Here I am watching my best friend in the whole world make the worst decision of his life, unable to do anything about it. If only I could tell him that the girl he is marrying is in it for his money and has plans to get him killed after the honeymoon. If only I could show him the things that I have seen but after what I have seen would my petite self still keep me from saying anything. “No no, I would stop this if I could”. There she is walking down the aisle of the church right into the man she plans to betray. If only I could do something, anything but I can’t and that's why I decided to write all of this down and leave it somewhere in hopes someone would find it and someone could stop this. It all started in my early childhood.
My childhood was a good one. Two loving parents took care of me and provided for all the things that I needed. That any kid would need. Everything was normal. We grew up in a small town in Washington and I had a normal childhood. There was one thing that always bothered me: “secrets”. I always hated being left out on secrets even if they were for a good reason. When my parents told me that Santa Claus wasn’t real I was furious that they could keep lying to me year after year. I knew that they just wanted me to have a good childhood but for me, it felt like a betrayal. This made me have a lot of trust issues with everything my parents said. at school, it wasn’t any better. kids telling each other who likes who and everything even going as far as to pretend like I didn’t hear them when they whisper to each other in class.
The only good thing that did come out of school was I met my best friend Alex. we met in the fifth grade while everyone else was gossiping. Alex minded his own business. I think this is why I liked him the most. In a few weeks, I and Alex became good friends. Till high school when his dad's firm moved out of the area. It was hard at first but when college came around we went together even though he was smart enough and his dad was rich he could have gone anywhere. After college, I got a job at the city rec center and Alex took over his dad's firm. This takes us to where this story begins.
I had been working at the rec center for just over three years. Me and Jack were in charge of all of the seasonal employees that helped maintain the rec center. These were mostly college kids so we ended up covering a lot of their shifts rather than doing more managerial tasks. We both really enjoyed the job other than the assistant director Dave. He was always a stickler on everything. Jack and I both have been written up a few times because Dave thought we were filtering with the seasonal staff. Jack is married and I know he is just a talkative guy. As for me, well let's just say I already have someone that I do want to go on a date with. Her name is Sandra and she comes in every Tuesday and Thursday to the rec center. One of these days I'm going to get the courage to ask her out.
The day started out like any other day. I got to work and checked the schedule to see how was coming in today. I noticed that Susie was going to be out at the front desk so I made my way over and opened the doors to let the people in and proceed behind the front desk. The small group of people made their way in and headed upstairs to lift weights. Jack came in at about six.
“You are never going to believe who I saw at the reception last night” Jack blurted out.
“Who,” I asked raising an eyebrow
“Oh come on Cole you got to guess,” Jack said with a big smile growing across his face.
“Let me guess you saw Sandra,” I said knowing that smile on Jack's face all too well. You see Jack is really bad at keeping secrets which I like about him but is also bad when she comes in the rec and he looks like a crazed loon with a big grin on his face.
“Dang, I gave it away too easily. Yeah, she was there and alone with no date or anything so I can now confirm she isn't dating anyone.”
My heart leaped at the new information I had thought for sure she would be dating someone else. This had held me back many times from asking her number.
Just as I opened my mouth the employee door down the hallway flung open and Dave walked in.
“Hey back to work” he shouted making his way back to the office. Jack rolled his eyes and then proceeded to the pool. We were short of lifeguards again. The rest of the morning was pretty boring. Kendra came in to help at the front desk at 10 and then at 11, Dave came out of his office.
“Cole, your employee evaluation is due,” he said, motioning for me to come and then retreating into his office like a golfer back into his mound.
My heart jumped inside my throat as I walked into his office. It was fairly big with a big desk and two monitor screens on it. There were professional posters that covered the wall. Each one had a word with a definition. The biggest one right behind his desk staring at my face was professionalism.
“Let's get this over with,” he said motioning for me to take a seat on the other side of the desk. He was weary of the purple suit that he loved so much. His brown and gray hair was slicked back with a little bit too much hair gel.
Pulling open the file he started. “You have been a great employee, you are always here on time. You are really good at your job. You covered anyone's shift that is in need. You're professional in the way that you treat the guest that comes in. Everything looks pretty good except for that one filtering incident you had with Kendra. Looking at all of this I am only going to be able to give you half of the raise” he said looking back up at me and closing the file.
