31_days | [August 19th] [The Wild Wild West] Something Weird and It Don't Look Good

Title: Something Weird and It Don't Look Good
Day/Theme: August 19th - "We will go no further. Here begins the land of phantoms."
Series: The Wild Wild West (specifically, The Poisonous Posey episode)
Character/Pairing: Snakes Tolliver/Chita McCarthy (she's an OC; he's in my icon)
Rating: T/PG-13

Continued from prior pieces. Inspired by a conversation with Crescent Blue that culminated in the idea of Snakes talking to Dr. Facilier from Disney's The Princess and the Frog, as there's a song that makes it sound like he might have been around as long ago as that era. This character is only inspired by Facilier and is not him, however, as things like the key hook of The Princess and the Frog could not happen in my verse. ;)

By Lucky_Ladybug

Those first few weeks after me and Chita split up, I hated coming home after work. Even after everything she'd done, having her there had made me feel like I had someone who cared about me to come home to. Without her, there were only servants who stayed because they were paid. The house was big and empty and had too many memories, both happy and sad.

I took to wandering around New Orleans a lot late at night. I found a lot of creepy little shops and other unusual places that I'd never paid attention to before. New Orleans has long been a center for vodun and other heavily misunderstood things and people. Maybe that was why I tried settling there, of all places. I didn't believe in hocus-pocus and never had, but one night, for some bizarre reason, I wandered into a vodun shop.

It looked about like I'd figured it would, with skulls and voodoo dolls and flickering candles. Incense burned in a back room and the scent permeated all through the shop. Chita would have been scared to death of the place. Me, even though I didn't believe in it, I was kind of fascinated.

"Good evening," a deep voice intoned from the shadows.

I jumped a mile. "I didn't know anyone was in here."

A chuckle and a shrug as a guy slinked out of the darkness and into the light. "I am always here."

"Okay." I half-turned. "I was just looking around. I need to get home, really."

"You're not interested in going home, I think." The guy strolled over to me. "Your heart is heavy with sorrow."

I had to admit, that was kind of creepy. And intrusive. "Are you reading my mind or something?" I asked warily.

"Ah, no." He grinned in an eerie, otherworldly way. "I read it in the cards right before you arrived."

"The cards," I repeated.

"Come into the back," he implored. "I will give you a reading with the tarot cards. It will only take five minutes."

"And how much of my money?" I was on guard. It sure wouldn't be for free.

"Well," he smiled, "how about we decide that after seeing what the cards say? You may feel like the information is worth different amounts depending on what it is."

"That's probably true," I said. "I won't feel like paying you anything if it seems like a fraud."

"Fair enough," he purred.

I followed him through a red curtain and into the back room. It was darker than the shop; all I could really see was the small round table in the middle of the room with the candle burning on it. Everything else was so wreathed in shadows that I couldn't see any of it clearly.

We sat down at the table and I watched him turning over cards. At first it was easy to concentrate, but the longer we sat there, the more it felt like we weren't alone. Something was watching us. A lot of somethings. I kept looking over my shoulder, fully expecting to see somebody else, but nothing was ever there. Just shadows.

"No one is ever alone in here, Mr. Tolliver," the man smirked.

"Yeah, I can tell," I said uneasily. "So . . . who is it?"

"Only my friends." He turned the final card. "My friends from the other side."

Now I was legitimately creeped out. "Did they tell you my name? I never gave it."

He wagged a finger at me. "I have more than one way to learn about the people who visit us."

And probably none of them usual, I thought to myself. "Okay. What do the cards say?" Somehow I resisted the urge to bolt right then and there. I'm still not quite sure how. It felt like something was looking over my shoulder by that point and I hated it.

"As I said, you are a man of sorrows," he said. "You are rich in the things of the world, but poor in things of the heart, and that is what matters the most to you."

I shifted in the chair. "Do you see that changing any time soon?"

"It is difficult to say. You are, and have always been, a chronic loner. What has happened to you has further embittered you against the evils of humanity. You will mostly turn your attention to building your empire in the coming years, but your life choices may or may not lead to an early grave for you."

That was really not what I wanted to hear. "And uh, do you see how I can make sure to make the life choices that will not lead to an early grave?"

"Beware of women who would use you." He leaned back, placing his hands behind his head.

"Heh. I wish I'd met you when I first came here," I said, only half-sarcastic.

"It isn't just your wife you should have been wary of," he answered. "There is another, a beautiful blonde woman seeking to build her empire and include you in it."

"Thanks for the tip, Pal. I don't think I'll be marrying again any time soon." I started to get up.

"She has no intention of marrying you." He leaned forward in the chair again. "But that is all I see. I have no idea who she is or how you come in contact with her."

"I'll keep that in mind." I took out my wallet. "Here's five."

He took the bill, his eyes glittering about as much as the candle. "People are always saying they envy me, someone who is strong with voodoo magic." He sneered. "I don't follow the actual religion. I have become what they would call a renegade. I rarely perform the white magic that they strive to perfect."

So that's why my stomach was in knots. "You do the black magic stuff, then," I realized.

"And yet it is you, not I, with the true power. Money is the most powerful magic of all." He stood now too.

"Yeah?" I stared at him. "Can't you just wave your hand and make money appear or grow a successful business or something like that?"

"It doesn't work that way," he told me. "I can only use my magic to help others. The only way I can profit is if they pay me."

"That's some racket," I remarked. "You use black magic to help others?"

"Yes, at other people's expense. I arrange for leaders to be overthrown, people to be murdered, and criminals to rise to greatness."

"I'll rise all on my own, thank you very much," I exclaimed.

"And that is why I envy you, Mr. Tolliver. Your power works when you use it for yourself as well as for others. What I wouldn't give to have your empire." He stuck his arm out and clenched his fist like he was grabbing my empire all for himself.

Something touched my shoulder. Something that I couldn't see.

I was out of that back room in the next second. "That's great and all," I yelped as I clutched my hat. "I don't envy you, that's for sure. Doing things for others never turns out well."

He came to the doorway and leaned on it with crossed arms. "Yes, that's the story of your life, isn't it? Everyone has always used you because of your soft nature."

"Yeah, well, no one's ever gonna do that to me again," I vowed. "Thanks for the reading, but I've gotta get going now."

I heard him laughing behind me as I ran for the door. At least, I think it was him.

I never went back to that place, let me tell you. But it's too bad I didn't remember his warnings better, right?