Don't Mess With Voodoo

by: muaaimoi

Six-year-old Sheldon Lee Cooper ambled morosely around his Library. Missy had been easily entertained with a new coloring book and was stubbornly ignoring her chance to gain new knowledge. Not that Sheldon was surprised. Missy clearly didn't care about learning. Especially no where near as much as Sheldon did.

Sheldon sighed.

Not two years ago this had been his favorite place. It was his quiet haven from bullies, an oasis of intellectual solitude, and his fountain of knowledge. It was here he found books that told him why the sky was blue, Why you couldn't see the moon during the day and where the sun went at night (Which was nowhere at all; the earth was the one that revolved around it). It had been the first place to offer him an answer to his many, many questions that wasn't "because God made it that way". Sheldon had loved it.

And it had just utterly let him down. He'd read everything worth reading in the science section. He's even tried the simpler books, which just restated everything in the more "difficult" ones. And so he wandered, trying to find something else to capture his interest. Finally he comes to an intersection between two large looming shelves.

In another world Sheldon discovers science fiction two minutes there after. That Sheldon makes a Left, promptly discovers the what-if's and maybes of advanced science, and falls in love. This Sheldon will make the same discovery in time.

But he has made a Right.

And in this dusty neglected corner of a Library in the Bible belt lies the one true rebellion of a woman trapped in Texas. The Librarian is very good at pretending to be happy and demure. It keeps her husband, the latest man in a long line of alcoholics who abuse her, happy. And the happier he is the less he hits her. The books had come in just last night and no one could ever know.

She has no way of knowing someone already does.

It's the discrepancy that catches Sheldon's attention. He doesn't much like dust, or dirt, or messes. So the juxtaposition jumps out at him. The books directly before him are old, but not worn. Clearly well taken care of, and yet the rest around them are dusty, much like the shelves themselves. Curiosity piqued, Sheldon draws one from the shelf and cracks it open.

"This Ancient Book Of Shadows is not for the idly curious. The knowledge here revealed has been forbidden through the centuries, and has caused great suffering and even death to thousands accused of being witches and warlocks... even to their punishing victims. You have been warned!"

Sheldon drops it.

His six year old heart is pounding and he is achingly, morbidly curious. Sheldon is awful at keeping secrets. It something his brother and sister hate about him, and that their mother exploits ruthlessly. If he reads this, Sheldon knows, like he knows the sun rises in the east and sets in the west (His dad has a compass and Sheldon checks, once a month on random days.), that his mother will be very, very mad.

But in his hands is the very first promise of power Sheldon has ever received. He is the most powerless person he knows. In his house, his desires always rank last. In school, no matter how smart he is , the teachers are to be obeyed. And what little freedom he finds, bullies take from him.

His Mother is forever saying "turn the other cheek". He doest understand why if Jesus will forgive her putting ground glass in his fathers meatloaf, he wont forgive Sheldon planting his fist in another boy's face. It's certainly less lethal.

His mother had not been happy with that line of questioning, and Sheldon had been told, under threat of his first "Real Texan whooping", that until his mother did indeed do it, there was nothing to forgive. And that had better stay the case with him and the bully's at school.

Sheldon, as always, obeyed. He was fairly certain that as awful as the boys at school were, their strength was nothing compared to his mothers. He'd seen her biceps flex while wielding a rifle and there was really no comparison.

So Sheldon stares, truly conflicted for the seventh time in his life (He keeps track of the more unpleasant emotions he experiences. It does very little to help him avoid it however).The warning before him seems more an entreaty. And Sheldon has never been good at resisting temptation.

Meemaw calls him moon pie for a reason. He will never admit it's because he'd finished one of her Pie's all by himself and she had caught him red handed. Face smeared with gooey cherry filling. Its one of the few secrets he's managed to keep. Just between him and possibly the only person he liked whole heartedly in the World. It had really helped that Meemaw had provided them both with alibis.

It's that thought that does him in. It's statistically easier to keep a secret if less people know it. Theoretically Sheldon will be the only person that knows he has read them. If he flips quickly trough the pages he can go home and observe them in his minds eye whilst going to church tomorrow. Sheldon knows the entire bible by heart. He won't be learning anything new.

The prospect of church is the final nail in the coffin. No one has any reason to ask him about it, and no one will think to bother him at mass, lest they suffer his mother's wrath.

Sheldon picks up the book.

The book of shadows excerpts are straight from the Internet. I'm doing this on a whim so I really don't feel like real in depth research, but by the by, Voodoo is African in origin and actually meant to ward off evil spirits and blah- blah-blah, its not evil or anywhere near as dark as I'll make it seem for the purpose of this fic. It just wouldn't be anywhere near as fun to write if I got into the happy spiritual part of it. Likewise I won't strictly adhere to what lore it does suit my fancy to find.