His eyes were beaming like he wanted a big reaction out of me. I also swear I saw a small smirk on his face when he first looked up. I was infuriated but I liked this job and I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize it.
Thank you I said keeping my emotions in check and heading for the door out.
“One more thing,” he said, stopping me just as I was opening the doorknob.
“I need you to go and clean the waterfront after closing time. Trent called in sick today and it requires a good cleaning. Thank you that will be all” he said turning his eyes back to his monitors.
As I was walking back to the front desk I was calling that dumb piece of garbage every name in the book well at least in my head I was. The rest of the day was normal until we finally closed and everybody left. I had cleaned the fountain a few times before. Trent was notorious for calling in sick. I didn’t mind it too much. Everyone was gone so it was quiet and it was well-lit in the back. Also on the plus side, I usually got a drink with all the change I collected. The fountain overlooked the parking lot which led into the back entrance to the rec center. Being winter in Arizona it wasn't really that cold.
I got my boots on and then went into the fountain and opened the drain so all of the water would flow out revealing the green title curated with white build-up and coins scattered across it. I started picking up the coins. There were a few nickels, a few dimes, and even one gold dollar. Towards the center of the fountain. There was a black-looking coin. At first, I thought it was dirt or a rock or something but the closer I got I realized it was some strange-looking coin. It was black but it was shiny with some symbols around the edge and a big x in the middle.
Picking up the coin and standing up the second that I stood up a loud humming started in my ear. It was so loud that it was hurting my ears. The whole area seems to vibrate with the fluorescent light poles swaying. The whole fountain seemed to be shaking. The humming kept getting louder it was so loud I couldn't even think as everything began to vibrate more rapidly. Suddenly a feeling of weightlessness took over my body as the very fabric of space ripped open with dark black spots surrounding me. A black fog-like substance flowed out of the black holes surrounding me swirling around in a dome. Then everything went black as the fog became too thick.
My sensations came rushing back with a massive headache being the first thing followed by a ringing in my ear. When my sight finally returned I noticed I was in a forest surrounded by huge trees that were at least one hundred feet high. Tree debris littered the ground with only a faint light in the distance. The only thought racing in my head was where am I and it's cold? Only after a few minutes did I gather myself and I started walking towards the light. It led to a clearing that was in a perfect circle. A small stream ran through the middle with an old building in the center. There was a big watermill on the side of the building that dipped in the stream. The stream was barely able to push it as it slowly creaked turning. The building was two stories with a small room on top with a candle on the ledge and a chime with white smoke flowing out. The building looked old as the wood looked cracked and aged.
Seeing the smoke made me think about warmth and I started to proceed to the building when a voice broke the silence.
“Another mortal here to collect his boon oh what troubleth you so”
Turning to see a beautiful young woman standing on my left side. I paused for a minute looking her over. She had bright blond hair with fair skin with only a few freckles on her nose. She had some sort of black cloak that she was wearing. My body froze with a sense of fear when I caught sight of her eyes. The whites of them were pitch black and the eye glowed a brilliant crimson.
Whoa, I said recoiling back away from her.
I'm not going to hurt you, she said looking amused at my reaction. She then proceeded to walk towards me.
“What are you, some sort of demon or something,” I said. Back peddling away.
Demon she said with a chuck and a smile
“No no nothing like that I’m a wish granter of sorts,” she said, still walking towards me.
Stay back I shouted as I backed into the tree behind me. With a loud thud “Ouch” I shouted. Just as she started to get right in front of me a voice boomed through the clearing.
“Alexandra bring our guests here and stop playing around.” the older female voice shouted. Her eyes then flashed a brighter red and I was standing at the entrance of the house almost thirty yards away from where I had been standing.
The door was old and broken with a big piece of the top right corner missing as it stood hanging from one hinge open. Inside the room was filled with candles lining the wall and scattered periodically throughout the house. Right through the open door seemed to be some sort of living room with old chairs broken placed all over the room with only a few chairs completely in tack. The walls had some sort of dark wallpaper that was peeling over as big scars and cracks could be seen all over the wall. I was in the scene as another young girl in the same cloak came over grabbing me by the hand.
