89. Madame Lidia's Divinations

Continued...

She studied the cover that was covered in dust. The title read: The Tale Hallowed.

Intrigue gripped Rose's attention and although she was well aware that a light reading wasn't why she was here and how the weight of the book and the name suggested it was nowhere close to a light read; she still opened and read the first page.

In the echoes of forgotten worlds, where man and demons bled into legend, a truth was buried beneath time's cruel tide. The savior, the cursed, the forsaken... and soon, they will read the story written in his ruin.

Turning the page she was reading further. 

Long ago, a time forgotten by those still present and lived by those that perished, when all lived together in peace. A peace that fell by the whims and greed of 7 brothers.

Brothers born in less and dreamed of more. They ventured to their land's sacred peaks and hallowed ground, yielded all but fortune and returned defeated. 

Once when they dropped and dropped, they rose to the eyes of their desires, their demons. Hence, the fateful night, one took the six to peaks of frozen land, never seen by the ones living to tell. 

Inside they met the one they should have feared yet they pacted. Soon the covenant formed, made of Sloth, Gluttony, Greed, Envy, Pride, Wrath and Lust.

They wreaked havoc upon their lands. Tipping the balance of life and consuming what came their way. Their armies razed the world to the ground until what left was chaos.

The seven of them called themselves, Lords Dracula-

And Rose skipped ahead to get the gist of the tale. So far it was going nothing but a common fantasy fiction she seemed to have no ear for these days. 

Her teenage years are almost over and so was her obsession with Twilight.

A hand shot forward and grabbed the book held in Rose's hand, fetching it away.

"I have something cool to show you!" Aria told zealously. She held her hand and dragged Rose away before slapping the book over a nearby stack.

Rose didn't protest either as she followed behind Aria, feeling intrigued as to what got her excited in a place like this. This better be good.

Soon they came to the part of of the store where crosses, dried herbs, and jars filled with unknown substances hung over the shelves like the remains of forgotten rituals. 

Some of the jars contained what looked like preserved animal bones, others had dark, viscous liquids that clung to the glass as if alive. 

"This place is straight up out of a horror film." Rose whispered eyeing all the gory things around her. She made sure to keep her voice down so as not to hurt the old man's feelings.

"Yup. Are you getting all tingly?" Aria looked back winking as she was still dragging Rose with her.

Rose rolled her eyes at her back, "Shut up. I am never telling you anything again." This part Rose muttered under her breath. Because they both knew, it wasn't true.

"Get a load of this." Aria proudly presented, as if this place she discovered was on another side of the globe and not in the same store Rose was also in.

Rose ran her fingers over a rusted music box, its once intricate carvings now faded, then turned her gaze toward the farthest part of the shop. 

A curtain of dark beads hung in the back, separating the main store from something else—something far older. A carved wooden sign above the entrance bore the words: Madame Lidia's Divinations.

"A gypsy?" The two girls exchanged a glance and shrugged at the same time as a look of understanding passed between them before grinning and pushing past the beads. 

There was no way they were passing up on creepy mojo vibes coming from this place. They were truly morbid these two girls.

The soft clinking sound clinging to the stale air around them.

The room beyond was dimly lit, candles burning low on shelves cluttered with oddities. Shrunken heads, strange figurines carved from bone, and a collection of ancient-looking tarot decks sat neatly arranged beside stacks of faded parchment.

And there, at the very center, was her.