tarot

1

Eugene sits down on his mother's sofa. He'd taken two days off of work for this so, God, he just hopes it's something important and worth the while. Waiting for his mother to come back with coffee, he plays with his cuticles.
She arrives eventually, not soon enough, though. Eugene's mind has already begun to race, filling every corner with possibilities of what this could possibly be about.
A mug full of black coffee is handed to him, exactly what he needs. Catching 5am flights are rough. Bringing the mug to his face, he sips it. Yet immediately regrets it as the liquid burns his mouth. He gives his mom an expecting look, the mere seconds of silence that they've sat in already driving him crazy.
"So you're probably wondering why I made you come here." His mother begins, Eugene nods his head in anxious agreement. "Well I have something to tell you, something... Big." She explains. The pauses she takes practically kills him. His heart is beating loudly against his ribcage. Situations like this are not Eugene's favorite, yet he happens to be strangely excited for what his mother has to say.
"What do you mean?" He asks, cluelessly. She looks at him with a look of uncertainty, her lips drawn into a slight frown.
"I've been meaning to tell you this forever now, Eugene. But," This drives him well over the edge of impatient annoyed-ness.
"Just tell me already!" He raises his voice and shifts in his seat. Eugene doesn't mean to yell, but the waiting has been far too much for him already. She's taken aback at his mannerism.
"Eugene, you're a witch." She says. Eugene's mouth hangs open, hardly believing the words coming out of his mother. This is some silly joke. Witches aren't real, they simply aren't, it's a bedtime story you tell kids to frighten them.
"It's been passed down for generations, I'm a witch. You may not know them yet, but you have great powers." She explains further, even more so entertaining the idea of some stupid prank.
But apparently, this isn't the case. No ounce of joking is put into the matter of discussion. On top of it, there's no chance she'd make him fly to Texas for some silly joke. Either way, her response shocks him.
"So you mean to tell me, I've had these powers my whole life?" He asks, baffled, slightly mocking the idea of powers in general.
"Yes," she pauses, having no patience for his attitude "although they may have never shown themselves. You may have powers such as telekinesis, divination, pyrokinesis, you really never know until you try." Eugene's mother says, he has a hard time following anything she's saying. None of the words rack his brain. He's going to need to google search some of this after they're done. "Oh, I almost forgot, you also have the ability to cast spells that will in fact work. These can range anywhere from a protective spell, to a truth spell, to even love spells. Really, the word is your oyster."
Eugene feels as if he could pass out, how did he not know about this? Why didn't his mother tell him sooner? The questions race around his head like cars on a speedway. He lets out an unsteady breath.
"Are you okay Eugene?" She questions, snapping him out of his thoughts. His head nods an unconvincing yes.
"Can you show me what you can do?" He asks. She pushes herself to a standing position without hesitation, indicating a yes.
"Okay so this is telekinesis, an easy one." She states. His mother closes her eyes, concentrating on what exactly, he doesn't know. Suddenly, a small figure from their entertainment stand levitates into mid air. Eugene simply can't believe what he's seeing as the figure passes by his face and into his mother's hand. He stares in shock at his mother's now proven powers.
"Now this is pyrokinesis." She says as her hands lift into the air. He isn't ready for another example, what just happened is well enough to leave him in a spiral for days, yet, she doesn't not hesitate.
He follows her eyes to the coffee table that sits in front of the pair. He notices a candle sitting on said table, which he's guessing she's going to demonstrate on. His suspicions are correct and he can't seem to believe his eyes as with a flick of his mother's hands, the candle is lit. Eugene is now sure he's dreaming.
"That's all I'll show you for now, I want to leave you to discover your powers on your own. I'll gift you some tools that will help you in your process." She says, he doesn't answer simply for the fact that words are unable to be formed.
His hands rub over his forehead, the feeling of his fingers over his temple makes him sure he's not dreaming. That thought in itself perplexing him beyond belief. His body is pushed to a standing position, the need to think in isolation weighing out any other concern he may have.
This is strange, this is really, really strange. He thinks to himself as he walks towards his room.
"It may be strange, but you'll get used to it." His mother calls from the living room where she stays standing. He shakes his head, she can read minds too?
Once in his room, Eugene throws himself onto his bed. Everything feels weird, like he is living in some fantasy dream world. Witches aren't real, witches aren't real. The same set of three words repeat in his head endlessly, but he knows deep down he's feeding himself lies. He engulfs his head with one of the many pillows that lay on the bed. Though Eugene isn't sure it's possible with the constant tugging of his mind, he finds himself drifting to sleep.

