fragmented.”
“But you have a hunch taking her to the
Guardian’s HQ is a bad idea.” It was a nice HQ, too, a big building with a nice
view of Central Park.
“Let me put it this way. When I try to
visualize you doing so, all I get is flashes of death. Death everywhere. The
whole city and beyond. Death throughout the planet, Marco.”
Oh yeah, this was just up my alley.
Planetary death? What part of ‘above my pay grade’ did she not understand? “And
if we hold on to her?”
“I see you traveling with her, to many
different places. And a great deal of danger wherever you go. The mass deaths
are still a probability, but not a certainty. The worst thing is, I think I
have seen all of this before, a long time ago, but I can’t remember when.” Her
normally placid demeanor had been replaced with a bleak expression I’d never
seen before. It made me feel queasy. “I hate not being able tell you more,
Marco. This is going to be more dangerous than anything you’ve done before.”
When Cassandra saw danger, it meant that
in some possible futures I ended up getting killed. Usually that wasn’t a big
deal, since her visions allowed me to prepare for whatever would have killed me
if I wasn’t careful. If she couldn’t see clearly, I was on my own. I probably
should be worried about that, but it felt like too much effort at the moment. I
was more concerned about fucking up than dying, to be honest. Fucking up meant
people with something to live for ended up dead.
“I managed to mentally communicate with
her while she was incapacitated,” Cassandra went on. “It was very difficult.
The whole experience ended up being rather traumatic for both of us.”
“How did you pull that off?”
“With enormous effort and only because
she was heavily drugged and even her subconscious abilities were at their
lowest ebb. Even so, the task was almost beyond me.”
“I better get back to Saint Theodosius
before she wakes up, then. If she is such a badass she can make you sweat when
she’s out cold, I don’t know if Father Alex can handle her.”
“She does not pose a danger at the
moment. I learned as much from my chat with her,” Cassandra explained, easing
my mind a little. “She’s quite a nice young woman, as a matter of fact. Her
name is Christine.”
“A nice young woman that can end the
world. Sounds like my kind of girl.” Not really. My kind of girl was not nice
at all. I’d been with a nice girl once. That had ended with me cradling her
dead body in a cheap motel room. Never again. “So, to sum things up,” I
continued. “I have to convince this Christine chick to stay away from the
authorities, and to go on some sort of quest with me. Sounds perfectly
reasonable, not creepy at all.” I didn’t have much experience dealing with
people I wasn’t supposed to scare or hurt. How the hell was I supposed to
convince her to come along with me?
On top of that, I wasn’t crazy about
going to far-off places. I’d never been farther away from the city than Jersey
and, once, Connecticut. I figured things and people were shit no matter where I
went, so I’d never felt any urge to go anywhere. I wasn’t sure how I’d handle
the world outside the five boroughs. If that was what Cassandra wanted, I’d do
it, though. I trusted her.
It never occurred to me that she would
lie to me.
Christine Dark
New York City, New York, March 13, 2013
The universe was nothing but darkness and
fear. And cold. The universe was nothing but darkness, fear and cold. And pain.
Okay, the universe was nothing but darkness, fear, cold and pain…
Christine woke up with a start. Great
Oogly Moogly! What time was it? She was going to be late for her test! Going to
that stupid party had been the dumbest idea ever. Freaking Sophie and her
drinking and promiscuity and Daddy-bought boob job, why did Christine hang out
with her at all? Answer: because a bad BFF was better than no BFF at all. What
kind of mess had her kinda
“But you have a hunch taking her to the
Guardian’s HQ is a bad idea.” It was a nice HQ, too, a big building with a nice
view of Central Park.
“Let me put it this way. When I try to
visualize you doing so, all I get is flashes of death. Death everywhere. The
whole city and beyond. Death throughout the planet, Marco.”
Oh yeah, this was just up my alley.
Planetary death? What part of ‘above my pay grade’ did she not understand? “And
if we hold on to her?”
“I see you traveling with her, to many
different places. And a great deal of danger wherever you go. The mass deaths
are still a probability, but not a certainty. The worst thing is, I think I
have seen all of this before, a long time ago, but I can’t remember when.” Her
normally placid demeanor had been replaced with a bleak expression I’d never
seen before. It made me feel queasy. “I hate not being able tell you more,
Marco. This is going to be more dangerous than anything you’ve done before.”
When Cassandra saw danger, it meant that
in some possible futures I ended up getting killed. Usually that wasn’t a big
deal, since her visions allowed me to prepare for whatever would have killed me
if I wasn’t careful. If she couldn’t see clearly, I was on my own. I probably
should be worried about that, but it felt like too much effort at the moment. I
was more concerned about fucking up than dying, to be honest. Fucking up meant
people with something to live for ended up dead.
“I managed to mentally communicate with
her while she was incapacitated,” Cassandra went on. “It was very difficult.
The whole experience ended up being rather traumatic for both of us.”
“How did you pull that off?”
“With enormous effort and only because
she was heavily drugged and even her subconscious abilities were at their
lowest ebb. Even so, the task was almost beyond me.”
“I better get back to Saint Theodosius
before she wakes up, then. If she is such a badass she can make you sweat when
she’s out cold, I don’t know if Father Alex can handle her.”
“She does not pose a danger at the
moment. I learned as much from my chat with her,” Cassandra explained, easing
my mind a little. “She’s quite a nice young woman, as a matter of fact. Her
name is Christine.”
“A nice young woman that can end the
world. Sounds like my kind of girl.” Not really. My kind of girl was not nice
at all. I’d been with a nice girl once. That had ended with me cradling her
dead body in a cheap motel room. Never again. “So, to sum things up,” I
continued. “I have to convince this Christine chick to stay away from the
authorities, and to go on some sort of quest with me. Sounds perfectly
reasonable, not creepy at all.” I didn’t have much experience dealing with
people I wasn’t supposed to scare or hurt. How the hell was I supposed to
convince her to come along with me?
On top of that, I wasn’t crazy about
going to far-off places. I’d never been farther away from the city than Jersey
and, once, Connecticut. I figured things and people were shit no matter where I
went, so I’d never felt any urge to go anywhere. I wasn’t sure how I’d handle
the world outside the five boroughs. If that was what Cassandra wanted, I’d do
it, though. I trusted her.
It never occurred to me that she would
lie to me.
Christine Dark
New York City, New York, March 13, 2013
The universe was nothing but darkness and
fear. And cold. The universe was nothing but darkness, fear and cold. And pain.
Okay, the universe was nothing but darkness, fear, cold and pain…
Christine woke up with a start. Great
Oogly Moogly! What time was it? She was going to be late for her test! Going to
that stupid party had been the dumbest idea ever. Freaking Sophie and her
drinking and promiscuity and Daddy-bought boob job, why did Christine hang out
with her at all? Answer: because a bad BFF was better than no BFF at all. What
kind of mess had her kinda
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