She had dark brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes were the same as the first girl's. A big white tooth grin stood plastered a crossed her face. The second she had grabbed my hand I wanted to pull back but it was as if my body wouldn't respond to me. She pulled me in and set me on a chair right in the main room. Then took a seat on the other side just as the first girl came in and sat next to her.
A small creak came from down the hallway as another woman helped this older lady move across the floor. The first woman looked to be somewhere in her forties much older than the two sitting down. The lady she was helping looked ancient with her gray hair falling out revealing aged speckled skin. Her mouth oozed with a black tar-looking liquid as she took heavy breaths moving towards the seat right in front of me. Unlike the rest of the woman, her eyes were black with a faint purple glow.
“Now let's begin, '' the lady said in a shrill voice right after helping the older woman sit down. She had dirty blond hair with more robust features and the same crimson eyes.
“Look into her eyes,” she said
Almost immediately I found myself following her command and staring into those purple eyes. The second I did my life started to flash before my life. Starting from a very young age, Seeing all of my accomplishments, seeing all of my friends. Everything seemed to blur together now with only a few memories standing out. Every memory that stood out was of me being mad or angry with a secret that someone kept. That someone was keeping from me. The more it went on the more angry and upset I started to feel inside.
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Then everything went white in a huge flash and I was back sitting in the chair. The old lady had a big smile on her face with her yellow rotting teeth covered in black tar oozed out onto the floor.
“You want to know,'' she said in a weak shaking voice.
Yes, I shouted out still feeling the anger inside of me. From seeing all of the flashes and all of the secrets that people had kept from me.
“Do you accept our accord along with the cost?” she said not taking her eyes off of me.
The anger burned deeper in me as I shouted “Yes I want to know.”
All at once all of them started to smile an unnatural smile and started to chant as the old woman held up her hand and a swirl of red symbols flew around her hand. They came together in a flash of red making a shiny bronze medal with a big black mark on it. On closer examination, the mark looked like stitches and went from side to side with the sitch marks going up and down.
It then flew out of the woman's hand and rested in my hand. The minute that it landed I felt all of the anger leave my body as wonder took over.
“Two you must hide,” she said looking at my other hand. I looked the same time she did and in my hand there sat two of the same-looking coin that I had picked up in the fountain.
Looking back up to see all of the women still had that unnatural smile. The smile that a crazy person has before they are about to do something.
Send him home, the older woman said just as the whole world started to vibrate again. This time I black out almost immediately.
My sensation returned. I was on all fours in the fountain with my right hand still gripping the medal in my right hand.
What just happened? I thought, collecting myself and standing up. Looking down at the medal and the two black evil coins in my hand. I threw the coins as far as I could. They landed in a berm that went around the building of the rec.
Just as I was about to throw the medal I remembered wanting to know everything and remembering what I was doing before all of this had happened today. My thoughts turned to Dave. This was his fault I was here. It's his fault that this job sucks. Stupid Dave I thought just then noticing that the medal had begun to change. The scar began to contort and shift moving like a living worm engraved in the metal. Until it formed the word Dave written in scars.
A flash of light hit my eyes as I saw Dave in a college testing center. He was there cheating on his test; he had the answers on his wrist. I could see him very carefully looking down at them and then back to his test. Then in another flash, I saw him in the rec center parking lot. He was in his car parked in the back long after closing hours. I saw Kendra then go and open his car door and slam it shut. The two started to intensely kiss. I saw everything he was cheating on his wife and his kids. The flash continued showing this more and more throughout the years. It was mostly Kendra but with different staff as well. Then with another flash, I was back in the fountain holding the medal and it had returned to the normal scar right down the middle.
The piece of shit I said loudly. I was furious I'm not finishing this I thought for that lying no good piece of shit. I then locked up and went home to my apartment the whole time cursing Dave's name. I mean how could he do this and especially get mad at me for a simple conversation when he was banging the girl? Because he’s a stupid prick I thought. I got home to my apartment, hung up the medal on the coat rack, and jumped on my couch lying down.
