It was a damp evening after the rain had fallen all morning, colorful leaves danced along the ground in a slight breeze. The Harvest celebration was my favorite event of the season, bringing with it various comfort foods and a large scale corn maze.

As I walked along the dirt path past a barn decorated with hay bales and speckled gourds, I could see smoke spiraling above what appeared to be a yurt in the distance.

That wasn’t here last year, I thought, intrigued.

I began to make my way towards the massive tent, taking notice that I was alone on the trail, which was odd considering this was a new attraction.

As I neared the entrance, I could hear light music playing, like the sound of my grandmother’s old jewelry box with a musical wind-up mechanism.

I hesitantly pushed one of the flaps aside, bowing my head slightly to enter.

“Welcome, welcome,” A robed woman wearing an indigo head wrap greeted me.

The smell of incense was thick and spicy in the air. A haze hung all around from it. Candles were lit around a small table where the old woman was perched on a chair.

“Hi, may I ask what goes on here?” I asked with interest, my eyes falling on the crystal ball in front of the woman.

“Ah, take a seat, child,” She said with a cryptic smile, beckoning me over to a chair across from her at a small round table.

“I am Madam Irma. I can show you what your future holds, and more. For a small price of course.”

I looked at the crystal ball between us, mesmerized. A great curiosity striking me.

“Oh, how much?” I asked, going for my wallet in my pants pocket.

Madam Irma tilted her head to the side in thought, raising a hand.

“It isn’t money I’m after. I’m going to need something of importance to you,”

I stared at her momentarily before opening my leather jacket, searching the inside pocket for my old pocket watch. As I placed it on the table next to the crystal ball, I couldn’t help but notice the inquiring look Madam Irma gave me.

“And of what importance is this to you?”

“It was a birthday gift from long ago. It doesn’t work anymore… I just keep it with me anyway.” I explained, giving a half shrug.

I looked at the older woman expectantly.

She hummed softly, taking it in her hand and turning it over.

“Ah, yes. Perfect,” She eyed me carefully, placing the watch in a basket on the floor beside her. She then moved to place her hands upon the crystal ball.

“Let us begin, shall we?”

Almost immediately, a breeze picked up outside.

The table began to vibrate with a low hum; the soft flickering light from the candles suddenly disappeared, darkness casting itself around us.

A cold shiver ran down my spine as I watched the crystal ball illuminate Madam Irma’s face.

I nearly shouted at the sight — her eyes had gone completely white, her features expressionless as the humming in the air became nearly deafening.

An otherworldly voice broke through the hum, speaking clearly with purpose.

“Jacob Warren, you were never meant for this world, this earth. Your heart is too fragile for what your future holds. You will lose more than you have left, and be reduced to nothingness in your spiritual state,”

My eyes were wide with fear now, my body paralyzed. In an instant, reality became distorted and the room began to spin. Suddenly, I found myself twelve years old again, it was the year my grandfather died. In my grandparents attic I found a chest with a thick layer of dust covering the top, and I decided to open it. What I found inside was shocking to say the least, there was a letter addressed to my mother — an unsent message. I slowly opened the envelope and slid the folded paper out, unfurling it, I began to read.

‘Audrey, I want you to know that it was me who killed Andy. I know you will never forgive me if you find this, but I need you to know it was for a good reason. He was going to kill your son, Audrey. I could see it in the way he looked at Jacob, the evil in those eyes. And he treated the boy like dirt! Nobody messes with a child like that… Let alone my grandson. I love you, Audrey. Keep Jacob safe.

-Dad’

The letter fell to the floor. I couldn’t believe what I had just read, but it simply wasn’t true. My stepfather, Andy, was still alive!

He wanted to kill me?!

I ran downstairs and through the house, straight out the front door. I was out of breath by the time I got to my mother who was picking up a box of old things belonging to my grandfather.

Before I could speak, my mother handed me a small package wrapped in brown paper.

