Büyü Terapisi
I casually walked towards the corridor passed the second fireplace, lighting a cigarette along the way. Margo and Key stood and followed the glow of my cherry, Key taking Margo's hand in his. He wanted her to know that she wouldn't be going through this all alone. He was there for her. There is no one else you would ever rather have by your side than Key. If people have a true purpose from the day they are born, Key's was to be there for people in their most difficult times and help push them through to a better place. I don't think there is another person walking the planet that could have helped me the way Key did. And the same can be said for Margo.
"What is it like Key?" Margo asked. She was nervous, and rightfully so. She was moving slower than the rest of us, slinking back as much as key would allow. Like a dog on a leash headed for a basement full of vacuum cleaners.
"I can't really give you an answer my love. It is up to each person what their experience is like. It is different for everyone." He replied with the right answer.
There really was no describing the feeling you get when the monster takes hold. It's something you never, ever forget.
We continued down the dimlit corridor until we came to the stairs. There were so many stairs. If you asked me I would give you some ridiculous answer like "there must be at least ten thousand stairs" in henry's house. Of course there isn't, but it definitely felt as though there was. A realistic estimate would be somewhere around four thousand. But it very well could be more.
"Lead the way Parky" Key said from the caboose of our human train. He was pushing Margo up the stairs. She was getting more and more nervous with every step she took. Key could sense that. I could sense it, so of course he could too. I remember my first time. It must have been almost forty years ago to the day. Right here in the same room Margo was about to take off in. When we reached the top of the stairs we fanned out taking up the hallways width.
"Henry has so many wonderful things." Margo said marveling at the paintings on the wall and all the vases and ornamentals rugs that adorn Henrys hallway.
"It has taken him a life time to collect it all" Key said excitedly. He held Margo's hand until we reached the room. We all stopped and felt so tiny in comparison to the beautiful old wooden church doors that stood between us and our dreams. They are giant, they look like they stretch all the way up to the stars. I could never open them by myself. Key always has to help me.
"Wait here with Margo, I am going to go in and see if everything is all set up and ready to go. We don't want to jump the gun." I said to Key as I attempted to open the doors by myself. Key stepped in and swung the door open for me. He was always helping me with the heavy things. I always wondered if it bothered him, sometimes I feel like an old weak piece of shit. Maybe it bothers me more than him. Probably.
The doors closed behind me, taking a small piece of wind with them at the last second. I loved the way Henry set things up when preparing for lift off. I stood in the doorway for a moment taking light pulls from the opium stone.
"What can I do old friend" I asked Henry. I began my ritual of pacing around the room looking for odds and ends to pick up and put in their places. Henry has the platform set in the left corner of the room in the big bay window. He always wraps it in such elegant fabrics. The textures were breathtaking. Henry was standing in front of the armoire in the center of the wall. He was poking through the garments looking for something specific.
"Aha! There you are Jack." He yelled, ripping a robe from the open doors.
Henry slipped into the robe, it boasts the most brilliant glittering colors. I wonder where he got it from, I don't think I have ever seen this particular robe in my all years coming to Henry's.
"Come Park, help me move this trunk over there and then we will be done." Henry said. He did everything. I have been pacing around the room taking pulls from the opium stone watching him move with such elegance. The trunk is heavy as fuck. I wonder what is in it. Knowing henry it could be anything. Literally. Anything.
"Alright this is a good spot, lets set her down." Henry said when we reached our destination across the room. I felt guilty for a moment. I wished Key was in here to help henry move the trunk like he always did. I never knew how heavy the trunk was until now.
I knew it was almost time to begin so I began taking numerous long pulls from the opium stone to ease my nerves. I always get nervous when crossing over, it is inevitable for me every single time. It doesn't deter me though. I find it exhilarating.
'Alrighty park, lets get those lovebirds in here and start things up" Henry said placing a tray of syringes and vials next to the platform. It was time. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. Exhale out.
I knocked on the large old church doors that separated Key and Margo from their destiny. Key responded by pulling the doors open. He read my mind.
"Alright you two, come on in." I said in a rather direct offhanded way. I felt as though I should have a clipboard to sign them in, like at a spa or something.
They followed me into the room. Henry was pushing the final chair in place around the platform. These chairs were both beautiful and terrifying. I believe they were once dental chairs inside an asylum somewhere in the old united states. I don't remember where in time he got them. I do know they have a horrific past attached to them. The people that sat in these chairs before us felt about as much control as we do in them. It was scary to think about. So I didn't let myself think about it for more than a quick moment. I never do.
"Margo your place will be here on the platform. Come now." Henry said taking Margo's hand and leading her towards the altar he had prepared. It was a wonderous site. Margo fit well into the background of beauty on the platform.
"Don't worry my dear, all will be okay." Henry said in the voice of a father. Or something like that.
It was a very warm and kindhearted tone. It reassured me even. As Margo nestled into her place on the platform we poured the soft fur blankets around her to ceate a sort of womb like cave that she could dwell in over the next few hours.
"This is only a precaution for your safety, just take deep breaths and relax. Remember, everything will be okay." Henry said as he strapped Margo's wrists down to the platform. I followed his lead and strapped her ankles as well. Key was up by her head. He wanted to be the last thing she saw before the darkness took over. I admired that.
"I love you my sweet Margo. I have loved you ever since the moment I saw you standing there in the door way of our apartment house, covered in rain. You will always be the most wonderful thing I have ever known and I am so very grateful that you trust me enough to take this journey. Remember, we are right here. You are not alone. I will see you on the other side my love." Key said kissing her on the forehead. He wiped the sweat from her brow and covered her in the darkness of the blankets.
