“And that is?”
“The key to this universe.”
“And if I stop my quest?”
“You will live out your life just like any other man.”
There’s a flickering within the crystal. The face winces, as if in pain, and then starts to fade.
“Wait, who are you really?”
Jeff looks into the tired old eyes that stare into his, and before they fade away into dissipating wisps of smoke he hears:
“The malfunction in the machine.”
Then there’s nothing, just the beam of light and the faces round the table.
“Fuck, that was a trip!” Sarah loved every moment.
“Was that a typical experience?” Jeff asks, because Marcus appears equally shaken.
“No.” Marcus shakes his head in disbelief. “Sarah, any ideas?”
“No.” She speaks quickly, excitably. “But we have to try again.”
“Eve?”
“It was surreal, but yeah, I’m up for it. If Jeff is?”
“It’s quite fascinating.” Jeff struggles to sound scientific, detached. “I would like to see more.”
They settle into silence. As Marcus tries to summon further spirits, Eve, stretching, feels a soft blow to her lower back. She passes this off as catching herself on the chair. She feels oddly tired; she can't keep back a yawn.
Marcus glances around the table and does a double take. Eve’s beautiful seductive eyes meet and hold his. She pouts her lips towards him, leaning forward to give Marcus a fuller, deeper glimpse of her firm, voluptuous breasts. Her eyes and her body hold up the promise of everything to him, but Marcus has seen this demonic and seductive look many times throughout his career
“Sarah, I think we have a problem.” Before Sarah can speak, a demonic, mocking voice erupts from Eve.
“You’d like to fuck me, wouldn’t you, Marcus?”
His lips say no without emitting a sound. All eyes around the table move to Eve.
“What’s wrong with you?” Jeff demands.
“Marcus wants to fuck me. He was looking at me whilst you weren’t watching.”
“Don’t listen to her.” Marcus is adamant. “She’s possessed!”
“Screw me, like he did her.” Eve spits in Jeff’s face. “In my mouth, cocksucker, I’d love it. No wonder she fucked him; he’s more of a man than you’ll ever be. Where’s your wife, fucker? Where are the children that you abandoned?”
Jeff’s speechless, frozen on the spot. Eve’s onslaught continues. Marcus looks to Sarah; there’s only one way to extinguish this fire. Sarah rushes to the light switch as Marcus cuts the laser beam. Eve instantaneously collapses. Jeff manages to catch her head moments before it hits the table.
“How is she?” Sarah rushes to her side.
“Eve.” Jeff gives her a gentle shake and she opens her eyes and smiles to him. “Are you alright?”
“Hmm... yeah, sorry what happened, did I fall asleep?”
“I wish.” Jeff’s relieved to have Eve back.
They take refuge in the living room. Sarah switches the fire on for ambiance, and fetches wine. Marcus ensures his guests are both okay. Sarah returns with large wine glasses and fills them up. Marcus stands to his feet. It falls on his shoulders to explain what just happened.
“Well you got your money’s worth this evening.” Marcus paces as he collects his thoughts; he’s trying to piece together what just happened. “On a positive note, it wasn’t a disaster, and we’ve given you evidence to corroborate the paranormal.” Pausing for thought he adds. “Far more than I’d anticipated.”
“It was undeniable.” Sarah loved every moment.
“Yes.” Marcus knows how Sarah feels, but what about Jeff? “I’m afraid it might have been too much for you both. How do you feel?”
“I’m not sure what to make of it all.” Jeff looks with concern to Eve. “What about you?”
“Confused. I had a, well, a dreamlike urge, I suppose. What happened to me?”
“I’m not sure.” Jeff looks to Marcus. “Can you explain?”
“Eve, did you feel anything touch you? A push or a shove at any point?”
“Yes. I felt a push in my back, but I thought I just caught myself on the chair.”
“It was a possession.”
“A possession?” Terror lights up her face.
