Hex

* E I G H T *

©  Amber Kalkes 2015

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"White Room" By Cream

*E I G H T *

Sitting at the kitchen table I keep glancing up at the golden clock on the mantel feeling my stomach drop with every chime of the clock. Four hours, Brandon has been gone four hours and now I’m really starting to worry. Maybe he really did decide to leave and go back to his pack. My heart pinches at the idea but I push that aside and decide to just continue to arrange my cards.

When I hear the cabin door crack open I don’t turn, I don’t need to, to know that it’s him. Internally I relax but outwardly I try to keep my composer. I have a plan and I have to stick with it if I’m going to get him to take the cleanse. The hairs on my arms stand at attention as he moves deeper into the cabin. His hard breathing, the crackling fire and the ticking of the clock are the only sounds in the silence of the cabin as he approaches.

“I see your back from your trip.” I observe casually.

There’s a hesitance in step before he clears his throat. “Yeah.”

“How was it?”

“Fine.” He answers but it almost comes out as a question.

I nod while I laying out my cards in the perfect arrangement. “That’s good.”

“Look, Ruth—“

“Do you know what these are Brandon?” I ask, cutting him off.

Out of the corner of my eye I see him shrug while scratching the back of his head. “Cards.”

“Yes but their not just regular playing cards, at least not in my hands they aren’t. These cards can tell a person their future, their past and even their present.”

He comes around the table until he’s standing before me. I slowly lift my eyes from the grooves in the wooden table to him. It doesn’t take long for me to realize he’s just in jeans and…well that’s it actually. He has a sheen of sweat covering his skin while his dark hair is damp while sticking up in all directions. Luckily he’s not even looking at me, his eyes are on the cards sitting in front of me with a brow arches above his left one.

“Tarot cards?” Brandon snorts. “Aren’t those just gimmick for old gypsy women in shops?”

I raise a brow, “How closed minded of you. Sit.”

He continues to frown at me like I’ve lost my mind. Hell, maybe I have.

“Brandon.” I sigh nodding my head towards the chair as I collect the cards again and begin to shuffle them in my hands. “Sit.”

“So what?” He asks, trying to hide his nerves as he slides into the chair across from me. “You going to tell me my future?”

“Maybe later. Right now I’m going to see what you want in the present.”

He looks surprised before nibbling on his lower lip. “Can’t you just ask me?”

“I could…but this is way more fun.” I smirk.

“So what do I do?”

Taking the cards in my hands I lay them out straight before me in one sweeping motion. Brandon’s eyes watch them as they spread out looking almost mesmerized by the design on them. The cards are black with ornate golden swirls with a looping trinity symbol on the back, a gift from Nadine when I showed promise in divination.