The Fortune Teller

The Fortune Teller

Lady Larissa packed her travel suitcase quickly, eager to be at the airport by eleven that night. Her plane left at one in the morning, and she was not in any mood to spend one more night in the city. She neatly arranged her hypno-wheel, a box with two old and worn decks of ‘mystical’ playing cards, her Ouija board and a number of small trinkets in the leather bag, before piling in her clothes and toiletries. Larissa zipped the bag shut, hoisted it onto its wheels and set it by the door.

She gathered her wallet, keys and phone, and shoved them in her coat pockets. She took a deep breath and a last look in the dresser mirror. She swept her dark fringe from her bright hazel eyes, and tied back her freshly dyed, blonde ponytail, letting it drape down her left shoulder.

Larissa then grabbed the suitcase and wheeled it out of the small motel room. She checked out quickly, and walked briskly to the almost pitch black car park.

The tarmac outside was slick with ice, and the small patches of grass between parking bays were silver with dew; a small fox slunk from behind a car, its paws crunching softly on the frost; streetlights half-heartedly perforated the darkness with dim yellow circles every twenty meters along the adjacent road.

She scanned around for her small hatchback, and found it after clicking the unlock button on her key, unwilling to expose her hands to the cold until she was in the car.

Her shoes made a scurrying sound as they scraped along the icy tarmac. Her breath came out steamy.

When she reached the car, she tried to open the driver’s door, but it wouldn’t budge.

She pulled again, and heard the crunching sound of breaking ice.

She wrenched harder. It stayed shut.

She felt a hand on her back, forcing her to turn around.

Lady Larissa’s breath caught in her throat. Then she stared, eyes glassy and unfocused at the person in front of her.

The person counted down from three, before whispering quietly in her ear, snapping their fingers and vanishing into the shadows.

Larissa stared dozily at the space in front of her, before blinking, and slowly climbing into her car.

…

I picked up the phone after the second ring, and heard Jean’s voice on the other end.

“Be here for nine, or so. Bring wine, and something to do while we wait for Rob,” she said, sounding busy.

“Like what?” I asked.

“I don’t know, a board game or something,” she said impatiently. “I’ll be cooking and you’ll need to entertain Alistair.”

“He’s three, Jean. Don’t you have any toys?”

“I do, but he’s looking forward to seeing you.”

“Fine, I’ll find something. Can he do taxes yet, or-”

“Theodore!” she hissed, before hanging up.

I put the phone back in my pocket, grabbed my keys, and wallet from the counter and rummaged through a shelf for something that might entertain a young child. Sifting through a number of pens, paperclips and key chains, I found a small book titled Funny Lines and Silly Rhymes. Perfect.

On the way out, I spotted a deck of cards on the coffee table next to the bottle of wine I had bought for Jean and Rob. I pocketed them, grabbed the bottle and walked out of the front door. As I closed it behind me, my coat tail caught in the lock. I pulled it hard, and it tore.

“Shit,” I muttered, reaching inside a coat pocket for my keys. My index finger jabbed into a key pointing straight up, and I swore again. I clutched the keys tightly, careful to avoid any more sharp edges, and pulled them out.

I tried to unlock the door, but the coattail was obstructing the bolt. I sighed heavily, and pulled the coat hard. It ripped apart, and the door swung open, leaving the torn piece of material to drop innocently to the floor. I glared at it, before shutting the door and trudging downstairs.

On my way to Jean’s, I came to twelve red lights in a row. I drove over something sharp, drifted ever so little above the speed limit and set off a camera flash, and flattened a dead rabbit. I ran out of petrol twenty feet from Jean’s car park.

I eventually climbed the five flights of stairs to their flat, since the lift was out of order, and knocked for a few minutes, because Jean was deaf from cooking and Alistair was watching television.

When the door eventually opened, Jean had her phone between her head and her shoulder, and was motioning me in, as if I had been keeping her waiting. I stepped inside to see smoke coming from the kitchen; something was burning. She swore loudly, and whoever she was on the phone to said, “Excuse me?”

She rushed to the stove, apologizing profusely as she tended to the cooking pot. I followed her through the hallway, and entered the living room through an archway opposite a large mirror. There was a three-seater couch and a small coffee table in front of the television. I sat on the couch next to Alistair, who turned to me for a high five. I held my hand out, and he managed to swipe his arm straight into my face. He fell on his back, giggling.

“How you doing, little man?” I asked, pulling him up.

“Good, Uncle Theodore, I watched a secret Asian movie today!” he said excitedly. “It was called ‘Casino Roll’!”

He turned back to the television.

“I’m watching cartoons now. What’s your favourite cartoon, Uncle Theodore?”

“I like Bugs Bunny, you know the rabbit?” I grinned, remembering my childhood hero.

“He’s on now, I think,” he said, leaping to get the remote from the coffee table.

As he changed the channel, Bugs appeared on the screen, dealing cards with an unsuspecting Daffy Duck, which reminded me.

“I bought something you might like, Alistair, if you liked Casino Royale,” I said, pulling the deck of cards out of my pocket. The packet came loose, and the cards spilled out over the sofa. When Alistair saw them he yelled in delight and began gathering up the cards. I let him play with them, and walked to the kitchen, where Jean was preparing a salad.

