The Mysteries Of The Future

"Give me your hand," The Shaman said, staring directly at Yolanda. 

Detective Hamilton began to lift her hands, very slowly at first because she was not sure what she was getting herself into. And yet, she could not shake off the stubborn feeling that clung to her guts that she had to be here. 

A hand halted her mid-way. she stopped, puzzled. It was her friend's hand. She looked into his eyes and read a thousand messages from it but in the end, she snatched her hand away and handed it over to the shaman. The ritual was about to begin. 

Officer Hillary watched skeptically as the shaman lifted his wrinkled hand over his friend's hand, reading through her palms like he was reading a book. His eyes widened as he traced through the lines on her palms and his brows knitted. Something was not right. 

"Yolanda," He called softly, his voice sounding normal for once. "You have a very interesting life."

Yolanda swallowed hard, reading through his lips. "I would like to see my future."

The old man smiled slowly and his cheeks folded as he did so. He released his grip from her hand. "That does not come free you know. I'll charge you 50 bucks for that."

Officer Hillary grimaced.  He'd been wondering the whole time what this old man was doing here instead of being at some home for old people but now, he knew why. It was for the money. 

He watched helplessly as his friend shuffled through her pockets and removed a $50 bill. She slipped it to the old man who put the crispy note safely away in a nearby drawer he kept for that purpose. 

He looked over at Officer Hillary, sensing the troubled feeling in his guts. 

"And you, Charles," He said. "Would you like to take a look at your future too?"

At that moment, his emotions heightened up and there were a thousand and one things he wanted to say to this con artist who deceived people into parting with their money but for some reason beyond his understanding, he could not put his thoughts into words. 

So, instead of blurting out everything that was on his mind, he gave a dismissive nod. 

"Nevermind."

Yolanda turned to look at him, her eyes questioning him, "Aren't you even bothered for a moment to know what the future holds for you?"

"No," He said simply. 

"I mean, it must be worrisome to have to do everything we do every day and yet have no idea what it stands for and whether or not it will matter in the future. Aren't you curious to know what lies ahead for you?"

Her voice had an appealing tone in it and for a moment, Officer Hillary thought he was about to break. But he stopped himself in time. If this voodoo man was messing with them, one of them had to stay on guard to make sure that they made the move to get out of there if things went south. 

He shook his head again and this time, neither the old man nor Yolanda had the patience to persuade him any further. 

"You see," The old man began. He was sprinkling something that looked like dust into another bowl that contained incense burning before them. "Reading the future is an art. One needs to know the past in order to know accurately what the future holds. To know your future, I have to dive into your past and find out where every decision you've ever taken is going to lead you to."

Yolanda was barely listening. Her eyes were kindled with the desire to see what she was going to become in the coming years. 

The old man gave a faint smile. He had seen that look before. These youngsters were always drunk with the desire to know everything and very often, it ended very badly for them. He hoped it was different for Yolanda Hamilton. 

"Let me have your hand again, Yolanda."

Yolanda handed it over obediently. And for a moment, time stood still and the only thing that seemed to be moving amongst them was the flames of fire from the glowing candles before them. She opened his mouth to say something but was hushed immediately by the old man. Something was wrong. She could tell from the look on his face. 

The old man looked into her palms keenly for another full minute, his eyes widening like they were about to pop right out of their sockets. 

Yolanda and Charles had exchanged puzzled looks for the umpteenth time, trying to figure out what was happening. 

Suddenly, the old man began to mumble words that made no sense to the young man and woman seated before him. 

"I can see very dark spirits inside of you. I can see a__werewolf," He paused and looked closer. "There's a woman obscuring my view of your future. She's standing before a door. It looks like she is trying to keep it closed."

The eerie music they'd both heard at the anteroom returned, this time, with very peculiar rhythms that seemed to be beating inside their hearts. Yolanda felt her heart slowing. Something was happening to her. 

The old man was shaking too. Her grip on her hand was loosening. Officer Hillary was watching them, his heart gripped with fear. Then, he did something unexpected in the spur of the moment. He lifted his hand and hit it on their arms, separating the old man from his friend. 

Then, he waited for what was coming. The old man lifted his eyes at once, they were like boiling lava. 

"You have to leave at once!" He ordered. "I cannot help you anymore."

Yolanda looked at him in surprise. "But you were not done with telling me what you saw."

The old man heaved a slow breath. It seemed whatever had transpired a few moments ago had drained him of his strength. 

"Well, I'm done, Yolanda. There are some very dark spirits at work in your life that I don't want to mess with. If you really want to help yourself, find the woman at the red door. She holds the answers you seek."

Yolanda shook her head in confusion. "What woman are you talking about? I__"

"Leave, Yolanda!" The old man roared. He seemed less friendly this time.