Self Indulgence

Elynn doesn’t even know why, or even how, she let her best friend, Meredith, to convince her to come to this run down shack across town. Supposedly Elynn was battling inner demons which were affecting her life and this ‘Seer’, would help cleanse her of those demons. Hence, why she is standing alone outside of a dingy, shack looking building with crystals and wind chimes hanging from the rails.

Ignoring her better judgment, she walks up to the door and raises her hand to let out a quick tap. No one answers but the door opens and she swears; mentally she is already back in her car and halfway home. But physically, she walks in and closes the door behind her. Walking further in; she pauses at a doorway and sees a elder woman sitting on a pillow with a single slice of chocolate cake in front of her and six red candles surrounding her.

‘Come in, Elynn. Welcome to your cleansing, I am Madame Jean-Deveareux of the French quarter. I am the means to an end for the answers you seek, just join me on bended knee and we should have a peak’ the woman says and holds her out as an welcoming gesture.

Elynn looks around both ways, before looking at the woman skeptically. Hell, she is already here so she might as well follow through. She steps forwards and kneels parallel to the woman inside the circle with the cake in between them.

“Now ma’am, with all due respect. How the hell is a slice of cake gonna help cleanse me” Elynn asks?

“That my sweetie is your own question that you must answer by yourself. I am simply here to guide you towards that path. Take a bite of this chocolate cake and when you awake, your demons will be erased” Madama Jean says and holds a fork out to Elynn.

“Alright but if I die, I’m haunting you first and then Meredith” Elynn says as she grabs the fork. Looking at the chocolate cake, she twists the plate around to analyze it before taking a piece of it on her fork.

It doesn’t look like it’s been tampered or poisoned, and she’s a cop so she would know. Placing the cake in her mouth, the molten chocolate invades her pallet and then she feels a slight ache in her head that is gone right after. She shrugs her shoulder and takes another piece before putting down the fork, not feeling any different she looks at the Madame and shrugs her shoulders.

“I guess it doesn’t work for—, her sentence is cut off when her ears start to heat up at the top, chill runs up her spine and her vision starts to slowly fade out as the room spins before her eyes close and her body slumps to the ground, unconscious.

-X-

Elynn opens her eyes and the first thing she notices is that she is lying on a baseball field for the Chicago Cubs and the stadium is empty.

“How the hell did I get to Chicago” she asks as she stands up and notices her clothing has changed.

Looking around she notices a small red blanket laid out on the field, along with a picnic basket and a small vase with one red rose.

Bile rises in her throat as her stomach drops, a cold sensation filling her. She knows exactly where she is and the year, turning around when she hears footsteps, she is shocked to see a man she hasn’t seen in ten years.

“What’s wrong, cookie? You look like you’re looking at a ghost” he says chuckling as he approaches her.

“Warren? I can’t believe it’s you. After all of this time” she says.

“Girl, I don’t know what’s gotten into you. Now you’re starting to sound like Ms. Anita from up the street. C’mon, I packed your favorite” he says leading her over to the makeshift picnic layout.

“Hey, why don’t we go for a walk instead? Enjoy the weather and then come back in like an hour” she suggests as he sits on the blanket.

“Nah, I’m fine here. Sit down, I’m already nervous as it is. I have something very serious to talk to you abou” he says as he pulls out her favorite bottle of grape wine.

“Hey. Hey. Look at me, please let’s go. We need to leave, right now! War, you have to listen to me” Elynn begs as she grabs his hand and trying to pull him up.

He twists and tugs his hand until she falls against his chest and he cradles her body against his.

“You are still as beautiful as you were, the day I saw you by the lake five years ago. That’s when I knew then that you were meant to be my eternal love” he says stroking her cheeks and tears sting her eyes as he looks down at her with so much love.

“Warren, please don’t do this” she begs meekly, her voice barely audible to her own ears.

“Elynn Dianne Freeman, you are my light. You are my world. Without you I can’t breathe and I know that you were...that you were” Warren says and starts to tear up before a gasp escapes his lips.

“Warren? Warren what’s wrong” Elynn asks sitting up, they both glance down to see blood starting to stain the front of his shirt right in his shoulder. His body falls to the side as he lies shaking as the burning sensation travels throughout his body.

Elynn placed her hands over the bullet wound and looks up to see a sniper, at the head of the bleachers in all black with a rifle and shades over his face. He smirks at her before waving.

“I told you that there would be a price to pay, Detective. An eye for an eye, if you will” he says before taking off towards an exit.

“No” Elynn roars and goes to stand up, but a tight grip on her arm stops her. Looking down, she sees Warren’s tear stricken face and bloodied hand gripping hers that is pressed on his chest.

“Stay with me. D..don’t let me die alone” he begs.

“Shh. Shh. You’re gonna be alright War, I’m going to call 911 and they’ll be shortly and you’ll be alright. Back to your normal, annoying self” she says as her voice staggers.

“You always were a terrible liar when it came to me. Tell Ma, I love her and I’m sorry” he says.

“Sorry? You have nothing to be sorry for. Just stop talking and save your breath” Elynn says as she takes her free hand to dig in her pocket and pull out her phone; turning her head away from him.

She quickly dials 911, putting the phone to her ear as she informs the dispatch of the shooting and needing an ambulance. Once she is done she hangs up the phone.

“Ok, War. Dispatch says 5-6 minutes as the ETA, so you just hold-“ she stops when she looks down and sees his hand is limp in hers and his eyes are open but blank. She checks his radial and carotid pulse, only to feel nothing from both of them. She knows in her heart that he is gone, her best friend and first love is gone. It’s even worse because she had her back turned to him as he took his last breath; the last thing he saw was the back of her head.

-X-

Elynn has curled herself into a ball as she wheezes harshly as she cries, the vision ended less than a minute ago and she has been in that state every sense.

“Ah my child, that is what demons you hide. You turned your back on your lover and he died. A selfish act in your eyes” Madam Jean says as she pushes the cake slice away.

Elynn mumbled something but Madame could not hear her, so she leaned forward.

“What was that, my child? '' she asks, gently laying a hand on Elynn’s shoulder.

“I said, bring it back. Bring him back. I want to see him again” Elynn says while her breathing is staggered but she is determined and fierce.

“I can not bring back the dead, honey. You have faced your demons, now it’s time to release them and let them go. Holding on to them, will only drain the energy and life out of you even more” Madame says.

“I don’t care” Elynn yells before reaching up above her head and grabbing the discarded cake slice before stuffing as much as she can in her mouth, ignoring the yell to stop and warning from the Madame.

The plate drops to the flow with a loud clang before Elynn eyes roll back and her body convulses before becoming deadly still and her eyes roll back in place. Instead of their normal molton brown, they are now a clear, cloudy white and her irises are shrunken.

“Too much cake makes your face demons for all of eternity, in a timeless loop. A record that plays over and over again, until your heart stops or your demons eat you. Your greatest demon isn’t that you let the love of your life down. It’s that you are beyond selfish, your instinct wasn’t to save your friend and immediately call 911. No, you wanted to chase the shooter. Selfish. Instead of dealing with it, you allowed that behavior to continue and now make people around you suffer. That is your demon and you will relive that for the rest of your life; even after death. Self indulgence is sometimes a bad thing” Madame says before removing her head wrap to reveal two red horns on her head.