The 882-page
fiction is published by Penguin in 1994. Anne Rice is an American bestselling
author and best known for her incredibly successful Vampire Chronicles. Lasher
is the Mayfair witches sequence.
This book draws
reader into family drama, medical science, and an erotic landscape.
Lasher, the
Mayfair Witches (1993), Anne Rice: summary
New Orleans
Mona has got
more Mayfair blood in her than just about anybody in the whole family. Her
father and mother were too close cousins to get married. Mona Mayfair just knew
the history of the Mayfair Witches. The long document told her thirteen witches
descended from a Scottish village called Donnelaith where the first, a poor
cunning woman, had been burnt at stake in 1659. But there were things in that
long family tale that had special meaning for her, and long account of Oncle
Julien’s life had been the most intriguing part of all.
People didn’t
know about the computers, but young Mona herself learned more about them every
day. In fact, her agenda did not even include non-Mayfairs at this point,
except, of course, for Michael Curry, but he was a Mayfair now, most definitely.
The whole family had him in its grip. Her mother and father were truly drinking
themselves to death. They weren’t aware of their daughter Mona had approached the
forbidden house on First Street.
Everything was
covered in family, nobody in the family in that house- practically speaking-but
her man. Her father was too drunk to notice what she has done. And Mona knew
the history of the Mayfair Witches. She got her hands on Aaron Lighter’s
document.
Aunt Gifford had
banned the Talamasca History of Mayfair Witches from her house and from her
consciousness. Aunt Gifford could be around her grandmother, Ancient Evelyn,
only now Ancient Evelyn said most nothing anymore. Aunt Gifford did not even
like to say that she was Julien’s granddaughter. Aunt Gifford was at heart a
tender and loving soul, she only seemed suffer for the whole family and no one
was more distraught over Rowan Mayfair’s disappearance than Gifford. Aunt
Gifford was too good to everybody around her.
First Street was
hers. The great dark house with its columns was whispering to her. It was the
place where Oncle Julien lived and died. That was the house of the witches. It was hazy now,
dreams, always get, but she had written it in her computer diary. Oncle Julien
had been playing the Victrola (an antique record player), and he had been
dancing about, in his long quielted satin robe. He had said that Michael was
too good in his French accent. Oncle Julien suggested to her and telling her
how when Ancient Evelyn was only thirteen- Mona’s age- Oncle Julien had bedded
her in attic at First Street. The illicit union had been born poor Laura Lee,
the mother of Gifford and Alicia, Mona’s mother. Now, Mona herself seduced
Michael Curry.
Mona’s mother
had been only thirteen when Mona was born. The first time Mona had ever come
into First Street-right before Rowan’s marriage to Michael Curry. Michael had
been restoring the house. The smell was
too strong, that was making her almost hungry. A flavor that seemed a hundred
flavors compressed into one. Uncle Ryan had investigated the entire area, even
the blood had been washed away, the rug in the living room had been taken out,
and he had come with a chemical.
Dr. Samuel
Larkin worked at Keplinger Institute. Rowan has sent him some liquid sample.
From the blood test, Rowan was a human being. They also tested the breast milk.
The household of
the Mayfairs with was in grief, the witch family just lost Deidre Mayfair,
Rowan’s mother. Aunt Gifford had banned the Talamasca History of the Mayfair
Witches from her house and her consciousness. She shut her ears to the tales of
the old days. Aunt Gifford seemed to suffer for the whole family, and no one
was more distraught over Rowan Mayfair’s disappearance than Gifford. The Mayfair
family was built the largest neurosurgery and research center in entire U.S. Rowan
had no siblings. Her mother and father were dead. Her husband, Michael Curry
lived in San Francisco. He was famous before he married Rowan. The man was
rescued by Rowan from the sea, then married him.
Talamasca
Dr. Rowan Mayfair was a neurosurgeon. She had some
friends in organization called Talamasca, a historical research group. They
took samples at the sites of the birth and the disappearance. The organization
is extremely interested in the history of Mayfair family. Dr. Samuel Larkin was Rowan’s friend. He was the only person who would vow to take the specimens to Keplinger. Dr. Larkin had
set a meeting with Aaron Lightner in New Orleans. He was scholar who led Talamasca.
