The Seer

CHAPTER 1

The perfect student day. The sun was up in the sky and not a worry in sight. Or so she thought everyone around her must have felt. But not her, no. Even this uneventful Wednesday morning before class had a weight to it unknown to others.

She arrived early at the university library, with the idea of studying for the upcoming class. The early bird gets the worm mindset, which didn’t come naturally to her. For her, going to the library was more of a well-established ritual, to fool herself into thinking she was doing her part in this not-so-cheap education.

Once she arrived at this temple of knowledge, she quickly got distracted falling prey to the simple request of joining someone for coffee. It’s almost like a social moment; to get to the library for coffee. With whoever comes first. There are no standards, when it comes to deciding between studying the medieval feudal system and the two-hour-long sitting and drinking of the smallest coffee in the world.

Her department’s library was on the fifth floor of a modern glass building, next to the faculty she attended. She took the elevator. As she exited the elevator in front of her spread a beautiful view of the city in full bloom under the spring sun. That view almost made her stay in the library, but not for studying.

Maybe for daydreaming.

Again.

The second she had that thought, she heard her name in a strange whispery shout. The sound was coming from the first shelf row.

„Amy!” said her friend Rachel Willows with a fluttering voice. „Right on time!”

Rachel was one of the few people she spent time with. Although not always with enthusiasm. Rachel arrived at the library looking for someone to join her for coffee. Amy didn’t even need a second to decide. She just turned around and got in the same elevator she just exited. She felt neither relief nor joy. It was more like a routine, that made her feel safe. Safe from herself and her emotions. The truth was, it was an escape, a constant run.

From what?

As they were leaving the library, Rachel started to ramble on about a history article, some 19th-century celery vases. She was so fascinated by it, that she repeated the story several times, to give it a dramatic momentum.

Her love for history was quite genuine, and you could always see that spark in the corner of her eye when she talked about it. The only thing Amy could fathom to say was „Interesting!”. Being more of a quiet type, Amy didn’t show her affection for history in the same way, although she did love it. She had her version of history that she cherished but rarely allowed anyone to see.

The girls decided to go to the coffee place, a few minutes from the library. It was a quiet bar, with a small terrace overlooking a dog park. The coffee was frankly not that great, but the price was within the student’s budget. And the peace you got for such a small price was priceless.

Amy was in a hurry to get there before she got too overwhelmed with the crowd passing by, but Rachel took her time, as she started another „did who know that” session.

The road from the university to the coffee place was straight, wide, and roomy with lots of greens on the edges. It was a calm walk. That’s why Amy couldn’t figure out why her anxiety was taking over.

Amy and Rachel approached the light signals. It was a smaller street, not so frequently used by cars, so the pedestrians often neglected the light signals. They would walk across the street regardless of the red little man flashing in the circle across them. Amy and Rachel were also a part of this rule-breaking club, but they at least checked the traffic on both sides. Especially Amy.

They were alone on their side of the road, and a few students were on the other side, as the red light turned on. Since there was no car to be heard or seen, Rachel started walking across the street still talking about some historical nonsense.

In a quarter of a second, a white car appeared out of thin air. The time stood still, the world stopped spinning, and the scene in front of Amy started unfolding frame by frame. Rachel turned slightly to see where Amy was, and as she turned she saw the white car. It was too late.

The car came too fast. The driver could not stop. A strong loud hit broke the vacuum in time and space moments before the disaster. Amy watched in shock how her friend was helplessly thrown a few meters to the right. The car stopped, the driver ran outside screaming in terror, and a few students ran towards the lifeless body on the ground. Everybody called for help.

Only Amy turned into a marmor statue, trapped in the moment of horror, unable to escape. She just looked at her friend’s open blue eyes, who lost every spark they had just moments ago.

Time stood still, yet it felt like an eternity. The only thing Amy managed to do, was to move her look from her friend to the white car in the middle of the street. Her empty eyes looked through the white Volkswagen Golf. It was without a scratch. Amy’s eyes lowered to the ground, and with the last glimpse, she saw a blue sticker of a famous football club on the car. At that moment she broke out of the trance, her face was washed with tears and her knees could not hold her anymore. She fell to the ground and screamed.

Then there was a familiar rumbling and a static sound surrounding her, getting louder and louder until she felt a hand grabbing her by the shoulder. It was Rachel’s hand.

„Are you alright? Are you having one of your episodes again?” asked Rachel worried.

Amy snapped out of her trance and felt a strong relief. She slowly began to come to her senses.

„I’m ok, I think… Yes, I…” She shook her head as if trying to shake the feeling of, trying to catch her breath.

„How long are we waiting for the green light?” asked Amy a bit confused.

„Only a couple of seconds, the red light had just turned on,” said Rachel still a little worried.

Amy felt as if she had been gone for more than 10 minutes. She tried to hide her concern with a fake smile and said:

„I must be tired with all that reading Mr. Harrold had us do.”

Rachel laughed and immediately started talking about that reading, taking the opportunity to continue the previous topic. Amy didn’t hear anything Rachel said but was so happy to see her friend alive and well in front of her. The red light just ended, and in the last second a car came from the left side, barely making it through. It was a white car, a Volkswagen Golf. Amy watched it pass by her and thought to herself:

“What are the odds?”

Then, with a glimpse of her eye, she saw something that would terrify her to the core. There, on the right back side of the white car. A blue sticker. The same one. It was the same car.