Willow came around the car and opened up the backseat passenger door. Prophecy unbuckled her seat belt, reached out for her mother's hand, and jumped out of Kazuo's SUV Willow used in town. As soon as the girl's feet touched the pavement of the parking lot, her eyes went wide and she stared up at her mother's face in excitement. "Mommy, they're here, they're here!"

Frowning, Willow stared down at Prophecy. "Who's here, baby?" she asked.

By now the girl was all but jumping up and down in excitement. "We have to hurry, Mommy," she insisted. She began tugging at Willow's hand, trying to drag her toward the inside of the small General Store. "Hurry!" Prophecy's voice cracked with her impatience and excitement.

Unable to do anything but shake her head, sigh, and chuckle a little, Willow obliged. She closed the back door, grabbed her purse from the front seat, closed that door, and then locked the car with the beeper keypad. Only then did she let herself be pulled along into the store. "Alright, alright, baby."

Prophecy dragged her into the store and along through it until they reached the medicine aisle. As they turned into the aisle, Willow's eyes grew wide. Standing there, looking completely calm and unharmed was the man she had failed to kill last night. He was partly blocked by another man, who was honestly a damn giant. Vaguely she recognized him from last night as the guy Aiden had been sitting next to when she approached the bar. The two looked like they were debating what to buy. She inhaled sharply, getting ready to turn right around and retreat.

Prophecy had other ideas.

Without a moment's hesitation, she released her mother's hand and ran the remaining distance to the two men. "Uncle Bren, Uncle Aiden!" she squealed happily.

Both men froze in place, lifting their heads and turning to take in the little girl at the exact same time. Both seemed unsure how they were supposed to react, their faces pulled down into frowns of confusion.

Stopping right in front of the taller man, Prophecy beamed up at him. "Uncle Bren, I'm so glad I can meet you." Bren and Aiden watched the little girl's expression droop, her dark blue eyes filling with sadness. "I'm sorry I have to hurt you, Uncle Bren. Don't worry though. A kiss always makes boo-boos feel better," she told him. Then, clearing her throat, she stretched her arms up above her head, bouncing up and down. "Uncle Bren, pick me up," she told him.

Feeling the fire in his blood and wincing, Bren reached down and lifted the little girl he didn't know or recognize in the slightest into his arms. She promptly wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Now you feel better, don't you?"

Swallowing, eyes wide, Bren couldn't find words to ask all the questions rushing through his mind. The little girl smiled widely, patting his shoulder in affection. "Don't worry, Uncle Bren," she told him. "Mommy's going to get mad now and Uncle Aiden's going to be very confused." She paused, lips pursed. "You will be too, but it's okay. We'll be the best of friends and then later I'm going to see my daddy. I can't wait to meet Grandpa Jack and Grandma Nisha," she confessed in a quiet voice.

Willow stormed over. "Prophecy! What do you think you're doing?!" she demanded.

Aiden pushed past Bren and stood in the woman's way, holding up his hands. "J-just wait a second here...What's going on right now?"

Smiling, Prophecy laid her head on Bren's shoulder. "See, Uncle Bren?" she giggled quietly. "It's just like I saw." Bren had no words...

"Wait a second...You!" Aiden gasped, pointing to Willow. "You're the woman from last night!"

Prophecy sighed. She leaned her head to his ear and whispered a secret softly. Pulling back, she kissed Bren's cheek again. "You have to remember what I just told you. Tomorrow, bring Uncle Aiden with you. Put me down. I'm sorry, Uncle Bren." Given no choice, Bren gently placed the girl's sandaled feet on the tiled floor. Like a spring breeze, she skipped giddily over to her mother, taking hold of her mother's hand. "We have to go now, Mom," she explained. "We can get the groceries somewhere else. We just had to come here to see Uncle Bren and Uncle Aiden. Now we can go." She glanced over her shoulder, eyeing Bren's dumbstruck expression and Aiden's slowly darkening one. "We should leave before Uncle Aiden looses his temper." She tugged at her mother's hand once more.

Willow's mind felt like mush. This was the main problem with having a child with the sort of gift Prophecy had. Especially with how powerful Prophecy's abilities were. Both Willow and Kazuo were new to this sort of power and neither of them knew how to help Prophecy. As for the girl herself, she couldn't shut off her Sight. She saw visions of the future, side-by-side with the present. At the same time, she saw multiple versions of the future, since most futures wavered. Now and again Prophecy would see a future that was either very important, or one that she wanted to happen. When that occurred, she refused to budge and say a word about it, thereby causing Fate's course to change.

