From the very beginning of the child's life, Elizabeth knew something wasn't quite right. What that something was, she couldn't quite put her finger on. All she knew was that the small girl's large doe eyes and quiet countenance put her on edge. Mary's small frame, hunched over her dolls and toys, was always stiff, and her voice, high and clear as a bell, left one uneasy.

Sometimes her mother would address Mary while they were sitting side by side, and Mary would seem not to hear. A blank look would come over those wise eyes, her mouth would fall slack, and she would drop anything she held. There was no talking to her until this trance was broken, and afterwards, she would always be scared out of her wits, shaking like a frightened dog and whimpering quietly. Elizabeth didn't know what she disliked more; the episodes, or the fact that Mary Alice had never once asked for her mother in the aftershock. Still, why should it bother her? Elizabeth felt no love for the girl; because of her she would never be able to have another child, the doctor had said. No son to carry on the Brandon name, no normal daughter to cuddle and dress up like a little doll.

No; no other children would come to Elizabeth, the doctor had reluctantly assured her. It seemed the beautiful Elizabeth and her doting Nicholas were cursed to only have this quiet, changeling-like girl; this timid child who flinched as if expecting a blow whenever anyone approached her.

It was seven years to the day Elizabeth had brought this blight into the world. She held back a strangled laugh. April 1st; April Fools, how fitting. God, it seemed, had played a cruel prank on her. And now, her husband insisted on throwing a party for little Mary. He'd invited all his friends from his business, and they were bringing their children along. "What is the point?" she had asked him, "All the children are afraid of her, anyway."

He'd just repeated the same thing he always said whenever she brought up Mary's unusualness: "Now, don't start that nonsense again. It doesn't matter if she's a little… strange; she's still our daughter and it's our duty to stand by her. Because we love her, if nothing else."

Not me, she had thought, I'll never love her. I never could love her, even if I tried. She had tried; oh dear God, yes, she had. She'd bought Mary little outfits and toys. She'd try and brush the silky black hair, but Mary would always struggle with her, until Elizabeth let go and Mary would totter away to be by herself, leaving Elizabeth even more irritated with her.

"What's the good of having a child if you can't enjoy them?" she'd asked herself many a time, though she'd never had the courage to confide in anyone besides herself. To admit that she didn't love her child, that her child wasn't normal? That was completely out of the question. She'd be shamed, her husband would be looked down on at work, and her daughter would never have a normal place in society.

Not that she much cared what happened to Mary at the moment; she was too irritated with having to put on a loving mother façade for their guests. It was a little humorous; she had thought, that so many people have turned out to a birthday party being held for someone they are afraid of. Still, it was a reason to dress up in all her finery. In a mint green dress trimmed with white lace, her strawberry hair up in a white net under a wide brimmed hat, Elizabeth was definitely the most beautiful woman there, and in that fact she found comfort.

The men had retired to have brandy, cigars, and talk of business in the drawing room. The women had gone to the sitting room for refreshments of tea, cucumber sandwiches and small talk. Elizabeth knew everyone there, if vaguely, and she was on relatively good terms with all.

Yet, uncomfortable questions will always arise. "How is Mary doing lately, Elizabeth?" the perky blonde wife of one of her husband's lesser asked. Her face looked innocent enough, but Elizabeth knew she was reveling in her two light haired, pink cheeked children she herself would never have. Yet, all the same she cleared her throat and prepared to answer.

"Oh, she's fine. She's going through a stage, I think. She likes her space. Considering how early she came, she's getting to be quite big."

A large, boisterous woman with red cheeks and a rough voice let out a short laugh. "Oh yes, she's quite big. Ha! My Charles was as big as her when he was two. The girl is six years old and she looks like a toddler. Why, I've never even heard her speak. Has she even learned to do that, yet?"

Elizabeth blushed suddenly, but then quickly composed herself. No need to let these women, these preening peacocks, know that Mary rarely even talked to her mother. "Oh, yes. She can be quite talkative. We usually can't get her to stop! It's just that she's shy around people she doesn't know." There! Would that satisfy these insufferable women?

