Chapter 35


    Inside a tiny, all-night diner at the edge of Downtown, Lyte sat on her side of the tattered, red


    leathered booth and watched as Cloyse swallowed thest morsel of his hot dog before gulping down


    another chug of Dr.Pepper from his stic cup.


    The aromatic smells of greasy, frying food from the kitchen engulfed the entire establishment, causing


    the ce to smell almost as if it were on fire. Lyte was growing more and more impatient with the


    man.


    She could have honestly cared less that he hadn''t eaten since God knows when, she had questions to


    ask, so being rude to Cloyse wasn''t exactly going to cause another bead of sweat to form on her


    already scorching forehead.


    Before Cloyse could swipe up another French fry from off his ketchup stered te, Lyte


    snatched the te away from him.


    "Okay, now tell me, where is my son?" She indignantly ordered.


    Appearing taken aback by her action, the man swallowed before saying, "My name is Cloyse. I came


    here to dis city to find Arthur and Akoni."


    "Who are they?"


    "Dey are brother and sister from my town."


    "Your town in Africa," Lyte asked.


    Blushing, Cloyse replied, "I am not from Africa. I am from a town in Jamaica."


    "Jamaica?" Lyte frowned.


    "Yes. Arthur and Akoni came here with deir brother Damerae, but for some reason or another dey both


    murdered him. Now, it is only dose two."


    "So are you saying that these two have my son?"


    Suddenly, on the speaker above their heads, the Kenny Rogers'' song ''Lucille'' began to y. Startled,


    Cloyse began looking all around the diner to see just where the music wasing from.


    mming both of her hands on the table, Lyte raised her voice, "I need you to focus on this


    conversation! Not that stupid song!"


    Cloyse sat up and still in his seat like a soldier. "I don''t know if dey have your son or not. But I do know


    dat dey are here for you and him both."


    "Why? What did we do to them?"


    Cloyse''s eyes dropped to the table in a depressed manner. "You and your son did nothing to warrant


    your deaths, neither did my sister. It is all a part of de curse."


    "Your sister," Lyte questioned. "They''re here for your sister, too?"


    Looking back at Lyte, Cloyse said, "My sister Karyn and Arthur were lovers back in our town. But


    when Karyn found out what Arthur truly was, he vited her and turned into dat demon."


    Lyte, upon hearing the name Karyn, froze up. She chose to remain silent on the woman, and just


    where she had heard the name before.


    Drawing close to Cloyse''s face, Lyte whispered, "So, let me get this straight. You know what they


    are? You actually believe in these things?"


    "Of course I do." Cloyse sounded a bit stunned. "Dey all murdered everyone in our vige."


    Gawking around for a moment, Lyte then asked, "What exactly did your people call these things?


    Because I don''t want to sit here and act like I know what they are."


    "We called dem devils, because de devil sent dem to us."


    Lyte scrupulously eyed the man. "What do they look like?"


    "You do not know?"


    "I just need to make sure we''re talking about the same thing here."


    Sighing, Cloyse responded, "Dey have fur all over dem. Dey stand at least seven feet or so. Dey


    appear like wolves."


    Lyte sat back at that instant and inhaled the description that only she wished she hadn''t heard at


    all.


    "You sit there and act like it''s nothing to you." She threw up her hands.


    "I, much like most of de people from my vige, was born into it. For years we witnessed dem destroy


    our people left and right. Believe me, it is someting, someting dat I have learned to live with, and


    someting dat I will die with."


    Shaking her head, Lyte said, "I just have a hard time sitting here and believing all of this. I mean,


    this is something out of Hollywood. Something that only white folks believe in."


    "Evil knows no color."


    "Maybe not, but none of this exins why my son and I are being targeted. It was my fiancée that was


    that thing. He nearly killed us both back in February."


    Cloyse stared on at Lyte like she was the most tragic thing in the world as the song above them


    both yed on.


    "I did not know dat your fiancée was cursed as well."


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    "Yeah, neither did I." Lyte twisted her lips. "I thought his ass was just high on some drugs or


    something."


    "Dat is how my sister behaved before she left for dis cityst year."


    "Hold on,st year?" Lyte all of the sudden clinched her fists underneath the table. "Whenst year


    did your sister arrive here in Cypress?"


    "She had suffered many years with de curse before she left homest July."


    Lyte''s mind traveled at the speed of light right then. She turned her head away from Cloyse for a


    moment and said, "So tell me, how do you know of me?"


