by Lexi Aurora
Sure, the vision hadn’t been great but it was in the past. And the past was unchangeable, so she might as well just let it go.
With one last sigh, she let her eyes close, hoping never to think of her dashingly handsome client and his tragic childhood again.
Chapter Three: Getting Hooked
Her dreams were not as comforting as she had hoped. At first her sleep had been blessed with the blissful nothingness of rest, but it hadn’t taken long for flashes of color and shaking images to crop up.
It hadn’t been anything as solid as her vision, but Gabriel’s face was clear throughout the night. By the time her alarm went off and she was sitting up, she felt like his visage was burned into her memory with an actual branding iron.
Groaning, she went about her morning routine, barely opening her eyes at all. At least she wasn’t being yanked into visions or anything else like that.
The morning passed uneventfully, consisting of just brushing teeth, showering, dressing, and downing more than her fair share of coffee. It wasn’t until well past eleven that she remembered she had left Gabriel’s payment on the table.
That was in bad form. Anyone could’ve just sprinted in and taken it. Although, she hadn’t unlocked her door yet so that was unlikely…but still, it was bad form.
Quickly, she rushed to her table to see the bill was sitting there, undisturbed. With a sigh of relief, she grabbed it, only to find that it was a fifty instead of a twenty.
“Holy shit.” Maybe he hadn’t been as mad as she had thought he was when he’d exited. Maybe he was super appreciative.
Either way, Constina didn’t question it, shoving the bill into her cleavage for a later trip to the bank. It looked like she was going to be able to eat and pay her bills after all.
Smiling to herself, she unlocked the door and went about the rest of the day.
The tides were changing, she could feel it. She just hoped that would be the only premonition she’d have for a very long while.
*
Four days.
That’s how many days passed with no incidents beyond her persistent dreams about Gabriel. She almost wished that she could remember them when she awoke, but she also didn’t. She didn’t like the idea that her mind was seemingly obsessed with a random customer. However, her mind didn’t seem to care much about what she preferred, because every night he was the first thing she saw behind her closed lids and the last thing she saw as she woke.
A knock sounded on the door, startling her so that she almost dropped her coffee. She managed to recover at the last second, but not before letting out an impressive stream of curses.
Her eyes darted to the clock. It was eleven, right when she was about to open. But she rarely ever had customers right at opening.
Checking to make sure her heavy eyeliner was in place, as well as her starry-scarf, she headed towards the door.
As soon as she was through the curtains that lead into her reading room, she instantly recognized the form. It was Gabriel, still dressed impeccably in a black suit with a white button up shirt. This time his tie was grey instead of black, but that was the only difference that she could see. If Constina didn’t know better, she would think it was the same day she had first met him.
Cautiously, she unlocked the door and opened it. Was he here for the amount he had overpaid her? She hoped not. That money was long gone, with twenty dollars of it residing in her fridge.
“Gabriel, hello. What brings you to my door again?”
“Didn’t the spirits tell you I would be back?”
“It does not work that way, my friend.”
Again, the corner of his lip went up the tiniest perceivable fraction. “That sounds inconvenient.”
Constina thought of all the visions, specters, and impossible things that had haunted her since she was a child. “You are more right than you know.” It seemed that he was not here for the money, so she stepped to the side and held the door open further for him. “Come in, please. The streets are hectic and full of bad energy.”
“In my line of work you get used to such things.”
“I see.”
“Do you? Or do the spirits?”
Huh, he was talented at keeping it hidden under layers and layers of stiff politeness, but Gabriel definitely had a saucy side. It amused her, but also made her wonder why he hid it so completely under a perfect veneer.
“Sometimes it is hard to tell.”
She slid into her seat and arranged herself in what she hoped was an alluring yet mysterious manner. “I trust your previous work decision went well?”
“It did,” he said with a slight nod.
“So, what are you hoping to be advised on today?”
“More work. After we met last, I followed your advice and it was quite helpful. But I find myself facing another choice and I don’t know which way to go.”
“I can help with that, but one must not become reliant on the spirits to move throughout life. Even they are not infallible.” Normally she loved it when people became too insecure to think on her own; that made for a great return customer who would drop some serious bank. But she didn’t want that for Gabriel. Not at all.
“I know. And I wouldn’t have come here at all if it weren’t for the dreams.”
“Dreams?”
“I keep seeing that day, the one that took my mother away. But instead of being alone in a giant crowd of rushing bodies, there’s someone there.”
Constina swallowed hard. “Someone there?” She didn’t know when her main means of communication turned into repeating back whatever he said, but her brain was refusing to supply any other words.
“Yeah. I can’t quite see them, like they’re hidden behind a pane of foggy glass, but I can hear them. They’re…comforting. I guess.”
“I see. So, this dreaming had prompted you here?”
“Yes. I think my mother is trying to warn me of something. But I don’t know what. I think it’s pertaining to the new offer on the table, but I figured you helped me last time, you might be able to help me now.”
