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“Hey Elaine,” Janet called me. She had a faint smile that I couldn’t quite understand. Like most people would do, I smiled back though puzzled. “You seem quite happy today. What happened?”

I grinned broadly. “It’s my birthday. I’m finally twenty-four.”

“Oh my, isn’t that interesting,” she remarked becoming seemly uninterested. “I thought it’d have been something more interesting. Like a new guy or something.” She flicked her pale blonde hair off her shoulder and resumed typing.

“Why so interested in my affairs – Janet?” I sniped back, secretly admiring her straight blonde hair. “Perhaps you finally got a new guy and that’s why you were asking.”

“Why should I have a new guy? I got a kid at home to take care of,” she glared at me from the side of her eyes. It was only then I had realized how haggard she looked. I wondered if she had always looked so tired or had it been recently. An awkward silence fell upon us, the clacking of the fingers on the keyboard seemed to amplify the silence.

“You look tired,” I finally said, watching her from the corner of my eye.

She paused momentarily with a fleeting glance around the office before replying, “It’s nothing, just the usual.”

It seemed like the conversation had closed at that point, but I wasn’t ready to give up until I had a proper answer – just the way I used to be back in school. “The Usual?” I pressed on.

Her lips flattened into the straightest line I have seen. She was evading the answer, but why? I turned my attention full on to her. Her eyes flickered up to me then back to her fingers as though paying attention to what she was typing. A trick that could have fooled me if only I hadn’t known that she like most typist didn’t even need to refer to the keyboard to see what they were typing, they just watched the screen to make sure they spelt it correctly. “Just my son being sick,” she replied curtly. It was an answer at least.

“What is he down with?”

“Cold, the usual,” she replied in a curt tone, unwilling to talk much further than customary.

“Oh, when I was young and still living with my parents, they used to make Chicken Soup for me when I had the flu,” I said, remembering the chicken soup. I closed my eyes and savoured it in my mind, recalling how good it seemed when I was sick.

“I know how to take care of my son, Thank you very much,” she replied, her voice tinged with anger. I gaped at her surprised. “If you miss your parent’s chicken soup so much, why don’t you just return home and ask them to make it?” She paused, looking straight into my eyes with a cold hard stare. “Oh- I forgot. Your parents don’t ever one to see your face again, do they? Not after the death of their only son caused by their own daughter,” she sneered.

I stared at her thunderstruck, I hadn’t expected anyone to hear about this story since no one except the few people that were close to me knew it. “From the looks of your face, it’s obvious you had not expected me to know it,” she continued. “It makes me wonder if you were seriously a former honours roll student.”

“I simply remembered having Chicken Soup when I was sick, you didn’t have to be so defensive,” I replied irritated.

“Sorry,” she bit her lip and the usual awkward silence descended upon us. I must have missed something, I muttered to myself. Why was she so defensive?

—-

The flames rose higher around me, swallowing everything in its path. A little boy sat on the bed in the centre of the burning room, staring straight at me. I could feel the heat beating down on me; every breath I took made it harder for the next. Adrenaline supplemented by fear was coursing through my body. Yet this boy, not more than ten looked so calm, waiting.

I sat upright from my seat gasping. I had fallen asleep by the window in my apartment while watching the sunset. Had it all been a dream? Not thinking twice, I pulled on my coat and hurried out. That dream had specifically been for me. All those dreams of the future, it had always been me in a third person’s point of view - someone not affected by the situation. However that dream, I had been in the first person point of view and that boy. That boy had been staring straight into my eyes. I wasn’t sure where it had taken place. The urge of urgency something I had never felt so strongly before begged me to get to the building as quick as I could. My ragged breaths sounding harsh to me, my muscles screaming in pain as I tried to find the building. I had been sure that I had seen it before but where I was not so certain, nevertheless I trusted my feet to bring me to the place as it has always strangely done subconsciously.

The building had already burst into flames upon reaching. A woman was screaming to get in only to be held back by a fire fighter. That need to enter the building was so strong that before I knew what I was doing, I had slipped past the fire fighters and ran straight into the burning building. ‘That Boy’ was all that could flow through my mind. The heat was searing my skin, my feet knew the path, and my heart was driven by some insane need. With a feeling of Deja vu I entered the bedroom the boy not more than ten sat there waiting for me. He turned to him, his eyes staring straight at me, his mouth opened saying some words I could not hear, his arms swung straight out towards me seeming to motion me to carry him. A shudder ran through my body. It had been smearing hot outside this room, but in this burning room, it felt like the temperature had dropped. I could see the tiny cloud that forms near my mouth with each breath, as though it was winter. The absolute bizarreness of the entire situation made me momentarily stunned. At first nothing seemed to matter at that point except how he had calmly waited for me amidst the flames licking the bed and then the freezing cold I felt in a burning room was simply beyond what my mind could imagine. The singed smell of my hair gave me the signal I had been unconsciously waited. Running forward, I grabbed him, feeling the lightweight of his body in my arms. I dodged the falling flaming doorway, taking as many steps as I could. I had no idea how to get out and was simply basing on survival instincts when I heard him speak into my ear softly

