“I am?” A man with a deeper voice said from behind him. He stepped out so we could see him, and he pushed his glasses up his slim nose. “My shift just ended…?”
Brian waved his hands and I noticed his fingernails were painted bright purple. “Mark, doll, this sweet little thing has amnesia. She needs to talk —”
“Amnesia?” Mark’s voice rose and his cheeks flushed. “Goddess, almighty. That’s terrible. Come on, let’s see who can talk to us.”
I started to follow him around a corner when I realized my friends weren’t. “Aren’t you coming?”
Brian shook his head. “Sorry, baby girl. Mediumship is tricky, he needs to be able to connect to only your spirit guides. You’re in good hands though.”
Savannah held two thumbs up. “This takes half an hour. We’ll be here when you get out.”
I nodded then slipped around the corner after Mark then followed him all the way to the back then behind a fancy, beaded curtain. He stepped to the side to let me in, then slid it closed behind me. In this little nook sat only a small wooden table with two chairs. On the table were two decks of tarot cards, each with several crystals on top, and a long sliver of wood – incense, as Savannah had called it.
“All right, have a seat right here for me…” Mark pointed to the first chair, then moved to sit in the other. He sat down and used a match to light the incense. As I slid onto the chair, he picked up a deck of cards and began shuffling. “So I’m just going to do an open reading and see if there are any spirits that want to come and talk to us, okay?”
I nodded again because my mouth seemed to forget how to work. I was both excited and terrified for this.
Mark closed his eyes and shuffled. He took a few breaths but I held mine. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes then spread his cards across the table in a single horizontal line, face-down. The backs of the cards had some kind of green and purple swirling design but I couldn’t focus on that.
“Hold your hands open over the cards, palms down and just hold them there.”
I licked my lips then did as he said. If he noticed the way my fingers trembled a little he didn’t say anything. Then he held his hands next to mine the same way, except his were calm and steady.
He gasped and his dark eyes widened. “Oh wow. Okay, we have company already.”
The trembling in my hands grew stronger. The air seemed to grow colder but only on my left side…and it almost pulsed with electricity. “W-wh-who?”
“Welcome, thank you for joining us tonight. Can you please tell us who you are?”
I sucked in a breath and held it. I found myself staring at the empty air beside the table, as if whoever this spirit was, they were standing there.
“She says…” Mark frowned and shook his head. “She says she died centuries ago but that can’t be right.”
My eyes widened. Centuries ago?
“You can put your hands down now, I’m going to pull some guidance cards,” he whispered to me. Then he closed his eyes, dropped one hand and waved the other over the row of cards – then stopped. “You want this one? Just this one – o-okay. Thank you for your guidance.”
He flipped the card over. It was upside down for me, so I couldn’t make out the picture because the cards shimmered like gold. But I did see one big V.
Mark pursed his lips and tapped on it. “Interesting, this has never happened. It’s like this woman was a psychic who maybe used to read tarot cards? She’s pointing out the Hierophant Card, which is about tradition and religion and faith…or maybe she was a religious leader for you, like a pastor or something?”
I sighed. I wished I knew.
“Oh, this—” he shivered violently. “Wow, I have chills – I have never felt a spirit this strong before. She says that you’re blocking her and to stop. Let her in. Let them in. They’re here to help you.”
My pulse quickened and my hands shook so hard the ring on my thumb was vibrating. “W-w-who?”
His eyes widened and goosebumps spread over his forearms and hands. “She’s telling me she is Elizabeth Bishop but that she can’t stay long. She’s saying, Saraphina, you know me. Your mother and uncle are waiting. Tegan is already working on helping you. Your memory will come back, I promise you. Just be patient. Things are happening as they’re supposed to. As they must.”
A cold chill slid down my spine then settled into my bones. I felt them rattling inside me like they’d come unhinged. I was cold deep down into my core. Who is this Tegan? And what is she doing? “That’s not comforting.”
Mark picked up all his cards and shuffled them. “She wants me to flip cards – okay, I am doing it,” he whispered in a panicked rush, like he was afraid of her.
Then he looked to the side, to his right, to the same side of the table I’d been staring at. His eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat.
“I can feel her, right here with us. She’s right there. Okay, ma’am, I will flip the cards, what are we looking for?” But he wasn’t looking at me. He frowned. “She says they are coming.”
“Who?” My voice came out high-pitched and squeaky.
“Help. Okay, I’m flipping.”
He flipped the first card off his deck – Death.
I gasped.
He flipped another - The Star.
I started to ask what they meant when he flipped a third and this time it was The Empress. He shook his head and licked his lips nervously. He started to sit the deck down then froze and flipped another card. The Emperor came out but the High Priestess jumped out with it, like they were attached.
“Another?” He blinked rapidly and pulled one more – King of Swords.
My jaw dropped. King of Swords? That’s the card. The one I got twice. The one that looked like Riah in Savannah’s deck. It can’t be. A third time? I balled my hands together, gripping my own fingers as hard as I could to stop them from shaking the whole table. That electric energy beside me was downright pulsing. I felt it brush over my arm like fingertips. I wanted to be afraid, but I wanted answers more. I looked straight into that nothingness where I felt her energy and clenched my teeth together. Tell me. Help me. Please, I’m begging you. I don’t understand.
“She says…she is trying to help you, to tell you – did you just ask her that?” When I nodded, Mark shivered and rolled his neck. “Wild. She says, Death is you. Then The Star is coming to guide you onto the right path, to trust this person. The Empress is going to help you when you need it the most, don’t fight her or you’ll be in more trouble than you can imagine. And then these last two, Emperor and High Priestess…she says they’re going to bring your memories back, to keep your eyes out for them. But this one, King of Swords, he’s the most important. Wait, what? I didn’t get that? Please, Elizabeth, I can’t understand—”
Mark froze with narrowed eyes.
“What?” I heard myself whisper.
“She says this guy has been around a long time, that you two have a history. It wasn’t the right time before, but it is now. You have to trust him.”
I groaned. My stomach tightened into knots. “WHO?” Just say his name. Any name.