The Card Reading

Justina lit the scented red candles and asked her Guardian Angel to guide her. She sat down on her usual chair in front of the round table for the reading. The table had a lovely white cloth over it that had minuscule shining beads. She got the cards and placed them in front of him. Justina asked him to cut the cards. He did. She shuffled the cards and neatly put them in front of her. She opened and closed her pale thin hands, nervously. This always happened before a reading; especially if it was a new "client". She would immediately feel things; feel the rhythms in her mind --- the vibrations coming from the person’s aura. Her extra sensory perceptions were in her and with her since she learned how to read people’s minds; even before learning how to read. It was in her blood. It was in her system.

“How can I help you?”

“Help me find her.”

“Who?”

“My wife. She has been... hum... missing for 6 days. Help me. People in town told me that you were the best.”

“I’m the only psychic in town...”

“I need to know… what happened to her – be sure where… she is... right now.”

Justina picked up the cards and started putting each one next to the other, in order, side by side, very slowly – facing her. She saw the Devil (the most powerful and dangerous card in the deck), the Death and the Wheel of Fortune cards. She noticed that she was sweating. It was so hot in the room. Hadn't she opened the window? Her heart started to beat fast and she was now feeling queasy and sick. Her mouth was dry. It was so hot. Justina looked at her client and he was suddenly… very red, he was peeling, like a snake in the desert and, he looked exactly like the demon of the card - a winged, horned creature on a black pedestal, surrounded by chains and with an inverted pentagram. She blinked and looked at him again. No more Devil. What was going on? Then, she heard the deep, hoarse voices inside her head.

~~~~~~~

“I refuse to give into you,” she screamed at the deepness below her, resisting with all her might.

The creature looked at her and laughed, roared a burning laugh full of unimaginable evil. “I am only bringing out what is already in you”, the beast responded.

“Leave me alone!" she screamed and tried to go far from the red deep hole.

“I am the God of the strongest desires, pleasure and abandon; evil and bestial transcendence --- and who is here with me has accepted my commands; I fulfill all needs. There is no escape!” the creature of darkness shouted persuasively.

~~~~~~~

Justina saw this, heard this and tasted all this with her body, mind and in her mouth. And, now… it was… all gone. Where had this man been before coming to the reading? What was this man up to, where did he come from? Did he hurt his wife in any way? She had to do something… or call the police. Oh this stench…She could smell red boiling blood in the room together with acid and sulfur, dirt and also... something else… like a wild temptation. Justina urged balance, unity, and yin-yang. What was happening? Was she seeing two worlds or was she seeing two realities? She summoned the good spirits for protection and good vibrations; nothing changed. Where was this powerful force coming from? From the man or from the visions? She looked at her client and he was smiling a twisted smile.He was sweating, too.  And then, she started seeing through him.

~~~~~~~

“I am together with the Skeletal Death who wears a black robe and holds a scythe and walks in the fields of horror and desolation,” the Devil said to her.

“Have I died?”, Suzette asked to the red darkness.

“Yes, but this is not the only way to be reborn --- to me! It’s time for new, dark transformations… the stripping things to the bone and the transition of new flesh, sacrifice and abandonment! You are mine now!”

“I am my own self! Leave me alone!” Suzette insisted, tormented by visions of hell, flames, moans, ashes and horror. "Where is my husband? Oh... Where is... God?," she pleaded.

“HE carries the weight of the world and so, it is all lighter for ME! I can do many… things. I can give… anything. I can convince, persuade and promise… I carry the Wheels of Fortune, turning clockwise with its beastly figures and alchemical symbol hands. I have the real answers, not just promises! I can give chances, lotteries, opportunity and pleasure! Come to me as I am the one who is eternal”, the dark creature proclaimed. "Your husband has forgotten you."

“Never!” she shouted from the deep hole. She felt forked tongues lick her body while drooling warm saliva on her soft skin. “Why am I here? When did this start?,” she wondered in terror but kept falling downwards… and, no matter what she did, the malignant forces sucked her to a bottomless pit full of violent, burning flames. She could already see deformed human shapes twisting and moaning in this… big lake of fire. “Why do you want me?,” she asked weakly.

“Because you don’t want me! I like the challenge”, he said as he lifted his yellow eyes from hell and looked at her with desire and fascination. “You will live in the lower parts of the world with me, in my abyss, in my red pit. You should be grateful. You will live forever, you know!” the red monster said proudly.

“But I was happy the way I was. I am nothing. Let me go,” she pleaded weakly but understanding her fate. The stench and putrid smells that came from her new home were disgusting. She threw up.

“You are everything. I take what was given, exchanged. Fear no more. Fear no evil!”

“It’s so... hot!” she moaned, losing her vital energy.

“You’ll get used to it," he spoke while softly wrapping her naked body with his long, red wings. He took possession of her --- forever.

~~~~~~~

Justina blinked and looked at the man in front of her.

“She's in hell! You… you promised her to… Lucifer!” Justina screamed in horror.

“Good! I just wanted to be sure she was... there!” the husband said. "Now I'll get what I was promised!"

“You are a... monster!” Justina told him in disgust.

“Aren’t we all?," the husband said before disappearing into the darkness of his damnation.



Words:  1096