The voice changed back to its low , melancholy , sandy tone , and my mother was gone , leaving the rotting husk before me . “ You must pay your fee before the time runs out .” I staggered to stand , pushing my chair back . “ Yes ... yes ,” I said . “ I brought money . I brought what I was told .” My chair flipped back as I stood and reached into my pockets . “ No ,” it responded . “ That is not what you were told . Sit .”
Its hand gestured , and though I wished not , I obeyed . Picking up the chair , I sat and shuffled closer to the table .
The creature spoke again : “ Put your hands on the table .”
I did as I was told , asking for affirmation , “ You said that I was safe here ?”
“ I said that you were protected ,” it responded . “ However , I cannot protect you from that which you already are .” “ What does that mean !?” I shouted . “ I came here . Yes . Ok . I understand .”
I opened my bag , which I had kept with me . I hesitantly reached inside the bag and pulled out the small pig . Its eyes were open wide with fear . It disgusted me , but I put the pig on the table for what I assumed was a sacrifice .
Speaking again , he said : “ Not necessary dear Mr . Greeves . Not necessary at all . You see , your debt has been paid . Release your offering .”
I took the young creature and set it on the ground . It ran quickly , to places unknown , but I had a feeling that it was no debt and would be safe . “ Place your hands on the table ,” it stated again . I did as it asked . “ Those that surround you , and those that sit beside you already know your answer ,” he said . “ What answer ?” I asked . The chairs around me filled with misty figures , holding hands , all connected to the medium , and all connected to me .
“ The true reason you are here . You already know the answer , but what you are not aware of is that you have two choices ,” he responded .
The decaying skin aside his mouth stretched , and his yellowed teeth came forth . He smiled . “ But first , answer the question .” “ NO !” I shouted . He smiled again , knowing how I saw him , and so he sat just looking at me . “ No ,” I pleaded . “ How then did ...” I gestured
down V .
Pushing them each to their side , I entered a round room with old wooden chairs painted green surrounding a large gray , perhaps aged ivory table . The floor was still concrete , but now it felt textured . This room was also lit by candles , but their flames seemed pallid in comparison .
At the far side of the table sat a hunched figure , its face hidden by a hood , its arms sleeved and hands gloved . In front of it , on the table , a miniature cauldron sat . The figure gestured to the chairs and in a wispy , scratching voice , that I believed to be male , it bade me to sit . I stepped forward and choosing the chair furthest from him , I sat .
Lifting its head , features still shadowed , orange eyes glowed out at me from beneath the hood .
“ Do not fear ,” he stated . “ You are protected here .” Taking off his gloves , his hands revealed pale , wrinkled and , moldy , skin ? Inside my head I yelled , JUMP ! I yelled , RUN ! I wanted to rush from the room , but my muscles would not respond to my internal pleas .
“ Please relax ,” he told me . The candles all flickered as if a breeze had moved through . I began to feel a warm , calm feeling , somehow soothed by a strange voice , from a strange person , in a strange house .
Dropping something in the small cauldron on the table , he put his hands forth . The candles went out as a wind swirled around us . Fire and smoke spewed from the cauldron for a few moments , shifting light around the room .
Faces and figures appeared , through the light , in smoky forms . They were all familiar , but most long past , except , no . It was too quick to be sure .
The room grew deep black , quiet and seemingly stale . Just as suddenly as it grew black , the candles lit again .
“ Your question is one that is not quite so relevant , Mr . Greeves ,” the man said . “ I ’ m sorry ?” I responded . “ I don ’ t understand .” “ You are asking to speak with the dead . I am a medium . You knew that when you came here . But you want to know about the afterlife itself . You are not asking to speak to anyone specifically .”
“ No . That ’ s not right !” I responded . My mother . You know that I wish to speak to my mother .
The figure lifted its hands and brought down its hood .
“ I know that , son ” stated the figure . Its face twisted from a ripped , decaying form to a shadowy , smokey version of my mother . “ You wish to speak to me , but that ’ s not why you ’ re here . First though ...”
The voice changed back to its low , melancholy , sandy tone , and my mother was gone , leaving the rotting husk before me . “ You must pay your fee before the time runs out .” I staggered to stand , pushing my chair back . “ Yes ... yes ,” I said . “ I brought money . I brought what I was told .” My chair flipped back as I stood and reached into my pockets . “ No ,” it responded . “ That is not what you were told . Sit .”
Its hand gestured , and though I wished not , I obeyed . Picking up the chair , I sat and shuffled closer to the table .
The creature spoke again : “ Put your hands on the table .”
I did as I was told , asking for affirmation , “ You said that I was safe here ?”
“ I said that you were protected ,” it responded . “ However , I cannot protect you from that which you already are .” “ What does that mean !?” I shouted . “ I came here . Yes . Ok . I understand .”
I opened my bag , which I had kept with me . I hesitantly reached inside the bag and pulled out the small pig . Its eyes were open wide with fear . It disgusted me , but I put the pig on the table for what I assumed was a sacrifice .
Speaking again , he said : “ Not necessary dear Mr . Greeves . Not necessary at all . You see , your debt has been paid . Release your offering .”
I took the young creature and set it on the ground . It ran quickly , to places unknown , but I had a feeling that it was no debt and would be safe . “ Place your hands on the table ,” it stated again . I did as it asked . “ Those that surround you , and those that sit beside you already know your answer ,” he said . “ What answer ?” I asked . The chairs around me filled with misty figures , holding hands , all connected to the medium , and all connected to me .
“ The true reason you are here . You already know the answer , but what you are not aware of is that you have two choices ,” he responded .
The decaying skin aside his mouth stretched , and his yellowed teeth came forth . He smiled . “ But first , answer the question .” “ NO !” I shouted . He smiled again , knowing how I saw him , and so he sat just looking at me . “ No ,” I pleaded . “ How then did ...” I gestured