“Put your money on the table and have a seat,” she calls out dryly in a bad accent. Jared looks back at me and I shrug. He does as he’s told and the woman holds out her hand, indicating that Jared should put his own hand in hers. Reluctantly, he does, and she gasps and begins to caress it animatedly. Oh, come on!
“You have a great heart,” she begins in her corny accent, still with eyes closed. “A brave heart. You have love in it, and it is returned, though there is turmoil. You must be patient. It will come. However, tread lightly. Danger lurks nearby. Do not be fooled by those who try to lure you with worldly pleasures. It will only end in tragedy.” Then she drops his hand, her blank, bored expression restored. Ok, that was a waste of five dollars. That could have applied to just about every guy in America!
Jared stands nervously and motions me to sit. I shake my head when the fortune teller calls out “Sit!” Her eyes are still closed; how could she have seen I was refusing? I sigh and pull a crumpled five dollar bill from my pocket and drop it on the table, flopping down with a huff. The woman extends her hand, and I shakily give her mine. When she encloses her hands on it, she gasps and her eyes fly open violently. Her pupils are clouded with a misty grey haze. She’s blind. I mentally reprimand myself for pegging her as rude and melodramatic.
“I…I…am so sorry. I did…not realize,” she sputters. She drops my hand as if I have snakes for fingers. The fuck? “I can leave. Tonight. I…I did not realize.” She’s really freaking me out. This has to be part of the act.
I look back at Jared who looks just as alarmed as I do. Shit. I’ve got to make this right. “No, please. I’ve paid my money. What do you see?”
The old woman swallows loudly, clearly afraid to speak. She shakes her head vehemently. “No. I cannot. I will leave now! I apologize! Please, spare me!” She’s pleading.
“No, I don’t want you to leave. I won’t hurt you. Tell me what you see. Please!” She really is starting to scare me. I wish I could excuse Jared so I could be alone with the contrived soothsayer, but that would be too obvious. He would object anyway and the fortune teller may run away screaming.
The blind woman reaches for my hand, trembling furiously. She closes her eyes again reluctantly and loudly sucks in a large puff of air. “You are in great danger. Grave danger. Darkness approaches you from many angles. It eclipses the light around you, pulling you further and further into a world of great pain and tragedy. It seeps into you. Alters you. Soon it will consume you completely. Yet, you will allow it. You will welcome the darkness. Because you…” She hesitates.
“Go on,” I urge. I need to hear this.
The blind woman painfully swallows as if she has razor blades in her throat. Her breathing is rapid and her dry lips tremble.
“You are the darkness.”
And with that, she drops my hand and recoils.
I don’t know what to say to that. What can I say to that? I slide the money closer to her but she shakes her head fiercely as if she can see what I am doing.
“I cannot take that. Forgive me. I am just an old woman. I meant no harm!” She is nearly shaking the table from her tremors. I grab the bill and crumple it in my palm tightly, afraid to face Jared’s reaction to my bizarre fortune. He is stock-still, wide-eyed and pale. He, too, has been shaken by this woman’s words.
“Come on,” I mutter, pulling Jared out of the tent with me, abandoning my oversized stuffed animal.
I have to escape, and a few games of Skee-ball and pizza won’t suppress the anxiety rising inside of me. This is beyond anything I could have ever expected. I have been so wrapped up in rejecting the Light and what they want from me that I couldn’t see what I was actually doing in turn. The fortune teller has seen it, the darkness within me. I am not fighting it. I’m embracing it. I’m not running from the Dark.
I am the Dark.
Chapter Fifteen
“Holy shit, Gabs, did you know that lady?”
I am urgently pulling Jared away from the dark tent that houses the hauntingly perceptive fortune teller, no small feat considering he outweighs me by nearly 80 pounds.
“No,” is all I can manage to choke out. My throat is tight with emotion and fear. How did she see that? It can’t be true!
“Will you hold up a second? What is going on?” Jared shouts, refusing to walk any further so all I’m tugging on is his shirt. I have to get out of here. Far away from that woman and her lies.
Jared grasps me by the shoulders, holding me in place. I’m disoriented, lost. My eyes dart around violently, unable to bring anything into focus. Jared reads the anxiety etched on my face and instantly relaxes his stance. He’s worried about me and reflexively pulls me into the warmth of his arms. I begin to resist his embrace but surrender after a moment. I feel defeated. There’s no fight left in me.