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I hear a hiss, and the snake opens its mouth and lunges at me. I hold my arms up in front of my face and think of Ayden. It hurts so much to think what this will do to him – to know that I’m gone.
“She’s played her part,” I hear a calm, quiet voice say a short distance away. “This is my job. It’s my destiny. This no longer has anything to do with her. I’m ready to take the final step.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone appear behind the snake. The creature pauses its attack, turns around, and stares at the person for a few seconds.
Chapter 20
Ican’t make sense of what I’m witnessing. Kate reaches out to touch the creature, which looks back at her expectantly. Its aggression seems to have evaporated. The snake stops moving and slowly lowers its head.
“That’s good. I’m ready,” says Kate.
I barely recognize her. She still looks the same, but something about her has fundamentally changed. Her posture is different; her movements are more powerful and controlled – as if every muscle contraction has a special significance. But what’s changed most is the expression on her face. There’s no fear anymore, no doubt, no hesitation. Only power and absolute conviction.
The snake continues to bow its head, and Kate reaches out and touches its scaly skin. With a loud crack, the creature shatters into thousands of shards. They fly through the air and rain down on us like tiny missiles. I hold my arms protectively over my head, but Kate just stands there and lets it all happen.
Gray is at her side, but he looks different too. He sticks close to her, nuzzling her with his head, and there’s an expression in his eyes that I interpret as sorrow – if an animal is capable of such an emotion.
Kate goes to my backpack, which I cast aside during the fight, and rummages through it. She pulls out a couple of pieces of the music box and inspects them.
“The memories had to be set free and destroyed. It was the only way for me to fulfill my role.”
“Kate,” I whisper as I slowly walk toward her.
She appears to be in that strange state again. It’s really scaring me. She won’t even look at me.
I gently place my hand on her shoulder. “Kate, are you …?”
At that moment, she turns around, and I gasp with fright. Her eyes are huge; they’re turning purple and seem intent on swallowing me up. There’s nothing I can do. I’m helpless to resist, and I sink into them. It’s as if I’m being drawn right into them until the only thing I see is their intense color.
I want to scream, but no sound passes my lips. The color slowly fades and is replaced by something else.
A small girl in a hospital bed. She so thin and frail. Large eyes stare out of a very pale little face, and they look bright and brave in contrast to the rest of her. She gazes through the window, full of longing, and her lips curve into a smile. The door opens, and a nurse comes in.
I can’t believe my eyes. I stare speechlessly at the woman. Her dark hair is tied back, and her face is friendly and open. She looks the same as when I met her, as if the years hardly aged her. I’m sure about one thing: this scene is from the past. The child in the bed is Kate, and the nurse walking toward her is none other than Chloe. I knew she had worked as a nurse for years, but I had no idea that she and Kate had crossed paths. This can’t be a coincidence.
“I have something for you,” says Chloe, bringing something out from behind her back.
Kate sits up and looks at her expectantly. “You don’t have to give me presents. I’m just happy that you spend time with me.”
“I wanted to bring you something nice anyway,” says Chloe. She sits on the edge of the bed and hands Kate the music box. It doesn’t look new, but it’s in much better condition than when I found it behind the door in the Odyss.
Kate takes it happily and beams at Chloe.
“You’re going to need it,” Chloe says, tucking a strand of hair behind the little girl’s ear. Her words echo in the room like a threat, and the picture morphs.
A deathly pale child is lying in the hospital bed. She’s almost unrecognizable. Her mother is standing beside her, looking down at her daughter with tear-stained cheeks. The girl doesn’t stir. Kate’s as pale as a corpse, and when I look closer, I realize her chest is not moving. Kate’s … dead. I knew she was seriously ill as a child and that she nearly died. But this isn’t nearly. She’s actually dead. Is this what happened? Is this an actual memory? What’s going on here?
Kate’s mother wipes the tears from her cheeks. She straightens up and opens her lips. “I don’t want to lose you, not for anything in the world. You mean everything to me.” She swallows hard as she tenderly strokes Kate’s ashen skin. Suddenly, the door opens, and someone enters.
Kate’s mother turns around in surprise and asks in a cutting tone, “What are you doing here?”
“Do you really need to ask?” says Chloe. “You know you can save her.”
Her mother says nothing, just keeps stroking Kate’s cheeks. “Yes, but the price is too high.”
“But she’ll live. You’ve seen what will happen if you do it. And what will happen if you don’t intervene. She’ll never be normal. She’s inherited some of your powers. She keeps seeing snippets of the future. I’ve verified that myself.”
“She should never have to go through that. I’d do anything for my daughter,” Kate’s mother continues. A tear rolls down her cheek. “If I save her, I’ll be placing this burden on her, and I won’t even be able to help her. Right now, the price I’m paying is to slowly lose my memories. But if I transfer all of my powers to her …. I’ll become the person I used to be before I acquired them. I won’t even remember what I was once destined for.” She raises her head and looks at Chloe. “You know I still have a part to play.”
