Chapter 2 Arden Without Supernatural Power
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
March 13, 2024
I looked at the watch on my hand, it was already five in the afternoon but Jacob hadn't come to pick me up. I should have expected this from the start, Jacob was too busy with his work at the car repair shop so he shouldn't have forced himself to pick me up.
I had to take my phone out of my bag to contact this man who was always late. After 30 seconds of waiting, annoying Jacob still hasn't picked up his phone. I was starting to lose patience, it was still too cold and waiting in the cold wasn't something I wanted to do.
"Jake, you're really annoying. You shouldn't have had to tell me to wait for you." I cursed in my heart.
Behind me, three girls were whispering to each other talking about me and their whispering voices could be heard quite clearly in my ears. I sighed, this is my second year at university and I'm still the subject of gossip on my campus.
"She's that psychic, right? I heard she can see the future."
"Isn't it rumored that she can tell fortunes?"
"I heard that she can see supernatural creatures, but her appearance looks ordinary."
The girls were talking behind me as if I couldn't hear them. Psychic, clairvoyant and able to see supernatural beings? It seems too far-fetched. I can't tell fortunes, I'm not a psychic and I can't see spirits at all. Just because I'm a descendant of the Arden family of psychics and the most legendary wizards in the Appalachian mountain region, doesn't mean I'm special.
"Psychic, huh? Hmm...if I had magical powers like that, I would definitely be able to make money easily." I thought. I feel a little disappointed in this part because I really don't have any possessions that my parents left to me apart from the ring that my grandfather gave me 10 years ago on the day of my mother's funeral.
Poor, lonely, neither smart nor talented. Being born as an ordinary girl made me live life not easily.
"S-sorry, excuse me?" One of the three girls finally greeted me. Meanwhile, the other two girls just smiled awkwardly.
"Yes? How can I help you?"
"You're Layla Marie Arden from the arts faculty, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Let me introduce myself, I'm Melisa, they are both Stephanie and Kerry. We are from the Faculty of Social Sciences. You see, we heard that you are the granddaughter of the famous psychic, James Arden who appeared on TV several years ago and also the daughter of the famous fortune teller, Fiona Arden."
"Yes, that's right, but my grandfather died three years ago and my mother also died 10 years ago."
"Is that so? So, do you also have supernatural powers like your grandfather and your mother? Because what we heard is that the Arden family has been a paranormal family for generations."
"Paranormal family?" I thought. I have known for a long time that most of my family members work as psychics, such as fortune tellers, psychics, exorcists, and even my ancestors were accused of being witches because of their terrible abilities.
These three girls looked at me expectantly as if waiting for my answer. Honestly, I didn't know what to say to them because I was worried that my answer wouldn't satisfy them enough.
"Sorry, but unfortunately I don't have that kind of magical power at all. I'm just an ordinary person like you."
"Really?" They looked in disbelief. My dark brown hair and brown eyes make them think that I look like a psychic.
"My grandfather is indeed a psychic, but I have no talent at all."
"That's a shame, isn't it? Even though we wanted to be told a fortune. Because horoscopes alone aren't enough, right?"
"You guys believe in prophecies?"
"I believe because often the horoscope proves true for me." Said Melissa.
"I actually don't really believe it, only 50 percent." Stephanie said. She smiled broadly as if to show that she was just going along. As for Kerry, she seemed like someone who would rather hear gossip about me than be told a fortune.
"So, you can tell fortunes?" Melisa asked.
"Ahahaha...sorry, I can't predict at all."
"Is that so? What a shame, even though I had prepared money for the prediction."
"Money? What do you mean, you will pay with money to have your fortune told?"
"Of course, if you come to a fortune teller you definitely have to pay them?"
I was silent for a moment, I didn't expect someone like me to have a chance of making money if I could predict. I used to complain to my mother, who was a fortune teller, because she thought it was a strange job.
