The Arcanum

Prologue:The mysterious cards

"Cam, are you there? Dad told me to tell you to pluck the weeds in our garden," I called, the sound of my voice echoing through the basement. Silence greeted me as I gingerly took a step inside. I brushed away feathery cobwebs clinging to the musty basement walls. A rat scuttled across the floor, giving an eerie feel to the basement.

As my feet threaded through the dank basement, an ancient wooden table tilted and a pack of weird-looking cards fluttered to the ground. The cards bore pictures of odd-looking people on it. There was a card where a man was with a dog and standing on the precipice of a cliff and another where a man was hanging upside down. Suppressing an involuntary shudder, my shaking fingers fumbled to pick up and place the cards back to their original position. A shiver travelled up my spine.

Distracting myself, I thought about what my foster mother would do if she knew I unsettled my grandmother's precious deck of Tarot cards. As my fingers brushed across an unusual card, sharp pain erupted in the tips of my fingers which had brushed the card. I inspected the unusual card closely. A dark knight rode on a dark steed, sword pointed toward the sky. After brushing dust off the card, the words printed on it were: The Death.

A bright electric blue light nearly blinded my eyes and joined together to form a complicated pentagram. Stomach knotting, I dared a peek at the bright light. A single row of 12 cards gathered in front of me.

"Thou art I,and I art thou".

Just then, I felt something shifting in me, like an awakening. The sensation was that of a prickling sensation. I trembled at the heady rush of adrenaline which filled me to the brim. Electric blue lines artistically drew itself around the length of my arms and legs. My skin tingled where the electric blue lines had touched. And just as easily it stopped.

"What the hell was that?" Muttered Cam who had just recently stood next to me. Cam's blonde locks of hair tickled my cheek when he leaned closer to me to get a clearer view of the cards. Cam was my foster brother. He had a slight wiry build but I know he's stronger than he looked. There was once when he single-handedly carried a sofa and television set into our house. He also has tousled blonde hair and attractive narrow cheeks. Post-puberty sees to it that his jaw became more angular and made him taller. He's older than me by a year so it makes sense that he would be more logical and responsible. He even has a bevy of girls following him around at school.

"I don't know," I replied hollowly. The whole scenario gave a dreamlike quality to what was happening. For some reason, I felt as if I had lost control over my movements, like an outsider peering through the glass.

"Karen? Your eyes are glowing like blue orbs!" my brother exclaimed, shocked. He touched my shoulder. Ignoring his touch, I reached out to a particular card which called out to me, begging to be picked.

As soon as my hand touched the card titled 'The Fool', a shining silver light streamed the room. A pendulum hung over the side of a table, blinking dimly.

"Karen,wait, don't touch that!" Cam warned. It was too late, for I had already gripped the crystalline substance. He snatched a handful of tarot cards before we were sucked into the shimmering silver whirlpool of light.