THE ISLAND OF CHARON
a novel in the series
"PLAYING ANOTHER REALITY"
CHAPTER 4. THE CAVE OF MAGICIANS.
4.3. WISH No. 1
I decided to find Voodoo people. Unlike previous nights, the purpose of my journey was formulated quite concretely, so everything would work out.
What for? I didn’t know, maybe Yanis was right…
Anyhow, Michael was on my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking of him. His last letter from the seaside town of N, where he had gone for a business trip, in response to a new portion of my pictures, I sent to him personally, in addition to posting them on the social network, because Michael had no account there, was too short.
“The islands are good for you! You look perfect! Get your wings ready! I’ll be back soon!”
…and… that’s all.
Well, he couldn’t disappear like that! Especially forever… Maybe, I offended him somehow. Besides, I wanted to talk to him, to tell him about Camotes, such an unusual (!) Island, so that Michael, being fond of all kinds of experiments with the Other Reality and discoveries in the field of quantum theories, could comment on what was happening to me there…
Having taken a torch at the reception for the journey, I went outside the fence and headed in the opposite direction from the pier, to the right, because exactly in that direction the Voodoo procession had been following the previous night.
I didn’t remember how long I walked, going over our joint stories from our lives apart, Michael and mine, but suddenly the light from the fire flickered in the distance, and I heard yesterday’s sounds!
I reached the Cave, at the entrance to which a mysterious action was taking place, apparently related to the summoning of spirits by the local magicians practicing Voodoo.
“Probably, the Portal that Yanis talked me about is located in this Cave!”
I thought that and felt someone touching my hand.
I turned around. Apparently, the Chief Wizard, a tall man in a loincloth of exotic leaves, shaved bald, but covered in tattoos depicting snakes, magic symbols and spell words, sharply pushed me inside the circle formed by the dancers, and a dark-skinned girl with an ash-painted face drew a secret sign on my forehead and held out a smoking incense.
To the sounds of terrifying ritual tambourines, drumming and the crackling of bonfires, shooting up into the black-book Sky, the ritualists came up to me one by one, dancing and chanting formulas of spells in an unknown language until I felt dizzy, and I collapsed, losing consciousness.
I woke up in a candle-lit Cave by an underground Lake, looked around and saw the Chief Wizard. He was sitting at a wooden table and leafing through parchment scrolls. As soon as he realized that I was okay, he gestured for me to sit down nearby, scanning my soul up and down.
In addition to the scrolls, I noticed two ancient books on the table. The cover of one of them had a picture of the Sun, the other — of the Moon.
The Chief Wizard silently handed me the Moon Book and gestured to open it.
I opened the Book on a random page, and I couldn’t believe my eyes! — Michael… It was his picture there, to the left of mine, placed on the very same spread, just like in the Anthology, where our articles had been published side by side…
It gave me a shiver! Of course, there was some magic involved!
I looked questioningly at the Wizard. He grinned and called someone, handing to me a red candle and a corked bottle (with wine?).
The dark-skinned girl, apparently his assistant, appeared in the Cave. She approached us and, addressing me, said in English,
“Light this candle at night. And when HE comes, drink the potion with him.”
“Oh my Go…” I was about to mention the Creator, but the girl covered my mouth with her hand.
“This is inappropriate here. You owe us two lanterns,” she said quietly and immediately added, “Two lanterns first, and then start the ritual. It’s your first time, isn’t it?”
“Excuse me, shall I bring two lanterns here?”
The Chief Wizard chuckled, and the girl simply smiled.
“No, not here! Hang them on the Wish Tree.”
The Wizard pointed me out of the Cave. I obediently took the candle and the potion, and I was already heading for the exit, but the girl remembered an important detail.
“In 24 hours, the contents of the bottle will go bad!” she shouted.
I nodded and — damn me! — I asked, “What’s in the bottle?”
“Blood with milk!” the girl answered seriously, but in a moment she burst out laughing as well as the Wizard.
I didn’t remember my way “home”, still being in a light hypnotic trance under the influence of shamanic incense, but I remembered that I hid the candle and the bottle in the closet, and then, coming to my senses, I took out the diary and wrote down my previous day…
“Michael… I wished he had been with me on the Island!”