Chapter 2: Kandace

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Chapter 2: Kandace

This is so boring, thought the young lady as she dressed for tonight's festivities. Her family always comes here every fall to visit the family estate but she’s been here so many times that at times she wishes she’d just stayed home. The only bright spot to every trip down south was that New Orleans was so close. Even tonight as she looked out her window on the estate she could see the bright lights of the Big Easy. On warm quite nights like theses one could say that even the sounds of the city could be heard from this far out into the inner country.
She recalls the stories her family speaks of on how her ancestors originally immigrated here back in the 1800 and create this fine estate in honor of the family name. The name itself she wasn’t well known with. Be it of French or Spanish decent she wasn’t sure. All she knows is that she has the look and style of that bygone age. When she was little she had fallen in love with the estate and the nearby city. At times she even felt that she originally belong here, given how strange and eccentric she was. Her skin white and smooth like any ageless beauty from that bygone era. The only difference that stuck out was that her hair was a naturally waviness that would find it hard pressed to be styled into anything that required the Victorian straight hair. Even now as she began to dress for the family evening ball, she finds herself interested in the Victorian era dresses that happen to be in the closet of the room she made as her resting place. She’d always seen them either being worn by other family members or in their original resting places. They’d been tended to and handed down by the generations before he she was told. She remembered how she hoped to one day wear such clothing during the family ball.
Now it was her turn to wear the family cloth.
But she couldn’t decide what to wear.
Despite her turning of age she still wasn’t comfortable wearing skirts. Back in the days of her catholic school youth, she never got use to wearing those school outfits. Some might’ve found them cute and seductive but she just found them being a pain. In the end she felt the compulsion to wear a nice light purple colored Victorian top with frills around the chest area. Since the top was only that and not the fittings for a full dress she decide to go with her usual garb for the evening consisting of black jeans, black shoes that would have gone well with her former school outfit and a red jacket with sleeves that reached her wrists and body length that hit her at the slimness of her waist. Checking herself out in the mirror she say she struck a lovely figure. Being a former member of her schools sprint team, her legs were slim and firm. She had the hips of a fast sprinter and the waist to prove it. The only pronounced feature in her proportions would be her breast size. Something that was not the norm for a good sprinter. Even now she saw that the top made the most of her breasts and showed much of her cleavage along with the silver cross that rested there.
Let them stare she thought as she gave one final tug on her jacket. She normally didn’t wear make up and decided tonight would be no different. As she made her way down the spiral staircase to the ballroom in the estate, she spied the members of her extended family along with various friends of the family, city officials and servants. Like the setting of the house, everyone was decked out in Victorian garb. Many were ill-suited to the look while others excelled in such finery. She noticed that many of her cousins and their friends gave her a long, drinking glance to her looks. She tossed her hair to the side in a flirty gesture as she made her way down the stairs. Once on ground level she took a tall class of the families wine stocks and took a sip.
Turning 21 had it’s advantages.
During the night she mingled with the rest of her family. She shook many a hand as was kissed many a time on the cheek and back of hand. She got many glances from the opposite sex and was offered many phone numbers to that benefit. Being she wasn’t officially attached to anyone in particular it was fun to see how many men would come to her like moths to a flame. She even got a marriage proposal from a unblooded relative. As the night progressed and the string orchestra continued to carry the night, the party moved out onto the veranda and the estate grounds. there a feast was laid out for the family along with tables and chairs for their benefit. The wine ran freely and the party continued in earnest. Eat, drink and be happy seemed to be the mantra for this evening. For everyone enjoyed the evening’s festivities. The young woman wined and dined with the rest of her family. Dance with many a young man and showed a keen in very few of them. Some were nice and wholesome enough to be with in a night’s pleasure but for the most part of the evening she was not interesting.
Oddly enough she was interested in a blond girl that she caught glimpses of during the entire night. She was the same Victoria garb like the rest of the family but given her blonde hair she stuck out. Mores with her light complexion and huge eyes. But unlike the rest of the family and their co-horts this mysterious woman wore her outfit very well. As if she was born to wear such fittings. Off and on she’d see this girl during the night. And every time she’d try to go and see this beautiful stranger, someone would always get in the way in form of introduction or request of a dance. In the beginning she’d be the proper daughter to her father’s family but as the night passed by and she caught glimpse of this woman, she began to feel as if this girl was teasing her. She’d inquire from other family members on who she was but they would always reply the same. That they knew not of any blond or where she came from. Given their perspective they saw nothing of this girl. Off and on she’s see her in the night but it wasn’t till around midnight that this young woman decide to put an end to this blond stalker.
