Chapter 5: Two Paths leads to one love
There was a definite chill to the air in this room, I noted as I closed the door behind me.
I was currently wandering around the house on my own since Ayako and Masako were still in a huff with me for some unknown reason.
Bou-san and John were surveying the grounds but I knew they really just wanted to get as far away from the girls as possible.
This is a mess, I thought to myself but a small sadistic part of my mind which I quickly squashed kept telling me it was amusing.
Naru and Lin had disappeared after coming back from meeting the owner, only to tell us we had a free choice of any bedroom. How typical of them to leave me here on my own, I thought with disgust at the people I called my colleagues, really they could be so petty and annoying sometimes.
Like most other cases I was in the furthest wind of the house were no one else from SPR would even ponder choosing simply because it was too far away from base I welcomed the solitude. It was becoming harder and harder for me to keep up my innocent cheerful façade.
The feeling I'd had earlier had long since gone but the memory of it alone tinged me with uneasiness, making me glance over my shoulder only to find myself staring back from a gilded wall length mirror.
I hesitated staring at it almost entranced while not wanting to turn my back on it but it was simply too silly to walk along the empty corridor with my head over my shoulder.
Moving onto the next room I decided it would do for the duration of my stay. While it wasn't big, I didn't like to choose enormous rooms since the space kinda creeped me out, it wasn't small either and the large bed looked soft and welcoming.
There was one thing about the room that surprised me and that was cleanliness.
Every other room I'd checked out had been dusty with mothballs by every fabric but this room was clean, mothball free with fresh sheets and polished furniture.
For a moment I thought of leaving, someone was bound to stay here but Naru had said any room in the house was free to the taking. So if I really wanted to by Naru's invitation, I could have stayed in the owner's room. I scoffed at the thought as I dumped my bag on the bed, I'd never be as rude as to do something like that, though Naru just might!
Just as I was about to lie back on the bed and close my eyes I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as if I was being watched.
"Ah, I see you found your room," an ageless voice said from behind me making me yelp and turn around to the door before I jumped back again making the back of my legs hit against the bed and causing me to wobble as I waved my arms frantically about. Honestly, my sense of balance had never been perfect but I was never this much balance disabled.
The reason for my fright took a step into the bedroom and I cringed slightly away from the old woman.
At first all I had seen was a woman wearing a black dress covering her entire body and a black thick lace veil that made her face indistinguishable.
The only parts of her not the colour black was her hair, unhidden by the veil and left loose along her back. It was a brittle grey with streaks of silver and white in it. Her hands were thin, clinging to her bones and the veins clearly prominent from her wrist to fingertips. The skin seemed paper thin and almost transparent that I would have mistaken her for a ghost.
"I had it tidied up for your arrival," she said as she approached entirely unaware to my reaction upon her arrival or she simply ignored it.
She stopped talking and I realised she was waiting for me to speak but still shocked I could only mutter a few words of thanks.
The woman stopped her approach a foot away from me and said nothing. I assumed she was staring at me but because of the veil it was quite hard to tell.
"You have a curious presence," she muttered to herself but so loudly that I could clearly hear her.
"Em thank you?2 I asked unsurely, wondering if I was stuck in a room, ages away from everyone else with an insane old woman.
The woman stood still for a few seconds and the silence was awkward as I was too creeped put to try and initiate a conversation and the woman apparently didn't want to.
"Come to the table child," she said as she walked slowly to the small table by the large balcony window.
I stared at the door debating leaving but what could an old woman do to me? I was younger and probably more superior in strength. I followed her over to the chair slowly, not overtaking her for seeming rude.
She grabbed onto the armrests and lowered herself slowly to the seat while I sat down quickly only at the edge of the cushion, ready to hop up at any moment.
She reached up into her sleeve and drew out a pack of cards and began shuffling.
