She shouts in pain. Venessa’s vision flashes again, and she sees a town somewhere in Europe. Then, she hears air raid sirens going off, and screaming people rush into the nearest building. Hundreds of stealth bombers emerge in the distance, blackening the sky and suspiciously defying their very purpose. As if the person who launched them was trying to instill fear and cause chaos. Venessa cries. Then, just before they can reach bombing range, every single one of the planes explodes in a fiery cloud that covers the horizon. Venessa covers her ears. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she sees a stranger’s hand gripping an armrest. He releases his grip and leans back in his chair, exhausted or relaxed (she can’t tell). Venessa looks around. People emerge from their homes, looking around and speaking to each other in…Spanish? Maybe Portuguese?

  Venessa: What’s going on?!

  The vision changes again, and she sees Annelise lying on the couch, still alive. She breathes a sigh of relief.

  Cory: You did it, Annie.

  Annelise wipes the sweat off of her forehead: What?

  Cory: You gave birth and then felt such pain right afterward, and you made it.

  Annelise looks around: Can I hold Josie? Where is she?

  Cory smiles: We’ve been snuggling this entire time. Here…

  He hands baby Josie over to Annelise, and she kisses her forehead. Josie fusses.

  Annelise: Shhh…It’s okay. Mommy’s here. *she looks back and forth* Where are the other kids?

  Cory: I had them leave the room.

  Annelise nods: Well, they can come in now, if they want.

  Cory brings the foster children into the room. Pearl is the first to come forward.

  Annelise smiles: Would you like to hold her?

  The vision begins to flash and blur. Venessa isn’t startled this time, just confused. She’s back in the present and has fallen onto the ground by her bedroom door. Eight-year-old Josie is standing over her.

  Josie: Mommy and Daddy tell me that story a lot.

  Venessa: They do?

  Josie nods: And before you ask, yes, I know how babies are made. Mommy and Daddy told me last year.

  Venessa gets up: Alright.

  Josie: I told Kate when she asked Miss Manson last week and I got in trouble.

  Venessa nods: Yeah, that’ll do it. So, how’d you know what was going on in my vision?

  Josie shrugs: I saw it. I see what you see.

  Venessa: Okay, gotcha. Do you have the same visions as me?

  Josie shakes her head: No, I can just see with your eyes.

  Venessa: Oh…okay.

  Josie: Who was that guy?

  Venessa: What ‘guy’?

  Josie: The guy who blew up the planes.

  Venessa: I don’t know who blew up the planes.

  The two girls begin walking downstairs.

  Josie smiles: It was that guy. The blurry one, I think.

  Venessa: How do you know that?

  Josie: What’s the word Miss Manson used…observation? She taught us about that in science class. We’re learning about…

  Josie breaks into a song for little kids about the Scientific Method. Venessa smiles. Avonari rushes up to them.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Avonari:(to Venessa) Where were you?

  Venessa: Somewhere in the psychic void that is my spontaneous clairvoyance.

  Avonari: What did you see?

  Venessa shrugs: I mean, I could describe it to you, but I don’t know exactly what I was seeing or why.

  Avonari: That’s fair.

  Venessa: Where’s Cory?

  Avonari: He went to pick up the rest of our foster siblings from school. I thought I saw Annelise leave, too, but she’s still here. *aggrivatedly* That’s what happens when you sort paper files all day!

  Venessa laughs.

  Avonari: This isn’t a laughing matter. I thought my brain would shut down and I’d die!

  Venessa:(imitating Annelise) Did you get your homework done?

  Avonari: Yeah, I did. That’s part of why my brain’s fried!

  Annelise enters: Is everything alright?

  Avonari: Venessa had a vision! And I’m gonna go take a nap!

  Avonari jumps over the railing and onto the stairs. She then heads upstairs to her and Venessa’s shared room.

  Annelise laughs: She’s a special girl, isn’t she?

  Venessa: Well, she is an alien.

  Annelise nods: That’s true. Venessa, may I speak with you about something?

  Venessa: Uuum…sure.

  Annelise signals for Venessa to come sit on the couch with her. She obeys.

  Venessa: What’s…going on?

  Annelise: You saw a somewhat blurry image of a man in your vision, right?

  Venessa: Yeah, how’d you know?

  Annelise: Because he was paying attention to you while you were having the vision. He’s been watching you intently, full of hope, each time you go into your trance.

  Venessa pales: Why?

  Annelise: He’s been partially controlling them.

  Venessa stands up: Hold up! This guy’s been messing with my head?! Why didn’t you tell me?!

  Annelise: He hasn’t been messing with your head. With tainted spontaneous clairvoyance, the place where your glimpses come from depends on the instance. Most come from your own emotions or fears, but others can be sent from outside. I think these visions that you’ve seen today were from him.

  Venessa: Who is this guy?

  Annelise smiles: Beyond. You’ve seen glimpses of Beyond before becoming a Keeper. That’s really special. It only happens to around five percent of Keepers-in-training.

  Venessa pauses: You’re kidding, right?

  Annelise: No, I’m not.

  Venessa: These visions that I’ve had today…they showed me that you were pregnant at some point with Josie, and she’s your only biological child. Is this true?

  Annelise nods: It’s true.

  Venessa: And what about Beyond? I couldn’t see him very well. It was more like a 3-D silhouette.

  Annelise: That’s because you only get to formally meet him once you become a full Keeper.

  Venessa: And…He wanted to hurt you and your baby!

  Annelise’s face falls: He didn’t want to hurt us. He was willing to hold off on his anger against the Hostilities until Josie was born, even though he must have been in agony holding it back. *A tear falls down her face*

  Venessa: Why me, though? Why do I get to see unclear snapshots of the Commander when everyone else can’t see anything about him except for the 2034 picture in Cory’s office?

  Annelise: I don’t know. All I know is that he usually has a good reason for doing it. You…you really hurt him yesterday by thinking that he was going to kill you. Maybe he keeps sending you these dreams to show you that you can trust him. He wants you to feel safe.

  Venessa: Safe?! This guy blew up an entire city in Thailand!

  Annelise: But that doesn’t mean that he’ll do the same thing to you. What I meant was that he wants you to be safe from the Hostilities.

  Venessa: Then why do I keep being sent on missions against them?

  Annelise: So that you’ll be safe in the long run. You’ll know how to handle them when the time comes.

  Venessa nods.

  Annelise: I know it can be scary and confusing, but one day, though you likely won’t know all the answers, you’ll find the answers you need.

  Venessa smirks: Let me guess: When I become a Keeper?

  Annelise laughs: Yes. Do you think you could at least try to give the Commander the benefit of the doubt?

  Venessa thinks for a second: If he doesn’t try anything with me, then yeah, sure. But…I just don’t understand.

  Annelise smiles: It’s okay that you don’t understand yet. Knowledge is a valuable thing, but sometimes being satisfied with not knowing can save you from all sorts of trouble.

  Venessa puts her face in her hands.

  Annelise wraps her arm around Venessa’s shoulders: I know.

  Venessa leans against Annelise and cries softly: Why is this happening to me?

  Annelise: Because it’s happening the way it’s supposed to play out.

  Venessa: Like ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’. It’s real?

  Annelise nods: In a way.

  The two of them sit together on the couch for a few minutes.

  Venessa: Annelise?

  Annelise: Yes?

  Venessa: Who was your first child?

  Annelise smiles: Well, he wasn’t exactly a child when he found Cory and me. Beyond was the first person we took care of. We saw him as a part of our family.

  Venessa frowns: Oh.

  She realizes that she might have made a mistake by not trusting what Annelise said about the Commander.