Chapter 3: Her Story

"Look look, Isn't that the weird girl from that house across the street?" Lily lowered her hoodie as she tried increasing her pace back home. Although it had already been 10 years since that incident, she still heard people talk about her in hushed tones as she walked past them. Although she tried to ignore and move on, she really felt out of place in her little town of Reeds Gate.

Although Lily grew up a cheerful child, who was always attracted a lot of people with her bright personality, she also had a special ability which was only known by her mother, Diana. An ability which terrified her of her own daughter, for she was able to predict the future at times. What scared her was the fact that the future she predicted was always about either a death or a terrible accident of the people she knew. The first time she got to know about her daughter's abilities was when she was just 3 years old when she suddenly dawdled to her one day and suddenly said, "Gammy, byee byee", waving her hands vigorously and cheerfully. Diana thought to herself, "Hmmm...that's odd, maybe she must just be remembering mom. I guess I should call her up to check up on her." As she walked towards her home phone, it suddenly rang which startled her a bit. Picking up the phone, she heard a familiar voice, it was her elder sister " Diana! Mom's collapsed suddenly. She's been taken to the hospital. The paramedics said that it was a heart attack. I'll send you the address. Please come quickly!!" That was the day when Diana lost her mother and Lily her grandmother as she was not able to recover from the massive heart attack that she had suffered.

Ever since that day she was always wary of what Lily had to say, always scared of when she would hear the next prediction. And that day came again when she turned 8. Diana had taken Lily for a quick grocery run. On their way back they met Lily's best friend Jenny and her mom heading towards the grocery store. As both the mothers stood there talking to each other, Lily suddenly exclaimed, "There's a bad man in the house!! Don't go!!" and she started crying. As Diana started consoling her, Jenny's mom interjected "Kids these days say the strangest things, we'll get going now. See ya later Diana." They left before Diana had a chance to say anything. She promised herself that she would visit them once just to make sure everyone was fine cause she had this bad feeling that something was going to happen. That night as she found herself slowly approaching Jenny's house, the feeling of dread filled her as she saw the house in utter darkness with a faint sound of someone sobbing coming from somewhere inside. As she finally reached the sound coming from under the sink, she found Jenny sobbing, scared, and unable to comprehend the situation she was in. All she was able to say between her sobs were "Mom....upstairs". As Diana hurried upstairs as she dialed the emergency services, fearing the worst, she found Jenny's mom upstairs, unconscious. Fortunately, she had not suffered from any critical injuries, the intruder's bullet had just missed her vital organs before he left with all their belongings.

It was after this incident that the rumor started to spread, claiming Lily to be considered as someone who brings bad luck. Jenny's mom never let her meet Lily after this incident and they left town shortly after. Even in school, the rest of the kids started avoiding Lily, and the ones who did continue talking to her somehow ended up getting hurt in some way or the other. By the time she started college, she had learned to keep her distance from everyone as she had also come to believe in the rumors that surrounded her. This was the reason she decided to go for a college far away from Reeds Gate in Winston so that she would get a new start away from the shadow of the presumptions of her former acquaintances. Although her mother wasn't happy with her choice, she understood her thoughts behind her decision. As she entered the gates of the college on her first day, she had decided upon two things: 1) To keep to herself as she did not want to cause troubles for anyone else; 2) To get a degree in journalism as she always wanted to become a successful journalist. Lily did not want to burden her mother anymore which is why she never asked for any help regarding the finances required for her accommodation in there. To pay her rent on time, she used to work part-time at the local mart. Although she was quite diligent in her work, she was a bit clumsy at times, but thankfully her manager, Mark was a cool guy who helped her learn. It is here where she first met, her friends, Mina and Jim that would stay by her, even after her constant efforts to keep her distance.

Mina and Jim were marketing graduates, a year junior to Mark who had graduated to join the local mart as the Assitant Manager. Having been one of the most handsome seniors of his batch, they decided to visit the mart out of sheer curiosity and a bet they had made amongst themselves to ask Mark out on a date. "I don't think he's gay" whispered Mina as they pretended to look through the cornflakes shelf. "Then why don't you go and ask him out" exclaimed Jim, mildly irritated at this point. "Fine! watch me," she said as she took a deep breath and decided to move ahead when they heard a loud crash. They both turned to look for the origin of the sound, that's where they found Lily, sitting with a mixed expression of anxiety, frustration, and overall tiredness as though she was ready to give up at any moment. They hurried towards her "Are you all right? Are you hurt?" Startled by these sudden questions, Lily snapped back into reality as she said apologetically, "I'm...I'm sorry. I'll get this cleared up right away." And she started picking up the fallen boxes of cereal. "Oh! let us help you, I'm Mina and this is Jim" she looked towards Jim as he gave a short wave. "What's your name?". "Lily and thank you!" she quickly said as she tried ending the conversation. Little did she know that she would be seeing them both every day, as they came every day to hang out with her as well as to ogle on Mark.

When Cafe Deja Brew opened, it quickly gained popularity due to its cozy interiors and as it was so close to the university. Lily managed to get a part-time job as a server on a couple of weekends per month and due to her amicable nature, she quickly gained some goodwill amongst the regulars. On the days that she didn't work there, she used to like spending time with Mina and Jim at the cafe.

It seemed like just another snowy Saturday, as Lily woke from another restless sleep. She had been having a bad feeling that entire week, just like the times in her childhood, when something bad was about to happen. As usual, she had tried blocking out the feeling and the thoughts that accompanied the feeling due to her overactive imagination. She even tried avoiding Mina and Jim the entire week, giving excuses of her pending coursework and just some general work around the apartment. But Saturday came, and it was time for her shift at the cafe. So she unwillingly got ready and left. On her way to the cafe, although everyone seemed cheerful to see the first snowfall of that year, Lily felt empty as though a part of her had just vanished. As she reached the cafe lost in her thought, she found two familiar faces waiting for her at the entrance, with their bright smiling faces. "What are you guys doing here?", she asked pleasantly surprised. "Oh, Just here for some coffee and the honey cake", winked Jim as they entered the cafe. "Well then have a seat, I'll be back in a minute," said Lily as she disappeared into the staff lounge. Changing back into her staff uniform as she entered the cafe, she saw Jim and Mina settled down at their favorite seat by the window watching the lovely scenery outside. "So what will you guys have? The usual?", she askes as she approached them. But as they started talking, it seemed as though time had slowed down for Lily. She could see their mouths moving, but she could not hear anything they said. That's when she started feeling this strong pull towards the entrance of the cafe, as though she was being pulled by a wave. As she glanced towards the entrance, she heard the words "It's you!!" loud in her mind as she suddenly felt breathless as she gasped, dropping her notebook. "Lily! Lily!, are you okay?", Mina asked as she gently shook her gently by the shoulder. " "Ah!! yes, two coffees and a slice of our special honey cake coming right up", she said as she snapped back into reality. As she wrote down the order, she glanced back at the entrance looking for someone, although she did not know who. "Must be due to my lack of sleep" she thought to herself as her manager called out, "Hey Lily can you take this order to table number 4?John's gone out to deliver an order nearby." "Yeah sure!" she said as she headed towards the table. She only had one thought in her mind, that she desperately needed some sleep. Keeping herself busy always made those horrible feeling go away. She just had to persevere through it all. "I can beat this," she thought to herself as she finished her shift and headed to the mart to collect some groceries.