Anxious to change the subject, Elizabeth turned back to the women and stated, "I'd like to thank you all for the gifts you've brought. I'm sure Mary will love them all, once she's opened them."

The heavy woman started up once again; "Oh, no need, no need. It's only a little china doll, after all. But my Charles picked it out especially for Mary, and so I certainly do hope she likes it. It's nice to know you can count on your child saying thank you, Elizabeth. You've raised her well. Some children today don't have any manners at all, I'll tell you…" The woman continued rambling. It sounded like a compliment, but she knew it wasn't. She was known for her long winded tirades on anything one could think of, so all the other women braced themselves for at least fifteen minutes on the youth of today.

Then a child's cry split through the air. The heavy woman immediately stopped her speech, and her head whipped around like a hunting dog at the sound. "That's my Charles!" she huffed as she quickly hauled herself to her feet. All the other women followed suit and together they made their way to the nursery, where the children had been playing.

Again and again the same thought ran through Elizabeth's mind; what has she done now?

That Charles was a beefy kid, there was no doubt that his mother fed him anytime he was the least bit hungry. If her Mary was behind the commotion, which Elizabeth had no doubt she was, it couldn't have been something physical. Had she frightened him? Mary may be small, and she'd never been confrontational, but that didn't mean Elizabeth would put anything past her.

She didn't have much time to think about what she should say or do, if the situation called, before they reached the door to the playroom. The heavy woman in the lead slammed through the doors and headed straight for her son, who was wailing loudly and looking as if he were about to hit Mary, who, in her sapphire blue party dress, was cowering in a corner. "What on earth is going on?" Elizabeth exclaimed.

Charles, however, didn't need any prompting. He was already screaming at his mother what had happened. "She peeked!" Charles screamed, "She peeked at the present!"

His mother tried to sooth him but it was to no avail. "Sweetums, how do you know she peeked?"

"Because! She thanked me for the doll, and we haven't opened the presents yet! She looked! Its no fair, its supposed to be a surprise and now she knows! I didn't even want to get her anything, and now she peeked and it's no fun! I want to go home!"

Charles' mother turned her head sharply and addressed Elizabeth coldly: "Elizabeth, I think you're daughter owes my son an apology. That wasn't a respectful thing at all to do"

"But I didn't!" Mary's tinkling voice broke in, but it quickly vanished when all eyes turned to her.

"What, girl?" Charles' mother demanded, "Speak up!"

Mary looked positively terrified. She clenched her hands together, shuffled her feet, and wouldn't meet anyone's eye when she said, "I didn't peek. I swear I didn't, Mother! I just… guessed." And with that, Mary sat down on the floor and would talk no more.

Elizabeth tried to maintain any sense of decorum. "Well, there you have it. She says she didn't peek, and my daughter does not lie. Charles is just getting worked up over nothing."

The blonde woman turned to Elizabeth, "Well, Elizabeth. How would she know what Charles had gotten her had she not seen it before?"

Elizabeth had no immediate answer to this. She could never admit to these preening peacocks that her daughter had an uncanny and unsettling knack for correctly predicting things. No, that was something that never left this house.

"Perhaps, well… perhaps she heard us talking about it. You know how loud you can be, Charlotte, when you get excited." She was grasping at straws, she knew, and she was bound to have offended the beefy woman.

Charlotte huffed up and said, "Now Elizabeth. They were across the house in a play room filled with screaming, laughing children. I'm the first to admit I can get… loud… but I am by no means that loud. No, that's impossible. I'll tell you what happened. Your daughter got overly greedy and decided to look at what she had gotten before it was time to open the presents. Then she felt guilty and tried to thank my Charles ahead of time so she wouldn't anymore."

There was a loud commotion outside the door, and then all the men came in, Nicholas in the lead. "Darling, what's going on here?"

Quickly, Elizabeth briefed him on the situation and asked him what to do under her breath.

