Be Careful What You Wish For
Chapter 6: A Reading is Done
“Mom, I really wish you were here to help me sort this all out.”
Jack can a voice. It’s the same voice that he’s heard singing in his head.
“You’d know what to do. I’m just a young witch with no idea what I’m doing.”
He can feel himself losing consciousness as sleep takes over him. He feels himself drifting into another place just like before...
“Is this all about my wish?”
He’s gone.
“Or are you-”
The voice stops just as Jack finds himself in another room. In front of him in the blurred out girl from before, and she’s holding a picture in a frame; possibly a picture of her mother since that is what the voice was saying. Who is this girl? What is happening?
The figure doesn’t turn around to face him, but he can tell that she knows that he’s there because her body seems to go tense. Slowly she sets the picture down on the desk and then starts to walk out of the room. Jack wants to follow her, but last time, he couldn’t move at all. He’s not sure if-
He moves his leg.
Apparently Jack can move this time. That’s good. That’s good. Finally he’s making some more progress. He follows her up to the attic of the house where she starts to look through some of the boxes. Jack would love to just run up to her and try to see her face, but looking at him caused her pain last time. What if the same thing happens this time? Then what if it just causes him to go away anyway? With a sigh, Jack stays in place. He observes everything that she is doing, but he doesn’t try to push anything to happen. Perhaps just watching like this will bring him some answers.
Eventually the figure pulls out a deck of tarot cards, and with a book in hand, she shuffles the cards and then lays them out. Maybe she is looking for the same answers that he is. Earlier she had said something about a wish and that she didn’t know what was happening. Is it about that? Could her wish be what’s doing this to him? Perhaps the cards will say.
The Present: The Tower
The Challenge: The Moon
The Past: The Fool Reversed
The Future: The Lovers
Above: Death
Below: The Sun
Advice: King of Cups
External Influence: The Wheel of Fortune
Hopes and/or Fears: Three of Swords
Outcome: Two of Cups
Jack doesn’t know how, but as she reads what each card means, he learns the meanings as well. What kind of wish did she make? Some kind of love wish? Are they soulmates or something? Jack shakes his head. No, that couldn’t be true. Maybe... He can’t think of anything else. Who is he to judge what is possible or not? Most people would say that what is happening to him right now would be completely impossible, but yet, here he is, some kind of blue flame energy that is watching some teenage girl lay out tarot cards.
He wants to know more. He wants to be certain of this, but he feels himself leaving. He tries to force himself to stay, but there is nothing he can do. Right before he disappears, he hears the girl say, “Don’t go.”
Jack wakes up and feels the urge to throw something. Again, he has come so close, but he still doesn’t have all of the answers. All he knows is that she made a wish, and that is probably why this is happening to him. Then this may all be about them being soulmates or something? It’s a lot to take in, but it doesn’t explain how any of this would stop.
Knock. Knock. Is that the door? Knock. Knock. Must be. Jack looks down at his phone and finds several messages from Alex. Oh, look at the time. Alex wanted to take him to see a psychic right now.
While stretching, Jack gets up and makes his way over to the door. As soon as he opens it, Alex is making his way inside.
“What took you so long? Did you forget that we’re going somewhere today?”
“No, I just dozed off.”
“Any changes?”
Jack contempts telling Alex the whole of it, but then he figures that there is no point making it take longer to get to the psychic. “Yeah, but I can just tell you after we go see this psychic. For all I know, my questions about all of this might be answered.”
“True. Alright, are you just going to wear that?”
“Yeah, I changed and then laid down, and I really don’t care about the wrinkles.”
“Good because I don’t feel like being late to our appointment.”
“Appointment?”
“Yeah, I booked a reading. Figured it’d be better than just a walk-in.”
“Makes sense.”
The two of them make their way to their destination. They end up making it right on time, and so they get right into the reading. Although once they meet the psychic, Jack starts to wonder if this is really going to help any. She looks like she came right out a movie. Her outfit screams “I’m into spiritual stuff. The moon, sun, and stars are the best. Also I love purple.” Then she is also very dramatic. Jack finds it hard to believe that she doesn’t have a crystal ball. She ends up using tarot cards instead.
