Chapter Eleven
The Design
As usual, Kimberly was awake and toasting waffles before Thomas had even gotten out of bed, the curse of being a morning person adding to the fact that she had been awake most the night. Around five thirty that morning, she had realized that it would do her no good and quietly she had made her way into the living room. She had watched an infomercial about an exercise machine and then watched the beginning of the six o'clock news to see if there would be anything about the house explosion. She was stunned to hear that police were intent on investigating her and Thomas, feeling that the fact that they had survived two freak accidents made them suspects for foul play. There wasn't anything about Altessa Adams, nor any mention of a premonition, aside from the knowledge that she had been rumored to have predicted the pileup.
So when Thomas finally dragged himself out of bed on that cloudy Sunday morning, Kimberly had already made an entire box of waffles (she burnt the first two) and a pot of coffee. "Aren't you the early bird." Thomas remarked tiredly, kissing her on the cheek before sitting down. "Couldn't sleep huh?"
Kimberly shook her head sheepishly, sitting down beside him and picking up a cooling waffle. "No, I've been thinking about Altessa all night; we need to figure out the order of the Design so we know what to look out for." She told him, face etched with concern. They had no idea who was supposedly to die next, for all she knew, it could be her, it could be Thomas, it could even be Altessa.
"Right, I'll make the calls to the station and set the whole thing up." Thomas nodded, taking a sip of coffee and standing up, heading for the cordless phone on the counter.
Kimberly mulled about the whole ordeal for the moment and then turned to face the police officer, pursing her lips. "Altessa's mother is very protective, she didn't want me to speak to her daughter; make sure you keep her busy long enough for me to talk to her." She added, brushing her brown hair behind her ears.
Thomas nodded once, motioned for her to be silent as he began speaking into the mouth piece of the phone, arranging for the officer on duty to call the Adams and bring them down to the station. "Even if Mrs. Adams resists, don't let her, make sure she comes down, it's very important." He reiterated as he hung up, turning around to face his girlfriend.
"It's all set. Ready to jump into the fray?" He questioned with a slight smile, raising an eyebrow.
Kimberly couldn't help but smile as well, feeling a slight burn lifted off her shoulders at the thought of taking the first step to beating Death. "Let's go." She stood as well, grabbing her kaki jacket off the hook by the door and slipped it over her shoulders.
Thomas followed her out, kissing the top of her forehead and taking her hand in his. Once again, they were going to need to rely on each other to get through the ordeal ahead of them. Neither of them wanted to go through alone.
* * *
The car ride to the police station was completely silent; Altessa didn't want to open her mouth to speak and her mother appeared not to want to hear her words. The gap that had separated mother and daughter before had grown into a canyon and neither of them were quite sure what to do about it.
Twenty minutes earlier Amanda had received a phone call from the local police station, asking her and her daughter to come for some follow up questions and after much persistence, Amanda had finally relented. Altessa had been slightly eager to go as well, feeling as though it was important that she did so; the police officer's insistence that she come as well only confirmed that fact.
And now here they were, the only surviving members of the Adams family, riding along in silence like complete strangers. Finally, unable to take anymore, Altessa turned her head so that she was looking at her mother. "Mom, why won't you talk to me?" She questioned, not exactly sure she wanted an answer.
Amanda pursed her lips, appearing as though she was straining to remain calm. "Altessa, don't do this." She mumbled, almost inaudible but her daughter still heard her words, and she wasn't satisfied by them.
"I didn't cause it Mom, I didn't make that house explode. I tried to warn Dad, I tried to get him out-" The teenager pressed, wanting to get her mother to verbally acknowledge that fact.
"That's enough Altessa!" Amanda cried, looking as though she was preparing to strike the teen but instead slammed her palms on the steering wheel. Altessa didn't even wince, staring at her mother with a slightly confused gaze.
There was silence in the car once again, Altessa and Amanda both stared through the windshield, understanding now why the silence was so important.
