Grave Danger by K.E. Rodgers Page A

forgot she wasn’t as familiar with their
world as he was. She wouldn’t know anything about these
supernatural beings that the Eidolon referred to as the Death
Dealers or Death Bokor. They were living humans who could control
the dead and un-dead, all of them; from ghost to ghoul, mummy to
vampire and most importantly the zombie or flesh-eater. And they
were rare in these modern times with science relegating their
beliefs in the paranormal as the fanciful imaginings of quacks and
charlatans. The vodou, a religious practice combining the gods of
Western Africa with European Christianity was still a practiced
faith in this country. Finding its beginnings in the Caribbean
islands when African slaves were brought over from their homelands
by the Europeans and later, spreading up into the Florida peninsula
and farther north becoming part of the culture in the cities it
touched. Most people were familiar with Voodoo and Hoodoo practices
of New Orleans, popularized by Queen Marie Laveau in the 1800s. But
other forms of Vodou have been practiced in this country even
before this country was a country at all.
    The swamps and rivers of Central and South Florida
housed small Haitian communities who held true to their ancestral
African values even when the rest of the population dismissed them.
The religious practice of vodou was an inclusion religion which
promoted religious tolerance, evolving with its practitioners,
incorporating Roman Catholicism and European mysticism. The Death
Bokor was created through this religion, though most vodou
practitioners would know nothing about these persons. As secretive
as the freemasons these wielders of ancient magick kept to
themselves. And as time went by there weren’t many bokors on hand
to manage the flesh-eaters and so the Eidolon community was forced
to manage without them.
    “ A Death Dealer is kind of like a medium to
the paranormal world. Their living humans who can speak to the
deceased and through the ancient arts manipulate the un-dead. It’s
a very rare talent that only a handful of livings possess and for
some time they’ve been a near extinct species.”
    “ So you’re saying a bokor could control these
flesh-eaters.” It was the natural world counteracting the creation
of such a monstrous being. If they could exist in this world, then
there needed to be something to keep their numbers from
spreading.
    “ Yes, but as far as I know there are no bokors
in the St. Augustine area. We’d have to go down south or even
farther to Louisiana where most of the vodou population lives; not
that those places would know of any death bokors. That is if there
is any death bokors left.”
    “ Would you know a death bokor if you saw one?”
she queried. “Are they dressed a certain way to let others know
what they are?” These Death Bokors seemed to be an elusive bunch.
If it was their natural responsibility to protect the balance of
the supernatural world, then they should be out doing so, not
hiding away in the bayou or Everglades.
    “ No, they look just like you and me.” He
grinned. “Well, maybe not exactly like you and me. They have flesh
and blood to sustain them. What I mean is that they are ordinary
looking living humans, but they’re anything but normal. I only know
about them from other ghosts, but apparently centuries ago they
were like supernatural warriors taking down hundreds of
flesh-eaters at a time. Now, who knows if all that wasn’t just an
embellished tall tale?”
    Clarissa and Richard left The Boneyard several minutes later. Richard
offered to escort her back to Mrs. Connors home, but Clarissa
kindly declined. It was still daylight and she was getting a little
tired of being chaperoned around town. If she was to get used to
this existence then she needed to acclimate herself to the city on
her own terms and without someone constantly watching over her.
Clarissa had an uneasy feeling that she was being carefully watched
by the community, making sure that she