serious, then maybe you gonna need help. You need a voodoo priestess. They know about these things."

"Oh, no. I don't think that's a good idea. It was a voodoo priestess that got Luc into this situation to start with."

"Mm…that doesn't sound like no mambo. That sounds more like caplata. You can buy them. Well, I guess that's what you need too. I don't know."

Luc sounded frustrated. "It was a mambo. Rose didn't pay for it. No, she conned her."

"I don't think it matters what you call her. Voodoo is voodoo." I didn't want to subject Luc to that again.

Cecile grabbed my shoulder. "No, that's not right. A caplata, they work black magic, mostly. Or it's a con. Promising this or that and not delivering. But a true mambo, she's the real thing and she deals with spirits and deities, not black magic. That's probably what you be needing. Someone to set things right. That don't mean it won't cost you." She let my shoulder go. "But. That's your best bet. If you want to get your Luc back to this plane." She walked toward the trees.

"Hey, wait." She sounded like she knew what she was talking about. I certainly had no way of getting Luc back on my own. I needed more information on this. "Say we did want to go to a mambo, who would we even go to?"

Cecile stopped and turned around. "I know one. She helped me when I needed it most. Lady Geneviève. Over on Burgundy. Six-one-eight Burgundy."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. But I wish you luck." With that, fur sprouted down her back, covering her hips and legs. She bounded into the trees.

"Are we going to see this Geneviève?" Luc asked.

I sighed deeply. "I don't know, Luc. I'm too tired to think. And hot. And my body hurts. I need to rest."

"Let's go home then."