Kali's Altar 2

As Black Sally put ointment and bandages on my back, she said: “I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but your relationship with Lavinia is bringing tension to the house. How could you be stupid enough to get yourself caught between Lavinia and Damijana?”

“What is your relationship with Lavinia? Your opposition to her seems to have dissipated.”

“This house no longer encourages dissenting opinions Clarence. Lavinia is changing the whole structure of the family. She took her position by force because she is the strongest. This family hasn’t had a Matriarch like Lavinia in a very long time. The table protected Antonija. Since the table could have united to overthrow her, we were giving her our consent to rule. Her authority was limited by the fact that we could withdraw our protection and consent at anytime. Lavinia is the opposite. She is strong enough to protect the table and she’s strong enough to destroy it. She doesn’t need our protection or our consent to rule. On the contrary, we now need her protection and we need her consent to even exist. There are advantages and disadvantages to both kinds of rule. Antonija allowed for more freedom at the table. Lavinia will make the house more powerful.”

“How do you use your power to lure people to you?”

“I usually don’t. My job has been to get food. Most people won’t be able to hear you. If they can’t hear you, you can’t bring out their voice. You won’t be able to just look at anyone and read their thoughts. You have to engage them. If you can engage them, that’s someone that you want to bring to the table. Everyone else is the herd. As you may have guessed, women are more likely to have the gift than men. You will find that people from one culture are more likely to have it than people from another culture. If someone can hear you, especially someone who isn’t aware of their gift, the manipulation can be very subtle and easy. When you put the question in their head, their voice will answer as if it were engaged in solitary contemplation. People are always having conversations with themselves in their minds. They usually welcome and trust a new voice. They will think they are just entertaining an undiscovered aspect of themselves in the most secret and isolated of places, their own mind. You can put the thought in their head, ‘Do I have something on my nose?’ Then watch them wipe their nose. But you will start with questions, not suggestions. Once they answer the first question, the rest of their thoughts will fall like a row of dominoes. The question can be simple like, ’Do I look funny in these pants?’ Then, ‘What else could I have worn?’ You’ll see the clothes hanging in her closet. ‘Which pair panties did I put on this morning?’ You’ll see the point where she took mental note of the panties she was about to put on. You will see her reflection if she remembers standing in front of a mirror in nothing but her bra and panties. ‘Am I sexy? Am I too fat? When was the last time I had sex? How often do I have sex? When was the first time? How often do I masturbate? What do I fantasize about to get myself to cum? What makes me scared? What me makes me wet? What can no one ever find out about? Who hurt me the most in my life?’ Once you’re at that point, you introduce suggestion. Then, you introduce yourself in a way that makes the person believe that you were delivered to them by fate. Make them believe that you are the only one who can help them find the answers to the questions they’ve never had the freedom to ask.”

“Then I bring them to the table?”

“Then you bring them to the house. They must be tortured before being brought to the table.”

After I was cleaned and bandaged, I went downstairs and sat alone in the den. I began to doze off until I was startled by the sound of the doorbell. Ira passed by the den on her way to the door. Black Sally entered the room. I heard her voice in my head, “Just keep your mouth shut and don’t do anything until I tell you." Ira returned to the den and said, “There is young lady here to see Lavinia. She says that Lavinia is expecting her.”

Sally sat down and said, “Bring her in.” The woman was dressed conservatively; she wore a long brown skirt with a matching jacket, a white blouse and ugly black loafers. A small cross was attached to a thin gold chain that she wore around her neck. The woman was very attractive; she was dark, much darker than me. She had almond shaped eyes; her hair was straightened and laid on her shoulders. I fantasized about kissing her thick, moist lips, feeling them on my neck and all over my body.

Black Sally said, “Hi, my name is Desiree and this is Michael.” The woman shook our hands and introduced herself as ‘Octavia‘.

Sally said, “Please, sit down. I understand that you’re here to see Lavinia.”

“Yes.”

“Unfortunately, she was in an accident recently and is in no condition to meet with you at this time.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. What happened?”

“She was in a car accident. Maybe you could come back at a different time.”

“Could I see her?”

“No. That’s not possible. How long have you known Lavinia?” The Gothic Girl entered to room, introduced herself as ‘Sarah’ and sat down.

Octavia said, “I haven’t seen Lavinia since I was a little girl. She came to stay with us at my Grandmother’s house.”

Sally raised her eyebrows and said, “Oh…well your Grandmother may not want you here at this point in time.”

“She’s the one who sent me here.”

The Gothic Girl said, “Then you should go back and tell her that Lavinia is sick and this isn’t a good time.”

“My Grandmother passed away two weeks ago. Before she died, she had me promise her that I would come see Lavinia. I was supposed to stay here for a year, just like Lavinia stayed at our house. My Grandmother said that it’s part of an agreement she made a long time ago. Like I said, I wrote to Lavinia about all of this. I had to travel a long way to get here.”

The Gothic Girl asked, “Do you go to church?”

“Yes. My faith is a very important part of my life.”

Black Sally and the Gothic Girl sat in silence for a moment. Octavia looked at them nervously. Black Sally asked, “Do you know why your Grandmother sent you here, other than it was part of an agreement?”

“She said that is very important to her, and my future, for me to come here.”

The Gothic Girl let out a deep sigh and sat back in her chair, “Alright, we’re going to straighten this out. I have a couple questions for you first. What were you doing before you came here? Were you working? Are you married? Do you have kids?”

“I worked at a bookstore. I‘m single and I don‘t have kids.”

“So you just worked and went to church? What did you do for fun?”

“Um…I’m kind of a homebody. I don’t really get out too much.”

“Who all lived at your Grandmother’s house?”

“Just my Grandmother, my uncle and me.”

“So you mean to tell me that you are just a hard working Christian girl who was sent here by your Grandmother and you don’t why? I don’t believe you.”

Sally said, “I don’t either. You’re a spy from another house.”

“Spy? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I…”

The Gothic Girl interrupted, “Maybe you’re not a spy. Maybe you’re telling the truth. You can say you’re a spy, walk out the door right now and go back to the house that sent you here. If you want to insist that you‘re telling us the truth. We will be forced to verify that.”

“I’m not a spy. I’m telling the truth. You can verify whatever you want.”

“We will. If you are telling us the truth, I don’t want you to feel like we’re punishing you for being honest. It’s just that it’s very important that we make sure that you weren’t sent here with bad intentions. Unfortunately, there is only one way for us to be sure that’s not case.” The Gothic Girl stood up, “Let‘s all go talk about this downstairs.”