My thoughts were still racing thinking about Dave thinking about everything that happened when a new thought occurred to me. Thinking about tomorrow and what I was going to say to Dave, I remember it was Tuesday and Sandra would be there tomorrow. At that moment my eyes caught sight of the medal.
No, I couldn't do that I thought but I did want to know if she was single if I had a chance. Finally, I succumb, grabbing the medal and thinking about Sandra. Just like the first time the scar began to move until it formed the name, Sandra. The flash took me to the instance that the scar stopped moving.
I saw her with a boy. She was crying and I knew he had broken up with her. I also knew it had been a long time since they had dated. She looked a lot younger than she does now. Another flash and I saw her eating ice cream and watching TV. Then more thoughts came. I knew it took her time to get over this break-up and that it was toxic. In another flash, I saw her in her car driving. I knew she was over it and that she had committed herself to do better. Just then I realized where she was driving to as she pulled up to the rec center. I then saw her looking at me as I was helping some elderly into the pool. I knew she was immediately attracted to me and she saw how nice I was helping those elderly people out and how much I enjoyed it and also noticed there wasn’t a ring on my finger.
Another montage of flash started off with her looking for me every time she was at the rec hoping she would see me. Even forgot her card so she could go talk to me at the front desk. I knew that every day she was hoping that I would ask her out. The flash ended and just like the first time the scar had shifted back to normal.
“Whoa,” I thought as all of the anger was gone and replaced with a feeling of pure joy. I was so excited I started jumping up and down the room like a lunatic. Only stopped when my phone lit up with a text. It was from Alex. He was asking if I was coming to his and Lexie’s wedding. I had almost forgotten that it was on Thursday. It would be good to see Alex again. I thought it had been a long time and I really missed him. I hadn’t even met his wife yet. I wondered what she was like. Just then I realized I was still holding the medal in my other hand. The scar already mostly shifted to the name Lexie.
“Wait,” I thought just as the flash hit me.
I saw a young girl living in a crappy run-down house. I saw a man in a wife-beater shirt lying down on the couch with a beer in his hand. I knew that he was a drunk and that he was a deadbeat dad just then it flashed again to show the girl stealing from a local store. Flash forward a few more years and she was at a party doing drugs. I knew she was spiraling out of control. In another flash, I saw her with a man who helped her out of her drug addiction and into more organized crime. One more flash and she was in a wedding dress marrying the man just as they were both getting arrested for one of their cons. The last flash showed the man on the couch much like the father was beer in hand with a wife-beater shirt. She loved him and hated him at the same time. A stack of overdue bills on the counter and another plan set in motion. I knew they were desperate one more con would be all it would take. She changed her name and was going to marry some rich guy and then her husband and his friends would kill him. The money would go to her and they would live out their days on a beach in Mexico.
As soon as the vision ended I dropped the medal on the ground. Feelings of panic washed over my body. Alex was my best friend how could he be fooled so easily? I have to tell him everything. We are supposed to go to lunch tomorrow it would be the perfect opportunity to tell him.
Waking up the next morning was unsettling remembering everything that had happened to me the previous day. Wishing that it was all just a weird dream but the bronze medal on the floor spoke against that reasoning. I got ready and rode down to the rec center opened the doors and started at the front desk. An hour later Dave walked in looking a little bit upset. The minute my eyes set upon him I was furious again. He started to walk over to me with that I'm too good to be here look written all over his face.
“Cole, you forgot to fill the fountain after you cleaned it last night, This isn't looking good for your next employee evaluation,” he said in an annoyed tone.
That was the last straw I was about to shout as loud as I could all about his affair and being professional. I opened my mouth to yell at the top of my lungs but all that came out was “Sorry I will go fill it. It won’t happen again.”
“Make sure it doesn’t,” he said turning and walking over to his office. I just stood there in disbelief my whole body had just betrayed me. It was as if I had no control and the words just came out. I must have had a bewildered look on my face because Jack came over and asked if I was alright.
I'm good I said as I walked down the hall and filled up the fountain. When I got back I saw Sandra waiting at the front desk.
“How can I help you,” I asked
I lost my keycard again could you help me print a new one? She said a cute smile on her face.
