The Darkness Within

by Alice J Black

  “You’re right about that.” I nodded, making to stand. “But are you sure you don’t mind?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “You’re my friend. And besides, someone needs to make sure you won’t get run over on the way there,” she added as she made her way through to the kitchen. I was about to reply when I shut my mouth. My friend was probably right and I wasn’t in any fit state to argue. I needed her right now and I wasn’t afraid to admit it.

  I heard the tap go on and then the mugs were set down in the sink. I grabbed my bag and stood up, straightening my top out. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror hanging above the ornate fireplace. My hair was beginning to grow out—it was past my shoulders now—and thicker than it had ever been. My blue eyes were dark and my cheeks were beginning to fill out. I looked healthier than I had in a long time. I smiled. Yes there were plenty of prices I was paying for giving up the drink but this was one of the perks.

  “Are you going to stop staring at yourself?” Olivia’s reflection appeared beside mine. Her petite frame was perfectly toned, her short hair was cut and styled like a pixie and her blue eyes boring into mine from behind her glasses. “And you say I’m the arrogant one.”

  With a sigh, I turned to follow her from the house. “You know that your tongue is like a vicious snake at times.”

  She shrugged as she locked the door. “If you don’t like it then you can lump it.”

  “Hey I’m not saying that.” I shook my head. “But maybe if you lighten up a little you might catch some snatch.” I winked.

  Her jaw dropped and she froze mid-turn to stare at me. “Where the hell did you pick that up? And what makes you think that my sexual preferences indicate that I like the same gender?”

  “Well considering how old we are and the fact that I’ve never seen you in a serious relationship.” I shrugged. “But don’t worry, I’m not one to judge.”

  “For starters, I am heterosexual. I like men. And secondly, I’m not about to hop into bed with any old man just for your sake.”

  “But seriously, Olive,” I taunted, using her nickname and watching her grimace. “You’ve only ever dated and that was only once or twice.”

  She shrugged. “I’ve just never found the right guy yet.”

  “And you won’t find him hanging out with me either.” I sighed. “I’m taking up all of your time.” I kicked the ground as we made our way onto the street but stopped as I felt her hand grip my arm.

  “Don’t put this on you,” she told me, her voice stern. “I don’t have a boyfriend because I don’t want one right now. I have more important things to worry about.”

  “You shouldn’t have to worry about me.” I shook my head. “I’m a burden more than I’m a friend.”

  “Who else will stay up late and watch mundane late TV with me while munching through an entire feast fit for a king?”

  “And put up with your witty banter?” I grinned.

  “Exactly. Now pull yourself out of the pity party you’re about to throw. We’ve got work to do.”

  I looked at my best friend, about the way her hands were splayed on her hips and the serious expression on her face and I knew she meant it. Olivia was my best friend and she was right, if she didn’t want to hang out with me she wouldn’t. She was loyal to a tee but wasn’t afraid to be brutally honest. I’d had plenty of backlash from her razor sharp tongue in my past and yes it could hurt but I always appreciated it.

  “Okay. Let’s go.” I nodded and we set off down the street towards the psychic.

  Sylvia’s office was as dim as it had been the last time I entered. My stomach curdled and my heart harried my chest as I made my way up the steps following Olivia’s lead, my eyes on her arse.

  “What am I even going to say?” I hissed as we clomped up the steps.

  “The truth,” Olivia answered without even turning back. I swallowed hard. We were almost there. She disappeared through the beaded curtain to the right of the stairs and I followed suit, the lengths of plastic beading coming down on my shoulders. I pushed them aside with both arms and stepped into the dim room. The familiar smell of sandalwood enveloped me and I inhaled deeply, letting it invade my senses. My heart began to slow and my stomach unclench. I wondered whether that was the incense or something else at work. I didn’t care much as long as I wasn’t on edge anymore.