Nicholas cleared his throat and addressed the guests. "It seems the only way to find out is to look at the presents and see if one of them has been opened. Where are they being held?" This last bit he directed at the nurse, who until now had been standing quietly in the background, amused by the chaos that had exploded so suddenly.

She nodded her head to the left, "Over there, sir. There've not been any of the children even near there, though. I'd stake a month's pay on it, sir."

Nicholas gave her a curt nod and said, "Well, we shall see about that!" He rushed over to the door that lead to the adjoining room, where presents were stacked high on a table. One by one they went through the presents, but not one had been torn or opened. "Well, there's that. I know my Mary is intelligent, but I don't think any seven year old could managed to open a present without ripping the paper, and then rewrap it perfectly."

Charlotte seemed to expand as she prepared an assault. "Then, how could she possibly have known?"

Elizabeth looked at her husband in horror. Alice's...talent… had come about again. She said the first thing that came to mind. "I don't know, Charlotte. I'm very sorry if your son hasn't had a good time. Maybe it would be best to end the party right now?" At this nearly every child in the room began to fuss, and soon cries ran through the air.

The head of every mother turned disdainfully towards Elizabeth as she ran to her child and tried to console them with promises of activities and treats. Nobody noticed the blank look that had come over little Mary's face, or the terror that was building in her eyes. The cute blonde dried her daughter's tears as she told her, "Don't worry, darling. We can go play at the lake when we get home!"

A blood curdling scream made everyone turn their heads. Mary was lying in the fetal position, rocking back and forth, sobbing, with her eyes darting back and forth. She was utterly terrified, anyone could see that, and she babbled, "No! Don't go into the water! Please don't… please… please… there's death in the water! Don't go in! No, please. Don't die!" And with that, the poor thing fainted.

Every eye turned towards Nicholas and Elizabeth. Nicholas quickly rushed forward and scooped his daughter into his arms, and made for the door. "Everyone, I thank you for coming today, but as you can see, Mary is quite tired and isn't up to any more activity today. Again, thank you. It's been a blessing having you here as guests." Then he rushed out the door, and took little Mary to her room. Elizabeth quickly showed everyone out, again and again repeating her thanks and regret, and then hurried upstairs, her rage finally showing, to confront her husband.

"I knew it! I knew we should have never thrown her that party! Look what happened, Nicholas! If you had just listened to me, just valued my opinion for once, we wouldn't be in this jam!" She would have gone on, but Nicholas silenced her with a sharp look.

"Now, see here, Elizabeth! How was I supposed to know what would happen? Mary has apparently not had enough sleep, she's hallucinating. That was all that happened. That Charles is as spoiled as they come, you know that. Mary simply did something to offend him, and in his temper he frightened her out of her wits!"

Elizabeth's temper flared once more. "Hallucinating? Not enough sleep? Oh, come on, Nicholas! You know exactly what happened! She did it again!"

Nicholas's temper showed its head as well. "Did what, Elizabeth?"

"She had one of her… her… visions! Devil sent, probably. Nicholas, what are we going to do? Her problem shamed us today! How can you go to the office? How can we go to any parties, bring her anywhere? Every time someone sees her, they'll think of today. When they see us, all they'll think is, "Those people are the parents of a freak!"

Nicholas did something he and his wife never thought he'd ever do; he slapped Elizabeth across the face. "Enough of that!" he roared, "Mary is our child! Why can't you love her? How can you say such horrible things about a baby you yourself brought into the world? What happened to you Elizabeth?"

His words stung infinitely more than the blow had. As tears welled in her eyes, she tore the hat from her hair and threw it at him. "Fine, Nicholas. If she means that much to you, then do what you will. She robbed us of any other children we might have had; normal children, Nicholas! But hear me now! If anything of this sort happens again, you'll have to choose; me or her."

She would have ran out of the room that minute, if Mary had not popped her head through the doorway, her features composed once more, and quietly asked, "Mommy, what will you name my baby sister?"