I
"Remember..."
"Remember... promise..."
"...has come..."
Nadia suddenly jolted up from her sleep, she was breaking in cold sweats as she pants so heavily. She felt like something--or someone had just gripped her chest. It hurts, something similar to being... stabbed if she must say.
She sharply sighed before she slumped down at her bed again.
It was always the same. Every time she closed her eyes, dreams came to claim her. Not ordinary ones—strange, broken, unsettling. As though the world had decided her strangeness was not enough, and so it burdened her with yet another oddity to bear.
She stared blankly at the plain white ceiling, as though it mocked her with its emptiness, before finally dragging her gaze to the clock. 
6:00 a.m. A low grunt escaped her. Morning had come again — which meant the most dreadful of all tortures, school.
She sighed, deeply and defeated before she slowly rose from her bed and started walking towards the bathroom to start her morning rituals. After minutes, she went out, still damp from the shower and only covered by a plain white cotton towel. Her hair dripped waters in floor as she went to her closet to take her school uniform out.
She dried herself first with the towel, before she slipped in on her uniform. As she wore her uniform, she neatly folded each hems and collar to make sure it wouldn't wrinkled. 
Satisfied, she left her room and went towards the kitchen to make herself a clubhouse sandwich. Since she wasn't really a heavy eater, a sandwich would be enough to suffice her until lunch time. 
She took a big bite at her sandwich, savouring every fillings that she put inside. She hummed in satisfaction and sat down at the stool, in minutes, the sandwich was gone—her brief moment of comfort devoured as quickly as it came.
She dusted her hands off to whisk of the crumbs before she stood up and went at the living room to prepare her things so that she could leave. When she spotted her bag at the couch, she immediately checked if everything is already inside and nothing is missing. After making sure, she zip it close and lifted it up as she hang it at her shoulder.
She was about to make steps to leave when suddenly, she remembered something. She turned her heels and walked towards the corner--a space not big enough yet still spacious--where a small altar is placed. 
The altar is clean, not even a tiny peck of dust can be seen on its shiny wooden surface. But it wasn't a normal altar, but an altar set up for someone who had already passed. There are two pairs of candle bowl and small vases with white lilies placed each side of the altar, while in the middle placed a picture frame.
She reached for the lighter laying at the altar and lit it, she carefully lighten up both candles before she put out the lighter aside. As the candlelight flickered to life, smoke curled upward in delicate spirals, the scent of melting wax seeping into the air. A faint smile touched her lips, though it trembled with the weight of longing.
"I'll be going now, see you later... mama." She said lowly.
She stood up and turned, but before she left, she gave her mother's picture a last glance and smile. She slowly walked towards the door as her hand gripped at her bag, she took her jacket hanging by the rack and wore it before she held the doorknob and slowly pulled the door opened.
Upon stepping outside, she was greeted by the grey skies, urging for a rainfall any moment by now. The wind is cold and strong as her long wavy black hair kept getting swayed along.
She closed her door and locked it as she hid the key inside her bag, heaving a deep sigh, she started to slowly walk towards the street.
Thankfully, their subdivision is often quite and confusingly empty in morning, making it easier and peaceful for her to walk freely without trying so hard to ignore certain things.
Her hand reached for her jacket's pocket and took out her earphone, she shoved it in on her both ears before she plugged it in her phone and let the music pour into her ears—loud enough to drown the world, soft enough to soothe her frayed thoughts.
She hummed along with song as her feet moving in rhythm with the song, each step a quiet beat against the empty street. It was fortunate that her school lay close to her home, just a short walk—a handful of minutes at most.
After minutes, she had finally arrived at their school. She paused, her eyes sweeping over the building as though trying to glimpse the hell awaiting her inside. She shook her head off and continued on her way, but as usual, she was stopped at the gates by the guard who's tasked to check their ID.
She reached for her ID and gave it to him which the guard took and scanned, when he made sure that it was her valid one, he motioned her to go inside now before greeting her a good morning. She returned the greeting she's facing him, but her sight is focused only on his face even when he was checking her ID, her sight was solely focused ahead. And no else where.
When she had finally entered, she immediately walked and went straight towards the building. Despite students starting to now arrive, and loud laughter and chatters slowly filling the air. Nadia still remained nonchalant of it.
She moved through the halls, every turn leading her past students whose eyes followed her.