“Turn Right – “

I, startled, turned right at the next fork I came to. It led down a corridor that was fairly free of fire. I banged my shoulder against the shut door muttering to myself how easy it always seemed to break down a door in movies.

“Turn Left – “

I paused down the stairway and glanced at him. “We have to get down, this stairway will lead us down.” I could feel the heat gathering more and more with each passing moment. How long had it been since I had entered the building, I frantically wondered.

“You cannot go down this stairway. Turn Left –“ He said unwaveringly. I pursed my lips and summoned all my patience. I hurried down the steps.

“I, no WE do not have time for this.”

He looked at me with his placid grey eyes. “We cannot go down this stairway. Stop at once.” Irritated, I ignored him and hurried down the stairs. There was an odd certain coldness constantly hovered around him and it seemed to make the fire creep away from him. My breath was in little puffs of clouds as I jumped down the steps. I quivered to a stop upon seeing the blocked door. The fire had consumed the door and there was no way pass it. “We can still make it through that doorway,” he said. Furious at myself, I scurried up the steps rushing through the doorway. He seemed to have a knack to know things hence I decided to obediently obey his instructions. As we burst into the night air, the coldness around him quickly dispelling.

“DANIEL!” A bewildered female broke free from the fire fighters to hug him. A blanket was wrapped quickly around me, a cup of liquid thrust at me and done the same for the little boy. “Thank you so much!” the lady profusely thanked me. She looked up at me with her tear-stained face and gasped. “Elaine!?”

“Janet?!” I gaped at her, unknowing what to say. Meanwhile as I sought for something to say, I knew deep inside that it had been all part of fate. The clogs of destiny had started turning me into their unseen pattern. I felt nervous knowing that and wondered what God had in store for me. They often say that the Gifted always had a part to play in God’s plan. As Thomas Edison had been to make life easier for Mankind, but a gift like mine, what was the big plan?

Some many minutes later, I found walking with them home. I had persuaded them to stay over at my dingy apartment until their insurance claim had been processed and they had found a new place to stay. I pulled the door open, dropping my keys on the table.

“Make yourselves comfortable. You can sleep in the empty room or sleep on the sofa. Which ever that is more comfortable to you,” I mumbled. I sank down on the sofa, leaning my head against the wall behind the sofa thinking of the events and wondering the meaning of it.

With all the adrenaline from the fire had finally wearing off, it made me realize how tired I was. I glanced at the clock, being close to six o’clock, I decided unhappily that it was too late to return to bed. I sighed, a sigh of a thousand worries and pains echoed in it as I shuffled into my bedroom. Turning around I bit back an exclamation at being shocked of seeing Daniel suddenly appear behind me. There were so many questions for me to ask, yet so little answers.

“Daniel –“ I started and faltered. Did I really want the answers? I asked myself.

“I have waited for you for ages.”

“What?” I exclaimed, leaning heavily against the drawer for support. “Daniel? Are you okay?” I stared fearfully at the young pale boy. Suddenly he did not seem like such a young boy. “Who are you?” I whispered.

“Lan,” he said. I gasped in shock, unable to say anything, forgetting even to breathe. There had been only one person who called me Lan and he was gone – no longer existing in this crumbly world.

“Mike?” How could a boy that I have met for the first time know the nickname my brother used to call me? I stood there in disbelief.

“Its been a while Lan,” Daniel with his emotionless eyes looked at me. “I stood beside you watching you wallow in your self-pity. Makes me wonder where you spent all your childhood years.”

“I didn’t-“

“That night, at the 24 hour shop, do you remember the man who rushed into the shop?” Daniel sighed.

“You don’t know anything about me, Daniel!” I raised my voice, smashing my fist into the drawers.

“This boy may be called Daniel, but it is me, Mike, who is speaking now.” With those words, I stared at the little boy as though struck by some bolt of lightning. “Lan, have you forgotten what you said to me five years ago?”

