Primrose and Brimstone

by Jason Mueller

  Her family had shunned her, and she was often left alone to raise herself while they concentrated on raising the other “normal kids”. They fed her, clothed her, and took care of her needs and maybe in their own way loved her, but they never understood her. She scared them and they often abused her because of her differences, or gifts, as she liked to call them. Love her as they might, they could never beat the gift out of her; she still carried the scars from daddy’s belt. With a bible in one hand a belt in the other and cheap whiskey on his breath, he tried to save her, but he was too busy drowning himself to realize he couldn’t help her.

  She had grown up, as children do, and much to her parents’ relief, had left home the day after her eighteenth birthday and never looked back. Now she was thirty-nine years old and happy. She had learned how to embrace her gift and how to cope with the dead. Plus, she was making a living with it. Wouldn’t her parents be shocked if they were still alive?

  “Good evening, ladies I’m Tina and I am a psychic medium. That means I talk to dead people and they talk to me. I’m thrilled to be here tonight; to be a channel between you and your loved ones. I hope and pray I can bring you messages which will bring you peace and healing.

  When you leave here tonight, hopefully you will leave here in some way better than you were when you came.”

  There was a polite smattering of applause. She recognized no one in the room so no repeats. This made it easier for her. Sometimes the dead want to give the same messages over and over even though the message had been delivered, and it kept other spirits from reaching out to her. Tina didn’t pause long. She wanted to keep the momentum going and the spirit energy was jostling her emotions around as they were eager to be heard.

  “Who had a grandma with a tattoo? It looks like numbers?” Tina questioned the audience looking to see who might acknowledge the spirit speaking to her.

  A woman raised her hand hesitantly. “I did, err do.”

  “Ok, she’s telling me she is safe and happy and she loves you.” The woman started to tear up while Tina could tell by the looks on other faces they were still skeptical about her skill as a medium.

  “I’m seeing numbers 745061, does this mean anything to you?”

  The woman looks shocked. “Yes, those were the numbers tattooed on her arm she was a holocaust survivor, the Nazi’s did that to her.”

  Tina shook her head in understanding as the pieces of the puzzle came together. “She says to tell you that her sisters, brother, mother, and father are with her and they are with you and they love you.”

  “Oh, my God really? She lost her whole family back then and was the only one who survived. She was haunted by her time at Auschwitz.”

  “Well, they are all together again. From what I can see they look happy and they keep telling me to tell you not to worry about your grandmother. They’re taking care of her.”

  “Thank you.” The woman said the emotion evident in the cracking of her voice.

  “OK your grandmother has shown me that to confirm that it is really. She wants you to know your son is there with her. She says to tell you he’s OK and at peace too. She’s showing me a teddy bear. Does this have meaning for you?” Tina asked fighting back her own tears as the one woman sobbed uncontrollably. This was a part of the job that was hard. Sometimes the emotional toll was overwhelming.

  The hostess of the gathering had come and put her arms around the woman and answered for the weeping woman. “Her son was buried with his teddy bear.”

  “OK thank you. Again, this was just to confirm that your loved ones are present in the spirit world. Now your grandmother is fading she must be done talking. Who is connected to the older gentleman? Who somehow is connected to trains?”

  Tina looked around the room at the gathering of women waiting to see if anyone would acknowledge the spirit. As she waited the spirit grew increasingly frustrated, and this caused Tina discomfort emotionally.

  “Please, whoever is connected to this old guy speak up! He’s getting impatient!” She begged with a smile. Everyone giggled at the pained expression on her face. Finally, an older woman sitting in the back raised her hand sheepishly.

  “You lost someone who was connected to trains because he keeps showing me trains?”

  The older woman nodded silently. A younger woman next to her spoke up, sensing her mother’s discomfort. “That would be my dad and her husband.” The older woman seemed very relieved to not have to speak in front of such a large crowd.

  “Your dad was something else, wasn’t he?” She made her way back to the two women as she spoke.

  “He’s telling me to tell your mother how sorry he is for all the pain he caused her when he was alive, and I really don’t want to say anything bad but he’s very adamant I speak for him today, so if any of this is hurtful or painful I’m sorry Ok?”

  The two women both nodded their heads and Tina continued.

  “He’s telling me that he’s sorry for all the drinking. Does this mean something to you?” They both shook their heads yes, sadly. “He also says he’s sorry for how he treated you both, and for the things he said that hurt you. He’s telling me when he crossed over from this world to the next, he received a healing of his soul and the things he struggled with and carried inside for so many years. He received a miracle when he passed do you understand this?” The younger woman grabbed her mother’s hand as she nodded yes again.

  Tina turned her attention to the older woman. “He says to tell you that he loves you, that he’s always loved you, even when he drank. When he cheated, and when he would get angry.” Both women were sobbing now.

  Tina turned to the daughter. “He says to you, my beautiful daughter. I’m so sorry for making you feel so ugly and so worthless all those years. It really was never what he felt about you but it’s what came out through his own hurt, pain, and anger. He wants you to know how proud of you he is for the woman that you’ve become, and the life you’ve created for yourself and for your children. He also wants you to know he is with you and he is watching over his grandchildren, even though he never got to meet them in this world. He is aware of their existence.”