Their unsettled gazes clung to her, sharp with unspoken judgment. At first, she was bothered by it as a kid, but as she slowly grew up, she had known more better to ignore and pretend she never noticed at all.
She knows to herself why they always look at her as if she's somewhat different, an anomaly on what they always perceived as normal. She knew it well—after all, she was the reason they saw her that way. If only she hadn't said anything.
But what's there to regret now? It's not like she's the main cause of what happened. No, she had warned them. Whether they listened or not was never her burden to bear. Strangers aren't her responsibility.
As she had reach their classroom, Nadia quietly went to her desk and pulled out her seat before she sat down. She rested both elbows on the desk and leaned her chin at her palms. Her eyes wandered outside the window as she blankly stared at the trees, swaying by the wind as the tree's branches and leaves move vigorously.
Her mind drifted, unmoored, as if carried away by the same wind that shook the branches outside. Until she was pulled back to her senses when she felt presences pooling the room full. When she realized that it must be time for their class to start, she took off her earphone and hid it at her pocket before she shifted her head in front. But still making sure that she wouldn't face anyone.
Their professor entered the room shortly, carrying both her bag and laptop.
"Good morning class."
"Good morning, miss Lareza." They all greeted back in unison. Except for Nadia who still kept silent.
After the exchanging of brief greetings and conversation, the professor went on with her topic, continuing what they have left the last time. The whole class were silent, focused at the woman in front, writing each key points and information regarding of their subject.
For the entire duration of class, it's either the gloomy scenery outside or the never ending discussion of topics are the only thing that focused Nadia. Yet despite the focus that she gave on the topic, nothing had really entered her mind wasn’t empty—it was crowded with a kind of dull, shapeless fog. Boredom that pressed down on her like a weight. But who cares now? She can just have a self study of the topic--even the entire subject once she got home.
The time seems to have bled fast that Nadia hadn't noticed that the bell had rung at some point—she hadn’t heard it. Only when the voices faded and desks scraped did she realize time had slipped away from her.
She shifted her gaze back at the room and when she noticed that she's left all alone, she stretched her arms and grunt tiredly. She slowly stood up and snatched up her bag hanging at the side of her desk.
She started walking towards the door and straightly headed out, the hallways radiated the setting hues of the dark skies while she can now see vivid small droplets of water coming from the sky.
It would be best if she go home now, she wouldn't like it if she got caught up in a terrible rain later. Nadia walked in a fast pace as she made sure to hurry, racing against the rain urging to fall. The moment she had left the school premises, the strong wind immediately slapped through her, harsher than the earlier breeze.
The sky pressed low, heavy with promise. The air smelled of damp earth, charged as if the storm itself were holding its breath.
Thankfully, the moment the rain started to fall, Nadia had already arrived back at their subdivision. When she felt the rain slowly drenching her, she ran as fast as possible to reach her house.
When she's already in front of her home, she hurriedly looked for her keys inside her bag. Thankfully it didn't take seconds as she easily found her keys, she took it out and was about to insert it at her door's key hole when suddenly, she heard someone spoke behind her.
"Good afternoon Nadia, rough day at school?" Said by an old man's voice.
She shut her eyes tightly as she silently sighed deeply. 
"Good afternoon too, Mr. Reyes, school's always been rough on me so nothing really new." She said patiently with a formal tone.
"Oh, that's unfortunate. But anyways, here..."
When she noticed the man reached her something, She turned toward him, though her eyes isn't in his face, fixing instead on the steaming pot in his hands, she smelled the rich aroma of beef, carrots, and herbs curled into the air, making her stomach tighten with longing she refused to show.
"I've made a beef stew and I thought that I should give you some to relieve your tiredness from school and maybe so that you can have food for dinner. Here, take it." He stated.
She unhesitantly reached the pot and grabbed before she gently pulled it from the old man's hand.
"You shouldn't have bothered, but still, thank you Mr. Reyes." She softly said.
The man chuckled humorously at her, before he lightly tapped her shoulder. "It's alright, besides, it's not really a big thing. Young adults like yourself should always plenty and healthily."
She felt something warm touched her heart, she felt a comfort feeling hugged her. She lowered her head, a faint smile tugging at her lips, warmth stirring faintly in her chest.
But just as quickly the comfort came, it also quickly faded and was replaced by horror.
It was a bad move, a very bad one. She shouldn't have done it, but she didn't noticed that she unconsciously moved out of her will.
