So I admit: I panicked. So what? You would have too if you thought your boyfriend –or okay 'good friend'- went out with the intention of killing someone. The fact that it was all my fault didn't really help much either.
So that is why instead of going down for dinner like a good little girl, I grabbed a sweater and climbed out of my window. I'm serious. It was way Tarzan. Until the part where I fell on my butt and- I'm pretty certain –broke my coccyx bone. Which will forever more put me off falling off the side of houses. It hurts.
I recovered myself pretty quickly. I was determined to find Jesse before he did something stupid. I guess I shouldn't underestimate the guy, but whatever. He seemed to have a huge problem whenever something that involved me getting upset or hurt was concerned. Not that that isn't pretty cool and all. I mean, I'd waited for practically my entire life to find a guy that wasn't repulsed by my inability to be normal. Normal being: a Kelly Prescott wannabe.
"Where in heavens name do you think you're going?"
The words cut through the eerie silence like a knife. I spun around so fast it made my head rush. She was back.
"Don't you ever get bored of following me?" I asked her feeling annoyed. She grimaced as she continued to face me confidently.
I felt my hair whipping around my face and could already feel the icy chill coming in from the vast ocean. She however did not seem to notice.
"It is my duty to guide you in this time of turmoil." Madam Zara answered in her hushed tone.
"Look, I don't need you help. And I certainly don't want you to guide me anywhere. So can you just get lost?" it was more a statement than an actual question, and she took it as such.
"Very well, if it is not my guidance you require I will part company with you. But you must understand the reasoning behind your fate. Jesse is dead. It was his destiny to become so. The only way for the prophecy to come true –and for you to love him till the end of time- will be for you to die also. Don't you understand that?"
I could hear the soft pleading in her voice, but it didn't matter. Of course I understood what she meant, but that didn't mean I had to actually agree with it. I fixed her with a stony glare before replying in a hushed whisper.
"Actually no I don't understand that. You see, I was always brought up to believe that if you love someone, it doesn't matter if you're separated for eternity. You're love will never die even when you're body is long gone."
And the thing is: I was telling the truth. I see it in the face of my dad whenever he comes to see me. I saw it softening my mom's features at his funeral. I'd seen it in the eye's of every Romeo and Juliet couple that missed their chance at a lifetime of happiness. And I sure as hell was feeling it now.
Sure those people were apart. But they still loved each other more than anything on this earth. And even when they try and move on, they always remember. Because that person formed a part of their heart. Nothing can take that away. Nothing.
Not even the realisation that you might have to die to protect that love.
I watched as Madam Zara studied me with –if I wasn't mistaken- pride. She was proud of what I had just said.
"I never thought I would say this to any of my charges. But you truly do exceed all my expectations. Very well. I will leave before dawn. But I must impress upon you the nature of your position."
"I understand everything, but I won't change my mind."
She smiled at me softly, "You are a wise girl. Wise beyond your years."
I returned her smile sadly. I knew that this was the beginning of the end for me. As if sensing my thoughts, she reached out and laid a hand on my arm.
"Do not fret my child. He loves you very much. Of all the things I could wish upon you, none could add up to the strength of his feelings for you."
The strange thing was, I found her words comforting. But I had more pressing matters at hand. Such as the dead body I was going to find if I didn't stop Jesse soon. Cause no matter what my destiny said Paul was going to do to me; I couldn't just stand back knowing I could have stopped his murder. I guess that's what makes me so much weaker than him.
She gave me another small smile.
"He isn't going to kill the boy," she told me calmly, "he merely needed his own space to think. Their paths will not cross again till your final hour nears its end."
I swallowed feeling a knot tighten in my stomach. My final hour.
"And when will that be?" I asked softly.
"Before the twelfth hour of your 17th. He will find you by the pool of reflection."
I stared at her in horror as much as confusion.
"My 17th? You mean my birthday? That's this month!" I cried in despair. She frowned at me but her tone was detached.
"You will die for your life. That is all I can say." she whispered softly.
"Die for my life? What does that mean?" I asked in confusion. I could feel the swirling obis of emotions threatening to engulf me entirely. But I pushed them back to a distant corner of my mind. Now was not the time.
"I can say no more. I have already shared more than I intended. Farewell sweetheart. All I will say to you is to follow your heart, it shall never steer you wrong."
And with that she was gone. Leaving me alone with the echoes of her words shaking me to the core.