“Yes, a negative non-physical life-form, one formed purely of energy, needs a physical body to manifest in to fully interact on the physical realm. This one chose you.”
“Will I be okay?”
“Yes, no lingering harmful effects, I assure you.” Marcus shakes his head. “Entities for some reason enjoy wicked and shameful acts.”
“Wicked and shameful acts?” Eve has hazy, unclear memories, and then a flashback of spitting in Jeff’s face. “Oh God, I said some awful things to you, didn’t I?”
“Don’t worry honey, it’s fine.”
“A possession always tends to cause trouble.” Marcus is feeling uncomfortable, and Sarah is finding Marcus’s squirming amusing. “Have we made a believer out of you, Jeff?”
“I’m in-between. I either witnessed a possession and a form of energy not yet understood by the scientific community, or.”
“Or?”
“Or it was nothing more than mind over matter.” Everyone looks at Jeff in disbelief. “Hear me out. Thoughts are electrical impulses that can be measured and as such they are nothing more than energy. The rules of quantum physics also applies to our thoughts; our environment influences us, and our entanglement with our environment can also influence our surroundings. Our minds are able to send and receive into the quantum soup that creates reality.”
“So your hypothesis is that our minds are powerful enough to have manipulated matter this evening?”
“I wouldn’t discount it. What did I learn? Nothing. I may have been simply projecting my own fears about age and death onto reality.”
“Well, even if that’s what happened, you gave yourself a warning.”
“Yes, but how vague was it? Who here honestly believes that my journey ends with me holding the key to the universe in my hands?”
“It may have been a metaphor.”
“For?”
“I don’t know.” Marcus is astounded that Jeff doesn’t believe his own eyes. “Whether it was the spirit world, or mind entering into matter, it happened. Tomorrow I will show you that time stands still; that time itself is simply an illusion of the mind.”
The rest of the evening is spent in wide ranging conversation. One topic stays firmly out of the discussion until Jeff and Eve are alone in bed.
“Eve.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you mean any of those things you said?”
“What did I say?”
“That Marcus was more of a man than I was.”
“Oh God, no Jeff. I don’t fancy Marcus! That wasn’t me talking; you have to believe me.”
“But if you weren’t possessed, that was your subconscious, your real thoughts coming through.”
“Jeff, I was possessed. I love you! I don’t find Marcus in the least bit attractive. Please, you have to trust me; without trust what do we have?”
“Nothing.” Jeff can see by the way Eve pleads she means every word.
“I love you.” With a gentle kiss, Eve slowly nibbles Jeff’s neck, then his chest. As he relaxes, he feels her tongue slide slowly down his torso.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
It’s morning, and the light casts out the shadows of the night, yet they still linger. Jeff’s unsure which is worse: witnessing demonic possession or the darkness that permeates his own soul. Eve’s flawless body snuggles up to him; her braids wind like snakes over the pillow and bed sheets. She doesn’t see or feel his longing stare into her beauty, his basking in the scent of their love. Eve’s unaware of the control she has over him; trust for Jeff is hard in someone he loves so dearly, for fear of it being unrequited. He couldn’t do any of this without her
by his side, and certainly wouldn’t have contacted Marcus without a push.
Two hours later breakfast is served. Marcus remains tight lipped about his plans for the day.
“It’s a surprise.” He simply can’t help himself. He loves keeping his guests in suspense.
“Oh, Marcus, just let them know.” Sarah rolls her eyes in despair.
“It’s not every day you get to do this, and the suspense is part of the journey. I can tell you that you’re going on a field trip that will take us well into the evening, and the rest of the night.”
“The night?” Eve looks to Sarah. “Are we going on a ghost hunt?” Sarah’s raised eyebrows, smile, and that all important glint in her eye gives the game away.
“Sorry, I’m sworn to secrecy; however, I can lighten the downtime. Who wants a tarot reading?”
“Oh, I do.” Eve’s excitement lights up the room.
