What If Our Life Threads Bind?

Chapter 8.

This is not what I was expecting to happen.

I bore my eyes into Augury and Cassandra silently pleading them to tell my sisters that Venus entering my cards is just a mere misreading of their ability to get visions and that we should let it slide.

They were sitting on the couch, opposite to me. Cassandra had a notebook in one hand and a pencil in the other. Augury sat back on the couch, admiringly watching his friend Cassandra do her drawing.

Lila enters with a tray full of cups of coffee. She hands each cup to everyone and hesitates before passing the cups to Augury and his friend, Cassandra. I try to stand to give a hand to Lila, helping her with the cups but Chloe pushed me down to sit.

Cassandra stops scribbling on her notebook and watches her sketch from a distance and then shows it to Augury. "This is what I saw." Augury sits straight and takes the notebook from her hand, placing it on his lap and studies whatever the girl has drawn and then they inaudibly murmur back and forth to each other.

My bile seems to rise up to my throat as Augury's eyes knit together in worry or I don't know-dismay, maybe. Chloe seems to have been talking to Mother on the phone, "Yes, the girl...yes, she said she had a vision...yes, a prophecy about Martha..I don't know yet. They're still figuring it out. Yes, I'll let you know mother, don't worry......Yes, bye." I am becoming twitchy and fidgety by every second. What are they preparing a speech about the vision or something? Probably.

"Okay." says Augury.

"So basically what I saw in the vision.." Cassandra starts talking and I could have sworn that I could feel my heart in my mouth. "was that Martha is walking down a corridor and then she arrives on this locked door..and then I saw her holding a key which looked something like this." She held up the sketch she's been working on. "She opens the door which opens to a beautiful garden and sunset, and the doves flutter near her. It looked like she was waiting for someone there and then she had smiled."

I just stare blankly at her for a few minutes. "So?"

"So...the key that you were holding which looked something like this one in the sketch had a design of two swans forming a heart, and then you open the door. Now, the key symbolizes a new beginning and the two swans symbolize love which overall means soon you'll be enduring a new beginning of your life which is your love life." Chloe becomes stiff beside me and I already know this is bad. "Then, you enter a garden and the time is that of sunset which is a time when lovers meet. The doves fluttering near you symbolizes your undying and loyal love for your partner and fidelity between you two. You wait for someone and then you smile which obviously means that you will be happy."

What?

"I don't know what to say." I say with a deadpanned look on my face. I don't believe this. Honestly, how moth bit is our brain yet?

"You don't have to. You are grounded and you are not allowed to go anywhere. Not to college. Nowhere." Chloe stands as does everyone else including me. My expressions change from 'I-don't-care' to 'this-thing-is-as-bothering-as-a-pain-in-the-arse'. I couldn't seem to close my mouth from the shock of what Chloe had just asked me to do. "Thank you for coming and helping us." She offers a hand to Cassandra and then smiles at Augury. The two leave.

"What do you mean I won't go to college now? What about my studies and my dream to become a bestselling author. Chloe, please!" I look at her with a horrified look in my eyes; squinted and strained.

"I don't change my word. When I say you are not going, YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" She says loudly and I scream.

"You are so mean! I have been following your orders like I am a puppet and you are the master of my strings all my life. I can't- I can't take it anymore." I can taste tears spilling down my cheeks. "I don't want to live like this. I don't even have a life and you don't let me have one.

"I want to be normal. I want to live like normal people live. I want to experience new things and explore myself." I reach for her hand and her expressions soften momentarily. "I am tired of this. You can't keep me captive in these four walls and a roof! That's not enough. That's not what being alive means. That's called not dying! I am not in love, sister and even if I was, it shouldn't be a problem. I have a heart like others and being in love is common. Its not a sin."

"You are not understanding, Martha. You are powerful and resourceful. If humans get to know about you, they'll use your powers against you."

"They won't. Paige knows. Pete knows. They never do anything to me." I try to justify my point.

"That's because they are scared of you!" She yells back and I paralyze.

"What?"

"You are the Goddess Of Death. You are death and they are scared of you. They don't hurt you because they think you'll hurt them!" She screams and I don't say anything. "You are not going anywhere and that's final." She says and I run to my room, locking the door.

"Martha! Martha!" Lila knocks the door. "Open the door."

But I don't.