OCTOBER 2522

I'm making spaghetti. Gabriel managed to get the pasta the day before yesterday at the market, a hard acquisition. No doubt the vendor came out of it bloodied and poor. Still, I have been craving it lately, and with two cans of tomato sauce in the cabinet, all that has been missing are the carbs.

Now, as I stir the tomato sauce and watch the big pot of water begin to boil, my mouth is beginning to water.

A knock at the door distracts me, setting me on edge instantly.

Dani's at the table in her booster seat, scraps of old newspaper and a rare box of crayons spread out before her. She's finally learned that the colorful wax is supposed to be used on the paper and not on the wooden table, a concept she's been eager to demonstrate to me every chance she gets.

"Dani, baby," I say, setting down my spoon and making sure she's happily at play with her coloring, "Stay at the table. Mommy will be right back."

"Okaaay, Mommy," she sings, bright blue eyes intent on her crayons. Her hair has grown so long; thick golden curls bob around her angel's face and between her shoulder blades. I can't help but caress them on my way by, patting her on the head lightly.

As I round through the archway and step into the living room, I make a detour. I haven't been keeping my knife close lately, a lamentable result of living comfortably with my husband and daughter for more than a year.

I grab my knife from my nightstand drawer and Gabriel's gun from on top of the armoire, loading it quickly as I step towards the door.

I have no peephole, so I step to the side of the door, drawing the curtain back slightly to look out and onto the stoop. It's a courier. His bright uniform is almost grotesque against the colorless backdrop of the city's outskirts.

"Leave it on the steps," I shout through the window, keeping the loaded gun trained on him. He looks up, and I see fear flit across his features as he sees the gun. He nods, conveniently forgetting the paperwork in his hands and dropping the package.

I watch him mount his bike and disappear around the corner before I unbolt the door, pulling it open slowly and crouching down to retrieve the package. Gabriel has given me very specific instructions about opening the door when I'm alone in the house, especially when I have Dani with me. I am willing to concede, because although I think he goes just a tad overboard, the concern behind it is nice.

As I straighten, pushing the door shut with the toe of my boot, I hear it.

The splash comes first. Steaming water spills and splatters against hardwood floors.

Then comes the bang, the clatter and odd ringing of heavy metal falling carelessly against a hard surface.

And then the shriek.

My heart stops at the sound and everything I was holding falls to the ground.

She's screaming as I run, careening around the corner as fast as my feet will carry me. It seems like forever. Time slows and I can hear each individual rap of my feet on the ground, every thump of my heartbeat resounding in my ears.

And still, she's shrieking, the high wounded scream of a child in pain. My child.

My baby.

I make it into the kitchen and my mind absorbs several things all at once.

The chair has been dragged over to the stove. The pot is lying on its side, rolling around and still emitting that resounding bell noise. The water is everywhere, pooling on the floor around Dani…

She's drenched, her hair soaked and her skin a brilliant scarlet.

I can see the blisters from here.

I want to vomit, but I can't stop. I'm next to her, kicking the pot and screaming as I fall to my knees. The boiling water soaks through my jeans and scalds my knees.

I moan.

She's in my arms before I can think and I'm stripping her clothes off, wanting to separate her fragile skin from the heat. She's screaming, high and terrified. Her face is bright red and blistered, her eyes shut tight and unseeing.

"GABRIEL!" I scream. My voice sounds foreign. I don't even recognize it as it echoes in the kitchen against the backdrop of our baby daughter's pained screeches.

And then he's there. I don't stop to question how he got here so fast. He was supposed to be across the city, trading for things we need. But that's not important now. What's important is the way his eyes flash in panic and then go blank as he takes Dani from my arms, not bothering to reason with me, instead choosing to render me immobile. I can't move as my screams are silenced and I stare in panic.

He's turned away from me, hiding her tiny body from view, and all I want to do is yell and strike out at him and make him give her back to me.

I can't let myself think about this, can't bring myself to imagine the horror that's happened. My baby. She's blistered, burned…her thin flesh and bright curls, and her blood-curdling screams.

And then the screams stop and she's only whimpering.

I can hear Gabriel's voice, low and soothing and distant.

"Shhh…Danielle. It's okay sweetheart. It's okay. Calm down, baby." The reassurance sounds so strange on his lips, and so futile to my ears. I try to sob, but it doesn't reach my lips. He's frozen me completely.

Now all I can hear is his voice and her short, gasping whimpers as she clings to him. Her arms reach around his neck, light pink and perfect.

My eyes want to widen, but that too is impossible.

He turns, his eyes flashing anger unlike anything I've ever seen before. He looks…murderous. And all that rage, that awful intent, is focused on me.

I deserve it. How could I have been so stupid, so idiotic? My baby. My poor, precious baby. I can't let myself look at her.

His gaze softens infinitesimally and then lowers, lashes dark against his cheek, his low voice still murmuring to our daughter.

I force myself to look, to see Dani. Her hair is wet, clinging in sopping curls to her face, her little naked body pressed as close as possible to Gabriel.

And her skin…it's perfect and pale beneath the tiny rivulets of water trailing from her hair down her back.

As my eyes finally widen and my heart races, Gabriel meets my eyes, his hand patting Dani's shaking back as he continues to calm her.

And then it becomes clear, all of it.

He brought me a baby, a flawless little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. A wonderful daughter who was just like Mommy and Daddy. A perfect child who would never die.

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Mel and Chuck