I’ve got voodoo, I’ve got hoodoo,
I’ve got things I ain’t even tried…
And I got friends on the other side.”
-Dr. Facilier, “The Princess and the Frog”
As the sun set, its last rays illuminated the Blackwood Marina, an old, shabby set of buildings enclosed by a high chain-link fence. The marina was located near the levee in a rather dilapidated section of town. Despite its disheveled appearance, the marina seemed to be open for business. The area echoed with the sounds of traffic just out of sight. However, oddly for what seemed to be an industrial area, the marina was completely lacking in smell. The marina was right across the street from the Riverview Cemetery, just as Chance had said. The back of the business faced the river, with a dock and boat lift.
The only person in sight was an African American man in coveralls who was working on a boat behind the fence. It wasn't Gideon, but he looked enough like him to be a relative. His name patch said "Primo." A red toolbox was at Primo's feet. It had his name painted on it, just like the patch on his coveralls. Loud reggae music played from a radio next to him, and he was whistling along cheerfully as he worked. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t appear to notice the group watching him from nearby.
Chance pointed out a pristine, expensive-looking limousine parked near a shack with a neon yellow sign that said Manager. "That limo sure doesn't belong down here," he observed. "It must be Blackwood's."
The marina was old and rundown, and the atmosphere was unsettling, but there was no sign of ghosts. Instead, Daniel notices that the buildings were decorated with voodoo veves and painted with "haint blue," a color supposed to keep ghosts away. Daniel wondered what Blackwood is up to, and why he didn’t want ghosts following him home.
Sneaking into the marina would be difficult with Primo standing guard, and Daniel was unsure what other defenses Gideon might have in place. While they watched for an opportunity, a black SUV very much like Drellassi's rolled up to the gate, and after a few seconds, the gate opened, and the driver drove inside.
The driver of the black car got out and opened the back door. A stocky man in a tailored suit emerged. Daniel recognized him from posters he had seen around town during election season as Eustace Boudreaux, councilman for the sixth district. Daniel was surprised to see who got out next. It was Buford Lalumiere, pale and impassive-faced, dressed in a suit and dark glasses. Beth was astonished to see Buford at the Blackwood Marina. "Buford?" she whispered.
"He's still kind of dead," Daniel told her, recognizing the dark electric aura surrounding Buford's body. Only now Buford’s own spirit was not inside to resist it.
"What, are you telling me that guy’s a zombie?" Chance asked.
Daniel shook his head. "They aren't like the movies," he said. "These zombies are ghosts in a meat suit. They look like people until they decay too much. These guys are probably well embalmed. The driver is a zombie too, but I don't know what to make of the councilman."
“How can you tell?” Chance was clearly still skeptical.
"I have the Sight." Daniel explained. "You can be born with it, or you can almost die but not quite. Or you can use a magic spell to tear your way through the Shroud. That last one usually results in regret. I'm that one."
Daniel shrugged and said, "They say curiosity killed the cat, but that cat was lucky. He didn't have to see his friends die and their souls tormented by what lies beyond the veil. It's a terrible gift, and I would give it up in a heartbeat if I could. I tried. For almost thirty years I tried. But I can't. Now I know they'll torment me until the day I die.""
Chance seemed to believe him. “So what do we do?”
“Shoot them in the head,” said Daniel. “Or hack them to pieces.” He indicated the root cutting tool that he had brought with him. "This is what I use to take them down," he said.
“So, we just charge in there?”
"We only have one shot at this," Daniel said, "and I don't think we should just charge in until we know what else they have in there." He considered their chances. He thought maybe he could undo the veves and summon a spirit into the neighborhood to distract the Blackwoods. But whoever had made the veves had used a path of magic that he didn't completely understand. Their chances of success were slim.
While Daniel was considering his options, Primo left the boat yard and opened the office door for the councilman. The two walking dead followed them inside, leaving a small chance for Daniel and his friends to sneak into the boatyard. Daniel thought it might be a good idea to distract the denizens before breaking into the marina. But he couldn't find anything to make noise with, or anything flammable to set on fire.
Daniel asked Chance if Blackwood had ever programmed him to come to this place for any reason. The cop shrugged, indicating that he didn't think it was something he should gamble on.
"Well, I guess we can use your tactic from last night," Daniel told Chance. "We ram the gate with your car." The group had come to the area in Chance’s police car, although they didn’t bring it close in case anyone at the marina recognized it as a West Monroe cruiser instead of a Monroe one.
