Fake It 'Til You Make It

I couldn't see the future for years, but I learned the carnival tricks needed to do a cold reading. It came easy for me. But now, I am freaked out. 

Before I went to bed one summer night, I was an average human with no insights into the future. None. I didn't believe that anyone could see life's destined path before us. But now… Well, I'll let you be the judge.

I ran my "business" like any other con. I started out at the carnival, and then I moved up to the scene at a boardwalk in New Jersey. I put up the signs stating I am nothing more than entertainment. Then I got greedy and began telling people their fortunes as if I knew what would happen. Crazy, I know, but more lucrative than telling someone about themselves. I could make more money when noticing what a person feared in their future and making an offer to break a curse than playing psychologist. Everyone believed what I told them. 

One day the wrong person to con came into my office for a reading. The woman looked like someone who would know the craft. Her aura oozed with magnetic energy. Her ethereal body seemed to reach out and touch you. I shook off the feeling because there is no way something like that would even be possible.

"You do readings?" she asked abruptly. It didn't sit right with me. What an odd way to ask for a reading. Typically, my marks had less confidence. 

I told the woman the price and took her money. After beginning my spiel, I felt her eyes on me. I didn't look up, but it made me nervous. I felt myself stumble a bit but shook my head and kept going. When I finished, I looked up and met her gaze. A shiver went up and down my spine at her stare. It felt like it went right into my soul.

"You've acted terribly as a reader," she growled. "I cannot believe that you would be stupid enough to think you can tell anyone's past or future."

"Ma'am, I am the best psychic in town," I answered in a haughty tone. "I have many recurring clients who believe otherwise." I dug my heels in and probably should have stopped before I started.

"Oh really," she said, "I know you are conning people. I can see it in your auric field."

"What is your name again?" I asked. I usually don't remember the names of my first-time clients.

"Hekate." She answered in a sinister tone. "Do you know who 'Hekate' is? The queen of witchcraft, and I have come to punish you for giving psychics and witchcraft a bad name with your garbage con."

"Hekate, you need to leave." I got up to open the door for her but fell back to the chair. I felt kind of dizzy, and I saw the woman stand up and take a few items out of her bag. She lit a candle and threw some herbs into the flame. Some of it sparked, but most just fell onto the table next to me. I couldn't speak despite my wish to protest or escape. She chanted words I didn't understand, and finally, I just passed out.

I woke up in my bed and let out a huge sigh. It was just a dream. Getting up, I began my usual morning ritual. Make coffee and take a shower to clear my mind. While showering, I couldn't stop thinking about a severe car pile-up on I80. The thought became increasingly specific to the point where I felt like I was seeing through the victims' eyes. The shower did not relax me on any level, and frankly, it was pretty morbid.

Turning on the television, I switched to the news, and there it was! The crash was real! What is going on? The thought of my weird dream came into my head. No way my dream had anything to do with it. My mind wasn't really at ease thinking it was a dream. I thought the best way to prove I didn't see a woman yesterday was to watch the security tapes.

Scouring through the tapes, no woman even slightly looked like her on the recordings. Impossible. But she didn't exist. It was a dream. Nothing more. I breathed a sigh of relief. At least until I went outside.

The streets bustled with human activity, and everyone's future went through my head all at once. The sensations overwhelmed me. But it wouldn't stop coming at me. I ran as fast as I could to the safety of my shop. Locking the door behind me, I decided to keep everything closed today. I wanted… no, I needed this to stop. I remember searching the Internet for hours, looking for anyone to help me make the influx of predictions I felt anytime I was around people.

Finally, I found Athena from a witchcraft store on the other side of town. Hoping she made house calls, I dialed the number. A woman answered, and I frantically told her my predicament. I could tell that she didn't believe me, but I insisted, and maybe the pleading made her feel sorry for me. She took pity on me and finally came over.

She did some sort of weird spell-looking thing for me, and I paid her a pretty substantial amount of money to get rid of the curse she told me was put upon me by a spirit. Confident, I went to bed that night.

Did it work? No. She conned me just like I did to the people who came to my shop. I guess that's what I deserved. I ended up moving to the most remote place I could think of in Montana. Sometimes, when I am in the woods by myself, I can hear the future of something that lives in the woods. 

I have seen a tall human-like figure outside my remote cabin. The disturbing part of the visions is that I am torn apart by the creature. I hope it happens soon. Then I can finally get rid of this curse.