3 comments/ 31094 views/ 3 favorites Haitian Gods By: Samuelx Sometimes, life can certainly surprise you. I have a story to tell you folks that revolves around some of life's surprises, both good and bad. My name is Stephen and I'm a big Black dude. Standing six feet two inches tall and weighing two hundred and fifty pounds. I'm not usually lucky. In fact, I tend to be one of the unluckiest people around. A while ago, my luck changed and I began to lead a life like no other. These days, I have power and purpose. I am also leading the kind of life that many people dream of and I make a difference in this world...as well as in other worlds. It wasn't always that way, though. I was born into a bad family. My father Francis was a womanizer and he was almost never around. He left when I was around ten. I don't blame him for leaving. Our house was hell, thanks to the she-devil who ran it. I just wish he would have taken me with him. Unfortunately, he didn't. My mother Elise was an angry woman who drank and smoked too much. She would often take out her frustrations on me. She'd beat me with every damn thing she could put her hands on. As for my sister Larissa, she was a complete psycho too. Like my mother, she was a freak with violent tendencies. I left the house as soon as I turned eighteen. I had always been a decent student in high school, earning mostly B's and some A's. I won myself a scholarship to the University of Massachusetts. I went to live in the dorms at Amherst. For the first time in my life, things were starting to look up. I was determined to succeed in life. I had left my mother and sister behind in Dorchester and I wasn't ever returning. I hated that place and everything in it. Amherst was a nice place. A lot nicer than the neighborhood where I grew up. I thought that my luck was finally turning around. I was going to graduate from college and get myself a wonderful job that I loved. I was going to get myself some money and do some traveling. I wasn't interested in any romantic relationship of any kind. The last thing I wanted was to wind up in a relationship with a wicked woman like my mother or my sister. No thank you. Two psychos were enough for any man. I didn't need any more drama. Flying solo sounded good to me. At Amherst, I met this guy named Paul. He was a tall, good-looking Black guy. He was a senior, studying Business Administration. We had a lot in common. Paul told me that he came from a tough neighborhood and a tough place, like me. He was really popular with the ladies on campus. I envied him. He was handsome, smart and popular. He was also incredibly bright, having made Dean's List many times while attending Amherst. He wasn't just the kind of guy I wanted to be friends with. He was the kind of guy I wanted to be, period. We became fast friends. Paul took me to the kind of places I never would have gotten into on my own. He knew all the important people on campus. He was good friends with the dean, a nice old white guy. He was also tight with some of the hottest girls at school. Paul always had good grades. He lived in a nice apartment off-campus and drove a fancy car. A Mercedes, if you can believe that. I didn't know many college kids who drove those kind of cars. I often marveled at Paul's luck. He simply smiled when I asked him. I asked him often. One day, he told me the truth. Paul told me that he was Haitian. I wasn't very surprised by that. I knew many Haitian people growing up. So many of the kids I knew in Dorchester were Haitians. Paul told me the truth that day after I pestered him with questions about his extraordinary luck with everything that he tried. He told me that he was half human and half god. His father was Agwe Tawoyo, Haitian god of the Sea. I was very surprised by that. The dude looked serious when he told me that. Of course, I was still skeptical. I thought that my good friend maybe had a little too much to drink. That's when he decided to show me his powers. And he did have powers. He simply stood up and looked at me. The next thing I knew, I was floating in the air, five feet above the floor. I couldn't believe it. Paul gently put me down. I was amazed by my friend's telekinetic powers. I was not freaked out, though I knew I should be. In my life, most people, both men and women, treated me like shit. Paul didn't. He treated me like a decent human being. I knew there had to be something special about him. He wasn't the average human being. After he put me down, I smiled and shook his hand. I asked him what else he could do. He showed me. Paul had inherited his powers from his father, the Haitian Sea god. He could do many things. He could dive to the bottom of the ocean and lie there, without drowning. He could breathe under water. He told me that he had won a scholarship to Amherst for swimming. He was one of the best swimmers in the world. Along with being amphibious, Paul also had telekinetic powers and he healed rapidly from any injury that he sustained. He was after all, more than human. He was a demigod. I asked him if there were others like him out there. He told me that the gods and goddesses of his native island of Haiti were a promiscuous bunch and that they often had children with mortals. I wasn't surprised. Paul told me much about the gods of Haiti. He told me that his father had introduced him to most of them. Although the official religion of the island of Haiti was Catholicism, Paul told me that many still worshiped