Being entrusted with a secret by the very man who tried to kill me was less than ideal. But it was, sadly, par for the course that had become my life. With everything that had happened since coming into possession of my deck and undeniably caused by my connection to the deck, I decided (belatedly) it was high time I learn more about it.
I’d made efforts in the past, though mostly half hearted. I’d been lacking something I strangely found myself with now, and I’d begun to rely heavily on it. Rather, her. Cecily. She was a fountain of strength and knowledge and I found whenever I was in her presence, the crazy in my life seemed manageable.
She readily agreed to help, as well, and that’s always welcome.
We met at my house late in the evening, close to three days after I’d last seen Roj. I hadn’t told Cecily and though the secret ate away at me, I was more in fear of what Roj’s “other half” might do if he discovered I’d shared his secret. Quite obviously, it would be disastrous for him if the rest of Oceanview discovered his alter persona. I think he might’ve been okay with that, but there was something undeniable between him and Cecily and where she was concerned, the risk was just too great for him to take.
Of course as soon as Cecily arrived, Cheeks glued himself to her side. Kind hearted soul that she is, Cecily took it in stride as he settled on her lap and immediately fell asleep. I sat beside her and stared at my deck. I’d left it purposefully on the table, all but the Uprising Card. I didn’t want to chance her spotting it and asking questions. Besides not being ready to tell her who it was connected to, I wasn’t quite able to tell her how the cards even came to be.
“This isn’t an exact science,” She warned me as she reverently held the cards, “More like… mmm… throwing as many lines as you can into a pond and seeing what you catch.”
Her eyes sparkled with humor as she cracked a smile. Then she nudged my shoulder and said, “Take a breath, girlie. You’re whiter than a sheet and wound tighter than a clock.”
I laughed as I exhaled and it was indeed strained, but with a bit of effort, I forced myself to slowly relax. “So, back when I was with Hal, we went to this fair in this little, no name town. This woman handed them to me and then disappeared.”
“Poof of smoke disappeared?” Cecily asked.
I stared at her for a moment, trying to decide if she was serious, but the sparkle returned to her eyes and I found myself rolling my own.
“Okay, okay. I’m trying, Cecily, I really am. It’s just - ever since these cards came into my life, it’s been one horrible thing after another.”
“Glad to know meeting me has ranked “horrible” amongst the list of other events in your life,” She mused as she began fanning the cards across the table.
“No,” I needlessly corrected, “You’re just about the only good thing to have happened. Everything else is bad.”
Cecily made a noise, noncommittal at best, for she’d begun to do whatever it is she was doing. I can only say that things in the room felt heavier and electrified. My hair stood on end and then I began to sweat, but after a few minutes, Cecily released a sigh and straightened.
“Well, I was afraid of that.”
Every worse fear I’d had ran through my mind, one after another. Like an old timey horror picture show, only there was no popcorn and no cute, dancing candybars. “What? What is it? What did you find?”
Cecily held a hand up to me and collected the cards. I watched as she whispered something to them, then gently slid them into their pouch before setting them back on the table.
“They’re souls, sweetie. I think you already knew that,” The knowing look to her eye made me swell with guilt and I quickly looked away. She harrumphed gently before leaning back to stroke Cheeks. He began purring.
“The first card…soul…whatever. It was this man who-“ I licked my lips and fell silent as the memory overtook me. At its end, I was shivering but one look at Cecily’s steely gaze and I was back on track.
“Anyways, yeah. I know. They’re souls. Apparently, mine is tied into them. When I die-“ I motioned to the deck, “-that’s where I’ll go.”
“Have you thought about that, much?” She wondered.
I hadn’t really. I realized it then. I’d been told that’s what would happen, but up until that moment, I hadn’t thought about what that meant for me. I started trembling again. Cecily’s request brought me back.
“I want you to read for me.”
“No.”
“Please?”
I watched her closely as I shook my head, fully believing she didn’t understand the enormity of what she was asking. But she reached for the deck and set it in my hands, then motioned with hers. “Go on.”
“Are you sure?”
It didn’t matter, because at this point, the deck was vibrating. I spilled the cards into my lap and, with shaking hands, gathered them back up. I watched her as I ordered them, then shakily held them out to her. I didn’t need to prompt her, she simply shuffled them then handed them back before.
As I prepared to flip the first card, my heart hammered against my ribcage. I imagined every death I had dealt with these cards, every soul that had been trapped within and then I imagined them coming for Cecily. Thoughts of her being a card in my deck spurred a whole new slew of terrifying thoughts. I imagined what my afterlife would be like when I joined them and became trapped among my deck as a card for all eternity, doing what they do when called upon. A cold sweat broke over me and I very nearly called the reading off, fearing the worse would be delivered to her. A sole card slipped from my trembling hands and landed face up on the table, initiating the reading. Now it was too late to turn back but it wasn’t her who received the bad news, it was me.
The card was The Uprising.
Every card was The Uprising.
Cecily lounged casually, her gaze fixed squarely on mine. I shook my head, not quite comprehending. I knew for a fact that I had removed and hidden that card, that each and every card remaining in the deck was anything but that one card.
My deck never ceased to amaze me.
“I think we need to have a talk,” She said as she rubbed Cheek’s ears. His green eyes bore into me.
“I promised I wouldn’t,” I said as I gathered the cards. My cheeks flushed with heat and indignation, and I couldn’t help but vent it. “Friends don’t trick friends!”
“Friends also don’t hold secrets from one another. So, are we friends, Chel?”
I hesitated as I held the deck above the black bag, and try as I might, there wasn’t any way around it. “I know who hurt me, the night they broke into here. I found out a few nights ago.”
Cecily sat, watching and waiting. Cheeks tail twitched, his eyes never left me.
“I promised I wouldn’t tell. And honestly, they frighten me a whole lot more than you do.”
“Sweetie,” Cecily said, her voice purring with confidence, “That’s only because you haven’t seen all that I can do.”
That stilled me. I tried to see her for what she claimed to be. But all I could see was the kind hearted, warm individual she’d only ever been. But in that moment, I knew that I couldn’t keep this secret from her any longer. Not when the potential fallout for her was so great.
I sighed, long and heavy. “It’s about Roj-“
And that’s when the imps came crashing through the front door.