Her head move on its own and straightly faced the old man--no, she looked what's above his head, her eyes locked with it. Her body went cold, as if drenched in ice. Above Mr. Reyes’ head, letters bled into existence, floating in the air like a ghastly subtitle.
04-23-XX | 5:40 pm
   Car Accident 
No... no... no... why? Just why? What did an old man like him did to have such a terrible predistined fate. Of all things, why that? Why now?
Her breath hitched. Her chest felt too tight, her stomach churning unpleasantly. Her hearing became blurred and hazy as her mind went blank, her body remained unmoving as she still blankly staring at the words.
"....ia"
She tried so hard to not look, but why did she still end up seeing it?
"...dia"
Is she too complacent on herself? Did she really think that by only ignoring and avoiding it is all what it takes to be enough?
"...adia"
Foolish, so foolish. She really didn't learn. Just how long would she run away from what she can't even escape? Stupid Nadia--
"Nadia"
"H-Huh? W-What?" She asked dumbfoundly.
She was pulled back to her senses when she felt herself being shaken so concernedly, and when she came back to her consciousness, she saw Mr. Reyes' worried face.
"Goodness, I really thought something might have happened to you. You just suddenly froze and blanked out, are you alright?"
"A-Ah yeah, I-I'm good don't mind me... I'll be heading in now." She said as she hurriedly turned and held the doorknob by her other hand as the other one tightly gripped the pot.
She was about to twist the knob but she stopped, her gaze turned bitter as her teeth sank into her lower lip, the metallic taste of blood barely grounding her as her chest tightened.
Right now she's conflicted, conflicted on things that she can't control yet can still prevent on happening.
But she's aware that once she intervene, she'll mess up something that she knew will hold a huge part on everything. She stood at the precipice, torn between mercy and damnation. One choice to save him… and risk unraveling everything. One choice to turn away… and let death take its due.
But then, at the very end she's still a human. A human who's concern is to pull someone dear away from the path of death, before they even cross. 
She turned back to Mr. Reyes and saw the old man now walking away, back towards his house. But before he could stray away from her, she immediately put down the pot by her door and ran towards the man.
Her bare feet slapped against the wet pavement, rain clawing at her hair and clothes, but none of it mattered. Not if she could still catch him.
When she's meters away from him, she quickly grab his hand with urgency. His brows furrowed, kindness softening his face, as though he couldn’t imagine why she would sound so frantic over something so ordinary.
"Oh Nadia, did you forget something?" He asked.
Nadia don't want to beat around the bush anymore, so she asked straightly. "Are you going to leave right now? Like far away, riding any transport?"
"Huh? A-Ah yes, but... how did you know?" 
"If it isn't too much to ask, can you please not go? Whatever happens, stay at home just for today. Don't leave and stay, and don't go somewhere with cars and others. Stay... please." She asked desperately, as if she's pleading.
Her hands trembles, as her gaze stared at him, silently pleading for him to say yes. Her chest tightened, a shaky breath slipping past her lips as though the air had been locked inside her all this time. Relief flooded her, yet fear still gnawed—because she knew fate was not so easily swayed.
Still confused on what was really happening, Mr. Reyes sighed as he turned back to Nadia. 
She's really a wonder, he had witnessed how she grew up ever since then. She might be an oddball for others, but for him she is a little girl who was shunned by the world itself. Sure she might be saying strange things right now, but he knows her, she wouldn't do and say things so randomly without any reasons. 
Mr. Reyes stared at her observingly for a moment before he breathed deeply and spoke. "Alright, I won't go. Since I kinda felt tired and sleepy considering my old age, I guess resting for today won't be a bad idea."
Relief washed over her after hearing his answer, she silently thanked him multiple times as she breathed with ease.
After the small odd interaction between them, both she and Mr. Reyes had decided to went back on their own houses and rest. As she entered, Nadia put the pot down at the table as she instantly headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower and change. Washing the rain water off of her.
After the short shower, she came out already dressed in her casual clothes while drying her hair up with a towel. Her attention got caught by the pot that she had put down at the table, she went towards it and took a spoon and bowl before she sat down.
She opened the pot's lid and there puffed the steam that was caged inside, along with the strong aroma of the stew. What greeted her was a subtle yet appetizing appearance of the stew.
She gulped hungrily as she scooped uthe stew and poured some on her bowl, she spooned the stew and blew it to let the steam off before she shoved it on her mouth.
