THE REVELATION

CHAPTER THREE

The smell of the white gardenia wafted inside my room. I inhaled the scent deeply. I felt rested from my long sleep. A frown creased my forehead. I remember I was in school. I cannot recall how I end up sleeping in my bedroom. The last time, I recollect having another vision from the past and the future. Sometimes, I cannot tell which one is the past or the future. It mashed in my head like a puzzle. The last vision was about Aliyah being thrown off the pirate ship. How can that be? My friend is very much alive at this very moment in the present time. Is it Aliyah or just some girl who looks exactly like her? What about the massacre at my school. That part seems hazy. All I can see are shadows? The only face I remember was that strange man who approached me with murder in his eyes. Panic constricted my throat when I remembered how he pulled me to him with those bloodied hands. I close my eyes, trying to think of happy thoughts, The warmth and love of my family who continues to protect me. The image of my mother smiling and caressing my cheeks. The memories of her precious love calm my nerves.

Father entered my bedroom, bringing a glass of water with him and a vase of beautiful flower arrangement with a card on it. His smile eliminates any dark thoughts I have. Carefully, he put the glass of water and flowers on my bedside table.

"Thank God, your awake." He kissed my forehead and studied my face worriedly. "You look fine now."

"Why did I get sick?" I asked.

"You forgot, did you? At the school..." I shook my head. How could I forget? It's embedded in my mind. I can even smell the burning bodies. I shivered, trying hard not to remember,

"Papa...how is Aliyah?" I asked worriedly

"She is fine, but you're not. You collapse in the classroom. Samuel told me that it also happens to you in Father Montes's chapel." My father acts calmly, but his nervous hand gives him away.

"Papa, my visions are getting more frequent. I don't know what to do anymore. Why do I have these images of the past and the future? I cannot function normally, even if I close my eyes; I can still see something I wish, I have not." I feared the thought of seeing the visions again.

"Sam, honestly, I don't know how to help you. Your mother had told me that at the right age, your power will be extreme." He looked at me hopelessly. "I wished I could take it off you, love, but I already exhausted all avenues ---from science to sorcery. Yet, your what you are."

Samuel knocked on my bedroom door and entered, bringing with him a breakfast tray. He put it down on my lap and sat down at the foot of the bed. "You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry. I need to speak to Aliyah. Can you contact her, Samuel?"

"Eat first, and I'll see what I can do. I will be stopping at your school to inform your friend."

My father took the card from the flowers and gave it to her. "I believe this comes from your friend."

I read the message that was filled with heart and smiley. "Please wake up, Sam. Or I will make Dax my next boyfriend." The news made me smile. I could not imagine my best friend dating an obnoxious bully. She would make Dax's life a dating hell. Aliyah could be sweet, but she could also play hardball.

"Papa... I need to tell Aliyah about my vision, but I'm worried about how she will take it. I'm already the weird girl in school. I have this strong urge to tell her." I looked at my father helplessly. "The other vision I have was more disturbing. All my classmates...the school...every one of them burned down by strange shadows. Something must be done to protect those people, Papa. We must stop it."

Samuel and his father exchange look. He sighed, "It could be a nightmare. Maybe you fell asleep in your class. "

"No, I know it's not a nightmare. I can smell, touch and see everything as if I was there. The burning flesh ---" I shuddered when I remembered the bodies thrown into the fire. "There were shadows...I cannot see it clearly because of the haze and the confusion, but I can only see shadows of men. Strong. Extraordinarily strong that they throw the bodies like it was nothing."

"How could it be? Strong? I'm the only one I know who has the strength of Hercules. That's a dream, Sam." Samuel mocked me. I turned at him angrily.

"But it feels like the time when I dream of mamas' death Samuel and the other people who died with her. It's so real."

"Don't bring up her death again, Samantha!" My father turned at me in anguished. All these years, he still can't move on. He was a very lonely man who still loved my mother even if she had already died ten years ago. He never remarries and instead focuses on us.

"I'm sorry, Papa, but I cannot forgive myself if I cannot do something about my vision. Not again; I must change or stop it. If there is a way to avert an impending disaster waiting to happen, I will do it." My mother died because I ignored my vision about her. Never again.

Samuel looked at me thoroughly, then looked at Papa. They exchanged that look again. My father slightly shakes his head as if warning my brother. My brother looked at me intently. Gravely he said, "I know of someone who was like you. She was a seer too. Maybe she can help us."

Victor hissed, "Are you mad, Samuel? If she sees Sam, she will see what she sees. It will be dangerous for your sister. I cannot allow you to see her."

Samuel, my brother, had that look that I'd never seen before. He looked at my father with superiority, like he was much older than him. "We must find a way to solve this, Papa, if we can change the future. It could be an advantage. For centuries, kings and warriors consulted seers before they made a move. They were accurately predicting the future to plot war to their advantage. The seer can tell us if it's possible to avert the incoming danger. Sam could be protected if we can move before they could."

I looked at my brother. His demeanor had changed. He seemed older and more mature in his ways as they discussed my situation. "Excuse me... I'm still here. What are you talking about? Who is "they"? Why do I need protection?"

"Sam..." my father gently strokes my head. "Trust us. We are trying to find a solution to your vision. Your brother and I are here to protect you and give you our best."

"I know, Papa, but you still not answering my question. Who wanted to harm me?"

"There are beings who would like to have you, Sam. Your gift they covet—especially you, who can see the past and future. Seers can only see the future, but you can see the past too. Your gift is so powerful. We are trying to protect you from them."

I stared at my father for a long time. I was confused yet understood the impact of my gift. My best understanding is that my knowledge was like the internet. Only I can see the past much clearer, and I can see the future. "So, this seer can help me? Can she also help me control my curse?"

Samuel looked uncomfortable, "Probably, but remember Sam; she can see what you see. She might find something about you that you want hidden. It's like you're an open book to her, and she could read you."

"Well, I don't have anything to hide. In my eighteen years of existence, the only thing I don't want you to know are my crushes. I don't have any skeleton to hide." Hysteria and fear gripped my mind and heart, but I controlled myself and smiled brightly.

Papa and Samuel exchange a look. My father stood up and looked out my bedroom window. He was thinking deeply as he weighed my chances of meeting the seer. The percentage of harm it can do to me. I pushed the tray away and stood up towards him. Hugging my father and consoling him is the only way I know to give him comfort. My family sacrifices are beyond me. I don't want to put my loved ones in harm's way.

"Alright Sam, we will look for the seer, but first you must promise to follow what we asked you to do...to the letter. Whatever happens from here on forward, you must accept it as truth.  You will be in danger if you don't."

I sighed in relief. For some unknown reason, I felt that I needed to see this woman. My heart was at peace when my Papa agreed to bring me to her.