Voodoo Child: The Song of Erzulie - Ritual
Jun. 3rd, 2007 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_daytripper posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsSo, just where is Amanda?
"Put her over on the table." Those were the first words Amanda heard on waking up, following quickly by the jarring motions as she was roughly restrained by a series of cuffs to a hard, flat surface. How long the trip had been, no one could say. Consciousness had come grudgingly and over after a long black stretch. Now, she found herself face down on a metal table, waiting for the next blow to land.
"Ah, she is the one." A hand took her by the chin, not unroughly, and forced her to look up into the clear brown ones of an older woman. "You are a pretty thing. I remember your age, you know. The parties, the admirers; I'm sure you have your own."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Amanda grated, trying to jerk her chin away but finding herself held fast despite the deceptively gentleness of the grip. She wrenched her wrists at the restraints, and was only rewarded by a sharp pain as the edges dug into the skin. A small frustrated noise escaped her before she could clamp down on it.
"Oh sweetie, you don't need to struggle. There's no actual escape, you know. No sense hurting yourself." The woman smiled and turned her head. "Jean, bring her some cream for her wrists. We don't want her chafing, after all."
She straightened up and smoothed her dress. "My name is Candra, darling. You've been brought her for a very special purpose, you know."
"'M not your sweetie. Or your darling." It was hard to stay calm, stay focussed, not when she was tied down in this very particular way. Amanda yanked again, despite the woman's words, the need to escape overwhelming. "And I hate to tell you, but if you want to use me as a power source, you're a bit late to the game. My powers don't work like that any more."
"Oh, poor hurt fowl, I understand that you're angry. I would be in your position. But unfortunately, things are beyond your control. We have some great things in store for you. If you talk to the rest of these people, they would tell you that you're going to bring back a god. Really, you're going to be creating a new one, but who am I to ruin their fun?" Candra smiled and brushed the hair from Amanda's face. "What a lovely thing. You know, poppet, if you live through this, I might have a place for you."
"Sorry to disappoint, but I've already got a place. And it's not with you." The touch of the woman's fingers made her skin crawl, but the way she was strapped down, she couldn't pull away. "What great things? What're you going to do to me?"
"Oh, that's not necessary. You know, I can make this easy for you." His fingers twisted in her hair and slammed her cheek against the table. "Or I can make this ridiculously hard. I don't take any joy in it, but I am willing to do what is needed if I have to. You see, darling, you're part of something larger, and that means you get to pay for the sins of others. I know, it's unfair and I believe you. But this is what we you need to accept."
Hot pain flared along her cheekbone, and her breath hissed out between clenched teeth. "If you need me to accept the fact you've got me chained to a table and you're about to do some sort of fucked up spell with me, well, you're going to have to get used to disappointment. Sorry, I have a life, one I'm fucking enjoying, and you can make it as hard as you like, but I'm not going to cooperate. Anything you want from me, you're going to have to take, you twisted cunt."
"See, there's no reason for that kind of language." Candra stepped back from the table. "Hurt her for the next few minutes. I won't listen to that."
Candra stepped out as two of the men stepped forward, unslinging batons from their belts and setting to work on Amanda.
She didn't cry out... for the first five or six blows. Then, as each strike sought out a new nerve point, a new joint, creating a very special agony, small whimpers and then cries escaped, until she was struggling helplessly against her bonds, trying to twist away. "Stop," she gasped at last. "I'll... just stop."
"Sweetie, was that enough? It's just so unneeded." Candra waved her hand, and the guards stepped back. "I don't want to see you hurt at all. It vexes me that it must get to that end. Darling, I only need one thing from you. What happens after that fact is entirely up to you. Please, give Auntie Candra a smile and say nothing more is necessary?"
A long silence, punctuated only by Amanda's sobbing breaths as she tried to compose herself. Rack had been a monster... but he'd never expected her to smile after a beating. "Please," she said at last, hating the pleading tone. "Don't hit me any more. Just... do whatever it is you're going to do."
"Oh pigeon, that's not what I wanted at all. You see, you're a very important young woman, you know. Once you play your part, Selene can't ever hurt you again. All of this is going to end, and you're going to get to go back to your friends. I never wanted to hurt you for no reason, darling. That's not going to happen." Candra said reassuringly.
"Then why? Why all this? What is it you need me for?" All of Amanda's anguish, all her confusion came out then - she just wasn't equipped to deal with this woman, who sounded so sympathetic and yet was so cold-blooded. "Selene's at the bottom of the bay, she's not a threat to any of us."
"But she is. So many people want her back. I want to make sure that never happens. Can you help me?" Candra smiled warmly, taking Amanda's face in her hands. "You're the only one that can make sure she's gone forever, darling. Think of how important you are."
"Me?" The woman was messing with her, she knew that, but she couldn't help remembering Selene's hands around her throat. "But..."
"We're going to make her go away forever. No more nightmares, poppet. No more fear. All you need to do is believe that I can take her away."
"How?" It probably wasn't the smartest question in the world, likely to result in more pain, but Amanda had come too far make blind agreements, to believe when someone asked her to. There'd been too many times that trust had been turned against her. "I don't mean to doubt, but I don't understand. Please, tell me?"
