A taste of fate

Running…

That is all she knew, running…

There was only the fear and the run. She could not stop, her chest ached there was not enough air. She could not slow to catch her breath, or they would be on her. Who “they” where was not clear in her fogged brain but the thought filled her with such deep dread her legs just kept on. There was no choice. Brambles cut her legs; tree branches slapped at her.

Jolene shot up in her bed t-shirt covered in sweat. Just a dream, it was just a silly dream. Jolene’s breathe began to slow and her heartrate began to calm from its breakneck speed. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced at the clock, 9am. Why am I awake? She had just gotten home 2 hours ago from her overnight shift at the hospital. Jolene heard a jingle from her nightstand. Who could be calling me at this time, everyone knows not to bother me until at least 3pm.

“Hey, is everything okay?” It was Jolene’s dad, and she knew he would only be calling at this time if it was an emergency.

“yes, everything is fine, I know you just went to bed, but I couldn’t wait to tell you!” Jolene’s dad was named Bruce. His voice was warm and held both love and concern always. He was a man who was able to convey oceans of emotion in a single sentence. Though the sentence itself was usually clumsy and a little awkward. He cared though and that is what really mattered.

“what’s up dad?” Jolene held back a giggle at her dad’s voice, it could have been the sleep deprivation or that he was practically yelling in her ear.

“We did its Jo! We finally won!” Jolene sat there on the edge of her bed blanking. She had no idea what he was talking about. Her thoughts drifted to her dream, how her mouth felt like sandpaper. She was thirsty. She finally tuned back into the conversation with her dad.

“I wish your grandpa were here to see this. He would have loved that our numbers finally hit.” Their numbers. Oh! It hit Jolene like a ton of bricks. Her Father had always played the same lottery numbers with her grandpa. They would call each other and decide what numbers they were playing that month and enter the lottery in each of their respective states. She had always thought it was silly but after her grandfather died, she realized it was more of an excuse to keep in touch once a month. So, when she left Washington State and moved to Oregon for work, they picked up the tradition. It was time she cherished with her father now, especially as they both grew older. She was in her mid-thirties now and as her father liked to remind her still single.

“I already deposited your half into your account. Okay I’ll let you get some sleep; I love you talk to you soon.”

Jolene said her goodbyes in a confused state. Her half? She knew he had probably already told her how much, but she was too out of it to remember. She looked down at her phone, notifications from her bank sat unread.

$20,000

Jolene could not believe it. That with what she had already saved from her job at the hospital was enough. It was enough to start their business. Jolene and her best friend Kit had been saving for the last 5 years to start an occult bookstore with a small coffee stand inside. They had found the perfect location just last week. It was on one of Kits mandatory “Jo has to go outside” days. They had been wandering down the historic district of a small-town Kit had “just fell in love with”. Kit fell in love with a different town about once a month which was good when location shopping. The house sat on the corner it was a huge Victorian. Someone had decided to paint it a deep forest green color with black trim but most importantly the door was the most beautiful royal purple. A witch lived here. the bottom had been previously used as an art showroom of some sort. Huge open spaces perfect for their needs. The top was an apartment, two bedrooms with a den and office even. Home.

Now they could put in an offer. Her life felt like it was finally beginning. She had loved the work at the hospital, but she was exhausted and drained after a decade. The lost eyes of the mentally ill as the circular nature of our failing healthcare system kept dumping them back into the cement walls of her facility had grown to be too much for her in the last few years. I am tired. The feeling of being chased entered her mind for a moment the dream making itself known again. When had that started? She could not remember a month ago. Six months? Shaking her head Jolene decided she could tackle her new life and what all of that meant AFTER a nap. Putting her phone on silent she rolled over falling asleep almost immediately.

Jolene stared at the boxes. It was 11pm when they finally got home from the estate sale. Kit had immediately headed to the shower after dropping the heavy treasure filled boxes in her office. A taste of Fate had been open for a little over a year, with the coffee shop and renting out space to various classes they were just breaking even. She sat at her desk, it was late, and she should be heading to bed they opened in the morning. Still, she looked at the boxes and remembered the books they had found. A taste of fate sold lightly used occult books for a reasonable price and she had found a gold mine of inventory as well as a few heavily used books to add to her collection. She kept the books too damaged to sell. She loved their creased pages and notes in the margins a well-loved book was a thing of beauty to her. One box would not hurt right. Jolene opened the top box.

Kit looked at Jolene passed out in a pile of books. She was clutching a little black book to her chest like a teddy bear. Like a lifeline. Kit shook away the feeling of unease the thought gave him. He was being silly; Jolene had just pulled an all-nighter again. He had thought after she quit the hospital, she would finally have a regular sleep pattern but so far, no luck. He watched her sleep, he loved her so deeply. She was his best friend, his nesting partner she brought home and peace to his otherwise lonely and chaotic existence. It killed him that he could not be completely honest with her about himself. She was a human and mortal as far as he could tell. Humans had their own type of magic, but she was still easily hurt, and his world was full of things that would love to damage her. Kit shrugged; he would take the life they had made together for as long as it lasted. On his way to the kitchen, he stopped by his room to wake up his date and let him know his shift downstairs was starting in a few minutes. Kit giggled; he had such a weakness for beautiful men.

She ran, she felt like she had been running forever. She could feel their icy breath like shards of cold glass on her neck. Jolene realized she was clutching the little black book she had been looking at in her office. She must have fallen asleep with it. What was it doing here? It is just a dream she whispered to herself. You can do it. Turn around face them.

A bright light exploded from the library as Kit came sliding in. His pink polka-dot apron fluttering. Jolene was looking at him dazed.

“nightmare.” Jolene shrugged, she had probably screamed or something. She remembered screaming.

Kit could not believe it. She was glowing a web of threads that wove a kaleidoscope of color around her. He blinked. No way Kit had not seen that in over 5 thousand years. Since the library of Alexandria since the fates had walked the earth. He did not know what it meant or why now, but he knew it was not good. In the corner of his mind the sleeping serpent began to wake. A small chuckle escaped it; this was getting interesting. His long nap was nearly over.