The United Miracles of America (And Texas)

Voodoo

That night, I'm walking through the halls to use the bathroom, when suddenly I bump into someone. I didn't really mean to scream, but if you see a dude with skull makeup on who nobody has really seen or heard from in years you're bound to get a little startled.

"Louis?! Goddamn! Warn me before you mysteriously pop out of nowhere!" I exclaim. Louisiana chuckles.

"Sorry darlin, I just had a premonition you'd be up and I needed to talk," Louisiana said. That cannot be good.

If theres one thing us states know, is that you don't talk about Louis. He'd always been a bit of an outcast, but after the civil war, he never really left his room. He scared the heavens out of Nueva, so he might've told Utah not to summon him when summoning the states. Nobody seemed to mind this change.

While all the states have one singular, distinct power... Louis is kind of a mystery. He calls his power 'voodoo'. Being able to cause someone pain by a small doll he has is just one of his odd talents. His others... well.... let's just say he's got friends on the other side.

"Ok...uh... what did you wanna talk about?" I ask. Louis motions for me to follow him. I really really don't want to because I'm definitely not scared but have very good self preservation instincts. However, with a wave of his hand, I feel a chill go down my spine, and I timidly follow him. We go into his room, which is on top of a staircase in the attic. Might I add that the states rooms are randomly placed, and his just so happened to be the most eerie? We go in, and I see that his room is very gothic looking, yet pristine. He even has a large grand piano in one corner. What unnerves me are the red floating candles, the skulls and bones set on tables next to bundles of red roses, and various strange symbols everywhere.

"Um... nice decor," I say. Louisiana looks around, and to my surprise he blushes.

"Agh! Get those away!" Louisiana exclaimed. His closet door flung open and the red candles flew in, white candles emerging to take their place. The red rose's petals wilted away, only for white petals to grow in their place.

"What... was that about?" I ask. Louis chuckles and waves his hand dismissively.

"Nothing to worry about darlin, now come with me, I need to talk," Louis said. He leads me to a small table in the corner of his room, and suddenly the chairs are pulled out for us to sit down.

"U-um...," I say, contemplating making a run for it. Louis smiles and sits down.

"Thank you Lorraine," Louis says, before looking at me expectantly. I sit down, and suddenly two cups of coffee are placed in front of us.

"Wh-who-,"

"The spirits are very happy to have a guest," Louis said. I swear someone just patted me on the head...

"I see... um... what did you need to talk about?" I ask. Louis flicks his hand, and the lights dim. The candle situated on our table burns brighter, and Louis stares at the wall the candle is lighting. Shadows of spirits are dimly displayed.

"I fear Confederate escaped the shadow realm," Louis said.

"Wh-what? What are you-,"

"Do you remember that figure you saw at the party?" Louis asked.

"How did you know I was at the party?" I ask. Louis chuckles as if I had just asked a ridiculously stupid question.

"I am in tune with every plane of existence in this dimension. I could see you, and I was watching from the shadow realm," Louisiana said.

"Why were you in the shadow realm?" I ask.

"I had sensed someone shift... but I knew that the only conscious being in the shadow realm was him... so I had to make sure. I saw the hooded man when you did, and followed him to the candle room with you. I saw everything... and I've been in here trying to figure out how he got released, when I heard the news that Hawaii lost her gift. This is bad, Texas, and it's about to get worse," Louis said.

"How could it possibly get worse?!" I exclaim. Louis sighed.

"I was very worried about our fate... I decided to ask the spirits for help... guidance... and then Anne-Marie suggested a crystal ball. Ugh, that girl is so superstitious...," Louis said. I tried not to point out that Louis's mere existence felt like a superstitious fever dream.

"Ok... um...did it work?" I ask.

"It unfortunately did... and... I'm super duper sorry and don't take this the wrong way but I saw the candle being stolen, the mansion crumbling, people losing their gifts and then you," Louis said quickly.

"Me?! Why me?!" I exclaim.

"I don't know... I am inexperienced with crystallomancy... It took a lot of energy to have that vision... and it just ended there... you seemed to be fighting someone," Louis said. I take a deep breath.

"Now what? Do we tell the others...?" I ask.

"I'm definitely gonna have to tell them 'bout the whole 'Confederate breaking lose' thing, but.... I don't... I don't wanna give them the vision Texas... I know how it'll make you look... and I mean, it's comin from me. I make bad things happen according to them! It's all, 'ohhhhh Louis, oh he's weird and creepy, he gave me back pain and has invisible friends!'... besides I don't know what the vision means! You're in it for a reason, but does it mean that it's a bad one? Probably not! Maybe you're just what we need to save everyone!" Louis exclaimed. I chuckle.

"Knowin my luck... that's unlikely. C'mon, we gotta warn the others," I say.