Intertwined Fates. Ariana Bazhenova

dissolved, and we found ourselves together in a small but cozy wooden hut. Bunches of dried herbs were hanging from the ceiling, the air was filled with the tantalizing aroma of fresh bread and honey, and on the table stood a tall, unlit wax candle. I reached out, touched the wick with my fingers – and immediately the fire flared up with a quiet crackle, casting an amber shimmer on Leo sitting in front of me, only now half his age. The tongues of flame were reflected in his expressive brown eyes, inquisitively studying me. I looked down at my hands and saw the white sleeves of a tunic beautifully embroidered with red thread. – Well, where are you? I’m waiting for you, – Leo smiled again with the expression of a child who had been jokingly offended. – I asked you to help me light the extinguished fire in me.

      He nodded at the candle that had just flared up from the touch of my fingers.

      – But how can I help you?

      – Touch me.

      Leo reached out to me, but I instinctively recoiled, afraid of burning him. Smiling slightly hurt, he removed his hand.

      – I want it, I really want it! – I finally blurted out passionately, feeling the lights in my chest and lower abdomen flare up again. – But I already doubt whether I can do it. And as soon as I decide, you move away, not taking a step towards me. I’m tired of the unknown…

      – I’m afraid myself. But I want it, but I can’t take a step towards you. Please, just go and do it first…

      – But how? – I exclaimed, not understanding anything.

      My sharp voice made the candle flame flare up and smoke with a stream of black smoke.

      My gaze, as if under hypnosis, was riveted to the flame – amber-brown eyes greedily absorbed the power of the fire. Suddenly I felt how the warmth in my chest turned into a red-hot ball, the warmth of which filled me from head to toe, the whole room. If I touch Leo, it would spread to him. The blood inside seemed to boil, and suddenly it became very joyful and light – just a little more, and I would soar in the air. A wide, bright smile lit up my face, and a quiet, sincere laugh burst from my chest. And suddenly I felt the touch of Leo’s hand on my shoulder.

      – Save me, – he whispered, gently pushing me to stand up.

      I stood up, not feeling the floor under my feet and slightly swaying from the unusual sensation. Leo carefully picked me up, and I felt a powerful charge of hot energy run through my body from the contact of our hands. I raised my clouded gaze to him and saw gratitude and the fire in his eyes that he so longed to receive from me.

      – Leo… – I whispered, but he suddenly leaned over and interrupted me with a kiss.

      – Thank you! Don’t be afraid of anything. You are better and stronger than me, – he finally whispered feverishly.

      He picked me up in his arms and with light movements carried me to the spacious bed.

      – Kira… Do you know that you are not dreaming this? – he whispered in my ear, pulling my tunic off.

      ***

      I woke up in a cold sweat, feeling my heart pounding. I looked at my hands – they were covered in goosebumps. My soul felt very warm, as if Leo had really spoken to me in that dream, and my body still bore traces of his hot touches. But how is that possible? And that child in his arms. Was I really dreaming this? I think I’m starting to go crazy…

      Getting out of bed to pour myself some water, I saw that the alarm was about to ring. There was no point in going to bed again. I filled a glass and went to the window, looking at the still-sleeping neighborhood and the rare windows glowing with light.

      The veil of sleep came off like a wave from the shore, leaving something important in my soul. I felt strength and confidence growing in my solar plexus: I can’t leave Leo, he needs me and I have to do something. But what? The day after tomorrow is our project defense. After which nothing will connect us anymore. What can I do in such a short time?

      Time to get ready for work. Maybe the answer will come to me during the day, as it often did before.

      But the day flew by, and I returned home without answers. Friday evening was traditionally a time to indulge in solitude and sum up the week. Usually I asked the Tarot cards for advice for the coming week, but this time I thought that they could give me answers to the questions that were troubling me about Leo. Because my own intuition and power of thought seemed to have temporarily led me to a dead end.

      I lit the white candles that always stood on the table and listened with pleasure to their crackling. The power of fire inspired and nourished me. I took out the deck and slowly shuffled the cards. A warm charge immediately passed through my hands – they had very strong energy. I tuned in, stopped the endless movement of thoughts in my head and focused on the image of Leo in my inner eye. Here is his wide smile, here is his mischievous look from behind his glasses, his stretched sweater, his hands shaking with excitement, here we are sitting next to each other on the couch in his office and carefree and laughing loudly…

      – Cards, tell me, what are his intentions towards me?

      I laid out three cards from the deck, opened them and was taken aback. They seemed to be saying: «We are showing you the whole truth and warning you. Act further as you see fit.» These cards had not appeared in my layouts before. There were simply no events in my life that would be in tune with these energies. Now the Three of Cups, the Devil and the Ten of Swords were looking at me in undisguised prosaicness. «In common parlance it is called „he played with me and dumped me“, these are his intentions,» I grinned.

      What do these cards mean? It seems that Leo wants to share this fun with me, to have a glass or two of wine… But I knew that in love layouts the Three of Cups has another meaning – a love triangle. This ambiguous picture was plunged into absolutely black tones by the last card – the Ten of Swords. A man was lying on the ground, nailed by many blades, a pool of blood had spread under him, the sky and clouds were black above – harbingers of a storm. The worst card.

      I swallowed nervously and closed my eyes. Leo decided to look beyond the boundaries of his moral standards and admit to himself that he is attracted to me, and he is even thinking about the possibility of a love triangle. But he is fully aware that this relationship will end badly, and is ready to cause pain – to me, and, perhaps, to himself and his wife. A love triangle causes pain to all its participants. – What nonsense… Nothing good will come of it anyway, – I shrugged and put the cards down.

      Suddenly I felt how hot it was in the room. I was just about to get up to open the window and take a cold shower, when I immediately felt a strange cool breeze – goosebumps ran across my skin.

      I turned my head sharply towards the window – it was tightly closed. The cool stream touched me again – this time on my other shoulder. Yes, it was most like someone’s light touch.

      «I’m winding myself up because of anxiety, it’s just a draft,» I stubbornly tried to convince myself, but some ancient and wise part of me knew that this was not just like that. As if to confirm my contradictory thoughts, a cold stream passed right by my ear – and then the candles went out at once. The suddenly dark room was filled with light gray smoke and the smell of burning.

      «What the hell is this?!» I froze, afraid to move. «Freeze» is the most ancient reaction to danger, and in situations of threat, both reptiles and people react the same way, trying not to give away their presence. At that moment, I did not feel like the mistress of the apartment – I was afraid of this strange cold stream.

      I held my breath. A second, three, five. Everything stopped – and I jumped up abruptly, like a thief almost caught red-handed. I ran to the bathroom and locked myself in. I stood under the cold streams of water – they sobered me up, brought me back