"Mary?" I asked in horror.

"What child?" her voice spit back at me. I was back in the carriage gasping for breath. My pulse raced and my head spun. That couldn't possibly happen to her…could it?

"Mary!" the realization hit my body in a single shock wave with tremors following soon after. A panic attack surged through my body ungovernably causing me to shake helplessly. I knew I had to control myself. I focused myself on the future. Someone else's future. Pictures flashed before my eyes violently, not even remotely calming me down. My eyes flicked to the side and caught a sign announcing a wedding. I focused quickly on the church spinning ahead into the future until I found the right time. The girls faced beamed as she walked down the aisle way, a vision in white. My breathing smoothed out and my heart began to beat at a near normal pace.

"Dad," I said quickly turning to the one man in this town who knew of what I could do. "Please, please listen to me," I begged shamelessly trying to convey all I could not say through my eyes. "Tonight…"

"Enough!" my dad hissed snake-like through his teeth. His eyes looked daggers at me as he caught on. Not to the fact that his fiancé was going to…die I nearly choked just thinking the word, but he had caught on to the fact that I was about to, or at least he thought I was, tell Mary what I could do. My dad feared discovery more than anything.

"But…" I tried to no avail. The look in his eyes could stop a lion in his tracks. Tears swelled in my eyes as I looked at Mary, not because I deeply cared for her, for I didn't, but because I was the only one who could save her life. I blinked back the tears as best I could before a few easily slipped from my eyes. I couldn't let them think my dad's coldness had led me to tears, for that is what they would all assumed.

The carriage jolted to halt throwing me forward into the wooden coachmen's seat in front of me. The carriage driver turned to me with a look that was a cruel blow to my confidence. I immediately shrunk back throwing my hand before my face as if he might hit me. It was instinct, an instinct I had developed long ago from living with my father. The driver gruffly muttered something that sound like "stupid child."

I stepped out of the carriage momentarily wallowing in the cool breath of night on my neck. The crickets chirping formed a steady hum as I thoughtlessly moved towards the restaurant.

"Darling, go ahead and sit down I'll be just a minute," my father cooed. At first I thought he was talking to me and to be honest I was slightly taken aback by his 'darling' comment. That is until Mary walked briskly into the crowded restaurant.

I felt fingers dig into my arms causing me to whimper in pain. As I did so people began to stare form the sidewalks. "Shut up," the nails burrowed into my skin, "people are staring," the skin broke. "Don't draw attention to yourself," blood began to trickle down my arm. Each command he gave turned his hands into an ever tightening vice. I chewed on my lip to keep the tears at bay.

"Listen now and listen well," his voice opened up the wounds of the past. The nights he'd spent screaming at me, tearing me down. "Mary will not, cannot, and shall not know about your…repulsive…" he could not seem to find a word cruel enough to get his point across. I nodded slowly, his words so merciless they sent a fresh wave a tears cascading from my eyes.

He turned promptly and marched into the restaurant, he turned one last time to make sure I saw the loathing in his eyes before disappearing through the rotating door. He clearly expected I would follow and I did.

The restaurant was covered in chandeliers, icicles of diamonds hanging from them. The waiters were all in neatly pressed black suits caring fresh food on silver platters. The restaurant was a roaring blaze of clinking forks, footsteps, and conversations with little meaning. Out table was in the center of it all. As I took my seat I was able to quickly tune out Mary and my father and drift in and out of the meaningless conversations around me.

William and Mary droned on, actually it was mostly a one-ended conversation. Mary talked while my dad nodded politely; his eyes seemed to be taking a break, all glazed over. Not typical fiancé behavior if you ask me.

I fingered the menu in front of me, not hungry at all. I had nothing to do but wait. I didn't care for Mary, but I didn't want her to die either. Every breath I took felt as if I was gulping up air after a long run. Sweat trickled down my face as I thought of the terror that the night held in its shadows. I wanted to run away from it all. I wanted to here my footsteps thud on the sidewalk in the night's hallow air. The wind whipping my hair as I tried to run from my troubles, but I couldn't run away.

I had tried already, two years ago. I had run away from everything, all my problems seemed to melt away. At ten years old I had nowhere to run to. I couldn't get any food or shelter and finally on a cold raining night I passed out on the sidewalk. I still remember that night as if it where yesterday.

I was looking franticly for a shelter, as I knew rain was on its way. I began to feel the needles of ice dig themselves into my shoulder as my dad had done to my arm earlier. Sorrow gripped my body and my body collapsed helplessly from the pain as I withered on the ground. The world began to spin and I lost my grip of reality as I suffocated in the darkness that consumed me. Later I woke up at home to the screaming of my father.

The picture of that dark alley flashed in my mind, my body quivered involuntarily on the gravel, the shout of drunken men in the distance. Something was off…it wasn't raining? The thought came more as a question then a statement. I was also looking at myself, not remembering from my point of view. I gasped sharply as I zoomed back to reality, the picture of my future made my body ache.

My body passed out in an alley was too much for me, and I quickly excused myself to the restroom. I walked hastily past elegantly dressed couples and children giggling to themselves as adults corrected their childish behavior in an expensive restaurant. As I closed the distance between the restroom and myself I began to hiccup helplessly and trip as I picked up my pace. I was nearly running as I blew through the swinging doors.

My body caved as I slumped against the stall door. Tears consumed my body and as the torment of my vision pumped ruthlessly through my veins echoing in my head. I slammed my eyes shut until I saw spots. My body crumpled soundlessly into a tiny heap on the floor. I lay my head down gently on the cold floor letting the icy feel sooth my steadily growing headache. Time became meaningless until I found my body quieting out of exhaustion.

I collected myself as best I could as I walked to the sink and splashed water on my face trying to alter my agonized appearance. Crying helped nothing. I had learned so long ago and was embarrassed at my breakdown. When I looked presentable again I forced myself to go back to the table.

When I walked out of the misery of the bathroom the joy of others in the dining area overwhelmed me. I almost tripped as it hit me in waves of the cheer I forgot continued even as I lost it. I took my time getting back to the table where my parents obviously hadn't missed me.

I turned my head just in time to see a waiter trip and my breath stopped as my vision played out…

A/N- Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I'm still not getting many reviews and it only takes a second. If you review this chapter I will send you the next chapter via email. I won't have Internet access for about a week, but I promise I will send the next chapter to anyone who reviews as soon as I can. So please, please, please, please review!

Tell me what you think,

Louise