Witch {Book One} [UNEDITED]

VII: The Psychics

We left Common about three hours past midnight. I went home, not wanting to confirm my theory about Code APO with the others. By others, I meant Helena, Sammy, Flynn, and Simon.

I fell asleep before I my head even hit my pillow once I got home. All night, I'm plagued with dreams about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, demons, black cats, and whatever horrors Code APO could contain. By morning, I had barely slept at all, as I kept waking up every hour or so.

It was Monday. Jemma was off working at the Bitchy Witchy. Flynn was back at the hospital with Simon (because, poor kid, he couldn't seem to stay healthy longer than a day). Helena was working her shift at some hotel downtown. Lucy was off with Leviathan doing whatever it is the Devil and her pet goat do on a Monday morning. Sammy was at her house, acting as a witchy therapist for sorry souls. Alice simply said that she was busy.

I was alone.

And I was bored. Very, very, very bored.

I woke up late and got dressed in simple black clothes. I skipped breakfast and went outside. Rain was pouring from the oh-so-beautiful New Orleans sky. Within minutes of being outside, I was drenched. My black hair was stuck to my ghost-like skin and my clothes stuck to my body in uncomfortable ways. In other words, I was miserable.

I walked down the street, my Mary Janes managing to get soaked with every puddle I tried to avoid. I somehow managed to step in all of them. I wasn't going anywhere in particular. Just . . . somewhere. I stopped when I got downtown. On either side of the busy street was a building. One had a neon pentacle in the window and the word "ORACLE" above it. The other one had a crooked sign reading "PSYCHIC" in black paint. I couldn't see inside that one as the windows were covered in thick lace drapes. I walked into the one with the pentacle as it was on my side of the street.

Once I get inside, I looked around, taking in every little detail. A large Persian rug sat in the middle of the room, covering the dark wooden floorboards. The walls were painted either black or dark purple--I couldn't tell with the small amount of lighting--and a circular table rested in the middle of the hideous rug. A black chandelier hang from the ceiling, orange candles flickering from it.

"Adelaide Lee," an unfamiliar voice filled the room. I tensed up, not used to hearing my real name. "Or, Bandit. You prefer Bandit, don't you? No need to answer. I already know." A second later a woman pushed past the beads hanging from the door opposite to the front and sauntered into the room. She had dark skin--the color of warm chocolate--and a few dark brown freckles across her nose--which was pointed upwards slightly. Her thick, curly black hair was pulled back in a dark pink bandanna. She was wearing purple and white robes that loosely fit on her curvy body.

"Uh, hi?" I said, unable to take my eyes off of her body.

"My name is Callie," she said, walking in a circle around me, examining me closely. "And as you can probably tell, I'm a psychic. Now, I know you didn't come in here for a reading of any type; you came in to avoid the rain. However, since I've been dying of boredom all day, I'll give you a free reading." She had an accent. Someone from further north. It wasn't the typical Southern Drawl most of us spoke.

"I . . . okay. I guess . . ." I shrugged. When I was younger, I would visit psychics all the time. I liked to see how they tried to predict my future using fake crystal balls and crappy sound effects. They simply amused me.

Callie took my hand and led me to the table. I sat in the chair opposite of her and waited.

"Tarot cards," she said, pulling out a thick wooden box. An angel was painted on the front and I caught a glimpse of a demon on the back. Callie slid the box open and took out a stack of thick, colorful cards. She set the box on the floor and spread the cards out. She didn't need to explain anything else. I hovered my hands over the cards, waiting for one to "call out" to me. I was surprised when one flew from the row and stuck to my palm.

Callie reached over and took the card from my palm. Her face drained of color when she saw what one it was.

"What is it?" I asked, suddenly a bit nervous. If a psychic freaked out about the card I drew, it must be bad . . .

"The Devil," she whispered, showing me the card. A goat, nearly identical to Leviathan, stood on it's hind legs, a ring of fire around it. "Nobody has ever drawn the Devil before . . . Not even that bitch Lucy." Callie hesitantly set the card aside and gestured for me to pick another.

Again, like with the Devil, a card flew up and stuck to my palm like opposite magnets. I handed it to Callie without checking it.

"Death," she said softly, showing me the card of two skeletons that reminded me of the Danse Macabre.

I nodded a bit and drew a final card. This time, I looked at it briefly before handing it to the psychic.

"The Moon," Callie said, showing me the moon with a creepy neutral face. "Thing's aren't as they seem. Someone is deceiving you." My mind flew first to Lucy. The Devil. Then to Jemma and Helena and Simon. The newest members of my band of psychopaths.

"Can you tell me who's deceiving me?" I asked softly after a rather long and tedious silence. I was hanging on to it for safety. And I was the one to pop that safety.

Callie closed her chestnut colored eyes and leaned her head back.

"It's . . . I see a girl. I can see her face. That's all. She has dark, dark, dark eyes. There is something off about her. She seems to be a demon . . ." Callie opened her eyes and looked me dead in the eye. "Stay away from whoever that was."

I blinked a few times before standing up. I said nothing more as I turned and left Callie alone in her shop. I then walked across the street to the other shop.

The interior of this shop is completely different from Callie's. The walls were pale grey. Lace hung from the doors and windows and a white chandelier hung from the ceiling. Light also radiated from candles places around the perimeter of the room. A small oval table with short legs sat on top of a grey rug. A girl with brown hair and thick black glasses sat crosslegged by it. She had a white dress and a blue jacket on. I noticed she had no shoes.

"Hello Bandit," she said, glancing up at me. Her eyes were a vibrant green that made me step back, shocked at the intensity of them. "I see you came from my sister, Callie's shop." I opened my mouth to say something but decided against it.

"Who are you?" I asked after a moment.

"I'm October Mae." The psychic stood up and I tried to see how she remotely related to Callie. I saw no physical similarities. "And yes, Callie is indeed my sister. Our father was white. Our mother was black. Each of us got different qualities. Now . . ." October Mae reached out and stroked my wet hair. I stood completely still.

"Are we doing the tarot cards?" October Mae asked, dropping my hair. I shrugged. I had just done them, but it would be interesting to see if I got the same cards. She smiled and led me to the table where she instructed me to sit crosslegged on the floor. I hesitantly did so. She took out a box similar to Callie's, though the angel was on the back and the demon on the front. She brought the deck of cards out. They were nearly the exact same as her sister's.

Once the deck is spread out, I hovered my hand over and waited until a card popped up. I pulled it close and repeated the same steps twice more. Once I had all three cards, I handed them to October Mae. She frowned a bit, showing me the cards in order I picked them out.

The first was the Devil.

The second was Death.

The third was the Moon.

"Who . . ." I took the Moon card. "Who's deceiving me?" October Mae shook her head.

"They wear a dark cloak and hold a scythe," she said softly, gathering her cards back. "It must be Death, or some figure similar to Death." She bit her lip and stood up. I did the same.

"Death?" I asked, racking my mind for any information on Death. None.

She nodded a bit. "You're lesbian, aren't you?" She asked, dramatically changing the subject. I looked at her, heat rushing to my face. I hesitantly nodded, not sure of what to say. October Mae took my hand. "Meet me here tonight at seven. Dress nicely. I'm taking you on a date."