Chance pivoted and headed for the car when suddenly, screams and gunshots erupted from the marina. Eli Dupont and Silas Thorne burst out of the manager's office, firing their weapons. Silas dashed for the gate, flinging it open, while Eli held his position, discharging his nine-millimeter at the two zombies stumbling in pursuit. The bullets seemed to have no effect on them. Buford knocked his gun aside, and together with the driver, they seized Eli's arms, pulling him back towards the office.
Daniel was horrified when the two zombies dragged Eli away. But Chance took the opportunity to run inside after the zombies and their loudly cursing victim. Daniel sighed and was about to follow him when Silas saw him and Beth and ran toward them. He grabbed Daniel by the shirt and yelled, "You’ve got to help me! They're barking mad, all three of them!"
"What are they up to?" Daniel asked, fearing he already knew the answer.
"They want to make more of those walking corpses, starting with me!" Silas wailed. "You've got to do something!"
Daniel shoved Silas toward Beth. "Get him out of here," he growled, "I'll see if I can help Officer Friendly." He trotted off toward the dark office building where Chance, Eli, and the zombies had disappeared.
He jogged through the automatic gate that Silas had opened and entered the boatyard. This was the business's public face. It was surrounded by a high chain link fence topped with razor wire. The yard was full of boats that appeared to be under repair or restoration by the Blackwoods. Primo's radio was still pumping out the same reggae beat where he had left it. The smell of diesel fuel filled the air. Daniel carefully made his way through the boat yard, his tree root cutter at the ready in case he had to fight his way out.
Entering the shabby little office, Daniel found it was pretty much as he expected. There was nothing unusual inside except for a fresh pot of coffee in the evening. Chance, Eli, and the zombies were not in the office, but he found Eli's empty gun on the floor and an open exit toward the back.
The exit from the marina opened onto a small dirt path that led over the levee and down to the river. The marina docks jutted out into the Ouachita River, and lit torches illuminated the scene below with a fiery ambience.
When Daniel looked over the levee, he saw several rough-hewn pine coffins, each surrounded by voodoo veves of a pattern he didn't recognize. Gideon and Councilman Boudreaux were chanting, but surprisingly it was Primo who was leading the ceremony. The zombies were shoving Eli into another coffin, and Chance was standing nearby, looking as blank as a zombie himself.
In the center of the circle of coffins, Primo stood before a crude altar, a small bonfire illuminating his face, which was painted in intricate patterns that marked him as a voodoo bokor. He was reading from a large, heavy tome written in French. On the altar lay the body of a sacrificed chicken, its guts strewn about in a macabre pattern. Behind Primo hung a colorful tapestry that depicted a young man and a pretty woman in an old-fashioned wedding dress standing before a house that looked a lot like the dilapidated mansion Daniel had visited the previous night. The air around the tapestry crackled with spectral energy, and Daniel felt a sense of dread as he realized that he was witnessing a ritual that could only lead to disaster.
Daniel didn't panic, but he decided that discretion was the better part of valor. After all, the bokors still had one empty coffin, and they didn't seem to care whose body filled it. Daniel's exit from the scene was anything but stealthy. Gideon looked up from his chanting, spotted Daniel trying to hide behind one of the boats, and gestured to Chance. "Take care of him," he commanded. The mesmerized cop jogged back toward where he had been standing when he made the noise. Ducking behind the boat, Daniel watched Chance poking about the boat yard until he got far enough away for Daniel to slip out the gate undetected. Looking back for a moment, he heard the ceremony below the levee reach a crescendo, in an eerie counterpoint to Primo's reggae music. Time to go.
Primo shouted, "Grand monstre dévorant! Grand monstre dévorant! Réveiller! Réveiller! Réveiller!" and the bonfire exploded into the sky. Daniel felt a familiar feeling as he saw what appeared to be a hole in the sky forming over Riverview Cemetery. For a moment, he feared he was having a flashback to Mount Moriah, but then he realized he wasn't. This was happening now.
Daniel stood at the edge of the Marina fence, his heart pounding in his chest. Luminous orbs rode on ethereal storm winds out of a hole in the sky. The orbs fell down on Riverview like glowing rain. Where the orbs landed, the earth began to writhe and seethe as ghastly howls rent the air. Daniel knew that whatever was in those graves was about to be set loose.
Dismayed, he saw that Beth was still where he had left her, and she had prevented Silas from leaving as well. “I just saw Big Bad Voodoo Daddy in concert,” he told her. “Rating: zero out of five, do not recommend. If you don't want to meet the fans, we have to get out of here, now.”