Rules of Fate

Chapter 13 - Still undercover

We had travelled dozens of miles listening to everything from country to pop, from Band of Skulls to Mozart. Scott's taste was eclectic to say the least. Not being able to talk to my travel companion was possibly the greatest punishment on such a long trip. I snoozed occasionally but the constant fear of the rogue kept jolting me wide awake to search the fate lines periodically. Nothing showed up. Occasionally a golden thread would materialise, a local Fatelist doing their job, but otherwise the threads remained mundane, Scott's most of all.

With all this extra time I decided to investigate his future, past and present thoroughly, wondering not for the first time why the rogue would be interested in this regular Joe. I also checked for ripples in second sight, but the only ones I could detect were from the two incidences that involved me and Scott. Either it was just a major coincidence or it meant something. I think I strained half my brain cells trying to find a connection, and the other half in worrying about the future.

For some reason Scott's thread was as un-spectacular as you could get. Boring! Fatelists liked boring threads usually, although a bit of spice kept us on our toes. Boring threads didn't need us. We just monitored them occasionally. Exciting threads...now they were a different story altogether. They needed constant attention like a new-born baby; they were unpredictable, turning and twisting and hitting every calamity under the sun. Some small, some big, but it was constant.

I could see Scott's thread; its usual colours coursing along it happily and felt an uneasiness I hadn't felt before. If his thread was so boring then why was I here? I mean, using a Fatelist to keep watch over someone meant they were either important to the future or their fate was warped. Neither of these things seemed to apply to Scott. So the question still stood like a dark shadow over my life...why? I pondered this long and hard until my exhausted brain decided it had had enough and switched itself off, catapulting me into another dreamless snooze.

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I was jolted awake with startling suddenness and just managed to prevent my skull fracturing painfully against the car window. I sat up hurriedly as the car veered again. What the hell was going on? All I could see in front of us was a large semi heading for a small car filled, to my horror, with at least four children and a panic-stricken woman at the wheel. They'll die! I thought with unnerving certainty. Apparently it had just missed us by inches, purely due to Scott's quick reaction.

I hadn't seen an accident in either of our futures, so this was...my train of thought derailed pretty fast when faced with the impending doom unfolding in front of my horrified eyes. What could I do? Think! Think! All my knowledge deserted me and I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut and cover my ears. It was too horrific to witness but I also knew I had to see this, as though some sadistic imp was forcing me to.

I watched with bated breath, praying desperately, as the semi headed closer and closer to the small car. The small car's driver was hitting the brakes as hard as they could but the car's momentum was too great to slow it down in time to avoid collision. The semi didn't seem to have any brakes at all. Even if the car swerved now it would slam into the vehicles in the other lane creating a major catastrophe. None of the solutions panned out no matter how much I raked my brain.

I accepted defeat reluctantly, still forcing my brain to think up a solution and knowing it was all useless. The hardest thing about being a Fatelist? Seeing a problem, knowing the consequences and being powerless to do anything about it. I felt a sharp tug on the tapestry, that made me almost stop breathing and before my startled eyes the semi swerved at the last possible second and slammed into the concrete path dividing the freeway, missing the car completely to my relief, which continued on its way. In second sight the threads were severely warped and I had the uneasy feeling that the whole thing had been staged. I also knew with hundred percent certainty that we were supposed to be the victims of that accident, not the children or the woman. Her face, I was sure, would haunt my dreams for a long time to come.