The warmth and delicious flavours of the stew spread through her, comforting her stomach if not her heart. Yet, at the back of her mind, the crimson letters still lingered—phantoms that no meal could wash away.
Would she still taste this same food made by Mr. Reyes again if she had let fate flows as it is?
She sighed tiredly before shoving another spoonful on her mouth. After she finished eating, she headed at her room and straightly slumped at the bed as she let out a low grunt.
Her gaze lingered lifelessly on the ceiling, today’s events replaying in her mind like a broken cassette. She's tired both mentally and spiritually... no she was always been tired ever since she had been born.
All because of this oddity of her. All because she can see death.
She didn't know since when did it start but all she can remember is that back when she was just a three year old child, she had already seen the same thing. She thought that it might be a wild imaginary mind of a child, but what she didn't know that it was already death introducing itself to her.
But unfortunately, it introduced in the form of her mother's death. The very first victim that she had failed to save.
She still remembered the way the hospital smelled of sterile bleach, the way her tiny hands clutched at her mother’s fading warmth, and above it all—the letters hanging cold and merciless above her head.
She tried to tell her mother about what she saw, at first her mother tried to shrug it off as her wild imaginations. But as she grew more weaker by days, she had known that her very daughter had already foreseen her end. That is why before she had left the world, Nadia's mother made her promised that she would never spoke of anyone about her unique gift, that she should never intervene with the way of life and death.
So to honor her mother's last wish, she took her words as a rule, never slip out of the normal. Despite carrying such strange ability, she tried to live a normal life, except for the fact that she never once faced other people. In fears of that she might lose herself and broke her words to her mother.
And unfortunately, she just did earlier.
Her attention was caught when suddenly, her cellphone rang. She reached it and as she saw a familiar caller, smile stretched at her lips.
"You've called... grandma."
An old yet warm chuckle answered behind the line. "Well what can I do? I just missed my beautiful granddaughter."
"Well I'll be damned grandma, because I do too." 
"HAHAHAHA how cute of you my Nadia."
Nadia chuckled in return. "Now that we're talking, I am deciding when should I visit, but since tomorrow will be a week days then I would visit you."
"But Nadia, it's raining heavily and surely there'll be a storm tomorrow since it was said in the news that a monsoon had just entered."
"But still... I wanna visit, so please."
Silence reigned for moment before she heard her grandmother sighed. "Alright, I'll be expecting you tomorrow."
"Sure you will."
"Grandma..."
"Hmm?"
"Can't I really change your mind anymore? I mean since I see it I can still just--"
"Nadia..."
The moment she heard her grandmother's serious voice she was suddenly silenced.
"We've already talk about this..."
Her mood suddenly soured and gloomed. "Yes... I understand, sorry grandma."
"Nadia, always remember this... not because everyone either left or die, doesn't mean they'll leave you. No, they'll still be with you, carried in your heart and memories. Death isn't a bad thing, in fact it is a path for us to take for our new beginning as a new person. So don't be sad, we may leave but you will never be alone, as the saying always goes, someone will leave and someone new will arrive."
“Easy for you to say, grandma… you’ve never seen the things I’ve seen.”
"I know, that's why I want you to understand what you see not what you want to see. Remember dearest, everything happens for a reason. What you have isn't either a curse or a gift, but something beyond that, that you yourself can only understand once you accepted it. So Nadia, open your eyes... and see what your eyes can see."
Her mind rang with that words. 'open your eyes', but how? If it's already open then what does she still needed to see to understand? 
"...of course grandma, thank you."
"Alright dear... you should go rest now, it's already late... and Nadia..."
"Yes?"
"Always remember, whatever you may be, whatever your eyes might see--even if your far from the normal... I will always still love you, whatever happens. Always remember that."
Warm smile crept at her lips as her heart flutters in warmth. "I know grandma... and I love you too. Always."
Her phone made a beeping sound as she hang up, she tossed it aside and sighed deeply while her eyes were closed.
That's right, the only reason why she's still going through her life despite the never ending tiredness of it is because her grandma. Thanks to her even if this strange ability never made her life easy or even normal, she still get to cope up and view it as part of her. 
But not entirely accepted yet... after all what she has is far from acceptable.
Her mind suddenly wandered back at Mr. Reyes when she remembered his predestined death that will occur today. As she closed her eyes and drifted to a deep sleep, her lips muttered the same word that she always whispers to those who's time is ticking at its end.
"...death has come."