“Okay then. That’s understandable.” She took a deep breath, trying to play it cool. Somehow Gabriel was getting bleed-over from her vision. Or their dreams were merging somehow or…or anything really. Her parents had known nothing about her gift and it had taken four years to get them to believe that she wasn’t batshit insane. She didn’t know how this whole thing worked, or why she was the way she was, beyond what she taught herself how to cope.
“Your hands again, please.”
“What, was it such a good read last time that you want another look through?”
Despite her stress, she found herself grinning. “Not quite. This isn’t a reading, this is a call to a specific spirit. The rules are a bit different.” She rose once more and grabbed her candles, as well as several of her crystals, laying them out in a familiar pattern. Once she was ready, and all the flames were lit, she raised her hands and let them rest over Gabriel’s.
The energy that rushed through her on contact was indescribable. One moment she was sitting in her chair, the next –for the briefest of moments– she was flying high above the earth, untethered to anything, or anyone.
“Are you alright?”
She snapped back to her body and blinked rapidly, trying to recover. “Yes, fine. Just close your eyes.” He did so and she took another steadying breath. Why was her heart pounding so hard? “What was your mother’s name.”
“Saoirse.”
She nodded and bowed her head. Slowly, she let go of her vice-like grip on reality, letting her feel and absorb everything around her. The smell of the incense as it curled within her nostrils, the feel of the heat from the candles, small little orbs of warmth. But they were nothing compared to the incredible pull drawing her to Gabriel.
Like the opposite end of the magnet, she was drawn to him. There was no point in fighting, so she let herself be snatched up and sucked in.
Chapter Four: What Lies in Shadows
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Just like before, she was yanked into the vision without warning. One moment she was in the real world, her hands resting over Gabriel’s, the next she was…somewhere else.
She could feel the panic setting in, so she closed her eyes a moment. “Alright, Constina, steady yourself.” She took long, cleansing breaths before opening her eyes and allowing herself to absorb the world she had been thrust into.
The first thing she noticed was that she wasn’t alone. Gabriel was standing behind her, looking as striking as ever. He was dressed in the same white button-up and dark pants, but his suit jacket and tie were gone. He stared straight ahead with his always-intense gaze, paying her no notice. She guessed that he couldn’t see her, not in this world, and she didn’t know if that upset her or not.
Before she could decide either way, the man started walking. Naturally she followed after, taking in his powerful, sure strides as he went. What did this strange man do, and what fate brought him to her door?
She didn’t know, and the dark woods they were surrounded by did not answer. Instead, it only grew more and more ominous, the trees growing so close to each other that their branches began to intertwine into a thick net that blocked out the stars above. Constina feared that the woods might swallow them entirely, until they reached a forking path.
Ah, so this was the choice he faced. She peered down the path to the right, trying to decipher what was there. As far as she could tell, it was gray, boring nothingness. A boggy sort of marsh with a dirt path right down the center for as far as the eye could see. And straight ahead was more of the gnarled, dark, intimidating forest.
She waited, unease growing in her heart. After what felt like forever, Gabriel moved forward with his ever-sure strides.
Right into the forest.
Constina’s breath hitched, but she followed him nonetheless. They marched on, and on, and on. Time passed, and yet it didn’t. There was no moon or stars to measure how many minutes were slipping by, and yet she could feel them doing so. Or maybe she was just going insane.
But then, in the distance, a glimmer of light shone through the onyx tangle of trees. Gabriel went straight for it, with Constina right in his shadow. Or at least where his shadow would be if it weren’t so damned dark.
One moment they were going through the never-ending woods, the next they were suddenly out of it, and standing on a jagged cliffside.
“Dammit,” she heard him mutter, looking around. She couldn’t help but agree. To one side of him was a narrow, rotting bridge that lead to a glen on another cliff, and to the other, there was another terrible, rotten bridge, but with about half of the middle missing. It appeared impossible to get across.
So naturally, Gabriel took to the bridge that was at least somewhat attached. This time, she didn’t follow, standing at the edge of safety, her heart squeezing painfully.
First one step, then another, and then another. Bit by bit Gabriel made his way across. Every step was a commitment. Every step was a gamble towards death. And somehow, he kept rolling the dice well, progressing without any ropes snapping or board breaking.
But everyone’s luck had to run out eventually.
Gabriel took another step, and it was too much for the rickety thing to handle. The sounds of rope snapping cut through the air, and then he was falling.
“No!” Constina screamed, lunging forward to try to do something, anything. But it was too late. He was gone.
And so was the vision.
She crashed back into her body hard enough to give herself whiplash, forcing a gasp from her mouth. Her whole body seemed to be stuck in flight-or-fight mode, and her eyes ricocheted around while they tried to lock on to what reality she was in.
“Hey, Madame Constina, are you alright?” She felt those callused hands gently grip her wrists in concern. “Can I get you some water? Do you need me to call an ambulance?”
“No!” she practically barked. Slowly, she recovered, calming herself bit by bit. When she was ready, she finally let her gaze lock onto the concerned man before her. “I saw the choice that you must make.”