He sighed and imitated a high pitch voice, “Oh Mikey, You think I’m crazy don’t you? We are all crazy, some stronger than others. I find myself walking on that fine line everyday. Mikey – you’ve no idea how hard it is to not do anything when you know its true. Please let me try and stop the robber – I need you help –“

He looked at me with those unnerving grey eyes. “Are you giving up now?”

I bit my lip nervously, “No.”

“That gift you have, not everyone has it. There’s always a reason why such powers, no. Why ANY power are given to mere human beings. And you are rejecting it – pretending like it never existed,” he said angrily, his fist clenching reflexively. “I don’t know why he selected you, but –“

“Its not even like I had begged for such a power. I was just born with it,” I scowled at him. “I do the best I can do, if it means saving my sanity.”

He burst out laughing at the line. “Saving your sanity? I thought you were smarter than this Lan. My sister – the honour roll kid – can’t even grasp the most basic rules in her powers.”

“Former honour roll and I did recognize them. Fate is unstoppable.”

He laughed harder, bending over to catch his breath. “Then you are really silly. Embrace it, Lan. Embrace it and you’ll see what I mean. We have wasted too many years watching you – too many years. All the lives you have forsaken to save yourself -“

“Daniel?” Janet called, peering through the half open door. “What are you doing bothering Auntie Elaine?” Daniel froze for a second and blinked.

“It was nice talking to you Auntie Elaine,” he smiled slightly. “I hope you found what you wanted,” he continued before reaching over to take of his mother’s outstretched hand.

I stood there in the darkness thinking hard what he had meant. Had I been wrong in my deductions? I certainly did not want to make the same mistake as I had done five years ago. Why did he say ‘We ’ and not ‘I ‘?

That week, it felt like the days had passed by me without me realising it. All I could think of were the many questions that had surfaced the nights before and there were no answers – not yet. It chilled me to think that there had been a greater plan than just me having a simple gift of prophecy. I wandered aimlessly after work. My mind blank, my feet leading me to nowhere in particular, just a rhythm that I had set it into. Suddenly my feet stopped and I looked up.

A Church.

My footsteps echoed in the desolated church. My stomach churning continuously as I looked around the church. The beautiful stained glass behind the statue of Virgin Mary was breathless and while I let my eyes wander around the spotless church, it fell onto the confession booth. I edged towards it, my hands sweating profusely for no apparent reason.

“Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned,” I paused. A tight knot forming in my throat made me unable to continue.

“What have you sinned, my Child?” he urged me on after a long pregnant silence.

“I have been given a gift that many people have often wished for. Yet I cursed it and rejected it. This gift drives me almost half mad with the many visions of the future it gives me. I rejected it so the burden of the guilt of not being able to help would lessen. Yet I have been told by a man, no a boy, that may not be even be human, to embrace it for I had abandoned the futures of the people whose visions have came to me. I pray for forgiveness for those lives and my ingratitude for such a gift.”

“Ego Te Absolvo, my Child. The path of god is hard to understand for us poor humans. Let us pray for forgiveness and let the faith come back to you.”

I slipped out of the booth, slightly relieved. Though I had no answers, it felt like I had been forgiven in a vague sense. The benches seemed to beckon me and grudgingly I sat down at the last row, my hands clasped together in front of me, my head leaning on them. I must have snoozed off for when I came to the candles around the church had been lit up. I sat up, blinking; trying to get my bearings as my body slowly woke up.

“Are you awake now, my Child?” a pleasant male voice asked me. Startled I whipped my head to my right, having not realised that there had been a presence beside me. A man roughly fifty odd years old smiled at me. His orange scarf neatly around his nick, the gold pectoral cross down his neck was a dead give away. My eyes widened at him in surprise.

“C-C-CARDINAL!” I stammered. Quickly I gave him a bow trying to cover up my embarrassment.

“It is a really nice Church isn’t it?” He looked at the stained glass with a tiny smile on his wrinkled face. “I haven’t been able to come and visit here as often as I liked.” He turned to me, his eyes so small that you could barely see them when he smiled. I stared at him as though struck by lightning. His face was filled with countless wrinkles, yet for some odd reason, he seemed ageless. It was something completely indescribable.

“God has his plans for you my Child.”

I stared at him shocked. How did he know about it? I wondered. Then it hit me that he must have been the priest in the confession booth. It seemed the most logic answer. “I don’t understand –“ My voice barely a whisper. I stared at my open palms as though expecting to find some answers. “All these visions – “

“Sometimes it is hard to understand what His plans are, but when you reach it, you will understand everything.”