* * *
Thomas was waiting in the front of the station house when the Adams' car pulled into the parking lot, among the collection of police cruisers. Kimberly was no where in sight, having disappeared minutes earlier in search of a soda machine, which now left Thomas slightly uncomfortable, unsure of what to do. He did know, however, that Kimberly wanted to talk only with Altessa so he decided it would be best to get the elder Adams away for a while.
Altessa met his eyes as she walked through the sliding doors, a hint of recognition on her features; there was no doubt in Thomas' mind that the girl knew exactly who he was but she did a very good job of hiding it. The tension, however, was palpable between the two women and he figured that mother and daughter didn't quite get along. He was also very aware that Amanda didn't want to be there but Altessa actually seemed relieved to see him.
Thomas cleared his throat and attempted to seem business-like, approaching Amanda. "Thank you, Mrs. Adams for coming down here, there's just a few follow-up questions I need you to answer then you can be on your way." He assured the woman, who simply narrowed her eyes at him.
"This better be very important, I have two funerals to plan." She snapped, causing Thomas to frown as well, pursing his lips slightly.
He nodded once, attempting to appear unfazed. "It'll only take a few minutes." He repeated, turning around to face Altessa, who was looking at him as though waiting for directions. "You can wait out here." He told her, and the raven-haired girl sat down on a bench, watching her mother and the police officer disappear down the hallway.
Altessa stared out the glass doors, watching the clouds mass together in the sky, signaling rain. She heard the soles of someone's shoes click down the hallway but she didn't even turn to acknowledge the noise.
Kimberly turned the corner, a soda in her hand, and saw Altessa sitting alone on a wooden bench, staring blankly ahead of her. She could hear a pair of voices, one of them Thomas' and she knew that she would have to talk to the girl fast. She knew that Altessa's mother probably wouldn't be too happy if she caught them talking.
"Altessa Adams?" Kimberly asked, though she already knew the answer to the question, crossing the gap between them and standing to the teen's right, setting down her soda can. The younger girl gave no sign that she even heard her, continuing to stare in front of her.
Finally, Altessa turned her head in Kimberly's direction, jade-eyes locking with the brunette's blue ones. "Yes?" She mumbled softly, though Kimberly knew it was a start, at least she wasn't ignoring her.
Kimberly sat down on the bench next to the teenager, drawing her attention even more. "Look, I was just wondering if I could talk to you for a second?" She asked, hoping for an affirmative answer.
Altessa didn't answer for a second, though she continued to look at the brunette. "You're Kimberly Corman, I saw your picture in the paper." She said after another second's pause, causing the brunette to frown slightly.
Kimberly felt slightly confused, though she figured that she shouldn't be surprised by the girl's recognition; she had been in the papers a lot but she had wanted to believe that the 'connection' they had shared the previous day was more then remembrance from a news article. "Right. Look-" She was unable to finish what she had started to say because Altessa jumped in with a question of her own.
"You were there yesterday." Altessa stated simply, staring at her. "You said you understood."
Kimberly nodded once, feeling as though she was on the brink of something, anything. "Altessa, I do-" She tried again, not angry that she had been interrupted the first time. The teenager was only making it easier for her to explain.
"How do you know my name?" Altessa asked, brow knitting with confusion and interest. It didn't occur to her that perhaps Kimberly had heard her name on the news or perhaps from her police officer boyfriend but it didn't seem as though that was where she had gotten her information.
A smile slightly graced the brunette's face and she raised an eyebrow. "Because I understand." Kimberly told her, feeling relief course through her when the teenager looked relieved as well. She had been worried that Altessa wasn't going to believe her or that she would be unwilling to help her see the signs and beat the Design. But now it looked like that wasn't going to be the case.
"What happened to me? I don't understand, everything happened just like I saw. What's going on?" Altessa asked, face creasing with worry.
Kimberly knew what the girl was feeling all too well. "What I'm going to tell you might be hard to understand but you have to believe me, because everything I say it true. Did you hear about the explosion of Flight 180 two years ago?" She asked, locking eyes with Altessa.
