She peered closely at my hands, her sharp yellowed nails tracing the veins delicately.
"Hmm . . ."
I looked at her anxiously, wondering how anyone could fit so many wrinkles on one face. She wore a black hood, but in the flickering light from the crystal orb, her misshapen features were clearly visible.
"Oh. Oh yes. That's it."
Her brow furrowed, and she retraced a line. I suppressed a shiver and glanced over at Risa, who sat smiling at me triumphantly. She'd insisted that having my fortune read would renew my outlook on life and awaken my inner spirit. It'd sounded fishy to me, but she'd been my best friend for two years now, and besides-how could anyone say no to Risa?
The oracle cleared her throat. I tried to smile at her, but her features remained blankly hostile. Her voice rasped at me calmly.
"My dear, you will meet your soulmate within the next three days. You will know him by his clear blue eyes and low, melodic voice. He will bring you more happiness than you could ever have dreamed of; your souls will match perfectly. However, be warned that after this date, you will die-"
"Die!" I sputtered, shocked out of my musing by the callous word. "Die! I can't die! I've-my family-what will they . . ."
"Do not question the oracle," the ancient shrieked, her red-rimmed eyes bulging. "Your very blood tells you the truth; question it if you will."
Risa touched my arm reassuringly. "It's alright. Listen to the rest of it."
I stared at her. Listen to the rest of it? Are you crazy?
The ancient was droning on with some news about my distant half- cousin in Kansas, but I wasn't paying her any attention. Why should I? Did it even matter, since I was going to die within the next three days? My Aunt Theresa had committed a bloody suicide just last week, and the entire family was still mourning . . . it would tear them apart if I died, too, so soon after.
What if I never met my soulmate? What if I locked myself in the house for the next 72 hours? Could I break that awful witch's prophecy?
"Oh, yes, thank you," Risa was saying, bouncing up out of the chair. "Thank you very much."
I rose slowly, but couldn't make myself take a step. That sickeningly cloying incense was seeping into my lungs, slowly suffocating me, killing off my brain cells one by one . . .
Risa grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door, and I felt sensation flood back into my lungs like a sheet of ice cracking and releasing the frozen water behind it. I gasped, but she didn't seem to notice.
"Do you want to pick up a Whopper on the way back? I'm a little hungry," she chattered as we walked back to her Pink Volkswagen Bug. We'd carpooled after work to save gas, but I'd agreed that she could drop me back at the office afterwards and I would drive myself home.
"No, it's okay." She hummed cheerily as she started the car and drove down the foggy street. Why hadn't I noticed before how eerie those orange-brown streetlights were? They were like eyes, glaring at us through the mist. Risa flipped on the radio and started to sing along. I looked at her, feeling confused and a little hurt. How could she act so insensitive?
"Er . . . Risa? Isn't it a little disturbing that the oracle said .
. . what she said?"
"Oh yes, sometimes" Risa said, busily looking over her right shoulder for cars. "But she's very good."
"Oh." I didn't want to talk about it.
After about another five minutes, she turned. "Gee, are you feeling okay? You're awfully quiet."
"I'm okay." Not really, but it seems that you couldn't care less.
She smiled. "Dreaming about your soulmate?"
"No." Why was she being so cruel? What was wrong with her? "I just don't feel like talking."
She looked at me curiously, but didn't say anything. I was silent the rest of the way to the office, speaking only to say thank you and good night to her.

The parking lot was dark and orange. Like Halloween, I thought. The day of evil. How ironic. I headed for my car, and then realized that I'd left my keys in the building.
Sighing in frustration, I went in through the open back door and ran down the white central hallway, flipping on lights as I went. The troublesome keys were sitting in a corner of my desk under a pile of manila folders. I grabbed them.
Then something grated. I froze. It grated again; a low, screeching sound from another one of the cubicles in the room. Each employee had their own desk, partitioned off with soundproof portable walls. But there couldn't possible be anyone working at this time-it was nearly twelve . . . and the lights had been off. Or had they.
I didn't remember if I'd turned this room's light on or not.
There was a slow clicking, as if something was being twisted, like one of those little windup toys that kids play with . . . wind it up and let it go, and it goes eeeeerrrrrrng across the floor.
There were footsteps somewhere nearby, and no one could possibly walk that slow on purpose. Click. Click. Click-click-click-click-
I turned and fled. The workroom seemed to be empty, but as I turned into the hallway, someone crashed into me. I screamed.
"Whoa, ma'am, I'm sorry." A masculine voice, polite and reassuring. I didn't recognize it as anyone I knew.
I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. "It's alright. I was . . . I was just feeling a little . . ."
I stopped. My heart was pounding with horrifying speed. His eyes were blue.
Clear, beady blue, like a doll's eyes.

I backed away slowly, then turned and ran. He was shouting something after me, but I wasn't listening. I tore out the front door and sprinted toward the car, praying he wouldn't follow.
It was too dark to see. The keys were still clutched in my hand, thank God, but I couldn't tell which one . . . oh God oh God oh God.
I fumbled agonizingly.
"Ma'am, are you-"
He was coming after me. I finally found the right key and tore the door open. The engine wouldn't start. Oh my God this was a nightmare.
"Ma'am . . ."
"No! Go away!" I slammed the gas, and the car moved. Oh. Oh. I was safe. I was going to get away. I was safe.
In the same instant, though, I realized that everything was gray. The fog, of course. No, it was asphalt. No wait-it was the smoke from the incense.
Cracked, yellowed hands loomed up out of the mist, reaching for my palm. "Your very blood tells you the truth . . ." the voice cackled, ". . . DIE!"
"No!" I screamed, and spun the wheel away from the hands.

The peaceful silence was broken by a harsh ringing. Brrrriiing. Brrriing.
Brrring. Brrring. Brrring. Brrring.
"Oh all right, all right." Risa rolled over sleepily and flicked the light on. The digital clock blinked at her: 12:12. 12:12. 12:12.
She grabbed the phone. "Hello?"
She listened for a moment, and then her hand flew to her mouth and she sat bolt upright in bed. "No! No-she can't be dead! I saw her just . . ."
The voice on the other end buzzed with questions. "No, she was fine . . . a little quiet, but . . . no, not-not crazy!" Risa got up and ran for her coat, talking as she went. Tears were beginning to trail down her face. She struggled to stay coherent. "This evening? We . . . we went to see an oracle, but that couldn't have upset her so much! According to the reading," Risa stopped short and wiped her eyes, recalling the exact words. "She was supposed to meet her perfect soulmate within the next three days, and . . . and she was going to die . . . forty years after that date."