Pick-a-Path ~ "Strangely-Accurate" Occurrence (Part 4)

Previously on "Strangely Accurate" Occurence...

"Pray tell, who did you say your name was again?"

The question would've have made sense, except you didn't say your name to her before. But what's wrong with saying your name anyway. It would cause no harm at all, right?

"It's-" 

"Laura. Of course." 

How the pancakes did she know her name. This was as equally terrifying as the book. Then, deep inside you, something screams "SHE'S A RED FLAG DON'T TRUST HER" in your mind. Maybe it was true. This time, you must trust your gut, not your brain.

"What's your name?" Trying not to sound as terrified as possible.

"My name is Julia Murde."

Huh. You'd never heard that name before. "The name was... I guess interesting?" You think to yourself.

"Well, I'll be on my way, Ms. Murde." 

"Please. Call me Julia."

You nod and walk away staring at the cover of the book. And that's when you see the author's name in the cover. 

It's Julia Murde.

"Oh. My. Gosh." You whisper aloud your thought. You always thought about what the book was making not who was doing it. Why hadn't you thought about this sooner? You must tell Mum and Dad soon.

 You go to the dining room, and see Dad and Mum just holding a spoonful of soup in the air. Oh no. It could be poisonous. You'd never know what that mysterious lady would do. 

"STTTTOOPPPP!!!" 

You yell as they both let go of the spoon and into the soup, startled. 

Illustrated by Sophia Ysabel

"Laura. What is it?!" Mum shouts. 

"Oh um, it has something in it." 

Sheepishly, you say. 

"Laura! You scared me for a second. I thought there was poison in the soup, or something!

Then you remember. You forgot to tell Mum about what happened. 

"Mum, Dad, can we speak?" 

"Uh, sure. What is it?" Dad speaks.

"No. Privately."

After all, walls have ears. Especially Julia's ears.

You usher them to a corner of the room, where Julia is not in sight. You briefly explain what the book is (which Dad already knows), and most importantly, who is writing it. Mum notices the urgency in your voice, and is even more confused. 

"Wait. So basically that book you found makes someone's future and can control it by an author?" Mum whispers.

"Yeah. And the author is the lady." 

You whisper back, since this is probably a whispering conversation for this matter. It seems appropriate.

"...Oh my gosh. We need to get out of here."

"That's what I've been trying to say. But I don't know how to."

There's a loud silence after you speak.

"What if you tried those scrolls over there?" Dad says.

Dad points to where the scrolls are shelved.

"Dad, you're a GENIUS!" You sort of whisper-shout. 

You rush over to the scrolls. One by one, you open each pieces of parchment for about what like seems a whole DECADE. Eventually you come across a scroll that actually isn't about how to cook sleeping soup (yes the soup that Mum and Dad were just about to eat). It was about... the book. It read...

Time-Making Control

Doing time-making control can gradually affect someone's life. It could also change and control within your grasp. Having control over someone's future can be in many different forms. A book, a scroll - like the one you're reading right now -, etc. But the someone who touches any form of time-making will cause the controller to gain control over the someone's whole life and their decisions. A way to reverse this effect is for the controller to hold the form of time-making and chant the words "tempus faciens imperium abstinuit".  

You feel tears forming in your eyes as you read the first bits of the scroll. There was no way this was true. you realise that maybe Julia was testing out if this would work. This makes you cry even more. Mum and Dad notices and rushes over to you. 

"What happened?" He said quietly. 

"I was just an experiment. WE were an experiment." 

... 

"What do you mean?"

"Julia has no relation to us. Heck, she doesn't even know us. What would've we done so wrong to do such horrible things? We did NOTHING!" 

You feel like screaming.

"Well, sometimes people can do horrible things for their own good. In this case, for their own discovery."

"This is not "their own good". It's called being selfish."

"It is, Lau. That's why the world can be both a safe place or a cruel one."

She pats my shoulder.

"The only thing we can do know is to fight back. We don't deserve this, she does. We need to fix this."

She feels driven and powerful. Hearing those words  make her feelings contagious. 

She was right. We needed to do this, for Julia to get a taste of her own medicine. 

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