Magic of Sight

Even if you don't say it out loud, if your subconscious makes a wish, that's enough.

My name is Victoria Adamsling, and I never believed in magic.

 

 

I was born without the belief of Santa or the Easter bunny. I knew they were fake. As a little girl, I would try  to convince my younger friends that  Santa Claus was really just your immature parents buying you presents  to make sure you don’t whine. I hardly ever got any presents, and I couldn’t believe someone as "jolly" as  Santa could be so mean.

I should have believed.

I was walking through the park one day. Boring.

The trees were changing colors. Finally.

Some children were discussing why they changed. One screamed, "leaf fairies change the colors!"

Stupid kids. Ugh.

I kept walking, lowering my head and pulling my hood up. I probably looked like a regular thug.

I walked through the park, more for exercise than to admire the scenery.

I happened upon a fountain.

It was one of those old ones, the ones in front of churches. It had an angel in it, and it was full of pennies.

Some little kid was throwing a bunch of coins in it. She kept throwing more and more in, pulling them  endlessly out of this stupid, pink, fluffy purse.

I don’t know what came over me, but her childish determination struck something in me.

I walked over and stood next to her. She dropped a penny and didn't notice. She continued throwing.

She shortly realized she was short one, and turned to pick it up, and saw me.

"miss! Miss! Did you know, if you land a penny in her hand, she'll grant a wish?"

"really now?" I replied playfully. I held my hand out gently for her to put a penny in.

I aimed carefully, and threw it. it landed straight into her open hands.

"Miss! You did it! now close your eyes and make a wish!"

I closed my eyes a hummed softly, pretending to wish. Of course, I didn't.

I opened my eyes and smiled. "made my wish."

Her mom suddenly came up behind her and patted her on the head. "made a new friend?"

"momma! She got a penny in the angel's hands!" she bounced a little as her mom led her away, smiling  gratefully at me.

I smiled back.

...well, I guess being a kid was fun, sometimes.

 

That night, I sat on the couch, eating and watching TV, as I always have.

Nothing much was happening, but my TV was being very difficult with me. It was glitching and the display  was flashing.

I got up and sighed, frustrated. I gave it a good kick, done with it. it was like a hundred years old, I was gonna get it replaced anyway.

It cracked in half.

Oh.

But suddenly, the crack expanded. It kept getting wider. I backed slightly away.

It then burst open in a shower of metal, almost cutting me.

When I opened my eyes, in my living room was what appeared to be a regular old angel.

"who are you?!" I screamed at it.

"I'm the angel from the fountain." it said, voice very melodic, like listening to music.

"the angel from the fountain… are you here for your stupid wish?! I don’t believe in you!!" I screamed,  covering my eyes. There was no way this was real, no way at all!

"I am real. You don’t believe in me, and that's okay. But I think you should have a bit more faith…" it said,  coming closer. I backed up to a wall.

I stared it in the eyes. "you can't hurt me."

"no, I can't. I'm going to help you. Open your eyes a bit wider, if you would."

"why?"

"it's alright. I wont hurt you. I promise."

I guess it was the notion of it being angelic, or maybe I was just an idiot, but I did just that. I opened them  just slightly wider.

"good. Thank you. My job is done."

What'd she do? Nothing changed as far as I could tell.

As suddenly as she appeared, she was gone.

My TV laid in shattered pieces, electricity crackling.

I was too damn tired from this. I must just be seeing things… and hearing things… or something.

I stood there for a while, staring at the TV and the spot where the angel used to be.

Then I gave up and went to bed.

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning, I could hardly even think straight. Ughh. I hardly slept. I stayed up thinking about that  angel.

I stumbled into my bathroom, eyes closed, feeling around so I didn’t hurt myself. I leaned against my sink  for a while, trying to wake up. I opened my eyes slowly.

Everything was foggy. I looked in the mirror and-

"AAAAAAH!"

There was something behind me. I spun around and threw the best punch I could, but it-

It went right through it. my fist hit the wall.

Now let me describe what I was seeing so you can understand what was happening here.

