by Penn Cassidy
“Do you think it’s the real thing?” Maddie asked with an excited chuckle, clutching my arm in a death grip as she started at the all seeing crystal.
“Well, the sign on the wall says a palm reading costs only three dollars, and a chakra alignment is free on the side, so I sincerely doubt it.” I shook my head. I loved carnival psychics, but everyone knew they were just a scam to take your money.
“Bah humbug,” Maddie said, pouting in disappointment. She ran her finger along the edge of a pewter bowl, making it ring through the quiet. “Maybe she’s a witch or something. Maybe she’s—”
She was cut off when we heard the rattle of beads from the other side of the tent. To our surprise, a man walked out, clad in a purple velvet suit with a lime green tie. He wore a matching top hat, and his ears stuck out through the curtain of his long white hair. He was a short man, even shorter than me, and at five foot two, that was saying something. He was older, maybe in his late sixties, and had a seriously impressive handlebar mustache I wanted to touch.
“Okay, not what I was expecting,” Maddie murmured out of the corner of her mouth.
I snorted and shoved her lightly to get her to shut up before he heard her.
“Come for a reading, I’m guessing?” he asked in a gruff, raspy voice that reminded me of a smoker. He sounded kind and welcoming at least.
“Shouldn’t you have known that already?” Maddie retorted cheekily, raising a sarcastic brow at him.
I elbowed her again, rolling my eyes as she mouthed ouch. “Rude—”
“Indeed.” He clicked his tongue, making his way over to a plush red velvet wingback chair at the small table and settling down to get comfortable. “Well?” He gestured to the stools opposite him.
We wasted no time taking our seats, scooting the stools closer in wonder at the unknown, even though it could’ve been a joke. On the table was just the crystal ball, which was larger than my head, and a deck of tarot cards. But he reached for neither. He was looking at me silently. His watery blue eyes ran over my face, and a look of what I could only describe as recognition passed over his wrinkled features, but he wiped it away before I could think too much about it.
I felt something weird then. The oddest sensation simmered in my belly like an empty tingle. It was one of those feelings that you got every once in a while, like the feeling of walking into a room and forgetting what you’d gone in there to do. Or that feeling when you pass a stranger on the street and could have sworn you knew them from somewhere from before.
He cleared his throat with a small smile, the crows feet at the corner of his eyes more pronounced. “You may call me Frank.”
Maddie snickered next to me, trying to cover the laugh with a cough. “Frank,” she deadpanned. “Couldn’t come up with something more mystical, like…Alistair or Merlin or something?”
He blinked at her. My cheeks were flaming, but I’d thought the exact same thing. “But my name’s Frank,” he said, brows furrowing like he didn’t understand.
I was trying to contain a snort. Everything about Frank seemed so sincere and kind. His face was open and his eyes shone with simple humor, but everything about him was strangely refreshing for some reason. Like being in his presence gave me a breath of fresh air. Strange. I was almost positive I’d never met this man in my life. I would have remembered.
“Let’s start with you then, Miss Maddie.” He stuck out a palm facing upwards for her to take. I sucked in a sharp breath, and Maddie’s eyes went wide as he waited for her to grab his hand.
“Maybe he just heard me say it or something,” I whispered nervously in her ear, but deep inside, I knew that was bullshit. I hadn’t said her name out loud… Was this just a trick?
A weird breeze flowed through the room, giving me goosebumps. I didn't know if anyone else noticed the way the candles flickered or the way the beaded curtains clinked. Maddie was too busy staring at his open palm. Suddenly, this didn’t seem so make-believe.
Despite her reservations, she slowly took his wrinkled hand and waited with her breath held, as if something magical was about to happen. He went silent, closing his eyes. She glanced at me, looking lost, and once again, I was trying to contain a smile. Maddie wasn’t much for the spooky mumbo jumbo. She thought it was entertaining, but she didn’t believe in any of it. Not in the way I did. I believed in magic and psychics, but not so much at a carnival of all places. He was really starting to change my mind.
