Wings Of The Incubus

Chapter 3

Victor woke up in his old childhood room at his parent's house. Bottom of the barrel again is what this felt like. Cramming 4 people in a 2 bedroom house with one bathroom in the hood was nothing short of uncomfortable. He woke up in shame thinking of how he thought his life would amount to more by now. 25 was the year that the brain was supposed to be developed yet he still had no clue what the f**k to do with his life. Laying there, he stared at the ceiling of the smallest bedroom in the house and dreaded the idea of going back to his Colorado contacts for flooring. it's not that work wasn't consistent, its just that the agencies out here always took too much and left the contractors with the scraps. in addition, they would fine the contractors over s**t that couldn't be helped like the time he had to do a tile repair because the customers kid poured spaghetti sauce into the fresh white grout. why was it his fault that the customers dumb ass kids f****d up the floor? why was he getting charged for that?

Victor heard a knock at the door. It was his sister.

Beth: I'm going to the hospital. are you riding with me.

Victor: I'll pass today

Beth: we're gonna start staying the night to see if mom wakes up from her coma. we just want someone there.

Victor: i can go tonight. I'll figure out a ride.

Beth: be sure to get there before visiting hours end. the hospitals have been acting odd with this new pandemic.

Victor: will they let me stay?

Beth: only one person a night

Victor: what a joke. a bunch of people have to go without being by their loved ones with real illnesses over a little flu thats going around?

Beth: its more than just a flu apparently

Victor: as it looks right now, it a load of crap to me. just the media making a mountain out of a molehill again

Victor got up and started getting dressed when he didn't hear a response. Beth was stressed and for all of the family, it seemed that the s**t was hitting the fan in all of the worst ways. He felt responsible for his mom being in this spot. If he wasn't so insistent on borrowing money from his step father to start his own business in another state with a better market, they wouldn't have been in that big fight that caused this. He beat the crap outta her because Victor never paid him back after he moved out there. The biggest part of the fight was that he asked why my dad didn't help pay for my venture. He found out that my dad wouldn't help because "her rich boyfriend could just pay for it". He got angry and tossed her across the room and she hit her head against the headboard of their bed. that night he got arrested and my mom got arrested too on a warrant she never told Victor about. come to find out, Victor's mom had a brain aneurysm from that domestic dispute. a ticking time bomb in her brain that just so happened to put her in the hospital.

Last night was exhausting for Victor. the surgery was a success but she was in a coma for the time being. the night of the surgery, my mom's boyfriend completely bailed. what a catch right? he couldn't really blame the guy though. he only had been dating her for a few months and then this real s**t goes down. it would take a special man to step up and help there and he just wasn't it. Victor was surprised he even showed up but he just guessed it was because he didn't really know what all of this really meant.

Victor wasn't sure what he was going to do today but he was hurting. his last chance to see his mom normal or okay and he wasn't there because his flight arrived that night and when the exhaustion kicked in, he blacked out and woke up to the phone call that she was in surgery. He would make it to the hospital but for now, he would go find some help. facing his mom dying felt unbareable because this was the person who had been in his corner his whole life. he felt like a coward not being there and facing the music but also, he needed to prepare for the night mentally and have enough to keep him busy in that room alone.

Victor went to the store to pick up a couple books, some snacks, and some puzzles. then he felt this impulse to walk into a metaphysical store. it had been a couple months since he had acknowledged his spiritual side and it was always a huge relief to just walk through a metaphysical book store. the smells, the sights, the energy, and the people were always the most kind and sweet people he'd met in his life. he walked through the door and strolled around but a woman dressed in native American attire approached him.

Raven: hello i am raven and I'm a healer here. i noticed that you are in great pain.

Victor: no thank you. i can't afford to do anything like that today.

raven: free of charge today. i can just see that you need my help. you're not here today without reason or purpose.

