Marina & Catriona
Catriona flinched as Marina slammed the journal closed with a resounding thud. “Why are you stopping there?’
“I want to savor it. You could go online and easily find Elizabeth Bathory’s story. Still, so much of it is pure conjecture, with some historians even claiming that her cruelty was nothing more than a story fabricated for political gain.”
“The truth is in there?”
“Yes, at least what she could get out before she died. It was all rather sudden, but she knew her time was coming, much like you seem to know my end.”
Moving back into the kitchen, Catriona shook the excess water from a pair of cups drying on the counter and filled them both with coffee. She handed one to Marina before turning her back and saying, “Years from now, Miss MacCarthy. Remember, you looked old. Given how you look now at your age, I may not even be around when it happens.”
“You felt as though you were there, though. Perhaps we are sisters destined to grow ancient together.” Marina blew on her coffee before taking a sip, savoring the bitter taste as she drank.
A knock at the door interrupted their conversation. Bethany stepped inside, smiling widely. “Good morning,” she called.
“You’re early,” Marina said, glancing at her phone.
“I apologize, ma’am, but I was up and wanted to get a start on things. I also wanted to know whether you wished for Catriona to come with me on the jet or with you and James in the car.”
“She’ll be coming with me. Now that you’re here, you may as well start packing. Could you also pick me out something casual to wear and draw me a bath?” Marina flashed a cheeky wink at Catriona. “Nothing exotic, you understand? Just water and perhaps a fizzy bath bomb.”
The girl flushed as she looked at Bethany, who wore a shocked expression on her face.
“Am I to gather that our new friend is up to speed with the job requirements?” Bethany asked.
“More or less. You two can get acquainted while I have a soak. How does that sound?”
“As you wish, ma’am,” Bethany said before rushing off to the bathroom, seemingly eager to be out of sight.
The sound of running water filled the room as Marina leaned back and savored the final few drops of her morning brew. “What do you think of Bethany?” she finally asked.
“She seems nice. Is she okay with me coming to live with you?”
“She’ll get over it. Bethany is a bit of a jealous sort and probably thinks that you are my new little toy. She’ll fear that I am about to cast her out, or worse, so the poor dear will fret and try to work that little bit harder. That’s why she is here so damned early this morning.”
Catriona glanced towards the bathroom, the steam billowing out of the door making it seem all the more inviting.
Following her gaze, Marina said, “I know you won’t join me, but you are welcome to have a bath or a shower when I am done.”
“I’d like that.”
“Good. I’ll have James bring up your things so that you can change.” Marina pursed her lips and looked the girl up and down. “I will take you shopping for new clothes when we get home. You are moving up in the world and should dress accordingly.”
“I have some money saved. I can—”
“You’ll do no such thing. Let’s call it one of your perks, much like your citizenship, which will be yours within the week.”
“I’m not even here legally. I’m not sure it’ll be possible.”
Marina strolled into the kitchen and placed a hand on Catriona’s cheek. “When you have power, anything is possible.”
***
After dropping Bethany and most of the luggage off at a private airstrip, James had made good time once out of the city. The SUV hummed along I-65, the city of Mobile flashing past outside the tinted windows. Marina could tell that Catriona was itching to talk, but the test of her patience was going well. She would make for a loyal employee, so Marina decided not to prolong the agony any further. “Have you ever been to New Orleans?” she asked.
Perking up instantly, Catriona said, “I haven’t been anywhere in America other than Savannah unless a three-hour layover in Atlanta counts.
“I travel extensively, so you are going to get to see a fair bit of the world, assuming you decide to stay with me.”
“I’d love that. Tell me about New Orleans. Did you grow up there?”
Marina slid down in her seat and leaned against the headrest. “Yes. My family has been a part of New Orleans since around 1730. Believe it or not, Catriona, I have some Irish blood in me.”
Catriona’s eyes went wide. “Your family is from Ireland?”
“Barthelemy MacCarthy came from Ireland and settled in New Orleans, although he shortened the family name to Macarty for some reason. I won’t bore you with lineage details, but the important part of the story came in 1787 when Marie was born. She was the one who put a black mark on the family name and set in motion a ripple effect that has carried over into my life.”
“I hate to interrupt, Madame, but I need to stop for gas,” James said. “Can I get anything for you?”
“A bottle of water, please. How about you, Catriona?”
Trying to stifle a yawn, Catriona opened the passenger door and slid out of the car. She leaned over and peered inside. “I think I’ll pay a visit to the ladies’ room. We still have a few hours ahead of us, and I don’t want to have James pulling over and stopping on my behalf.”
“You’re right. I’ll have James find us a place where we can have a bite to eat and a drink.”
Catriona glanced down at her clothes and began to pluck at a stray thread hanging from the bottom of her T-shirt. “Can we make it somewhere grubby? Maybe a place where I won’t stand out like a sore thumb?”
