Evil in Hockley by William Buckel

was
it?”
    “A mixture of powdered glass, snake
venom, and hot peppers. If you inhale it the glass bites into your
lungs. The peppers and dried snake venom irritate and cause
bleeding. You would choke to death on your own blood.”
    Sandy had a frown on her face when she
asked,
    “How do you know this? Why are you
here?”
    “Tony’s gone. He was like a bird with a
broken wing. He could never look after himself. I needed him. He
was no good but I needed him.”
    Harry held up his finger.
    “I saw him today. He’s
alive.”
    Karma shook her head.
    “He’s in a world between life and
death. There’s only one direction he can take and it leads to the
land of the dead. Shelley’s in the same situation. Neither have a
soul.”
    Sandy shook her head.
    “And you know this because?”
    “It’s a long story.”
    “We’ve got all night.”
    “All right then but I’ll have to start
at the beginning. I’m Creole which is not only a language but in a
sense the people who speak it as well. Joe Sharky and Bobby Mercer
have a fascination with voodoo and visit Joe’s uncle, a mob boss,
in New Orleans a couple of times a year. That’s where I met them
and they offered me a job at Sharky’s bar.”
    Sandy interrupted.
    “Let’s be clear about this. You went
north to become a prostitute?”
    “I fell into that role the same as my
mother did and her mother before her. I’m not here to argue
morality. I’m here to warn you what you’re up against. John Dean
and Lenea, a voodoo priestess.”
    Sandy uttered a humourless
laugh.
    “Like we’re fighting
Zombies?”
    “That’s right. If you want to call it
that. More like the two who create the walking dead.”
    Karma turned to Harry.
    “You saw two of them today Harry. Tony
and Shelley.”
    “To tell you the truth I don’t know
what I saw. They disappeared. I don’t know if they were even
there.”
    “That was Lenea’s doing. They always
work together. Never forget that. She had something of yours and
made you see what she wanted you to see.”
    “I can’t see what she could possibly
have of mine?”
    “The bullet you put in Tony’s
knee.”
    Sandy knocked on the table.
    “I didn’t see a black sedan. Harry said
it was there. She definitely didn’t have anything of
mine.”
    Karma smiled.
    “She had Harry.”
    “Fuck.”
    Sandy had found the right word to
express herself and the situation.
    “What did this Lenea do that could
cause me not to see something and make people disappear in front of
Harry’s eyes?”
    “That’s not easy to explain but I’ll
try.”
    Karma looked to be in deep
concentration then finally added,
    “You know in the movies when thieves
steal something they film an empty aisle? Well that’s basically
what Lenea did to you. She made you see what she wanted you to see,
not what was really there.
    “People disappeared in front of Harry’s
eyes because she froze time for him, for a couple of minutes. She
was probably within sight of you and the house.”
    Sandy asked,
    “How are we supposed to fight those
two? I mean we don’t know any voodoo spells.”
    Karma thought for sometime then
said,
    “Joe originally hired me for my
knowledge of voodoo and the black arts. I’m actually more of what
you would perceive as a witch than a voodoo priestess. When I found
out what he wanted me to do I played dumb. So I became a prostitute
and sold dope. I couldn’t sing or dance.”
    Karma chuckled then said,
    “I actually didn’t have sex with
anyone. That is except Tony. I undressed and went to bed with them.
I whispered sweet words in their ears and they surrendered their
minds to me. I gave them thoughts of having had the best sex of
their lives.”
    Sandy did a double take.
    “Could you teach me that?”
    Karma laughed again.
    “It would take a life time to
learn.”
    Harry had to know where Karma
stood.
    “So you can help?”
    Karma appeared in deep thought then
nodded.
    “For Tony. For what they did to him,
I’ll