“This is for you, Jake. Grampa wanted you to have it.” She said with a sad smile, patting my shoulder lightly.

I stared down at the box, untying the string around it before tearing off the paper. I took the lid off the box and saw that it was a gold pocket watch with my grandfathers name engraved into it. My eyes began to well up, but I blinked the tears away, taking the watch out and sliding it into my pocket. I had a more important matter to tend to.

“Mom, we need to get away from Andy!” I said with a tone of urgency, tugging at the sleeve of her sweater.

“Jacob, now isn’t the time for this!” She replied sternly.

Of course she didn’t want to hear it, but with my newfound knowledge I just had to make her get us away from him.

There seemed to be a ripple that passed through the air, and a low humming grew. The whole scene froze around me and began to whirl around, distorting everything. I closed my eyes to keep from getting dizzy.

When I opened my eyes, I was sixteen again, standing in my mother’s bedroom with blood on my hands, Andy was laid out across the bed with several wounds to his chest, his eyes unfocused and lifeless.

It was the day I could never remember.

“Jacob! What have you done?!” My mother screamed, her eyes full of total panic as she watched the knife I had been holding clatter to the floor. I couldn’t seem to move my lips to tell her why I had done it, I couldn’t even look at her.

‘He killed your father,’ I wanted to say.

I simply walked past her and outside.

I stood in the doorway momentarily before continuing on down the long dirt driveway that lead to the interstate. When I reached it I walked onward for a while, until a car stopped.

“Need a lift?” A large bearded man asked through the rolled-down window.

I simply opened the door and got in, slamming it shut.

“So, where you headed?” The man asked, glancing at me.

I shrugged.

He gave a nod.

“Alright, bud. I’ll let ya off when we get out of Maine then.”

The entire ride was silent except for the radio playing various songs. I hadn’t bothered to ask the man’s name or anything, I had no desire to speak after what had happened; I didn’t even know if I could. Without realizing it, I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

“Hey, man. We’re here,” The man’s booming voice woke me with a slight jump.

I looked around and noticed we were nowhere near mom’s house now. Not even in Maine anymore. Probably for the best.

I opened the car door and got out, muttering a brief thanks before shutting it. The car pulled back onto the road and sped away.

I was alone. Alone in a town where nobody knew me. Good.

Time seemed to freeze once again, the spinning sensation returned and I watched everything warp and twist around me. My surroundings piecing back together like a mirror smashing in reverse.

I found myself sitting across from Madam Irma, petrified, as the voice channeling through the old woman continued as if I had never left the whole scene.

“The shadows tell me you seek protection. I can offer you that, for the item you have given us as payment is of less importance than we suspected. It is not enough,”

Another breeze kicked up, this time blowing my shoulder-length hair back. My heart was racing, fight-or-flight had taken over.

Just what was this?

Absolutely insane! I was a fool to doubt its authenticity.

Madam Irma was silent for a moment, the humming vibrating through my whole body.

I glanced into the lustrous crystal ball and saw myself inside, pounding on the surface as if I were trapped within it.

“More,” The voices stated, almost in a chant, they continued.

“More…!”

“More,”

I jammed my eyes shut as tightly as I could, the sensation of gravity being swept away engulfed me. I kept my eyes closed for a while, until I mustered the courage to peer at my surroundings once more, and when I did, Madam Irma was gone. Hell, the whole tent had gone with her!

Where was I?

I hung in the air, seemingly suspended in animation as if an invisible grip held me there.

Strangely enough, I felt no fear, only a sense of curiosity.

“We will protect you, Jacob. Stay here with us and never fear again, never feel loss,” The voices all said in agreement with each other.

“Okay,” I answered in a half-whisper.

Something willed me to look up into the void above me, and I saw the eyes of Madam Irma gazing back at me, her lips curled in an ominous smile.

“Your future belongs to us now, your soul is sufficient as payment. Your being is in the hands of the spirits… All is all they see, the truth will set you free,”