the gods of Voodoo. First among the Haitian gods was Papa Legba Atibon, the Master of them all. He was the Speaker of the Languages of Man and also the Speaker of the Language of Spirits. He was also the Keeper of the Gate to the other worlds. Next came Marasa Dosu and Dosa, the twin gods. Danbala Wedo was the gigantic Snake god and the oldest of all living things. He was feared by many. Next in power came Ezili Freda, who was the Mother of the Haitian Gods. She was said to own all people, and also to be very jealous. Agwe Tawoyo, god of the Sea was Paul's father. He was a very promiscuous guy who had affairs with mortal women and goddesses. Children sometimes resulted from these affairs. In the case of his affairs with mortal women, the children issuing from those unions were demigods like Paul. Beings that were half human and half divine. Gran Bwa Ile was the god of the Wilderness and the Beast Master. Ezili Dantor, a Haitian goddess represented as a strong Black single mother. She was supposedly bisexual, having affairs with both women and men. Known to be nurturing and protective but also very dangerous, even to her own children. Ti Jan Petwo is a handsome young fledgling god who was also one of Ezili Dantor's lovers. The Gedeh were the Haitian gods of Death. The Bawons were the Divine Guardians and Protectors of the Dead and the Grave. Ogou Feray was the Haitian god of War, particularly popular with the men and young boys. I was amazed at what Paul was telling me. I felt like I had just been revealed the secret of Superman or something. I liked Paul and he was the only person I trusted but I was surprised that he was telling me all this. He laughed and told me the obvious. If I went around telling people that my buddy had magical powers, no one would believe me. I'd get locked up in a mental institution if I pressed the matter too far. It would be like talking about UFOs. After these revelations, Paul and I got even closer together. I was discovering more and more things about him. Man, I really envied having those magical powers of his. The dude never got sick. He always had a pretty girl on his arm. He was simply irresistible to women, which was probably part of his magical power. He surprised me by telling me that his talent with the ladies wasn't magical but completely personal and natural. It wasn't something he did, it's simply who he was. His charm and magnetic personality simply worked great for him no matter what he was doing. One day, I pointed out a young woman to Paul. This was the girl of my dreams. Monica. A very beautiful African American girl. She was around five-foot-eight, slender, with dark brown skin and long black hair. Her eyes were a pale brown. She had a perfect bubble butt. She was simply beautiful. The girl simply looked perfect. Man, it's like she had a glow or something. I'm not even going to lie. Usually, females who looked like that didn't even look at me twice. I wasn't bad-looking or anything. I was cute, or so I'd been told. I dressed nicely, kept myself clean and shaved. I was also very polite and friendly with just about any girl I talked to. Unfortunately, I always wound up in the Friend Zone. The Friend Zone is where you don't get any play. Man, I was envious of all those player-type guys I saw around campus. Always with a beautiful female on their arm. I asked my buddy Paul to hook me up. When I went looking for Paul, he was busy with someone. That someone was Becky. Becky was a tall, brown-haired Irish girl from school. I had a Psychology class with her. She was rather good-looking. I'd seen Paul checking her out before and I knew that it was only a matter of time before they hooked up. Whatever Paul wanted, he got. That's just the way things were. Paul saw me, excused himself and came to me. He asked me if he could borrow my dorm for a couple of hours. I smiled. I knew what he had in mind. Naturally, I agreed. I'd help him out with Becky's pants and he'd help me out with Monica. It was simple. A favor for a favor. Or so I thought. Anyway, Paul and Becky went to my dorm and locked the door. I went to the school cafeteria and got some grub. I thought about Paul and what he was doing. The dude was seriously lucky. I saw Monica walk by, surrounded by all of her fine-looking friends. I looked at them. Man, I really liked that girl. I really hoped that Paul would do his magic thing and introduce us. He was the ultimate player on campus. All the guys respected and envied him. All the girls wanted a piece of him. He was a sexy bastard and he always won at everything. He was the master of luck. With him on my side, I couldn't fail. Three hours later, I went back to my dorm. When I came in, I found Paul lying on my bed, a naked Becky in his arms. I gasped. The first thing I noticed was Becky's butt. The girl had a fine booty. Whoever said white women didn't have butts had never met Becky. The Irish girl had it going on. Paul was a lucky bastard. He opened his eyes, which shone bright yellow for a second. I gasped. He smiled and winked at me. I gave him two thumbs up and ducked into a corner as Becky began to awaken. I hid in the closet. A few minutes later, I heard Becky leave and Paul gave her a kiss before she took off. I came out of the closet and looked at my buddy. He was smiling the smile of a very satisfied man. I really wanted him to get on and hook me up with Monica but I also really wanted him to tell me about what he and Becky did