“And?”
“It’s complicated.”
“If you do not mind, miss. I did not come here for ‘it’s complicated.’ I knew that myself.”
“Right, I know. It’s just…” she trailed off and stood, passing behind her curtain to grab a bottle of soda from her fridge then plopped back down in front of the handsome man. She knew she was basically throwing her persona out the window, but she didn’t care.
“So, you face a choice right now. One path, the one you’re leaning towards, it scary. Terrifying even. If you take that choice, it will not be comfortable, and for a short while you will feel like there’s no escape.”
“Is there?”
“Yes. After long enough you will come out the other side, and one of two fates will await you.” He stayed silent, waiting for her to continue, but the words weighed heavily in her mouth. “One fate is that you will be alone, and whatever it is you’re working towards will fail.”
To his credit, he simply swallowed instead of panicking as she was. “And the other fate?”
“It’s not yours to make. That is the path that someone else must take. Someone I do not know. But they must lay down the tools to help you succeed.”
He didn’t say anything for several minutes, and when he did, his voice was even quieter than usual. “What if I take the other path? The one I am not leaning towards.”
“You will survive, and live a long, fruitful life. But it will be boring, and you will be alone. You will live in stagnation for the rest of your days.”
“These are…all unfortunate.”
She nodded her head wearily. “Sometimes knowing what is to come is more of a burden than a blessing.”
“I suppose we will find out which in time.” He pulled another bill from his wallet then laid it flat on the table. “Thank you, Madame Constina. I appreciate your service and the toll it takes on you.”
“Please,” she murmured, pulling off her bandana. “It’s just Constina.”
“Ah. Thank you then, Constina.” Without another word, he rose and exited, the door chiming behind him with a sense of finality.
She sat there several long moments. Why was this happening? And why did the visions way so heavily on her? When she was younger, and lost in the deluge of her abilities taking hold, they had come and gone like pages of a book. Now, however, they insistently flashed in her head like a movie being played in the background at all times. His strong shoulders. His intense gaze. The tears that ran down his cheeks as a child. The callused hands. The terrified look as he fell into nothingness. All of it, on constant repeat.
But occasionally, in little slivers of respite, she saw happy things. Him ordering a scoop of gelato from a street vendor and lighting up like it was Christmas. Both of them, hand in hand, shopping down some boulevard or another with far too many bags between then. Him, late at night, ironing in nothing but his boxers while he watched television. They were humanizing, and they drew her to him in a way that was ill-advised at best, and utterly moronic at worst.
“Constina, what are you going to do with yourself?” she muttered, standing and grabbing the bill. Just like before, it wasn’t what she expected. Instead of a twenty, or even a fifty, a cool Benjamin sat in her hand. “Geez” was all she could muster. For someone who had just delivered such downer news, he certainly tipped like she’d told him the winning lotto numbers.
Abruptly it was all too much. Even with a four-hundred-percent tip, she wasn’t getting paid enough to be shoved back into the maelstrom of visions, premonitions, and dead with their insistent whispers. She went straight for her medicine cabinet and grabbed all her bottles, pouring her prescriptions in her hand. She was tempted to take more than she should, but that wasn’t the way to go. She didn’t want to be catatonic, just shut off whatever it was that let her perceive what those around her could not.
Down they went, washed down by her soda,
and she felt her eyelids grow heavy. It probably wasn’t healthy to force herself into sleep at 1 p.m. in the afternoon, but she just needed a break from it all.
Curling up in bed, she tried not to think of Gabriel, and the terrible end she had seen.
It was harder than she would like to admit.
Chapter Five: Sweet Dreams are Made of This
All Constina wanted was rest.
And that was the furthest thing from what she got.
As soon as she had closed her eyes, she had been plunged into vivid, shrieking dreams. As soon as she figured out where she was and what was going on, her mind was whisking her off to the next one. The experience was exhausting, and stressful, but even four solid hours of it couldn’t prepare her for the grand finale waiting in her subconscious.
One moment she was in an endless void, tumbling through memories that were not her own, the next, everything slowed down and she was dumped into something startlingly similar to a vision.
She was in a crowd again. But this time, instead of screaming and running, people seemed to be cheering, and standing in place. The abrupt transition made her head throb and her stomach ache, but she swallowed it down and forced herself to focus.
The cheering took on a defined sound. Was that…a name? She couldn’t be quite sure. Straightening, she looked around as her vision cleared.
“Is… Is this some sort of rally?” she whispered to herself. No one answered, of course. Like most of her visions, she walked the strange line of being present and affected by what happened, but also unable to interact.
Then, something began to cut through the crowds. She craned her neck, trying make out what was causing all the fuss. In the distance, she spotted what looked like an armored truck that had been turned into a float-like thing. There was a man standing at what looked like a podium that had been bolted to the roof, smiling and waving, with other men in suits were stationed every few feet along the railing which also looked like it had been attached as an afterthought.