Willow rushed back to the car, nerves stretched taunt. She glanced over her shoulder constantly, praying the two men wouldn't follow them. Once she had Prophecy in the car and buckled up, she hurried to get in herself and start the car. She then promptly sped out of the parking lot. Her mind set into work mode and she began using all the tricks she knew to shake any one who might be trying to follow them. But as she drove, she glared at Prophecy from her rear view mirror. "What was that, young lady?" she demanded, fingers curling around the steering wheel.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Prophecy shook her head. "Nope. I can't tell you." She blinked, glancing to the little sectional in between the two front seats, where Willow kept her phone. "Don't answer that, Mommy. The Bad Man wants you to eat the Good Man across the ocean. You can't though. Lots of people will die if you do." She shook her head, blinking fast. "You can't leave to work now. You have to be here," she explained.

Sighing heavily, Willow tried to hold back her anger. "That's not the point here, honey. You can't just walk up to strangers like that-"

"But they aren't strangers, Mommy. They're my family. They're my uncles."

Turning in her seat slightly, Willow added a sterner tone to her voice. "Now see here-" Her phone's ringtone broke through the start of her lecture. She glanced down, picking it up. "D here," she answered.

"D, I got a new job offer for you. England's Prime Minister just got a hit put out for him. Apparently someone doesn't like the new policies and ways he's been running things. He's worth eight million dollars, so split four ways you'd be getting two million. What do you say?"

Willow stared straight ahead, thinking. After several seconds, she glanced back to Prophecy's face which was set in a half-scared, half-worried frown. Letting out a long breath, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, A. I'm going to have to decline. My off season is coming up soon," she reminded him. "Some things have come up and I'm going to have to take it a week early."

His voice turned snide. "Oh, I see...Well, I hope you enjoy your vacation then. I'll see you in six months time."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, sorry about this. It's sort of an emergency," she lied without blinking.

She could hear his irritation, even through the phone. "Yeah, alright. Things happen. I understand. I'll be in contact in a few months," he reminded her firmly. "Have a good vacation. Later." He hung up, the phone closing down the connection.

Lowering the phone, Willow glanced back at Prophecy again. "There, happy?" she asked in a mutter.

The seven-year-old smiled. "Yep. Thank you, Mommy. Now everything's set. I can't wait!" she giggled.

Shaking her head, Willow focused on getting them back to the dojo without having any tails. "We'll go shopping later," she decided.

Prophecy nodded. "Can Auntie Bri come over to play tomorrow?" she asked sweetly.

With all the antics the girl had been up to today, Willow couldn't help but smell a trap. "It depends," she drawled out slowly. "Auntie Bri might not be back tomorrow. Or she may be busy."

"Nope. Auntie Bri will get home by dinner time," Prophecy said firmly. "There isn't any storms and the plane she's on had a ten minute delay, so they won't hit any storms on the way."

"Ugh, why do I even bother?" Willow asked herself tiredly. "You're so stubborn and bossy," she told her daughter.

Prophecy's smile grew. "Of course, Mommy. But we love each other, so it's okay. I'll keep you happy, make sure you stay well. I promise, Mommy," the girl nodded her head determinedly. "But to do that, Auntie Bri needs to come over and play tomorrow," Prophecy insisted. "So can she...please?"

Running a hand down her face, Willow made a right turn onto their street. "Fine. If Auntie Bri wants to stop by," she insisted, "and only then. She'll probably be tired though, when she gets off the plane."

Prophecy was quiet for several seconds. "No...not if she comes over at ten tomorrow. If she comes then, we can all have fun," the girl promised. "Pawpaw even joins in," she laughed.

Unable to help but imagine what a silly sight that might be, Willow grinned herself. "Okay. I'll call Auntie Bri later tonight then, sweetie. Until then, do you think you can try to lower how much you're looking into the future? If you keep going forward, you'll never be able to be with Mommy here, in the present."

The girl nodded sagely, giving in. "Okay, Mommy. I'll try not to See anymore until tomorrow. I love you," she smiled.

Parking the SUV against the side of the sidewalk, Willow turned off the car, twisting in her seat. "I love you too, baby." Unbuckling, she opened the door and helped Prophecy out. They held hands as they headed back into the dojo. Once there, Prophecy bounded up the stairs. Willow watched her go before following her as well. As they reached the second floor, Prophecy paused.