together. The dude sat me down and filled me in. He told me everything. Apparently, shy and sweet-looking Becky was a freak in bed. I was smiling from ear to ear. I couldn't get enough of Paul's stories. Of course, I envied him to no end. He had women all over the campus. And probably off-campus too. I was a single brother who only wanted some love from a special lady. The least he could do was help a brother out, right? Nope. I kept asking Paul to hook me up with Monica but the dude didn't seem to make it a priority. I waited a week and when Paul didn't come through for me, I decided to approach Monica on my own one time. I was man enough to do it. I didn't need my buddy's help with everything. I saw Monica sitting by herself in the campus library and decided to make my move. I sat down and said hello. She smiled and greeted me, then said that I looked familiar. I grinned. Of course I looked familiar to her. We had the same Government class together. She laughed at that, since that was the easiest class ever. We talked for a bit. The girl had an easy smile and she seemed easy to talk to. Most of the beautiful girls I had spoken to were really obnoxious and bitchy. Monica seemed nice. It's one of the things I found real great about her. I asked her number and she gave it to me. I smiled and shook her hand. As soon as I left the library, I was so happy that I was jumping for joy. I called Monica and yes, the number was real. We talked about a lot of things. I told her some things about me. I told her about the time when my school cut the boy's volleyball team because nobody wanted to play on it. I liked volleyball and basically fought the athletic department to play on the girls volleyball team. I played on that team for a whole season and it was a lot of fun. I was big and tall and a great leaper. I was a good athlete and even made some headlines. Yes, a young man playing on a girl's volleyball team. I didn't get what the controversy was about. There were plenty of girls on men's wrestling teams in high schools across America. Why can't a man join a girl's team? That really doesn't sound fair to the guys, right? Amazingly, Monica agreed with me. I liked this girl. She told me how she played on the men's baseball team once, before her school had a softball team for women. She enjoyed her time with the men's team, made friends with the guys and told me that it made her a better athlete. I was in complete agreement. Man, it was my first time talking on the phone with this girl and it was a lot of fun. We had a lot in common. When I went to bed that night, I had a big smile on my face. I thought about Monica, her pretty face, her smile, her sexy body, her cute butt. All of that and more was floating around my head before I finally fell asleep. The next day when I woke up, I felt more energized that that Bunny in the commercials on TV. I looked for Monica, wanting very much to talk to her. I also wanted to talk to Paul, and let him know that I didn't need his sorry butt to talk to the girl I liked. Unfortunately, I didn't see either of them. What in hell happened? The next time I saw either Paul or Monica was in the cafeteria. They were...together. I couldn't believe it. The guy I considered to be my best friend had his arm around the girl I liked. I was debating whether or not to say anything to them. What could I say to them? I looked at Paul. There had to be a misunderstanding. He was my friend. He wouldn't just steal the girl of my dreams...or would he? I couldn't deny the evidence before my eyes. Paul and Monica were together. I turned to leave. Someone stopped me. It was Monica's voice. She smiled at me and invited me to join them. I looked at her, then at Paul. He smirked at me. I offered her a sad little smile, made up an excuse and left. As I walked home that day, I felt angry and betrayed. I wanted to confront Paul. Why did he do this to me? There were thousands of pretty girls at school. He could have had any one of them. Why must he go after Monica? He knew I liked her. This was no mistake. The bastard had done this deliberately, to hurt me. I waited for him at the campus lounge and confronted him there. I asked him loud and clear why he did what he did. He looked at me, and his eyes flashed. I saw something in them. Something malicious and dangerous. He smiled wickedly at me, and winked. He shrugged and turned to walk away. That's when I grabbed his shoulder. I still had something to say. I wasn't done with him yet. Apparently, he was done with me. He grabbed my arm and flung me across the room. I landed on the floor with a thud. When I came to my senses, moments later, I was still on the floor. In an extraordinary display of superhuman strength, Paul had thrown me twenty feet across the room. Someone was kneeling over me. I looked up and saw an older Black man. He was smiling. He gave me a hand up and I took it. The old dude looked me up and down and shook his head. I knew what he must be thinking. I got my ass kicked. Alright. I was definitely going to kick Paul's butt, magic powers or not. Nobody decks me and gets away with it. The older man looked at me and muttered something under his breath. I am not usually rude to my elders but after getting hit by Paul, I was in no mood to listen to some old-timer laugh about me. I told him that. Next thing I knew, the old-timer had seized me by the throat lifted me off the ground. Effortlessly. I struggled in his grasp and looked at