She squeaked when his fingers closed, tightening on her palm. “There’s a change looming ahead, Miss Maddie. Something’s about to shift in the world, and you'll have to make a choice.” His voice was low and unwavering. “It’s hazy, but it’s there. You’re going to walk a fine line. A fine line indeed.” I saw her try to pull her hand away, but his fingers just held hers tighter. It was like he was in a trance. “Keep your friends close to your side, you’ll need them for what comes next. Don’t succumb to the temptation of running, or the darkness will follow.”
This time, she did rip her hand away. She was breathing hard and looking a little green. Frank’s eyes popped open, and for just a second, I could have sworn his irises were gone. But I must have been seeing things.
“I thought you were supposed to tell me about my soulmate or my future lottery ticket, not some ominous warning that means jack shit to me.” She folded her arms over her body petulantly as she bit the inside of her cheek. I knew it was just a defense mechanism. His words had rattled her. Hell, they’d rattled me, too.
“I don’t pick your future from a basket, nor do I select what I wish to see, young lady. If you wanted to know if your crush fancies you back, then you should have gone down a few tents to visit Madam Esmeralda.” He sniffed, seeming put out. I needed to defuse the tension.
“Me next,” I said in fake excitement as nerves bounced in my stomach, sticking out my palm for him to grab.
Frank looked at my hand, brows furrowing. His eyes flickered to mine, worry simmering in their depths. “Are you sure you want to know?” he asked gruffly, like a warning for my doomed future.
“It’s what I came in here for, isn’t it?” I raised a challenging brow.
“That’s not what I asked.” He stared at me, like he was trying to tell me something important, but I wasn’t scared.
My past was already fucked up, so not much in my future could catch me by surprise.
“Just do it so we can get out of here,” said Maddie with an exasperated groan. She was bouncing in her seat, looking uncomfortable.
I ignored her, too curious about my fortune, and it was too late to just get up and leave now. So I placed my hand in his with a deep breath. A cold chill immediately rushed up my arm, and I could have sworn the lights dimmed, a few candles flickering out completely. I shivered, glancing over at Maddie to see if she felt the same, but she was just staring off into space as she bit her nails, probably pretending she was anywhere else but here right now.
Frank’s other hand landed on top of mine, and he clasped my palm hard, jaw going slack and his eyes looking glassy, a far away look taking over his expression. I was prepared to come in here and listen to some mumbo jumbo about finding true love and good fortune, but the look on this man’s face made me feel a little scared. I didn’t think he was faking it. This wasn’t a performance. I could feel it in my bones. So no matter how much I wanted to pull away and sprint from the tent, I stayed put. I really must’ve loved torturing myself.
Those glassy eyes met mine after a tense minute, and they came back into focus. It was then that I realized his hands were shaking ever so slightly in my grip.
“What is it? What did you see?” I breathed out, wondering if he'd seen my own death.
Fuck, I was scared shitless.
Maddie huffed in annoyance. “He didn’t see anything, Toby. C’mon, this is giving me the creeps…”
“Miss Hallowell,” Frank whispered in a haunting raspy voice. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end, and even Maddie shut up and stopped
bouncing her feet. He squeezed tighter. “Everything you know is about to change. Something comes for you. Something dark, not right. It’s unnatural. Answers will finally come to light but watch your back, because there are some places even the sun can’t reach to protect you.”
“What are you talking about? What’s coming?” I was on the edge of my seat now, scooting closer with my heart pounding.
He shook his head, his brows scrunched together. “It’s unclear. So far away and ever changing.” His eyes snapped to mine, widening. “You need to prepare yourself, Miss Hallowell. Something unnatural lurks around the corner, and if you let it, it will consume you... Everyone and everything you hold dear could slip away if you let them. Don’t let the past repeat itself.”
