Out of the Darkness

74

Instead, I rushed past the much smaller figure that stood there in the dim light, and pushed the door closed behind me. "Please come in," the small woman said, her face shining with laughter. "There was someone out there," I replied, releasing the breath that I hadn't known I was holding. She gave me a smile, only one corner of her mouth turning up. She was a tiny thing, maybe 5 ft, if that. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, braids on each side going back down into her loose hair. Her darker skin was the color of mocha but the dim lighting was casting dark shadows along her face. All I could really see was the reflection in her chocolate eyes, and tilt of her lips. She stepped past me and opened the door again, then stepped out side. "Wait, don't!" I said, stepping towards her. She looked quickly, left and right, across the alleyway. "There's no one out here," she replied, stepping back inside. I stuck my own head out the door, and glanced around. I saw people walking past the alleyway on the main sidewalk, but no one else. The alley was dark though, full of black corners that could be hiding anything...or anyone. I shivered as I stared into a particularly dark spot, then ducked back inside. I closed the door behind me, and turned to face the small woman. "See," she replied, holding both hands out to her sides, palms up. "No one is out there. At least, not anyone alive." I felt my mouth fall open a little at her words. "What does that mean?" I asked, worry coating my voice. "Was there a woman with me? Is she outside? Green eyes that sparkle, like the ocean. Dark hair, that kind of shimmers when she moves? Was she there?" I turned to open the door again, to see if maybe I could see Anna, but the woman placed her small hand on mine. "No. I am sorry. I do not see your friend. There are many spirits in this particular area, but she is not one of them." I couldn't tell before, but now I could hear a light tilt to her clipped words, an accent of some kind. My heart dropped at her words and I sighed. "Come with me," she said, walking towards a room that had long beads covering the doorway, all the way down to the floor. They rattled as we walked through them. I almost laughed at what I saw. The typical tarot or fortune tellers set up. A circle desk, candles of different scents and colors, their flames flickering, casting dancing shadows on the walls. There was actually a crystal ball in the center of the table too. I scoffed, before I could stop myself, then cleared my throat. I turned to see her already sitting at the head of the table, watching me with that creepy half smile. "Um," I said uncomfortably, rubbing the back of my head. "I don't think this is exactly what I had in mind. I'm just going to go." I turned away from her, to leave, but automatically felt her small hand on my wrist. She was gripping me tightly, almost painfully tight, her hands cold. I snatched my hand away, on instinct, and turned to face her. She still had that same fucking smile on her face. "I'm sorry dear. My hands seem to stay cold. I think maybe it's a side effect from walking with the spirit world. Who knows though? Maybe I just have thin blood." She threw her head back, letting out a hearty laugh at herself. I didn't think it was that funny, but okay. "Listen, I don't know what you do here, and I'm really not trying to be disrespectful. I know there are ghosts and that they walk in our world sometimes, but all of this," I motioned with my hand towards the crystal ball and the candles. "This isn't something that I have much faith in." She nodded, still smiling and turned to sit back down in her chair. "That's fine. Not many people do. If you would like to leave, then so be it. Maybe you will have better luck finding your dear Anna another way. Before The Darkness swallows her soul completely." I nodded, and turned away, then stopped dead in my tracks. "What?" I gasped out, turning back to her again. "How did you- I never said- how did you do that?" I stammered out, staring at her, slightly afraid. She just shrugged, her smile growing wider, creepier. "I see the dead. I talk to the dead. Sometimes, they tell me things. Sometimes, I see things," she said, motioning toward the glass ball in the center of the table. "Now, I do have an appointment in about an hour that I need to set up for. So would you like my help?" she swept her hand towards a chair that sitting close to her. "Or not?" she asked, pointing towards the door we had entered, back towards the exit. I looked back through the beads, at the metal door, then back to her and that damned crystal ball. I heaved out a nervous breath and pulled the chair out that was next to her. "Help me. Please," I said, turning to meet her gaze. "Of course," she replied, in a smug manner. I wasn't sure if I liked her or not. She made me feel uncomfortable, even though she was perfectly nice. There was just something off about her, or this place. I didn't know. I watched as she took a deck of Tarot cards off of the small table on her other side, murmur some words to herself as she shuffled them. A few spilled out of the deck, but she left them where they lay while she finished shuffling. Once she was finished, she picked them up and turned them face up. "It seems that your friend Anna is lost. No, not lost. Stuck. She's caught between this world of the dead and the living, unable to stay in either world. She belongs to neither world." I creased my forehead, trying to keep up. "What?" I asked. "How can she not belong to the world of the dead? She's dead." She didn't answer me, just flipped a couple more cards, and placed them in a weird pattern on the table. "You can help her, but only if you can overcome the barriers. There are secrets that you do not know. Secrets that she doesn't know." I kept quiet, waiting to here something about HOW exactly I could help. "The Darkness wants her, it feeds on her. It's pure evil, adamant in it's will to keep her. It holds others as well. It has killed many," she breathed out, her voice hitching. "So, so many. It's strong. Stronger than anything that I've come across before." She stared at the card formation for a few more minutes, then slowly looked up and met my gaze.