The teenager nodded once, slowly, pursing her lips. "I think so, what does that have to do with anything?" Altessa questioned, knitting her eyebrows.
Kimberly took a deep breath, attempting to sort her thoughts out before speaking. "Alex Browning, who was on the plane, had a vision of the plane exploding and then it did. He got six people off the plane and slowly they all died in freak accidents. The thing is, the 'survivors' all died in the order that they were supposed to die in the plane.
"Last year, I had a vision like his, I predicted the pileup on Highway 23. It was exactly a year after the Flight 180 explosion and yesterday was the two year anniversary. Are you following me?" Kimberly paused, staring at Altessa, who had been listening silently.
Altessa nodded once, pursing her lips. "I think so; what you're saying is you had a vision about an accident that would have killed you..." She trailed off, letting Kimberly finish the sentence.
"Right, I was supposed to die in that pileup with everyone else but because I didn't, Death basically came back to get me and my friends." Kimberly finished, agreeing quickly. Altessa had caught on quickly, as all the visionaries seemed to do; it was convincing everyone else that was going to be the problem.
Altessa frowned, gaze ticking past Kimberly, staring blankly again. With Altessa believing her on the whole 'Death is stalking us' topic, Kimberly knew there was only one thing left to figure out: the Design. "This is extremely important Altessa: in what order did the people die in your vision?"
Silence took over the hallway after Kimberly finished speaking; Altessa closed her eyes, trying to recall her painful vision. All she saw was a blinding explosion and it caused her to open her eyes quickly. "Wait...in my vision...everyone died at once, there was no order." She told the brunette, looking confused and guilty, as though she had betrayed Kimberly by not remembering.
Kimberly frowned, feeling her face pale as she heard the teenager's words. "No order." She muttered under her breath, so silently that Altessa didn't even hear her. She couldn't bring herself to say anything else and was only broken out of her reverie by the sound of Thomas' voice, coming closer to them.
Thomas and Amanda slipped into the lobby, Thomas trying to say something, though it was clear that Amanda wasn't listening. When she saw her daughter sitting next to Kimberly, Amanda frowned, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Let's go Altessa." She commanded, feeling angry at the sight of the brunette, as though she had been the one to cause all of their grief.
Altessa frowned, looking from her mother to Kimberly, who was also looking slightly upset. They had yet to talk about everything in detail, had yet to figure out how they were going to beat Death once and for all. "But Mom, I need-" Altessa began but Amanda cut her off.
"Now, Altessa." Amanda commanded sternly, walking over to her daughter and grabbing her arm, pulling her off the bench.
Kimberly stood as well, needing to make sure that she made the teenager understand that they needed to talk again. "Altessa, I'll talk to you later." She whispered, hoping that Amanda wouldn't hear.
But she had no such luck; Amanda let go of her daughter's arm and whirled around to face the brunette. "I think it would serve you best to stay away from my daughter; I don't know who you are but if I catch you with my daughter, I will have you arrested." She whispered fiercely.
Kimberly stepped back, slightly surprised. Altessa stepped forward and pulled her mother away from the brunette, glaring at the woman. "Mom, leave her alone." She sounded just as fierce as her mother, though her physical appearance carried extra weight.
Without further conversation, the Adams women left the station, leaving Thomas and Kimberly alone once again. With the two of them gone, the weight of Altessa's words hit Kimberly once again and she dropped back down onto the bench, staring ahead blankly.
There was no Design. That meant that any one of them could be next and they had no idea of knowing who it was until it was too late. The desperation of the whole situation increased and she felt closer to giving up now then she had before.
"So, did you figure out the order?" The way Thomas asked told her that he really was afraid to know the answer, afraid to know when his time would be up.
Kimberly shook her head, looking up at him. "No, there is no Design. We have no idea of knowing who's next to die." She told him, feeling her heart begin to beat in her chest.
As those words began to sink in, fear began to take over both of them. For the first time yet, Kimberly began to wonder if it was possible to beat Death at all.
