A Blizzard of Shadows

By @Lymmerik

"Me thinks you carry the burden of many spirits to the full of the moon. From those that you carry, the throes of death will visit, but the spirits will not be triumphant. But woe unto you if you do not find credence in he that speaks truth; for he was born in the house of the star Aldebaran. You will recognize him in a blizzard of shadows, for his forehead is marked with Victory. That is all."

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The pupils of the gypsy's eyes were that of a cat. She was looking through me at that point. My left leg was jittering up and down like a spring-loaded Jack-In-The-Box. I wanted to ask her to explain what she had said so that I could understand what it meant, but I stood up and got the hell out of there. That was three days ago and I haven't slept since.

I had to push my way in the door of my neighborhood bar. It was early in the night, around nine o'clock, and the bar was nearly full. Fortunately, I spied a seat at the end of the bar and slid into it before anyone else did.

"What'll you have, Mac?" Asked the bartender.

"My head hurts! I'm exhausted, and I want a drink." I said to the bartender. "Whiskey, Neat. It's Ryan, not Mac."

It went right over his head, He probably calls everyone Mac. I used to come to this bar more frequently and I knew most of the staff, but I didn't recognize this one.

"Six dollars." He said, as he spun a bar napkin down in front of me and sat my drink on it.

I reached for my wallet, but I had left it at home. I guess I had that look of OMG, where's my wallet, because he reached back and picked up the drink.

"Woah there, Mac!" I said, pulling a twenty out of my front jeans pocket.

"No problem." He said. "There've been some doozies in here this evening, tonight's the full moon and it brings all the crazies out! Sorry..."

My blood ran cold and my trick knee was bouncing again so violently that I cracked it on the underside of the bar. It was the full moon and I had almost forgotten the gypsy's utterance. I lifted the libation to my lips and downed it, looked at the bartender, but he was already on his way with the whiskey bottle.

"Make this one a double." I instructed. "I need to forget about my troubles. Can you leave the bottle? I have more cash and I'll make it worth you time."

"Sorry, Ryan, no can do, state law. I'm Aldy." He said. "I'll take care of you, though."

"Nice to meet you. You're new aren't you?" I asked.

"Kinda, I've been here almost a month. Why? You a regular?"

"Of sorts, I usually hang out here with the crazies on the full moon!" I punned, laughingly. "Aldy, is that German, Austrian?"

"Romanian, short for Aldebaran."

I was stunned, WTF! Who names their kid Aldebaran? The old gypsy's discourse was ringing in my ears. The bartender stepped back to the sound system behind him and cranked up the music. I swallowed that double shot down and raised my glass for another!

Four doubles later, and I needed to leave, but I couldn't move. The bar was full to beyond a capacity crowd. When I swiveled the barstool around, I saw that I was surrounded by seven really beautiful women. I was out of money and without my wallet, no credit.

"Time for me to go, Aldy." I slurred.

"Hey, you aren't driving, are you?" He cautioned.

"No, I live around the corner about a block, I'm walking."

With that, I stood up, and fell flat on my face, right at the feet of the most beautiful women of the seven. They gasped. I'm a big guy but they obliged anyway. I regained my composure and introduced myself. Each of them introduced themselves as well, but the only name I can remember is Maia, the one that I thought was the most beautiful and the one who really helped me off the floor.

The room was spinning and I saw two of each of them. Blurs of shadows surrounded me. The alcohol was speaking for me by then and I got carried away with Maia. I took her arm to balance myself and her eyes widened.

I suddenly felt sick and looked around for the bathroom, but there were a hundred people in the way. I continued to hang onto Maia and she was signaling to Aldy for help.

Aldy caught sight of Maia's S.O.S signal and came out from behind the bar. Inaudible words came out of her mouth to Aldy. I couldn't hold it in any longer and I threw up at her feet. I thought I was going to die. Aldy took hold of my shirt collar with great force.

"Look, Ryan, you've got to leave. You've had way too much to drink." Aldy wasn't the least bit apologetic; he was very stern.

"Screw you, man!" I yelled, waggling my finger in his face. "Me and Maia here are talking!"

"Hey, leave now, or I'll throw you out on your chin."

I proceeded to let out a rant of words that aren't even words in my drunken stupor. I didn't even understand what I was saying. Aldy grabbed me up and pushed his way through the crowd with me in tow. He kicked open the front door and pushed me out, but he was right behind me.

"Come on Ryan, you're a great looking guy. Do you think that a woman of such beauty would even give you the time of day in your condition?" He lectured.

I uttered some giggledy-gush. He shook his head and yelled at the sky.

"What is wrong with people?"

"I can't go home, they're hiding in the shadows." I tried to say, but it sounded like I had a mouth full of goulash.

"Look! Truth? Go home, sleep it off." He screamed. "I've about had it with you! If you don't leave right now, I'm going to...DAMN!

His face reddened and I noticed a blood red "V" in the center of his brow. Suddenly, I was sober! The face of the gypsy woman appeared before me. She was reciting her prophecy audibly.

"Me thinks you carry the burden of many spirits to the full of the moon. From those that you carry, the throes of death will visit, but the spirits will not be triumphant. But woe unto you if you do not find credence in he that speaks truth; he was born in the house of the star Aldebaran. You will recognize him in a blizzard of shadows, for his forehead is marked with Victory. That is all."

Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings! I hope you enjoyed it!

@Lymmerik

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This story is loosely based on the Greek Myth of the Seven Sisters, also known as the star cluster Pleiades, in the constellation of Taurus. The character Aldebaran's name is the name of the star in between the eyes on the brow, the "V" of the forehead of the constellation Taurus, The Bull. The character Ryan's name came from the Constellation Orion, the lustful giant, who pursued the Seven Sisters. The character Maia was, in Greek mythology, the leader of the seven sisters and the mother of Hermes by Zeus.