him. His eyes were glowing. A bright yellow glow, much like Paul's. Suddenly, I knew that the old man who had seized me was not exactly an ordinary human being. No, this was one of the denizens of the supernatural realm, much like my ex-friend Paul. I asked him who in hell he was. He grimaced and put me down. I looked up at him. Who in hell was this dude? What in hell did he want with me? I looked at him. His eyes were still glowing. He was definitely supernatural. What was he, exactly? I looked at him. He looked at me. He commanded me to sit down and I obeyed. Something about his voice and his demeanor told me not to mess with him. So I didn't. The old man introduced himself as Papa Legba Atibon, Master of the Voodoo gods of Haiti. I gathered my courage and asked him what he wanted with me. He told me that he was my father. I looked at him, shocked. He looked at me, and his stern gaze softened. He extended his hand, and I shrank. No way was I going to touch this man. He scared me to death. I couldn't believe this. My father was the same womanizer I had known until I was ten, the same one who left. There was nothing divine about me whatsoever. This guy could not be my father. What in hell was this dude talking about? Atibon shook his head and clapped his hands together. I looked around, and watched as my surroundings changed. All of a sudden, I wasn't in the student lounge of Amherst. I was suddenly in a vast garden, someplace beautiful and exotic. Atibon was standing there, dressed in bright red robes. Welcome home, he told me. I stared at him. How in hell did I get here? How did he do that? I'd seen Paul display some powers before but this guy was at a whole other level. A whole different amount of power had been displayed before me. If Paul was a beginner at this magic thing, then Atibon was definitely a master. I sensed this about him and looked at him with new respect. I looked around the place. The vast garden in which I found myself was unlike any place I had ever seen before. I'd seen beautiful gardens before but there was something different about this one. It was beautiful, yes, but almost unnaturally so. I looked around, and breathed the air. It smelled so clean and pure. Unlike anything I've ever breathed in the big city. Atibon smiled at me and gestured to me. He told me that we had much to discuss. I sat down on one of the large wooden chairs in his place and listened to him as he spoke, sitting across from me at the end of the table. He spoke with a clarity and an authority that other people simply didn't have, not even some of the best public speakers I had ever seen. Atibon told me of a great struggle among the gods of Haiti. They were divided. Many of them remained faithful to his rule but some of the rebel gods had united under the goddess Ezili Freda and were vying for power. Dozens of them had rallied behind her. Atibon spoke the name of Freda with a certain discomfort. Whoever this goddess was, she must be something fierce if she could cause Atibon some uncomfortable moments. I listened to his tale. The war raged between the gods and some of it was felt by the inhabitants of the island. The gods used the Haitian people as pawns and waged war against one another. They pitted men against women, mother against father. It was dreadful. The gods were immortal. They had eternity. Their war lasted centuries. It caused generations of unrest in the island. Constant civil wars and political struggles. Whatever disaster struck the Haitian people, the gods were sometimes behind it. Haitian Gods Ch. 02 The shit I get into sometimes amazes even me. The name is Ti Malice but you can call me by my human alias, Steve Bertrand. A big and tall Black man of Haitian descent living in the city of Ottawa, Ontario. I'm openly bisexual, and attend Carleton University. I am fascinated by people and what they do. Far from being an impartial observer, I like to go out and make things happen. It's the wicked trickster in me, you know? Yep. Do you know what a Trickster is? A righter of wrongs. An upsetting force. A force of balance. A comic relief in a boring universe. Always lethal, but with a sense of humor. I am a Trickster God. My father Feraille, one of the Elder Gods of the Caribbean, banished me to Canada after one of my stunts went horribly wrong. I think I bit off more than I could chew. I accidentally unleashed Mamzel Mechan, a malevolent force from the ancient depths of Africa which Voodoo Priests in the Caribbean locked away in the Haitian underworld. Mamzel Mechan promised me unlimited power if I helped her get out of her hellish prison. Once she got out, she caused untold devastation to the island of Haiti. To the human world, it was a major quake which claimed many lives. To us Immortals, it was something else. A malevolent female deity escaped from Hell to unleash chaos upon the world of man. I am truly sorry for what happened. Unfortunately, the Gods of Haiti aren't very forgiving. They banished me from the Haitian motherland. I found myself in Canada, of all places. Anyone looking at me sees a regular guy, and that works for me. However, there are forces out there which can see me for what I am. Like that young woman I spotted coming out of a store inside Saint Laurent Mall near downtown Ottawa. She was tall and sexy, with light brown skin and neatly braided long black hair. A gorgeous young Black woman. That's not why I stared at her, though. Anyone looking at her would