Lissette Moreau

Lissette Moreau was a lonely child in her early years. Louis and Anna Moreau, her parents, had died in a car accident when she was five years old. Or so she was told. That was when she moved in with her only known living relative - her grandmother.

Claudette Rivere was a woman in her late sixties. Her once obsidian black hair had white streaks, but it was always pulled back in an elegant french roll. She was a product of the deep-south. Her old money and colonial mansion that was located in the Garden District of New Orleans, spoke volumes. The Rivere's had been part of New Orleans society since as long as anyone could remember - but everyone always remembered one thing about them: they were half breeds. For all their opulence and riches, an ancestor had married a native, named Wind Runner, and despite the fact that it had occurred two hundred years before Lissette's time, she was now branded an oddity by the people her grandmother considered 'her peers'.

She grew up not aware of her family stigma and was raised by her biological aunt and nanny, Tante Mattie. Tante Mattie was a big black woman who always had a smile on her face and her hair pulled back in braids. For most of her schooling years, her Tante Mattie taught her school, took care of her and most importantly, and taught Lissette her religion - voodoun.

When she was 10, she was given her lave tet. It was then that she pledged to the loa, Maman Brigitte, and then she did have her protection as such. Such as Papa Ghede is called to protect the dead, so is Maman Brigitte, but she is called to cure and save those who are on the point of death from illness caused by magic. Maman Brigitte, like the rest of the Baron/Ghede constellation, is a tough-talking loa who uses a lot of obscenities. She drinks rum laced with hot pepper, so hot that a person not possessed by a loa could never drink it. Maman Brigitte is the mother who reclaims the souls of the dead and transforms them into loa Ghede, removing them from the mystic waters where they were without cognizance of their own identity and naming them.

"We protect our own," Tante murmured. "That's why I am here. I protect y' an' teach y' de ways o' who y' are."

"Who am I?" She would inquire every time Tante said this.

"Somet'ing special, ma petite chou," she would smile. "Dat's why I be sent t' guard y'."

"Who sent ya?"

"De good lady, Maman."

"Maman Brigitte?" She asked, referring to her own patron loa.

Tante would just smile and start a new lesson.

When Lissette turned 12 years old, Tante took her somewhere she had never been before. Walking into an old building in the bayou behind her house she felt tingling throughout her body. Her blood seemed to stir within her. People were singing and dancing. Tante had brought her to the family peristyle - the pack peristyle.

"Dis is my pack," Tante whispered. "Come an' dance." Not understanding what this 'pack' was, she followed. She knew the ceremonies of her religion.

They gave food that they had made and created music on drums and pipe flutes. Even though her Tante had been teaching her for many years, it was a ceremony unlike anything she had ever seen. The rhythms of the Rada loa were beat on drums called tanbou kon. For each loa, they sang at least three songs that were repeated at least three times. The sang for the Rada loa's Legba, Marassa, Loco, Aizan, Damballah and Aida Wedo, Sobo, Badessy, Agassou, Silibo, Agwe and La Sirene, Erzulie, Bossu, Agarou, Azaka, the Ogoun group.

People spoke about her parents and she finally found some of the answers her grandmother would not give. These people could shape-shift into large wolves and her father could do it as well. He had been a part of this pack - a pack of Uktena. She discovered that her mother had come from South America and had joined the pack as a kinfolk. Her mother had been hiding from something, and to protect her, her father had married her.

It was this night that her other training began. Garou history and knowledge spilled forth from all of the members and teaching her their ways was to be a group effort.

The evening was almost ending when a man walked in. In his hands were a black knife and a hand full of what looked like dirt.

"T'night we goin' t' give y' more protection." He said, just loud enough for everyone to hear. Lissette raised an eyebrow at the man, in question.

Tante raised her eyebrow. "She 'asn't changed yet. It might be too early t' give 'er de protection o' our djab."

"What's a djab?" Lissette asked curiously.

"A wild spirit, child. In French, a little devil." Her uncle smiled warmly. "It protects our pack an' y' need it's protection too. Y' father was alpha o' our pack. An' now, I'm the alpha. I'm y' uncle Marcus."