Please, Daddy. You're so smart. Tell me what this spell is?
"We're going to take away her power. For ever and ever." Candra caressed her cheek. "She was cruel, and silly. She liked to hurt people for the sake of hurting people. You can't trust those people. Amanda, I want you to tell me yes, darling. I want you to help me keep her in where you and that brilliant friend of yours put her. Will you help me?"
Amanda lowered her head, rested her forehead against the cool metal of the table, tried to breathe, to concentrate. Selene, gone for ever, her power dispersed. It was a tempting thought. But. That power had to go somewhere, didn't it. And Amanda was pretty sure Candra, for all her 'sweeties' and 'darlings' and caresses, wouldn't be letting it just dissipate into the ether. Some people saw magic as a gigantic game of snakes and ladders, with the only goal to be better than your superiors. Amanda doubted Candra was the sort to ignore a ladder this size. But she couldn't openly defy her, not if she didn't want to have a repeat of the earlier beating. Possibly something worse.
Refuse, and possibly lose your life, probably painfully. Agree, and lose your soul.
Lifting her head awkwardly, she looked Candra in the eyes. "If I say no, you'll still do this, won't you?"
"Pigeon, the world moves. If you say no, it will still happen, but you'll be the one that it hurts most of all. Tell Auntie Candra that's not what you want?"
She wanted to say yes, that it wasn't what she wanted. More than anything, she wanted to be able to go home, to wake up in Angelo's arms, to drink beer and watch movies with Marie, drive the kids into the city, to collect the coffee for the office, to shoot the shit with Mark and have a smoke with Sarah, to tease Doug into blushing beet red, to get giggly on red wine with Marie-Ange. To spend long evenings in research with Wanda, to work alongside Illyana on a particularly messy translation of a magic text. To go drinking with Pete, to tease Remy about the goofy expression that meant he'd spent the afternoon shagging 'Ro, to discuss the finer points of tea making with Betsy and hell, even spend her next session with Sofia discussing just why lying on her front freaked her out so much.
"No," she said at last, and the word fell like lead from her mouth, weighted as it was by the knowledge she was visiting a world of pain on herself. "I'm sorry, Candra, but I can't do that. I can't agree to this."
"I'm sorry too, darling." Candra motioned with her hand, and two men came forward. They cut the charred leather jacket from her back and the shirt underneath. When her naked back was exposed, one of them men brought forward a tray of implements, uniformly sharp and crude. He picked up a chisel, and Candra leaned in to kiss Amanda's forehead. "Sweetie, it's perfectly alright to scream."
"Put her over on the table." Those were the first words Amanda heard on waking up, following quickly by the jarring motions as she was roughly restrained by a series of cuffs to a hard, flat surface. How long the trip had been, no one could say. Consciousness had come grudgingly and over after a long black stretch. Now, she found herself face down on a metal table, waiting for the next blow to land.
"Ah, she is the one." A hand took her by the chin, not unroughly, and forced her to look up into the clear brown ones of an older woman. "You are a pretty thing. I remember your age, you know. The parties, the admirers; I'm sure you have your own."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Amanda grated, trying to jerk her chin away but finding herself held fast despite the deceptively gentleness of the grip. She wrenched her wrists at the restraints, and was only rewarded by a sharp pain as the edges dug into the skin. A small frustrated noise escaped her before she could clamp down on it.
"Oh sweetie, you don't need to struggle. There's no actual escape, you know. No sense hurting yourself." The woman smiled and turned her head. "Jean, bring her some cream for her wrists. We don't want her chafing, after all."
She straightened up and smoothed her dress. "My name is Candra, darling. You've been brought her for a very special purpose, you know."
"'M not your sweetie. Or your darling." It was hard to stay calm, stay focussed, not when she was tied down in this very particular way. Amanda yanked again, despite the woman's words, the need to escape overwhelming. "And I hate to tell you, but if you want to use me as a power source, you're a bit late to the game. My powers don't work like that any more."
"Oh, poor hurt fowl, I understand that you're angry. I would be in your position. But unfortunately, things are beyond your control. We have some great things in store for you. If you talk to the rest of these people, they would tell you that you're going to bring back a god. Really, you're going to be creating a new one, but who am I to ruin their fun?" Candra smiled and brushed the hair from Amanda's face. "What a lovely thing. You know, poppet, if you live through this, I might have a place for you."
"Sorry to disappoint, but I've already got a place. And it's not with you." The touch of the woman's fingers made her skin crawl, but the way she was strapped down, she couldn't pull away. "What great things? What're you going to do to me?"
"Oh, that's not necessary. You know, I can make this easy for you." His fingers twisted in her hair and slammed her cheek against the table. "Or I can make this ridiculously hard. I don't take any joy in it, but I am willing to do what is needed if I have to. You see, darling, you're part of something larger, and that means you get to pay for the sins of others. I know, it's unfair and I believe you. But this is what we you need to accept."