“Okay, I’m fucking out of here,” said Mads, standing up from her stool that tipped over with her sudden movement. “Dude, you’re insane. I should report you to the police for tricking people into this shit.” She grabbed my hand and pried it from Frank’s grip.
The moment our skin lost contact, that cold feeling disappeared, and it was like a fog receded and the world snapped back into place. Frank’s eyes visibly cleared, and so did mine. I suddenly didn’t feel so well. My stomach gave a lurch, and there was a pressure building in my inner ears. I stood, letting the stool clatter to the floor.
“H-how much do we owe you?” I reached for my bag with my hands trembling, ready to start running for the hills.
Frank shook his head and waved me away as he continued giving me a worried glance. “You’re money’s no good to me here, Miss Hallowell. Just please…” He stood, walking around his small table. Mads backed towards the entrance, but I stayed put. “Heed my warning. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more, but it was too unclear, like trying to see through dark, murky water. You’re in danger, young lady. You need to…”
“We need to leave,” said Maddie. Her voice was short and impatient. I whipped around and saw her glaring at Frank with her arms crossed over her chest before looking at me. “Come on, October. Seriously, we’re going to miss the bus.”
She was right. I glanced at my watch. It was time to go. It was nearly midnight, and the aunties would be expecting us soon. I tried to give Frank a semblance of a smile, but I knew it fell flat. What was supposed to be a lighthearted, fun psychic reading at a carnival turned into something cold and eerie. I could tell Mads was visibly upset and ready to leave like yesterday.
“Thank you, Frank…” I backed away slowly without looking away from him.
He stood there, staring at me with a perplexing expression on his withered face. If I looked hard enough, I might have even called it pity. But I’d pretend for now that I hadn’t seen it. Turning away from the old man in the strange purple suit and top hat, I left the tent with Mads, letting the beads swish behind me.
I stared out into the passing cornfields, tracking the moon as it seemed to follow our bus right outside the window. Once again, I felt like it looked particularly orange tonight, and way too big. I tried checking my phone for any known lunar anomalies this week, but there were none.
Everyone was quiet, falling asleep with bellies full of candy and popcorn. Even the cheerleaders had finally shut up, and most were quietly minding their own business. The bus was dark, save for the blue lights of cell phone screens and the orange moonlight shining in through the windows. I had one earbud in, and Fleetwood Mac was playing low, a background to my melancholy.
I could see Maddie in the seat in front of me. She’d moved up a seat to spread out and had a sweatshirt draped over her face as she snored. Naturally, the other seats around me were empty. No one ever wanted to sit near the weird goth girl. I thought I made everyone uncomfortable. Growing up in this small town, I’d known these kids since we were kids. I’d moved here with my parents when I was five and didn’t know anyone, but Maddie introduced me around the moment she took me under her wing.
I used to be popular, just like her. There was a time—only last year, which felt like a lifetime ago—where I’d have been sprawled out with my feet on Jason’s lap, or laughing with Michael about some YouTube video we’d seen. I’d share funny stories and memories with Norman and Freddy, or make plans with the girls. My life was virtually unrecognizable. A whole lot could happen in the span of a one year.
Two seats ahead of me and to the right was Norman. His pale skin was illuminated by the blue light of his phone, making his green eyes shine like gems. He was concentrating, brows furrowed and mouth pressed into a hard line. I wondered what he was reading. Norman loved books, all kinds of books. He and I were always nerds like that. He loved Stephen King, and I loved Mary Shelly. The guys ragged on him all the time, but it was just Norman. He was still a star athlete with chiseled pecs and arms as large as my thighs, but under all that muscle, he was a nerd at heart.
I must have been staring at him a little bit too long, because it took a moment to realize he was now staring back at me. The furrow between his thick, arched brows was even deeper, and my heart sped up when his jaw clenched tightly the longer we stared at each other. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Out of all the guys, Norman put me the most on edge. He was always intense. Always a little bit…darker than the rest of them. It unnerved me now that we no longer had a close friendship. What was he thinking about?
