Of That Day and Hour: A psychological thriller (18 page)

“Jeff?”

“I see it.” He can’t stop
frowning, his eyes strain, then he looks to Marcus. “What’s happening?”

“You’re witnessing the first
stages of manifestation.”

In awe they sit and watch
the crystal feed the swirling mass that’s forming two feet above the table.
Within this appears to be a glowing circular nucleus. This nucleus elongates
into a beautiful transparent three dimensional oval, with a pink mass forming
and expanding into a very recognizable shape.

“Oh my God that’s a fetus!”
This feels like a car crash; Eve doesn’t want to look, but is compelled to
stare.

“Keep your hands on the
table.”

“Jeff, I’m scared.” Eve’s
frozen to the table in fear; she couldn't have moved her hands if she'd wanted
to.

“We’ll be fine.” His eyes
stare straight ahead; he’s equally frightened.

The amniotic sac turns
opaque; then the energy swirls into a mass similar to a swarm of bees, and a
face forms. The eyes of a child open. Eve gasps and Jeff has an increasingly
uneasy feeling.

“Jeff.”

“Yeah?”

“That’s you.” Marcus can’t
believe what he’s witnessing.

“Yeah.” Jeff vaguely
replies. He can’t focus on what he's saying; he's too intently fixed on the
apparition before him.

“It can’t be.” This is a
first for Marcus. He is becoming increasingly uneasy about the situation.

“What’s happening, Marcus?”
Sarah’s buzzing, she’s seen nothing like this before.

“I don’t know.”

“Do we stop?”

“No, we have to find out
what’s happening to Jeff.”

In front of them the entity
develops from a child to a teenager, teenager into a young man, and a young man
into a perfect copy of Jeff. Then a creeping, ever-marching darkness descends
as the entity continues to age. Jeff watches in horror until all that’s left
staring back at him from this spiritual mirror is an old man's wrinkled and
distorted face. He can barely look at it, its yellowed, puckered skin and eyes,
sunken cheeks and skeletal appearance.

Marcus wonders: is this an
evil spirit, come to torment Jeff?

“Who are you?” He speaks
with authority. The entity looks directly at him, with no hint of submission.

“The creator and moral
authority of this universe.”

“You dare claim to be God?”

“In this reality, yes. I’m
not here to speak with you.”

“Why not?”

“Would you still not like to
fuck her?”

“Who?”

“You know who. My lover in
the days of our youth.”

“That was a mistake.”

“You knew what you were
doing…old friend.”

“Why are you here?”

“To speak with myself only.”

“Talk to him, Jeff.” Marcus
sounds despondent.

“What do you want?” Jeff can
barely look into his own decaying face.

“I want what you want. But I
warn you, you will pay the price.”

“And the answers I seek?”

“I hold them all.”

“Then what’s the price?”

“Your life.”

“What?” His eyes widen, his
tongue goes dry; he swallows. “I can’t give you my life.”

“Without it you will not
gain the truth.”

“What’s the truth?”

“Only the journey can give
you the answer. Heed my warning; you will lose everything you have now, all you
hold dear. Even Eve, even this life.”

“I won’t lose Eve.” Now he’s
angry. “Nor will I lose my life.”

“You are a pilgrim. Your
journey is to a sacred place, although you seek it for what you call science.
You need to understand the fabric and nature of the world around you, for it
will be both your triumph and your downfall. Only in that moment will you hold
that which no other man has held.”

“And that is?”

“The key to this universe.”

“And if I stop my quest?”

“You will live out your life
just like any other man.”

There’s a flickering within
the crystal. The face winces, as if in pain, and then starts to fade.

“Wait, who are you really?”

Jeff looks into the tired
old eyes that stare into his, and before they fade away into dissipating wisps
of smoke he hears:

“The malfunction in the
machine.”

Then there’s nothing, just
the beam of light and the faces round the table.

“Fuck, that was a trip!”
Sarah loved every moment.

“Was that a typical
experience?” Jeff asks, because Marcus appears equally shaken.

“No.” Marcus shakes his head
in disbelief. “Sarah, any ideas?”

“No.” She speaks quickly,
excitably. “But we have to try again.”

“Eve?”

“It was surreal, but yeah,
I’m up for it. If Jeff is?”

