Providence

The Fortune Teller

This short story was based on a picture I found while perusing google images. I do not own this picture, and I do not know who does. Just warning you all now.

The Fortune Teller

"Can you tell me my fate?" I giggled, taunting the boy in front of me. He glanced up and smiled patiently, the twenty or so dull red cards in his hands spread out as if he was reading a book. I frowned at the ragged things. What kid brought an old pack of fortune-telling cards into a bar? On second thought, how did this kid get here in the first place? He barely looked 18. And how did i end up at a table with him? I thought back... and hit a wall.

I couldn't remember. My brain felt all fuzzy, like a TV that had lost its signal. My hotel TV had lost its signal. That was why I came down to this bar in the first place. I frowned, wondering how long I had been here.

"i can tell you more than just your fate with these cards." a silky, soft voice interrupted my rambling thoughts. I glanced up and realized it had been the boy. He winked at me from behind the cards, but there was no laughter in his grey eyes. His light brown hair fell into his eyes, hiding the seriousness in them for a second. There were gray streaks in his hair, I noted absentmindedly. What kid had gray streaks? In fact, everything about this kid was grey. It was like all the color had been sucked out of him... I shook my head softly to clear my thoughts. I needed to focus. The alcohol wasn't helping much though.

"Do your best," I flashed a weak grin at the strange boy and scanned the crowd for a guy more my speed. Preferably older, less creepy. But the boy quickly caught my attention again when he held the cards in front of my face.

"Pick four." he instructed. I frowned, but did as he said. As I held the four cards, he quickly tucked the rest of them in his jacket pocket. He then took the four from me, and held them in front of his face. He then grabbed the most worn card and placed it delicately on the table.

"The past card." he explained. I stared uneasily at the strange cross design of the card. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea.

He gestured to me, and then waved his free hand over the card. On the back of his hand was a tattoo of a bird. I stared at it. for some reason, it frightened me. 

"Well? Go ahead and turn it over!" he smirked softly at my hesitation. This was silly! I wasn't afraid of any teenager, or his cheap tarot cards. I took a swig of my beer and turned the card over.

The beer suddenly seemed to want to come back up in a hurry. I swallowed hard, fighting to keep the drink down as I stared down at the most detailed portrait of a hospital room I had ever seen. And not just any hospital room. There were the dying tulips on the desk, the giant stuffed bear sitting alone on the harsh white floor, and a sloppy Get Well Soon card that was a gift from a girl in Billy's school. And in the center of it all, amidst the fear and memories was Billy himself, deathly white against the pale green hospital sheets. My baby brother, dying in front of me all over again.

"What an interesting card." the boy murmured, his eyes focused on it. "Your past was filled with hospital visits, wasn't it? First your brother, taken too young by cancer. Then, your mother. Stolen in the blink of an eye. You're still afraid of driving, aren't you?" he glanced at me, and smiled a lopsided smirk.

I couldn't breathe. How did he know that? I hadn't told anyone here any of that. This was a bad idea. A really bad idea. I wanted to leave. I needed to leave.

But I found that I just couldnt. I needed to know how much this boy knew. If not for my sake, then for the sake of my nation. If he knew any of what i did at work, he was a liability.

His eyes studied me, and then, with a flick of his wrist, another worn card flew out of his hand and slid beside the hospital card. It was facedown.

"the present card," he explained. I didn't hesitate this time. I flipped it over, and forced myself to look. Just like the last card, it was a painting, but of my office this time. But, it wasn't my office at the same time. My office was neat, and clean. It had to be, for what i was doing. A set of two guards were there twenty four seven to protect the priceless data stored there.

That wasn't the case in this picture. Instead, the files were scattered on the ground, torn apart and shredded. Spilled vials littered the ground, and glass was everywhere. I gasped in horror at the streaks of russet red on the walls and the pools of scarlet on the floor. Scraps of a guard uniform floated in the puddles and I gagged. This couldn't be true. This was one big joke.

"We've been watching you for a while now. You see, your line of work directly conflicts with our end goal. At first, you were barely a threat. But then you made a breakthrough. We had to take drastic measures." His eyes flashed silver, and I realized.

"You... you're one of them!" I stuttered, trying to talk past the lumps in my throat and the pain in my chest. The alcohol made my head pound, and I couldn't think.

"Wrong answer." he sighed. "you know, you still had a chance there. A small one."

"You're a monster!" I clamored out of the seat, my dress tangling my legs. "I need to call the head of the security!" I fumbled around for my purse, but it was gone. My head pounded, and my heart raced. The boy stared up at me, and I realized I had been played. I needed to go. Now.

"Fate is a funny thing." He whispered. His voice was pleasant, and it drew me in, despite the screaming in my head that I needed to leave. Was that me, or him in my head? I couldn't tell.

"The past can't be changed, and the present is a lousy revolutionary, but the future. Oh, the future! For some its unchangeable, for others it's just plain stubborn. But for most, it's... persuadable. And unluckily for you, I happen to be a great negotiator."

He flung one of the last two cards at me, and I caught it out of reflex.

"The future." he smiled sadly at me as he stood up from his seat, the last card still held tight in his hand. My hands shook, as I turned the card in my hand over.

It was a simple drawing, unlike the other cards, which had been so beautiful. Nothing about this card was beautiful.

It was a childlike sketch of a car, rain pouring down around it. Behind it, were russet red streaks, and a black mass crumpled on the ground.

I dropped the card as if it had burned me. It might as well should have, with the memories it brought back.

I glanced up to the boy, wanting to know why. Why would he do this? But he wasn't there. In his place was the last card, lying on the floor where he had stood. I bent down to read the inscription on it.

Your fate is sealed.

Send my regards to the Grim Reaper

-Gypsy

No. That couldn't be happening. I wasn't destined to die in a car crash, was I? A tremor of panic took over me and I ran. I ran as far far and as fast as I could, anywhere to get away from the cards. Those horrible cards! How could I have been so stupid! Mari, oh Mari! I'm so sorry!

I barely noticed the rain pelting me from above. I barely noticed when I twisted my ankle, my clothes getting even more soaked when I fell. I barely noticed the bright lights of an approaching car, rushing toward me. All I saw where grey lights and russet red cards.