The Girl Who Saw the Tomorrow

The first time Elara predicted the future, she was six years old.

At first, it seemed like a small thing: a lost dog that was found before its owner even knew it had gone missing. However, as time went on, the glimpses became sharper, clearer, and darker.

She could now, when she was seventeen, close her eyes and see into the future.

She also saw something tonight that she couldn't ignore.

________________________________________

Elara stabilized herself against the whirling vision that was still fading from her mind by pressing a hand to her forehead. The cracked concrete. the blue lightning flash. A hollow, pale face with a twisted smile.

At midnight, someone was going to die!

She sat up in her bed, heart hammering. The clock read 11:02 PM. Less than an hour left.

It must stop for me.

She stumbled to her desk and pulled out a battered journal by opening a drawer. Every vision she had, she wrote down. The only way to make sense of the chaos was through it. She flipped past pages of half-forgotten dreams until she found a blank one.

Midnight.

Station Old Town.

Man in black coat.

A glimmer of blue.

Someone has died.

Elara ran out of the house wearing a hoodie, her sneakers rattling against the sidewalk as she raced into the night.

The town was empty this late. Overhead, buzzing streetlights cast long, uneasy shadows. Elara’s breath came in clouds in the chilly air as she made her way toward the old train station—the place she’d seen in the vision.

Old Town Station had been abandoned for years, left to rot after the last train pulled away ten years ago. The ideal setting for something terrible was there.

She arrived at 11:47 PM.

The place looked just like it had in her vision: crumbling brick, rusted tracks, broken windows staring like dead eyes. She crept closer, hiding behind a rusted metal pillar.

And then she saw him.

A tall man in a black coat with a low hat who kept his face hidden. He was pacing, checking his watch, glancing over his shoulder.

Exactly like in the vision.

Elara’s stomach twisted.

She crouched lower, pulling out her phone and snapping a picture. Proof. If she stopped whatever was going to happen, she needed evidence.

But she wasn't the only one watching.

A flicker of movement caught her eye—someone else, stepping into the station from the other side.

A girl.

No older than Elara herself. Pale, skinny, clutching something under her jacket. She moved with a kind of nervous determination.

Elara’s blood ran cold. Did she pose the greatest threat?

The man in the coat spotted the girl and started toward her.

"Hey!" Elara shouted without thinking, stepping out from behind the pillar.

Both heads whipped toward her.

The girl’s eyes widened. The man scowled, reaching into his coat—and in one horrifying second, Elara knew: he had a weapon.

She sprinted forward, grabbing the girl's arm and yanking her backward just as a flash of blue crackled through the air—a stun gun. The wall where the girl had been standing was struck by it.

"Run!" Elara yelled.

They bolted through the maze of broken tracks and crumbling platforms, feet pounding the ground. Behind them, the man cursed and gave chase.

"What the hell is going on?" They fled, and the girl gasped.

"I'll explain later!" Elara shouted.

They tore through the wreckage, leaping over broken rail ties and ducking through walls that were only partially collapsed. Ahead, Elara spotted an old maintenance shed—its door half off its hinges.

"This way!"

They dove inside, pulling the door closed behind them.

They stopped breathing and fell against the wall. Elara could hear the man outside, searching, footsteps crunching on gravel.

"What’s your name?" she whispered.

"Lena."

"I'm Elara. Why was he after you?"

After some hesitation, Lena took out something from her jacket. It was a small, metallic cube, pulsing faintly with blue light.

She said, "This." "It’s called the Oracle Core."

Elara stared. "What is it?"

"It’s a prototype. They built it to predict future events. Real-time probability calculations, quantum entanglement—stuff way beyond anything that should exist right now."

Elara’s skin prickled. She wasn’t the only one who could see the future anymore.

"Where did you get it?"

"I stole it," Lena admitted. "From them. From the people who made it."

"And now they're trying to kill you to get it back."

Lena nodded grimly.

The footsteps outside got louder.

Elara’s mind raced. She was used to glimpses of the future, flashes she couldn't control. But this—this Oracle Core—could be the key to understanding her visions. Maybe even in charge of them. They couldn't let it fall back into the wrong hands.

"We have to move," Elara whispered. "Now."

They stayed in the shadows as they made their way out of the shed's back. They had vanished while the man was still looking near the front.

"If we can get to my friend Jake’s place," Elara said, "We can hide there. He enjoys technology and may even be able to disable the device's tracking, if it exists.”

Lena gave a nod.

They crept through the station’s skeletal remains, every noise making Elara’s heart leap into her throat. The exit was in sight—just a few more steps—

A shout behind them.

They were observed by the man.

Lena and Elara took off.

Fury fueling his steps, the man ran faster this time. Elara's legs burned as she pushed harder, pulling Lena along.

They burst out onto the street—into blinding headlights.

A car screeched to a halt.

"Get in!" shouted Jake from the driver’s seat.

They dove into the car as the man in the black coat fired another stun blast—it missed by inches.

Jake hit the gas, and they peeled away into the night.

________________________________________

Back at Jake’s garage, doors locked, lights off, Elara finally let herself breathe.

Jake—a wiry, sharp-eyed teen who lived for hacking competitions and late-night code raids—stared at the Oracle Core like it was the Holy Grail.

"This thing’s insane," he said, turning it over carefully. "Do you know what's in this place? If this can actually predict the future… it’s worth billions."

"And they'll kill to get it back," Elara said grimly.

Lena nodded. "We can’t trust anyone. Not the police, not the government. The people who built the Core aren’t from around here."

"What do you mean?" Jake asked.

"I mean," Lena said, voice low, "they’re not from this timeline."

Silence.

Elara's head jerked. She believed she was unique and special. But the truth was bigger, stranger, and far more dangerous than she had ever imagined.

"You’re saying..." Jake began slowly.

Lena nodded. "They're from the future."

They could also have control over this one with the Oracle Core. Unless Elara—and now Lena and Jake—stopped them first.

Outside, in the dark, a blue light flickered.

The hunt wasn't over.

It had only just begun.