Hot pain flared along her cheekbone, and her breath hissed out between clenched teeth. "If you need me to accept the fact you've got me chained to a table and you're about to do some sort of fucked up spell with me, well, you're going to have to get used to disappointment. Sorry, I have a life, one I'm fucking enjoying, and you can make it as hard as you like, but I'm not going to cooperate. Anything you want from me, you're going to have to take, you twisted cunt."
"See, there's no reason for that kind of language." Candra stepped back from the table. "Hurt her for the next few minutes. I won't listen to that."
Candra stepped out as two of the men stepped forward, unslinging batons from their belts and setting to work on Amanda.
She didn't cry out... for the first five or six blows. Then, as each strike sought out a new nerve point, a new joint, creating a very special agony, small whimpers and then cries escaped, until she was struggling helplessly against her bonds, trying to twist away. "Stop," she gasped at last. "I'll... just stop."
"Sweetie, was that enough? It's just so unneeded." Candra waved her hand, and the guards stepped back. "I don't want to see you hurt at all. It vexes me that it must get to that end. Darling, I only need one thing from you. What happens after that fact is entirely up to you. Please, give Auntie Candra a smile and say nothing more is necessary?"
A long silence, punctuated only by Amanda's sobbing breaths as she tried to compose herself. Rack had been a monster... but he'd never expected her to smile after a beating. "Please," she said at last, hating the pleading tone. "Don't hit me any more. Just... do whatever it is you're going to do."
"Oh pigeon, that's not what I wanted at all. You see, you're a very important young woman, you know. Once you play your part, Selene can't ever hurt you again. All of this is going to end, and you're going to get to go back to your friends. I never wanted to hurt you for no reason, darling. That's not going to happen." Candra said reassuringly.
"Then why? Why all this? What is it you need me for?" All of Amanda's anguish, all her confusion came out then - she just wasn't equipped to deal with this woman, who sounded so sympathetic and yet was so cold-blooded. "Selene's at the bottom of the bay, she's not a threat to any of us."
"But she is. So many people want her back. I want to make sure that never happens. Can you help me?" Candra smiled warmly, taking Amanda's face in her hands. "You're the only one that can make sure she's gone forever, darling. Think of how important you are."
"Me?" The woman was messing with her, she knew that, but she couldn't help remembering Selene's hands around her throat. "But..."
"We're going to make her go away forever. No more nightmares, poppet. No more fear. All you need to do is believe that I can take her away."
"How?" It probably wasn't the smartest question in the world, likely to result in more pain, but Amanda had come too far make blind agreements, to believe when someone asked her to. There'd been too many times that trust had been turned against her. "I don't mean to doubt, but I don't understand. Please, tell me?"
Please, Daddy. You're so smart. Tell me what this spell is?
"We're going to take away her power. For ever and ever." Candra caressed her cheek. "She was cruel, and silly. She liked to hurt people for the sake of hurting people. You can't trust those people. Amanda, I want you to tell me yes, darling. I want you to help me keep her in where you and that brilliant friend of yours put her. Will you help me?"
Amanda lowered her head, rested her forehead against the cool metal of the table, tried to breathe, to concentrate. Selene, gone for ever, her power dispersed. It was a tempting thought. But. That power had to go somewhere, didn't it. And Amanda was pretty sure Candra, for all her 'sweeties' and 'darlings' and caresses, wouldn't be letting it just dissipate into the ether. Some people saw magic as a gigantic game of snakes and ladders, with the only goal to be better than your superiors. Amanda doubted Candra was the sort to ignore a ladder this size. But she couldn't openly defy her, not if she didn't want to have a repeat of the earlier beating. Possibly something worse.
Refuse, and possibly lose your life, probably painfully. Agree, and lose your soul.
Lifting her head awkwardly, she looked Candra in the eyes. "If I say no, you'll still do this, won't you?"
"Pigeon, the world moves. If you say no, it will still happen, but you'll be the one that it hurts most of all. Tell Auntie Candra that's not what you want?"
She wanted to say yes, that it wasn't what she wanted. More than anything, she wanted to be able to go home, to wake up in Angelo's arms, to drink beer and watch movies with Marie, drive the kids into the city, to collect the coffee for the office, to shoot the shit with Mark and have a smoke with Sarah, to tease Doug into blushing beet red, to get giggly on red wine with Marie-Ange. To spend long evenings in research with Wanda, to work alongside Illyana on a particularly messy translation of a magic text. To go drinking with Pete, to tease Remy about the goofy expression that meant he'd spent the afternoon shagging 'Ro, to discuss the finer points of tea making with Betsy and hell, even spend her next session with Sofia discussing just why lying on her front freaked her out so much.
"No," she said at last, and the word fell like lead from her mouth, weighted as it was by the knowledge she was visiting a world of pain on herself. "I'm sorry, Candra, but I can't do that. I can't agree to this."
"I'm sorry too, darling." Candra motioned with her hand, and two men came forward. They cut the charred leather jacket from her back and the shirt underneath. When her naked back was exposed, one of them men brought forward a tray of implements, uniformly sharp and crude. He picked up a chisel, and Candra leaned in to kiss Amanda's forehead. "Sweetie, it's perfectly alright to scream."
