Pheromoan

Chapter 5

Guilt seeped into every thought like red wine seeping into a white couch. I stole glances at Venus—or Dr. Desir, whatever she wanted to be called at this point. My head was spinning, flashes of white taking over my vision sporadically. I rubbed my temples, trying to calm the sudden throbbing pain.

"Tarot, you should lay down. You don't look so good."

I shook my head, laying down onto the couch. The flashes of white picked up until I couldn't see anything. Before I knew it, everything stopped. The sounds of the world were replaced with a deafening silence, as if someone had pressed pause on life. I looked around Venus's office, but she was nowhere to be found. I called out her name, but nothing came out. I tried over and over with no change. I walked to the door of the office. The hall was dark, no sign of the waiting room—just a dark hall with three doors labeled with the numbers zero, seven, and five.

I chose the one closest to me, which was zero. I opened it slowly, afraid of what was inside. Faint cries came from within. I stepped further into the dark room to see a light hanging in front of a window. I made my way in further, letting curiosity get the best of me. A room full of babies came into view. It looked like they were in a hospital nursery. The room was empty besides the babies and a figure standing over one of them.

I walked closer to get a better view. The figure hovered over the baby, their dark cloak covering the view of their face. Soft, eerie whispers could be heard over the sounds of cooing and soft cries from the babies. I stepped forward. As I got closer, the figure moved further away before everything went black once again.

I opened my eyes. I was still in Venus's office, her concerned face staring at me.

"Are you okay? I didn't think that would affect you like that."

I rubbed my head, trying to clear the haze away.

"What did you do to me?"

She shrugged.

"I can't explain it, but I basically gave you a piece of your memory back."

I looked her over, hoping she was kidding, but no sign of a joke was displayed on her face.

"So you're telling me you can show me my memories that I don't remember? So, those other doors I saw are also memories?"

She nodded, moving closer to me, sitting beside me, and resting her hand on my knee. My mind raced with the new memory.

"Do you also see the memories too?"

She nodded slowly, her gaze drifting off. The same eerie feeling from the memory echoed around the room.

"Was that baby me? Who was the figure?"

She stood up abruptly, opening her office door.

"My next appointment will be here any minute. We'll talk about this next week."

I watched her silently, confused. She didn't meet my eye. I nodded, chuckling bitterly. I should have known better—this was just a job for her. Now I know why her Yelp reviews are so good.

I got up, anger soaking every thought as I walked out. She put her hand on my arm, stopping me.

"They are watching you. Be careful, Tarot."

She stared into my eyes, her mauve gaze riddled with fear. I nodded hesitantly before making my exit quickly.

A million thoughts filled the silence of the car. I gripped the steering wheel tightly, unsure what my next move was going to be. I stared at my mom's small blue cabin with the rickety wrap-around porch where I had my first memories of Cypress Hollow. The house was now a shell of all those memories. They played back like a movie in front of me, pulling me into a daze. The door swinging open pulled me out of the trance I was under.

My mother came out in her gardening getup, struggling with a big bag of soil. I got out quickly, making my way to her before she could fully step out the door, throwing the heavy bag over my shoulder effortlessly. She spun around quickly, angry eyes about to tell me off until she got a glimpse of my face. She smiled.

"Tarot, baby, what are you doing here? About to give your mother a heart attack! Where's Monica and Shadow?"

I placed the bag of soil next to her garden bed before kissing her forehead and hugging her tightly.

"Tarot, baby, what's wrong?"

I hugged her deeper, feeling some weight being lifted off my shoulders. I pulled away, searching her concerned eyes.

"Who's my dad, Mom? No lies this time, please."

Her whole demeanor changed. She was shutting down, her eyes glazed over as if she were in a trance.

"Your dad is a very busy man, Tarot—"

I shook my head, putting my hand on her cheeks.

"Mom, look at me. Come back."

The familiar smell of fresh strawberries and warm vanilla invaded all my senses. I knew she was coming for me again. I blinked away the black spots in my vision as the smell intensified, causing my consciousness to fade. The vision of my mom's vacant body stared back at me, motionless. I fought to stay awake with everything in me, but it overtook me in minutes.

"Silly boy, you know when I call, you come."

I watched her with angry eyes.

"Aww, you're mad? How cute that you think I care about your anger."

She stood in front of me, running her claws through my hair roughly, forcing my head back. I winced, looking up. Her pitch-black eyes bore into me, sending shivers down my spine. She sat on my lap, playing with the ends of my hair softly, never breaking her piercing eye contact, before snapping her fingers over my face.

My mouth opened. I sighed in relief.

"What do you want from me, Akila?"

She smiled, showing her sharp teeth, running her tongue over her canines.

"Well, Tarot, at first you were going to be my appetizer before I finished my 'murdering' spree. Now that I've had a taste of that delicious mystery power of yours, I can't get enough—especially after you caught the attention of some high-profile people in my world."