Everyone frowned and became serious. The music stopped.

Tante's eyes fluttered a little bit and rolled into the back of her head for a second. Her whole demeanor changed. It wasn't Tante Mattie speaking anymore. "Give 'er de protection. If she is not prepared den she'll suffer de same fate as 'er parents. Have y' ever shifted Lissette?" Her voice had changed. It was a man's voice coming from her Tante Mattie!

"No..." She said slowly, taken aback from the changed voice.

"Give 'er de instruction. When de times comes I'll do what I 'ave t' do." Said the man's voice. And her uncle nodded. Again, her eyes fluttered back and her Tante slumped to the floor.Other packmates caught her before she hit the floor.

"Ah don' understand." Lissette frowned, rushing to her Tante's side. She was breathing fine. "What just happened?"

"It was my patron loa," Marcus said gently. "Y' heard 'im. We need t' give y' more protection."

"From what?" She asked innocently. He looked at her squarely. "Y' don' know enough t' understand. But y' will when de box in y' head opens. An' when dat time comes, y' shall know. Until, den, trust us."

Tante started to come to and looked at Lissette. "Trust y' Uncle. I know y' be a philodox, but trust y' Uncle."

"Ya promise ta explain some t'ings ta me later?" She eyed him quizzically.

"I promise, chere." He said solemnly.

"Then what do Ah have ta do?"

His whole demeanor changed, he too, was now possessed. Lissette recognized the ritual to be petro and she shivered. She was rada - not willing to hurt innocents or anyone for that matter. Her Tante threw a red cloak over her shoulders and tied it on. In the ceremony, Tante held her arm as her uncle took his black knife and carved cuts into her forearm. He told her that this was a garde. It was to serve as an identifying mark for the members of his pack. It looked like a veve. They then began rubbing in specially prepared dried herbs into the wound. Taking some of her blood, he mixed it in with the herbs. It was at this time she realized that he blood was odd. It was red like everyone else's but it had streaks of white. It never mixed, and it looked like oil on top of the red. It was slowly oozing from her wound.

Tante handed him a necklace that was in a bag that hung from her waist. He proceeded to put the necklace into the mixture and then raised it up the air. In a flurry of words that she didn't understand, a wind picked up in the room. It swirled around the bowl and it seemed to enter the necklace. He then took it out and put it around Lissette's head.

"Our djab is named Kita Maza. Y' only invoke it under de most direst o' circumstances. It is dere t' protect y'. It knows what t' protect y' from, for it protects all o' us at de moment. Know dat if y' do, y' will have no control over what it does - but y' can be safe in de knowledge dat it will not harm y'."

"What can it do?" She asked in the wonder of a child.

"It can be invoked by sayin' it's name three times an' it can drain the life energy o' a person an' kill dem. Y' only invoke it t' kill directly if de person is a murderer, a repeat t'ief, rapist, an' so forth... in de service o' de Maman - Gaia. An' most o' all, if y' do ever shift, your blood must touch it an' it'll give y' another fighting form as demanded by your blood."

"In othah words, bad people?" She fingered the necklace around her neck. Somehow, she felt safe just having it. She didn't catch the part about 'demanded by your blood'.

He nodded. "Be careful chile, Kita Maza be a powerful djab an' when it takes on other spirits, I 'ave only seen 'im stalemate once and he hasn't lost yet." He then went on to explain that the pack made regular fruit sacrifices, mostly oranges, on a regular basis for its continued protection.

She nodded seriously in understanding and then proceeded to give her gifts to her patron loa, Maman Brigitte and the ceremony continued.

"Where have ya been?" Asked her grandmother as she came skipping into the house. Lissette was now eighteen years old and in her final year of public high school like a normal child. She had begged and pleaded with her grandmother to have some sort of normal life and in the end, she had relented to her going to high school as long as her grades stayed good.

