Sudden Downpour

The heavy patter of rain drummed against the roof of the car as they pulled away from the facility. The headlights lit the road ahead, the asphalt glistening like dark glass. As the vehicle moved forward, the trees lining the road swayed in the darkness, their branches trembling under the weight of the downpour.

If they left earlier, they wouldn't have to deal with the rain. Jerika had either misjudged her importance to the facility or neglected her duties to help Zerin with his memory recovery. Either way, it no longer mattered. They were on the road now.

Strangely, he found solace with the heavy rain. The sound of the rain as it plinked off the car's roof was calming. But he hated getting wet.

Resting the side of his head against the passenger window, he gazed through the windshield. The windshield wipers worked tirelessly to keep the windshield clear. Soon, the constant movements became tiring, and with a slight shift of his head he was looking out the passenger window, watching as water droplets race down the passenger window, before connecting with another forming rivers that snaked their way down to the bottom of the window.

"I didn't think they would have had so much for me to do," Jerika stated as the wipers screeching against the windshield was the background.

"Hmm," Zerin replied absently, his gaze still fixed on the trees.

If he were being brutally honest, he didn't care about her workload. To anyone else he would have verbally expressed his indifference without hesitation. But Jerika was different. She had always been there for him for the past few months, even when he didn't ask for it.

What he truly longed for was to be in his room and sifting through the research. One thing has been prickling at his brain for the past few months and that was his memory the [Cursed Seed of the Goddess]. He found zero use for it no matter what he did. He was going mad, even resorting to esoteric knowledge, hoping to find some hidden meaning. But in the end, it only added to his frustration. He wasn't a believer in the mystical; he always found it dumb, fantasy. But the more he pondered, the more he found himself questioning his own skepticism. The spell felt and was undeniably magical.

Zerin shook his head slightly, again he found himself spiraling through another slew of thoughts that once had meaning and then slowly became more obscure as he let his mind wander.

As the car finally tore through the dense trees. The trees, once tightly packed and towering over the road, began to recede and spread further apart, allowing the urban landscape to emerge. Buildings encroached, their bright shining lights growing and their size ascending higher as they drove deeper into the city.

Zerin lifted his gaze from the eye-catching billboards. His gaze shifted to Jerika, one of her hands firmly gripped the steering wheel while the other was cradling a steaming mug of coffee. He watched as she carefully raised the mug to her lips and cooled it with her breath, before she took a sip.

The warm glow of the city lights illuminating her features. In that moment, Zerin had to stop himself from admiring her.

Zerin's gaze shifted back to the road, as Jerika maneuvered the car into the parking garage.

Now, the rain has lessened to a gentle sprinkle, but the air was filled with the scent of damp pavement and earth.

With a graceful motion, she unbuckled her seatbelt, turning to face Zerin with an expecting look. "you coming?"

"It's raining," Zerin replied, not moving an inch.

Jerika swung her door open and stepped out of the car, unbothered by the light shower. "It's just sprinkling. Come on."

Zerin hesitated for a split second, then he stepped out of the car, feeling the cool air surround him.

"What are you scared of? A little water?" A smirk rose on her lips as they both shut the car doors behind them.

He smirked slightly shaking his head. "No, I just prefer being dry."

Maybe she was right, a little sprinkle wasn't so bad after all.

***

Regret ate away at him; trusting Jerika without any certainty was something he vowed to never repeat. Her nonchalant attitude—insisting it was just "sprinkling"—had resulted in them being utterly drenched. Water dripped from his hair, and his clothes clung uncomfortably from his skin.

But at least Jerika paid in full, she had taken her hair out of her bun and let her hair down as it clung to her uniform, but her uniform wasn't spared either as her entire uniform from her dress down to her stockings were completely drenched. Waiting in line he stood behind her and noticed her fidgeting with uniform that clinging to her body due to the sudden heavy down pour.

"Thank you very much..." She said cheerfully as she purchased a single umbrella.

She turned towards Zerin, holding the umbrella loosely in her hand.

"I got the umbrella."

Zerin couldn't help but shake his head. "It's pointless at this point; we are already soaked," He gestured to himself and his heavily drenched clothes.

Pretending as if his previous statement didn't exist, he stood beside Jerika. The droplets pattered against the fabric above them with a soft drumming sound, mixing with the passing by of other vehicles gliding across the soaked roads.

