1996, July 27^th, 21:53

The sky was dark, full of rainy clouds. The stars shined brightly like no other night. It would be a peaceful and nice night, if not for heavy rain and strong wind. Even in the car, with heater to full power, it was still cold. Mrs. Marregon shivered in her passenger seat, glancing over to her two girls in the back of the car. They should be beyond cold, especially the new born. But not the cold made her shiver. It was that feeling. The same one she had many times before. The sixth sense she felt from time to time since her birth, the feeling of something bad about to happen. Many sad things have happened to her and her family and they were always reprimanded to Mrs. Marregon through her soul. The last time she felt it was after her first born child, Alice, was added to the new family.

Mr. and Mrs. Marregon have been newlywed when they discovered that they were expecting a child. The new parents were still very young, both aging just a bit more than 23 years old. At first, they were scared of such a quick turn towards a truly responsible life, but after a while, they were full of glee, waiting for the child to be born. Their daughter, whom they called after Mrs. Marregon’s favorite character in Alice in Wonderland, was born as a beautiful, healthy child. With a new house in a peaceful small town, now also with a child to raise, they family was living in a ninth cloud. Nothing could go wrong, it seemed. Until, of course, the mother felt her instincts to warn her about upcoming sadness. She tried to push the feeling away, hoping for it to have no meaning, unlike all the other times she felt it. That is, the prayers were left unheard. Their only child Alice fell in deep sickness. For months doctors trough out the country couldn’t find any meaning behind little girl’s illness, saying how little chance of survival the daughter has. Parents were devastated. They just met their little princess who already stole their hearths, and now the God wants to take her back. But Marregon’s knew better than giving up. With no luck with medicine, they sent their prayers to God, went to the church, did good deeds in the town. Alice was only six months old and already on death step. Nobody aside from the parents believed in a miracle happening.

However, just how unexpectedly the sickness came, it also went away. Without any reasonable explanation, just a belief that their prayers were heard, the family once again felt peaceful. The parents didn’t really thought about what made the God change its mind; nevertheless they were happy once again. Alice was already one year old, when Mr. Marregon felt her instincts sharpening once again. She wanted to prevent anything bad from happening again, so she told her husband. He, on the other hand, never really believed in such feelings, but something in his scarred wife’s eyes made him think again. Two months went unexpectedly peacefully, when one late evening something extraordinary happened.

Mr. and Mrs. Marregon were sitting in the spacious vintage living room, the husband reading a book and his wife sitting on a couch, swaying Alice to sleep. The child wasn’t keen on going to the dream land, so the mother decided on going to the bathroom instead. Before handing Alice to the father, she felt quite a strong grip on her loose blouse. Alice clearly didn’t like being kept from her mother. The child was fourteen months old and should speak already, but didn’t spoke a word until then. Alice opened was about to say her first words. The parents anticipated this moment for a while.

“Sister…” The child sung quietly but still clearly, moving her little hand to her standing mother’s figure. Both parents were taken a back; where did their child learn this word? They always thought her first word to be ‘mum’ or even ‘dad’. The mother froze in her spot once Alice touched mother’s stomach. After an awkward silence, Mr. Marregon tried to joke around about having another daughter soon. With this kind of event, the woman secretly went to the doctor only to confirm her guesses. She was pregnant again, indeed.

Mrs. Marregon stared trough the window. Those memories made her question to rise again.

“Do you think… Alice knew about Krystal’s arrival into the family?” The woman voiced her thoughts to her husband who was eyeing the road attentively. He chuckled at her question and turned his face to her.

“Don’t be silly. She’s just a kid, not even two years old.” The rain was getting even stronger; it was hard to see anything outside. The man slowly drove their way back home, his eyes concentrated on the road again. “But I have to say, the discovery made me surprised.

“I have that… feeling… again,” she whispered, but her husband heard it well. His grip around the wheel tightened, face portraying unfamiliar serious expression.

“Just think that it doesn’t mean anything.”

“But last time…”

“I know. But she’s well now. Nothing’s going to interrupt our finally happy life right now. It’s too soon.”

Mrs. Marregon let out a deep breath and turned her head to the back seats. Her newborn was sleeping quietly, unlike the wide eyed Alice. It was exactly a week after Krystal’s birth, but with some complications, only now the family got the permission to return home. It was an awful time for driving, but they were too tired to stay at hospital another minute. With how slow they’re going, it should take another hour to get home. Husband probably cached her thought and speed up. The woman didn’t lower her sight from Alice’s strange expression. The daughter mouthed something.

“Careful.”

With just one word, the woman couldn’t control herself anymore. Her oldest daughter definitely was an exceptional child, the mother knew. Her instincts moments ago, now this… Something was seriously wrong. Turning her face to the front, the woman was about to open , but the image in front of her shut her up. The road was too slippery, wind to strong, sky too dark even with all these stars above… The car was about to crash.

Baduuump, baduuump… Lightning’s sound was the only thing heard aside from crying girls' screaming voices.