Brianna Acero and the Second One's Return

10. A long line of fortune tellers

We hurry down the same hall as before, but instead of continuing straight into the room with the big glass wall, we turn left towards a set of new doors. Mara knocks twice before entering, coming out a second later. She smiles and waves me inside, which I take as my cue to go in while she waits in the hall.

"Miss Acero, welcome to my office."

Christian is sitting on a large leather chair behind a big sleek black desk. There are old trinkets on its surface, and maps from both the old world and new world crowding the walls. Pictures of old monuments hang in picture frames. Some I've seen before, and some I haven't. There is one that looks like a giant needle that I don't recognize, and one that I've seen in my history book during one of Mr. Roscovik's classes. It's a big statue of a green woman, wearing a pointy crown and holding what looks like a slate in one hand, and a torch held high in the other. I know that it was called the Statue of Liberty, one of the most famous monuments from the old world, but it was destroyed during the war between America and the New Republic of Africa.

"Please, sit down," says Christian, putting down his tablet and smiling up at me.

I shut the door behind me, approach his desk, and lower myself in the chair across from him, folding my hands in my lap.

"Well, I'm sure you have many questions you would like to ask me," he says. "So why don't we start from the beginning?"

I nod, focusing all my attention on what he's about to say.

"About one hundred years ago, a Gift we had never seen before presented itself in Europe near the end of the war. The woman that possessed it was called Maria del Palomar, and she became the most famous fortune teller in the whole world. When one of the Elite compounds back in the day got a hold of her, we discovered that all that nonsense we thought she was feeding her clients to make money, was actually true. She somehow had the ability to see their futures and made a name for herself by selling her visions and telling people how to avoid the tragedies in their lives, or to expect good things that were yet to come. Because as you know, the future isn't set in stone, but if we do nothing to change it, it will remain the same."

I nod, already invested in the story.

"This all took place during the end of the 5th world war, when the tension between the United States, along with our allies, and the Europe-Asian forces were higher than ever. The European government found out about her Gift and forced her to tell them what the outcome of the war would be. She saw what all of them had been fearing, what the American scientists were doing, Europe losing in only a few short weeks. The American government in turn, couldn't risk having their secrets exposed and falling into enemy hands. So, they hired a spy to... eliminate the threat."

I gasp, feeling fear's cold fingers wrap themselves around my throat.

"They killed her?"

He studies my reaction before nodding his head solemnly.

"I'm afraid so. They panicked and couldn't find a better solution. But what they knew, that the Europeans didn't know at the time, was that the woman had a son. A son who, when the war was over, fled to America. He didn't know what happened to his mother, no one did, but he knew that he didn't want to disappear like she had. He had inherited her Gift, and he knew that there were people out there that would use him for it. We reached out to him, and he came to work at one of the very first Elite compounds that was ever created. For years the Gift would present itself in his family, passed down throughout the generations, but only when the previous... owner, if you will, passed away."

Once they passed away? That didn't make sense, that's not how Gifts worked.

"But why? How could that happen?"