“Find something interesting over there, Bloody Mary?” Freddy’s deep voice whispered in my ear from behind. I jolted with a quiet yelp, caught off guard.
I could feel a tickle of his long golden hair against where my shoulder met my neck. “Fuck off, Fred.” I tried to sound deadpan, but I was pretty sure I failed. Norman was still glaring at me, watching his twin come closer. My cheeks flamed at having been caught so blatantly.
“You’re giving off some serious stalker vibes,” Freddy went on, taking a seat next to me without an invitation. My whole body went as still as a statue. Being so close to any one of them was difficult, and I could already feel beads of sweat on the nape of my neck.
This was stupid. It was dumb to let them affect me this way. I’d known these guys since we were six years old. I’d seen them in every single stage of their awkward adolescence. I knew which one cried during Titanic, which one farted in their sleep, and which one secretly loved to listen to classical music. It was Michael, by the way.
“C’mon, Wednesday, I’m just giving you a hard time. No need to cry about it.” His cooing words whispered against my ear like the devil.
I could hear laughter in his voice, the teasing that never seemed to stop. These assholes had taken to calling me every name in the book, except for my own. Usually, it was something with a spooky connotation because they knew it grated against my every nerve.
“Seriously, I’m not in the mood. Can’t you just fuck off, or better yet, go finger fuck Jenna again or something?” I bit out, regretting it immediately. Even I heard how pathetically jealous that just sounded. Rumors about Freddy being with the cheerleader had spread around our school like wildfire after winter break last year. He could do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted, it meant nothing to me anymore.
Yeah right… Like my heart didn’t crack open every time I saw them with another girl.
He hummed, reaching out to pinch a lock of orange hair between his fingers, and my eyes flickered up to his. They were grass green and brimming with a mixture of year old anger and a hint of sinister amusement. “You’d probably like that, wouldn’t you? You like to watch? Are you even more freaky than we thought, baby girl? Just say the word…” He dropped my hair and ran those fingertips down the side of my neck, light as a feather. Fire burned in its wake and between my thighs as I clenched my legs together. “I can accommodate.” He smirked as he noticed the slight movement.
Slapping his hand away, I shoved away from him, wincing as my elbow jammed into the bus window. Freddy laughed like the sadistic bastard he is. I looked over and saw Norman grinning darkly, his face no longer lit by his screen. Those lips were stretched wide, and he looked crueler than
usual. My stomach curdled.
Once upon a time, they’d have never spoken to me this way. Not in a million years. Flashes of skin on skin, lips hovering over mine, and deft fingers making me feel things for the first time ran through my mind. Memories of sharing firsts… I shook them away. They were taking my year and a half of silence personally. Or perhaps they were just finally showing their true colors.
“Stop messing with her,” called a voice from the back of the bus, only three rows back. I craned my neck, looking over my shoulder to where Jason and Michael sat, watching Freddy fuck with me with amusement in their eyes. Jason was chuckling as he added, “You know it’s rude to play with your food.” He licked his lips sensually as our eyes met.
I was getting so fucking tired of this shit. My parent’s just died for fuck’s sake, and all they could do was dedicate every waking moment to making me as miserable as possible. They were heartless bastards, and it made me genuinely wonder what it was that I ever saw in any of them. Maybe I was right for cutting ties when I did.
I turned back to the window, having no more energy to try and think of a retort. It would fall on deaf ears anyway. So I just shoved the other earbud in and leaned my head against the frosty window, while Freddy just stared me down with a grin. All I ever felt was anger towards them, but there was an ache of sadness in my chest as memories always surfaced of the past. I felt that stare like little spider legs crawling all over my skin, but I wouldn’t let him know how much it bothered me, how much it killed me inside.
After about two full minutes of this, he must have realized I no longer gave a fuck and went to the back of the bus, probably to talk more shit about me with the guys. I didn’t look at Norman again either. I was done pining over them. I was done with it all.