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MARIAM HONORE CLOSED her eyes and remembered what an inquisitive little girl her granddaughter had been. As Bianca grew into a budding young woman, Mariam ignored the warning signs emanating from Bianca.
Her heart broke when Bianca moved to New York, and she prayed to the gods that Bianca would not pursue her desires there. As she neared seventy, though, she could no longer ignore what she had feared. She sensed her granddaughter’s powers strengthening and it was time to bring her back home, away from those people and that way of life. It may be the only way to save her.
Lately, she had such intense feelings about her granddaughter and the evil that seemed to lurk near her. As she stared out the kitchen window, she fixated spellbound on the moon hanging in the night sky. A red haze surrounded the moon, which meant that her time was running out. What concerned her most was that under the red haze was a twisted and snarled double halo. Many years ago, her grand-mere explained the signs of the moon. A halo around the moon meant a change was in the future. A double halo was never good; especially, a double halo entangled and snarled. Somewhere a love affair had gone wrong and anything could happen in the near future. This was when you should not answer your phone or see who was knocking at your door. For those who knew what the signs of the moon meant, they knew to keep their doors and windows locked; however, trouble always came unannounced and took over before you knew what had hit you.
Seeing the moon in its present appearance sent a shiver down her spine. It was almost as if a snake was looping itself around the full moon twice before settling in. It was an omen. She wondered how many more people were staring at the moon and saw the same thing. It wasn’t an illusion, and while some considered it mystical, this moon worried her. Nights like this when the air was warm and the sky as black as ink and just as thick, a single noise could be swallowed up and never heard. This was when the devil was afoot - waiting to see what trouble he could cause. If she breathed in the night air, she could almost smell the sulfurous odor of trouble.
She feared that trouble was in store for her granddaughter at this very moment. Was the devil lurking about, waiting to lure her into his treachery? Calling Bianca home may be the only way to stop the chain of events she had foreseen from unfolding. She couldn’t bear the thought that her own flesh and blood may practice black magic. Voodoo was intended to be used for good and not evil. She had taught Bianca better than that.
She shook her head. Was it because death was so near that she felt such deep regret? Why was it only now that she feared what was to become of her granddaughter? She could have called her back at any time, but why had she chosen now to summon her home. Surely she didn’t secretly want her to learn black magic? Those questions had been plaguing her mind over the last few days. Her passing would not have any effect on her family, but it may tempt Bianca to delve further into black magic. What she dreaded most were the revelations from last night’s dream. She prayed to the gods that she had time to change what she had foreseen. If that change did not take place, the world everyone knew would soon crumble. That weighed heavy on her shoulders.
If only Bianca had the same inner strength as she had to turn away from the callings of the black magic. Oh yes, it had called her when she was younger, but she found the integrity to renounce the temptations. However, she feared that Bianca had not pulled away from those same temptations. She worried that Bianca did not use sound judgment when it came to evil. Her granddaughter had intuitive abilities and had the makings of becoming a great voodoo priestess. Even at a young age, Bianca embraced the voodoo religion and absorbed everything she was taught.
She wished her daughter had embraced the voodoo religion as well as her granddaughter, but she did not believe in the religion like Bianca. No, Bianca was special; they were kindred spirits. She knew that as soon as she was born. Her daughter questioned everything about the religion, but her granddaughter treated the religion with the love and respect that it deserved. Voodoo was not something to play around with. Only those who truly believed in it could make it work, and right now she hoped that Bianca followed the correct path in life. Either way, her granddaughter’s life was soon to change forever.
Mariam knew her time was near. She heard the death watch beetle ticking. She wanted Bianca home so that she could change her ways before the future became written in stone. She prayed that the fate she had seen in her dreams was not guaranteed. No matter how hard she tried to intervene, it seemed that fate would fulfill its destiny, and thus had her fearing for Bianca.