As the party continued around her, she made her way to the blond who happened to be at the edge of the estate. She had her back to her, looking toward the dense foliage that was the swamp. without looking back, the blond began to walk into this no mans land. Anyone in their right mind at the time wouldn’t have considered going out into the swamp at night, but this young woman wasn’t about to be scared off by the topography of the estate to let this mysterious woman get away. Plus, unlike this mysterious woman who happened to be wearing a short skirt, she had been wearing black jeans and comfortable shoes. Making her trek into the swamp not as uncomfortable as one would think.
Deeper the blond would go into the swamp, finding paths in the way that not even the young woman herself would be able to see if not for keeping an eye on this blond. As the young woman continued her chase, she hardly noticed that the noise of the party grew quieter and quieter till all she could hear was her breathing and the wildlife of the swamp. She was lucky she didn’t fall into any bodies of water or happen upon a sleeping alligator. The only wildlife she saw was the dragonflies illuminated by the scores of fireflies that drifted lazily along her path. Before the young woman realized things had gotten out of control she found herself hopelessly lost. Everywhere she looked she saw nothing but swampland and more swampland. She couldn’t hear nor see the estate or the party let alone the blond she was chasing after. Without any other idea on where to go she continued in the path she thought she saw the blond last till finally she emerged from the swamp into a small clearing.
In the middle of the clearing she finally saw the blond. She was standing still among a clearing of oddly shaped stones. She appeared to be standing next to a particular stone but gave little attention to the young woman's arrival. the young woman made a step forward and ended up stubbing her toe against a small stone that lay hidden in the weeds. She was about to bend down to pick it up when she realize that it wasn’t your ordinary stone she had stubbed her foot on.
It was a grave marker.
The young woman had stumbled onto a graveyard.
How could this be she thought to herself. Graveyards were somewhat uncommon in this region of the country, given how New Orleans and the estate were located below the water table. Yet here she stood among a sea of headstones, some looking as old as time itself.
Swamp fog began to gather.
As the young woman made her way toward the blond, her mind kept racing over the situation. If this was indeed a grave yard, how did it survive? Surely the spring swamp floods and the rainstorms would’ve washed it out centuries ago. But the more she wandered toward her objective, the more the impossible looked all the more possible. She felt she was trending on hallowed ground, the thumping of her heart hit up against the silver cross that lay across her breast. She did her best to keep an eye on the blond at the grave marker but had to look down every now and then to ensure she didn’t trip and break her neck over one of those mysterious death markers. this whole situation seemed so unreal and being that of a dream. Even the fog began to build in mass as she approached her quarry. She had been too busy trying to watch her step that she did not realize to look up for the blond. When she did this she found that she had vanished! What the hell thought the young woman. How could the blond just disappear. She started to look around to see if she left anything behind but the damned fog started to get in the way. What started out as a fine mist started to become that of pea soup, thick and heavy. By luck or chance she saw the fog break long enough to see the ground.
There remained two dainty footprints next to a tombstone.
They were not footprints left by her feet for the tread was not like those of her shoes. But that didn’t explain where the blond went. Did she fly away? As she went down on one knee to examine the footprints, her eye trailed to the tombstone next to it. It had much grime on it but she could make out a few words thanks to the moonlight. Here is said “Lecarde” and below it something about being a “killer”. The young woman brushed her hand over the wordings in hopes of reading more. but only found the stone smeared with a dark coloring after she ran her hand over it. How odd she thought, it wasn’t cold to the touch but warm. Almost hot and slick with life. As the fog gather ever thicker, moonlight began to shine through the opening. The moonlight made the smear on the tombstone all the more stark and black. As she looked closer at the mark she noticed it didn’t have the strong odor of moss or anything decaying. IF anything it smelled more coppery and like that of spilled...
The young woman realized what she saw was blood. She quickly backed away as the flog engulfed the tombstone. She tried to wipe what remained of the blood on her jeans but only found that more came to take it’s place in the palm of her hands. She looked at her other hand to see in horror that blood we seeping out of the middle of her hand.