The constant tapping of his shoulder is what wakes him, he can tell his mother is standing above him. For a moment, it sends him back in time to when he was a small high schooler. Oblivious to the world, relying on his mother to wake him up every morning. It's too close to comfort.
"Eugene, wake up." His mother says in a stern voice. He lets out a sleep ridden groan and opens his eyes. Reluctantly, he pushes himself to a sitting position.
The first thing he notices is the pale grey light peaking through the blinds, it must be early, he thinks. He turns back to his mother, who stands with her hands laying on her hips.
"Why'd you wake me up so early?" He asks in a low voice.
"I have things to give you, then your flight, it's early." She explains, motioning for him to arise from the bed. He follows her insisting motions and even more so as she guides him from his old room.
The house is quiet and dark, too quiet, actually. Creaks caused by their feet on the the hardwood flooring echoes throughout the hallway. Eventually, the pair make their way to a room. It's a room Eugene has always been curious about, in the corner of the house that his mother's bedroom lays in, he was always told to stay out of it. He listened, in fear of the consequences if he happened to disobey.
He waits in suspense and his mother opens the door, inside it's dark, darker than the rest of the house. With a flick of the light he can suddenly see. A large table lies against a wall, on it sits candles upon candles, crystals, herbs, wands, containers of sorts. There's also a bookshelf, it sits tall and intimidating on the opposite side of the room, lined with old black books. Some of them with English wording on the spine, some in languages he couldn't make out.
"This is all probably overwhelming, but I'm going to give you some things. It will help you." She says, breaking the silence between them.
He follows her over to the aforementioned table. She suddenly begins picking things out, a tub of herbs, a few crystals, a wand. Her attention is now focused on the bookshelf, she walks over to it with intention, picking out a dark grey book with cursive silver lettering.
Upon further observation, the spine of the book's text is in a foreign language, and the cover of the book is illustrated with a matching silver pentagram. Eugene is slightly startled when he first lays eyes on it, only ever knowing the mark to be one of evil.
"A book of spells, it's transcribed so you can read. It will explain everything, you can call if you're confused." She explains.
Eugene's hands are now filled with items that he has no idea what he's meant to do with. The situation in general perplexes him, while he's gotten slightly more comfortable with the idea of him being a witch, the general practice and everything that has to do with it is completely foreign to him.
His mother and him leave the room, the sun has come up slightly more now, leaving an anxious realization that he now has to somehow catch a flight. Sporadically, he packs everything up in his duffle bag, including the tools his mother had given him.
It's not long before he bids her goodbye, giving her a weary yet loving look before walking through the door. He gets in his Uber, a strange feeling that he can't quite put his finger on enters him. Instinctively, he decides to drown it out with the sound of loud music through his earbuds, not a bad decision.
The Uber drive to the airport is quick and easy for Eugene. He seems to feel as if he has a new perspective on life now, curious to see how that will change even further when he discovers his true powers. He bids the driver a thank you and pays him and makes his way inside the gargantuous building.
Getting through security is significantly less simple than the Uber ride was. Explaining to the worker that no, that is not marijuana, it is simply herbs. Either way, after time of convincing, he gets through with little to none added inconveniences.
Soon, he's on the giant, crowded plane. The position of looking out of the window into the never ending stretch of blue skies and clouds is not something Eugene is unfamiliar with. He's rather excited to get home. Excited to see what he can make of his gift, and boy oh boy, does he have a plan.