see a sexy black chick. I saw something else. A fellow Immortal. For she was no more human than I am. I cautiously approached the lady. Instantly, she tensed. Sensing what I was, she eyed me coldly. I introduced myself as Ti Malice, Trickster God of the Haitian folklore. Son of Master Feraille. The Immortal woman smiled at me. A predatory smile. She introduced herself as Wendy Salomon. Third-year student at the University of Ottawa. Hailing from the Caribbean judging by her accent. She wasn't fooling me. Not for a second. I knew at once what she was. A Vampire. Grinning, she asked me what a deity like me was doing in a place like this. I smiled and told her I was just checking out the scene. To be honest, I was extremely bored. I haven't had a lot of fun ever since I came to Canada. I encountered some powerful forces here. The ghostly remnants of Aboriginal deities as well as monsters which once ruled the vastness of Canada before the time of man. Both were hiding in plain sight, disguised as ordinary men and women. That's why the humans never suspect that all kinds of Immortals live among them. We know how to blend in. How else would you explain how I reinvented myself from Caribbean Trickster deity to University student in Canada's capital in a matter of months? Wendy and I talked for a bit, watching the mortals as they went about their business. Black and white, male and female, straight and gay. All were living their lives. Unaware that powerful forces controlled their fates. If you think the Gods controlled humanity in ancient times, you've got no idea how much they control you people in modern times. At least in the old days, magicians and witches warred with the Gods to defend humanity. These days, the secrets of magic are lost and humanity is defenseless against the supernatural. Some humans are starting to wonder, though. H1N1. The quakes in the Republic of Haiti and Chile. The flood in the Middle East. The endless hurricanes. Yeah, supernatural forces are loose upon the planet Earth and the humans still blame their actions on global warming. What a bunch of fools. I asked Wendy to join me for dinner and she agreed. We went upstairs in the food court and talked over some delicious Chinese food. Man, that chick could eat. Contrarily to popular belief, Vampires can consume ordinary food and drink. They require blood to survive but they can do alright without it for a time. Also, they can survive in daylight and they do reflect in mirrors. Wendy told me there were quite a few Vampires in Canada these days. They found the Great North quite welcoming due to its isolation. They were coming from places like continental Africa, eastern Europe, southeast Asia and the Caribbean. Places which have long been the strongholds of the supernatural species of the Vampires. I found their migration truly fascinating. After dinner, Wendy and I went for a walk in the city. And we had some fun. I guess I just wanted to hang out with somebody like me, you know? A fellow Immortal. Demons, Vampires, Ghouls, Werewolves and Pagan Gods. We're all real. And we are the loneliest bunch of creatures on the planet Earth. Wendy and I went to the movies. Like me, she was lonely and glad to hang out with somebody like herself. Even though she is not a Goddess and I am not a Vampire. During our tour of Ottawa, I watched her feed. She lured a queer young woman and fed on her in a dark alley. She drained the young white woman of her blood and I disposed of the corpse by setting it ablaze with my pyrokinetic powers. Flight, strength and shape-shifting, those are the standard abilities of a Vampire. Us Gods can do much more. We can bend the elements of nature to our will. Wendy thanked me for helping her, and we continued with our trip. I caused a murderer being escorted to court to fall on a police baton. A baton which impaled him by the rectum, to his horror and his victim's family's delight. And Wendy and I laughed at his misfortune. I love making bad people get what they deserve. It's what Tricksters do. And that's how it all began, folks. My romance with the lovely Wendy. A gorgeous Black female Vampire. Hailing from the Caribbean like myself. I am a Haitian God banished to the frozen wastelands of Canada by my divine father Master Feraille. I can never go home again. I guess I've got to make the best of my life here in Canada. That's okay. Because I'm no longer alone. I got a girlfriend now. She's ruthless, sick and twisted. Just like me. Folks, I think I'm in love! Haitian Gods Atibon told me that Paul was one of the enemies. He was the son of the Sea god, himself allied with Ezili Freda, Atibon's chief nemesis among the gods. The war of the Haitian gods had carried itself beyond the shores of Haiti and spilled into other lands. According to Atibon, there were many demigods walking the Earth. Men and women who were more than human and possessed incredible powers due to their divine heritage. Some of these demigods were wreaking havoc in the world and Atibon was powerless to stop them. I had never heard a more fantastic story in my life. Ancient gods battling it out in the modern world, demigods walking among humanity. It was all so impossible yet after watching the incredible powers of Paul and Atibon, I was ready to become a believer. I had lots of questions. I looked at Atibon and his powers were so vast and intimidating. Why couldn't he go out there and take care of business? He told me that a long time