McConnell House

1924 Part 4

Hans woke up screaming. He had passed out from fright when Adele had come to him. When he awoke he was on a US military boat, heading for the Dominican Republic. The US Marines had occupied Port au Prince and taken control of the country. Hans asked about his wife and Papa Manuel, the dead marines and the followers. People on the boat just gave him strange looks. He never found out what happened to his wife after that.

He didn’t realize it, but at some point in the night he kicked off the blanket from the bed, and he was sweating. It was getting hot in his room again!

He headed back downstairs to the dining room. The off coloured marble floor was the same as before, but there was a small stain on it this time. Hans grabbed a candle, lit it and bent down to take a closer look. The stain was a faded red, and very slowly it was spreading.

He bent over and touched the spreading stain with his fingers. Papa Manuel's grinning skull flashed before his eyes, making him leap back and fall on his butt. Papa Manuel wasn't there, but the stain was spreading.

He couldn't spend another minute in that house. At the same time he couldn't leave it either.

Leaving the house would be like leaving a limb.

It didn't make sense what was happening. That stain shouldn't be there. There can only be one answer. There was something under the floor.

He couldn't wait until the morning, he had to see what was under there now and get rid of it. Francois was the one who recommended the contractors who put the floor in, so he could help him get rid of it.

The gardeners shed stored all the outdoor tools used around the house, but it also had a small kitchen, and a bunk to sleep in. Why Francois would rather stay out here then in the house he'd never understand.

“Francois! Open up!” Hans said, banging on the shed's door. No answer. Hans looked through the only window to the shed, but couldn't see a thing. There was no light inside. Was he asleep or was he out somewhere?

“Francois!” Hans thumped the door one last time and stopped. He was getting in there tonight no matter what. The door was locked. The shed was recently, the first one burnt down during the fire in 1912. Bob had built the new one in a sad attempt to make the place desirable to sell. But like everything Bob did, he cut costs, so the shed was already rotting away.

One kick caused the door to fall off its hinges. Hans went in but couldn't see a thing. He could see a faint outline of a lantern on a table by the door. He striked a match and lit the lantern, then turned to see inside the shed.

Francois wasn't there. Hans raised the lantern to get a better view of the shed. There was just the table that the lantern was on, a small wood stove in the corner, and a bunk along the way. Hanging above the bunk was a rifle. There was a separate room in the back with the tools.

Hans walked to the back to see if he could find something to remove the marble. He walked toward the back of the shed to the room where the tools were. Passing the bunk he looked down and saw three small dolls on the bed. Curious, Hans stopped and looked closer at them. One doll had no hair and was rounder then the others. Another had long hair and a mustache. The last one had short hair.

He remembered the natives in Haiti said that Voodoo Bokors used dolls to manipulate others. So why did Francois have three dolls that looked like Bob, Karl, and himself?

“What are you doing in here?”

Hans looked up at the sound of the voice. A big man with bright red hair and beard was standing in the doorway to the shed. He had a hand on the doorway, as if to steady himself.