“It’s quite fascinating.”
Jeff struggles to sound scientific, detached. “I would like to see more.”

They settle into silence. As
Marcus tries to summon further spirits, Eve, stretching, feels a soft blow to her
lower back. She passes this off as catching herself on the chair. She feels
oddly tired; she can't keep back a yawn.

 
Marcus glances around the table and does a
double take. Eve’s beautiful seductive eyes meet and hold his. She pouts her
lips towards him, leaning forward to give Marcus a fuller, deeper glimpse of
her firm, voluptuous breasts. Her eyes and her body hold up the promise of
everything to him, but Marcus has seen this demonic and seductive look many
times throughout his career

“Sarah, I think we have a
problem.” Before Sarah can speak, a demonic, mocking voice erupts from
Eve.
    

“You’d like to fuck me,
wouldn’t you, Marcus?”

His lips say no without
emitting a sound. All eyes around the table move to Eve.

“What’s wrong with you?”
Jeff demands.

“Marcus wants to fuck me. He
was looking at me whilst you weren’t watching.”

“Don’t listen to her.”
Marcus is adamant. “She’s possessed!”

“Screw me, like he did her.”
Eve spits in Jeff’s face. “In my mouth, cocksucker, I’d love it. No wonder she
fucked him; he’s more of a man than you’ll ever be. Where’s your wife, fucker?
Where are the children that you abandoned?”

Jeff’s speechless, frozen on
the spot. Eve’s onslaught continues. Marcus looks to Sarah; there’s only one
way to extinguish this fire. Sarah rushes to the light switch as Marcus cuts
the laser beam. Eve instantaneously collapses. Jeff manages to catch her head
moments before it hits the table.

“How is she?” Sarah rushes
to her side.

“Eve.” Jeff gives her a
gentle shake and she opens her eyes and smiles to him. “Are you alright?”

“Hmm... yeah, sorry what
happened, did I fall asleep?”

“I wish.” Jeff’s relieved to
have Eve back.

They take refuge in the
living room. Sarah switches the fire on for ambiance, and fetches wine. Marcus
ensures his guests are both okay. Sarah returns with large wine glasses and
fills them up. Marcus stands to his feet. It falls on his shoulders to explain
what just happened.

“Well you got your money’s
worth this evening.” Marcus paces as he collects his thoughts; he’s trying to
piece together what just happened. “On a positive note, it wasn’t a disaster,
and we’ve given you evidence to corroborate the paranormal.” Pausing for
thought he adds. “Far more than I’d anticipated.”

“It was undeniable.” Sarah
loved every moment.

“Yes.” Marcus knows how
Sarah feels, but what about Jeff? “I’m afraid it might have been too much for
you both. How do you feel?”

“I’m not sure what to make
of it all.” Jeff looks with concern to Eve. “What about you?”

“Confused. I had a, well, a
dreamlike urge, I suppose. What happened to me?”

“I’m not sure.” Jeff looks
to Marcus. “Can you explain?”

“Eve, did you feel anything
touch you? A push or a shove at any point?”

“Yes. I felt a push in my
back, but I thought I just caught myself on the chair.”

“It was a possession.”

“A possession?” Terror
lights up her face.

“Yes, a negative
non-physical life-form, one formed purely of energy, needs a physical body to
manifest in to fully interact on the physical realm. This one chose you.”

“Will I be okay?”

“Yes, no lingering harmful
effects, I assure you.” Marcus shakes his head. “Entities for some reason enjoy
wicked and shameful acts.”

“Wicked and shameful acts?”
Eve has hazy, unclear memories, and then a flashback of spitting in Jeff’s
face. “Oh God, I said some awful things to you, didn’t I?”

“Don’t worry honey, it’s
fine.”

“A possession always tends
to cause trouble.” Marcus is feeling uncomfortable, and Sarah is finding
Marcus’s squirming amusing. “Have we made a believer out of you, Jeff?”

“I’m in-between. I either
witnessed a possession and a form of energy not yet understood by the
scientific community, or.”

“Or?”

“Or it was nothing more than
mind over matter.” Everyone looks at Jeff in disbelief. “Hear me out. Thoughts
are electrical impulses that can be measured and as such they are nothing more
than energy. The rules of quantum physics also applies to our thoughts; our
environment influences us, and our entanglement with our environment can also
influence our surroundings. Our minds are able to send and receive into the
quantum soup that creates reality.”