The Design
As usual, Kimberly was awake and toasting waffles before Thomas had even gotten out of bed, the curse of being a morning person adding to the fact that she had been awake most the night. Around five thirty that morning, she had realized that it would do her no good and quietly she had made her way into the living room. She had watched an infomercial about an exercise machine and then watched the beginning of the six o'clock news to see if there would be anything about the house explosion. She was stunned to hear that police were intent on investigating her and Thomas, feeling that the fact that they had survived two freak accidents made them suspects for foul play. There wasn't anything about Altessa Adams, nor any mention of a premonition, aside from the knowledge that she had been rumored to have predicted the pileup.
So when Thomas finally dragged himself out of bed on that cloudy Sunday morning, Kimberly had already made an entire box of waffles (she burnt the first two) and a pot of coffee. "Aren't you the early bird." Thomas remarked tiredly, kissing her on the cheek before sitting down. "Couldn't sleep huh?"
Kimberly shook her head sheepishly, sitting down beside him and picking up a cooling waffle. "No, I've been thinking about Altessa all night; we need to figure out the order of the Design so we know what to look out for." She told him, face etched with concern. They had no idea who was supposedly to die next, for all she knew, it could be her, it could be Thomas, it could even be Altessa.
"Right, I'll make the calls to the station and set the whole thing up." Thomas nodded, taking a sip of coffee and standing up, heading for the cordless phone on the counter.
Kimberly mulled about the whole ordeal for the moment and then turned to face the police officer, pursing her lips. "Altessa's mother is very protective, she didn't want me to speak to her daughter; make sure you keep her busy long enough for me to talk to her." She added, brushing her brown hair behind her ears.
Thomas nodded once, motioned for her to be silent as he began speaking into the mouth piece of the phone, arranging for the officer on duty to call the Adams and bring them down to the station. "Even if Mrs. Adams resists, don't let her, make sure she comes down, it's very important." He reiterated as he hung up, turning around to face his girlfriend.
"It's all set. Ready to jump into the fray?" He questioned with a slight smile, raising an eyebrow.
Kimberly couldn't help but smile as well, feeling a slight burn lifted off her shoulders at the thought of taking the first step to beating Death. "Let's go." She stood as well, grabbing her kaki jacket off the hook by the door and slipped it over her shoulders.
Thomas followed her out, kissing the top of her forehead and taking her hand in his. Once again, they were going to need to rely on each other to get through the ordeal ahead of them. Neither of them wanted to go through alone.
* * *
The car ride to the police station was completely silent; Altessa didn't want to open her mouth to speak and her mother appeared not to want to hear her words. The gap that had separated mother and daughter before had grown into a canyon and neither of them were quite sure what to do about it.
Twenty minutes earlier Amanda had received a phone call from the local police station, asking her and her daughter to come for some follow up questions and after much persistence, Amanda had finally relented. Altessa had been slightly eager to go as well, feeling as though it was important that she did so; the police officer's insistence that she come as well only confirmed that fact.
And now here they were, the only surviving members of the Adams family, riding along in silence like complete strangers. Finally, unable to take anymore, Altessa turned her head so that she was looking at her mother. "Mom, why won't you talk to me?" She questioned, not exactly sure she wanted an answer.
Amanda pursed her lips, appearing as though she was straining to remain calm. "Altessa, don't do this." She mumbled, almost inaudible but her daughter still heard her words, and she wasn't satisfied by them.
"I didn't cause it Mom, I didn't make that house explode. I tried to warn Dad, I tried to get him out-" The teenager pressed, wanting to get her mother to verbally acknowledge that fact.
"That's enough Altessa!" Amanda cried, looking as though she was preparing to strike the teen but instead slammed her palms on the steering wheel. Altessa didn't even wince, staring at her mother with a slightly confused gaze.
There was silence in the car once again, Altessa and Amanda both stared through the windshield, understanding now why the silence was so important.