As they finally approached their final destination, the building had a cheap exterior, black paint seemed to be slowly chipping away from the front entrance and a sign above the doorframe hung on a single hinge displaying the name of the shop:

"The Willowed Coven"

To the left of the entrance, a large glass window was present allowing one to peer into the inside of the building. Inside, right up against the glass there were crystals attached to string hanging down shimmering with the eerie light that was placed for atmosphere, while tomes laid underneath, encircled by various little trinkets.

But his gaze wasn't fixed upon the shop at all, his gaze was on a man standing outside of the building in front of the glass, his figure was mostly obscured in a long dark coat. The man peered intently into the shop, tilting his head side to side.

"Wait right here... I'll see if she is still here." Jerika said handing Zerin the umbrella, he accepted it his eyes still staring at the man as he stepped under the awning joining the man.

As she darted towards the entrance, Zerin was standing alone. He watched cars pass by on the slick street, their headlights reflecting off the wet asphalt dimly.

"Hey!"

Zerin turned around to see the man in the long dark coat, have his head tilted down, he then turned away as he was confused to who was talking.

"Boyo! Come 'ere!"

He looked back at the man and was surprised to see that a stand was now placed infront of the man, or maybe it was there the whole time?

His curiosity was peaked as he approached the stand. The stand was rickety as if it was made of aluminum foil. atop the stand were a selection of items that were nothing but junk being sold for high prices. An empty soda can, dangled from a string listed at twenty dollars, while a tattered hat was listed for a whooping one hundred.

The man extended a hand toward Zerin, revealing fingers that were filthy, as if he had been digging through dirt with his bare hands. His nails, yellowed and cracked, were unnaturally long, giving him an almost beastly look.

"You ain't gotta buy nothin'...

Just from his hands he could see that the man heavily tan, it looked as if he had been left to boil under the sun for days on end.

"I can tell you are one of those, soon-to-be awakened, boyo..." The man continued, just from his voice he could feel a wide grin emanating from below his hat.

"What made you come up with that observation? "Zerin asked, raising his eyes brows.

His hands gestured whimsically guiding his words.

"Just... the way you carry yourself... with destined gloom."

The man then continued after a brief pause, that was a jarring shift from his cryptic tone, becoming lighter.

"And because of that wonderful lady you have with you. She is yours, I take it?"

The man tilted the side of his head as he questioned, allowing Zerin to see just a glimpse of his bare chin.

Zerin found himself momentarily speechless. The notion that he would have any romantic interest in Jerika seemed utterly ridiculous to him—after all, she was at least seven years older.

But just as he opened his mouth to speak, the man spoke again, his voice lighthearted.

"Worry not... I have not come to reap her from you; she is all yours..." The man paused briefly to chuckle, before he added.

"But all I ask of you is but one chore..." He paused dramatically, "Treat every day like it is your last..." His voice ended in a hush as he paused before picking back up, 'For it will soon come to pass..."

With a flourish, the man produced a deck of cards and spread them amongst the rickety table, their edges were heavily frayed even some of them were moldy on the edges.

Zerin furrowed his brow as he looked at the cards placed before him.

"Pick a curse from the Divine, with the hopes of receiving your aid..."

Zerin raised his hand slightly hovering over the selection of cards when he pulled back an inch.

"Hard choice isn't I—"

The man's voice leapt from his usual tone, as a sudden gust of wind swept through, sending one of the cards fluttering away like a leaf.

"Oh boy! Can you fetch me that card?" The man exclaimed without even turning a head to look at the fluttering card. "It is from my mother!"

Zerin turned and stepped towards the card that was face down on the wet sidewalk, peeling it off the concrete, he flipped it over and was greeted with the title of the card, etched with faded gold lettering.

"Divine Abomination"

The image that was supposed to be depicted upon the surface of the card was completely worn out just leaving a space that had no coloring on the card and just below it at the bottom in small letters there was a text reading:

"One or the Other"

When Zerin finally arose from his knelt position, he turned back to the makeshift stand to see that him and the stand was gone, as if he didn't exist. The street continued on. Zerin glanced around, searching for any sign of the man, but he was only met with the rhythm of the rain.

Zerin took a step forward in search of the man in a random direction.

"Where are you going?" Jerika spoke.

He turned to face her, the card still clutched tightly in his hand. "A man dropped his card. I was going to give it back."

Jerika reached out and grabbed the card from him. She examined it closely.

"This is just some kid's card... You said a man dropped it? Who were you talking to?" Her next question instantly rolled after the last with a more protective nature behind it.

"The man, he was right there..." Zerin insisted turning to glance at the now empty space.

"Hmm..." Jerika peeled her still wet collar from her neck, "I must not have seen him." She chuckled lightly.

'How could you miss it? He stood out like a sore thumb!'