“A dive bar it is,” Marina replied. “I could murder a greasy burger.”
***
With a smile, Catriona closed the car door and hustled across the gas station forecourt. She stepped inside the shop and scanned the interior before finally spying the restrooms tucked away in the far corner. She nodded to James as she passed the cashier, where he was loading water and snacks on the counter while also pre-paying for the gas. He gave her a tight smile and turned back to the task at hand.
The overhead light in the restroom flickered and hummed, threatening to die at any moment. Not fancying the idea of being stuck in the dark, Catriona quickly did her business, washed her hands, and headed back outside.
The sky had turned dark in the short time that she had been gone. Thunder rumbled in the distance as lightning danced within the clouds, begging to be let loose. As the first fat drops of rain fell, Catriona headed for the cover of the car, jumping inside just as the skies opened up.
“Where did that come from?” Marina asked, leaning back and staring out through the panoramic sunroof.
“James is going to get drenched.” She peered out the darkened windows and watched the driver pump the gas, leaning casually against the vehicle, a black umbrella held aloft.
“That man never misses a thing,” Marina laughed. “He’ll be fine.”
The sound of the gas pump shutting off echoed through the interior of the car. Catriona watched as James rattled the nozzle to squeeze out the last few drops. As he turned to replace the nozzle on the pump, she began to feel as though all the air was slowly seeping out of the car. As she struggled to breathe, she could feel Marina grab her arm. Everything slowed to a crawl, the thunder overhead coming in one long monotone rumble. Catriona opened her mouth to scream as James leaned down and peered in the side window, the skin on his face melting as flames licked at his entire body. He exploded in a blast of brilliant light, pieces of charred flesh hammering down on the sunroof and blotting out what little remained of the daylight. Closing her eyes, she finally managed to scream, but when she opened them again, everything had returned to normal.
Marina held her tight and rocked her like a child, while James looked on with concern from the driver’s seat.
“You’re okay, James? You’re really okay.”
He flashed a double thumbs up and turned back to the wheel.
“Get us to the nearest bar. This one needs a stiff drink,” Marina said. “Quickly, please, James.
***
The place was small and dark, the only customers a pair of old men who sat at the bar and talked loudly about politics. The waitress looked bored out of her mind as she dropped food-stained menus on the table and took their drink order.
Marina waited until their server returned with the drinks before she began to speak. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, honestly. Just another one of my wobblies.” Catriona gripped the glass of Scotch before her for a second before tossing it back.
“What did you see?”
Glancing sheepishly at James, who looked as cool as the ice in his glass of water, Catriona shook her head. “Pardon my shitty poetry, but it was James in flames. He…well, he exploded in front of my eyes.”
As if on cue, a glass dropped by the waitress shattered on the floor. The two old men at the bar ceased their argument for a moment to cheer and applaud the mishap. The waitress cursed them both and threatened eternal banishment from the bar, but that just seemed to goad them into greater levels of torment.
James let out a cough and rapped on the table. “Uh, excuse me, but can we get back to the bit about me blowing up? Pardon me for asking, Catriona, but are you high?”
“Not high, no. I see visions of the future.”
Sputtering water back into his glass, James tried to speak, but a choking fit killed that possibility.
“I should explain,” Catriona continued, “that what I see is not necessarily a true vision of what is to come. Maybe you are about to get sick with a high fever.”
“I suppose that beats a lighted stick of dynamite going up my ass,” he rasped. Turning to Marina, he held up a hand and said, “My apologies for the crude language, Madame.”
She waved him off as she cleared a space for her food on the table. The burger looked like a heart attack waiting to happen, but Marina gleefully rubbed her hands when it was handed over. “I’m so glad you made it to the table without dropping it,” she joked.
The server grunted as she placed the rest of the order on the table. “Everyone’s a comedian today,” she grumbled. “Can I get you anything else?”
“How about a smile,” Marina said.
“That cost’s extra,” the server replied, plastering a fake smile on her face.
“It’ll be reflected in your tip.”
They ate in silence, save for the occasional moan of pleasure from Marina, who savored her meal like it was a cut of the finest Kobe beef rather than a greasy burger that probably started the day as a frozen patty.
Catriona ate a few bites before tossing her napkin on top of the plate and sliding it away from her.
“Not hungry?” Marina asked.
“Not really. I always get a little rattled after one of my moments.”
“Anything James or I can do to help?”
“Well, I’d like to hear the rest of your family history, if you don’t mind.”
Marina shoveled in the last bite of the burger and sucked the grease from her fingers. “That I can do. Now, where did I leave off?”
“You were talking about the birth of Marie.”