Lighter had been such a nice man and very British, very old world, and very
formal when spoken on the phone. He was seventy nine years old who in love to
one of the Mayfair women. Talamasca people in London already got used to with
the strange issue on the Mayfairs: Mayfair marrying Mayfair.
The Tale of the Witch of Donnelaith
The pamphlets
were circulated all over Europe. They were printed in Edinburgh in 1670. Tells
how Suzanne, the cunning woman, came under the sway of Satan, and gave him her
soul, and how she was tried and burnt, but her daughter the merry-begot was
spared, for the child had been conceived, was sacred to God, and no one dared
touch her. Suzanne had brought the Devil, Lasher, into her descendants.
Yuri Stefano, an investigator of Talamasca
Yuri was the
premier investigator for the Talamasca. He had belonged to the secret order of
‘psychic detectives’ since he was a child. He was most effective tracer of
missing persons, a tireless and accurate gatherer of information, a spy in
normal world, a natural and infallible private eye. He loved Talamasca. He only
worked for Aaron Lightner or David Talbot, very high placed in the Order. Yuri
was a Serbian gypsy, tall, and dark-skinned. When the gypsies got Yuri that was
when his bitterness and his silence began.
He never forgot that they had been
his own kinsmen, his cousins, this band of thieves who bought children and
dragged them Paris and Rome to steal. They had got their hands on Yuri after
his mother’s death in her native village in Serbia, a miserable place. As for
Yuri’s father, he never knew that man – an American from Los Angeles and rich.
Before Yuri and his mother had left Rome on the last journey together, she had
hidden in a safe-deposit box the passport of Yuri’s father, along with some
money, some photographs and a fine watch. His father died when Yuri was only
two. Yuri was ten before he managed to reclaim those old treasures. The gypsies
had had him stealing in Paris for months, then in Venice, and in Florence.
Yuri was getting
hungry he would go into a restaurant. He saw a man at a café table, a man in
his twenties with fine tailored clothes. Not only was this person sick, he was
old and also drunk. He helped him to his hotel. The sick man tried to call a
man. The call was to a man in London. Andrew got worse, he vomited blood. His
father flew to Rome for the sick Andrew. But Andrew died, then his father
showed up. Later he found the old man wasn’t really his father. They were in
organization. Andrew came to Rome in order to die. The Englishman was Aaron Lightner.
Yuri came to love London. When he learnt that he was to go to school at Oxford,
he was delighted by the decision, and he spent six years there. By the age of
twenty- six, Yuri was ready to become a serious member of the Order.
Aaron wanted
Yuri to go to Donnelaith in Scotland, and his mission was looking for Rowan
Mayfair and a male companion, very tall, slender, and dark hair. No one in
Donnelaith was out to know about the investigation. He learnt Rowan was seen in
Donnelaith about for weeks earlier.
Yuri considered
it was a meeting of mystery and science. He tried to propagate. There were some
evidences indicated some members of the Mayfair family might be useful for
Lasher, that the family carried a genetic peculiarity, an entire set of
chromosomes which other humans didn’t have. This is the evidence that Michael
Curry carried this surplus of mysterious chromosomes. Rowan and Curry had
produced the unique restore, Lasher.
Rowan Mayfair
had been destroyed by its attempt to reproduce. Her body has been ravaged by
her brief aborted pregnancies. Other women in the family, lacking the surplus chromosomes,
suffered fatal hemorrhages within hours of the creature’s visitation. The
doctor who analyzed the forensic evidence from the site of the creature’s
birth, now was dead. Dr. Larkin who delivered the sample material, who came to
discuss with the family, has completely disappeared. Rowan sent X-ray film,
printout of electroencephalograms.
New Orleans
Michael also saw
the creature, he was six feet two, he was thin, he was wearing Michael’s
clothes. The ghost, the Devil, Lasher. Michael had a fight with him out by the
pool, he knocked Michael into water. The smells came out from him, the same
smell was in the living room where he was born. Rowan suffered a uterine
hemorrhage. She was forty-six years old. Ryan Mayfair was pretty smart lawyer. Another Mayfair woman died. Edith Mayfair died a
uterine hemorrhage. Lasher impregnated Gifford, and she lost the child.
