Prologue

August 17th, 1920
My dearest Mary-Alice,

As I ponder the events that led me to my drastic decision, I reflect on the fact that you are no longer amongst us. You are caught somewhere between the center of the earth and the fires of hell, waiting to awake into a new world. A world I have forced upon you without consultation or permission. For this, I truly apologize.

The two years, in which I have spent my days tending to you, I grew a large fascination. The way your mind works is positively remarkable. Much more complex than any patient I had the pleasure of treating. Though many before me have avoided your case, believing the prognosis of your talent to be death, I placed it upon myself to insure death did not find you. Taking this oath is what led me to introduce you to my world.

You may or may not remember upon waking, Alice, so I will continue to write in a vain hope this letter will bring you the closure you will so desperately seek in the future.

You were born as Ms. Mary Alice Brandon in Biloxi, Mississippi in 1901 and you died in Biloxi, Mississippi as Ms. Mary Alice Brandon in 1920 at the tender age of nineteen. Your ability to host premonitions within your mind did not go unnoticed. According to statements taken by both your mother and your father, they had been going on for quite some time. At first it was believed you were simply a child that adored telling stories, though those opinions soon changed.

Our records have statements from your parents indicating you predicted a mine collapse, an incident that would kill many people upon occurring. That morning, that same event unraveled which killed and frightened many people.

There was talk about burning you at the stake, much like in the older days, though not even your parents could bring themselves to witness such a thing. Instead they had you institutionalized here in our care, in hopes that we could cure or prevent these glimpses from occurring.

We had tried many different courses of action. We kept your head shaved for the countless electric shock therapy sessions, though none worked. These sessions may have been the cause of your later inability to respond or remember specifics; I only hope that doesn't continue into your next life. Had I known those treatments would have been a waste on you, I assure you I wouldn't have bothered. I do apologize that I could not give you enough time to grow back your longer style, though perhaps change is for the better.

Countless doctors had examined your case, though the brief flashes were unstoppable. To them, it was a curse by the devil himself. They believed only God was to see the future before it happened, and that a child bending the will of the Lord would surely rot in hell for all of eternity. I, myself, saw this unique ability as a rarity in the purist form. One I thought must be protected.

Unfortunately, my biased views on your case did not bode well with the other doctors in the institute. My allowed time to treat you was reduced drastically, which I could not apologize more for. Perhaps if I had argued my case stronger, louder than I had... Perhaps if I had found something, anything to aide you, I wouldn't have had to leave you for such long periods of time. The darkness that single, padded cell offered chilled even me to the bone. The loneliness you must have felt... After a while, my visits... my company went unnoticed. You no longer responded to any sort of communication. Any touch, any noise went unnoticed. You were simply gone.

Despite my failure to keep you in perfect condition, I still felt obligated by my personal oath to continue watching out for you. When I heard that the gossip of your talent reached one of my own, I felt repulsed. Rumor that your blood sang to him, begged him to taste reached me just as quickly. Knowing something as lethal and dangerous as me was willingly hunting you, knowing what that beast was capable of... I refused to let that happen.

Your unresponsive state made the task much simpler, though it did not stop my longing to continue, to kill you. Your blood was of the finest quality that I have experienced in my old age. My dedication to you is what saved your life in the end. Because of you, I had found strength inside of me that I hadn't known existed up until this point. I will be eternally grateful to you, Alice, for giving me this knowledge.

Upon making the decision to save your life by taking it, I will be resigning here at the institution. I beg you do not try and locate me, for everything I have to say is in this letter. I would bring you no more closer than I'm able to with my written words, nor can I offer you anything greater than what you have after waking. Should you ignore my warning, please know that I may very well lose my own life should the hunter know I was responsible for taking you from him. My life is something I am more than willing to sacrifice to insure yours remained vibrant, even if it's in a world as dark as this.

Upon waking into this new and exquisite world, I hope your longing to know the truth about your transition overpowers your need for destruction. I pray the innocence you acquired as a human has been passed on into your new life and that you cherish it with every fiber of your being, my child. I beg you to forgive me, in your own time, for the choices I have made and the consequences you will surely have to face because of my selfish state. The only thing I ask of you,Mary-Alice, is to remember these words. Remember that you were loved, and will always be loved.

I wish you all the best, and success in the years to come.

Sincerely,
Dr. Richard Kinsley

***

I set my quill down on the desk I currently occupied, the softest of sighs escaping my lips. By morning, or perhaps a little later than that, I would be a father of sorts. Mary-Alice will wake up and know that somebody cared for her enough to give her an eternal gift.

I neatly folded the piece of paper I had written my words to the precious girl on, placing it into a single off-white envelope. I had let the wax warm well before I finished the letter, allowing me to seal it instantly. The wax seal bore the institutions logo; perhaps this would jog her memory upon waking. I wasn't sure where to place the letter; surely leaving it in Mary-Alice's file would only lead to someone else stumbling across it. I couldn't risk our secret like that, so instead I would hide it away in hopes one of her premonitions would someday lead her in search of it.

I blew out the candle I had been using for lighting, standing up from the old chair I had been using while writing. The hospital was silent, dark and deserted for the evening. Something I cherished during my late hours of work.

I could smell him well before I looked up to unwillingly greet him with my eyes. I had been warned by countless of my kind that he would come here in search of Mary-Alice. The wicked grin he wore on his lips, the desire for destruction danced in his eyes. Informing me that he had figured me out, he knew that Mary-Alice was gone. He had lost.

I didn't have time to react to what happened. I doubted I would have begged for my life, for many state with every birth comes a death. My existence for my 'daughter' seemed perfectly logical to me.

So I accepted the flames without a scream.