Prologue

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Willow asked Zack for the hundredth time, feeling queasy. They walked to a quiet part of Syllton city where people were more likely to be mugged or murdered. 

Zack gave her an annoyed look. If he and Willow hadn't shared adjacent cubicles at work, he would not have been friends with her. But then again, no one but her would agree to go see a fortune teller on a Friday evening. So he let the annoyance seep from his body and pointed to a desolate, gray-colored, two-storied building. 

“We're here,” he stated.

On the second floor, Willow and Zack entered the room, which was painted purple from the inside and had soft and slow music playing in the background. Willow immediately smelled the strong lavender scent coming from the burning incense and instinctively covered her nose. 

The edges of the room were lined with cabinets that consisted of three drawers each, some of which had crystals lying on top of them. The crystals reflected pieces of light emitting from the seven yellow light bulbs hanging off the ceiling. There was a blue furry carpet on the floor, and in the middle of the room was the only glass table that had several cards spread out on it. Behind the table, a woman sat on the chair. She had long braided hair and freckles on her skin. Half of her face was covered by the mask over her mouth. 

"Take a seat," she commanded while folding and picking up the cards on the table to put them back on the deck.

Willow and Zack looked at each other before taking a seat on the empty chairs. Willow leaned back in the chair with her arms crossed, while Zack sat leaning forward.

"Tell me," the woman said. "What do you want to know?"

“I’m attracted to someone at my gym,” Zack explained to the woman dressed flamboyantly. “He has noticed me too, but should I approach him?”

Zack was in his mid-twenties. Willow wouldn’t call him a hard worker. He was, however, her only friend at work. But calling him a friend would be a stretch, perhaps an acquaintance. Someone who understood why she wanted to kill herself after every meeting with the boss, and no, there is no word for it, so let’s stick with acquaintance.

The woman shuffled the deck of tarot cards before laying five cards out on the table. Willow noticed her long, pointy nails before averting her gaze to the burning candles behind the woman. A fire hazard.

“Hmm…" the woman twisted her fingers and looked at the cards. "I see you’ve been hurt in the past. Someone close to you hurt you so much that you no longer believe in love."

Zack shared a wide-eyed look with Willow, except she couldn't believe that he was buying into the woman's pretense.

“Oh, my goodness!" Zack said, his voice rising in pitch. "That is absolutely right!”

Willow rolled her eyes.

“However, I see good fortune coming your way.” More cards were drawn from the deck by the fortune teller. “I see a new person entering your life. They are most likely to work in a sports-related field.”

“He’s a tennis player!”

For the next thirty minutes, the woman talked about what she saw in the cards, while Zack confirmed each of her predictions. Willow had zoned out and hadn’t realized the woman had finished with Zack and had begun drawing cards for her.

“And how about you, miss? What do you want to know?” The lady inquired.

Willow looked surprised. She could suddenly feel the heat from the flames of the candles on her skin. The scorching sensation formed sweat droplets above her upper lip.

“Oh, nothing!” she exclaimed. “I don’t believe in all this.”

“Hmm...” the woman murmured as she closed her eyes and looked at Willow’s cards. “Something is bothering you in your life.”

Willow leaned forward and wiped the sweat off her face.

“No shit, Sherlock,” she remarked, laughing. “There isn’t a single person on this planet who doesn’t have problems.”

The woman clenched her fist.

“Yours is kin. I see it," she said, looking at the cards again. "Your father is sick, isn’t he?”

Willow’s face shifted from a playful one to one with worry written all over it. Her heartbeat increased.

“You need magic to cure him,” the woman stated.

“I don’t need any magic,” she said emphatically. “All I need is a better doctor.” She grabbed Zack’s arm and pulled him up. “Let’s go.”

“You will find what you are looking for,” the woman yelled after them. “You are destined for greatness, my child.”