The Blue House

 

Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers at night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright….

And indeed, this tale began in the fall, when the autumn moon was bright.

Michelle Baker comes to the border town of Brownsville, Texas with her family. Left alone to watch the house while her parents are in Mexico, she begins to feel a great sense of isolation in a place where she has no friends or relatives, no one to call on, and more importantly, no one to notice if she should be missing….

In September, she begins the fall at college. Being new to the area and alien to the culture—which is 90% Hispanic, she’s reluctant to make friends until she meets Raul. His crisp, unaccented English and cool manner attract her at first, quickly developing into kindred feelings as Raul shares many secrets. Michelle has a natural gift for being able to communicate with the spirit world, and reveals this to Raul in their initial conversation. In return Raul unveils to Michelle that he believes himself to be a werewolf.

Michelle passes off his ‘werewolf’ story as eccentricity, as well as some sort of morbidity having to do with the death of his father, in which he recites his grief about continuously throughout his phrases. Later that evening, Raul invites her to The Blue House, the place where his father died.

Carelessly leaving with him that night, Michelle finds herself in a fearful situation: Raul drives her to the country side of Brownsville, to the small community of San Pedro where the run down farm house stands in the darkness, illuminated only by the dim security lamp off to the side of the yard, otherwise, swallowed in a most eerie manner by the shadows of mesquite trees.

Once inside the house, Michelle finds herself amidst unworldly memories of living there. She feels an instant connection to the house as one would feel to someone they’d once known, even though she’d just arrived.

Raul drugs and seduces her, delivering a painful bite. She begins to fear him and really feel that he is a werewolf. He fills her head with his lycanthropic desires and ideas, intensifying her fears.

It isn’t long before Michelle begins to have nightmares that she, too, is a werewolf.

The feelings of familiarity with the blue house become more intense, and when Michelle goes uninvited to the house, Raul becomes furious, feeling she had uncovered many secrets about him and his family. He had already been badly scorned by a previous lover who was then engaged to his best friend—he was not about to be burned once again. He begins dark rituals of magic to try and end Michelle’s life, and when black magic fails, he literally tries to kill her on several foiled attempts.

To Raul’s dismay, Michelle has an eye for his friend who’d broken up his former relationship, and soon after she turns away from him, Michelle begins seeing Cecilio, further fueling an already raging fire of hate.

The memories keep coming to Michelle, and she begins to see a stranger in her dreams associated with these recollections—the stranger is Raul’s father, who is accompanied in the spirit world by his father, Pancho, and an Indian shaman, Don Chonito. She learns that the later two where always at his side in life, as well. Michelle wants to tell Raul about the dreams of his father, and the memories in spite of the fact that he is attempting to murder her. But the spirit of Raul’s father, who calls himself “Melo,” warns her not to.

Michelle discusses her problems with Raul with a classmate, Patrick—a far out, Wicca, gothic, vampire fellow. He understands and introduces her to a woman he is acquainted with who helps people with spiritual problems...a curandera named Trudy Van Frank.

Michelle is seeks refuge in the woman’s house—both from her alonness, as well as safety from Raul, who becomes above and beyond reproach. But to Michelle’s misfortune, Trudy was once Raul’s father’s girlfriend. Naturally, she sides with Raul behind Michelle’s back. Melo warns her about Trudy, but Michelle doesn’t heed his warnings and finds out the truth about her friend when she tries to shoot her.

Soon Michelle finds she has two monsters after her—Raul as well as Trudy, and she fears for the safety of her lover, Cecilio.

Melo is a wry and gritty character, but despite his hardness, he helps Michelle the best he can from the spirit world in what becomes a fight for her life. From this point to the end of the story, Michelle develops a great affection for her spirit friend, and the end will surprise you….

To be released as a brand new edition available in the next few months for Kindle, iPad, and print.  Art by Mark Satchwill http://www.marksatchwill.com/album2/welcome.htm

 

 

***A work of fiction.