The All-Seeing Eye

[arbotimus]

A spooky story, just in time for Halloween...

Anyways, some grey areas of consent coming up.  If that's not your thing then its not recommended to keep reading.  Otherwise, hope you enjoy

 

Part I

As I peered through my mask at the inky black sky littered with dim starlight, I couldn’t help but notice the moon’s absence.  For the first time, it struck me as odd how that luminous sphere, our only friend to guide us through the dark and somber night with the thinnest sliver of reflected sunlight, was so utterly and thoroughly vilified in our common mythology, made to transform us into beasts and bound by its very name to the idea of lunacy.

A witch with a plastic nose and a ghost in an oversized sheet ran under my feet, pulling me from my thoughts. Their little feet splashed through puddles of muddy rainwater that filled the cracks in the pavement.  As the ripples settled, vague reflections of monstrous beings whirred in and out of existence, their forms given life by the saccharine glow of cheap pumpkin lanterns.  I placed my own steps carefully, lifting my cape to protect my costume from stains while on my way to the party.

Looking up, I was surprised at how little of the festival had changed in my decade long absence.  I smiled softly.  Somehow the same rickety fair rides and lackluster hay bales still attracted the same number of people as when I was a kid.  Families milled about aimlessly, kids pulling them in the direction of candy and stuffed toys.  I could see the peeling paint on more than a few booths, atrophied over years of storage in preparation for their lackluster annual debut. 

One booth, however, caught my attention.  The neon outline of a diviner’s palm spilled out incandescent lavender light, illuminating the satin sheets framing the booth’s entrance.  A verdant neon eye gazed out from the palm’s center, expressionless and haunting in its dull radiance.  Perhaps it was because it had no sign or name, but I couldn’t find it anywhere in my memory.  It stood in the formerly vacant plot between Janine’s technicolor House of Sweets and an unattended pumpkin carving station, seeming harshly juxtaposed in spite of matching the overall theme of the festival. 

A vampire and a minion stood timidly before the cavernous entrance, daring each other to go inside.  One braved a single step forward, only to immediately flee in the opposite direction.  The other followed after him.

Still holding up my cape, I deviated from my path towards the new booth.  A thin strip of light emanated from behind the closed curtains.  Anticipation and fear knotted up in my chest, although it was hard to say why.  Nothing individually about this carnivalesque collection of drapes and neon should have been any cause for alarm.  And yet here I was, drowning in autonomic overdrive.  My heart pounded vociferously, begging me to listen to my better judgment.

I could feel my breath tremble against my mask.  I pushed the curtains aside, drawn in almost inexorably.

To my disappointment, the interior was somewhat conventionally decorated.  Vague collections of stars and moons were plastered against the satin backdrop.  A bowl of charred bones sat in a golden dish at the center of the round table.  The smoke of candles choked the air.  The interior seemed somewhat larger than the outer dimensions would suggest, but otherwise there was nothing even vaguely disturbing to be found.  I sighed in relief.

A large man swept a certain aside and sat down silently at the table.  His deep brown eyes bored into mine as his thick hands and wrists deftly cleared the bones from the tray.  A crisp white shirt adorned his frame, with gold edges at the sleeves and collar.  His hair was cropped short and his jaw was outlined with stubble.  He exuded masculinity, and while the exact shape of his body was hidden by his baggy clothes his silhouette seemed, at least, formidable. 

“Hello and welcome,” he stated confidently.

“Hi,” I muttered.

“What would like to learn today?”

I stuttered for a moment, taking a seat.  “I’m not really sure.  I’ve never done this before.  Don't I just show you my palm?  Or you stare into a crystal ball?”  I asked ignorantly.

He chuckled.  “I have many talents.  It works better if you ask what you want from this session.  Then I can find the path of divination that works best for you.”

Well, might as well give an earnest go, I thought.  What is there to lose?

“I want to know if I should stay here, in this town, or if it’s time to move on,” I said, attempting not to avert my gaze.

He stared at me intently.  “Is that all?”

“It seems like a big enough question on its own, yeah...”

“I meant that people usually provide more information to guide their question, but…” I opened my mouth to respond but he continued, “I guess that will have to do.  In which case, we don't need to resort to anything as dramatic as scrying the future or...palm reading,” he said, his voice lightened by a hint of sarcasm.

He pulled out an opaque dusty blue crystal suspended on a silver chain.

“Here, let me show you how it works.”

He held it between his index finger and his thumb.  It hung there limply.  The entire tent was silent except for the soft sounds of flames flickering and wax dripping from candles.  I couldn’t help but blush at his conventionally handsome face concentrating on mine, and decided to focus on the crystal instead.

“Show me yes.”

Within seconds it swung left and right, slowly at first, but as it gained momentum its route transformed into a figure of eight.

My vision started to go hazy and my eyelids felt heavy.  My head sunk, and my arms felt like weights attached to my sides.  My whole world went dark.  It felt like my subconscious had put the rest of my body on autopilot.

I heard the snapping of fingers, and I jolted upright.  “Are you okay?” he said, my hearing and vision still coming back into focus.

“Yeah, I'm fine.” I shook my head, finally gaining a sense of clarity.  “Was that it?  Trippy…”  I paused momentarily, but I was met with silence.  “What was the answer?”

“No, no, that was just to show you what to do.  You were supposed to hold the crystal and ask it the question you desired it to answer.”

He paused, a slight curvature forming on his lips.