“Good evening old sister of mine,” I boomed out suddenly, surprising her enough that she dropped the kitchen knife. After the trip here, I’d have put money on it landing in her foot. It did, but with the handle.

“Ah, for god’s sakes- Theodore, set the table please,” she picked it up, and continued chopping.

“Nice to see you too. How goes it?” I said cheerily, taking plates and glasses out of a cupboard.

“It goes well, you?” she replied, not looking up from the chopping board.

“Good, where’s Rob?”

“He’s meeting with a new client, had to stay late,” she turned around from the salad to face me. “He’ll be here in twenty or so minutes, hopefully.”

I nodded, and finished laying the table, before excusing myself to the bathroom.

…

Robert locked up his office door, and walked through to the foyer of the building. After a long day dealing with a rather peculiar client, he was looking forward to getting home. The car was parked a while away, so he left quickly. As he walked by the bus stop, he saw the client he had finished speaking to only five minutes earlier. She looked up at him, and smiled. He stopped, and asked her if she needed a lift to the station.

She said; “Yes, that would be kind of you,” with the strange, almost robotic voice she had spoken with during their meeting. She brushed her fringe out of her eyes, and pulled back her ponytail, before smiling again.

…

I walked back from the bathroom, passing a large mirror in the hallway, just opposite the living room. In the reflection I could see Alistair throwing the playing cards around on the floor. I went in to tell him off.

There was no one in the room.

I frowned, and looked back at the mirror. My reflection had disappeared.

I moved towards the mirror that reflected the hallway and the lounge. Alistair was still playing with the cards. I turned away from the mirror, and I was alone again.

In the mirror, Jean had walked into the room. She asked Alistair where I was, and he said he didn’t know. She sighed, picked up all of the playing cards, and walked into the hallway. I turned, and I was still alone.

I yelled, “Jean!” but she ignored me as she walked passed.

…

Alistair sat on the couch, and stared at Elmer Fudd on the television. He yawned, and changed the channel on the remote. The picture scrambled, and went static. Alistair clicked the remote again, but the static remained.

He got off the couch, and spotted a couple of small white rectangles on the rug. His mum had missed two of the cards! He picked them up and examined them.

The first card had a strange drawing on it. It was a young woman, with pale skin, and dark hair covering her eyes. She was wearing a piece of cloth across the top of her head, but had long blonde hair tied in a plait down her left shoulder. Her eyes were wide and scary.

 The second card had Uncle Theodore on it, but he was standing behind a window.

Alistair looked at both of the cards for a few seconds. Suddenly, he threw them both as far as he could. They flew into the hallway, and he chased happily after them. As he picked them up, he looked into the mirror, and saw Uncle Theodore.

…

Alistair stopped in front of the mirror. He could see me, but he couldn’t hear me screaming. He stared at me in wonder, then looked at one of the playing cards he was holding. He showed it to me.

Jean was on the card, but her eyes were rolled back.

I screamed at him, but as he looked at me, his eyes turned wide with fear. His mouth opened, but nothing came out.

I tried to reach through the mirror.

 I pushed into it.

 I punched it.

…

Jean heard the doorbell ring, and turned on her heels to walk back to the kitchen. As she came to the hallway, she saw Alistair staring at the mirror, two playing cards on the floor. From where she was standing, she could see the picture on one of the cards. It was Rob, lying down on concrete, in a pool of blood. His lower half was under a car. She froze, and stared at Alistair. He was standing with his forehead pressing into the mirror, a pained look on his face.

…

I watched as Jean pulled Alistair away from the mirror and into the kitchen. His eyes never left mine as he wailed. They both disappeared around the corner, and I punched the glass in front of me again in frustration. Jean came back, and walked to the front door. I could just about see her, but whoever was at the front door was hidden from view. Jean stepped back, and let the person in.

 It was Rob, but something was wrong. He looked panicked, as he walked into the hallway, followed shortly after by a young woman. Jean trailed behind them, clearly mortified.

As the woman passed the mirror, she looked directly at me, and winked. Her face was familiar. Very familiar. She had long blonde hair, draped across her shoulders, but her fringe was black. Her eyes were hazel, and smoky. Then it clicked.

The playing cards. She had sold them to me. I yelled, but no one heard me.

…

Alistair sat in the kitchen, next to his mother and father. They were being odd, he thought. They looked scared. The woman from the card was in the kitchen too, and she was holding the rest of the cards. She was counting them, but she wasn’t saying anything.

Then she spotted the two cards in the hallway, and walked over to pick them up. She looked into the mirror as she passed. Alistair wondered if she could see Uncle Theodore too. She acted like she could; she was telling him to be quiet, and showing him the cards. She must have wanted them really badly.

Alistair was feeling sleepy, and when he blinked, the woman had disappeared, and Uncle Theodore was yelling at the mirror.

…

I yelled at the woman in the mirror, and she just smiled at me. Then I heard Alistair say, “Uncle Theodore, there you are!”

Jean stared, shocked and confused as I turned around and ran into the kitchen. She, Alistair and Rob were all there, with me. I turned back to the mirror, and the woman held up the deck of cards. She winked at me, tucked them in her pocket and walked away.