The Ritual

It was her; it was Gya, she was expecting her. Right now Lord? she said in her head- really?

Rose had just finished recording her first story, she had taken a break to pick up some coffee and for the first time in a week she ventured out of the comfort of her home. After so long, Rose lost her breathe at the sight of Gya; she fought the urge to delude herself with fantasies of running to her and cradling Gya in her arms. She fought the brief image in her head of a complete union so holy and blessed that somehow, someway, the agreement of their beings would finally force them both into a new timeline healed and whole.

A kiss? That’s enough she thought she doesn’t see you Rose! She told herself, she sees her own pain right now, tighten up my Queen. She took two deep breaths and released the fantasy.

Gya and Rose locked eyes, instantly Rose knew Gya wasn’t ready to be honest, not fully, she saw it in her eyes, but something had shifted within. Rose realized the shift was in herself, as instant as the moment she laid eyes on her love. It gave her the glimmer of hope that she needed. She had known this, but somehow she forgot whenever she was attached to Gya. Rose knew this was it, that she was meant to be confronted after ghosting Gya, and this would be the ultimate test of her inevitable lesson. Her lesson was simple, surrender and acceptance. Surrender and acceptance would be like the anesthesia while her heart went thru a painful surgery. The ultimate reveal would be her newfound love for herself; that love that would make it enough for her to sustain the confrontation with compassion instead of resentment.

Something happened while Rose stood in line watching Gya, as she made her way into the coffee shop. Her eyesight flashed and she felt heat rise from her spine into her crown. She looked down feeling like her whole body was about to give out. She tried hard to catch her breath, but it was becoming impossible. Rose thought about just sitting down, but the chairs seemed too far, she was going to have to tough it out. She closed her eyes and that’s when it happened.

---

As Rose opened her eyes and looked around, she wasn’t in the coffee shop anymore. She was standing in front of a dark daunting house. She blinked and suddenly she was inside. She could smell copper, even Iron almost lingering in the air, it made her stomach turn. She felt prickles on her skin as if she was being poked by a thousand razor sharp needles. Her sight was blurry, she tried to wipe her eyes to clear her vision but all she saw was smoke. Rose could hear the mumbling, she closed her eyes and focused on the sounds.

“Spirit help me” she whispered.

Her head tilted towards the mumbling, and it got clearer and clearer; it was a chant. She opened her eyes and now she was behind the house. Rose's vision was clear, the only light coming from the dark house was from a small kitchen window. All she could hear was the crescendo of a chant, and her heart pounding rapidly. Rose stepped forward to peer thru the window, it was still smoky inside, but she could make out the silhouettes. She was looking at people forming a circle in the kitchen. They were surrounding someone kneeling on the floor. Rose swallowed hard, so hard it made her ears pop. She stepped back and noticed the back door was ajar, when she looked down, she saw a massive snake slithering into the house. She thought about banging on the window to warn them, but Roses attention was captivated by the person kneeling in the circle.

Is that Gya on the floor?

A lady called everyone to silence the chanting and turned her attention to the floor. She was older, slender and had a black dress on with a black veil. The older lady reached down and picked up the dark snake, that seemed willing to participate in whatever the hell was happening. She placed the snake on a table that was sitting in the middle of the circle right in front of whoever was on the floor. She then proceeded to open the snake’s mouth to expose its fangs. Everyone else started chanting again. Rose tried to make sense of the chant, but it sounded like a foreign language, all she could make out was the word Jezebel, or at least she thought that’s what it sounded like. The older lady summoned one of the men standing in the circle and gave him control of the snake. The chanting became louder and louder. Rose didn’t want to keep looking but something paralyzed her, she couldn’t take her eyes from what she was witnessing. An older man behind the person kneeling on the floor stepped forward and pulled back their head, Rose gasped. She couldn’t see their entire face because the person on the floor was facing the opposite direction, but she could see the profile, it looked like Gya.

The older man held Gyas head by her chin and pulled it to the side, revealing her neck. The young man, the older woman had summoned, stood in front of Gya and raised the snake, fangs still exposed, and with one fell swoop dug the snakes’ fangs into Gyas neck. He then swiftly pulled the snake out and kneeled in front of her and began sucking on the very spot she was punctured. Rose finally lost it; she started banging on the window desperately screaming Gyas name.  The chanting stopped and they all looked back at Rose with an insidious stare.

Rose caught her breath finally.

---

“Hello Ma’am, what can I get for you today?” the barista said, staring at Rose.

It took a second for Rose to gather her bearings, she blinked and could feel the heat of her tears streaming down her face.

The young lady at the counter looked confused, “ma’am, are you ok?”

Rose remembered where she was “yes, I’m so sorry, i-it’s been a cr-crazy day” she stuttered.

She wasn’t lying. She hadn’t known what the fuck was going on, but she knew she wasn’t going crazy. Rose pulled out her phone only to see that it had been less than a minute since she last checked the time. It was still 2:22.

Gya! She yelled in her head.

The last time she looked outside, about 30 seconds ago, Gya was getting out of her car. They had seen each other, and Gya was making her way into the coffee shop.

As Rose placed her order, she looked behind her to see if Gya was in line; she wasn’t there.

Rose pointed her phone at the card reader and paid. She walked toward the pickup area completely confused, she looked at the parking space Gya had parked, and it was a completely different car.

The people waiting for their order all stared at Rose; she didn’t question it. She could feel the top of her blouse wet.

She finally picked up her coffee and headed out of the shop. She took one deep breath and looked up at the sky.

Am I going crazy?