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.