“What about you Jeff?”
“Hmm.” He smiles to himself; he didn’t expect to be so enthusiastic. “Why not?”
“Who’s going first?”
“Me.” Eve realizes that came out without even thinking, and turns to Jeff. “Sorry, do you want to go first?”
“No, don’t be silly, go on, enjoy yourself.”
“Thanks.”
“Shall we leave the boys to it then?”
“Is it safe to leave them on their own?” She couldn’t resist, and Sarah instantly plays along.
“Now you come to mention it...”
“Go on, be off with you.” Marcus reacts before Jeff even gets a word out.
The girls enjoy teasing the boys. Eve can hear both men laughing as they walk out, and has a feeling the laughter was at their expense.
The delicacy and classical refinement of the house is exquisite. Palladian windows frame the view across a well-groomed lawn. A marble fireplace features a dried rose relief carving atop the pilasters, and the large gilded mirror silently reflects reality back onto itself. A floral print sofa with matching love seat has seen little if any wear, and the house feels relaxed and quiet here. Eve has the feeling that this room prefers its own company, and follows Sarah towards another door.
“Welcome to my room.” Sarah is proud to be welcoming Eve into her own space.
Delicate plaster cherubs look curiously down as they walk in.
“This is a nice room.”
A vibrant and freshly cut bouquet of flowers welcomes them, and fills the air with the fragrance that has the warmth of a smile. More of Sarah’s paintings are hung on the wall, and one certainly catches Eve’s eye. Sarah’s reclined on a bed, a red blanket beneath her, contrasting against her naked flesh. Her left leg is drawn up, there’s a book placed on the pillow, and she looks back out of the canvas directly towards the spectator. Eve’s eye follows from her head, down her spine and to one delightfully perfect ass.
“What a beautiful painting.” Eve frowns in thought. ”But how did you manage to paint yourself?”
“Marcus took a photograph, then I enlarged it, and took it from there.”
“Ah I see. Marcus is a lucky man.” Eve feels comfortable complimenting Sarah.
“Thanks, he’d better believe it.” Sarah is flattered, yet her playful tone hints at her control over Marcus.
“How did you meet?”
“I was waitressing at a club. He was trying to pass himself off as French, with a bad accent; wasted but cute.”
“Guys.” Eve’s heard it all before.
“What about you and Jeff?”
“He was my lecturer at university.” Eve knows just what Sarah is about to say.
“That sounds interesting.” She just can’t help herself. “Part of the course?”
“Behave.” Eve can’t stop the grin erupting on her face, and they both laugh.
A photograph in a gold frame catches Eve’s eye. She recognizes that the smiling teenager is Sarah, and she’s snuggling up close to a friend. This is a look Eve knows well as do all women, a memorial to youth, sisterhood, friendship and love.
“Your sister?”
“No, but we were often mistaken for sisters.”
“Were?”
“She’s incarcerated now.”
“Oh God no.” She feels awful for asking.
“It’s okay.” Sarah sighs through sadness. “Seduced by the street scene. She was lonely and fell in with the wrong crowd. They gave her acceptance and family; they also gave her a life sentence for murder.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For her victim or her? She made her choice. Once you’re in it’s hard to walk away. I walked and she turned her back on me.”
“Why do you keep the photo up?” Eve’s curious from a psychological perspective.
“A reminder to be thankful for what I have and for what I could lose.”
“Ah.” That now makes sense for Eve. “Have you seen her since?”
“No. She made her choice. Now she has to face her demons alone. You’re a criminal psychiatrist; you know all about their voices.”
“Yes, they all have delusions to some degree.”
“They’re not delusions. Where you see schizophrenia, we see evil. We all have a dark side; I’ve walked the line and I know which side I’m on.” There’s a pause in the conversation and Sarah snaps them straight out of it. “Well, sit down and let’s see what fate has in store for you.”
