That would explain Valeria’s dream. Maybe he specifically looked for something that would upset her and convince her to hurt herself.
It wasn’t until a year after she started keeping journals that she decided to test the limits of her gift. Then, I read about pretty much everything Darius told me about.
Before I know it, it’s the start of brunch time, 10 AM. I want to keep reading, not only because this could be useful in dealing with Carl, but also because it’s just so fascinating. But I can hardly keep my eyes open and my stomach is grumbling.
I turn off the computer and get up with a stretch and a yawn. I head out of the Main House and to the kitchen. Today’s menu is spinach quiche, a salad with balsamic vinaigrette and Belgium waffles with a blueberry compote. I take a bit of everything and go outside.
The tables are mostly empty, but Valeria is sitting at one by herself. I go over to her.
“I haven’t seen you since… you know,” I say, sitting down.
“Yeah, I feel really bad for what I did to Ana Maria,” she answers. “It took a long time to heal, and I know it was painful too.”
“She seems okay now, though. I mean, she’s used to healing things so maybe the pain wasn’t as bad for her as it was for you.”
I take a bite of the quiche. It could use a little more salt, but apart from that it’s pretty good.
Valeria sighs. “I hope so. Anyway, you look like you haven’t slept at all.”
“I got a couple hours. Carl or Noah, I don’t really know which, attacked me last night.”
“Well Noah is dead so it’s probably Carl.” She cuts off a piece of her waffle and eats it.
“Wait a minute. Valeria, how do the blind spots of your gift work? You said you can only see things that don’t involve you. Does that mean like even things that you helped create or is it only for things where you are actually there?”
“I just can’t see scenes where I’m present or mentioned in some way, but if I did something and it had an effect that isn’t related to me directly then I’d be able to see that.”
“Then wouldn’t that mean that you’ve known this whole time about Carl and Noah? I mean, I’ve told Li, Hunter and my friend Ron about it. I don’t think I mentioned you, at least when I told Ron, I’m pretty sure I didn’t mention you.”
She shrugs. “Yeah, I knew that part. I just didn’t know how it all connected—the dreams.”
“So you also know that I’ve… killed someone?” My heart still feels heavy when I think about Iris, but at least I’m able to think about her and face what I’ve done now.
She nods. “I really wanted to tell you but, the way I see it, she was bound to die somehow, and you were bound to kill someone somehow. If I told you, and you avoided it, then she’d probably still die—and in an even worse way—and you’d probably just have killed someone else, making the body count two instead of one.”
Having finished the quiche, I move on to the salad. “You know, I’ve been kind of thinking about that. I mean, earlier I was talking to Darius and he thinks we’re all capable of improving our powers somehow. Madeline Taylor, the original one who had Noah’s gift, improved her abilities by leaps and bounds. So, maybe there’s a way to improve yours too somehow. Maybe there’s a way to use your gift and change the future for the better, not the worse.”
“Yeah, and maybe there’s a way to improve yours and make you more deadly, but are you really willing to play around with that? I’m not.”
“My gift is different. Its only application is death. But for you, death is a potential consequence, not a given. There must be a way to avoid it.”
“Maybe, but I don’t know. Honestly, I’m fine with the way things are right now. My gift is basically useless but I don’t think I have the right to try and change the future. I’m just a dumb teenage girl, not some wise old crone.”
I chuckle. “I don’t think the girl who knows almost everything could be considered dumb, but okay. If you say so.”
“You know, I was snooping through your timeline, and you taught me something useful. That thing with Hunter, about focusing, it really helps cut down on the noise in my head too.”
“Oh great, don’t tell me you’re focusing on me too now.”
She clears the last bit of waffle from her plate. “Nah, I’ve been focusing on someone else.”
“What does focusing for you mean? For Hunter, it just means he’s constantly hyper aware of my emotions but I don’t really get how it helps you.”
“If I focus on one person’s timeline, it sort of pushes away all the others. I guess I should have realized that, I mean, I usually do that when I’m sifting through new information, but I never thought about doing it all the time, just seeing one person’s life all day.”
“Timeline—why do you keep using that word? Why not just say future?”
“Because that’s not the only thing I see.” She sighs. “I can see your whole life, from beginning to end.”
“Wow, that’s a gift? Seems like a lot, if you ask me.”
She looks down at her plate, scraping around a piece of lettuce she left behind. “I’ll tell you the secret, but you have to promise not to tell anyone.”
“Who would I tell?”
“There are tons of people you could possibly tell. Your cabinmates, for one. Li. Your friend. Shikoba or—”
“Okay, okay. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”
“You’ve had the dreams, right? About the guy who passed on his gift to you?”
“Yeah, do you have those, too?”
She nods. “Have you ever seen how he died?”
“No, but I’ve read about it in the paper. I
