my heart skipped a beat as it dawned on me what it was . then it began to beat rapidly . it was a woman 's necklace . there was no mistaking it for anything else . it was the same silver butterfly necklace gina had worn during our night out , its wings ringed with small green stones . first the dress , then the hair , now the necklace

since i was n't interested in a stint in a psychiatric ward , i opted to keep my mouth shut . as a reward , they sent my cousin lucy to join me in boarding school . '' '' the director of operations on the fortuna . '' '' that 's the one . '' she sagged back against his chest , caught in her memories

she paused for a moment , and then gave in to his demands . '' wait here . i 'll see if i can wake him . '' joseph came to the doorway a few minutes later looking more like a walking corpse than a human being . his face was pale and sweat poured down his long , brown beard . '' i 'm very sorry to bother you , joseph

when she looked at me , the only thing she saw was certain destruction and death . the prophecy foretold of a seventeen-year-old as the destructor of the world . everyone believed that i was that seventeen-year-old . it was hard to deny since the prophecy was a painting and not just words scratched onto a sheet of paper . i could have contested words , but not the
painting