Blood Magic

Chapter Three
In The Cards

It was late into Saturday afternoon. Dean had been coming over every day this week to work on our project. For the most part he asked questions and I answered as best I could. He insisted that he finished his list of questions for me before I started on my list for him. I made my way upstairs to my bedroom with a tray that had two glasses of Grandmas’ lemonade on it. She made the best lemonade ever. As I walked into the room Dean was standing at my desk looking at a framed photo of dad and I when I was twelve the summer I was with dad in Spain. A lot of his work was done there. I had a large flower in my hair and was hugging my father around the neck as he crouched down to my level, his cheek pressed to mine and I had the biggest goofiest smile on my face, my eyes squinted shut as dad stood laughing with one arm around my waste and the other arm outstretched taking the photo of us together.

“Oh God”.
I groaned grabbing the photo from him. Dean laughed.
“You have a beautiful smile”.
He said sitting down on my bed again and making another note in his notebook. I sighed looking down at the photo. Smiling at the memory of Dad and I getting to spend a whole summer together.
“It was the last summer I got to spend with dad, his work got so heavy that he couldn’t take vacations anymore and I haven’t seen my father face to face since I was twelve”.
I said setting the framed photo down. Dean looked at me.

“I’m sorry, I know that must make you lonely”.
Dean said. I looked back at him forcing my tears away.
“Hey, it’s not your fault, besides Dad writes and emails and we have skype these days so yeah. We keep in touch”.
I said walking over and sitting down on the bed. Dean looked at me with a concerned expression. Like somehow he knew I was bottling all my emotions towards my absent father. I refused to let myself be mad at him, because other than Grandma he was all I had in the world. Dean smiled at me.
“So in my snooping I managed to find this”.
He held up the purple velvet sack I kept my tarot cards in letting it swing between us. I gaped at him.

“Dean!”
He laughed holding them out to me.
“Word around school is you are a witch of sorts. I’d like to see if that’s true”.
Dean said closing his notebook.
“We can keep it off the record if you want”.
I smirked at him shaking my head lightly.
“Most people don’t believe in tarot cards or reading energies”.
I said rising to my feet. Dean closed his hand around my wrist, I looked back at him feeling how cold he was but I didn’t care about that. Our eyes locked and he smiled up at me.
“I’m not most people”.
Dean said getting to his feet keeping hold of my wrist. I blushed looking up at him feeling his fingertips brushing up with mine. My heart clutched in my chest as our eyes remained locked.

“Ok. I’ll read you”.
I said. Dean smiled at me.
“I wouldn’t have anyone else read me”.
Dean and I made our way downstairs and I set up the table in the living room setting out the candles. I sighed forgetting the lighter in the kitchen.
“I’ll get the lighter”.
I said smiling at him, I rose to my feet looking all over for the lighter but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I walked back into the room finding all four candles lit. I looked at Dean confused.
“Did you find the lighter?”
I asked walking over to the table kneeling across from me. Dean smiled at me.
“Sure, I had one on me”.
He said not meeting my eyes. I blessed the cards and said the Lord’s Prayer to clear my mind and ask for protection around Dean and I so no evil entities could interfere with the reading. After cleansing the cards of passed energies I handed them over to Dean who smiled at me as the candlelight flickered between us.

“So, how is this done?”
Dean asked. I folded my hands in my lap.
“You can ask a question or have the cards tell your life story”.
I said. Dean smirked to himself looking down at the cards.
“These can tell my life story?”
He asked. I shrugged lightly.
“If your energy is on them yeah, people underestimate the power of their own energy”.
I said lightly starting to feel like my father. Dean shuffled the cards cutting them three times to the left with his left hand as I instructed him to. Gathering the cards together I began to reveal them to him. It started with the tower a card that represented destruction but the vibe I got off of it was strange like Dean had suffered a traumatic experience, maybe even died? But he couldn’t be dead. I pushed the thought away and turned the next card which was the devil, a card that represented enslavement or being bound by your own thoughts.

Turning the next card it was death that came up. But death isn’t a card that means dying, it represents a new beginning. A new life. I turned the next few cards, the fool which meant a new beginning, the emperor which represented a father figure and the empress which represented a mother figure. The king of cups was next followed by the queen of cups. Then the king of swords followed by the queen of swords.

I felt as if the kings and queens represented people in his life. People he’d come to know and love. Then the queen of wands was next followed by the lovers. I looked at Dean who smiled at me obviously not taking this seriously.

“So, what’s my life story?”
He asked. I looked down at the cards again and saw flashes in my mind. Blood and a lot of it. A man cast in shadow standing over Dean’s body as he screamed in pain. Flashes of another man and a woman coming to help Dean. Then I saw Dean sitting in what looked like a hospital room. He seemed upset, angry even. I saw fire surrounding him and then everything went calm, I saw flashed of the man and woman who saved him. Then the faces of his siblings and him together laughing and talking. Then I saw myself surrounded in a brilliant white light turning towards Dean who smiled down at me. As we came together and he kissed me I saw the lovers card flash in my mind.
When I shot back to reality I looked at Dean shaking my head.

“You died”.
I said, Dean’s face fell and he was no longer acting like this was some kind of joke.
“A man was standing over you and you were screaming like you were in so much pain. Then I saw this man and woman save you, you were in a hospital and angry but then I saw the man and woman again. Followed by you and your siblings. Then I saw us and you kissed me and I”.
Dean moved forwards pressing his lips against my forehead. I froze my words trailing off. His arms slipping around me. I slipped my arms around him calming down.

“You obviously saw a past life”.
Dean said with a smile. I looked up at him as the question formed in my mind.
“Where did you put the lighter Dean?”
He looked away from me hesitating before he answered.
“In my pocket”.
He said not thinking things through. I knew he was lying to me because if it was in his pocket I would have felt it when he brought me into that hug. Dean stood shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Anyway, I should go.”
Dean said sounding nervous now. I frowned at him rising to my feet.

“What about my questions for you?”
I asked hugging myself. I could feel him pulling away suddenly.
“Actually I’ll be away all week, family’s going on a camping trip”.
Dean said grabbing his coat. I sighed looking away from him not buying that story for a minute. He didn’t even say goodbye as he rushed out the door back to his car. I heard it roar to life and sighed turning back to the tarot cards taking out my phone I took a photo of the spread as it looked then each card on its own. I was going to get to the bottom of why he was acting so weird.