It was this thing. It looked almost like a porcelain doll. White face, red lips, pink blush, all this make up and  stuff… it was freaky. The face was all cracked.

I ran. I bolted out of the room and behind my couch. I laid there on the floor for a while, breathing heavily,  holding my toothbrush.

When I finally sat up, I stared right into the face of that angel.

"AH! WILL  YOU STOP SCARING ME!"

It didn’t even register what I said. It started fading.

"you've been blessed with vision. Have faith. Have faith. Have faith…" it repeated as it slowly disappeared.

"Wait! What vision? Help me!"

"believe in me, and you cant get hurt…" it was almost a whisper now.

Uncertain of what else to do, I screamed, "I BELIEVE IN YOU!"

The fading stopped. Everything went silent.

With a burst of smoky whiteness, the angel came into full opacity.

Before, it was foggy and concealed. Now, I could see clearly.

It looked like a rendition of the virgin Mary. Long blonde hair, white robes, wings, the whole deal.

She was also floating a foot off the ground.

Seeing as crazier s**t had happened to me in the last two days, I was willing to let it slide.

"what… are you..?" I mumbled, unable to speak correctly.

"I'm your guardian angel, Lilith." she answered, as if programmed.

"what was that thing in my bathroom?!"

"a creation of Satan. They are sent to those with the vision. They want to hurt you, but as long as you  believe in me, they cannot."

I stared in disbelief. Angels, Satan, what…

I shook my head. "okay, so-" I was cut off as a little, midnight black fairy flew into my face. It was laughing  maniacally in a high pitched voice.

Lilith shot a hand out and touched it. it burst into white flame, quickly dissolving into blackened ash.

I sat, frozen.

I sat there in silence for a while. Lilith seemed to humor me, staring at me in silence as well.

When I finally spoke, I said the most eloquent thing I've ever said.

"uh…. What the crap?"

"I destroyed a creation of Satan and saved your life." she said, in a way that was not asking even for a thank  you.

"uh. Thanks." I said anyway, very awkward and unsure of what to do in this kind of situation.

"any other questions?"

"uh… not that I can think of?" I replied, too much in shock to understand the question completely.

"ill be off, then."

And she was gone.

I sat there, still, for quite a long time. I finally slumped over and laid down on the rug covered floor.

There was no way I was gonna go to work that day.

 

 

 

I wandered around my house in a daze, eating a bit here and there, and trying to avoid the inevitable.

I couldn’t, for long.

I let my curiosity overpower my common sense, and I opened my front door.

As I peeked out through the gap between the door and the frame, all I saw was black. I slammed it shut  again.

I stood there for a brief moment, then I tried to open it again.

Black.

I shut it once more.

I ran to a window, a thing I'd avoided all day.

I pulled open the dark curtains covering it and almost regretted it dearly.

Beyond the window, all I could see was glimpses of the neighborhood, all of it occupied by these huge bug- like things that were everywhere. They covered every inch of everything, almost blocking my view.

I heard a small noise behind me and spun around.

Behind me was floating one of these very satanic insects.

It was big, with antler-like feelers on it's head. It was completely black, save for it's white eyes with no  pupils.

I grabbed the thing nearest me and swung. Turns out, it was a lamp. Oh, ok.

I hit it, but, like the doll, it went right through it. it didn’t move, however. Just hovered there, a foot or two  away from me.

To get a better shot, I stepped forward.

It floated a bit back.

I stepped forward again. It moved back a bit more.

I began to swing the lamp wildly, hitting everything in my path, but not that freaky beetle. I did so for a  short time, swinging it back and forth, knocking over everything in my path in a mixture of fear and anger.

I finally stopped, panting and holding the now shattered lamp.

I felt a tap on my shoulder I swung around, ready to strike again. I froze just fast enough to see- not a bug,  but Lilith. I lowered the lamp and stepped aside, letting her do her work. She reached out and touched the  insect with one finger, just giving it a tap, and then disappearing once again. As I looked towards where she  used to be, I was startled to hear a fizzing and looked back. The satanic roach-beetle was disappearing in an  ember of white flame.