"Damn it, if only I had the abilities of mother and grandfather. What should I do?" I thought. I started to be tempted to become a psychic if it could make me money.
"How about it, Layla? You really can't tell fortunes?"
"I can! A-actually I can tell fortunes, it's just that I'm embarrassed to tell other people. That's why-"
"Really? You can really tell fortunes?"
"S-sure,"
"Are you serious?"
"Hahaha...of course I'm serious." I answered while laughing awkwardly. I don't know why I have to lie like this.
"Okay, when can you come to my house? I want you to tell my fortune at my house."
"In your home?"
"Yes, I will pay 200 dollars and if your prediction is proven, I will give you 100 dollars plus help promote your prediction skills."
"Does anyone still believe in predictions nowadays?"
"Hey, people actually just pretend they don't believe it so they don't think they're old-fashioned. But actually, secretly, those people definitely check their zodiac predictions on the internet every day, hahaha..." Melisa giggled with her two friends. While I'm still quite surprised by this one fact.
"Oh, I see?" I'm starting to think that it seems like the profession of being a psychic, psychic or clairvoyant isn't so bad. I might be able to earn money with that job, but there is a problem that makes me unsure whether I can carry out a profession that has been passed down for six generations while I am the seventh generation.
"Layla, how? Can you tell fortunes or not?"
"Huh? Yes, I can. But I can't do that now. Today I have something important to do, so-"
"How about tomorrow? Do you have time tomorrow? If your class is finished tomorrow we can go to my house."
"Tommorow?"
"Because I can't wait, I want you to predict my love problems. There's a guy I like, but I heard news that the guy lives at home with a woman. So I want to know whether I still have hope or not?" Melisa looked so hopeful and that actually made me even more depressed. Somehow I started to feel sorry for telling unnecessary lies.
"O-okay,"
After exchanging phone numbers, the three of them left, leaving me who was starting to get confused and depressed by what I had just promised.
"How is this? Fortune-telling? How can I predict? I don't have that kind of power at all?" I screamed in my heart.
When my mind was busy fighting with my heart, I didn't realize that there was a tall and sturdy man walking towards me with an expressionless face and cold eyes.
The man stood in front of me with a judgmental gaze that frightened me. I had never seen this man before, but the look in his eyes reminded me of the man who once came to my house after my mother's funeral and the man spoke to my grandfather who was actually scared.
"W-who are you? W-what's wrong-"
"You still have that ring, right?"
"R-ring? What ring?"
"Don't pretend you don't know, I want me to give you the ring?"
His voice was very deep and heavy, it sounded scary and sexy at the same time. I shuddered in horror, I thought that the ring this man was referring to was an ancestral heirloom ring which was now bequeathed to me as the main remaining member of the Arden family who had the right to keep the ring.
I held the necklace around my neck, the ring was now a pendant for this necklace. The man stared at me sharply like a robber who could commit violence.
"I-I don't understand what you're saying." I tried to dodge it. My gut feeling says that the ring this man is referring to is the ring on my neck. But why did this man know about this ring? This ring is a secret treasure belonging to the Arden family which was passed down by members of the main family from generation to generation for 200 years.
"That ring, I want that ring. How much is it?"
"What are you saying? Are you a robber?"
"I want to buy it whatever the price. 100 thousand dollars? 500 thousand dollars? Or one million dollars?"
"W-what?" My body shook when I heard the amount of money this young man offered me just for an inherited ring that I didn't really know what was special about it.
I gulped, I really hoped that this young man was just joking about buying this ring because if he was serious, then that was really weird. No one in this world would want to buy an ordinary ring like this at such a fantastic price.
The young man still looked at me coldly, to be honest he was a very handsome young man. Those amber eyes such a beautiful attraction. But the way he looked at me made her feel uncomfortable.
"I'm not selling this ring, I'm so sorry!" I said as I walked away from the young man.
"If you need money, you can sell the ring to me. I'll buy it whatever the price!"