The Devil, he
called himself Lasher, had already omitted crimes. He had stolen perhaps he had
killed for the passport. He raped his mother, Rowan many timer. She was his
prisoner. He made love to her over and over, wheter she was asleep or awake.
There was
someone in Gifford house. Indeed, the man had Gifford was one who saw Lasher.
He stood very close to her. He was nearly monstrously tall and the bone of the
forehead very prominent beneath the smooth skin. He declared his name Lasher.
He was in the flesh, have come again, with his beautiful Mayfair witch. He
stared at her warily, the face of a child, mobile, and seductive. He raped her,
the demon wanted a baby from Gifford. She was nearly death, in her mind she only
thought of her husband, Ryan, and her son, Pierce. Uncle Ryan, the
family lawyer, the family protector.
Donnelaith ,
Scotland
It wasn’t a town
at all. Tours were offered of the ruined castle above the loch. Rowan could see
the place where Suzanne, the cunning woman of the village, had called up a
spirit name Lasher and that spirit had attached itself forever to Suzanne’s
female descendents. Donnelaith, it was an archaeological project apparently
funded entirely by Mayfair family.
After visiting Donnelaith, Rowan flew back to the States,
she had arranged their flight to Houston, that city was very near to New
Orleans. She threatened demon, if he killed Michael, she would take her own
life. Rowan was miscarried twice, she was weak and sick. A person could have a
hemorrhage without it being a miscarriage.
Julien’s Story
He was born in
1828. He could see ghosts all the time; heard spirits; could see life living a
body when the body died; could read people’s mind, and sometimes even more or
hurt matter without even really got angry or meaning did it. He was a natural witch or warlock. A
Mayfair male could have everything he desired – wine, woman, and wealth beyond
imagining. But he could seek to know the family secret. It had never been common
among the very rich to read; it was more like the middle-class obsession. But
the Mayfairs had all been lovers of books. He could read French, English.
Latin, and did self learning on German, Italy, and Spanish.
His mother,
Marguerite, had not cared for ancient history, never heard the word Donnelaith.
Magic was her passion, she had befriended the powerful voodooiennes of New
Orleans. She had learned from them, she would now hell, spellbind, and cast
curses with good effect, and in all the Lasher was her slave and devotee and
lover. She was maniacally focused upon her magical experiments. She had had the girl child, would try to
another, stronger girl.
When Julien was
nine years old, he demanded of the fiend. Mean time his gifts and those of her
mother were growing stronger. They healed, casted the spells, and sent Lasher
to spy upon those about whom they would know the truth, and sometimes to gauge the
financial change in future.
By the time he
was fifteen, he knew seven languages, and could write very well in any one, and
was the unofficial overseer and manager of the entire plantation. Cousin
Augustin grew jealous of him, and so in a fit of rage Julien shot him. Thw
whole family went into chaos, Augustin’s descendants left the Mayfair’s land.
It was 1847 by
the time. As the city grew rich and yearly full of more diversions, he carried
out with his mother in the privacy of the study their worst sacrifices to the
daemon. Their first victim of any note was a voodoo doctor, a mulatto, very
old, but still strong. With each new victim, they grew more cunning and bold;
and more hopeful; the learnt that the body must be strong, not old, and that a
youngster with no family or home was their best prospect. He was the only male
ever to have power with Lasher.
The Mayfairs
Alicia, Mona’s
mother had miscarried and had been died when her daughter came to see her.
There had been another death. Lindsay Mayfair had been found dead in Houston,
Texas. Clytee Mayfair did not live far from Lindsay, and died nearly the same
time. Mandy Mayfair’s death was the midway between Edith’s and Alicia’s. The
immediate autopsy result on Edith and Alicia Mayfair indicated they miscarried.
There was genetic mutant male with ninety two chromosomes preying on the women
in the Mayfairs, attempting to impregnate them and apparently killing them.
Somebody was walked out of Keplinger with all the material Rowan Mayfair entrusted to Larkin. Mitch Flanagan was on behalf of Dr. Samuel Larkin for Dr. Rowan Mayfair. Flanagan was dead. He was struck by a car crossing California Street.
Rowan had been
found, the ambulance was taking her straight to hospital. There had been enormous
toxic damage in her brain, the kind of damaged produced by shock, drug
overdose, an allergic reaction. Aaron was old, in his eighties. Lasher was
trying desperately to propagate. Dr. Samuel Larkin was probably dead.