I stared, the old woman wanted me to play cards with her? I had better things to do with my time or that's what Naru would probably say, I thought to myself before nearly slapping myself on the head, why did my thoughts have to mention him at a time like this and if he didn't want me to play cards with this old decrepit lady then that's exactly what I'd do, and I'd make damn sure that I had fun.
She finished shuffling and spread the cards out at their edges in her hands, "Pick the three cards you feel compelled to," she said softly.
I stared at her and then the aged deck of cards she had produced. Obviously old but well kept for. This was a very weird way of playing cards I though but I held my hands out to her cards anyway and felt that gut feeling that was my latent ESP powers.
My hand took a card out of the deck before I even realised it had moved. Two more quickly followed and I stared at them unsurely, curious but scared at what I'd pulled out.
Without waiting to see what the woman wanted me to do with them, I flipped them over, my heart was beating with expectation and my pulse racing.
"They're blank!" I exclaimed, feeling a faint annoyance at the loss of something… wonder, hope, excitement, nope none of those… expectation?
"Only to those whose eyes are blocked," the woman said softly as she reached for the blank cards, her hand accidently grazing mine as she went and for a second I saw flashes of colour on the blankness but it disappeared as her hand withdrew.
She seemed to be staring intently at the cards. How she could see through the veil was a mystery though, it was so thick, it must be a strain on her eyes.
Silence filtered through the room and I squirmed edgily in my seat, nervous for reasons unknown.
"Give me your hand," the voice, demanding ordered no questions and almost against my own will I held it out to her.
She trailed her fingers over my palm, tracing the lines before moving along my fingers. She let go and returned her hands to the cards, muttering incoherently and even with me trying to strain my ears to hear what she was saying, it was indistinguishable.
"Eh, are you ok?" my question fell on death ears, the woman didn't respond nor did it seem like she had even heard.
"The cards you pulled from the deck," I jumped slightly at her voice and felt shivers run down my spine. Something bad…
"Out of all my years only one other person has chose these exact same cards, "And from what I heard from others, her fate was not a good one,"
That proved it, this woman was crazy! I stared in disbelief at her, how long ago had she first turned senile? I scowled, great just great, stuck with a loony woman in the middle of beyond in a house while everyone else was probably doing something interesting. Brilliant! Just brilliant!
"There are two paths that lie ahead of you and time will come soon for you to decide but no matter which you choose it will not matter as they will merge in years to come. You will have the love of two people, both meant to be with you.
Depending on the path you choose, one of the two deaths will come for and shatter your entire being to pieces," the woman paused and I stared at her with shock, my mouth wide open.
"You have got to be joking me!' I stuttered out, "What kind of future is that? There's nothing even on those cards," I insisted practically screeching, this was just some horrible foolish joke on the woman's part.
"You are blind," the woman insisted as she gathered and put the cards away.
"I AM NOT BLIND! You're simply mistaken. What about a palm reading?" I thrust my hand out to her, my friends always managed to get good futures from that, you know the usual, you'll have twenty kids, marry a rich man and live until you're five hundred. The simple things in life.
"I can not do palm reading," she said stiffly.
"What were you doing with my hand before th-"
"Confirming," she interrupted, "And it is rude to speak to a blind woman in that tone!" she stood up while speaking disapprovingly and walked a few steps away, her hands clutched together.
"You're blind?" I asked confused but the flash from my phone on the bed distracted me and when I looked back the woman was gone.
Yay, extra long chapter of about two pages. Written a while ago lol, just didn't have time to type and post, speaking of which, the next chapter is already written as well, heh heh,
now to get the time. If only I could get one of those Harry Potter stop watch thingies that make me go back in time (very useful thingie mebobber whose name I've forgotten) lmao.
Well would you believe we are a month today of Christmas Day. Can't wait!!! YAY AWESOMENESS
AND TO MAKE MY LIFE SO MUCH BETTER 30 seconds to Mars are coming to the O2 in Dublin. This is going to be brill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Au Revoir