Dark Visions

13: Double the Darkness

I thought about his explanation and couldn't argue against it, knowing all the crazy and unexplainable happenings we've experienced so far. Hell, at this point anything was possible. "While practicing tarot and studying it's symbolism, I've come to learn the representation of a lone wolf in the wilderness. It symbolizes freedom. When this animal is in a pack, it represents community. Is that why we're here?"

He nodded. "Like you said earlier, we are like the fingers of a hand. In order to function properly we have to work together."

Too bad my friends no longer wanted to work with me. But if Fate brought us here, there was purpose behind that action. And I intended to find what that purpose is. Like the Justice card representing balance, stability, and karma, both sides must be even and center in order to achieve something solid. Yin and yang, cause and effect, balance.

Were the experiences during our excursion through the cave meant to teach us how to find our freedom and release the things that were stunting our growth?

"I've learned so much being trapped here." I gulped at the realization. "Jace taught me about forgiveness, Samuel about acceptance, Arturo about communication, Cecil about community, and you..." I swallowed the lump in my throat as I stepped closer, lifting my chin to stare directly into his eyes. "You taught me about letting go, releasing, leaving behind what no longer serves me. And that's why we're here. That's our purpose, isn't it? To learn, to grow, to end a fruitless cycle instead of allowing it to go on and on with no advancement."

It was odd, but the more I thought about my own past the more blurred the details became, like waking from a weird dream.

Finally, a flash of bright teeth peeked through Blamore's nervous grin. "We stay alert and we'll get out of this place. Together."

"Exactly." For all the things I didn't know or understand about our experience I was fully prepared to put all my trust into Blamore. "The more I get to know you, the less strange this all seems to me. It's like the further we go into the cave, the closer we become."

"True." He nodded. "The deeper into the cave we go, the more we become our true selves," he said with certainty. "And to think, we formed a trust through action and very little verbal communication."

The more I thought about it the more it made sense. "You're speaking has become a lot clearer and your appearance has . . . changed."

He stared, letting his eyes linger on mine a beat too long. "Yours too."

"How so?" I lifted my hands to examine them, regretting that I left a mirror behind in my backpack.

"You're even more ... beautiful." As the word left his lips, he sheepishly turned his gaze away.

I smiled for the first time since entering the cave and it felt good. "Thank you." I could tell he fought embarrassment, and the urge to do something to lighten the mood and change the subject overcame me. "What kind of name is Blamore, anyway?"

"A name I chose that fits who I am." He kept his face down. "Theodore was never who I was. That's just a name I was given. Like this life." He peeked through his thick eyelashes. "What kind of name is Maxine?"

I chuckled. "Well, it is the name I was given."

"You can shed it, you know?" His shyness reminded me of an innocent child. "Leave it behind with all the other things we didn't choose."

"Yeah, but, I kinda like it."

"Me too."

We laughed, feeling a brief bit of respite and relief.

While basking in the warm light of the sun, the odd shaped stone took my attention. "Doesn't that stone seem out of place to you?"

"Hmm." Blamore glanced at the protruding rock.