“Since I can tell that your question needs a big explanation, I’m going to use the great Celtic Cross to tell you what needs to be done.” She lays them down and then with almost an actual bam, she flips them over.
What the cards show shock Jack. The Tower. The Moon. The reversed Fool. The Lovers. Death. The Sun. The King of Cups. The Wheel of Fortune. The Three of Swords. And the Two of Cups. They’re all here. This is the same exact message that the blurred out girl got. He zones out as she speaks, and it takes Alex nudging him to bring him back.
“The cards. The cards tell me that you need to find her. You must find your soulmate.” She waves her hands around dramatically. “Fate will bring you together, but you will suffer until the two of you meet.”
“Is there anything else of use that you could tell us?” Alex asks.
“That’s all there is. That will be $40.”
Jack doesn’t pay attention as Alex pays her. He doesn’t pay attention as they walk out of the building. And he almost doesn’t pay attention to the woman standing outside until he hears her calling his name.
“Yo, Jack.”
His head snaps out of it, and he turns to look at the woman in front of him. Her hair is short and brown, and her eyes are a bright blue. He’s not sure if he’s ever seen eyes this pigmented. Her outfit is simple, jeans and a long-sleeve black shirt, and a lit cigarette is in her left hand. Who is she? And what does she want?
“Your reading didn’t exactly help you. You already knew all of that, or at least you thought that that was the case.”
“Who are you? How do you know all that?” Alex questions. “Is this just an act or something?”
“It’s not an act. I saw, and so I came to help.” She takes a puff of the cigarette. “Now, she told you that you need to find your soulmate and that fate will help you along. Would you like it to be easier?”
“Please!” Jack quickly shuts his mouth. He wasn’t expecting that to almost be a yell.
“Alright then.” He takes out a piece of paper and marker and starts to draw something.
“Do you think we can trust her?” Alex whispers to Jack.
“What else can we do?”
“There,” she says, “all done.” She then put her cigarette to the paper and let it burn.
“What are you doing?” Alex questions. “Why’d you just burn that?”
“It’s a sigil, and I was casting it. Now, any second now.”
Jack scrunches up his eyebrows in confusion, but then he finds himself bending over in pain. His wrist feels like it’s on fire. It’s almost like if someone was cutting into his flesh with a hot knife.
“Jack? Jack! What did you do to him?”
The pain stops, and Jack looks down at his left wrist. There is some kind of symbol in his flesh. “What.. What is this?”
“Like I said, it’s a sigil. This should make you meeting your soulmate a lot faster. Now that my job is done, I’ll be leaving.”
She starts to walk away.
“Wait!” Alex says. “You can’t just leave him with this.”
“Not my problem.” Alex runs after her, but once she goes around the corner, she disappears. With that, Alex walks back over to Jack.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah.”
“Wish she didn’t just run off like that.”
“It’s fine. She said that this should help, right?”
“Yeah, but how do we know it will even work? It already caused you a bunch of pain.”
“How do we know anything is going to work? Before all of this happened, we both thought that magic was only in stories and witches were just in fairytales.”
“You’re right. I’m just worried for you.”
“I know.”
“So, why weren’t you surprised when you got your reading?”
“That’s a funny story.”
Jack and Alex make their way back to Jack’s as Jack tells him about being in the girl’s house and seeing her use the same spread and get the same message. And the entire time, Jack just hopes and prays that all of this will be over soon.
Jack can a voice. It’s the same voice that he’s heard singing in his head.
“You’d know what to do. I’m just a young witch with no idea what I’m doing.”
He can feel himself losing consciousness as sleep takes over him. He feels himself drifting into another place just like before...
“Is this all about my wish?”
He’s gone.
“Or are you-”
The voice stops just as Jack finds himself in another room. In front of him in the blurred out girl from before, and she’s holding a picture in a frame; possibly a picture of her mother since that is what the voice was saying. Who is this girl? What is happening?