Victor shrugged and followed the lady into the back. she closed the door behind them revealing a small room that was naturally lit. there was a 2 red leather chairs across from another at a table in the center of the room and a folded up massage table on the side of the room. Victor sat down and raven sat in front of him.

raven: tell me what troubles you

Victor: you're the psychic you told me

raven: i don't do parlor tricks. i can only see that you're in great pain. I won't try to scam you. if you think my healing did not help you when this is done, you can go freely without charge as promised. If I have helped you, i simply ask for a tip of whatever you think is fair.

Victor: my mom is dying and it's my fault

Raven: the guilt isn't yours to bare. It's his fault, not yours. The universe will deliver appropriate adversity to his path.

Victor felt a chill run up his spine when she said that.

Raven: this is not the healing. I am simply stating facts. If you close your eyes, i will begin.

Raven stood up and approached him from his chair as Victor closed his eyes and surrendered. He felt a subtle magnetic force pull at his head as Raven spoke again.

Raven: you have great potential in this life that you are wasting. You are running from your responsibilities even now as you come here.

Victor: you're not helping

Raven: i need to draw out the negativity in your mind

Victor relaxed again

Raven: there's something else. You have 2 souls and one is in a cage. The mage guards the cage with the black angel in it. You will have a choice coming in the future between an apocalypse where you find happiness and letting go of that happiness and feel a pain you can never show to anyone.

Victor could feel the magnetic pull on his scalp as he felt his head pulsating a light sensation. how long had it been since he was a part of this world? he had seen, felt, and done things he could never explain. if he tried, most would consider him bat-s**t crazy. Few people cared to even try to understand that side of him, aside from his close friend Jack. In that chair that Victor was being healed in, the woman could sense his tension ease as he thought of his fondest memories.

Raven: Yes,

just like that. Stay right where you are in your aura. I feel you healing faster.

The memories washed through Victor, starting with the day that his roommate, Jack, said "I want you to try something for me". He placed a piece of iron pyrite in his hands and asked him to wear it in his left pocket. That day at work, he found himself feeling a lot different and a lot less frustrated with work. He had been working 2 jobs at that point and it was burning him out. However, at that moment when he walked into his first job, he felt this enormous weight off of his shoulders that he couldn't really make sense of. Victor forgot that he had the stone in his pocket until the end of the day at job one. Between jobs, he went home to get changed. When the car keys hit the table, so did the iron pyrite. Looking back, only profound thoughts filled Victor's mind and he was naturally curious if it was the stone that had that impact. Even when it was the last thing on his mind going in, he felt notably different. His second job was independent contracting as a handy man. He was just a helper for a more experienced guy who hired him on a whim. Victor's hope was to learn enough to start doing jobs on his own. When he went into his second job and started doing the cuts for his boss to lay tiles and finish the night job that they were working on. Victor noticed that his cuts were on point today and that he didn't have to throw away any tiles as scrap. Later that night, when Victor got home to his roommate, they had a long talk and Victor was opened to a whole new world. Jack had explained the science behind how the stone affected him and the science baffled him. There were legitimate studies on magnetic frequencies to our bodies and the things around us.

The healing was concluded and after Raven finished, she sat in front of him.

Raven: you are healed but i sense a great pain ahead of you. this healing is free and as will your next one when that day comes.

Victor stood and thanked the woman with a heavy and ominous feeling in his chest. When he left, he checked his phone and his friend Stacy called him. He called her back.

Stacy: hello

Victor: yeah you called

Stacy: just wanting to check up on you. i haven't seen you since you left but i heard about your mom. I'm really sorry.

Victor: its okay. what are you doing today?

Stacy: i have a small gap between my classes and my shift at work. i can meet you somewhere if you want

Victor: don't you use that time for sleep?

Stacy: don't worry about that. I'm a master of power naps. besides. what kind of a friend would i be if i didn't at least try to be there? we've known each other for what? half of our lives now.

Victor: just let me know what time works for you.

Stacy: alright. I'm gonna try to catch a bite before my next class. I'll text you a time after i eat. okay?

Victor: sounds good. I'll talk to you later

Stacy: bye

Victor: bye