A letter from
the new Superior General Anton Marcus, Yuri and Aaron were excommunicated
without prejudiced. The investigation of the Mayfair Witches was now in the
hands of Eric Stolov and Clement Norgan. Aaron had abandoned the Elder’s
orders.
She had been
hemorrhaging, just like the others, though she wasn’t dead. Rowan had been
escaped, a truck driver had brought her to hospital. Rowan was stable. Lasher
showed up instantly. Michael attacked him near death. But Erich Stolov, a new
generation of Talamasca, asked Michael not to kill him. Michael slammed the
hammer right into the soft spot in the top Lasher’s head. The blood exploded,
he died instantly.
It was a soft
heartbroken crying, like a child. The crying voice came from Rowan’s room. A
great tall girl sat on the side of the bed, she saw Michael. Her tear-filled
eyes opened wide, just like Lasher’s eyes. Rowan shot three bullets into the
girl’s face. Rowan was healed after she drank the milk from the dead girl, incarnated
Emaleth.
*****
11 p.m
March
9, 2015
Sekapur Sirih
Isu komputer
kerap dibawa, memang bisa dipahami pada awal tahun sembilan puluhan, ketika
novel ini diterbitkan, komputer suatu barang mewah dan langka, pembaca dibawa
mengenang kembali istilah DOS. Fiksi setebal 882 halaman terdiri dari 39 bagian
merupakan novel bertema penyihir, silsilah keluarga, kasih, cinta, kejahatan, istilah
kedokteran dan biologi, teknologi komputer, dan seksual.
Kisah keluarga
penyihir Mayfair yang tinggal di New Orleans, keluarga tua, berpuluh generasi,
dan kaya. Mereka memiliki bisnis bidang laboratorium kesehatan, investor, dan
saham.
Secara bahasa fiksi
ini cukup mudah dimengerti, namun secara keseluruhan isi cerita sulit dipahami;
diantaranya dibingungkan oleh banyaknya tokoh silsilah keluarga penyihir Mayfair.
Novel ini merupakan sekuel novel the Mayfair Witches, lanjutan dari the Witching Hours. Walau belum membaca buku sebelumnya, cerita ini berdiri
sendiri sehingga tetap bisa dinikmati. Kisah penyihir ini tidak tepat bagi
pembaca di bawah umur, banyak mengeksplorasi seks. (Bali sempat disinggung pada
halaman 178, tempat tokoh Yuri berlibur).
Terjemahan (Ringkasan) dalam Bahasa Indonesia:
Lasher (1993), Anne Rice
Keluarga
penyihir Mayfair telah hidup berpuluh generasi di New Orleans. Keluarga besar
itu tengah dikejutkan dengan menghilangnya Rowan Mayfair dan kematian Deidre
Mayfair (ibu dari Rowan). Tidak hanya itu, kematian lain pun menyusul hingga
menewaskan sejumlah wanita keturunan Mayfair.
Talamasca sebuah organisasi yang berisikan ilmuwan dan
investigator dalam penangangan kasus silsilah keluarga (terutama orang-orang
yang berhubungan dengan kehidupan dunia hitam) berdasarkan uji ilmiah. Bagi
organisasi Talamasca, Mayfair adalah keluarga penyihir unik; saling menikahi
sesama anggota keluarga Mayfair, apalagi nona muda Mona Mayfair berayah-ibukan
Mayfair. Gadis berusia enam belas tahun ini gesit, cerdas, dan piawai
menggunakan komputer; di mana anggota keluarga lain tidak ada yang mahir dengan
teknologi baru itu. Dari kebanyakan nama dalam sejarah keluarga yang
dipelajarinya, Mona sangat tertarik dengan kisah Oncle Julien.
Suara penyihir
itu sering memanggil-manggil Mona. Bahkan dalam mimpi ia sering bertemu Julien.
Tidak hanya itu, sang kakek moyang juga sering membawa pikirannya ke masa lalu
menyaksikan kisah keluarga. Tak satu pun yang peduli dengan pengakuan Mona,
hanya dia dan kekasihnya Michael. Lelaki itu juga sering mendapat mimpi, bisa
mendengar, dan melihat penyihir Julien.