She had her first shift while walking through the bayou in junior high. Stumbling onto a 'gator, she shifted. First it was bigger than her, then she got bigger than it, then it got bigger than her, and then it attacked. In the end, she came out victorious, but not without help. Kita Maza was pulled out for the first time and she truly understood the destructive powers of the djab. Responsibility weighed on her shoulders. She was happy that she didn't have to spill blood on the necklace - in fact, she hated seeing the sight of her own blood. She still hadn't tested out the item in that particular regard. She had had to ask her Uncle again about that later because she had totally missed what he had said the day he gave it to her.

A year later, she had had her right of passage with solomn faces all around. There were many people there, that she didn't know just watching... almost as if they were expecting something. It was weird for her. For all this time she had taken the word of her Tante Mattie that there were actually other Garou other than her father's pack. All these people and wolves had seemed to know of her - but she didn't know any of them. It was frightening.

"Ah've been studyin' with Marcus. He needs help with his math." She said, putting her bag down onto the ground, responding to her grandmother.

"Ya didn't call," she scolded harshly. She went over to Lissette and gave her a tight hug. "Ah was worried."

"Ah've been helpin' him all year. Why would ya be worried now?" She asked, growing ever suspicious.

She sighed after a long pause. "Y' Tante Mattie didn't tell ya? Ah'm sure she would have by now. Y' almost nineteen now..."

"Tell me what?" Lissette didn't know whether to be annoyed or scared.

"Ah be what ya would call, kinfolk." She said gently. Lissette's eyes widened.

"Why didn' ya tell me?"

"'Cause no one was supposed ta, chere. It was ta protect ya." She said helplessly. "Everyone an' Ah mean everyone was supposed ta keep y' in the dark. Y' uncle Marcus disregarded de edict an' gave y' protection."

"Everyone is tryin' t' protect me." She growled. "An' still after all dese years, Ah still don' know from what."

"Ah'd tell ya if Ah knew, chere. All Ah know is dat it was a malevolent force an' it killed your papa an' maman." She shrugged. "Dat's why it's been y' Tante Mattie teachin' ya an' not me. She be part of y' Uncle's pack."

"Oh..." Lissette began to feel a little lost and so she snuggled into her grandmother's arm. "Ah don' like being left in de dark. It makes me scared 'cause Ah know dat somet'ing is out dere an' it killed mah parents... an' people say dat it be comin' foah me. Ah heard dem. An' an'… Ah like secrets a little too much…."

"Ah don' blame ya chere," Claudette smiled. "But ya have de strong protection o' your father's pack. Tante told me dat ta make me feel better 'bout everyt'ing."

Lissette chuckled. "Sometimes, Ah feel like Ah'm being thrown inta the deep end o' a pool an' being told ta swim."

"It's a good t'ing dat ya know how ta swim." Her grandmother chuckled as well.

"Anyhow, Ah'd better be gettin' ta bed. It's late."

"Y' going ta be wit' your Tante tomorrow?"

"Yup."

"Den I'll see ya later." And her grandmother smiled and went upstairs to bed.

The next night, Lissette left the house by the backyard and headed off into the bayou. Tonight was a special night she was told. Smiling, she followed down the trail that would eventually lead to the peristyle. About half way in the dark bayou, she felt as if she was being watched and so she picked up her speed.

Someone was standing in the middle of the path suddenly about twenty meters ahead. A black cloud seemed to fill the area. She knew it was a man, but something was blurring her vision of him. He looked blurry and she couldn't focus her eyes to get a clear picture. No words needed to be said - this man was evil - she could feel it.

"We meet young one," he said. His voice was musical in nature and soft - deceptive.

"Who are y'?" She asked, taking slow steps backwards.

He chuckled and then his voice went cold and hard. "I think you know. You have what I want."

"Ah don' 'ave anyt'ing." She protested. _Run damn you Lissette!_ She thought to herself. "An' Ah don' know y'."

"Ah'm de t'ing dat haunts y' dreams..." He said seductively, taking a couple slow steps forward.

Her eyes widened. She hadn't told anyone about her dreams before - not even her Tante Mattie. She began to shake in terror. "Y'..."

"Yes, he," he said impatiently. "Now give it here."

In the distance, she heard a howl - her family was coming. They knew something was the matter and they were coming to save her.

"No." She said, looking at him squarely, defiantly.