“But, considering your response, I think we should try something else.”

He ruffled around under the table to his right and pulled out the base of a pendulum.  Attaching the chain at the top, he set the blue crystal in motion and gestured at me to focus on the swinging object.

“All you have to do is listen to my voice.”

I could feel my head getting heavy already.

“Take a deep breath in, and a deep breath out.”

My thoughts started to recede into the deep well of my subconscious.  A warmth arose in my groin.

“Your eyelids are getting heavy”

My eyes fell shut.  I tried to move my arm to support my head, but I found myself incapable of even lifting my hand.  My body sunk like a heavy sandbag, plunging further away from my conscious perception.

“I'm going to count backwards from ten, and with each number you will feel yourself falling twice as deep.”

I could feel my erection rise as my consciousness fell, but I was powerless to stop it.  I blacked out.

--

I awoke when to a loud snap right next to my ear.  A small amount of drool wicked at the edge of my lip.  Suddenly aware of my inappropriate erection, I struggled to adjust the lower half of my costume covertly. 

“Thank you for participating.  Based on the responses you provided while you were under, it’s clear to me that you want to stay,” he said. 

My mind was too foggy to form a coherent response.  He chuckled.

He slid a card across the table.

“Thanks”, finally mumbling something semi-intelligible.   “How much do I owe you?”

“Don't worry, this one's free of charge.  It's a festival, after all.”

Odd, I thought, but hardly odder than anything else since I’ve stepped into this tent.  He stowed the pendulum away, and gestured to the exit.  “You’re free to take your leave,” he said, disappearing behind the curtain.  

I immediately stood up and left the tent, thrust back out into the chilly, humid night.

I stumbled a little, apparently still getting reacquainted to the autonomy of my own body.  There was no one around anymore.  I must have spent more time in that tent than I thought, but that hardly mattered to me right now.  All I could think about was getting home.  I couldn’t escape the horrible feeling that something inside me had fundamentally transformed, and I craved the familiar setting to calm my nerves.

Somewhere on the path, stopping in the still darkness, I finally thought to take off my mask.  I stared at the blank sky above me, trying to search for what inside me had changed.  I could find nothing.  If I had been altered, it was too well hidden for me to find it.

When I finally got home, I opened up my phone to find over twenty new texts.  Shit.  The party.  I responded to one string of messages that I was still alive but feeling sick, and immediately fell asleep.

--

I awoke to the rhythmic hum of rain beating on the roof.  I found the steady pitter patter soothing in comparison to last night’s events.  The chill of cold, wet air was seeping into my room, and I almost fell back asleep huddled beneath my covers.  Instead a sudden burst of energy welled up inside me.

Within seconds I was on the floor, doing pushups and sit ups.  My body ached with pain after only a few sets.  I could barely move, and I fell asleep again on the floor.

My alarm woke me up not half an hour later. My body felt tight but was surprisingly not sore.

I stretched absentmindedly, the rain now pouring down.  I hadn't made any plans for the day, and I shuffled my feet towards the kitchen.  By the time I opened my waffle maker I felt a click somewhere in my head.  This wasn’t what I wanted to do.  I wanted to go to the gym.

No one was at this small town gym on an early Sunday morning.  The man behind the counter looked like he was about to fall asleep, his scruffy chin falling back into his oversized sweater.

I swiped my card and started with some pull ups.  My mind felt a little hazy during the lift session.  I wasn’t really sure if I knew what I was doing, but my body seemed to be moving on autopilot.  An hour later I was drenched in sweat and my chest felt really tight.  The man at the counter had fallen asleep.  He didn't notice when I left.

On the way home I stopped at the nearest restaurant and ordered twice the amount of food I normally do, along with some extra to go home.  I was sure the wait staff had a few eyebrows raised watching a guy my size eat so voraciously, but I didn’t even think to feel ashamed.  I had worked hard and I was hungry.  It felt good to be full after a big work out. 

The rain had let up some by the time I had made my way back home.  I barely had time to shower before I immediately fell asleep again.

I awoke 8 hours later in the dark, feeling refreshed.

I hadn’t even made it out of bed before I had the urge to hit the gym again.  I met the same slumped over employee at the check in counter.

"Back again, bro?" He asked, seemingly uninterested in his own question.

"Yeah, I...I guess so.  Just feeling really into it today, I guess."

"Whatever floats your boat, my man.  It's been a slow day all around."

Huh, that’s weird.  How did I end up here again?  And on the same day?  Well, might as well get a work out in while I’m here…

That session was followed by the largest meal I’ve ever eaten in my life, the deepest sleep, and yet another grueling session in the gym.  An undetermined number of days passed this way.  I turned down any replies for job interviews I had sent out when I moved here.  If my friends texted me, I’d just answer, “Busy”.  At first I would just eat whatever I could get my hands on, but I slowly found myself only able to eat rice, meat, and veggies.  If the local gym was closed when I woke up, I’d drive to the nearest 24 hour gym. 

In one of the clearer moments, the pale face of the full moon met my upward gaze.  Hadn’t I been here before?  Wasn’t I supposed to feel something?  My mind was blank.  If anything used to be there, it had sunk far, far down.

Well, no matter.  I opened the door to the gym, ready to get pumped.

 

Part 2 coming...eventually, lol

[Ozymandias]

An intriguing start…!

[Ro20316]

On 12/15/2022 at 8:55 AM, arbotimus said:

Part 2 coming...eventually, lol

Totally unfair lol