The figure doesn’t turn around to face him, but he can tell that she knows that he’s there because her body seems to go tense. Slowly she sets the picture down on the desk and then starts to walk out of the room. Jack wants to follow her, but last time, he couldn’t move at all. He’s not sure if-
He moves his leg.
Apparently Jack can move this time. That’s good. That’s good. Finally he’s making some more progress. He follows her up to the attic of the house where she starts to look through some of the boxes. Jack would love to just run up to her and try to see her face, but looking at him caused her pain last time. What if the same thing happens this time? Then what if it just causes him to go away anyway? With a sigh, Jack stays in place. He observes everything that she is doing, but he doesn’t try to push anything to happen. Perhaps just watching like this will bring him some answers.
Eventually the figure pulls out a deck of tarot cards, and with a book in hand, she shuffles the cards and then lays them out. Maybe she is looking for the same answers that he is. Earlier she had said something about a wish and that she didn’t know what was happening. Is it about that? Could her wish be what’s doing this to him? Perhaps the cards will say.
The Present: The Tower
The Challenge: The Moon
The Past: The Fool Reversed
The Future: The Lovers
Above: Death
Below: The Sun
Advice: King of Cups
External Influence: The Wheel of Fortune
Hopes and/or Fears: Three of Swords
Outcome: Two of Cups
Jack doesn’t know how, but as she reads what each card means, he learns the meanings as well. What kind of wish did she make? Some kind of love wish? Are they soulmates or something? Jack shakes his head. No, that couldn’t be true. Maybe... He can’t think of anything else. Who is he to judge what is possible or not? Most people would say that what is happening to him right now would be completely impossible, but yet, here he is, some kind of blue flame energy that is watching some teenage girl lay out tarot cards.
He wants to know more. He wants to be certain of this, but he feels himself leaving. He tries to force himself to stay, but there is nothing he can do. Right before he disappears, he hears the girl say, “Don’t go.”
Jack wakes up and feels the urge to throw something. Again, he has come so close, but he still doesn’t have all of the answers. All he knows is that she made a wish, and that is probably why this is happening to him. Then this may all be about them being soulmates or something? It’s a lot to take in, but it doesn’t explain how any of this would stop.
Knock. Knock. Is that the door? Knock. Knock. Must be. Jack looks down at his phone and finds several messages from Alex. Oh, look at the time. Alex wanted to take him to see a psychic right now.
While stretching, Jack gets up and makes his way over to the door. As soon as he opens it, Alex is making his way inside.
“What took you so long? Did you forget that we’re going somewhere today?”
“No, I just dozed off.”
“Any changes?”
Jack contempts telling Alex the whole of it, but then he figures that there is no point making it take longer to get to the psychic. “Yeah, but I can just tell you after we go see this psychic. For all I know, my questions about all of this might be answered.”
“True. Alright, are you just going to wear that?”
“Yeah, I changed and then laid down, and I really don’t care about the wrinkles.”
“Good because I don’t feel like being late to our appointment.”
“Appointment?”
“Yeah, I booked a reading. Figured it’d be better than just a walk-in.”
“Makes sense.”
The two of them make their way to their destination. They end up making it right on time, and so they get right into the reading. Although once they meet the psychic, Jack starts to wonder if this is really going to help any. She looks like she came right out a movie. Her outfit screams “I’m into spiritual stuff. The moon, sun, and stars are the best. Also I love purple.” Then she is also very dramatic. Jack finds it hard to believe that she doesn’t have a crystal ball. She ends up using tarot cards instead.
“Since I can tell that your question needs a big explanation, I’m going to use the great Celtic Cross to tell you what needs to be done.” She lays them down and then with almost an actual bam, she flips them over.
What the cards show shock Jack. The Tower. The Moon. The reversed Fool. The Lovers. Death. The Sun. The King of Cups. The Wheel of Fortune. The Three of Swords. And the Two of Cups. They’re all here. This is the same exact message that the blurred out girl got. He zones out as she speaks, and it takes Alex nudging him to bring him back.