  “I knew you would return.” The voice preceded the woman and the last conversation we had ran through my mind at a rate of knots like it was just yesterday. Stepping through the curtained doorway at the other side of the room, Sylvia slid into the space like a gazelle. Her hair was held back by a purple bandana and I caught glimpses of dark grey beneath, the rest of it hanging behind her shoulders. She wore a long purple dress which stopped at her ankle and swayed with every movement. “Would you like to sit?”

  I nodded and automatically moved to the corner of the room. Behind me, I sensed Olivia following and we both took a seat on the worn sofa, her small frame close beside mine as I took another deep breath of the sandalwood.

  “How can I help? I wonder if you have made your decision?” she asked. There was no trace of judgement on her face. The wrinkles that wound from the corner of her eyes gave her the appearance of wisdom rather than age and her eyes were still keen.

  “That’s not why I’m here.” I shook my head. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t thought on it anymore since that day of our first meeting. I was too preoccupied with trying to stay sober, keep my friendships well balanced and now, save Adele from the darkness in her home.

  “What can I help you with?” She leaned forward, hands clasped together gently where they lay on the table.

  “My friend has a problem and I don’t know how I can help.”

  Sylvia’s eyes shot to Olivia. “It’s not me,” she spoke, her voice quiet.

  “Then who?”

  “A friend of mine I attend meetings with. She has looked after me well and I think… well, I sort of think this problem is my fault.”

  Sylvia frowned, leaned further forward but sat perfectly still, waiting for me to continue.

  “The last time I was here I told you that I see and sense spirits. Well, it’s not something I’ve announced publicly in the meetings because although we’re supposed to come clean about our addiction, I feel there are still some who would probably worry about my sanity.”

  Sylvia nodded and if she thought anything of the secret I had just revealed, she didn’t show it. “Yes, many out there would seek to cast judgement whether it is expected or not. I feel you have done the right thing in this instance.”

  I felt a relief flow through me at hearing those words and hadn’t realised I was seeking reassurance. “So instead, I went to my friend’s home where I told her the full truth about why I started drinking. The thing is, I felt something in that house, something dark, and she later revealed it as a consequence of a Ouija board. I don’t think she felt anything up until that point because she didn’t mention it once. If it wasn’t for my admission and questions, she still wouldn’t have.”

  “But she does now?” Sylvia’s brow raised and frown lines rippled down her face like a tidal wave.

  I nodded. “She does now. I think my being there—even talking about it—has alerted them to my presence and now she’s being plagued.”

  “So you want to know how you can help her?”

  I nodded, now my turn to lean forward. “I’ll do anything.”

  “All you should need is a cleanse.”

  “A cleanse. That sounds simple.”

  “A cleanse is the first step in attempting to clear a home,” she explained.

  “And how would I go about it?”

  “The process is fairly simple. It involves first a deep clean and the ridding of unnecessary things then you must use salt water to purify the whole house while burning incense in every room.”

  “That doesn’t sound too complicated.” I glanced at Olivia who looked at me with a turned down mouth.

  �
��While using the water, you must recite the names of people who will need complete access to the house at all times. Take particular notice of thresholds—particularly the doors that allow entry into the house.”

  “And that’s it?” I asked. It seemed almost too simple to be true but I was ready and eager and almost rubbing my hands together.

  “That is a cleansing.” She nodded. Then her face darkened slightly as she leaned forward, her dark eyes pinning me to the stop. “However, there is no guarantee that it will clear the house.”

  “It’s not?” I asked, wrinkling my nose. “But you just said it would.”

  Sylvia shook her head. “No. The cleansing is meant to be a simple exercise to get rid of unwanted spirits. However, if there are darker spirits in the house then there may be more steps needed.”

  “Okay.” I nodded with a deep sigh. I knew it had seemed too good to be true. Now that I knew the process of a cleansing was that simple, I was a happy woman. All I had to do was ignore the fact that it might not work and that it could just be the first step in a long process. It didn’t matter. I was doing this for Adele and whatever I could do to rid that house of whatever I had woken with my presence, I would do it. “I’ll do it,” I announced, my palm slapping the table in front of me. Sylvia didn’t flinch at the sound or my imminent step to my feet and simply sat at her chair and looked up at me from beneath her dark lashes.

