Kali's Altar 18

After I showered, I went to the kitchen and asked Ira to prepare a meal for Alexandria. Damijana’s voice came into my mind, “Go to the living room.” When I got the living room, Damijana stood staring out the window wearing a long black skirt and a black sweater. She spoke out loud, “Sit down Clarence, we have a visitor. Don‘t speak unless you‘re spoken to.”

“Who is it?”

“A member of another house.” I took a seat in the large armchair and waited. Several minutes later the doorbell rang. Ira passed the living room on her way to the door. She returned followed by a tall woman with long, curly red hair. Her energy seemed to fill the room when she entered. She wore white slacks, white leather boots, a burgundy silk blouse and a full length white mink coat. She took her coat off and threw it over the back of a chair as if its value was meaningless to her. Then she sat down on the sofa, crossed her legs and smiled. Damijana sat down across from the woman. “You must be the one they call The Duchess.”

“I am. You must be The Gothic Girl. I like the whole black hair and dark clothing thing you’ve got going on. That’s very original.”

Damijana replied, “Thank you. I see you favor the ‘spoiled, slut wife of a mafia boss look.’ That‘s very low profile. Would you like coffee, tea, a drink?”

“No. I’m fine, thank you. Frankly I didn’t come here for a tea party and trivial conversation. What’s the issue?”

“We want to create an alliance between our two houses.”

“Oh, so you need us for something. What’s in it for us?”

“We can raise the dead.”

“Bullshit.” Brianna walked in the room, sat down next to The Duchess and removed her sunglasses. The Duchess grabbed Brianna’s wrist and checked for a pulse. When she didn’t find one, she turned back to Damijana, “Alright, get her out of here, she fucking stinks.”

Brianna stood and left the room. The Duchess asked, “So what do you want from us?”

Damijana replied, “We want you to help us destroy the man they call The Great Sathanas.”

“Who gets all his wealth?”

“We’re not interested in his money. If you get into this with us, whatever you pillage is yours.”

“Oh yeah? What about the machine?”

“We can’t take any of the equipment. If we do, we’ll have much bigger problems than The Great Sathanas.”

The Duchess looked over at me then back to Damijana, “What’s with the swinging dick? You let men sit at your table?”

“Sometimes. Your house doesn’t?”

“Fuck no. Why would we?”

“Female supremacy?”

“Is that a joke? We’re outsiders, just like you. We’ve been hunted, tortured and killed. We’re always on the run, we’re forced to exist underground. The women who I’ve been in the trenches with, those are my sisters. I could give a fuck less about the rest of the women in the world. I don’t have anything against men, aside from the fact that in houses like ours, they’re always the weakest link.”

Damijana shot me a glance, her voice came into my mind, “Let it go. This is not a woman you want to challenge.”

The Duchess looked me in the eyes, “Don’t you agree?”

I couldn’t help myself. “No, I don’t agree.”

“And there lies the problem. You ARE the weakest link, but you’re blind to that fact and therefore unable to become stronger. When I look into your eyes, I see the contents of your soul. It would take me less than 24-hours to have you on your knees in front me offering your loyalty. You’re a security risk. If my house forms an alliance with yours, other houses may form alliances of their own that are hostile to us. You’re the first one they’ll target. They’ll send a woman to you who will know exactly what your combination is and she will open you like a safe.” She turned her head to Damijana and continued, “This is why we don’t use men. I’ll bet you anything that he’s already been the cause of strife and division in your house. But never mind all that. If you seat men at your table, it’s your business.”

“We need to settle this business with Sathanas quickly.”

“I have angles on him. I have influence with some of the people he knows. As you know, he is very well connected.”

“His associates won’t want anything to do with this kind of war.”

“His more prestigious associates will walk away from him at the drop of a hat if they think there is a risk of him splashing shit on their clothes. Some of the gangsters he’s associated with won’t just walk away.”

“They will when they see the cost of being associated with him.”

“You can count on that. I won’t. Now lets talk about raising the dead.”

“Bring us the bodies.” The Duchess smirked and stood. Damijana and I both rose from our seats. The Duchess put her coat back on, “I’ll be back with the first one around midnight.” She gave us a slight nod and saw herself out.

I asked, “Can we trust her?”

Damijana glared at me, “Are you trying to prove her point about being the weakest link?” I looked at her confused. She shook her head in disgust and walked out the room. Lavinia’s voice said, “The Duchess will make a solid ally. Think about what she said to you and don’t do anything to reinforce her belief that you are just a mindless swinging dick.”

I remembered Alexandria and quickly went to the bathroom and grabbed the Valium and water. When I got to her room, she was curled up on the bed soaked in sweat, her face red and covered with tears. I gave her the pills and the water. Her hand shook as she raised the glass of water to her lips. A sandwich, an apple and a glass of milk had been placed on the nightstand. I said, “You should eat.”

She looked up at me with wide tear-filled eyes, “Thank you for being so nice to me.” I turned away from her and left the room. I stopped at Lavinia’s office and knocked on the door. Her voice said, “Come in.” When I entered the office, I saw that all the furniture had been pushed up against the walls leaving a large space in the center of the room. Lavinia sat in a wheelchair spinning herself around in circles with the front wheels lifted off the floor. She stopped spinning and let the front wheels fall. I shut the door and stared at her in amazement. I thought, “How long did it take you to learn how to do that?”

“I was practicing while you were downstairs meeting with Damijana and The Duchess. After I heal, I’ll get prosthetics.” Her gown was tucked in under her bandaged stumps. I remembered the night when she was crippled and disfigured by the old Matriarch. I remembered her lying on the mattress in the basement after the amputations. There was a knock on the door and Black Sally entered. Lavinia’s voice said, “Sally, I want you to take Clarence to your quarters and lock him in your steel box.”

Goosebumps instantly broke out on my flesh and my heart start pounding. Lavinia said, “When I was working my way through your mind. I found an intense fear of being locked in a tight, confined dark space.” I thought, “Please…” Lavinia’s voice interrupted, “DO NOT GROVEL! I won’t tolerate it. I command you to go with Sally and get in the box. When I tell you to do something, you do it. Do have any doubts in regard to how far I would go to protect you, strengthen you and provide you with whatever you need?”

I thought, “No.”

“What I did for you today, putting everything on the line to support you; do you think that I would do that for anyone? No. I would only do that for you. You are well aware that I demand your complete obedience. If I tell you to climb into a pot and let me boil you alive, that’s what you will do. Do you understand me?”

I thought, “Yes.”

“Sally, take him to the box.”

I followed Sally back to her quarters. She ordered me to strip and climb into the steel box. I sat crouched with my arms hugging my knees as she slammed the lid shut less than an inch above my head. I heard the closet door shut. All was black, the steel was cold against my naked flesh. I had no room to move. It felt as if I couldn’t breathe. I began to panic. I screamed.