The man's eyes blazed a glowing red and he began to advance on her. In panic, she called on Kita Maza. The djab immediately pitted itself against the man. Knowing that Kita Maza was a Petro spirit, he wasn't pulling any punches, but they were pretty evenly matched. Her father's pack was all protected from the djab, but she knew that they would know that she had brought him forth before they got to this scene because of the tingling on their scars.

A woman, humming to herself, came walking up the path. Lissette's eyes widened in horror as Kita Maza extended an incorporeal arm to the lady. It passed through her body, and then she fell to the ground. Kita Maza had eaten her soul. It seemed to renew his strength in the fight and soon he was gaining on the man.

The man gave a wild shriek of rage like a hawk denied his prey and then he disappeared. Kita Maza became wind and disappeared into the air.

The pack arrived just as the man was giving up and disappearing - going into wait for the next time.

"Come, let us feed ya." Lissette said softly into the air, knowing that the spirit would hear her. Tears running down her cheeks, she ran into her Uncle's outstretched arms. He carried the shaking Lissette all the way back to the peristyle. No one asked what happened. The dead body was indication enough.

"He wanted somet'ing from me..." She said between hiccups after she stopped crying. Her Tante hovered closely.

Everyone looked at each other in horror. Lissette was in too much of a state to realize it.

Her Tante looked at her Uncle and spoke in a man's voice - possessed. "Now is the time." Tante Mattie came up to her and looked into her eyes, still speaking in the man's voice. "The less you know, the safer you'll be. The more you know the easier it will be to find you." Her hands went to Lissette's head on both sides.

Barely comprehending, she nodded her head and her world blacked out. Various pieces of information was put into little boxes in her head and locked. Inside the new box was the other small box - now hidden inside the new one. What was left was enough to get by... her tribe, her auspice, the fact that she was homid... and the fact that once upon a time, she did know the answers to all the blanks within her head and am unknown key could unlock the boxes. She knew about Kita Maza and how to bring him forth and she knew that she needed to keep those blanks as long as she could... at least long enough until she could defend herself.

After that night, Lissette was frequently kept from attending any events that dealt with her Garou nature lest she relearn the things to fill in the blanks. Her interaction was solely in a religious nature as she attended the voudoun ceremonies. After high school, she went onto University in New Orleans and majored in accounting. Her amazing aptitude for learning made it easy for her to retain information.

After she got her certification, her family pushed her to go and get her certification elsewhere. To please to her family, she applied for the vast number of scholarships that was available to someone with her grade point average.

In the end, she picked the University of Alberta, again at her family's behest. It entailed free room and board, books, food, and tuition. The program she entered was a co-op program where she went to school for half the days and to work for a practicum on the other days when she wasn't in school, where she was paid. The place that she was going to be working was a company in Edmonton called ITS. ITS is a prestigious firm that deals with the accounting of companies that are situated or connected with companies in other countries. (Joint Ventures and/or Direct Foreign Investments) Rumors have it that they have dealt in under the table contract agreements to give ratings to which some companies were not entitled to on their income statements, but their reputation for having some of the best lawyers and accountants in the world put them into the category of just rumors. They are known for only taking two or three students from the program and they are chosen from a profile sent in by the applicants. After a long and lengthy consultation that occurs before the program starts, the ones chosen are notified and given a mentor to which they will be spending the year working with. It is a well known fact that anyone who mentors at ITS can get a job anywhere.

"Tante, can ya pass me that toothbrush please?" Lissette asked, putting another shirt into her almost full suitcase.

Tante Mattie handed her the toothbrush that was sitting on the end table. "Girl, remember, pack warm, de winters are very cold. Dere's snow up dere."

"Snow?!" She asked in alarm. "Oh God..." She looked down at her suitcase of tank tops and jean shorts. "Ah think Ah'm going ta have ta re-pack some stuff." She mumbled, taking some clothes out and putting sweaters inside instead.

"Girl, y' have t' be careful in de north. Dey are different dan us. Dey don' know our ways an' we generally don' follow dere's-"

"Why not? How are they different than us?" Lissette asked, crossing her legs on the bed.