Roh dan kekuatan
penyihir itu masih berdiam di rumahnya, tempat di mana Julien hidup dan meninggal
ratusan tahun silam. Sesungguhnya rumah itu tidak lagi menyeramkan, Michael
telah merenovasinya. Tetapi sudut-sudut rumah itu tetap meyimpan majis dan tidak
luput dari kehadiran Julien dan iblis lain.
Kebanyakan
anggota Mayfair di New Orleans tidak mau tahu dengan kisah sejarah keluarga
mereka, apalagi Bibi Gifford sangat anti; terutama rumah utama penyihir, yang
kini ditempati Michael Curry dan Rowan Mayfair. Bibi Gifford, seorang berhati
baik, pengasih, hanya dialah satu-satunya peduli dengan hilangnya Rowan Mayfair
setelah melahirkan.
Kedua orang tua
Mona peminum berat dan mabuk sepanjang hari. Mereka tidak menyadari putrinya
mendatangi rumah anker itu, hal terlarang. Gadis belia itu baru saja membaca
arsip panjang dari catatan Talamasca, baru saja mengetahui sejarah kelam
keluarganya.
Aaron Lightner
seorang ilmuwan Talamasca membeberkan semua kisah suram dan jaya keluarga itu. Seorang
wanita licik dan jahat bernama Suzanne di sebuah desa di Donnelaith, Skotlandia tahun 1659,
dibakar hidup-hidup pada sebuah tiang. Ia telah membuat perjanjian dengan setan
bernama Lasher, kekuatan hitam yang membuatnya bisa membaca pikiran orang, membuat
benda terbang, dan melakukan berbagai kegiatan sihir; sejumlah jahat lain yang
melukai orang lain dan menguntungkan dirinya termasuk memperkaya diri. Tidak
sekedar itu, ia juga terlibat perjanjian abadi dengan Lasher, termasuk
kesenangan seks. Anggota keluarga Mayfair hingga keturunan ketigabelas seperti
Rowan dan beberapa wanita berdarah Mayfair lainnya berada dalam kutuk.
Walau Lasher
sudah dibakar jelas-jelas ratusan tahun lalu, mahkluk itu kembali muncul dalam
daging dan darah; terlahir dari rahim Rowan Mayfair. Kelahirannya diikuti dengan
bau aroma khas bumbu masakan, sosok besar itu melukai ayahnya Michael, dan
menyandera ibunya sendiri Rowan. Pertumbuhannya sangat tidak wajar, tubuhnya
membesar dengan cepat, dan nafsu setannya memerkosa Rowan. Iblis itu menyadari
dirinya adalah Lasher, menagih janji, dan ingin melanjutkan keturunan di bumi.
Rowan membawanya ke dunia.
Di bawah ancaman
kekuatan gelapnya, Rowan pun dibawa ke Donnelaith di mana ia pertama kali
menjadi bagian keluarga Donnelaith. Sebuah desa kini menjadi reruntuhan, terdahulu
sempat menjadi situs arkeologi, dikembangkan dan didanai keluarga Julien Mayfair
dari Amerika. Mengunjungi desa itu, Lasher masih dapat merasakan berada saat
bersama Suzanne.
Dr. Rowan Mayfair
berusia empat puluh tahun, adalah doktor dan ilmuwan di pusat penelitan
laboratorium medis yang dipunyai oleh keluarga Mayfair. Sebelum Rowan menjadi
sandera, ia sempat mengirimkan sampel darahnya dan milik Lasher serta air
susunya sendiri untuk diteliti rekan kepercayaannya Dr. Samuel Larkin di
Keplinger Institut. Dr. Larkin bersama timnya mendapati kromoson dari makhluk
itu tidak normal, sebaliknya Rowan normal.
Di sisi lainnya,
keluarga meminta Aaron Lightner dari Talamasca untuk mencari keberadaan Rowan
dan sosok lelaki yang menculiknya. Lelaki berusia tujuh puluh sembilan tahun
itu, segera terbang meninggalkan kantornya di kota London ke New Orleans. Bagi
Mayfair, Aaron sudah tidak asing, selain pembuat investigasi keluarga, ia tengah
menjalin hubungan dengan wanita Mayfair bernama Beatrice.