“So your hypothesis is that
our minds are powerful enough to have manipulated matter this evening?”

“I wouldn’t discount it.
What did I learn? Nothing. I may have been simply projecting my own fears about
age and death onto reality.”

“Well, even if that’s what
happened, you gave yourself a warning.”

“Yes, but how vague was it?
Who here honestly believes that my journey ends with me holding the key to the
universe in my hands?”

“It may have been a
metaphor.”

“For?”

“I don’t know.” Marcus is
astounded that Jeff doesn’t believe his own eyes. “Whether it was the spirit
world, or mind entering into matter, it happened. Tomorrow I will show you that
time stands still; that time itself is simply an illusion of the mind.”

The rest of the evening is
spent in wide ranging conversation. One topic stays firmly out of the
discussion until Jeff and Eve are alone in bed.
 

“Eve.”

“Yeah.”

“Did you mean any of those
things you said?”

“What did I say?”

“That Marcus was more of a
man than I was.”

“Oh God, no Jeff. I don’t
fancy Marcus! That wasn’t me talking; you have to believe me.”

“But if you weren’t
possessed, that was your subconscious, your real thoughts coming through.”

“Jeff, I was possessed. I
love you! I don’t find Marcus in the least bit attractive. Please, you have to
trust me; without trust what do we have?”

“Nothing.” Jeff can see by
the way Eve pleads she means every word.

“I love you.” With a gentle
kiss, Eve slowly nibbles Jeff’s neck, then his chest. As he relaxes, he feels
her tongue slide slowly down his torso.

It’s morning, and
the light casts out the shadows of the night, yet they still linger. Jeff’s
unsure which is worse: witnessing demonic possession or the darkness that
permeates his own soul. Eve’s flawless body snuggles up to him; her braids wind
like snakes over the pillow and bed sheets. She doesn’t see or feel his longing
stare into her beauty, his basking in the scent of their love. Eve’s unaware of
the control she has over him; trust for Jeff is hard in someone he loves so
dearly, for fear of it being unrequited. He couldn’t do any of this without her
by his side, and certainly wouldn’t have contacted Marcus without a push.

Two hours later breakfast is
served. Marcus remains tight lipped about his plans for the day.

“It’s a surprise.” He simply
can’t help himself. He loves keeping his guests in suspense.

“Oh, Marcus, just let them
know.” Sarah rolls her eyes in despair.

“It’s not every day you get
to do this, and the suspense is part of the journey. I can tell you that you’re
going on a field trip that will take us well into the evening, and the rest of
the night.”

“The night?” Eve looks to
Sarah. “Are we going on a ghost hunt?” Sarah’s raised eyebrows, smile, and that
all important glint in her eye gives the game away.

“Sorry, I’m sworn to
secrecy; however, I can lighten the downtime. Who wants a tarot reading?”

“Oh, I do.” Eve’s excitement
lights up the room.

“What about you Jeff?”

“Hmm.” He smiles to himself;
he didn’t expect to be so enthusiastic. “Why not?”

“Who’s going first?”

“Me.” Eve realizes that came
out without even thinking, and turns to Jeff. “Sorry, do you want to go first?”

“No, don’t be silly, go on,
enjoy yourself.”

“Thanks.”

“Shall we leave the boys to
it then?”

“Is it safe to leave them on
their own?” She couldn’t resist, and Sarah instantly plays along.

“Now you come to mention
it...”

“Go on, be off with you.”
Marcus reacts before Jeff even gets a word out.

The girls enjoy teasing the
boys. Eve can hear both men laughing as they walk out, and has a feeling the
laughter was at their expense.

 
The delicacy and classical refinement of the
house is exquisite. Palladian windows frame the view across a well-groomed
lawn. A marble fireplace features a dried rose relief carving atop the
pilasters, and the large gilded mirror silently reflects reality back onto
itself. A floral print sofa with matching love seat has seen little if any
wear, and the house feels relaxed and quiet here. Eve has the feeling that this
room prefers its own company, and follows Sarah towards another door.

“Welcome to my room.” Sarah
is proud to be welcoming Eve into her own space.

Delicate plaster cherubs
look curiously down as they walk in.

“This is a nice room.”