“The cards. The cards tell me that you need to find her. You must find your soulmate.” She waves her hands around dramatically. “Fate will bring you together, but you will suffer until the two of you meet.”
“Is there anything else of use that you could tell us?” Alex asks.
“That’s all there is. That will be $40.”
Jack doesn’t pay attention as Alex pays her. He doesn’t pay attention as they walk out of the building. And he almost doesn’t pay attention to the woman standing outside until he hears her calling his name.
“Yo, Jack.”
His head snaps out of it, and he turns to look at the woman in front of him. Her hair is short and brown, and her eyes are a bright blue. He’s not sure if he’s ever seen eyes this pigmented. Her outfit is simple, jeans and a long-sleeve black shirt, and a lit cigarette is in her left hand. Who is she? And what does she want?
“Your reading didn’t exactly help you. You already knew all of that, or at least you thought that that was the case.”
“Who are you? How do you know all that?” Alex questions. “Is this just an act or something?”
“It’s not an act. I saw, and so I came to help.” She takes a puff of the cigarette. “Now, she told you that you need to find your soulmate and that fate will help you along. Would you like it to be easier?”
“Please!” Jack quickly shuts his mouth. He wasn’t expecting that to almost be a yell.
“Alright then.” He takes out a piece of paper and marker and starts to draw something.
“Do you think we can trust her?” Alex whispers to Jack.
“What else can we do?”
“There,” she says, “all done.” She then put her cigarette to the paper and let it burn.
“What are you doing?” Alex questions. “Why’d you just burn that?”
“It’s a sigil, and I was casting it. Now, any second now.”
Jack scrunches up his eyebrows in confusion, but then he finds himself bending over in pain. His wrist feels like it’s on fire. It’s almost like if someone was cutting into his flesh with a hot knife.
“Jack? Jack! What did you do to him?”
The pain stops, and Jack looks down at his left wrist. There is some kind of symbol in his flesh. “What.. What is this?”
“Like I said, it’s a sigil. This should make you meeting your soulmate a lot faster. Now that my job is done, I’ll be leaving.”
She starts to walk away.
“Wait!” Alex says. “You can’t just leave him with this.”
“Not my problem.” Alex runs after her, but once she goes around the corner, she disappears. With that, Alex walks back over to Jack.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah.”
“Wish she didn’t just run off like that.”
“It’s fine. She said that this should help, right?”
“Yeah, but how do we know it will even work? It already caused you a bunch of pain.”
“How do we know anything is going to work? Before all of this happened, we both thought that magic was only in stories and witches were just in fairytales.”
“You’re right. I’m just worried for you.”
“I know.”
“So, why weren’t you surprised when you got your reading?”
“That’s a funny story.”
Jack and Alex make their way back to Jack’s as Jack tells him about being in the girl’s house and seeing her use the same spread and get the same message. And the entire time, Jack just hopes and prays that all of this will be over soon.
Notes
I wasn't really feeling this chapter, so that really did not help me finally getting it done. lol. Anyway, I can't think of anything to note. I have the next nine chapters planned out, so hopefully I won't put those off like I did this one.
Anyway, tune in next time for A Sigil in Flesh.
@ALoveLikeNever_14
I actually didn't plan on showing more of a reason of why she is the way she is, but it ended up getting written somehow. lol. I can see her reasoning for stuff, but she is still a bitch about it all. At least the have the summer together. I just love how Rose was taking lead with that. lol.
I'm currently trying to decide on if I'm going to add one scene or not, and then I should be able to plan out the next chapters better. The next one is easy, but I'll need to watch the pacing if the one scene is added. This week I have to write up the first draft of my short story for my writing class, so I'm probably just going to plan out the chapters this week.
And no problem! I actually find it so interesting to go back to my old stuff. I keep all of my old stories and ideas in case I want to reuse them or just look back. Fan fiction is what got me really back into writing as a sophomore, so no matter what, it's always going to have a place in my heart.
6/6/17