"Alright! Bye guys! I'll text you all later!" Tori cheerfully said as she waved to her friends as they walked down the hall from her apartment and piled into the elevator. They waved and laughed as they chatted amongst themselves as the doors closed and began the descent to the main floor from the penthouse where Tori lived.
Once they were out of sight, Tori let out a sigh of relief and chuckled to herself as she took off the Christmas hat she had been wearing and fixed her hair as she tossed it aside onto the counter. Looking around at the apartment she could see it was a mess with crumbs and bits of food scattered and smashed on the floor, bits of decoration left askew on the walls or hanging loosely from their original spots, and plastic party cups left all around the main living room and kitchen. The holiday party music was still playing loudly from her tv as she picked up her phone and sat down before grabbing the remote and turning it down so only the two rhythmic beats could be heard from the song playing. She glanced around to the mess that surrounded her and mumbled to herself, "This can wait."
She leaned back on the couch and propped her feet up on the coffee table, knocking over a couple of empty cups by accident, as she unlocked her phone and scrolled through her social media page and smiled at all the pictures she took of herself and her friends having a blast at her party. Her millions of fans and admirers were already sharing and liking her posts and making them go viral which made her feel proud yet still unsatisfied. She started to scroll and after finding nothing of interest she decided to indulge in her curiosity and found the profiles of her friends, only to find that she has been blocked and the accounts have been made private.
"What the hell?" Tori said as she looked at Cat's profile and found nothing but a large padlock symbol over the page. She pulled up Robbie and Beck's pages as well only to find the same thing. With her frustration growing, she went to Andre's and found the same thing. "Really?!"
His smiling profile seemed to mock her as she spoke and offered no answers. Her fingers began to type again as she pulled up Trina's profile and found the same result. Her curiosity got the better of her as she pulled up Jade's profile, fully expecting to be blocked, only to find it was still public. She instantly noticed that he had been unfriended from the account but when she scrolled down to the most recent post, she found a small bundle of ten photos posted with a tagline that said, 'Spending the holiday with my personal band of idiots.'
In the collage, she could see Jade, Trina, and all of her friends sitting around a table with food being shared between them all and smiling at the camera while Jade maintained a deadpan stare but Tori could easily see the corner of Jade's lips curling up. The next few photos were from Jade's perspective and included artistic shots of the decor around her apartment and the food before going back to group shots with a few or all members of their friend group.
Tori felt a torrent of emotions swell inside of her as her anger was tainted by jealousy and woe. She got off the couch and scooped up a cup that still had some wine in it and chugged it down before tossing it aside as she pulled up Trina's number and called it. She paced back and forth as the music from the tv kept the rhythmic beat that pulsated through the room while waiting for Trina to pick up. Each ring felt like an eternity until the call was sent to voicemail which elicited an annoyed response from Tori as she tossed her phone against the wall, "Oh you bitch!"
The phone crashed against the wall and clattered to the floor as Tori snatched another half-finished drink and chugged it down and dropped the cup behind her as she stormed off to her bedroom. She pushed the door aside and stripped out of her tight cocktail dress and tossed it aside into a pile of other discarded dresses. She pulled a drawer open on her dresser and grabbed some sweatpants and a t-shirt and put them on before climbing into bed. Her mind was still focused on her friends as she tried to forget about them and fall asleep. She tossed and turned for what felt like hours until she was taken by exhaustion and pulled into a deep sleep.
In her dream, she could hear applause and cheers coming from a long dark hallway made of stone with a source of light at the end. She walked towards the sounds and just before she could step into the light, she found herself lifted from the ground as a chariot rose materialized beneath her with a mighty tan steed at the front, ready to pull her along. Her clothes were also replaced with an elegant gown of purple silk with streams of fabric drifting from her arms. She felt incredible and beautiful as the horse began to pull the chariot out into a large ancient theater of some sort with hundreds upon hundreds of people cheering. There was a small drumline playing off on one of the banisters, keeping a slow beat as she was pulled along and brought before the crowd to admire. She smiled and waved to them as she passed, blowing kisses and greeting some that were closer but she noticed that as she was pulled along, the ride became bumpier. The drums were slowly picking up and the chariot was being pulled faster and faster as the horse sped up.