Both of her hands were bleeding.
“Stigmata!” the young woman thought. She had read about it back in school but she never thought she’d see the day such happening to her. Tried as she might to rid herself of the bleeding, no matter were she wiped it off on her jeans, it welled back up in the middle of her hands till it started to spill over. Her very own life fountain in the palms of her hands. She looked around to find if anyone was around only to see that the fog had completely overtaken the clearing, the moon shining brightly in the darkness. Then suddenly she heard something come all round here. It started to engulf her much like how the fog was trying to. It came out low and soft at first, like a chuckle, but as time passed it grew in volume and crested to that of a sinister laugh. It was as if the very wind picked up and decided to sound like the cackling of a very wicked person. A person who had promises of evil toward you, a person who was going to take the very life from you.
Your very soul.
The young woman did not stay around long to allow the laughter to overtake her and drive her mad. She put her sprinter’s training into action and began to run from the clearing. She did not know where she was to run to or where but she knew that she had to get away from IT before it came for her and took her away. She almost tripped on three stone markers on her way from the clearing but she quickly gained her footing and continued her mad dash away from insanity. She felt the blood on her hands running freely and dropping in huge, wet, drops as she ran. She didn’t understand it but she felt a lingering presence chasing her as she tried to run away. She knew not if it was the blonde or something far more sinister but she knew if she stopped and faced it should most surely die.
she feared she’d lose her very soul.
She knew this evil before, she once sought after it to serve it’s wicked designs. But from the abyss she climbed out and found the path of righteousness. Only now the very thing she sought for in that abyss was right behind her, gaining ground, and had every intention of taking her back into the shadow. As she sprinted thru the swamp, she felt this presence about to overtake her, she screamed.
One moment she thought she was done for, then the next she found herself punching thru the foliage and found herself back on the family estate. She accidentally ran into one of the servants and he dropped his contents onto the ground with crystalline crashes and silver metals resounding. Everyone and everyone that was nearby rushed to the young woman's aid. She tried to get up but found herself being helped up by several of the men in the party. When she fought herself of off them she looked around to make sure she was back on the home grounds.
The presence that was behind her was gone.
She looked around to see if she was infact where she was suppose to be and all she found looking at her back was the eyes of family and relatives. Her father came and gave her the once over. He noticed that she was dirty and sweaty but other than the wide eyed look of shock, she appeared okay. The young woman was not sure if she should tell anyone about what she just experienced, if it had been anything but weird dream or perhaps she had too much to drink. She remembered about her hands and looked down only to find that there was no blood on them. The only thing there was some dirt and grass stains.
But she had seen blood coming out, hadn't see?
Her father called for some of the male members to help her daughter into the house and to her room. The men noticed that there was a slight tremble to the young woman's frame but thought best not to say anything about it. Out wandering the grounds at night I suppose said one of the older family members. With that topic touched off the stories and the folktales of haunted plantations and ghosts apparitions. that’s what the young woman heard all talk about as she was helped back to her room. Two of the men were nice enough to see her to her room and she did notice that one of them was more than interested in joining her there later in the night.
She ignored them and quickly locked the door once she was inside. The young woman didn’t know what to make out what had just happened. She knew she saw something out in the swamp that night but it all felt so vague and unreal. Even now she started to forget the words she read on the tombstone.
“Lecarde”
“Killer”
What did this all mean?
She decided some fresh air was something she needed right now so she opened up the window to let the breeze in. As she turned her back to the window to begin undressing she stopped. Suddenly, she felt that someone was watching her from behind. Figuring it was probably one of the younger men trying to catch a peak of her she whirled around in hopes of catching them off guard. But she saw instead made her blood run cold.
hanging in the view of the window was the moon. The very moon that shined it’s gilding light to the words and the tombstone in the unknown graveyard. But before her very eyes she saw it turn blood red. Just like how the blood off her hands dripped away, the redness overtook it like as if blood was being pored over it.
She knew it was her blood on that moon this night.
And with that image returned the sinister laughter.
The young woman knew she had done many stupid things in her youth, but she never realized that those actions would one day come in this form. Chasing the forbidden knowledge was indeed a double edge sword. And now she has found herself pierced straight thru with it.
All was quite as she saw this hellish image and laughter that could only come from the bowels of hell. At that every moment, Kandace Lestriss Boveairx, was in fear for her very soul....