Fools of us All - Chapter 12

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For a long time the only sound was my windshield wipers against the window, clearing away the great splotches of rain that continued to fall all around us. I was glad that the car had a strong fan, enough to keep the fog from clouding the windows again. The man at the repair shop had said that my new windshield would be repaired in a few hours and they were kind enough to provide me with a courtesy vehicle in the meantime. Since there was nothing else to do I decided that I felt like driving around, and Caz had come along.

A left turn put us on a nearly deserted street. Caz had just finished relating her recent history to me, right up to the moment that I smashed her with my car. It was hard to put into words what I was thinking. A glance over at her showed that she was watching me intently, looking for a reaction of some kind. "I...find this very hard to believe," I finally said, scepticism colouring my voice. A time travelling girl from the future looking for me because together we could save the world. I just couldn't see how it could be true.

I obviously disappointed her. "I realise this is a bit of a shock, but you must understand - the prophecy was very clear that you are the saviour foretold." Her eagerness was almost infectious, but it was just too hard to believe.

"Ah yes, the prophecy. I don't see how you can believe in such nonsense. No one from the future would ever believe in prophecy and oracles and omens. Isn't the future a place of reason?" Back at the hospital, she had seemed to alluring, so exotic. I had been ready to believe anything, especially when the two thugs jumped us. But now that I had had some time to think, some time to clear my head and let the adrenaline wear off, I saw that she was just a con artist. I bet she just owed those guys some money and didn't want to pay up. Travelling from the future indeed.

"Ignorant fool." She sat back, a scowl on her face. "You look at the world and just assume that all you can see is all that there is. It is a pity that you are not blind enough to truly see." With that cryptic comment she lapsed into silence.

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"You know," I began casually, "I was ready to believe almost anything about you. There were many stories that you could have told me that I may have believed. But a story about oracles and time travel is entirely too far of a stretch. I'm sorry." The thing of it was, I really was sorry. There was something about her that just fascinated me.

Without warning she leaned over and pulled the wheel sharply, forcing me to park roughly at the side of the road. "You desire proof, you want signs and wonders in order to believe. Perhaps then you can find the faith to understand what I have told you. Or perhaps not." With a quick move she dropped her pants down to her ankles. "I will give you your sign."

Before I had a chance to feel appropriately uncomfortable, a knife appeared in her hand. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she lowered the tip of the knife against her left knee. Digging it in, she slowly pulled the knife down the side of her calf, drawing a red line down her leg. I could see in her face that this hurt her, and I moved to stop her.

"What are you doing?" As my hand reached the knife it was moved to the bottom of my chin.

"Touch me and I'll ensure the prophecy is false myself."

I got her meaning and sat back, wincing as the knife returned to her leg. Two quick slashes at either end of the self-induced gash turned the skin into a flap. Placing the knife on the seat beside her she reached down and carefully started to pull the skin back.

That was more than I could handle. I closed my eyes and turned away. A hand slick with blood grabbed my face, turning it back to face the leg. "Open your eyes. See your wonder."

Reluctantly I peeked one eye open. Slowly my other eye opened beneath furrowed brow. For rather than blood, bone, and brawn, there was instead metal, wire, and blinking lights. Traces of red liquid (I couldn't call it blood) were smeared around the edges of the cut and dabbed a few spots here and there.

"When I was ten, I fell down into a ravine. A small avalanche of rocks followed behind me and my leg was caught underneath. By the time I was found my leg was no longer salvageable. I had to be fitted with a new leg every year until my sixteenth birthday when I stopped growing." Carefully she placed the flap of skin back where it had been. "Medical science has come quite far, but it has yet been able to make a prosthetic that does not cause pain to the user." I watched in amazement as the skin started to repair itself before my eyes. "The skin around the limb is artificial, but the nerves to which it is attached are very real."

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I swallowed hard. Suddenly an oracle didn't seem quite so far out of the question. "Does that hurt every time?" I was finding it hard to look away from her leg. It was almost completely smooth. Only a faint line remained, showing where she had cut.

Pulling her pants back up she nodded. "I can feel it with every step. It was a long time before I was able to block the pain out enough to run. Now it is second nature, but the pain is never gone." She turned to face me. "Try and tell me that you have anything like this right now."

I couldn't. With great reluctance my head started to accept what I had already known deep down was true. "You really are from the future." She nodded. "And that means I really am supposed to save the world." Again she nodded. "Any idea how?"

A sigh escaped her lips, partly, I think, in relief that I finally believed her, and partly in frustration. "No. Before they could tell me anything more I had to leave. I don't know what we are supposed to do now!" The frustration in her voice was palpable, causing me to pull back ever so slightly. A completely useless feeling washed over me when I saw the tears begin to flow down her face. Hesitantly I reached out and put a comforting arm around her shoulder, letting her cry. Truth be told, I had no idea what to do or say, and kind of felt like crying myself. The world as I knew it had suddenly changed. The rain outside seemed to fit my mood exactly.

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