A table by the window is covered by a black cloth. Eve pulls out a chair and takes a seat. She looks out over green foliage and across the garden. It’s simply breath-taking, full of contemporary statues, trees, plants and topiary shaped into balls, cones and cubes.
“You have a lovely garden.”
“You want to see the gardener.”
“Oh.”
Sarah bursts into laughter. “I’m only teasing.”
Sarah walks over to the dresser, smiling at her own humor. She returns, placing a small black silk-wrapped parcel onto the table. She pulls the cord that forms the bow, then carefully unwraps the cards.
“The tarot tunes into your energy, and creates a snapshot of your life.”
“So there’s no contact with the spirits?”
“None. You deal the cards, not the spirits. It doesn’t work like the Ouija, it can’t give you names, dates or places, but it can give you sequences that once recognized are a guide. Only you can take the necessary steps, if any are required.”
“How old’s the tradition?”
“It’s been traced back to Egypt.” Sarah hands Eve the cards. “Spend a few minutes with them, hold, shuffle and place them on the table. Ask questions and think positive thoughts. Let me know when you’re done, I’ll be through here.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Eve looks down at the cards in her hand. They are comfortably worn and old; without the musty smell one would associate with age. The renaissance lies between her fingertips; medieval color and symbolism, the magician, judgment, the fool and death. What questions should she ask? Or should she leave it to fate to reveal her destiny? A few minutes has passed and she has no direct question; it feels childlike to ask one. She decides to call Sarah back in, after all, as the saying goes, it’s not the drinking but the company that matters.
“All done?” Sarah’s excited, she wants to read Eve’s cards.
“I think so.”
“Lay them face down, and choose twenty one cards.” Sarah adds a flavor of theatrical mysticism. “I will foretell your past, present and your future.”
In the lounge Marcus is trying his best to bond with Jeff.
“How did you meet Eve?”
“Classic university scenario. Student and lecturer fall in love, lecturer is married and the rest is history.”
“You seem well matched.”
“I wouldn’t be without her.” Jeff looks to Marcus, his thumb and finger momentarily rub together as he reflects the past. “But I have to tell you that there’s a price to pay for happiness.”
“There’s a price to pay for ever
ything, even freedom.”
“I know, but no matter how I justify myself, I still don’t have complete peace of mind.”
“I don’t follow?”
“My daughters have suffered for my actions.” Jeff understands that without children, Marcus has no paternal instinct. “I could no longer live a lie. The marriage was irreconcilable.”
“Far worse has been done in the name of decency and democracy. You know the saying, all’s fair in love and war. What does Eve think?”
“I haven’t mentioned it to her.”
“Why not?” Marcus frowns at Jeff keeping secrets from Eve.
“She might connect any regret to my ex-wife.”
“Good point.” His fingers click as he points to Jeff. “Do you still care for her?”
“Hell no, she’s a bitch.” The thought sends a shudder down his back.
“They always are.” Marcus grins at Jeff’s face of horror.
“How did you meet Sarah?”
“I found her working at a club. I simply turned on the charm and she couldn’t resist. She even thought I was French.”
“You old devil.”
“Worked like a charm.”
For Jeff it feels that only five minutes has passed before Eve walks back into the room.
“Your turn.”
“How did it go?”
“It went well.” Eve holds a smile on her face. “Walk through the next room to the door opposite, you can’t miss it.”
“Okay.”
Jeff stands with his own smile of anticipation as he walks out of the room. Leaving Eve with Marcus agitates him slightly.
“So how was the reading?” Marcus is intrigued; Sarah’s never wrong. Eve’s smile drops.
“She told me that if Jeff doesn’t change his fate; he will become the hanged man.”
Jeff can see that the door is open, and Sarah offers a welcoming smile.
“Come in Jeff. I don’t bite.”
“Thanks.” Jeff flustered; Sarah picks up on this.
“Make yourself comfortable.”
Of That Day and Hour: A psychological thriller Page 16