“They could really break someone –“ As I turned to face him, I found nothing except an empty seat. I stood up stunned; the church was completely devoid of anyone, though I had not heard him leave. My heart pounding with fear, had it been yet another vision? “Don’t be silly, Elaine. You know visions aren’t like that –“ I laughed uneasily at myself. Or was it one? My mind wondered. I pushed the heavy wooden door open. Outside, the sun had already started to set. The streets tinged with an orange glow, giving the usually gloomy looking streets a warm radiance. I tucked my hands into my pockets appreciating the scenery of the drab town I usually knew. At the same time, at the back of my mind, that uneasy feeling of doom or perhaps my questionable destiny seemed unshakable and based on unfounded fear.

“Auntie Elaine,” a voice dryly calling my name dragged me away from my thoughts.

“Daniel? Um I mean, Mikey? What are you doing here? Isn’t it awfully late?” I questioned, hearing our footsteps echoing in the emptiness of the street.

“No, I’m Daniel, Auntie Elaine and I was waiting for you here,” he said.

His dun eyes gazing at me unblinkingly were unsettling. His face was completely impassive, blank like a sheet a paper. He seemed so distant with his thoughts so inscrutable. The dream of the fire that I had not gotten any perceptible answers, perhaps this was a good time to ask. Here, on the street, without anyone that could interrupt our conversation, since one such that would have seemed border-lining madness to an outsider and who may not take too kindly to it.

“What do you mean by that? Didn’t you tell me you were Mikey last night and why are you waiting for me? ” I asked, remembering those intimate things that he had mentioned previously. Not just anyone could have found them out and surely not a boy that I had clearly just met last night.

“No it was Mike,” he said as though truth was as plain as fact. “Mike said that you’d be here.”

“I don’t understand, you speak as though Mike and you are separate people.” Perhaps he had spilt personalities I consoled myself. Trying my hardest not to think of him as a lunatic.

“We are two separate people. Mike is dead. He has been for five years. He told me he wished that he was able to tell his sister some things, so I had loaned him my body, to speak to you.”

“Loaned your body?” I raised my eyebrow at those 3 words. I paused in my steps, staring at him. “Daniel, are you saying –“ I squatted down to look at him in the eye. As I placed my hand on his shoulder, a sudden flash overcame me, blinding me and I could hear was Daniel calling for me. Even that gradually faded off to nothingness.

“Where are your parents little boy?” the lady smiles, her pale blonde hair fell straight down her back. Her smile wavered as she saw the blood on his hands. “Are you hurt?” she asks her voice sounding a little frantic as she kneels down to wipe the blood of his hands. He shakes his head.

The scene shifted. The boy and the lady sitting at the table having dinner shifted into focus.

“Grandpa told me that he always has loved you. And wished he could tell you earlier,” A boy seemingly roughly 5-6 years old grinned at her as they ate macaroni and cheese.

“Don’t be silly, Grandpa died a long time ago. Now let’s clean up and I’ll bring out the dessert,” the blonde hair lady said with a smile plastered on her face.

“But it is true mommy!”

“I told you before, don’t tell lies. I appreciate what you are trying to do but –“

“BUT IT IS TRUE MOMMY!” the boy shouts, slamming his fork on the table. The mahogany table that they had been eating on starts to tremble along with everything else in the room.

“Oh my- is it an earthquake? We’ll talk about this later, and you will be punished for lying,” she says frantically rushing to grab her son.

“I DID NOT LIE!” the boy pushes away from the table and stands away from her. With those words, the trembling becomes more intensive and things begin to fall out from the cupboard.

“Ok you didn’t lie now get under the table honey,” she coaxes.

“You NEVER believe what I say!” he hollers, his clenched fists turning white. With that the cupboards and everything that had been attached securely to the wall rips off the wall, the knives flying from the knife holder misses her by a mere few inches. Yet all the destruction does not even touch him.

He stomps out of the kitchen. The trembling ceases and she slowly crawls out from under the table looking bewilderedly around the room. Outside, the living room had been just like they left it – untouched. The strange earthquake had only affected their kitchen.

“What in the world?” she bites her lip nervously.

“Auntie Elaine? Wake up Auntie Elaine.” Someone pats my face and shakes me.

No, I didn’t want to go yet. I wanted to find out more. That boy had been…

“Daniel –“ I muttered. That boy had been Daniel. There was no mistake about it.

“Auntie Elaine?” the person shakes me harder. I blinked, my knees hurt, protesting for the cold ground I had been kneeling on. I stood up, dusting myself.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. You just suddenly paused in your sentence, like you froze or something. Didn’t even blink,” he replied. “Are you okay now?”

“Yes I think I am,” I answered absent-mindedly thinking of the vision I had gotten. “Daniel, let me get this straight. You can see ghosts?”

