Cassandra wake up.

I had heard that in my head so suddenly that I found myself snapped out of a wonderful dream and into the alley I fell asleep in. Not that this was unusual. I'd been homeless for about 3 months now, and I had found the voice was usually right about things.

You're in danger.

Then my brain felt like it warped through a vortex. I saw images flashing past quickly like scenery from a train. The blue van, that mysterious guy who had tricked me, and both of them stopping right in front of me.

I knew what this meant, I needed to hide.

I looked around the alley and saw a dumpster about ten feet away. I grabbed all of my stuff (My sleeping bag and a decent sized backpack) and jumped behind it. If I had been any slower they would have caught me. As soon as I was fully hidden I heard the truck’s music as it passed by. It was surprisingly quick today, as if it had somewhere to be.

You can leave now.

I don't know why the voice is always right, but it hasn't failed me yet. Most of the time I can't directly communicate with it. When I try to ask it a question, it just, stays silent, only popping up to tell me if I'm safe or in danger.

What I have figured out is how to view the images on my own. It took me a couple times to realize I was seeing the future, then a few more times to summon it at will. The voice can force me to see images sometimes like it just did. At least, I’m pretty sure the voice was doing it. But either way they're never as coherent as when I try to look for myself. It's almost as if the voice is thinking too quickly to fully explain anything. Which does make sense, I don't think I've ever heard it say more than a sentence at a time and it probably has to be aware of everything around me to give me warnings.

Fortunately these abilities have served me pretty well on the street. I know exactly the right time to nab some food from a grocery store or fast food dumpster. I know when the store down the street is about to throw out perfectly good clothes because they couldn't sell them fast enough. I know when a crazy bag lady is about to flip out and how to calm her down. I know which homeless shelters to avoid and why.

You'd think it would be perfect, but it's not. The circumstances I got these powers from were, traumatic, to say the least. As a result I'm currently being hunted.

The worst part? Nobody believes me. I try to warn other homeless people that a specific shelter will take advantage of them, they don't believe me. I tell the police my parents are missing and I'm being chased, they don't believe me. The most I've gotten are people telling me I'm crazy and need to go home.

As if. Home is the most dangerous place for me right now.

“So, what are we going to be doing today?” I asked myself. Gee maybe I am going crazy. I just started talking to myself and I'm counting the voice as a person. Not really helping the pile of “I swear I’m sane!” evidence.

Usually when I do this I see stuff that will help me, like an open soup kitchen or a street where people are more likely to give some money to a girl obviously down on her luck. This time was different.

I saw two girls in a house talking. They were sitting across from each other in some kind of living room. It looked like whatever the conversation was about, it was serious. The image zoomed out and I saw the address.

“What?” I said aloud, “This isn't helpful, why would I want to go there?”

The images obliged. For the first time ever I saw them rewind. They went backwards until they hit the day before yesterday. One of the girls was standing next to the blue van talking to that guy, and she ate the ice cream he gave her.

She's like you. Go find her.

I was startled. Not just because of the sudden rewind but because this voice was new. It seemed more vocal too, more intelligent, more insistent. Hopefully more open to discussion.

You don't have time to waste. You know what will happen if you get there late.

I did. I don't know what else was going on but I knew I had to find her. If she was really like me then she didn’t have too much time left. It had been two days after her encounter with that guy, he’d probably be heading over by now.

My stomach dropped as it clicked in my head that that was probably the reason the van had been moving faster and more deliberately today. I wasn’t sure I could make it in time, but I had to try. The new voice was right though, I’d have to leave right now to have any chance.

Just two problems: The house was on the other side of town, and the van had a head start.