Dreamcatcher (ONC 2020)

8

"You should probably get going," Florence says.

The psychic shop closed its doors to customers about three hours ago. Liam, Bailee and I are now sitting in a room with a few other psychics, diligently working on Layla's plan. The preparation of it requires a grueling analysis of possible outcomes of the future—as in, which courses would be the best to take in case certain circumstances happened. The psychics, of course, want their plan to be spotless.

Another psychic, Matt, looks over at the watch strapped to his wrist. "Florence is right. It's almost midnight, you guys."

I sigh, then stand up and stretch, making my back give a few unsightly cracks. "I guess we'll get going." I slowly glance over at Liam. "I hate to say this, but—"

"Yeah, I'll give you a ride..." Liam starts to say, grinning, "...if I get to drive."

I glower at him. "Whatever. Just try not to kill us while you're at it."

Liam gives me an old-fashioned salute. I sigh once more and turn over to Layla, who's just snapped out of a crystal ball trance. The psychics can look kind of scary when they're really focused on their divining abilities—and this especially applies to Layla. She practically glares at the crystal ball, unblinking, with a scowl on her face—while her eyes flash purple at random intervals.

Layla's eyes still look like a purple glow stick, so she shakes her head to clear it up, then turns over toward me. We stare at each other for a few beats. I'm not sure whether I should thank her for helping me, or say something ridiculously snarky. But then Layla raises her voice and says, "Good luck."

I nod, slightly taken aback. "Thanks."

The other psychics start to stand up from all around the room. The ratio of males to females is very disproportionate—there are twelve psychics in the room, and only 2 are men. They all turn to face Layla, their different purple-colored eyes clouded with seriousness.

I pick up the bag with all the stuff the psychics had given me earlier, then raise a nervous hand and wave behind at them. Before I know if they waved back or not, I turn away and walk toward the exit. Bailee stands up and shakes herself off, eager for a chance to get moving again.

But before exiting the room and walking down the dark corridor again, I turn around once more.

"Listen," I say. "If this doesn't work out how we planned, I'm sorry. And, uh—" I lift up the bag— "thanks for the stuff."

Layla gives me a rare smile, and Florence bellows, "Don't worry, dreamcatcher!" She points to the psychics behind her. "We won't let that happen."

"And don't thank us just yet," Matt chimes in. "You'll be giving us back all that stuff."

I look at them, and for some reason, the sight of them all standing together makes me feel soft. "Thank you," I say, really meaning it this time. Then I walk out into the corridor before any of the psychics can see the smile spreading across my face.

Liam calls out a few goodbyes behind me, then sprints to catch up. "See," he says, nudging me. "What did I tell you? Are they as terrible as you thought?"

"Guess not," I mutter. "Still terrible, I mean—but they had their moments of sunshine."

I shrug off the curtain on the entrance and walk into the main store. It looks eerie with the neon lights turned off; the only light source is the dim flickering of the candles. Liam gulps audibly, and I look at him.

"Don't tell me you're scared," I tease.

"I'm not—" another gulp— "scared." Liam lowers his voice down to a whisper. "But dude—these candles are creepy. How are you not scared?"