Tori gripped the sides of the chariot as her gown billowed behind her as she was pulled along in a circle by the horse. She cried out, "Stop! Stop now! Slow down! You're going too fast!"
But the steed did not acknowledge her as it kept running and running! It sped up as it kept time with the drums until the chariot lurched and knocked Tori from the platform and onto the floor. She groaned as she rolled to her side and started to push herself to her feet but she glanced and noticed the tan horse was now charging straight towards her! Its tan color was now peeling and flaking off in random spots and being replaced with a black rough exterior with red, pulsating veins of red flames. Its hooves and mane were ablaze as it stormed towards her leaving burning embers behind. Tori screamed and lifted her arms over her face as a shield as she looked away in terror but at the moment of the impact, she sat up straight in bed with a scream.
Her skin was paler and she was sweating as she caught her breath and looked around at her lavish bedroom and started to put together what happened. She leaned back against the headboard as she took a couple of moments to compose herself before she noticed the soft drumming coming from the living room. She groaned and pulled the covers off as she said, "The fucking tv."
She rose and began to walk towards the living room but her knees wobbled as she stumbled and clung to the wall for support. Her head was spinning and her lips felt dry as she licked them and tried to continue walking. She kept a hand on the wall as she continued and rubbed her eyes until she came to the living room and found the entire room was different from how she left it. In fact, the entire layout of the room was different now.
The once lavish yet dirtied living room and kitchen were replaced with a simple wood flooring that was uneven and stained in certain spots. The couches and extra furniture were missing entirely and the room was dimly lit by two candelabras hanging from the ceiling with rusted chains. In the middle of the room was a small circular table with a square cloth hanging just off of the surface with a chair pushed aside on one side and a cloaked figure sitting across from Tori.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?!" Tori asked nervously as she looked around the room and said, "What the hell did you do to my apartment?!"
The figure glanced up at her, their hood still covering their face, as they said, "Do not worry about that. You do not need to be afraid, come have a seat."
"Like hell I will! What's going on here?" Tori said as she looked back and saw the path to her bedroom was now gone and she was trapped in this room, alone with the figure. The soft beating drum she heard was now extremely faint but she could hear it if she focused and felt it emanating from beneath the floorboards. "Am I dreaming?"
The figure said nothing but waved their hand and the chair moved back to allow Tori to sit. "Yeah…definitely a dream," she said to herself as she approached and took a seat.
Now that she was closer to the figure, she noticed that their hands were pale and gaunt. They trembled slightly as they disappeared beneath the table as the figure said, "I am here to give you a message, but first," their hands came back from under the table and placed an ornate set of cards on the table, "you must draw three cards and set them on the table."
Tori looked at the cards hesitantly and looked back to confirm she had no exits before looking back and reaching for the cards. Before she could touch them, they fanned themselves out along the table which caused her to leap back in her seat before settling down again. She looked back and forth between the cards and took one from the middle and set it aside before picking two more from the opposite ends and placing them on her side of the table.
The figure nodded and removed the remaining cards from the table and slid the three Tori picked to the middle and said, "We shall begin."
With a wave of their hand, the cards flipped over to reveal three upside-down images with banners with the text hanging at the ends of the picture. The first was of a figure wearing a colorful traveler's cloak with a walking stick draped over their shoulder with a small sack tied to it with the title, 'The Fool.' The next card depicted the sun with a neutral expression drawn on its surface with the banner reading, 'The Sun.' The last card showed a couple standing side by side and holding hands with the words, 'The Lovers' written along the banner. All the cards were upside down from Tori's perspective and as she looked back to the figure, who nodded and took the cards and stood from the table and walked back to the other side of the room where a large circular mirror was affixed. Tori quickly rose and followed after them as they took the Fool card and pressed it against the mirror, and to her disbelief, it slipped through the mirror, like a pebble sinking in a lake.
