Death and Life by Voodoo

    It was a bright, sunny day in Jacksonville, Florida. Just outside of the city, a small group of college students was taking a stroll on a trail through a forest. Then they decided to get closer to a stream just by the trail. There were a bunch of neat-looking plants by the stream the students wanted to check out. They were studying biology, and even though it was summer vacation the students wanted to continue studying plants and animals in their spare time.

    All was going well, until one of the college students, Rick Thompson, slipped and fell into the stream. “Woo, way to go Rick!” cried out his friends; Sally Smith, Brian O’Reilly, and Ellen Mullins.

    “Very funny!” Rick said sarcastically. Then he called out, “Could you come down here? I think I found something!”

    Since it was a hot summer day, his pals didn’t mind climbing down into the stream too. They felt around under the water where Rick landed. “I guess you did discover something,” said Brian. He and Ellen stayed in the water while Rick and Sally climbed back on land. They grabbed the mystery object, and lifted it toward Rick and Sally, who managed to pull it completely up and on dry ground. Next Brian and Ellen were right beside their friends again after a brief moment. All four gazed at the object.

    “It looks like one of those old-fashioned coffins!” Ellen told her pals.

    “It sure does,” Rick agreed.

    Everyone each grabbed a corner of the lid and lifted. They were greeted by a horrific sight and smell. “It really is a coffin!” Ellen cried. Then they dropped the lid back on the coffin and started coughing and gagging. Their eyes even filled with tears.

    Before long, the police surrounded and closed off the area. After they carried the coffin and corpse away, the group of friends followed them. The police ended up taking the students’ discovery to a laboratory at the college they attended. Some other pupils studies criminology and criminal justice, so law enforcement would sometimes work with them on campus. After placing it on a table in the lab, a few officers took off the lid and set it down nearby. Rick, Sally, Brian, and Ellen took another glance inside. “That’s so sick!” Ellen exclaimed in a disgusted tone. The body’s flesh was dark and discolored. It was rotting off, exposing some of the bones. The smell of decay once again overcame the pals and they quickly stepped away, gagging more and trying not to get sick.

    Just then, the lead detective in the case, John Maxwell, entered the room. He had been one of the department’s top detectives for several years. In fact, he was getting close to retirement. John approached the students and asked them about the circumstances surrounding their finding of the dead body. After hearing their story, he said “This must have been quite a day for you! Go relax for a bit!”

    So they went into a classroom next to the lab. Rick told the others “I bet this is already making big news!”

    Sally said “Yeah, I’m sure it is. By the way, I wonder how that person met their fate. Poor thing! But I guess we’ll find out soon.”

    Sure enough, it wasn’t long at all before John Maxwell and the police officers discovered the corpse’s identity. They were all shocked and solemn. Rick asked “So who was this person, and what happened to them?”

    John replied “It’s a long story, but here goes. This guy was Trevor Gibson. He was a great and wonderful human being in every way, and didn’t deserve to die like he did! Thirty years ago a married couple moved here from New Orleans, Louisiana. Rumors and jokes went around about them practicing voodoo, but of course no one truly believed it. That is, until Trevor Gibson had his fate. One day the husband got very ill. His wife convinced Trevor that he should assist them. Afterward, a voodoo ritual was witnessed in the couple’s backyard. The ill husband was sitting in a chair, while Trevor was tied to another one. The wife recited some odd, mysterious chants. Then she took a knife and…stabbed Trevor in the chest. He screamed, then slowly went into shock and passed out. The woman put a cup under his wound, and when it had enough blood she took the cup to her husband, who drank it down. Then he stood up, fully recovered from his illness. Unfortunately, they took Trevor’s body and fled before police could reach them. But after a few weeks we got lucky and found the man and woman. After their arrest, they were executed. No one ever found Trevor’s corpse, until now.” John wiped a tear from his eye.

    “That’s awful!” cried Sally. She took another look at the remains, which were now covered with a white sheet and had been taken out of the coffin and laid on the table. John and the cops decided to leave for the night and have the body properly buried the next day.

    After they left, the students surrounded Trevor Gibson’s remains. It was somewhat more bearable now, since the air conditioning in the lab was running at a high rate and there were fans turned on. “I hope he can rest in peace now,” said Brian.

    “So terrible how he died!” exclaimed Sally. She gently pulled the sheet off Trevor’s corpse. Sally just couldn’t help herself; she now felt as if she knew the decedent and wanted to say good-bye.

    Ellen bent down to take a closer look at the coffin, which was on the floor next to the table. She touched the side, then a very small compartment opened, and out fell a tiny jar and an amulet. “Wow, I’ve never heard of a coffin with something like this before!” she exclaimed. “Take a look at these!”

    Her friends were astonished. “It looks like the jar has some symbols on it.” Rick pointed out. “I wonder what they mean.”

    Sally asked “Can I hold them and get a closer look?”

    “Sure.” Ellen replied. So she reached over to give the new discoveries to Sally, who unwittingly grabbed the jar by the lid. As a result, it came open, and a liquid spilled on Trevor Gibson’s corpse.

    “Oh my gosh!” Sally cried. “I wonder what that stuff is.”

    “Don’t worry; I don’t think it will do any damage to the remains.” Rick said.

    The jar and its lid had also landed on the body. Sally quickly pulled some tissue from out of her pocket and picked them up, then placed the lid back on its container. “Good thing I have this tissue with me!” she remarked.

    Then Ellen announced “I’m thirsty. Anyone want to go to the vending machines?”

    “Sounds good!” her friends agreed. So they left the lab and went down the hallway to the vending machines. They hadn’t gone too far, when the corpse let out a feeble moan, then slowly raised and lowered its hands.

    The students sat down in the lounge, enjoying their refreshments. “I must say, this is the most interesting day of my life so far.” Rick told his pals.