  “Do I take it you have decided to keep the gift?” The hint of a smile crossed her lips as she watched me, unblinking.

  I smarted at that. She thought I had gone to tell her I was getting rid of my ability. At least not yet I wasn’t. I needed it to help Adele but beyond that, I didn’t know. “I haven’t decided yet.”

  The smile remained on her face, her mouth crinkling at the corners like she knew something I didn’t. She held my gaze for just a beat too long before I forced myself to turn away. “Are you ready, Olivia?” I asked, urging my friend to stand up with only the power of my eyes.

  “Yeah.” It seemed to work as she shot to her feet, pulling her handbag onto her shoulder and giving me a nod.

  Resisting the urge to turn around again and look at Sylvia one last time, I made my way from the room but I felt her eyes boring into me right until the beads of the curtain fell shut behind me.

  “What was all that about?” Olivia asked as the door closed with a gentle pull behind me.

  I shook my head and glanced at my friend. She looked just as confused as I felt. “No idea. It was like she was expecting something.”

  “She expected you to want to get rid of the gift.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “Maybe. But if I haven’t decided yet how can I tell her?” I shrugged. “Besides, it looks like I’m going to need it for a little while yet.”

  “So is it time to ring Adele yet?”

  I glanced at my phone. “Yeah. She’ll be out of work now.” I nodded and dialled her number, waiting for her to pick up as we began to pick our way through the rush hour crowd towards home.

  “Okay, so remind me again what we’re doing,” Adele asked us as she opened the front door. For a moment I hesitated as a searing pain cut through my mind. It railroaded everything else and I grimaced as I gripped my head. It faded a few moments later but I knew that I wasn’t wanted there. All I wanted to do was turn around and run. I took a deep breath and swallowed the fear converging in my throat and looked down at my friend.

  “We’re doing a cleansing.”

  “Okay.” She nodded and stood aside, giving both me and Olivia entry into her home.

  “It’s nice to meet you again,” Adele greeted Olivia with a smile that told me she was scared.

  “You too.” Olivia nodded. “Maybe next time can be in nicer circumstances.”

  “I suppose at least it’s not outside of a meeting like last time.”

  Congregating in the front room, I dumped the stuff I had brought on the coffee table and stood with my hands on my hips. “Adele, have you started purging?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. But there’s just so much I don’t think I can throw.”

  “That’s okay.” I shook my head. “You don’t have to get rid of everything. It’s just about the excess. You continue doing that and Olivia and me will start cleaning.”

  “Where is the kitchen?” Olivia asked.

  Adele pointed and seconds later, Olivia was rushing past us both.

  “Now go on and keep purging and I’ll help Olivia.”

  She nodded and made her way upstairs, to the bedroom I presume, as I went to join Olivia in the kitchen. She had found the sink and all of the cleaning products and was busy pulling them out, stacking them on the bench.

  She glanced up at me from her perch on the floor. Then pulling the last of the bleach from the cupboard, she stood up and I heard her knees click.

  “You’re sure you’re up to the task? Your old maid knees are clicking all over the place.”

  “I’ll be just fine.” She scowled. “Now come on.”

  Pulling my hair into a messy bun on the top of my head, I rolled up my sleeves and we set to work. The two of us worked together to blitz every room of the house, dusting, polishing, scrubbing and mopping. We left nothing unturned and that went for the two bedrooms upstairs belonging to the boys in which we found some strictly unmentionable things that I disposed of before Adele got a chance to see. Having kids was gross but having boys was worse.

  After a solid few hours, we met back in the living room, each one of us red-faced and panting. My bun had come loose and strands of my hair hung all over the place. Adele’s hair was pulled back as tight as she could and the rose colour on her cheeks was like a spider web of veins.