* * *
Thomas was waiting in the front of the station house when the Adams' car pulled into the parking lot, among the collection of police cruisers. Kimberly was no where in sight, having disappeared minutes earlier in search of a soda machine, which now left Thomas slightly uncomfortable, unsure of what to do. He did know, however, that Kimberly wanted to talk only with Altessa so he decided it would be best to get the elder Adams away for a while.
Altessa met his eyes as she walked through the sliding doors, a hint of recognition on her features; there was no doubt in Thomas' mind that the girl knew exactly who he was but she did a very good job of hiding it. The tension, however, was palpable between the two women and he figured that mother and daughter didn't quite get along. He was also very aware that Amanda didn't want to be there but Altessa actually seemed relieved to see him.
Thomas cleared his throat and attempted to seem business-like, approaching Amanda. "Thank you, Mrs. Adams for coming down here, there's just a few follow-up questions I need you to answer then you can be on your way." He assured the woman, who simply narrowed her eyes at him.
"This better be very important, I have two funerals to plan." She snapped, causing Thomas to frown as well, pursing his lips slightly.
He nodded once, attempting to appear unfazed. "It'll only take a few minutes." He repeated, turning around to face Altessa, who was looking at him as though waiting for directions. "You can wait out here." He told her, and the raven-haired girl sat down on a bench, watching her mother and the police officer disappear down the hallway.
Altessa stared out the glass doors, watching the clouds mass together in the sky, signaling rain. She heard the soles of someone's shoes click down the hallway but she didn't even turn to acknowledge the noise.
Kimberly turned the corner, a soda in her hand, and saw Altessa sitting alone on a wooden bench, staring blankly ahead of her. She could hear a pair of voices, one of them Thomas' and she knew that she would have to talk to the girl fast. She knew that Altessa's mother probably wouldn't be too happy if she caught them talking.
"Altessa Adams?" Kimberly asked, though she already knew the answer to the question, crossing the gap between them and standing to the teen's right, setting down her soda can. The younger girl gave no sign that she even heard her, continuing to stare in front of her.
Finally, Altessa turned her head in Kimberly's direction, jade-eyes locking with the brunette's blue ones. "Yes?" She mumbled softly, though Kimberly knew it was a start, at least she wasn't ignoring her.
Kimberly sat down on the bench next to the teenager, drawing her attention even more. "Look, I was just wondering if I could talk to you for a second?" She asked, hoping for an affirmative answer.
Altessa didn't answer for a second, though she continued to look at the brunette. "You're Kimberly Corman, I saw your picture in the paper." She said after another second's pause, causing the brunette to frown slightly.
Kimberly felt slightly confused, though she figured that she shouldn't be surprised by the girl's recognition; she had been in the papers a lot but she had wanted to believe that the 'connection' they had shared the previous day was more then remembrance from a news article. "Right. Look-" She was unable to finish what she had started to say because Altessa jumped in with a question of her own.
"You were there yesterday." Altessa stated simply, staring at her. "You said you understood."
Kimberly nodded once, feeling as though she was on the brink of something, anything. "Altessa, I do-" She tried again, not angry that she had been interrupted the first time. The teenager was only making it easier for her to explain.
"How do you know my name?" Altessa asked, brow knitting with confusion and interest. It didn't occur to her that perhaps Kimberly had heard her name on the news or perhaps from her police officer boyfriend but it didn't seem as though that was where she had gotten her information.
A smile slightly graced the brunette's face and she raised an eyebrow. "Because I understand." Kimberly told her, feeling relief course through her when the teenager looked relieved as well. She had been worried that Altessa wasn't going to believe her or that she would be unwilling to help her see the signs and beat the Design. But now it looked like that wasn't going to be the case.
"What happened to me? I don't understand, everything happened just like I saw. What's going on?" Altessa asked, face creasing with worry.
Kimberly knew what the girl was feeling all too well. "What I'm going to tell you might be hard to understand but you have to believe me, because everything I say it true. Did you hear about the explosion of Flight 180 two years ago?" She asked, locking eyes with Altessa.