  Tina was crying openly now as she turned back to the older woman. “And he says to you, you were always his girl, and he has always loved you and he always will. He is sorry for the pain he caused you in this life, but he is looking forward to spending eternity making it up to you, and that he is waiting on you. He also said to take all the time you need since he’s not going anywhere.” She had to laugh as the tough old man came through so strongly. The old man faded and Tina moved on to the next spirit with a message.

  An hour later, Tina needed a break, several spirits had come through to her and many more were waiting. For whatever reason the energy in this group was just off the charts. She excused herself for a break and headed to the bathroom.

  As she made her way she saw the spirit of a little boy peeking out from under a table at her. She ignored it as now was not the time. When and if the time was right, it would come to her, but there was something about him that just didn’t sit right with her. Kinda creepy, she thought.

  She made her way into the stall and collapsed on the toilet. It felt good to sit down for a minute Her feet were killing her. One of Tina’s flaws, if you will, was that she was like any other woman willing to sacrifice comfort for the sake of fashion, and these new heels she’d bought to go along with her outfit were killing her.

  As she was finishing, she leaned her head on the side wall of the stall and closed her eyes to clear her mind for the next round of channeling. As she sat there she felt the air suddenly grow cold and could feel eyes on her. She opened her eyes to see the little boy peering at her from under the stall door.

  This was too much now. She mentally yelled at him to go away and leave her alone and the young face disappeared. She wearily got up and got herself together. She stopped at the sink to wash her hands, she wanted to wash her face but didn’t want to mess up her makeup. As she reac
hed for the paper towels, she felt something touch her. She turned back to the mirror and saw the little boy fading in the glass.

  Unnerved, but with more readings to do she put on her happy face and went back to the crowd. Another hour later she was done, had gotten paid, and was making her way home. It had been a good night with many people getting validating messages from their loved ones. Tina hoped that the messages would help the living and that the dead would find peace with their messages delivered. That was the best part of the job to her; helping others deal with the pain of loss in their lives.

  As she made her way home, she glanced at the rear-view mirror and the boy was there. She was starting to get a little irked about this creepy little specter. “What do you need from me?” She asked, hoping that she didn’t sound as pissed off as she felt.

  “Die…” A deep rumbling voice spoke in her ear.

  The little boy disappeared again. Tina had had enough. She was going to go home, cleans the house with sage, and take a nice hot bath. Sometimes being a psychic had its inherent dangers such as negative or evil spirits masquerading as something else to get close. In this case it was the form of a young boy. There was no rhyme or reason why they came seemingly came out of nowhere but angels both fallen and obedient were to have origins that started thousands of years before creation. The demonic angels’ only job was to sow confusion and pain into a person’s life and keep them from God. Tina had learned some hard lessons early on and sought others with the same gift and learned to protect herself when these spirits would manifest.

  As she pulled into the driveway, her irritation grew as the garage door failed to open. Angrily she stabbed at the openers’ button again before realizing that the power appeared to be off in the rest of the neighborhood too. She had been so preoccupied, she hadn’t noticed the streetlights and the lights of the neighboring houses were all off as well.

  She got out of the car and headed to the front door. She was still going to take that bath. Her water heater was gas so the power being out would not stop her. She made her way into the house, carrying those new heels in her hand as she had taken them off as soon as she had gotten to the car. She dropped her purse and coat off on the couch and made her way to her bedroom.

  She stripped out of her clothing, leaving it all in a heap on the floor. She’d clean it up later for now she had to take care of herself. She lay on the bed, enjoying the feeling of freedom from her clothing and the silkiness of the satin sheets on her skin.

  Her dirty secret, if you will, was that doing intense readings like tonight made her horny. She guessed it was just the emotionality of it all and that’s what made her so hot afterward. She spread her legs and started to rub with one hand while her other hand grabbed her breast as hard as she could. Sex bruises were good bruises even when it was from yourself, right?

  Her other dirty secret was she liked it rough. She wanted to be used and abused and she wanted the marks afterward to prove it. She squeezed her nipple as hard as she could, making her crotch grow even wetter than it already was. She brought the hand from her crotch up to her mouth licking her juices off her fingers, savoring the musky smell and taste. Rubbing wasn’t going to be enough tonight. She rolled over, reaching into her nightstand drawer pulling out a very large toy. She loved the heaviness of it, the enormous girth and the sensation of being stuffed beyond what should be her limits.

  She rubbed the monstrous toy against her wetness. She wanted to plunge it but she knew she couldn’t. It would be too much for her. She pushed it in firmly, keeping constant pressure. She could feel herself open up. She longed to feel the sensation of real skin, but most of the men she had tried to be in relationships with could or would not accept her gifts, so she did her best to stay content with being alone. It was tough, and the loneliness was gut wrenching.

  With steady pressure and growing excitement, Tina soon was in the throes of sexual release as she slammed the toy into the depths of her sex. She grunted as she punished her insides and made a mess of the sheets when she came. Her thighs were slick with her milky cream. One orgasm wasn’t going to be enough as she continued to work the huge toy.