ago, the gods of all nations agreed not to interfere directly in the affairs of man. The gods of Haiti originally came from Africa and they had a long war against the gods of ancient Greece and Scandinavia because those deities constantly interfered with humanity's destiny. After the war, they agreed to withdraw back into the supernatural worlds and allow the humans to evolve naturally. For these reasons, Atibon, Lord of the Voodoo gods of Haiti couldn't interfere in the affairs of man. He could risk starting a war that way. Unfortunately, demigods weren't bound by the same rules as the gods. They were half human and half divine. They had a rightful claim to the mortal world. Atibon told me of demigods who chose to live on Earth and became famous. Hercules, son of the Greek god Zeus was perhaps the most famous demigod of all time. Achilles, Hero of the Trojan War was another demigod. Malice, the Hero of Haitian Folklore was also a demigod. A very long-lived one. I was amazed. Atibon smiled and took my hand in his. That's when he began explaining to me the stories of my life. How I came to be. Atibon came to the mortal world for the first time in centuries back in the late 1980s. He had an affair with a beautiful Haitian woman. The result was me. Unfortunately, my mother died and I was put up for adoption. I was adopted by this horrible Haitian couple, an irresponsible womanizer and a control freak of a woman with brutal tendencies. I grew up abused and neglected. Unfortunately. Atibon told me how he had been forced to watch from afar as his son suffered. He was one of the most powerful gods in the universe, yet he couldn't save his son. Oh, well. In the end, Zeus couldn't save Hercules. The goddess who made Achilles couldn't save him either. Yahweh couldn't save Jesus either. A lot of demigods had been let down by their divine fathers at key moments in their various lives. I was no different. I looked at my father. I was angry. I thought about the abuse I suffered at the hands of my adopted parents. It was horrible. Years of abuse and neglect. I thought about all the times when my adoptive father ignored my suffering and my adoptive mother beat me with everything she could put her hands on. I was mad at him. I felt hot tears rush from my cheeks. Atibon looked at me, then he did something that I sensed was very out of character for him. He pulled me into his arms, and I cried. I cried like I've never cried before. He simply held me in his strong arms, and said nothing. When I finally got a hold of myself, Atibon was still there. He gestured and an inviting bed appeared out of nowhere. I smiled and went to bed. That night, I slept. When I woke up, two very beautiful Black people served me food and drink. I noticed that they were a tall pair, a male and a female, and they looked very much alike. They introduced themselves as Marasa Dosu and Dosa, the twin gods. I looked at them, amazed. I was being served by gods! I asked them to stop at once and join me for dinner. I was curious about them. Truth be told, they were so beautiful that I couldn't keep my eyes off them. Marasa Dosu was the male twin. He was around six feet three inches tall, broad-shouldered and muscular. His skin was light brown, his eyes were golden brown and he had long dreadlocks. He looked simply beautiful. His twin sister, the goddess Dosa was equally tall and beautiful, but curvier. She was more beautiful than any woman I had ever seen. Compared to her, Monica might as well be ugly. I spent the day with them, asking them many questions. Marasa Dosu was quite pleasant. He told me about his life. He was a young Haitian god, and a devoted follower of Atibon, my father. He was honored to meet his Master's first child. I was shocked. The gods of Haiti had been around for eternity. Yet I was Atibon's first child. Wow! Dosa was equally charming and intelligent. She was reputed to be a fierce warrior, and quite devoted to my father as well. She told me how a long time ago, when she was quite young, the elder gods tried to send her and her brother to the dark underworld because the elders considered the dark twins to be a bad omen for the fate of the universe. Atibon had opposed the elder gods and sheltered the twin gods in his own realm. Since that day, they were devoted to him like children were devoted to their father. In a way, they were like the brother and sister I never had. By the time the day ended, I embraced them both. Marasa Dosu and Dosa took me on a little trip. They loved showing off their powers. Marasa Dosu could manipulate the wind and use it to carry himself into the skies. He could fly effortlessly among the clouds and the birds. He was also superbly strong and could lift boulders that a dozen men couldn't budge. He might be powerful enough to lift a mountain if he ever decided to. Dosa, his twin sister was quite swift. She could run so fast that she became a blur. She was faster than the Flash in the popular comic books. She was also handy with weapons of all kind. Dosa was a fierce warrior. Back in Africa, she had inspired many legends about heroic female warriors. She once defended a young king whom she cared for when his kingdom was under assault from demonic forces. Yes, my sister was a strong Haitian woman. How different Dosa was from my adoptive sister. Dosa was kind and gentle most of the time, yet fierce when those she cared about were threatened. My psychotic mortal sister was simply evil. The