A vibrant and freshly cut
bouquet of flowers welcomes them, and fills the air with the fragrance that has
the warmth of a smile. More of Sarah’s paintings are hung on the wall, and one
certainly catches Eve’s eye. Sarah’s reclined on a bed, a red blanket beneath
her, contrasting against her naked flesh. Her left leg is drawn up, there’s a
book placed on the pillow, and she looks back out of the canvas directly
towards the spectator. Eve’s eye follows from her head, down her spine and to
one delightfully perfect ass.

“What a beautiful painting.”
Eve frowns in thought. ”But how did you manage to paint yourself?”

“Marcus took a photograph,
then I enlarged it, and took it from there.”

“Ah I see. Marcus is a lucky
man.” Eve feels comfortable complimenting Sarah.

“Thanks, he’d better believe
it.” Sarah is flattered, yet her playful tone hints at her control over Marcus.

“How did you meet?”

“I was waitressing at a
club. He was trying to pass himself off as French, with a bad accent; wasted
but cute.”

“Guys.” Eve’s heard it all
before.

“What about you and Jeff?”

“He was my lecturer at
university.” Eve knows just what Sarah is about to say.

“That sounds interesting.”
She just can’t help herself. “Part of the course?”

“Behave.” Eve can’t stop the
grin erupting on her face, and they both laugh.

A photograph in a gold frame
catches Eve’s eye. She recognizes that the smiling teenager is Sarah, and she’s
snuggling up close to a friend. This is a look Eve knows well as do all women,
a memorial to youth, sisterhood, friendship and love.

“Your sister?”

“No, but we were often
mistaken for sisters.”

“Were?”

“She’s incarcerated now.”

“Oh God no.” She feels awful
for asking.

“It’s okay.” Sarah sighs
through sadness. “Seduced by the street scene. She was lonely and fell in with
the wrong crowd. They gave her acceptance and family; they also gave her a life
sentence for murder.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For her victim or her? She
made her choice. Once you’re in it’s hard to walk away. I walked and she turned
her back on me.”

“Why do you keep the photo
up?” Eve’s curious from a psychological perspective.

“A reminder to be thankful
for what I have and for what I could lose.”

“Ah.” That now makes sense
for Eve. “Have you seen her since?”

“No. She made her choice.
Now she has to face her demons alone. You’re a criminal psychiatrist; you know
all about their voices.”

“Yes, they all have
delusions to some degree.”
 

“They’re not delusions.
Where you see schizophrenia, we see evil. We all have a dark side; I’ve walked
the line and I know which side I’m on.” There’s a pause in the conversation and
Sarah snaps them straight out of it. “Well, sit down and let’s see what fate
has in store for you.”

A table by the window is
covered by a black cloth. Eve pulls out a chair and takes a seat. She looks out
over green foliage and across the garden. It’s simply breath-taking, full of
contemporary statues, trees, plants and topiary shaped into balls, cones and
cubes.

“You have a lovely garden.”

“You want to see the
gardener.”

“Oh.”

Sarah bursts into laughter.
“I’m only teasing.”

Sarah walks over to the
dresser, smiling at her own humor. She returns, placing a small black
silk-wrapped parcel onto the table. She pulls the cord that forms the bow, then
carefully unwraps the cards.

“The tarot tunes into your
energy, and creates a snapshot of your life.”

“So there’s no contact with
the spirits?”

“None. You deal the cards,
not the spirits. It doesn’t work like the Ouija, it can’t give you names, dates
or places, but it can give you sequences that once recognized are a guide. Only
you can take the necessary steps, if any are required.”

“How old’s the tradition?”

 
“It’s been traced back to Egypt.” Sarah hands
Eve the cards. “Spend a few minutes with them, hold, shuffle and place them on
the table. Ask questions and think positive thoughts. Let me know when you’re
done, I’ll be through here.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Eve looks down at the cards
in her hand. They are comfortably worn and old; without the musty smell one
would associate with age. The renaissance lies between her fingertips; medieval
color and symbolism, the magician, judgment, the fool and death. What questions
should she ask? Or should she leave it to fate to reveal her destiny? A few
minutes has passed and she has no direct question; it feels childlike to ask
one. She decides to call Sarah back in, after all, as the saying goes, it’s not
the drinking but the company that matters.

“All done?” Sarah’s excited,
she wants to read Eve’s cards.