Now we had some time. We had to let her get adjusted and fully relax before we could begin. It usually takes about fifteen minutes or so. Once you give in and realize you are powerless and you just sort of embrace the warm hug of the blankets, it all gets better. I was still pacing, only now in a much smaller area. The opium stone had given me as much relief as it was going to give. Yet, I keep pulling from it as a distraction.
"What do you think Key?" I asked.
"Do you think she will take to it or fight it?"
"She is a fighter that is for sure. But I think she will embrace this experience. I don't know how to explain it old friend. But I think she is of another place. She is different. She's special. I don't know why or how to explain it or put it into words. But she's special." He replied. I could see tears forming in the corners of his eyes. I was happy for my dear old friend. To find love is to find a treasure that no one else can ever hold. It really is the only experience in life that makes life worth living. Love.
I found myself gazing off into a distance. I could see my wife. Or her silhouette. She is beautiful. 'I miss you my love. I miss you every second of every day' I thought. I could feel tears starting to bubble in my eyes. I snapped out of it.
"I think she is ready fellas." I said trying to move my thoughts in a new direction.
"Fellas?" Henry replied in a sarcastic manner.
"What the fuck has gotten into you old man? You're turning into a little nancy right before our eyes. Muscle up lad. Its time to slay some dragons." Henry said in his usual joking tone as he took a syringe and the first blue vial from the tray next to the platform that Margo was so comfortably melted into. Holding it up and drawing the plunger back he began to hum
"Love love me do, you know I love you."
Henry was always singing. He had the best music collection of anybody in Mercer Street. Perhaps out of anybody in all of time.
"So please pleaaaaaaaase love me do." He sang as he skipped around the platform.
He took Margo's arm into his hand and wrapped a belt around it to expose the veins. She has remarkable veins. They look like little highways rushing to and from all the major cities of her soul. He slid the syringe in and drew back a slight of blood before pushing the plunger all the way down. Margo barely reacted to being poked and prodded by Henry. Definitely a different reaction than I had. I ws terrified the first time I stepped off with Henry and Key.
Now we wait a little bit more.
"Parky I believe it's your turn to pick the music." Key said in my direction. I paced my way over to the record wall. I already knew what I was going to put on, Ah and there it is. Explosions in the sky. The earth is not a cold dead place. I dusted the old girl off and layed the years worn record into its cradle.
First breath after coma began swimming its way into our ears as we found our places in the horrific dental chairs of doom.
Henry had placed a tray similar to the one next to Margo, next to each of us. I took a syringe and vial of LSD from the tray. I wrapped my left arm (my best arm) in a belt to protrude my veins. They were getting tired in my climbing years. It has been a good forty years since I last did this with Henry, I think they remember. I tapped them a few times. I never knew why people did that, it never changed anything to me. I just always saw people do it. So I did it too. I pulled back twenty cc's of solution into the syringe. Tapping the vein I felt a warm sensation rush over my body, like a warm ocean wave pushing me back towards the shore. I drew back a slight of blood and took the plunge.
I didn't need to strap my arms down anymore. Only my legs. I had grown used to the LSD experience over the years. It is the DMT that causes a glitch in my entire system. I've always wondered how long it would take me to master full control like Henry. I think he sat in his dental chair of horror as a courtesy to us. He could roam free if he wanted. I myself can't roam free. I would most certainly die a horrible painful death. I'd never even see it coming.
I wanted desperately to draw from the opium stone in the front left pocket of my shirt. But I couldn't move my hands. I couldn't move anything. It was beginning to take hold of me. Everything was moving slower around us, trailing along. I knew soon I would come to my crossroads.
"Alright all, let us begin to take deep breaths in through our mouth and hold them in for no more than six seconds. Out through our nose. Try and focus on something in your mind. Put it in there in the center and keep it there. Reach for it but never allow yourself to take hold. Keep it at a distance." Henry had begun.
"Now let us begin to focus our energy and thoughts to Margo. Don't think about it. Just let it happen organically. You will feel a warmth start to build in the tips of your fingers and toes. It will radiate through the rest of your body. Let it surround your entire being. Let it take hold of your spirit. It is time for us to transcend to another space entirely. In a moment you will feel a warm hand on your shoulder. Do not be alarmed. It is your guide to the other side." Henry stated in a dream like voice. Like a hollow Morgan Freeman speaking underwater, rippling its way to my ear holes. My senses were starting to become more aware. I felt a slight tingling sensation running up and down my spine.
"How you holding up Parky?" Key asked me. His voice sounded muffled and distant. Like I shouldn't even be able to make it out, but somehow I can.
"I'm good Key, thank you for asking. I feel the sun shining on my face Key. It is wonderful. Can you feel that? Such warmth. I could stay here forever." I stretched out as much as I could in the horrifying death chair. I could hear henry moving about around us.
"Margo, can you hear me my dear?" Henry asked.
A moment of silence passed.
"Margo, can you hear us?" Key chimed in.
"Shut the fuck up!" Henry yelled to key.
"She needs only one voice in this stage. You fucking thin dicks aren't equipped to be that voice." Henry continued.
He was moving closer to the platform. He took the next syringe and vial holding it up to the dim light. He drew back about ten cc's of solution.
"If you can hear me Margo, follow my voice." Henry stated as he put the vial back down on the tray. Key had prepared both of his syringes at the same time before we took the initial plunge. He was always so prepared. I fumbled to grasp the syringe and vial up from the tray beside me. The trails were making it quite difficult for me to accomplish even the simplest of tasks. Still, I pushed on.