Setelah melewati
uji forensik serta sampel yang didapat dari tempat kejadian, dihubungkan dengan
sejarah keluarga penyihir Mayfair. Aaron Lightner dan tangan kanannya Yuri
Stefano, seorang investigator Talamasca berdarah Gypsy, mengaitkan Donnelaith
dengan kisah Lasher. Iblis itu ingin menghamili setiap wanita Mayfair. Kematian
puluhan anggota Mayfair memiliki kesamaan gejala yakni keguguran dan hemorhage.
Michael Curry
telah diselamatkan dari kematiannya oleh Rowan di sebuah pantai. Lelaki
terkenal itu dan Rowan akhirnya saling jatuh cinta dan menikah. Michael menuduh
Lasher telah menculik bayinya dan Rowan. Ia sempat berkelahi dengan sosok besar
itu, hanya saja ia terlalu lemah, terpelanting jatuh. Michael tidak menyadari
Lasher adalah bayi yang dilahirkan istrinya.
Kromoson unik Michael
dan Rowan telah membuat kuat berhasil membawa Lasher ke dunia, puluhan Mayfair
lainnya tidak memiliki kromoson kuat untuk mempertahankan bayi Lasher; keguguran
yang mengantarkan mereka pada kematian.
Mengalami
keguguran dua kali dan sejumlah lebam di tubuh Rowan membuatnya melemah, ia
menjadi tawanan Lasher, sosok yang dilahirkannya. Rowan terlalu lemah melawan
iblis itu, namun dengan sejumlah perjuangan akhirnya ia berhasil melarikan diri
Lasher. Sangat beruntung, seorang supir truk berhasil membawanya ke rumah
sakit.
Sebelum menikah
Dr. Rowan Mayfair adalah ilmuwan di Keplinger Institite dan memiliki rekan
kepercayaan di usaha penelitan dan laboratorium. Sebelum menghilang Rowan
sempat mengirimkan beberapa sampel untuk dikaji. Setelah pengujian lab. dilakukan,
Dr. Larkin tidak ditemukan jejaknya dan seorang stafnya yang terlibat dalam
pengujian juga tewas terbunuh.
Baik penyidik
Talamasca dan Keplinger Institute memiliki kesamaan hasil tes akan sampel
cairan yang diuji laboratoris. Lasher bukan manusia, dan menurut Talamasca
Lasher ingin membuat keturunan di bumi lewat wanita berdarah Mayfair. Lasher
dalam pengejaran, tetapi akhirnya sosok itu mencari ibunya Rowan, dan berhasil
dibunuh oleh Michael dengan menancapkan palu pada kepala mahkluk besar itu.
Dalam tubuh
organisasi Talamasca sendiri terjadi konflik; ketua baru memecat Aaron dan Yuri
karena dianggap mengabaikan perintah. Investigator baru bernama Stolov dan
rekannya dikirim untuk mengambil alih kasus Mayfair, tetapi pada akhirnya kedua
tim bekerja sama. Keadaan Rowan pun memulih, kebahagiaan keluarga ditambahkan
oleh berita bagus datang dari Mona dan Aaron.
Mona meminta
maaf pada Rowan dan Michael. Gadis liar itu mengakui kesalahannya. Gadis itu
terlalu mudah diberdayakan dan dipengaruhi oleh penyihir Julien. Mona dan Michael
sempat menjalin hubungan gelap selama Rowan menghilang. Gadis belia itu
akhirnya mendapatkan kehangatan cinta dari Yuri Stefano. Pada usianya yang ke
tujuh puluh sembilan, Aaron menikahi Beatrice Mayfair. Kini Aaron resmi menjadi
anggota keluarga Mayfair.
Suara tangisan
wanita, seolah rengekan bayi perempuan, terdengar dari kamar tidur, setelah didekati
sosok itu mirip Lasher, versi wanita. Michael tidak tega menembak sosok tinggi
yang sedang merengek, sebaliknya dengan tegas Rowan melepaskan tiga peluru pada
putrinya, bayi aneh itu. Ia segera pulih setelah meminum air susu putrinya,
titisan jelmaan penyihir Emaleth.
No comments:
Post a Comment