“Sure thing,” I said as I got the key card I was going to ask for her number my heart was racing. I opened my mouth and all that came out was you have a great day. She then turned around and headed inside.
I stood there dumbfounded for the second time that day. The one line that came into my head was “Do you accept the cost”. After the whole encounter, I thought that the cost was hiding two more coins for the witches' demons or whatever they were but it would appear there was more to it. At that moment my heart sunk lower than it ever had before when I thought of Alex. I had to do something well maybe I could tell someone else and they could warn them just then Kendra came in and sat in the chair next to me. I would tell her about Alex and have her warn him I thought
I opened my mouth but again all that came out was another day. It was as if my body was incapable of saying what I wanted it to. The rest of the morning I spent in deep thought on how I could do something different to warn him at lunch but when lunch came it was just like it always was. There was nothing that I could do. When I got home the medal was still on the floor and a new thought occurred to me if I couldn’t say anything maybe I could derail their plans. I picked up the medal and thought Alex.
There are some things you should never see. Seeing how your best friend sees you or sees you in the past is one of those things. The flashes started and I saw the day that we met. I knew that he thought I was a loser and outside sitting all by myself. He felt bad for me and that's why it went over and sat by me.
Over the years I saw the friendship turn genuine. I saw how he had snuck out over the years to go to parties. I then saw him meeting Lexie and how over time he deeply loved her. A love that was completely new to him. He had never felt this way for anyone else. I saw their plans to go to the Caribbean for their honeymoon. I could feel his excitement to spend the rest of his life with her. The last flash started and I saw us at lunch from his perspective. He still saw that same little outcast working a loser job but I was genuinely his friend. I could see that he wanted more for me but didn’t know if I could do it.
I came too and sat down on my bed. It took a minute to digest everything that I saw and felt. There was a range of emotions in my head. Anger, sadness, contempt, envy, and happiness. I did feel happy that he did see me as a friend. I went to bed still trying to figure out how I felt about all of it.
The next morning was the morning of the wedding which brings us to where this all started. There was nothing I could do. She walked down the aisle and they were married. I tried desperately to do anything that would delay it. I tried to pretend to have a heart attack but my body just stood there not listening to my commands. I screamed in my head the whole time unable to even lift a finger out of place. So I wrote this all down in the hopes that someone will find this.
Just as I finished I ripped my tie off throwing it on the ground just as I did I caught sight of my mirror that hung up on the wall by the door. I saw myself as a mess my shirt was pulled out and wrinkled. My hair is a mess being pulled in every direction. Looking at myself I saw the sad pathetic person I really was. Just then I saw something in the corner of the room where the closest was. There was a black spot in the closest that started to move.
A black-cloaked figure flew out of the closet hovering a few feet off the ground. The whole figure was cloaked in a black robe with only its hands protruding out. Only there were no hands just bone-white fingers with cracks that had black fog coming out of them. The moment I had seen this thing a feeling of fear washed over me. I could feel all of the color drain out of my face and I felt as if I was going to faint. This thing really did look like some sort of demon. Normally I would start running as fast as I could to get away but with everything that had happened, I stood there.
It stood there floating raising one hand and one finger towards the mirror. Just like with using the medal I knew that it wanted me to look over at the mirror. Looking over there was a shadow of a man in the mirror. His body looked like a shadow other than the eyes. They glowed a brilliant bright white light. Just as I caught sight of its eyes a voice erupted in my head.
“A deal made in anger will only lead to more anger and suffering,'' the voice said. The feeling of a voice inside my head made me uncomfortable someone was invading my personal space that I thought no one could.
“What are you, who are you,” I said trembling
“I am no one. I am the only one that can help you” the voice sounded off in my head. It sounded echoey the voice in my head as it spoke.
“Please help me my best friend is going to die betrayed by his new bride.” I pleaded, dropping to my knees in front of the mirror. My eyes watering fight back tears.
“Two things you will have to do to set everything right”
“Anything please help me save my best friend.” the tears now streaming down my face. Hearing me say the words I knew I would do anything I could to save my friend. All of my feelings from before about how he saw me completely faded as I forgave him for everything just wanting to save his life.
