Voodoo Masters

Chapter 11

The dim lighting made Liam's teeth even whiter against his pink lips. Every single part of his features were sharpened in the flickering candle light. His look fit perfectly with the atmosphere. He sure knew how to put on a show, that was for sure.

Taylor leaned forward in her chair until her lower ribs felt the wooden table through her clothes and skin. Liam's dark eyes didn't leave hers as he reached forward and flipped over her first card.

Both Taylor and Layla both craned their necks in order to see the picture better. It was a grey, decaying tombstone covered in dark green vines. Strange lightly colored lines slithered up from the dark soil and swirled around the top of the card. Taylor saw Liam smirk through the top of her eyes and she looked up at him questionably.
"What does that mean?"

"It means that you have a connection to the other side," he said as if it were incredibly simple.
"What does that mean?" Taylor repeated, a bit slower. Instead of responding he reached for the next card and flipped it over. It was completely black.
"Darkness," Liam said quickly before moving into the final card.

This one held a series if symbols; random lines and shapes that crossed over each other. To Taylor's surprise, they actually looked slightly familiar to her, though she couldn't figure out why.

Liam literally laughed when he saw the card. "Just as I suspected." With that, he picked up all three cards and carefully slipped them into the pocket on the inside of his neat jacket. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest calmly.

"Damn, yours are way more mysterious than mine," Layla laughed, trying to break the tense atmosphere. Taylor didn't react though, she just stared Liam down.
"What did that last one mean," she insisted to know.
"Some things you just have to figure out on your own," he answered easily, as if he had been anticipating the question.

Taylor let out an irritated sigh.
"You know I really don't like you," she spit out in a burst of bravery. Liam smirked from across the table, and suddenly every single candle in the room went out. Layla gasped slightly and Taylor absentmindedly reached out to grab her arm. The room was pitch black and had suddenly grown very cold as well.

"I know," a chilling voice whispered in Taylor's ear. She screamed and jumped up out of her chair, spinning around to face the direction of the voice. All she saw was the door at the complete other side of the room standing slightly ajar, allowing some light to seep through.
"What what what!?" Layla called, standing up quickly as well.
"You didn't just hear that whisper? I bet it was Liam. That bastard! He's just trying to freak me out," Taylor babbled on, her fear turning into anger.

Layla let out a laugh and picked her bags up off the ground. Taylor did the same, her heart rate starting to slow down slightly.
"He's quite the showman right?" She said, making her way to the open door. Taylor just stood there for a moment, stunned that Layla was barely even affected by the creepy events that just took place.
"Sure," she finally responded, following Layla out the door.

The air temperature had dropped about ten degrees outside and the streetlights were dimmer than before, casting shadows all throughout the ally.
"Come on let's get out of here," Taylor said, quickly making her way through the buildings until she reached the main road. Layla soon followed and she met Taylor with a smirk and a raised eye brow.

"That really freaked you out didn't it?" She asked, nudging her arm playfully.
"Yes it did not gonna lie," Taylor sighed. "I hate him too he freaks me out... and he's a dick." Layla threw her head back and let out her signature laugh, clutching her stomach for support.
"Well you're not wrong!" She gasped between cackles. Taylor couldn't help but laugh along as the girls began walking down the street again to no where in particular. It was nice to have a friend.

Before they knew it, the huge grandfather clock in the center of the town rang 9 o'clock. The girls went their separate ways; Layla beginning to walk to her apartment and Taylor to her car. The street where she had parked was now mostly empty and there were barely any street lights. The events from the previous few hours resurfaced in Taylor's brain and it immediately began to play tricks on her. Every single shadow turned into that of a man. Every single sound was a footstep.

Taylor made it safely into her car and didn't let out the breath she was holding until she began her journey down the street back home. Like the trip there, she turned up her music and used it as a kind of therapy to keep her mind away from Liam.

*

The second Taylor got home, she hopped right in the shower. The warm water helped to calm her nerves slightly, and it just felt nice to wash away all of the events of the day. Her shower lasted almost half an hour- the longest one she had ever taken in her life. Wrapping a new towel that she had bought that day around herself, she brushed her teeth carefully and combed through her sopping, knotted hair. Once she got it smooth enough she pulled it back into a French braid.

Within the next few minutes, Taylor arranged all of her shopping bags along the side wall of her room, making the decision to sort through them the next day. She shut down the entire apartment, making sure to check the lock on the door multiple times. Just as the clock changed to 10:20, Taylor shut her bedroom door behind her, turned off the light, and climbed into bed. She wasn't too tired yet, so she stayed up on her cell phone for a little while longer. On Instagram she found a selfie that Layla posted of them with the caption, "here's to new friends and new memories!"

Before see knew it, the clocks changed to 11 and Taylor decided to go to bed. She plugged her phone in, placed it on her bedside table, and left it unlocked, waiting for it to lock on its own. A dim light radiated off of it and it cast shadows around the room. Taylor found herself staring up at the ceiling. The way the light fell on the slight indentations was almost mesmerizing.

The second the light on Taylor's phone went out, a realization hit her. She shot up out of bed and turned on her light as quickly as humanly possible. With the entire room illuminated, Taylor bent her neck back completely so she was staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't help but let out a gasp and fall back down on her bed. Sure enough, the markings on the ceiling consisted of several of the same symbols that were drawn onto her third voodoo card that rested in the jacket pocket of Liam at that very moment.