difference between them was uncanny. I liked that. I envied Marasa Dosu and his sister Dosa. They had amazing powers. How I wished I could do what they did. Dosa smiled at me and told me that someday, I would wield powers not unlike those of the gods. Dosu nodded in confirmation. I smiled at them both. How lovely they were. I didn't have magical powers. I wasn't sure that I wanted them. But Dosu told me that my dormant powers would need to get activated soon, if I were to serve my father's purpose. Of course, I had no idea what he was talking about. Over the next few weeks, they began training me. It was so strange. Most of what they were teaching me had to do with sleep. They told me that humans spent a third of their lives asleep. I was a demigod whose powers were locked away in the dream world since I thought myself to be completely human and thus devoid of all magical abilities. I had to face my Dream Self, as they said. I lay on my bed, and slept. Halfway through the night, I began to dream. In my dream, I was walking on a beach, and I was surrounded by people. They formed a circle around me and I couldn't get through it. They were chanting. Suddenly, the crowd parted. A tall man came through. I gasped. He looked just like me. Exactly like me. He was me. No, he was my Dream Self and called himself Black Snake. Black Snake was my Dream Self. He had all of my magic powers. Those I should have inherited from my divine father. I had to take them back from him. Unfortunately, he had them since I was born and had been using them since. He was strong in a way that I wasn't. Since he was me, he knew me as well as I knew myself. I couldn't trick him. I had to find another way to beat him. The crowd cheered for me as Black Snake and I squared off against each other. He came at me, transforming himself into a huge black snake. I looked at the colossal serpent, and felt scared. Black Snake came at me. I leapt back. The crowd cheered. I dodged every attempt he made at biting me. He was easily twenty feet long and could swallow me whole. I ran until I ran out of places to go. The crowd was not letting me through. I had to fight. And so I did. I thought of the one thing that snakes were afraid of. I willed myself to become a mongoose. Since this was a dream, why not? A giant mongoose leapt at Black Snake and that mongoose was me. Black Snake recoiled. I lashed out and scratched his tail. He hissed and recoiled. All snakes are terrified of the mongoose. He's their mortal enemy. I decided to use that to my advantage. I leapt for his throat. He saw the danger and put up a fight. He was fierce. I was fiercer. I wanted to take him down. I wanted to take from him the powers that were my birthright. And so I held onto his throat with my fangs as he thrashed around. His long serpentine body encircled me in its coils but I did not back down. I held on. Until I felt his body slow down and go slack. I looked into his eyes. Black Snake was terrified. He was surrendering. He returned to the form of a man. I resumed human form, and looked down at him. Around me, the crowd chanted for me to kill him. I hesitated. Black Snake was my enemy. I should kill him. But I wouldn't. He was me and I was him. No matter how twisted. I could no more hurt him than I would willingly hurt myself. I smiled and gave him a hand up. After some hesitation, he took it. We stood up and looked at each other. We embraced. The crowd went wild. That's when I woke up. Marasa Dosu and his sister Dosa stood at my bed side. They were smiling and congratulating me on my success. I smiled and looked up at them. I had succeeded! Dosa gave me a hand up and we walked through the vast house. We headed toward the vast meeting room, where my father Atibon, Lord of the Voodoo gods of Haiti waited. He smiled at me. I smiled back. I couldn't describe how I felt. I had triumphed over my demons. I was so proud. And I could see that my father, my real father, was proud of me. He smiled at me, and I hugged him. Marasa Dosu and Dosa also held me. I was happy at last. I was complete. I was whole. And also, I had gotten my powers back! I spent the next few weeks honing my powers. Man, it was like learning to walk again. The first power was Perception. All magic users had it. The ability to sense the presence of other magic users in the vicinity. I mastered it by playing hide and seek with Marasa Dosu and Dosa, my wonderful new siblings. The second power was Force. Inside of me resided a Force that could enable me to lift a bus and throw it into the sky effortlessly. But first I had to master it. And so I did. Man, the Force was my favorite power. The third power was the Way Finder. The Way Finder was the ability to travel anywhere in the world at the speed of thought. Some less enlightened soul might call it teleportation but Way Finding was far more refined. I mastered it too. The fourth power was the Cloak. The Cloak was the ability to disguise oneself and become invisible. I mastered it too, though it took me some time. Finally, I had mastered all of my powers. Atibon assured me that I was one of the strongest demigods he had ever seen. He wasn't just saying that because I was his son, either. I felt proud. He took me to a place called the Chamber of Knowledge. There, he showed me the world, through a magical see-through portal. I looked at the world of the humans. Men and women everywhere were suffering. Families were divided. Boys and girls suffered in