“Firstly the medal bring it to the mirror.” I turned to grab it the dark figure still floating behind me. I grabbed it and brought it over to the mirror. The shadowy hand reached out through the mirror reviling a black fogy hand grabbing it. the minute that the hand came into contact the medal changed into the same substance as the hand and then both the medal and the hand retreated to the mirror.
“Second, you will have to keep this secret for the entirety of your life knowing that you are responsible for the outcome.”
His eyes flashed brighter and I could hear muffled movement behind me. Turning around to see the figure shifting around as if it didn’t have bones. It was contorting it a black fog and shrinking down. Until it was a small black rose branch with white thorns up and down it. I turned down to see that the man in the mirror was gone. Looking back to the rose branch on the floor, I picked it up. The moment that I did it came to life moving up my hand like a snake going all the way up around my shoulder. Then the thorns began to dig into my shoulder the pain was intense as they wiggled into my flesh. I screamed in pain as I could feel them get deeper and deeper. Then without warning it all stopped as a feeling of weightlessness took over. All of the colors around my apartment faded everything was in black and white.
Looking down I was floating off of the ground. My body was black with a thin white light strip tracing my body. Looking down at my hand I opened it and closed it the feeling was very strange. Suddenly I knew I had to find Alex and I felt I needed to go up. My body started moving in that direction towards the ceiling. Just as I put my hands up to stop myself from hitting they passed right through the ceiling. My whole body flew right through only a cold chill ran through my body as I passed through. I was outside moving fast above my apartment towards the sun. It seemed some force was guiding me. All of the normal noise outside was muffled and faded in and out nothing more than a whisper even from the cars honking on the street. Looking towards the sun and headed in the direction that felt right my body flew faster and faster. The ground faded until I reached the water. I saw the cruise ships lined up with people boarding different ships. I flew down to one I knew was the right one. I was close enough to the people getting on the ship only about ten feet off of the ground. No one seemed to notice or even look in my direction as I floated past the person scanning the tickets. I flew through the deck into a room. It was small a bathroom and a bedroom. There I saw Alex on the bed still in his tux laying down a big smile across his face. Moving to the bathroom door my body passed through it. There I saw her doing up her hair in the mirror. I knew that I had to touch her and that by doing so something would happen. Reaching out with one finger I touched her chest in the center. The second I did her face shifted to one of pain. As her veins, all began to turn black starting from where I was touching. I immediately pulled my hand back.
Her face appeared as if she couldn’t breathe as she started shaking violet and dropped to the ground. “Oh god, what have I done” is all I could think as I heard Alex rushing into the room. Just then by some unseen force, I was pulled back fast everything was rushing past me until I was all of a sudden in my room everything was back to normal. The thorn branch was gone off my arm with small holes lining my arm and shoulder. I went over to my phone immediately and tried to call Alex but he didn't answer.
A few weeks went by in a blur. Turns out Lexie fainted on the ship and had to be rushed to the hospital. At the hospital, they discovered she had a heart attack and that wasn’t all they found she had three different cancers with the worst tumor being right in the center of the chest. They also found out she had miraculously contracted phenomena and the flu. As she was hooked up to all of the machines keeping her alive her true identity had been discovered while doing blood work.
Alex was a mess with everything that had transpired I didn’t see him for a while but we are now meeting regularly every day with a grief counselor. Each day he is getting better and better. Whatever that demon did it seemed to change the deal I made earlier. I was able to ask Sandra out the next time I saw her. No, I never did say anything about Dave but karma seemed to take care of that for me. One of the seasonal workers has a lawsuit against him and the city is letting him go because of the allegations. It would seem like everything did work out for me but If I am being really honest with myself I would be lying if I said I was truly happy.
Firstly, keeping secrets is what I hate most about people and is now something that I must do and keep doing for the rest of my life. Second, I can't undo what I did to Lexie there is a good chance she is going to die and I will be responsible for that and that keeps me up at night. Even with everything she did, I don’t want her to die. I have seen her story I want her to change to be for the better and knowing that I might have killed her haunts me every day. Lastly, I went back to the fountain many times but I haven't been able to find the two coins that I threw. Every Night I think about it hoping that no one will find them. That no one else will make a deal.