The reflection rippled and distorted until it settled on a colorful television set with vibrantly painted backdrops and fake trees set up on the stage. Stagehands were walking around, other crew members talking and chatting as Tori's eyes settled on Trina who was sitting at a small makeup stand and talking to an older woman as she had makeup put on her. What Tori didn't realize at first was that the mirror expanded and grew to show more of the area until she blinked and found herself on the actual set. The cloaked figure stood beside her and followed her as Tori walked over to Trina and said, "Trina! Trina! Hey, what's going on? What is this place?"
But Trina completely ignored her and laughed at a joke made by her makeup artist. She tried to get her attention again by grabbing her arm but was shocked to see her hand fade through Trina. She reared back in surprise but started to put the pieces together as she curiously waved a hand in front of Trina's face and snapped her fingers but neither of them reacted. She looked to the spirit and asked, "Why am I here?"
Again, the figure did not respond but nodded towards Trina who stood and said, "Alright! Thanks, Beth! Off to wardrobe!"
Beth nodded and waved her off as a cameraman came up and said, "So that's her?"
"Yep," Beth said as she packed up her supplies. "Poor girl. I heard her sister got her the job here because she knew one of the producers but they're probably gonna cut her from the show after the season. She's terrible!"
"I know! I'm the one who has to film her! She's so bad!" The cameraman exclaimed, "She can't remember a single line yet hogs the screen as much as she can!"
Tori was shocked to see them talk so openly about their disdain for Trina, it wasn't the first time of course, but it was strange to see from the outside. She backed away from them and followed Trina's path but stopped just shy of the makeup counter where she saw Trina leaning against the back of the mirror, listening to the conversation with a couple of tears streaming down her face. She wiped them off and dashed away through a set of doors and turned down a hallway to the restroom where she stopped and held her head in her hands as she cried. Tori managed to keep pace with her and felt uncomfortable being so close yet so far since the two of them hadn't talked for a long time. She leaned against the counter as Trina sobbed and reached into her pocket and pulled out a worn and tattered piece of paper. Tori watched as Trina unfolded it and wiped away her tears as she read over the words written in elegant cursive handwriting and recognized it instantly as the note their mother wrote before she passed due to cancer. Tori remembered it all too well. Trina was a mess and struggling to find work while Tori was rising through the charts so she did what she felt was right.
At their mother's funeral, Tori recalled how she pulled Trina aside and handed her the note in a sealed envelope with her name written on it, mimicking their mother's handwriting enough to fool the elder sibling. Together they sat out of sight as Trina read the note and broke down, believing their mother left her guidance and encouragement to keep going with her dreams and saying she was so proud of how far she has come so far. Tori held her and sobbed quietly for the false hope she gave her.
"I miss you; I'll keep making you proud!" Trina said softly to herself as she folded the note and planted a soft kiss on the parchment before stowing it away and leaving the restroom with a renewed artificial smile to mask her pain.
As she left, Tori turned and tried to reach for her, only to find her hand slip through her again and the hooded figure broke their silence and said in a dry yet dour tone, "Ever the altruist…when it suited you, of course. You lied to her and pulled strings from behind the curtain to give her a place under the spotlight. Your intentions were pure but by lying to her about your mother, you have inevitably set destined her to fail. She ascends as if her wings are her own, but one day she will find that they are made of nothing more than dying branches and leaves."
Their words caused Tori's chest to seize as she felt her heartbeat wildly as if it was thrashing against her ribcage. She fell back and had to support herself with the counter next to her as she said, "So what? What's wrong with that?! I just wanted to protect her! She's my sister!"
"You will see. Come," they said as she took out the Sun card and placed it against the mirror. "There is more to see."