Dahlia - The Velvet Witch and Her Dark Spirit

PART 7 - CLOUDY VISION

My mind is a chopped salad. I'm slumped in the back of a cab being propped up by Dahlia. Her hand is sitting dutifully on my knee while her other tucks my hair back. I gaze at her through cloudy vision and smile that I'm alive.

"Where are we?" I croak.

"I'm taking you home. Just rest," she says without looking away from the road.

I feel like a burden, a no-good drunk whose safekeeping has been tasked to an innocent friend with better things to do.

"Sorry, I—"

She cuts in and looks down at her patient.

"Don't be sorry. We did something powerfully mind-bending then you defended me with your strength. Be proud, Levi."

She gives the driver an instruction causing him to hit the brakes so hard I slide off the seat. Dahlia and the driver scoop me out of the car. We're outside my building.

"Will you stay?" I ask her.

But before she can answer, I pass out. I come around halfway up the stairs with Dahlia propping me up from one side and the driver from the other.

"Which floor?" he asks curtly.

"The next one," she answers.

"I'll be OK on my own."

"Levi, you're jelly."

"No, no, I'm alright, I swear," I say as I unhook myself from their arms.

I last one step before my legs give out. I tumble back and pin the driver against the wall.

"Levi, trust me. You need our help," Dahlia pleads.

"Leave me here. I'll be fine. You get on your way."

Dahlia holds her warm palm to my cheek. "Levi, if you're going to continue on this journey with me, we must be symbiotic and accept each other's help."

My brains fried. I'm not sure if she's giving me an ultimatum or saying something else entirely, but I know that I don't want to push her away. So I accept, and we carry on without a hitch.

When we get to my door, Dahlia lets go leaving the cabby to hold my weight.

"Where are your keys?" she asks as she pats me down.

"My jacket," I slur pathetically.

She finds two sketching pencils and a tenner before she runs into them. In one fluid motion, and as though she's done it before, she rotates the lock and pushes through. She spins across the entrance and holds back the door for the inebriate and his minder to pass.

"On the bed," she directs the driver.

He gets me there, then flings me down hard.

"Patrick, careful."

But before I can ask why she got the driver's name, my vision blurs, and I start to fade out.

"Thank you," I whisper as I ease into the warm nest of pillows.

Patrick leaves. I'm relieved to be away from his prying eyes.

Dahlia jumps on me, her body straddling mine. Her perfume's still fresh and thick in my nose while her eyes shine bright with intent.

"I have to go, Levi," she says with a sad expression.

My heart sinks.

"You're always coming and going. Never just staying."

"I'll be back. This life of chaos takes a lot to manage."

"Surely not as much as this messed-up loser does?"

She tuts with curled lips. "Oh, Levi."

"What?" I ask, trying to suck her into staying with another slow kiss.

"Have some conviction in yourself. You took me on the most beautiful adventure tonight," she says. "There's a powerful energy in you that's able to walk both sides with ease, but your soul is full of fear too. We must fix that."

I crane my neck and grab her lips. My head sinks into the pillow, and she follows me down. We suck on each other until she starts to writhe. She catches herself and stops.

"I really have to go," she whispers.

"No."

"I'll come back once you've rested and the tea has worn off."

"Well, at least tell me what the tea was?"

"Ayahuasca."

THANK YOU FOR READING PART 7 OF DAHLIA - THE VELVET WITCH AND HER DARK SPIRIT.

IF YOU ENJOYED IT, PLEASE CLICK ON THE STAR TO SHOW YOUR APPROVAL.

PART 8 IS AVAILABLE NOW