  Twenty minutes later Tina was spent and made her way to the bathroom. The bed was a mess, and she’d be sleeping on a bath towel tonight but she didn’t mind, as it wouldn’t be the first or the last time that it would happen. She lit a couple of candles, their feeble flames giving off just enough light to see by. She started the water running and lit the small sage bundle she kept in the bathroom.

  She woke up shivering in cold water. She drained some of the water out and turned the hot on to warm the tub up. She just wasn’t ready to get out yet. Once the water was nice and warm again, she laid back and closed her eyes.

  She dreamed that some unseen man was rubbing her, she stirred and moaned under the caress. She could feel herself building up to a climax when suddenly strong fingers grabbed her by her hair and shoved her under the water. She struggled against the unseen force afraid that whatever it was would drown her. Just when she thought she could no longer hold her breath she was drug from the tub and tossed onto the hard-tiled floor. The joy of being able to once more breathe helped to alleviate the pain of the impact of the floor. As she lay there gasping and shivering; she could make out a blurry face looking down at her through her tears.

  “What do you want from me?” She screamed at the little boy from the restaurant. “Leave me the fuck alone you little bastard!” She yelled at him although there was no indication that he cared about her plight or demands.

  She struggled to her feet, slipping and catching herself on the wet tile. She stood before him hair wet and dripping and naked breasts heaving as she still worked to catch her breath from her near drowning.

  The little boy took a step closer and reached for her. She drew back but had nowhere to go. His cold hand grabbed her tit and squeezed it brutally. Normally she would have found the sensation pleasurable but not this time.

  “Who are you? What do you want from me?” She challenged, hoping that he would state his case and she could be done with him once and for all. The little creepy bastard remained silent. As they stood there staring at each other in what almost seemed like a showdown of sorts, she got an idea. She was pressed up against the vanity; on it were the candles and the sage bundle which strangely had done nothing so far to keep this demonic ghoul from harassing her perhaps it wasn’t big enough to put out enough of the sacred smoke to affect the spirit, either way it was worth a shot.

  She continued to speak to it, asking it what it needed, where it had come from, was it human? She knew that there was no earthly reason that this spirit had picked her that she would ever know and it would never tell her. If it were to answer her it would lie as their existence since the rebellion was rooted in lies. As she spoke she slid her hand over to the tray holding the sage bundle. She grabbed it and jabbed it into the face of the evil spirit that had tried to kill her. The child screamed and backed away. Tina closed in on it jabbing it with the smudge over and over again until she had it backed into a corner and trapped. She held the sage to its face and shouted at it to leave her alone over and over in her rage at what it had tried to do to her. Finally, it relented and left. She could sense that it had left for good and that it would not be back and that it wanted nothing to do with anyone that would stand up to it.

  She toweled off, cleaned the mess off the bathroom floor, and made her way back to her bedroom and her bed. She felt emotionally charged again and slid her hand down her belly…

  COUGAR

  1943 Auschwitz Concentration Camp

  The train belched smoke and steam as it made its way across the frozen countryside of Poland. Inside open-air cattle cars thousands of Jews, and gypsies huddled together in a desperate attempt to stay warm; already many had died standing as they were packed so tight no one could sit. The only positive was the dead helped to block the wind and the frigid wind kept the smell of piss and shit at bay as there were no toilets in the
rail cars only buckets that were overflowing.

  Twenty-year-old Anna Sala, her sister Margi and her baby Mari huddled in the middle of the car. They were fortunate as most of those who had died from exposure were on the outside edge of the car where the wooden slats did nothing to stop the bitter air from entering and doing its work.

  In the distance at the front of the train they could hear the horn blow signaling to the camp to open the gate; as they rounded the last curve before the final stretch to the camp they caught their first glimpse of their destination. “It was mean looking.” Anna thought to herself. She glanced at her sister who looked frantic as they approached the gates and the barbed wire fencing that encircled the camp. Neither were sure yet if the fence and gate were to keep people in our out but neither could dismiss the sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs.

  The train slowed but the hearts of those who had been forced at gunpoint onto the train began to beat faster. They had heard stories about these places but no one knew if the stories were true or not since no one had ever come back from a labor camp.

  The train came to a stop. Nazi soldiers screamed at them to disembark. The dead were tossed onto the wooden walkway and left there frozen in whatever position they had died. When the people stood still in fear, a guard fired into the air and the orders were barked once again. The prisoners shuffled forward off the train; the men forced to help the women, children, lame and old off the dirty cars. Nazi guards waded into the sea of scared, confused prisoners separating the men from the women, men would be sent to another section of the camp for slave labor.

  The Nazi soldiers separated the remaining women. Older women in one line, younger women in another, children in yet another and lastly women with children. Anna tried to stay with Margi but was roughly shoved into another line of other women. Nazi doctors came out bundled against the cold. With a brief nod to guards, they were ordered to strip down for an examination. When the first woman in line refused, she was slapped to the ground by a Nazi guard and the clothes ripped from her. She was then jerked to her feet by her hair and shoved back into line. The rest of the women silently complied tears flowed down their faces as the realization that the stories about the camp were true.