Her hours for Wednesday are longer than her hours for Saturday, so my hope that she can fit me in again is high.
As I pull up and see only one car parked in the driveway, they heighten further.
The inside of what I assume is her homeandher business smells just as good as it did last time; incense are burning everywhere, and I’m conscious of the ticking of a clock this go around.
Madam Lu is not at her desk, so I awkwardly stand around for a moment, taking in the various potted plants, the small waiting area, and the diagram on the wall showing the different areas of the body in which a person’s energy centers are located.
When a door in the hallway opens and closes, I startle, turning to face Madam Lu, who is entering as she speaks to someone on the phone.
“Yes, I can get you booked for Saturday at noon. Let me…” She trails off, her eyes widening as she notices me standing by her desk.
I wave, offering her a small smile.
“Oh, yes, sorry. Let me get you booked.” Madam Lu holds up a finger, as if to tell mehold on, and begins to type away at her laptop as she speaks to the customer she’s getting information from.
I return to my observing, taking a look at the low table in the waiting area where several books sit. They all have something to do with aura or crystals, or some other hippie thing. The colors are nice.
“Julian,” Madam Lu suddenly calls, and I stand upright, turning to face her.
“Oh, are you done? Sorry.” I walk back toward her desk sheepishly.
“Your face,” she blurts out, her eyes still wide as saucers. “What did that to you?”
I notice how she doesn’t saywhobutwhat, as if she already knows. Her warning to leave dark magic alone rings in my ear, and thoughIwasn’t the one to fuck with it, I still feel as if I’m about to be chastised.
Lowering my gaze, I scratch the back of my neck.
“Uh… I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you.” I do believe she would, actually. It’s kind of a cop out answer.
“Try me,” Madam Lu deadpans.
“A demon.”
“An incubus?” she counters.
My mouth falls open, eyes widening, which pulls at my stitches and makes me wince. “Yes, how did you know?”
“Have you forgotten that I touched that cursed book? I saw what bargain that man made, andwhathe made it with. The demon of desire.”
I stare at her, at her disapproving glare and her sad eyes. As if she pities me. As if she’sscaredfor me.
“I need your help,” I rush out, letting my desperation bleed into my words.
Madam Lu shakes her head. “I am not an exorcist.”
“No, I know. I just… I need you to take a look at this prophecy. I need help deciphering it.” I take a deep breath, resting my hands on the high desk. “Look, Madam Lu, someone I care about very much is suffering. I need to help him. I have been tryingto sort through this prophecy for weeks now, and nothing is making sense.Please.”
Madam Lu watches me wearily, her eyes continuously darting back to the gash on my face. Then, after a moment, she sighs.
“Fine. Follow me.” Once again, the older woman guides me to that back room, sitting at her low table.
“Here,” I say, offering the piece of paper where I had written down the prophecy before I left the house. “The way At—he understood it was to pray and be good, and the cure would come to him through the waves of the Pacific. I think he’s off the mark, because if he were right, it would have happened by now.”
Madam Lu nods, reading over the lines a few times.
“I don’t have much experience with these things,” she says honestly, peering up at me through thick lashes.
“That’s alright.”