"Only my pack knows dat y' be goin' up north." Tante said softly. "Every one here wants y' to be here do dat dey can make sure dat y' be kept in de dark."

"It's a big conspiracy!" Lissette said angrily, old wounds resurfacing. "Who are they ta control mah life like this?!"

"Y' elders, chile, an' never forget dat." Tante kept her soft voice controlled.

"Ah haven't done anything wrong, Tante." She said brokenly. "The only people Ah can talk ta is y' pack an' cubs. Dey be closin' me off from everyone else like a pariah just so dat dese boxes in mah head stay locked."

"Why do y' think we be sendin' y' up north?" Her Tante asked tartly with a grin.

Lissette's eyes went wide with understanding, a huge smiled crossed her face and she threw herself into her Tante's arms. "Thank you."

"Dere be a lot o' danger wit' dis, Lissette." Her Tante said, letting go of her and making her way to the closet.

Lissette's face became serious. "Y' could get into a lot o' trouble foah dis."

Tante waved her hand dismissively. "No, we be y' blood family an' tribe. It's our decision ta make wit' y'. De Sept isn't where de danger is goin' ta lay."

"Den where?" Lissette got off the bed and began re-packing.

"De fact dat de Northerners will probably try t' teach y' things." Tante Mattie sighed, handing Lissette another large wool sweater.

"Would that really be so bad? Perhaps it'll be different than down here." She said with hope in her eyes.

"Dey be different, but not dat different." Her Tante said with a wry grin. "We all believe in de Maman, Gaia. I can' tell y' much more, but I will tell y' one thing - respect their traditions. Y' don' have t' follow dem, but y' HAVE t' respect dem. If dey were down 'ere y' would want dem t' do de same."

"Have y' been up dere, Tante?" Lissette packed the last article of clothing.

"A long time ago, chile." Her eyes went distant. "It's been a long time. I fell in love, got married, had children an' den my husband died on a mission. I came back down south an' joined y' father's pack. He was a great man, chile. He accepted de outsiders, de ones dat everyone else gave up on. He gave us a family an' something t' believe in. He was de wisest o' all us philodoxes."

"Ah wish Ah'd known him," sighed Lissette as she finished packing.

"I wish so too, chile." Tante sighed. "I'm goin' t' miss y'."

Tears formed in Lissette's eyes. "Ya have been my maman, Tante. Ah'm gonna miss ya too."

They hugged. "Be strong, ma petite chou. Do y' 'have everything?"

Lissette nodded. "Everything down to the plane ticket."

"People from ITS is gonna pick y' up?"

"That's what they said on the telephone yesterday." She wiped the tears off her face and smiled. "This is excitin'. Ah get ta go off on mah own with no one watchin' every step Ah make."

"Dat's de danger, chile. Be careful, de Sept don' know dat y' be leavin' an' y' don' want t' be found," she warned Lissette. "Dey'll look long an' hard for y' when dey find out y' be gone. Dey think it be dere responsibility not only t' keep y' safe 'cause Maman said so, but 'cause dey don' want y' t' be a danger t' other places. I hope we be sendin' y' far away enough..."

Lissette rolled her eyes. "Ah'm goin' north Tante. No one in dere right mind would look North. Dey all know how much Ah hate the cold."

Tante Mattie chuckled to herself. "Dat's true..."

"Do ya know anyone up there that Ah could meet?"

Tante's smile faded. "De Painted Pack is up dere." Lissette stared at her Tante blankly until she drew the correlation. "Oh boy... Paradox? Ah've heard stories 'bout him an' dat pack." She shivered involuntarily.

"Dey will understand y'." Tante said reluctantly. "'Cause y' be Southern dey can help y', but no more dan dat. Don' trust dem. Y' know who dere patron loa is..."

Lissette nodded her head solemnly. "Ah know. Ah'll be careful. Ah promise."

They hugged again. Picking up her luggage she took one last look at her bedroom and then headed down to the taxi and would take her to the airport and to Edmonton.

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Created by: Amanda Gaudet
Last Modified: April 6, 2003