The world was a terrible, cruel, and trying place. Tess knew that.

Every Sunday she would kneel in front of the altar at St. Elizabeth's Church, the only decent church within twenty miles of Chestler College, and pray to whichever saint or god could hear her to grant her life just a little happiness. Now, it used to be she just prayed for trivial things, like for Bradley Joseph to finally notice her despite her odd appearance, not unlike that nerdy look of Velma from those old Scooby Doo cartoons. Once she prayed for her father to forgive her for having sex outside of the sacred bonds of marriage (even though she had been given drugs and was rendered defenseless at that party).

But today she prayed frantically for salvation. That she would never come into contact with her…OR him…again.

"Tess?"

The voice made Tess nearly jump out of the pew. It was him. Bradley.

"Oh…hi," Tess mumbled. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't religious…"

Bradley shrugged, his light blue eyes glinting with a realm of mischievousness. "I'm bored, so I figured I'd wait for you to finish up praying and then see if you wanted to go swimming."

"Are you insane? It's too cold!" Tess sighed. "Besides, you can't rush these things."

"Look, you're my next door neighbor and best friend," Bradley said. "You saw me through my good and bad times, and I've seen you through yours. So trust me when I say this: Jesus isn't going to take back what you saw," he said.

Tess felt her heart skip a beat. If only he knew…maybe he'd be praying too.

"Maybe you could tell me what you saw. I told you everything, weird as it is…" Bradley continued.

"I TOLD you what my vision was," Tess said. "I was in my room crying over an F I received on a test," she mumbled.

"I know you're into your grades and all that, Miss Future Senator," Bradley said. "And I'm probably just going to end up a pimp or something, my ways with the ladies and all…"

"Yeah, people still don't get why we're friends at all," Tess reminded him. "You've had more women since being here then I will have in my whole lifetime."

"Yeah but all of those faceless blondes won't equal The King of Luxembourg when you meet and steal his heart, I'm sure," Bradley joked. Tess shushed him. They were still in a church, after all.

"They don't have a King, they have a Grand Duke," Tess informed him.

"Back to the point," Bradley said. "A, I think you're lying about your vision, and B, even if you weren't, it's one F! At least you didn't foresee yourself falling off a cliff!"

"Why do you think I'm lying?" asked Tess. "You only saw HALF a vision!"

"Yeah, I think I was drunk and passed out halfway through it. It was so vague anyway…I was stumbling down the hall, and I felt not only dazed but pissed out of my mind. But, and here's where I think you're lying, because if we really did see the future, you'd have seen me too. I saw you standing at the end of the hall crying…or at least I think it was you, my vision was blurring."

It was me alright…

"Anyway, I heard a bang…I think you slammed a door, and out I went, go figure. My vision wasn't even a whole minute!" Bradley said.

"I saw no one but myself," Tess said. "Now, let me pray, please," she said, counting her rosary.

Bradley rolled his eyes. "Common, Tess! If not swimming, what about getting a drink or two?"

"We're twenty," Tess replied coldly. " Besides, I have work after this. I'm meeting a student. I'll come over to your room later, but please leave me alone now…I have some repenting to do…"

Bradley groaned after a moment's pause, then got to his feet. "Fine. Catch you later, Tessinator."

With that, Bradley walked up the aisle and left Tess alone in the cathedral. She looked up at the large statue of Mother Mary glaring down at her, as if to shame her. "You terrible, horrible girl…he is your best friend…and you love him…how could you?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Tess cried out. "I DON'T KNOW!! I won't, I swear, Holy Mother of God!! I will not let that happen…"

The fury is welling up inside her heart as she fingers the tool in her hand. It is cold and hard, like her heart. No turning back now. It was time…he was going to pay. She is very hesitant. The consequences far outweigh the satisfaction…but does she care? Not now. He is going to pay. Any minute now…in her heart she knows she cannot change it. She knows it is going to happen now. Three…two..

Here he comes…she can see him clearly. He is stumbling. Out of breath. Angry, but at the same time, intoxicated enough not to care about his feelings. She cocks the gun and points silently at him and mumbles under her breath, "You dirty son of a bitch…you son of a—"

Her finger presses the trigger. The bang echoes throughout the otherwise empty hall. From behind a closed door nearby, it sounds like someone has fallen off a bed.

"…bitch."

"So…you saw someone shoot Bradley Joseph…in the HEAD?!"

Eileen nodded silently.

"And you don't k now who it was?!"

Eileen shook her head, again, silently.

"If you saw this person's face in a crowd, could you point it out?"

Eileen nodded.

"Boy or girl?"

Eileen hesitated. "…girl, I think."

"You THINK?!"

Shauna Mill paced the floor, circling around the heavy-set, dark-eyed girl slouching in her swivel-chair. "Damn, and I thought lying naked, confused in some strange bed in a room smelling like marijuana was weird…"

Eileen nodded. "Okay, okay, it was a girl. But she has to be an upperclassman, I don't know her."

"We've been at school a month, we don't know that many people yet," Shauna nodded.

"She had a very distinct look…like she'd been betrayed by someone…probably Bradley," she muttered softly. She was still extremely shaken by what she'd seen. The girl muttered something about paying a son of a bitch, shooting Bradley down where he stood, then standing, staring at his body, the gun still being held where the kick back had forced it.

"Well, Bradley IS somewhat of a man whore," Shauna muttered.

"But…she KILLED him!" Eileen said. "And I'm the only one who saw it!" Flashes of courtroom scenes, interrogations, and handcuffs flew by her vision, just like when Papaw was arrested…and she did NOT want to go there again.

"Eileen, maybe it's better you forget about it for now…you have a lot of school work on your plate right now, and—"

"—oh right, I have a meeting with my Japanese TA in five minutes anyway…" Eileen said, leaping out of the chair and grabbing her things, shoving them into a bag.

Shauna sighed softly. "Just don't let it get to your head. We don't even know if these visions are real."

Eileen went to open the door, looked back at her roommate, and nodded subtly before closing the door behind her and heading out into the street.

So many people…who else saw it, if anyone else saw it? Was she the only witness? Could she do anything about it? Even worse…should she go to the police and turn in the assailant? But, she hadn't done anything WRONG yet, so she'd be turning in an innocent victim. Exactly how much should she bank on these dreams anyway?

She stumbled into the language building just as it began to rain lightly. She found her Japanese classroom and sat down at her usual desk. The TA wasn't there yet.

A few seconds passed, and Eileen soon began to realize how much sleep she'd lost over seeing what she'd 'seen.' She felt herself begin dozing off…

"Hey, are you too tried to work? Because we can reschedule--?"

Eileen looked up at her new TA and felt her heart stop. She fought back a scream and instead bit her bottom lip and shook her head.

"Alright then, let's get to work. By the way, the old TA dropped out last week. I'm the new Japanese TA, Tess Newbury…"

It was her.