James pushed back from the table, the legs of his chair squealing in protest as they scraped along the stained concrete floor. “If you’ll excuse me, ladies, I’m going to stretch my legs a little before we hit the road again.”
Tossing a wad of money to the driver, Marina said, “Can you take care of the check on the way out? Oh, and make sure that our delightful waitress gets a nice tip. She did, after all, grace us with a smile.”
The men at the bar greedily eyed the stacks of bills that James handed over to the waitress, who looked genuinely happy to see a customer for the first time since Marina’s group arrived. As soon as James turned his back, she stuffed the money down the front of her shirt and stuck out a tongue at the oldtimers before pouring them both a shot on the house.
“Yes, Marie. Marie Delphine MacCarthy. Several times married and one of the most prominent socialites on the New Orleans scene.” Marina sipped at her drink and continued. “By all accounts, a nice enough woman until her third marriage to a doctor named Leonard LaLaurie. After the wedding, she became known as Delphine LaLaurie, perhaps because it sounded somewhat more regal and exotic than Marie. She was the reason my branch of the family tree reverted back to MacCarthy.”
Catriona looked deep in thought for a moment. “That name sounds familiar. Delphine LaLaurie. How do I know that?”
With a disgusted grunt, Marina said, “I’m sure there have been awful movies made about her.”
“Was she that bad?”
“It was after her marriage to Leonard that things took a nasty turn. She purchased a house on Royal Street, a beautiful two-story mansion complete with separate quarters for the slaves. Let’s just say that she was not kind to her servants, torturing and killing them for a period of about three years.”
“Just like Bathory.”
“Indeed. She was eventually found out but managed to flee to France before an angry mob descended on the Royal Street property and set it aflame.”
The waitress returned to the table to offer a litany of thank yous as she cleared up the dirty dishes. “Can I get you a to-go cup?” she asked. “I can even spike it with something a little stronger.”
“No, thank you. Have a wonderful day,” Marina said as she gathered up her things. “Let’s take this back to the car. I’ll tell you the rest there.”
They stepped outside and found James sitting in the SUV right by the front door, blinkers flashing. The women held hands as they hopped over a puddle that had formed on the sidewalk, giggling like children as they made it safely to the other side. They bundled into the back of the car and waved goodbye to the waitress, who was now outside the bar lighting a cigarette.
“How much further, James?” Marina asked.
“We should be home in about three hours if we don’t hit traffic.”
Stretching out her legs as far as they would go in the cabin, Marina folded her hands over her stomach and yawned. “That burger was so good. Nice and pink on the inside.” Noticing Catriona’s wide-eyed expression, Marina laughed and said, “I know what you are thinking. I don’t drink blood.”
“That’s not what—”
“Yes, it was, but I suppose I should get to all of that so that you don’t think of me as more of a monster than I already am. Shall I continue with my family story, or would you rather rest and continue later?”
Catriona shifted her position to turn and face Marina. “I’m all in. Tell me, please.”
“Kick me if I start to nod off. So, after the fire, the extended family did all they could to distance themselves from Delphine. There were a few, though, who wanted answers. After all, how does a woman who appeared to be a lady in public turn out to be inherently evil behind closed doors? It wasn’t long after the fire that the rumors of the journal being in Delphine’s possession began to circulate.”
“The journal you have now?” Catriona asked.
“The very one. No one knows how Delphine came to own it, but it seems that she became obsessed with the idea of copying Elizabeth Bathory’s wicked ways. Perhaps she too wanted eternal youth, or maybe it was the thought of torture and bloodshed that turned her on. Either way, everyone believed that the book must have been destroyed in the fire, and good riddance.”
“Not you, though.”
“No. Delphine’s story changed a little as it passed down through the generations, but the journal part remained a constant. I have heard about that damn thing since I was a girl, and I knew in my heart that it was real and out there somewhere.” Marina reached into her bag and retrieved the book, gently caressing the cover. “I have paid a lot of money for phony copies over the years, but as soon as I saw this one, I knew it was the real thing. It is, after all, part of my family history.”
The vehicle’s interior darkened as the SUV entered a tunnel, the lights from the dashboard making kaleidoscopic patterns on the leather seats. Marina opened the journal and ran her fingers across the coarse paper, like a blind woman reading braille. “Elizabeth paved the way for Delphine, but they both got it wrong. I have perfected the method of using blood for eternal youth. Look at me, look upon my beauty.”
Catriona eased herself as far away from Marina as possible, watching as the interior lights caused her eyes to sparkle.
“This journal holds Elizabeth’s spirit inside. It touched Delphine, and now it is reaching out to touch me.” Turning to glare at Catriona, she said, “Maybe you aren’t part of the threeness after all, but you are still some other part. Maybe I’m just tired.”
From the front of the vehicle, James spoke. “We’ll be home soon enough, Madame. Get some rest.”