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Zinya unfolded the third square of paper and flattened it on the table "Future"

The pattern was divided in half by a winding line One side was completely white; the other was a mess of red dots that were smeared and splattered like blood When Zinya saw it, her face grew pinched She didn’t say anything for a long time

Finally, I cut in "What is it?" I said, my voice frantic "What does it say?"

"In your drea the line traveling down the e "If you folloill end in death" She covered the clean half of the paper "And life," she said, re her hand

My eyes darted across the two halves of the paper "Death and life? It can’t be both Which one is it? Which one will it end in?"

She pointed to the bottoe, where the trail forked off to either side "This is what is written"

"So what a the floor as I collapsed back, frustrated "Should I follow the visions or not?"

"Depends if you want to find what they lead to"

"What do youher hands on her apron, she hoisted herself up "The answer to your soul"

I must have looked spooked e left, because after Anya ca with Zinya, she stared atme outside in silence "What did she say to you?" she said finally We alking back to school, down a brick street lined with tiny storefronts

"She knew things that no one could have known," I said, speaking to e"

"I told you she was the real thing"

"She knew about ave istered her question "She saidthe future"

"I knew it Didn’t I tell you that?"

"She said that if I follow theht die?" she said, so loud that a couple walking in front of us turned around

"Shh!" I said, though I wasn’t sure who I orried would hear me Down the street was a quiet café "Come on," I said, and pulled her behind me

Inside it ar newspapers to the sound of grinding coffee At the counter, I ordered a large tea and sat at a table in the back corner while Anya picked out a plate of biscotti

"So youdown across from me

"Zinya said I would meet both life and death But that the visions will lead to the answer to ht,as it came to life She must have meant that the visions will lead to an answer for ether But did she mean that one of us would meet life and the other, death? "I don’t know Do you think she meant the life and death part literally? That I would die and live?"

"She’s a peasant Everything is literal with her"

I traced the ri withinthat made sense: to see where they led ht? What if they were dangerous?

"Who’s Dante?" Anya asked, disrupting hts

"What?"

She broke a piece of biscotti in half, the cru to the side of her mouth as she nibbled on an end "You just said, ‘What if Dante was right?’"

I frowned I hadn’t realized I was speaking out loud

Anya licked the tips of her fingers "Is he your boyfriend?"