The teenager nodded once, slowly, pursing her lips. "I think so, what does that have to do with anything?" Altessa questioned, knitting her eyebrows.
Kimberly took a deep breath, attempting to sort her thoughts out before speaking. "Alex Browning, who was on the plane, had a vision of the plane exploding and then it did. He got six people off the plane and slowly they all died in freak accidents. The thing is, the 'survivors' all died in the order that they were supposed to die in the plane.
"Last year, I had a vision like his, I predicted the pileup on Highway 23. It was exactly a year after the Flight 180 explosion and yesterday was the two year anniversary. Are you following me?" Kimberly paused, staring at Altessa, who had been listening silently.
Altessa nodded once, pursing her lips. "I think so; what you're saying is you had a vision about an accident that would have killed you..." She trailed off, letting Kimberly finish the sentence.
"Right, I was supposed to die in that pileup with everyone else but because I didn't, Death basically came back to get me and my friends." Kimberly finished, agreeing quickly. Altessa had caught on quickly, as all the visionaries seemed to do; it was convincing everyone else that was going to be the problem.
Altessa frowned, gaze ticking past Kimberly, staring blankly again. With Altessa believing her on the whole 'Death is stalking us' topic, Kimberly knew there was only one thing left to figure out: the Design. "This is extremely important Altessa: in what order did the people die in your vision?"
Silence took over the hallway after Kimberly finished speaking; Altessa closed her eyes, trying to recall her painful vision. All she saw was a blinding explosion and it caused her to open her eyes quickly. "Wait...in my vision...everyone died at once, there was no order." She told the brunette, looking confused and guilty, as though she had betrayed Kimberly by not remembering.
Kimberly frowned, feeling her face pale as she heard the teenager's words. "No order." She muttered under her breath, so silently that Altessa didn't even hear her. She couldn't bring herself to say anything else and was only broken out of her reverie by the sound of Thomas' voice, coming closer to them.
Thomas and Amanda slipped into the lobby, Thomas trying to say something, though it was clear that Amanda wasn't listening. When she saw her daughter sitting next to Kimberly, Amanda frowned, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Let's go Altessa." She commanded, feeling angry at the sight of the brunette, as though she had been the one to cause all of their grief.
Altessa frowned, looking from her mother to Kimberly, who was also looking slightly upset. They had yet to talk about everything in detail, had yet to figure out how they were going to beat Death once and for all. "But Mom, I need-" Altessa began but Amanda cut her off.
"Now, Altessa." Amanda commanded sternly, walking over to her daughter and grabbing her arm, pulling her off the bench.
Kimberly stood as well, needing to make sure that she made the teenager understand that they needed to talk again. "Altessa, I'll talk to you later." She whispered, hoping that Amanda wouldn't hear.
But she had no such luck; Amanda let go of her daughter's arm and whirled around to face the brunette. "I think it would serve you best to stay away from my daughter; I don't know who you are but if I catch you with my daughter, I will have you arrested." She whispered fiercely.
Kimberly stepped back, slightly surprised. Altessa stepped forward and pulled her mother away from the brunette, glaring at the woman. "Mom, leave her alone." She sounded just as fierce as her mother, though her physical appearance carried extra weight.
Without further conversation, the Adams women left the station, leaving Thomas and Kimberly alone once again. With the two of them gone, the weight of Altessa's words hit Kimberly once again and she dropped back down onto the bench, staring ahead blankly.
There was no Design. That meant that any one of them could be next and they had no idea of knowing who it was until it was too late. The desperation of the whole situation increased and she felt closer to giving up now then she had before.
"So, did you figure out the order?" The way Thomas asked told her that he really was afraid to know the answer, afraid to know when his time would be up.
Kimberly shook her head, looking up at him. "No, there is no Design. We have no idea of knowing who's next to die." She told him, feeling her heart begin to beat in her chest.
As those words began to sink in, fear began to take over both of them. For the first time yet, Kimberly began to wonder if it was possible to beat Death at all.