“I think so.”

“Lay them face down, and
choose twenty one cards.” Sarah adds a flavor of theatrical mysticism. “I will
foretell your past, present and your future.”

In the lounge Marcus is
trying his best to bond with Jeff.

“How did you meet Eve?”

“Classic university
scenario. Student and lecturer fall in love, lecturer is married and the rest
is history.”

“You seem well matched.”

“I wouldn’t be without her.”
Jeff looks to Marcus, his thumb and finger momentarily rub together as he
reflects the past. “But I have to tell you that there’s a price to pay for
happiness.”

“There’s a price to pay for
everything, even freedom.”

“I know, but no matter how I
justify myself, I still don’t have complete peace of mind.”

“I don’t follow?”

“My daughters have suffered
for my actions.” Jeff understands that without children, Marcus has no paternal
instinct. “I could no longer live a lie. The marriage was irreconcilable.”

“Far worse has been done in
the name of decency and democracy. You know the saying, all’s fair in love and
war. What does Eve think?”

“I haven’t mentioned it to
her.”

“Why not?” Marcus frowns at
Jeff keeping secrets from Eve.

“She might connect any
regret to my ex-wife.”

“Good point.” His fingers
click as he points to Jeff. “Do you still care for her?”

“Hell no, she’s a bitch.”
The thought sends a shudder down his back.

“They always are.” Marcus
grins at Jeff’s face of horror.

“How did you meet Sarah?”

“I found her working at a
club. I simply turned on the charm and she couldn’t resist. She even thought I
was French.”

“You old devil.”

“Worked like a charm.”

For Jeff it feels that only
five minutes has passed before Eve walks back into the room.

“Your turn.”

“How did it go?”

“It went well.” Eve holds a
smile on her face. “Walk through the next room to the door opposite, you can’t
miss it.”

“Okay.”

Jeff stands with his own
smile of anticipation as he walks out of the room. Leaving Eve with Marcus
agitates him slightly.

“So how was the reading?”
Marcus is intrigued; Sarah’s never wrong. Eve’s smile drops.

“She told me that if Jeff
doesn’t change his fate; he will become the hanged man.”

Jeff can see that the door
is open, and Sarah offers a welcoming smile.

“Come in Jeff. I don’t
bite.”

“Thanks.” Jeff flustered;
Sarah picks up on this.

“Make yourself comfortable.”

He can’t help but look, just
one fleeting glimpse.

“Do you like my
self-portrait?” Sarah’s eyebrows raise in expectation.

“Hmm. Yes, it’s wonderfully
executed.” He feels like a peeping Tom caught out.

“I love the light play, what
do you think?” She's teasing, surely he knows this?

“It’s a very beautiful
painting.”

“Thank you.” She lets him
off the hook. “Do you know anything about the tarot?”

“I did briefly study them.
They are used for divination. Originally established around the mid fourteenth
century in Italy via the three decks known as the Visconti Trumps. This was
played as a board game throughout Europe.”

“You’re well informed,
although they can be traced back to a later date.”

“Possibly, but there’s
academic debate regarding that claim.”

“There always is.” Sarah’s
not in the mood for 'academic debate'. “Let’s see what the cards have in store
for you.”

Sarah goes through the same process with Jeff as she did Eve, then
waits outside the room until she’s called back in. Jeff hands the cards to
Sarah who then places them face up in three horizontal rows.

“I see you required a lot of strength when you were younger. The
lady here with the halo and robed in white is purity; the red lion by her side
is anger and rage. You are both the lady and the lion. The woman is your higher
self, your super ego, your virtue. 
T
he opposite of all this is your
dark ego; the lion she tames. You were tested as a child by the Devil; bullied
for a short time as an infant. Those who helped you also gave you your life,
your reason for being.” Sarah realizes what makes Jeff tick. “It was your
teachers who helped you, that’s why you became who you are today.”

“Yes, if it takes just a few kind words to change the destiny for
one child, can you imagine the difference a lifetime’s work might achieve? The
power to change life for the better; there’s no greater reward.”

“Life’s a residual of one’s own past thoughts and actions. As
noble as your intentions are, I see much heartache, a love triangle and the
fallen tower.” Sarah can see Jeff’s inner turmoil in the cards. “This is your
chosen destiny; you must stop punishing yourself.”