I sat back in my chair, sighing. This was going to be difficult.

 

 

 

My life went like this for a few days. Every day, at least five creatures attacked me. I was in my own home,  too! I used to think of this one bedroom apartment as a bit of a safe haven, but no longer.

One day, the doll came back. As I usually did, I froze. I waited for Lilith to appear.

She didn't.

The doll suddenly started moving. It had never moved before. It just stood there. But it moved.

And it was moving towards me.

This had never happened before. I didn't know what to do. So I ran.

Everyone has a fight or flight instinct. I've never been a strong or brave person. I prefer to walk away from  conflicts. So when I say I always take the flight, I mean it. and let me tell you, flight is kind of a talent of  mine. I was my middle school's track and field star. Now that I needed to run, trust me, I gave it everything I  got.

I charged towards the front of my house. The doll seemed to be following me. It was just walking, though,  and I was pretty much turning half cheetah at this point.

I ran towards the front door, and when I got there, I paused with my hand on the handle.

Out there, there were those beetles. I didn't know what happened to Lilith. The doll was coming up behind  me and from my experience, I can't harm them.

I took a brief second to think.

Using every ounce of power in my mind, I remembered quickly that there was a church almost right across  the street from me. From watching doctor who a bit too much, I had knowledge that most demons could  not enter churches or places of worship. They might have holy water or something there too, so I could  defend myself.

I opened the door and ran. I ran right through all these bugs, all of them- as if they got a signal- forming into  a large cloud and flying after me. I kept running, the church was right there. I got to the church and grabbed  the handle and-

Oh.

It was locked.

The bugs were a bit away, but closing in quickly. I slid down the door. My thoughts all went through my  head at once, but I remember each of them very clearly.

Lilith hadn't been there for me. Was she really real? I said I believed in her but….

Even then she hadn't saved me. I was losing faith.

But at the same time, she'd always been there for me before. I didn't understand at all. But I knew one  thing.

I had to believe.

I waited, terrified. The black insects were getting closer, the swarm getting bigger. A few were buzzing  around me, waiting for the rest of the team.

I waited, and I waited.

When they finally got to me, I let them surround me. It hurt so much. Every time the bugs touched me, it  felt like my skin was burning. I screamed as loud as I could, but it seemed almost like no one was around.

Then I remembered.

When I said that I believed, the angel stopped fading. It must be a trigger. It has to be. And I really didn't  have much else to do. So, I opened my mouth and screamed as loud as I possibly could.

"I BELIEVE!!"

 

Everything froze.

I stood in the same spot for half a second, then suddenly-

WHOOSH.

Everything was white. It was so bright! Every single bug burst into flames. It hurt a lot, the flames were  getting me. It burned, so much… I couldn’t move. I was paralyzed. Everything hurt.

I fell. I laid there on the ground, in so much pain. It hurt to breathe. So much… pain… I couldn’t even explain  to you how much it hurt.

Then it was gone. Just gone. Nothing hurt. The flames were gone and the bugs were gone too.

I then heard Lilith's voice, from in front of me, though I couldn’t see her.

It was fading in and out, hard to hear.

"I've removed your curse of sight. You're freed from the vision. No longer do you need to protect yourself or  me to protect you. I will always be with you."
  I reached out to where the voice was coming from. "No! Wait!"

"have faith…"
  "Don't go! Please, wait!"

"have faith…"

"PLEASE! LILITH, COME BACK!"

 

"you have to believe……."

 

And then it was gone.

 

 

 

 

From then on, I've believed.
  there is monster under your bed. There is a skeleton in your closet. That creepy house is definitely haunted.

I've never again seen a satanic creation, I've never again heard Lilith's voice. I doubt it sometimes, maybe it  was all a dream.

I was fired from my job for daydreaming too much, remembering that time. I lost a lot of friends, they didn't  believe my stories. I've been shunned quite a bit.

But through all this, no matter what, I know one thing.

 

My name is Victoria Adamsling, and I  believe.

Author's Note

Maaaan, this is old! Really old! Wow! Um, I think I've improved since then, but... yknow.
I like the concept enough to share. <3