Oracle

Prologue

Cass stood opposite her father at his desk in his office in the house she'd grown up in. In the house that should have been rubble. She still wasn't sure where she was, whether or not she was visioning or if this was somehow part of Five's plan. He'd tried to teleport them all back in time after they'd failed at preventing the end of the world. Had he done it? If he had, then why was their father there?

"I did what you wanted," Cass said, staring her father in the eyes without blinking once, "I let the apocalypse happen." 

Part of her had been expecting him to be proud, but he didn't even stir.

"That's why you did it, wasn't it?" Cass asked, "All those years. You knew all that time. That's why you drugged me, wasn't it? Gave me those pills to repress the visions I had about the apocalypse, so I wouldn't tell anyone, so no one would stop it. You wanted it to happen."

Cass paused, staring straight at dad without so much as blinking. She was right, she knew it but she wanted him to admit it. But he didn't even nod.

"Why did you do it?" She asked and was met by no reply, "You didn't have to kill yourself if you wanted the apocalypse to happen anyway."

Then it struck her. Cass laughed, uncontrollably.

"Of course! You sick bastard, of course!" She laughed, her lips bent into a frown, "You still wanted us to come back, to try and stop it as a family. You wanted us to fail, but we had to fail together. It would be more humiliating. We'd feel more powerless if we were together. You sick bastard."

Cass laughed. She couldn't help but laugh. His plan was just so...stupid!

"You could have just told us," Cass said after a long pause, "I understood, you know. I saw it and I worked it out and I understood why the apocalypse had to happen. But you could have just said."

"Hang on..." Cass said as more things began falling into place, "I used my visions to work out what to do. I saw ahead to realise why the apocalypse had to happen. I used my power... So how did you know?"

Dad smiled.

"Now you're asking the real questions."

No sooner had the words left his lips, the world around Cass began disappearing. The faded grey walls of dad's office vanished into nothing. Next the house fell away and then the whole street vanished until she and dad were left standing opposite each other in blank nothingness. With one last twisted smile, dad was gone and the vision had ended. She was back in the real world, wherever that was.