Turning slowly, she stared up at her mother for several seconds. She started to say something and Willow knew she'd had some sort of vision, a important one at that. Prophecy only truly showed any real reaction to visions that startled and entrapped her. When she was a baby and toddler, every vision had been important. But now, at seven, she had grown so use to them that she normally had either no reaction, or one that was so slight as to be nearly unnoticeable. But as Willow waited for her to speak, Prophecy's jaw snapped shut. She shook her head slightly, moving to continue further up to the third floor. Watching her leave, Willow felt exhausted herself. She'd only been able to get roughly three hours of sleep. From the next floor, she could hear the muffled sounds of a dozen or more feet moving in patterns she recognized, could hear there distant 'battle' cries.

Shaking her head wearily, she decided it might be better for her to take a nap. Turning to the left, she headed down a long hallway, stopping at the fourth door on her right. It was where her private room was, since she also had another she slept in with Prophecy during her work season when she was home a lot less. Now that she had started her off season, she'd be sleeping in her own room. This gave her the privacy she needed now and again from her daughter. It also gave her the privacy to do her Readings without Prophecy being there to see. This was good, because of what it did to Willow...

Her stomach twisted in pain as she glanced around her small-mostly bare-room and took in the sight of her little black notebook resting on top of her dresser. She swallowed. Moving over, she carefully picked up the notebook and climbed onto her bed. Once she was in the middle of her bed, she sat down with her legs crossed. Then, her fingers shaking, she slowly opened the notebook's cover. On the very first page the letters were almost beginning to fade, even with how carefully she maintained her notebook. In the back of her mind, she tried to make a mental note to buy a new one and copy everything over. But, in this moment, her mind was zeroed in so completely on the words, on the Reading, that she doubted she'd remember. Voice shaking, she very quietly spoke in the silence of her room.

"N-number one...Billy Eckert, eleven-years-old." She swallowed back her tears, forcing herself to keep calm and keep going. An image of the boy's face tried to surface, but she quickly shoved it down. Gulping in a shallow breath, she continued. "Number two...K-Keith Whitewood, fourteen-y-years-old. Number three...Ced-dric Kr-rill, sixteen-years-old." Past the first three, she forced in another deep, painful breath.

The first three were always the worst. But after that...After that, the awful, sickening feeling wasn't quite as strong. It was still there, which she was partly thankful for, proving she wasn't a sadistic, mindless killer. But it wasn't quite so mind-numbingly panic-inducing.

"Number four, Richard Gale, twenty-years-old. Number five, Kelly Ryman, thirty-three-years-old. Number six, Thomas Spide, seventy-two-years-old..."

The next hour passed as she slowly went through her Reading. When she was done, she felt all the familiar guilt, horror, and shock hit her all at once-just like it always did. It was so familiar to her now, that it was almost like a warm, comfy old cloak wrapping around her shoulders. She gingerly set the notebook on top of her bedside table and felt her body slowly fall back onto the bed. Her limbs felt numb, lifeless, but she was so glad.

Despite the fact that she'd messed up, for the first time in her life, and not gotten Number 105, she'd at least accomplished her Reading in time. She remembered the names now and it was one of the few things she asked of the world.

That she could take care of her baby, love her with all her heart. That she could make up for the mistake her life was-for the sin it was for her to exist-by killing others. That she could keep her sanity by doing her Readings and reminding herself that she'd carry these souls to Hell with her. When she died, they'd burst from out of her chest and drag her down.

And when that day finally came...When she finally had to face all her hundreds of sins, she'd be happy. As long as she could remember all these names. As long as she could be a reminder, the only one in the world, who'd remember these people. The only one who'd know that they had lived, loved, existed...before their life was snuffed out by a kiss.

O O O

The next day, around eleven in the morning, Willow was playing Just Dance 2 with Bri Hymn, her best friend and Prophecy's godmother. Bri was a little taller than Willow, at five' eleven". She had dark brown eyes, with lighter skin than Willow, since she was half-black, half-white. Her hair was very long, done up in threaded braids, most of them a natural black, but some of them were bleached to a honey-colored blonde. The two of them were wearing light-weight clothes; tank-tops and tights. They, along with Prophecy and Kazuo, were in the first floor living room of the dojo, which was just past the right double doors by the entrance to the building.

