…Second…
Jasper laughed jabbing his friend hard in the ribs and continuing their way through the tents and crowds. The annual carnival was in town and because the weather was drier than usual, everyone in the region flocked to it.
"Man, I told you it was gonna be lame."
"It's not so bad," Jasper shrugged as the other boy gawked at him. "Fine, I owe you a show."
"One that you don't want to go to," he pointed his finger at him.
"Alright…" he shrugged noticing an odd tent. "Hey we should get our fortunes told. Have you ever done that before, killjoy?"
"No, but it's a scam. That pyscho lady is just going to say that you'll have great fortune after something terrible happens to you, and then you'll be paranoid for the rest of your life."
"So you're scared?"
"I'm not scared. I'm just frugal. I'm not paying twenty bucks for bull shit."
"Okay I'll do it."
"I didn't say that you… crap," the boy resisted the urge to stomp his foot and followed his friend into the tent.
"Eh-looo Edwad and Jaspa," an older woman greeted them in a Caribbean accent. "Welcome..."
"How did she know our names?" The boy named Edward whispered to his friend.
"How does anyone know anything? My name is Carmen. What would you boys like to know?"
"What can you tell us?" Edward scoffed.
"I can see a great fortune in your future... Oh but something terrible - utterly terrible - will happen."
Edward raised an eyebrow at his friend huffing as he crossed his arms.
"I - I also... Can hear through these curtains and hear everything you say. I am no psycho lady. I'm psychic," Carmen huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
Jasper snickered turning his face into his shoulder trying to muffle the noise.
"Sorry," Edward breathed staring down at his lap.
"Well then, I'll tell you what I see. No guarantees on great fortune or misfortune..."
"Then what do you see?" Jasper asked carefully.
"Most of the time… I see souls."
"You see dead people?" Edward asked trying not to laugh.
"No! Souls and ghosts are not the same. I can see your other halves."
"Other halves?"
"You halfling - your purpose in life is to find your other soul. Your one true love..."
"Oh... So you're going to tell us who our soul mates are?" Edward questioned.
"No, but I can give you clues - what I can see."
"Alright, what can you see?" Edward leaned forward as Jasper rolled his eyes at him.
"Give me your right palm," Carmen directed as Edward reluctantly placed his hand in hers, and she closed her eyes. She hummed and the boys looked around waiting for the candle lights to flicker or the wind to breeze the curtain of beads. "BS!"
"What?"
"BS...?" Edward mumbled. "BS! Bull shh... come on Jay. She's pulling our leg." Edward jumped up and hurried out of the tent. Jasper turned to Carmen to apologize.
"Yes," she nodded. "And for you her name-"
"I actually don't want to know, sorry," Jasper shook his head. "I'd - I'd rather live in the moment than keep looking for a girl named Beth or whoever."
"Smart boy, you are. She is too, your halfling. She is very close; her soul is strong with the universe..."
"Uh well thank you. Have a nice... life," he waved leaving some money on her table.
"You will too Jasper Whitlock Hale, you will too…" her voice seemed to echo in his head.
"Dude, what the hell took you so long? I can't believe we paid ten dollars for that-"
"I paid ten dollars for that," Jasper corrected him.
"And it was total bull shit. She messed with me the whole time. She said it herself. BS - oh excuse me," Edward stepped away from a girl before continuing to a corndog stand.
"Sorry miss, he's just a little riled up."
"It's alright," the girl nodded feeling a little dazed. "Thank you."
Jasper skipped over to catch up to his friend as the girl shifted in her spot watching them walk away.
"Bella? You okay?"
"Alice... I just saw the most beautiful boy ever..."
"What?" Alice laughed. Never once had she ever seen her friend go ga ga over a boy.
"Seriously beautiful. Inhumanly... his friend too."
"Really? Where are these beautiful boys?" she asked glancing at the faces in the crowd.
"Um," Bella looked back where she'd seen the two boys last. They had disappeared. "They're gone."
"Maybe they were ghosts," Alice snickered.
"Would you two ladies like a free reading?" A soft voice asked them. A small woman with long gray hair held her tent open, gesturing for them to enter.
"Oh no th-"
"Sure," Alice smiled ignoring Bella's stare. "What do you see? Exactly?"
"What do you want me to see?"
"Whatever you can, please," Alice shrugged.
"Now please, left palms," she held out a hand for each of them to place theirs in. The girls exchanged dramatic looks as the woman started humming.
"You, your other half will be EC..."
"My other half?" Bella stammered.
"She means your soul mate," Alice nodded.
"Precisely, your true love will be EC."
"Easy?" Bella furrowed her eyes.
"Yes, EC... And you miss Alice..." the old woman turned to her.
"I'd rather not-"
"I had a feeling you might say that. I understand. It was a pleasure meeting you ladies..." she smiled, getting up to escort them out.
"Err thank you," Bella bowed her head, unsure of the proper goodbye to a psychic.
"Thank you, have a nice night," Alice waved as they left.
Carmen moved back into the tent and sat down in her comfortable chair. It wasn't too often she had the chance of meeting people - teenagers for that matter - with such strong connected souls. It had been too long since she had a real connection with the spiritual world. It was nice having not to lie...
She picked up her deck of cards and shuffled them twice before splitting the deck in half. She flipped over the top card on the right deck and smiled.
A white rabbit.
She looked back up at the doorway waiting for the person to come back in.
"Sorry to bother you, but... Could I get that name?"
AN: Hmmm, who do you think showed up at the end? I don't think there's a real Tarot card with a white rabbit… It was kind of allusion to Alice in Wonderland…
Also I've always always always wanted to do a BxE story about the psychic and their initials. It never felt right, but I was able to put it here…
And I forgot to mention, Cupid – like the god, is sort of narrating the story… kinda, strangely, and in certain parts….
Thanks for Reading!