My head was pounding. My thoughts and memories fail me. Where am I? 

I try to move but my body doesn’t respond. I was stuck between awake and a dream. I smell a familiar scent. Bergamot? I open my eyes like lifting an old garage door. It was dim, dark and the sound of murmured chants tickled my ears. I was not well. I was laying down. Not a bed. A table. Hard. Unforgiving. I turned to my left and there was a young woman in white laying down on a table too. She was chanting in a foreign tongue. I tried to decipher but the language was not known to me. I looked to my right and there was another woman–older, in white as well. She too was chanting. I got the sense we were not alone. Candles flickered and danced shadows upon the ceiling. There were many shapes of the others. I began to hear their voices. A harmonious chorus of babel.

Wait one second. I was on a case. The mysterious spirit. Retirement center. Five rooms? Ms. Oshun! The niece! Lola. I remember now! I gotta get outta here. My body still is not mine. Is this the end for old Stan? I look again at my companions and to my left is Lola and to my right is Ms. Oshun. What is happening?

“You should have left when you had the chance, kid,” said Chester, “but it is what it is. I’ll do my best to make it quick so that you don’t suffer.”

I was still a little foggy upstairs. “Thanks, Chester. I appreciate it. Can you help me up?” I mumbled.

“Sorry, kid, no can do.”

I needed to get away–somehow. I tried to wiggle myself free but my limps betrayed me. I was stuck in a tar pit and sinking.

Chester produced a curved blade and held it high above me. The chanting rhythmically increased. I could tell my death would be the crescendo. But then the doors to the room busted open and a loud stop silenced the chorus. My eyes rolled around in my head trying to catch a glimpse of my savior. The voice was familiar but I couldn’t place them. A man’s voice. An accent. German? Mr. de Bahia. Thank the unicorn. I’m saved. He’ll set these people straight.

“What is this? I was unaware that these proceedings were to occur? Who authorized this?”

Ms. Oshun swung her legs around and sat upright. “Me, darling. I heard that Mr. Prolongo was coming to investigate your little mystery and I took the opportunity to investigate his character. I was intrigued by his reputation and when we tested his spirit. Well, it was confirmed. He is perfect. I then started the accession process. I didn't want to bother you and I thought, I would give you a little surprise.”

Sal’s brows furrowed as he thought about her discovery.

“Well, okay then. Allow me to perform the task.” said Salvador.

Oh no. Betrayed by my savior. It's all over for me. I can’t move, can’t fight. I am done for. Is there anyone to save me?

“Sorry, kid. I can’t guarantee his abilities. First timer and all. Good luck, kid.” said Chester. Chester passes the knife to Sal.

Oshun returned to her previous position with a grin. I began to sweat profusely. Time was running out. The chanting resumed. The build up. Sal looked me dead in the eye and mouthed a very appropriate apology. I shrugged the best I could but I was heavily sedated. He turns the pages to the grimoire on the lectern and with a quick nod he proceeds to read from it. 

“Darling? You are on the wrong page,” insisted Ms. Oshun.

He reads on.

She insists further with greater volume. 

Sally boy raises the curved blade.

I close my eyes but then change my mind. I opened my eyes to face my fate. I had a good life. I’ve done well for myself. It’s an embarrassment to go out his way. Drugged and slaughtered like a lamb. But smoke drugs are not what I normally look out for. It could have happened to the best of us. It was just my dumb luck. “I'm ready.” I said.

The blade comes…

…and cuts his lips. 

Ms. Oshun screams in protest.

Ms. Bridi da Costa then materialized. 

I don’t mean she walked in. I mean she…materialized out of thin air. First there was nothing and then she was there. The room was equally as surprised as I was. A collective gasp resonated. I was talking to the very ghost I came to find.

Ms. Oshun rolled off of the altar.

Sal pulled Ms. Bridi da Costa close. They embrace. “Mariana, how long have we waited for this moment?” Asked Salvador. 

They kiss.

Ms. Oshun is enraged and runs toward the lovers. Sal turns to her with the blade outstretched and drives the knife into her heart.

She slumps to her knees. Surprised. Angry. Introspective.

“I was to ascend. I am eternal.” Whispers Ms. Oshun.

She falls to the ground. Her lifeforce drained as a sacrifice.

Mariana dissipates into a golden sparkled cloud that circles the room and descends into the body of Lola, the young lady next to me. Sal cuts her lips and they kiss. She convulses and shakes and shouts foreign words and then she is still.

It is quiet in the room. Light and shadow from flickering candles prance about. No one speaks. No one moves.

Time stands still. 

I make an attempt to move and I sit upright. I must leave before the blade finds me. Chester helps me up right and whispers to me. “It's okay, kid. It’s over.”

Lola draws a deep breath and sits upright. 

“Salvador, come to me. Quickly. I want to feel your touch again,” says Lola.

Sal rushes to her side and kisses her. Their bloodied lips smear across each other.  

“It worked?” He questions.

“It did.” She answers.

Chester steps up and begins a slow clap that overtakes all that attended. “Best accession yet.” Says Chester.

Lola now Mariana. I am guessing. I don’t know how these occultic rituals work. Mariana orders Chester to help me to a chair. He calls for others to assist him. I am still groggy but better.

I witness Mariana take her place upon a chair decorated with the elements depicted from the mural on the ceiling. I am seated in a chair in the back of what I believe is the multi purpose room. They continue their ritual.

As I recover and look for someplace safe for my eyes to land. I thought to myself, I gotta get outta here. But someone has some explaining to do.