a myriad of ways. The planet was being poisoned by the industries of the world. Animal and plant species were dying. The world was in trouble. Men worldwide needed help. Atibon wanted to help them, but he couldn't. The gods of the other worlds wouldn't let him. So, the responsibility fell to me, his son. My father looked me in the eye and told me his wishes. I was to help the humans as best I could. I had to rid the world of the demons. There were countless demons out there. They hurt innocent men and women every day. They could drive a woman to kill her husband in his sleep for no reason. They could make a mother kill her children. They could make an innocent man commit murder and suicide for no reason. They could also twist the minds of decent people and make them do horrible deeds. Not that humans always needed demonic help to do evil deeds. Ordinary women and ordinary men could do a lot of evil on their own. Just look at the world of politics. There were demons out there in the world, as well as lesser gods not bound by the same decrees as the higher gods like Atibon himself. The demigods were trouble too. Too many demigods took the easy way out and wreaked havoc in the world of man. They were hungry for power and wealth. They didn't care about anything else. Ordinary mortals couldn't take them on. It would be my responsibility. Mine and mine alone. I looked at my father, and we shook hands. I embraced Marasa Dosu and Dosa one last time, then I stepped through the portal. I found myself back at the University of Massachusetts. I was back on campus. I smiled to myself. Atibon had used his fantastic powers so that only two hours had passed since he snatched me up from the world. In Atibon's supernatural realm, I had spent nearly a month. Time moved differently, there, especially since time meant little to immortals. It felt so weird to be back in the normal world. I had battled a dragon-like Black Snake. I had dealt with gods and goddesses. I had endured rigorous training that would break any U.S. Army soldier. I was back in the mundane world, to do what my father ordered. I walked through campus, and noticed that something had changed. All of a sudden, the girls were looking at me. I smiled. I noticed a curvy, pretty Haitian girl. Her name was Marie and she was in my Psychology class too. Usually, she walked around with her boyfriend. Today, she was alone. I smiled at her, and blinked rapidly. Next thing I knew, the girl was staring at me so much that she walked into a wall. I winced and winked at her. She was still checking me out when I headed into the cafeteria. I saw that Paul was sitting there, surrounded by his buddies and their girls. Monica sat on his lap. As soon as I walked in, Paul looked up and stared at me. He had the powers of a demigod and could sense the presence of others like himself. As do I. I smiled at Paul. He looked at me. I saw him as he truly was. Not truly human, but inhabited by the spark of ethereal power which separated gods from humans. I sensed his power. I sensed his level of power. I sensed that I was more powerful than he, but there was only one way to find out. I sent Paul a silent challenge. He heard me, and rose. Paul stood up and stared at me. He did something unexpected. He stopped time. All of a sudden, everyone in the whole cafeteria froze as if someone had hit the pause button. It was eerie. Paul smiled nastily at me and flexed his hands. He was taunting me. I said nothing, and simply gathered the Force that resided inside me, my father's power. I rushed at him the same way I had seen my sister, the goddess Marasa Dosa move when she ran on the water. I moved so fast I became a blur. I struck Paul on the face, and he went down. As he went down, he lost focus on his magic and time resumed its normal course. Before the whole cafeteria, Paul fell on his butt. The player had fallen on his behind. Serves him right for what he did to me. I looked down at him the same way he had looked down at me in the Student Lounge. For him, it had been only a couple of hours. For me, it had been a lifetime. He looked into my face, shocked. Yes, it was me. The same guy he pretended to befriend and later betrayed. I was back, with powers! I smiled and walked away. I returned to my dorm room. I magically rearranged the place, not unlike the way that Sabrina the Teenage Witch changed things around her room back on that old television show. On the outside, my dorm room was normal size. Inside, it was much bigger and more comfortable. I made it a place worthy of a prince. For a night. I wasn't about to let my powers go to my head but I was going to enjoy myself. I lay on my bed, and smiled. I had taught Paul a lesson. One he wouldn't soon forget. There were bullies everywhere. Men and women who preyed on those weaker than themselves. Science called them bullies, psychopaths and sociopaths. I called them simply fools. Misguided fools. Oh, well. Now, I was the predator and the men and women who did evil in this world had become my prey. Things were about to get very interesting on planet Earth. My return to the planet Earth hadn't gone unnoticed. The gods knew. Soon, the demigods, demons and evil forces would know as well. I knew that there were a wide array of forces set up against me. But I would do what my father asked, and help my fellow man. And have some fun along the way. Wish me luck. I'm new to this but it's definitely going to be a lot of fun. Not the end.