Read Nancy K. Duplechain - Dark Trilogy 02 - Dark Carnival for Free Online Page A

 He
put a drop of holy water on her wrist and clasped his hand around it.  We
formed a circle with both of our hands holding her wrist.  He began with the Our
Father again and then the concentration began.  I immediately felt a rush
of heat pass through my body and into the woman’s wrist.  As with Clothilde, it
was a heat that did not hurt.  After a moment, the woman said she no longer
felt pain.  Miles released us.
    “Now
you try the next one yourself,” he said to me as the woman left.  I nervously
nodded.
    Next
in line was a young guy who was probably twenty, but looked older.  His
complexion was sallow with surface scars.  He was stick thin and had greasy,
uncombed hair.  His eyes shifted nervously from Miles to me and back to Miles.  His
eyes were red, and it looked as though he had been crying a little.
    “What
do you need help with?” asked Miles.
    The
young man bit at his lower lip and hesitated before removing his jacket.  When
he rolled up his sleeves, I saw puncture marks all over his arms and hardened
veins that looked like like blue welts beneath the yellowish bruised skin.  He
looked down at the floor, embarrassed, a few tears forming in his eyes.
    “I
d-don’t want to be like this anymore,” he said, a couple of tears falling.  He
looked up at Miles and then at me, pleading with his eyes.  “H-help me.  Please. 
I—I don’t want to b-be like this.”  He dropped his arms to his sides in defeat,
more tears falling.
    “We’ll
help you,” said Miles.  He looked at me.  “Take his hands in yours,” he
instructed.  I hesitantly took his hands into mine.  “Now say the Lord’s
prayer,” he said.  I did, and then he told me to concentrate and imagine a
green light emanating from my body and into my hands, passing into the young
man’s body.
    I
tried.  And I tried.  Again and again.  I could picture the green light.  I
could see it in my mind’s eye, but I felt nothing.
    The
young man started to tremble, but not because he was feeling any sort of
healing power coursing through his body.  Soon, he was rocking back and forth
in place, getting more anxious by the second.  Nothing was happening.  I
couldn’t feel anything, no matter how hard I tried.  Seconds passed by, then a
minute.  I was becoming more frustrated, and the guy rocking back and forth
didn’t help the situation.
    It
scared me when he shouted, “Hurry up, you bitch!”  I let go of his hands.  His
face immediately changed to one of regret and he began to cry again.  “I’m so
sorry!  I didn’t mean that.  I’m really, really sorry.”
    “It’s
all right,” said Miles, taking some holy water and making the sign of the cross
on the guy’s forehead.  He shushed him in a soothing voice, trying to calm him.
 It began to work.  Miles held his hands and closed his eyes, praying.  “You
will overcome this addiction through the power of God.  You will be restored
anew, your mind and body healthy.  Go now and be healed,” he murmured.
    Within
seconds, the young man stopped shaking.  He was perfectly still, grounded.  He
opened his eyes.  They looked clear and calm.  “Oh, my God.  Thank you.  Thank
you, thank you,” he said.  He turned to me, again a look of deep regret.  “I’m
so sorry.  That was horrible of me.”
    “It’s
okay,” I offered.
    He
smiled, kissed Miles’ hands, and left.  Miles said nothing to me.
    For
the rest of the evening, Miles had me try to heal everyone who came in,
seventeen people total.  While trying to heal the tenth person—an elderly woman
with bronchitis—I got excited when I began to feel a small amount of warmth
coming from my core.  As soon as I started to get excited, I lost my
concentration and it was gone.  I never regained that feeling, and Miles had to
heal everyone.
    When
they were gone, he walked me to my car, said to get a good night’s sleep and
that we’d try again tomorrow.  He never said so, but I could sense