    “That’s for sure,” Brian said. “In addition, I bet this will be all over the paper tomorrow!”

    Just then, they heard a small thud come from the laboratory. “What was that?!” Sally shrieked.

    They quickly finished their beverages, then hurried back to the lab. The first thing they noticed was that the coffin was now lying on its side. “What did that?!” exclaimed Rick.

    Then Ellen saw another startling sight. “Guys…” she stuttered, pointing a shaky finger, “how do you explain…that?”

    Her pals immediately saw what she was talking about. They all exchanged frightened glances. Part of the sheet was still on the table while the other part hung off the edge, but the corpse wasn’t there! For a moment they didn’t know what to do, say, or think. Then the students rushed out into the hallway.

    “What’s going on?” Sally cried.

    “I think that’s what we’re all wondering,” Brian told her. “The most logical thing I can think of is that the body was snatched and the thief turned the coffin over for whatever reason. But surely we would’ve heard them enter the building. Plus, who in their right mind would do such a thing?”

    “Good point,” said Rick. “Another possibility is that it revived as a zombie. I mean, he was killed in a voodoo ritual.”

    “Ugh, I don’t like the sound of that!” Ellen said.

    Rick tried opening the main door so they could get out of the building, but it wouldn’t budge. “Just great!” he cried. “It’s locked, or stuck really good!”

    Right at that moment, the door to the room right across the hallway from the lab slowly began to open. From the other side came a soft, hoarse groan. Then some thin, bony fingers came out and wrapped around the door.

    Everyone screamed and ran down the hall. They went back into the lounge. Rick closed and locked the door.

    “What a day!” Ellen cried. “First we find a badly decomposed dead body, and now we’ve brought it back as a zombie and are stuck here with it! What next?”

    Sally pulled her cell phone out of her other pocket and announced “I’m calling John Maxwell. I won’t tell him the corpse reanimated, just that it disappeared and we don’t know what happened.”

    John told her he’d be over as soon as possible. “Okay, thanks a lot!” she told him, then they hung up.

    Suddenly the doorknob slightly turned, then there came a soft banging on the door. It was accompanied by the same harsh groan they heard earlier.

    “Just our luck!” Rick cried. “The zombie still found us, and is trying to get in!”

    Everybody rushed to the other side of the lounge. The pounding slowly got louder. Brian said “It sounds like the door won’t keep it back much longer! What are we going to do now?”

    Rick gasped. “Even if it doesn’t get in here, it will most likely attack John when he arrives! Come with me, and be very cautious!”

    He went up to the door while his friends gathered a short distance away. Nervously, he unlocked and opened the door. Then Rick gasped even louder and quickly jumped back. The zombie slowly entered, shaking and staggering. Rick and the others rushed to the other side of the lounge. When the zombie was in the middle of the room, they ran past it, staying close to the wall. The friends made it into the hallway, then ran back to the lab.

    Ellen told the others “After tonight, I never want to see a dead body again!”

    Then Brian asked “How can we get rid of the zombie? We can’t just keep running and hiding from it!”

    Sally said “The liquid in this jar must have been a potion that reanimates corpses. So if that brought the zombie back to life, perhaps the amulet does something.”

    “I guess it’s worth a try.” Brian told her.

    “Okay then!” she said. “I’ll put the amulet around the zombie’s neck. But first, how about someone grabs that sheet, then tackles it and holds it down?”

    There was a brief, awkward silence. Finally Rick volunteered. So he picked up the white sheet. There was hardly any time to prepare afterward, because the zombie’s footsteps were already just outside the laboratory! The walking corpse came into the doorway. Rick waited for it to take a few steps inside, then he dashed behind the zombie and tackled it from behind, pinning it down. His reanimated opponent grunted loudly and tried to shake him off. So Sally quickly came up and placed the amulet around the zombie’s neck. When she was done, she backed away, then Rick jumped off the zombie and dashed over to his friends. It slowly stood up, the sheet falling on the floor. But to their amazement, it didn’t come toward them. The zombie stood very still for a minute. Then all of a sudden, it was surrounded by a soft, white light. Next, an amazing transformation took place. The body started filling out as muscles and flesh grew back and fused together, the hair got thicker and cleaner, the fingernails and flesh turned a pinkish color, and lips formed.

    When it was over, the light faded and disappeared. Rick, Sally, Brian, and Ellen couldn’t believe what they saw. The amulet’s power turned the zombie into a real, living guy.

    Just then, his eyes twitched, and opened. He took a few steps forward, looking around, then at the others. They went over to him, now sure that he wouldn’t do anything. “Trevor Gibson?” they asked.

    The guy nodded. He had good looks; black hair, brown eyes, and a splendid build. Sally gazed at him in awe and admiration. He noticed, and looked at her in return. Trevor smiled, then raised his hand and stroked her cheek.

    “And I didn’t think voodoo really worked.” Rick said softly to Brian and Ellen.

    The next thing they knew, the front door opened. Then John Maxwell came in the lab and announced “Here I…” the detective was caught off guard when he saw Trevor. He stuttered “Isn’t that?...”

    “Yep!” Brian answered.

    “But, how?” John asked in bewilderment.

    “That itself is a long story.” Brian told him. Then he turned toward his pals and suggested “How about we get something to eat, and explain afterward?”

    “Alright!” the others exclaimed.

    Rick drew a little closer to Trevor and asked “Want to come?”

    He smiled and nodded. Everyone else was quite delighted with this; they looked and grinned at each other. As they all left, Sally whispered to Trevor “Tonight was a little scary, but it was worth it!”

    He laughed, then leaned over and kissed her cheek. The others shouted “Woo-hoo!”

    But Sally didn’t mind. Neither did Trevor, their newest friend.