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LIGHTNING FLASHED OVERHEAD, illuminating the night sky as dark rain clouds hung low and threatened to release a downpour at any moment. Thunder rolled across the land as another strike of lightning streaked across the sky. The moss covered cypress trees that lined the black murky swamp water appeared ghostly in the eerie night.
The thunder helped to drown out the chanting that echoed through the night air. He watched with little interest as the voodoo priestess began her ritual. She would soon perform Vodoun, a dance ritual where the spirits came to possess the believer. At first, the rituals fascinated him, but he had since grown tired of the process. He just wanted results.
Torches illuminated the area as the drummers in the batri played relentlessly. Their incessant beating filled the night air. The costumed dancers each draped a snake over their body as they vigorously danced and gyrated around a fire as flames leapt high into the night sky. The lavender tinted smoke from the peristil fire clung to everything. As the heady scent of the eucalyptus burned his nose, an uneasiness came over him. He finally had what he wanted, and yet, it wasn’t enough.
Sweat trickled down the captive’s body as he desperately struggled to free himself from the bonds that restrained his ankles and wrists tightly. The voodoo priestess approached him with slow deliberation and uttered a strange language directly toward him. He watched, frozen in fear, as she opened a small pouch and poured out a yellowish brown powder into her hand. She blew the powder into his face, and he immediately started to cough. The powder coated his throat and lungs as it numbed his body. He tried to free himself from the restraints once more, but his body refused to respond.
As the voodoo priestess moved closer to him, he watched in terror as she reached into his chest and grabbed at his beating heart. This couldn’t be happening. It had to be a nightmare.
The man who ordered this turned away in disinterest.