    "I felt your presence at dat woman''s shelter dis evening."


    "My presence," she red back at the man.


    "Yes, you were dere for a time. Dat is why I went to de police station. I could sense dat you had not


    only been face to face with one of de devils, but dat you were still alive."


    "But I don''t understand, how can sense something like that?"


    Cloyse examined the few diner patrons that were milling through before he pulled closer to Lyte


    and whispered, "I have dis curse of my own. It allows me to see and sense tings just by touching dem,


    or seeing tings far, far away. Dis curse has been with me ever since I was a child. I too am infected with


    devils."


    Rolling her eyes, Lyte said, "You''re not possessed. You have something called ESP."


    "Can de disease kill me?" Cloyse looked shocked.


    Sounding irritated, Lyte replied, "It''s not a disease. My father watches this show on TV sometimes


    where certain people in the world have this sixth sense. I used to think it was stupid. Then again, I used


    to think a lot of things were stupid."


    "But it led me here to dis town, and dat is how I recognized you in de police station. It is like a ma


    dat pulls me towards a person or ting."


    "Talk about dumb luck." Lyte dropped her shoulders.


    "Arthur and Akoni have been all over dis city doing as dey please."


    "Yeah, I know. They even attacked some teachers at my old high school the other day."


    "You have to understand, dis curse is like a disease. It doesn''t just infect de ones dat are dammed, but


    it also hurts dose around dem as well."


    "I don''t understand." Lyte''s hands began to tremble on the table.


    "Dere is a curse within de curse itself. You have seen firsthand what happens to one dat is first


    infected. But what takes ce after dat is like a scar dat cannot be removed. Everyone dat one person


    once knew or loved is also taken in until dey are destroyed. One doesn''t have to be eaten alive in order


    to be wiped out. Whoever your fiancée came into contact with somehow, someway bes caught up


    in de storm."


    "But my son and I didn''t do anything!" Lyte desperately pointed at herself.


    "You never had to. For Arthur and Akoni to be here in dis city, has to mean dat you both were marked


    at one time. Dey will not stop until you both are dead. Dey never stopped until dey murdered everyone


    in my vige. Now...I am dest."


    "I think I saw this Akoni at the park a few days ago."


    "I saw her within a crowd some days back myself. Someting is wrong, however."


    "How do you mean?"


    "She is using a crutch to move about. Dat only means dat she has been changing back and forth


    constantly."


    "So," Lyte shrugged.


    "If dis is true for de both of dem, den dey are weakened. My friend and I back in my vige managed to


    capture deir father in a weakened condition before we put an end to him."


    Just then, Lyte began to giggle to herself. Cloyse sat and stared at her like she had lost her


    senses.


    "I...I can''t believe I''m actually sitting here and listening to this bullshit." She tossed up her hands. "For


    all I know you could be one of them, or at least some crazy serial killer like the guy in New York going


    around shooting folks left and right. I feel like I can''t wake up."


    "I have never killed anyone in my life." Cloyse spoke seriously. "But I vow to kill both of dem."


    Calming down from her forced jocr tirade, Lyte said, "Look, can you use your ESP to find my


    child? Because once you do, me and him both are leaving this town for good. I''d like to see theme


    and find us."


    Cloyse sat absolutely motionless at that point. To Lyte, he looked like a mannequin, he was so


    immobile.


    "What''s the matter?" She shivered.


    "Dere is nowhere on dis you can run to." Cloyse spoke so grimly. "Dis is not de police we are


    talking about...de devil has you and your son on de palms of his hands."


    "You two sound like a couple of movie folks!" A raggedy looking, drunk white man slurred as he rose up


    from his own booth to invade theirs. "Hell, if he were still alive, I''d tell Cecil B. Demille to give you both


    the Oscar right now!"


    Taken off their guard, both Lyte and Cloyse blushed. Lyte then took a ten dor bill out of her


    pocket and mmed it onto the table before getting up.


    "C''mon, we need to keep moving." She said to Cloyse. Cloyse got up from the booth and followed


    Lyte out the door.


    Before Lyte could take another step down the sidewalk, she stopped and stared at a red neon sign


    across the street that read ncy''s Department Store.


    "You look like you haven''t slept in days." Cloyse mentioned as he stood beside her. "I could see it in


    your eyes."


    But Lyte paid the man no attention. Her worn, stinging eyes remained only on the sign across the


    semi-empty road.


    "Do you really wanna sleep in this town?" She turned her nose up at Cloyse. "C''mon, you have my


    child to find."