Page 9

W hen Talia entered the room, I expected their fight to start up all over again. She just stands there smiling. Not a smile of an emotion I can place. We both sit up and scramble to find our costumes and dress ourselves.

“Finally! Get it out of your system, then, hun?” Talia says with a slight twitch in her mouth.

“Sure did, babe,” Tim responds, walking over to her and kissing her.

What the fuck is going on here?

My mind begins to whirl with the events from earlier. The moment I had hoped for many years happened, and yet, I feel used. It felt so genuine. I don’t understand. Why am I just thinking this? Why am I not saying it out loud?

“What the fuck, Tim?” I shout.

“Look, don’t be mad. You got what you wanted, and I got what I wanted. Don’t act like you haven’t wanted to get lucky all night,” Tim drawls out.

“That is not remotely the same thing! What about the fight?”

“We did fight, but it was over whether I could sleep with you before anyone else tonight,” he chuckles.

“I just want my man to be happy, and this is what will make him happy,” Talia adds.

Consumed by rage, I walk over to him and punch him in the face so hard he falls to the floor.

Talia kneels next to him and caresses his face.

Walking out of the bedroom, I slam the door behind me.

Seeing red, I barge through the crowds of people and find myself taking several shots of vodka to try to calm down.

It isn’t helping, and all the people surrounding me are beginning to get on my nerves.

I decide it’s time to go check out the mystic who was hired for the event. Deep down, I find mysticism to be largely ridiculous and not real. I especially don’t trust the ones you book appointments for, as they can easily search on the internet to find everything they need to ‘read you’ as it were.

Letting out a large sigh, I pass through the threshold into the room that is dimly lit by candles.

There’s an overpowering scent of burning sage and incense, so much so that I begin to cough.

In the centre of the room is a circular table with a crystal ball confined by drapes of cerise coloured sheer fabric.

Already shaking my head as this is exactly what I had expected to find here, another cliché.

What a letdown. Old habits die hard, as I find myself looking down out of nervousness or anxiety, and there, I spot intricate salt lines that connect around the table.

Tim’s mum is going to be furious if that isn’t cleaned up.

Hesitantly, I step over the salt lines and instantly feel like a truck has hit me.

My head is screaming in pain. Uncontrollable shakes seize my being, my breath becomes shaky, as my eyes begin to flutter open and close remarkably fast. Barreling towards the seat in front, I collapse and fall to my hands and knees.

Choking on a dark, slick fluid that is forcing its way out of my body, feet appear within my vision, scraping away the salt line near me.

Once the line was broken, I instantly felt better, no longer coughing up liquid, and all the other effects seemed to have vanished as well.

“My dear child. What have you gotten yourself into?” An old croaky voice says as I lift myself off the ground.

Weakly standing, I find myself staring at a short, frail-looking old woman.

She pulls me toward the seat I tried to make it to.

Watching her slowly shuffle towards her side of the table, she sits silently.

I notice she has a hood made from the same fabric that drapes around us.

She takes it off, revealing her unkempt grey hair that looks so brittle that touching it would turn it into dust. Her eyes look dead, grey irises that are burning holes into my soul.

Well, if you believe that sort of thing.

“Thank you fo…”

Her demeanour changes when she sits; it’s like she can see something about me is different. “Child! You dare bring your unearthly abomination into my presence!” She spits with venom.

“I didn’t mean to,” I respond a little meekly.

“What you meant to do is irrelevant. Tell me, who are you?” She asks.

Rubbing my hands on my thighs from nerves, I look down to gather my strength to face this woman.

“I’m Kassius.”

“Hmmm. And what are you, Kassius?” She quizzes.

“I’m just a man,” I answer.

“DO NOT LIE TO ME!” She screams, standing up and placing her hands on the table.

All around me, the ground begins to quake.

Objects start falling over, and a large gust of wind blows all the candles out.

Terror builds, and the hairs on my body stand to attention.

The woman before was small and frail, now, she looks tall and strong with her imposing will.

Pressure eases around me as she sits back down, replacing the crystal ball with a tall, thick black candle.

She mutters something barely audible to my ears, and suddenly the candle lights with a tall green flame.

“There. That’s better, now I see the real you.” She says, smiling.

Pulling out my phone, using it like a mirror, I see that I have returned to the overweight, balding version of myself.

“What have you done!?” I yell back.

“A spell of revelation, I will only speak to the real you, and once you leave this room, everything will return to how you expect to see yourself.” She explains. “Now, tell me what happened to you.”

Reluctantly, I tell the tale of the night in the woods with my friends.

Hearing the voices, being chased by an unnaturally big wolf, and meeting Catherine the Sea Witch.

Her face crinkles to keep her composure, but I can tell she wants to cut me off.

Rage flickers across her eyes when I get to the part about the ritual.

She cuts me off, “Tell me you didn’t!”

I simply do not answer her.

“You stupid child! You have no idea what you have done. Please tell me you have not acted with your newfound gifts.” She emphasises the word gift, implying it to be negative.

“Well…”

“You have no idea what you have done. Catherine, as you call her, is a deceptive bitch. She made you a siren, yes, but she linked her life to yours. That pain you feel is her feeding on your life force, which you take back by sleeping with others. You linked their life to yours, and when you…” She trails off, and I instinctively realise something is wrong.

“What’s wrong? Why did you stop?” I ask frantically.

The mystic gets up and starts looking for something and talking to herself in the process. Something about her movements has me concerned. A realisation hit her as she was talking, but I cannot figure out what. I need her to tell me.

“What’s going on?” I ask, a little more agitated now.

“TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!” I’m out of my mind, trying to piece together things from context.

Snapping her head back toward me, there’s a look of anguish upon her face.

All I can gather is just how serious this is.

I watch as she finds a vial and scoops up some of the liquid I coughed up earlier.

Seeing this take place, I find the pain in my head that normally leads to me seeking someone comes back in.

Gripping my head from the pain, I vaguely spot her blowing out the candle she used for the spell that made me see my old self.

“Kassius, focus. The pain isn’t real. It’s to remind you of what you are now, look in the mirror.” She says, pulling my hands away.

Seeing my reflection show the devilishly handsome face I woke with today helps calm me down. I sense the haze of power within me and pull on it, forcing the pain to stop. Deep breaths fall from my body, lifting the weight of the pain previously felt.

“I need you to listen carefully. The Sea Witch has cursed you, boy. Cursed with the Call. I can’t help you, but I know someone who can. Seek Clay in the Necropolis in Scotland. He will know how to break the curse.” She explains, handing me the vial firmly.

Still feeling a little confused, I take the vial and decide to return to the party.

When I exit the barrier on the floor, even though it was broken earlier, I can tell I’m no longer within its magical spell.

Free from the power it contained, I pull on that link to desire to feel and strengthen myself after the initial shock earlier.

When I stop pulling on the invisible thread, an ear-piercing scream rings through the house. .