Prophecy and Kazuo were sitting further back, on the long couch in the center of the living room. Against the far back wall was where the 80" TV was hung up on the wall, about twenty feet from the couch. In between the TV and couch, Bri and Willow were dancing, Bri closest to the door to the rest of the dojo, which was left open. It was a Sunday and the dojo was closed to students on those days. The front door was locked and only a friend and family where over, so none of them saw why the door needed to be shut. On the couch, Kazuo was bobbing around, tapping his foot to the beat. Sitting on his lap, giggling and clapping her hands, was Prophecy. She'd been going up against Pawpaw just a few minutes before, but now the two of them were taking a break. Instead, Bri and Willow were facing off. The current song was 'Crazy in Love' by Beyonce.

Smiling in challenge, both women shook out their bodies, stretching slightly. "You good, girl?" Bri asked.

Nodding, Willow tightened her hold around the Wii remote. "Let's do this," she said fiercely.

The song started and their match began. As the music started in to the first verse, Willow felt herself getting into it. She did the 'car wash' move that showed up on the screen, throwing her right hand out, before switching back into the 'car wash'. "I look and stare so deep in your eyes, I touch on you more and more every time. When you leave, I'm begging you not to go, call your name two or three times in a row." She moved to running her hands down her body, zigzagging it, before switching back to throwing her right hand out. "Such a funny thing for me to try to explain, how I'm feeling and my pride is the one to blame. 'Cause I know I don't understand, just how your love can do what no one else can..."

As the chorus started up, she heard a strange noise by the front doors. Her hand shot up and she started doing the pump-and-walk circle out of habit, keeping her head turned to the doorway as she did, still singing. "Got me looking so crazy right now, your love's got me looking so crazy right now..." She got through two repeats of the song's title before freezing in place, eyes wide.

Three minutes ago, Aiden very nearly jumped out of the car as Bren slowed at a stop sign. His bodyguard called out to him. "Wait, Aiden!"

Not bothering to growl back an answer, Aiden sprinted down the sidewalk. According to Bren, the place should be just straight down this street. It was some sort of martial arts place. That's all Aiden had had the patience to focus on. Since the day before yesterday, since his encounter with 'Tiffany', his mind had been spinning in circles. He wanted to know why she had tried to kill him and who she worked for.

But for now, most importantly, he wanted to know who the fuck that little girl had been. Had she really been Felix's daughter? At this point, Aiden couldn't be sure. All he did remember was the compete and utter shock at seeing the girl and the woman who had nearly succeeded in killing him-somehow-the night before. The fact that the girl had called both he and Bren 'Uncle' had only barely registered.

So now, rushing down the sidewalk, he couldn't really think straight. Behind him, he heard the squeal of brakes, the sound of a car door opening and slamming. Heavy footsteps followed those noises and he knew Bren wasn't far behind. But as he glanced up, he saw a large sign that proudly proclaimed Cheshire Cat's Mixed Martial Arts Dojo. With hardly a pause, he moved to the door.

Not surprisingly for a Sunday, he found the place was locked. Moving his body in front of the door, he very swiftly made a ice-pick and unlocked the door. It made a click as he did, pushing the door open. Stepping inside, he paused for half a second. Directly in front of him were stairs leading up. But to his right, two large wooden doors were propped open. Coming out of those doors was loud music, some hip-hop or pop song, he honestly didn't know. He knew hardly any music from the Human World.

Stepping forward into the doorway, he stared into a giant room. The area closest to him was used as a living room. Past that was a dinning room, which lead directly into a large kitchen. The whole place was left open, with no walls to separate the different areas. But that's all the time he wasted taking in the room.

He saw two figures sitting down on the couch about thirty feet in front of him. But his gaze was drawn to the two dancing women, most especially the far one. He'd recognize those bewitching curls anywhere. Two seconds later, Bren came to a sudden stop right beside him, taking in the room as well, both of them standing in the open doorway. At the exact same moment, the four other people became aware of their presence.

In a show of smooth, practiced motion, the adults in the living room moved. The man sitting on the couch tightened his hold around the little girl on his lap, his right arm keeping her in place. With his left hand, he dug into the space between the couch cushions and pulled out a Glock 18. In one quick motion, he'd moved the gun to his right hand and switched off the safety, barrel pointed to Aiden's head in a steady, sure grip.

The first woman, with the long braids, shifted into a defensive position, pulling out a very thin, deadly-looking blade from a padded part of her bra. The second woman, 'Tiffany', moved to a katana that was hanging up on the wall, close to the TV. She lifted it up, throwing the sheath aside as she held the sword in a ready position. By the way she handled the thing, she knew how to use it too.

Bren very slowly raised his hands up, fingers shaped in 'peace' signs. "Um...W-we come in peace?" he tried, chuckling nervously.