"So, we were in the same dream?" Sarah asked me and I just gave a deep breath, still too shocked to reply.
We'd met up at church, sitting next to each other and whispering over the sermon. Afterwards I asked to go to Sarah's house, luckily Mom agreed and we were now in Sarah's room.
"What...But...I don't get how that's even possible." Sarah's voice started to tremble, it had done that thrice now, and I placed a hand on her shoulder. Her breathing grew a bit steady and normal. Looking at me, she pouted and gave me a hug.
"Thanks." I hugged her back, the anxiety that was bubbling inside becoming more manageable. Nobody else would have noticed how scared I was feeling, but Sarah knew I needed a hug.
"I still don't believe how this is possible, I mean, were you in my dream or was I in yours?" Sarah scrunched her face thoughtfully," And what were those things in the sky?"
"What things?" I asked her,"You mean the golden moon?"
"No, not that. The things around the golden moon. You didn't see anything?"
"No, I didn't." I tried to recall something but I couldn't recall something else in the sky.
"That's weird." Sarah scrunched her face again," Was there something you saw I didn't?"
"I don't think so. You saw the people, the courtyard, the golden moon, the bottomless void around us, the golden lions... Did you hear the words that sounded when we were falling?"
"Yeah, I heard something but it didn't make any sense." Sarah scrunched her face and I put a finger between her brow.
"Stop that, you'll get wrinkles." I said softly and she gasped.
"Thanks, you know one of my greatest fears is-"
"Looking forty when you're twenty, I know, I know. Just tell me what you remember hearing without looking like a granny." I smiled lightly.
"Humph!" She pouted but repeated what she'd heard;
"There in lays the heart, two of bone and two of one."
"The lion's roar echoes through the soul, death will flow through the heat."
"Shatter the gate, of direction, bask the shrouded light in passion's art."
"The twilight jewel and the willowed woman's blood, will start what must be done."
"That's what I remember... Huh, I remember it really well, glob, that's weird." She shivered uneasily.
"Wait, what you said sound's a bit like what I heard but there's some differences. Man, this is so confusing." I layed my head back and covered my face in frustration," What the hell is going on. Are we cursed or something?"
"You know I would say no, but ... oh my Glob!" Sarah grabbed me and pulled me to face her," Why didn't we think of this earlier. The cards we got from that witch lady, they must have something to do with it."
"That's a stretch don't you think?" I asked her.
"Think about it, I had this dream about this woman, a queen sitting on a throne, can't believe I forgot about it. "
She did make sense.
I shook my head, what was I thinking? Sure I loved fantasy and magic alot, very much so but... reality couldn't be that unrealistic.
"Okay, are you serious right now or joking?" I asked her and she scrunched her face before giving a deep sigh.
"Of course I'm not serious. You know I don't believe in that stuff, not since... I was just spitballing. Honestly this is creeping me out, worse than the other dreams I was having. These ones are too-"
"Real?" I tilted my head," I know what you mean. I can almost feel like it was all real. That's terrifying."
Sarah let me go and pouted down,"I wish we never went to that witch's tent, honestly I should have stayed to be chewed up by Cindy. That I could handle, this not so much."
"Don't talk like that." I frowned," We may not know what's going on, but we'll be fine. Okay?"
"You got an idea?" She asked me with a small smile," Because you better."
"Okay, I do have one. It's simple." I said and she smiled wider.
"Yes?"
"It's quick."
"Yes?"
" We'll be done in a jiffy."
"Yes?"
"Very simple too."
"You've already said that! Just tell me the idea already, come on!" She started to shake my shoulders with frustration and I chuckled.
Better her mad than sad, I thought before speaking.
"We burn the cards "
Sarah froze and looked at me with a wide open mouth.
"That's...," She frowned slightly and let me go and went to her night stand, pulling open a drawer and taking out the Tarot card deck.
"You remember she asked me to keep them remember?" She said softly," I told her I would. I know she was literally forcing us to, otherwise we'd had to pay her, but I told her I would. I can't unsay that."
I sighed," Sarah I love that you're so honest but just think about it. What if the cards are cursed? Or the images are messing up with our heads and making us dream those things? Getting rid of the cards puts an end to both that. Please... let's toss them in a fire."
Sarah looked down and shook her head," No way. Anything else but that. Maybe we could try to give them back if we find her."
"And how in the hell are we gonna that? We ain't got her number to call and that was the first either of us has seen her before at the Spring Fair. She's probably gone from here, in another State or something." I got up and took the cards," Leaving us with these things. No way I'm going to sleep knowing crazy stuff is gonna pop up."
"No!" Sarah swiped the cards back from me.
"Yes." I swiped them back.
"No." She swiped them again.
"Uh huh." I swiped them again.
"Nope." She swiped them from me again..
"Yeah." I swiped them from her once more.
"No Lucas." She reached for them but I turned to flee.
Sarah's eyes grew sharp as she grabbed my arm and jerked my hand back to grab the cards. I tried resisting, forcing her to use her weight against me to pull me down. I ended up tripping back and landing on my back hard, the cards spilling from my grasp and onto the floor.
"We're not burning them." She tried to pin my wrists down but I didn't care, my hands aimed to grab the cards.
"Yes we are... It's better...this way." I strained to reach the deck, my eyes narrowed at her, but Sarah had really good grip strength for a girl.
"No it's no- uhh, is it supposed to do that?" Her voice grew uneven as I looked up to see what she was talking about.
Amongst the scattered cards, four cards were... floating?
I couldn't believe it.
"I don't believe it." She said with a cracking voice," What... is it magnets?"
"No... your floor is wood and they didn't do that before when you got them." I tried to keep my voice even but what I was seeing just didn't make sense.
The floating Tarot cards were atleast a meter above the floor, their figures slowly rotating like a planet on its axis.
"Sarah can you get off me so we can both watch while being horizontal?" I said dryly surprising myself. I could still show dry humour at a time like this, unbelievable.
"Okay," Sarah got off me and stood by her bed eyeing the cards," So, floating cards... is that part of Tarot too?"
"No. Definitely not." I was next to her, watching the cards too.
The cards floated before us, turning around slowly but nothing else.
"This is getting boring." Sarah said after two minutes of nothing," Go poke it."
"What?" I turned to her," Why me?"
"You're the one who wanted to burn them." She folded her arms," Well, there they are. Go on."
"Ugh... Fine." I did want to actually get closer too, so I wasn't too against it.
"Here, take this." She handed me a comb, one of three she kept on her person.
I slowly walked towards them, and I mean really slowly, baby steps were faster. Sarah grew impatient and told me to move faster or she'd push me forward. She wouldn't really but I decided to pick up the pace, since the cards weren't doing anything after all.
Two steps later, I was right infront of them, and I felt a slight tingle run up my spine I couldn't decide was nerves or the cards.
"Poke em. Go on." Sarah said next to me. Of course she'd never let me do this alone.
The moment I took a step, she was right behind me, and now we both were by the floating cards.
"Ok. Here goes nothing, I guess." I lowered the tail comb and jabbed a card very gently.
Nothing happened. I tried the others and nothing happened there too.
"Maybe a finger?" She suggested and I gave her a look.
"I do it, you do it." My eyes said and she nodded her head.
We both raised a finger and touched a card.
Then everything went black.