The Tribuo - 70. Part V, chapter 23

- XXIII -

RAYNE

I saw that truck flying towards us and thought, “Oh, you gotta to be kidding me!” And then there was a deafeningly-shattering, screeching wave of deranged sound, and everything around me exploded into brilliant-white. I expected pain, blood, something else that you usually get when you end up in a bad wreck, but there was nothing. I squeezed my eyes shut for several seconds. Silence was almost unbearable. Have I gone deaf or something?

“Matt…” I called and carefully opened my eyes.

Matt was nowhere to be seen and neither was the truck. I blinked when I realized that I wasn’t in Jess’ car anymore -- I was in the living room of "our" house. I shook my head, thinking that I was probably hallucinating, and that was when I saw Seth. He was smoking next to the slightly open window, and his expression could not possibly be any gloomier.

“What…” I muttered. “Seth, what the hell just happened…?”

“A head-on collision,” he said through his clenched teeth. “I had no idea it was going to happen.”

“Good thing too,” somebody’s pleasant contralto purred behind my back, and I whirled around.

It was some woman who looked so serene that it seemed almost funny.

“Because you would probably intervene, knowing you…” she looked at him calmly.

He muttered something under his breath without even glancing at her.

“Wait…” I shook my head. “Is this a joke? Or some weird test?”

“No,” Seth flicked his cigarette out of the window. “Not a joke and not a test.”

“It is rather poetic,” the woman shrugged. “Dark and…”

“Who are you?” I interrupted her incredulously.

“My name is Natalie,” she slightly lowered her head as if taking a small bow. “And the reason I am here is because a particular Observer…” she glanced at Seth. “...has proven himself to be quite unreliable lately. I am here to insure that he is not going to influence your choice in any way.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Seth said tiredly, and she just shrugged her delicate shoulders.

I decided to ignore her for the time being and switched my attention to Seth.

“Send me back,” I said and he sighed.

“This is your last case,” he said dully.

“I know that,” I nodded furiously. “What does it have to do with anything? Oh, wait… The whole choice thing?”

“Yeah,” he muttered. “The whole choice thing.”

“That should be pretty clear by now,” I shrugged. “I choose to…”

“Wait!” Natalie interrupted me somewhat sharply, and I looked at her with great irritation.

“What?!”

“Be careful what you choose,” she said. “Because you don’t want to make a wrong decision.”

I let out an incredulous laughter.

“Wrong decision?” I looked at Seth. “Who the hell is she?”

“Never mind her,” he sighed and ignored a slightly amused, small chuckle from Natalie. “Look, since this is your last case…”

“I get it,” I nodded.

“Let me…” Natalie started saying, but Seth interrupted her.

“No,” he said sharply. “I’ll tell her. Stay out of it, will you?”

“As you wish,” she said and turned around.

“Rayne,” he sighed again.

“Oh, for the love of God!” I exploded. “Just spit it out!”

“Fine,” he nodded. “If you choose to stay here, you will probably have two hours left to live.”

I blinked at that. Then I tried saying something, but it didn’t work.

“Maybe less than two hours, I don’t know,” he continued. “If you are lucky, you’ll be unconscious.”

“Hold on…” I managed to squeeze out. “That wreck…”

“It was a really bad one,” he nodded. “For both of you.”

He shot a very dark look at Natalie who was about to say something again. She blinked when she saw his eyes and closed her mouth. I sat down very, very slowly.

“So…” I tried to grasp it. “The whole choice thing is not really a choice then… I mean, if I choose to stay here…”

“You’ll die,” Seth lit another cigarette.

“What about Matt?” I asked in a very even voice.

“Him too. Although I am not positive about that. You got hit harder than him.”

“But you do have a choice,” Natalie completely ignored Seth this time. “Either-or…” She shrugged. “Although it looks pretty clear to me…”

I didn’t even look at her. This cannot be happening… Not now, not after everything… I have no idea how long I sat there without moving, talking, or even blinking. I almost said something ridiculous like, “It’s not fair!” I didn’t. Instead, I looked at Natalie.

“Did you ever have to do this?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said very calmly as if I just asked her how she enjoyed the weather outside. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Seth smirked bitterly at that, and suddenly, it hit me. I stared at him, my mouth agape.

“It’s her, isn’t it?” I asked very softly, and he just looked at me silently.

I shifted my gaze towards the beautiful woman who stood in front of me, her face flawless in its serenity, her eyes reflecting wisdom, understanding, compassion even… Hell, there was every single description of 'greater good' in her eyes. Except for love. There was none of that. She looked at me patiently.

“Have you ever wanted to go back and change things?” I asked her quietly. “To change the outcome of your decision?”

“No,” she said simply. “And neither will you. Once you understand what ultimate freedom means…”

“Have you ever wondered if I was even alive?” I interrupted her in the same soft voice. “Ever wanted to check up on me? To see if everything was all right?”

I wanted to see something in those perfect eyes of hers. Some stirring of emotion, a shadow of regret, a flicker of longing. I wanted to see something.

“No,” she said in the same serene voice. “It didn’t matter anymore. You won’t understand it unless you experience it for yourself. I cannot explain it. It would be futile.”

Nothing. I could see nothing but undisturbed perfection. Suddenly, I was really tired.

“Fine,” I said in a colorless voice. “Let’s get this over with already. I am done.”

She nodded as calmly as before and stretched out her slender arm.

“Word your choice carefully and take my hand,” she said.

I glanced at Seth. He was leaning on the wall, his face gloomy and extremely tired. He pulled his old shades out of the pocket and put them on. I guess he didn’t really want to look at either one of us.

I took a quick breath and stood up. I looked into Natalie’s tranquil eyes.

“I choose…” I said slowly. “...to be free…”