  “So that’s the first part done,” I told them both, pulling off my gloves and dumping them on the table.

  “What’s next?” Adele asked.

  “Incense and salt water.”

  Her frown said it all. But that didn’t matter. She didn’t need to understand what we were doing, she just had to go along with it.

  “Adele, will you fill a few bowls up and bring your salt please?”

  “Okay.” She nodded, scurrying towards the kitchen.

  “Olivia—”

  “I’ll do the incense,” she droned before I had a chance to ask and rummaged in the bag on the table, coming up with several palettes, a whole lot of different coloured sticks and a box of matches. “I’ll start upstairs.” And she disappeared through the door. I heard her small feet making their way up the stairs and then I lost track of her but every now and then a creak on the ceiling told me where she was.

  I waited there in the living room, admiring the space we had just scrubbed and holding everything crossed that this would work. Somehow I didn’t think it would. The mounting energy of the darkness began to wear on me. I had already spent a long time in the house and while I was cleaning I managed to stay busy and keep it at bay but it was back now and threatening to tear me down. We had to do this quickly.

  A few minutes later, we were all together for the third time in that day. The sun was beginning to set and the day was drawing to an end, as was the ritual.

  “Are you ready?” I asked Adele, taking a bowl of water from her.

  She nodded and sucked in a deep breath. I could see how haggard she was, the lines around her eyes deeper than I had seen and her hair looked like the colour was fading, the shine of the red not so bright. This had to work.

  Setting the bowl on the table, I added a generous amount of salt, chanting the words softly at the same time, “May the blending elements of pure salt preserve the sanctity and the water cleanse the home.”

  Dipping my fingers into the luke-warm water, I began. We moved from room to room as a unit, while I sprinkled the water on the windows and doors. The process was quicker than I imagined. Sylvia had said to take special note of the thresholds so that’s what I did. Laying one bowl by the back door, I repeated the names of Adele, Peter and John and repeated the process for the front door, leaving
a bowl of water there.

  Standing up, I dusted my hands together and took a deep breath. The air felt cleaner, natural, and the weight that had been pressing on me seemed to have dissipated. Whether that was an effect of the cleansing or something else I couldn’t say, but I was hoping that it meant our ritual had worked.

  “Peyton?” Adele’s voice brought me back to reality.

  My eyes flicked open and Adele came into view, her worried face staring at me like she depended on me so much. Behind her Olivia stood, almost as apprehensive. “I think it has worked,” I told them both with a nod.

  I watched as Adele visibly sagged, her shoulders dropped and the smile blossoming on her face as genuine as the first time I saw her. She was relieved. Even Olivia allowed herself a small victory smile as she caught my eye.

  “Thank you,” Adele gushed. “Both of you. I don’t know how I can thank you enough.”

  I waved my hand. “It’s nothing. I caused this and I wanted to help.”

  “But you didn’t have to and I’m so grateful.”

  “Just make sure you leave the bowls at the door and if there is anyone you want to let pass on a regular basis, make sure you name them.”

  She nodded. I turned to Olivia. “Are you ready to head home?”

  She nodded and I saw the exhaustion on her face. The woman had worked hard for me tonight and I owed her big time. I would figure something out, eventually.

  We gathered our belongings, said a final goodbye and then we made our way out into the night and along the road home.

  Reaching the street where Olivia and I would part ways, I paused under the streetlight. “Thank you,” I told her. “I couldn’t have done it without your help.”

  Sighing, she answered, “You’re welcome.”

  “What was that?” I grinned. It was the first time in a long time I’d heard an apology from the woman.

  “Nothing. Night.” She turned and strode into the darkness.

  “Text when you’re home!” I yelled after her, smiling and turning, heading to my own home. I made my way along the row of terraced houses. The streetlights were spaced far enough along that light filtered the entire length of the small pathway that both sets of houses looked onto and I caught a glimpse of a cat in the darkness, slinking along a fence. Maybe I should get a cat. I was missing a home companion.