“Yes, but I won’t call them – ghosts. More like spirits or dead people if you like, but not ghosts,” he replied. He positively was not playing a prank. So that boy in my vision was definitely Daniel. It must have been in the past. My mind ploughed on trying to piece up everything but failing to do so.

“Then –“ I paused, questioning myself for the umpteenth time if it was all right to ask such a question. Biting my lip, I deciding to disregard the formalities that the social world often played, went straight to the point. “That day at the fire, how did you know that I’d come?” I continued.

He looked at me and sneered spitefully, “Surely you must know how you got there.” I shook my head unhappily. He stared at me in disbelief before continuing “I simply saw your image at my doorway and knew you’d come.”

“My image? What do you mean by that?”

“I am not sure what kind it is, but I saw you in the doorway but not so solid. Probably the same way a spirit looks when I see them. Maybe its your astral projection?” he cocked his head, looking enquiringly at me as though hoping it would have enlightened me. “You know – when your spirit leaves your body, that’s called astral projection –“

“I don’t suppose its possible to do it without realising it –“

“I don’t have expertise in it. You’d definitely have to find someone else who has such expertise,” he replied curtly.

As much as I hoped he had the answers, I realised he was just nothing but someone like me – someone who frequented the borders of madness a little often for our comfort. Such a young age and burdened with such a power, I thought to myself. At least I had been somewhat matured enough to think calmly. ‘Embrace it and you’ll see what I mean.’ What did he mean by that? My mind flooded with questions and many assumptions that I could think of at this point of time.

“Auntie Elaine, as I said earlier. I was waiting for you. I was told to meet you here,” he said, puncturing through my thoughts. I swirled my head in shock to look at him. It surprises me that after all the crazy stuff that had been happening to me, such a sentence could still shock me. After all, I had come to the church on a whim and after much consideration; I don’t usually frequent such a church – if I even do frequent one, that is. It was highly unlikely that I could be found here, let alone be expected to be found here and be met here.

“B-by who?”

“By a diviner,” he calmly replied. “She told that I had to find you and that I would find you here. She said, don’t fear what you do not understand.”

I raised my eyebrows at what he had said; maybe that was where my problem lay. Like an adult, I always needed an answer behind every ‘why?’ and rejected everything that I feared because it was not possible, unlikely, risky, that instead of rejecting my powers, I should embrace it like Mikey told me to, and accept it as it is. “Couldn’t you have waited at least until we got home?“

He looked at me with his usual indifferent face and shrugged unconcerned. “It was important that I find you. So she said.” He carelessly brushed my hand off his shoulder. “I better go anyway,” he scowled at me with displeasure plain to see written on his face. Though I was not sure why, it seemed as though as he disapproved of me. “I hardly see why they’d choose you to see the future.” I wordlessly followed him, my mind still trying to sort out the new information.

“Daniel –“ I started, looking up from the pavement only to realise that he had disappeared. Without warning, the rows and rows of buildings that I had been walking along wavered and gradually disappearing into a different scene.

The reflection of the light glancing off the speeding car shone into my eyes, making me reflexively cover my eyes. The teenager froze in the middle of the road in horror, unable to move as the car screeched trying to stop in time. The horrifying sound of the teenager hitting the car echoed in my mind. Paralysed, I could only watch and stare, seeing the teenager fly many metres down the road, lying gasping in a pool of blood.

“Oh god –“ I buckled, falling harshly onto my knees. Was that a vision? That place, it was down the road, was it not? I panted, my mind trying to find a solution to the vision I had seen. Should I ignore it as I had done so for many visions?

‘All the lives you have forsaken to save yourself’

Did Mikey mean that I should have tried to save them? I asked myself. Before I could dwell on that matter anymore, the loud intruding booming of music beats blasted into the silence of the night. I spun my head around in that direction in shock, the realisation of what was going to happen hit me. I clambered to my feet, the sound of my feet pounding against the bitumen echoed in my ears, blocking off the world. My mind begged for me to reach there in time. I spun around the corner, the reflection of the light glancing off the speeding car shone into my eyes, momentarily pausing me. Reflexively I covered my eyes, my eyes widening at the recognition of the scene. In a heartbeat, I dashed off the pavement straight into the path of the speeding car. The screeching of the car along with my heart praying that everything would be all right played like a broken record in my mind. The girl froze staring horrified at the car, managing to break from her trance as I pushed her away.

As she cleared from the path of the car, I felt my feet slip under me, I crashed heavily to the road. My head turning, knowing that it was too late. The sound of a girl screaming followed me into the darkness of my eyelids as I flew through the air and then it stopped.

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