The Proposed Prophecies

“That day when most of the Alters left was the official end of the Proposal. There was still a lot of work with the cleanup and with the re-establishment but I still had some of the Alter guards working for me and the military teams that assisted. And of course I had my family by my side. But I often looked up at the sky and waited to see them flying back here but they have never returned. I never saw Evan, Jake or Eve ever again.” Liv exhaled and looked at Katie, who for the first time wasn’t looking away. She had her notebook on her lap and the pen was still in her shaky hand. Her eyes started to well up, and one tear after another fell down her pink cheeks. Liv was finally able to look at those deep brown eyes of hers, eyes that reminded her of Evan every time she saw them.

“Who are you?” Liv asked after a minute of hesitation. But deep down she knew the answer and her eyes started to flood with tears without any confirmation from Katie. Katie didn’t say a word. Instead, she looked down and let her tears fall on the notes she had taken.

“Who are you, Katie?” she asked again and Katie bursts into tears. “I am your daughter,” she whispered. Liv felt the wetness of her tears on her own face. She hadn’t cried in ages and had nearly forgotten what it felt like..

“My mother told me that you had died but I always suspected that you hadn’t.” Liv pulled her sheet off and placed both legs on the white floor. “Wait!” Katie ran up to her and urged her not to get up as her old fatigued legs would surely not keep all that weight anymore. And she was right, Liv thought. But there was nothing to stop her from going to her daughter. Not this time. She sat next to Liv, her hand still holding her arm. It wasn’t long before Katie ran into her arms. Liv held her tight and remembered the day she gave birth and the delicate but strong cry of the daughter she never got to hold in her arms, until now.

Liv wanted to ask her so many questions about where she lived or how her childhood had been but suddenly her tears could not be replaced by words. The wireless machine that checks her heart beat started to beep louder. Katie pulled back and wiped her tears.

“I am sorry for not being able to be there for you and to protect you,” Liv said as nurse Carly walked in. “We need to calm down Miss Liv,” she said, urging Liv to lay down again. She pulled out some liquid to inject Liv with. Liv knew what it was. It always made her sleepy. “Please, Carly. Just give me some more time before you inject me with that.” Carly hesitated at first and raised her eyebrows slightly. “Alright. You have ten minutes and then I will come back,” she said. But Liv felt, somehow, that her heart was shutting down and her breathing was becoming harder and slower. Her time was coming to an end. She didn’t know how she knew this, she just did. It was just like her grandfather had described. Her game was about to end. “Tell me everything. I want to know everything about you,” said Liv. Katie pulled her chair closer to her bed and held Liv’s hand. Her hand was warm and white as the winter snow. “I was raised by the Alters and I was told I was one of them but I have always felt different. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as humans until about a month ago. And recently a doctor confessed that I was not a regular Alter, that I am part human. And I came here to find you.” Katie smiled and wiped away her tears.

“Did the doctor say why she told you? I mean, why now? And why did they even take you away from me?” Katie looked down. “Well, I have always had to undergo tests and experiments that other Alters never had to undergo. I questioned why I had had these tests, and now I know.” She said that I was a hybrid and that my blood had something that benefits the original Alters.”

“Like what?” Liv asked curiously, even though she was scared of the answer. Nothing good ever came out of the word “tests” or “experiment”.

“Their life.” Katie replied. “There are many hybrids now and each year they take a little blood from us and create a serum to extend the life of dying Alters. Alters are now able to live past five hundred years of age.” Liv’s eyes opened wide as she remembered Eve. She was dying before she left Earth.

“Why are you really here?” Liv said. Even though she was delighted to see her daughter, she had learnt over the years that nothing happened without a reason. Katie shook her head. “What do you mean?” she asked. “What happened to you for all those years? Who raised you?” Katie stood up from her chair and didn’t speak for a while. Liv felt anger but not towards Katie. It was the anger that Eve might have been behind this. “I did what you asked of me. I told you my story. Now it is your turn.” Katie turned around.

“Eve raised me,” Katie replies quietly. Liv felt her blood boil. Eve must have ordered the doctor to take Katie away. She must have already known about the special blood that Katie possessed to extend her life. “Why did they tell you the truth now?” Liv asked and Katie exhaled deeply.

“Because I have to give you this.” She grabbed her purple plastic backpack from the floor and opened it. She pulled out a document in a plastic cover and gave it to Liv. Just the look of it reminded her of the old proposal. It had the same exact cover, it even felt the same in her hand. “What is this?” Liv asked as she read the title. “The Proposal.”

Katie exhaled. “Our planet has recently been attacked and we need to leave before the intruders come back and finish what they started. We need another planet to join.” She paused and sat down on the chair “The Alters want to come back and we need your permission to prepare for our arrival.”

Rising water levels meant that space on Earth was already becoming limited. She knew that housing the Alters on Earth would mean another huge cull of mankind. They could fit some of the Alters into the existing concrete jungle but even then it wouldn’t be enough space for people and Alters combined. Liv hesitated a little and handled the proposal back to Katie. “I can’t make this decision,” Liv said. She was sure she was dying but even if she wasn’t she couldn’t imagine making that kind of decision on behalf of the people. She couldn’t imagine having to go through that process again and she felt angry that her daughter would be put through this in the future.

She looked at Katie, who held the proposal in her shaky hands looked down at it. “I was hoping you could help us… there is another civilization threatening us and they want to start a war. We can only survive if we unite. Alters and humans.” She paused and looked up again. “We can’t survive without your help. Alters need humans and humans need Alters to win this war and to also ensure that Earth is safe. I know you have a strong military and so do we.” Liv knew Katie was right but just the thought of it gave her goosebumps. Another depopulation, another bloodbath. But the thought of leaving her daughter to be killed by some another civilization was also something that she couldn’t consider. For the first time she wished she had the strength to live longer and to help Katie.

Katie’s words sounded desperate and yet her eyes showed shame at the same time. “Even if you won’t sign the document, I would still be alright with your decision. All I wanted was to meet you and to hear your story. I always knew there was more behind the written words of your books” Katie continued talking and Liv felt the urge to hug her again but she moved her aching body to her right instead and opened the drawer on her nightstand to take a pen out of it. Each move felt like thousands of knives cutting through her body each second. She looked at Katie and asked for the proposal again. She knew her time was ticking and she couldn’t hesitate about the proposal for too long.

Liv opened the first page that talked about the chosen ones all over again and sighed. Though the requirement had changed, she realized. It wasn’t about people’s abilities and aptitudes, about picking the best to ensure the survival of a superior mankind. It was only about numbers now. The new era would have to have the strongest people in order to survive. Someone’s criminal record was no longer important and neither was their level of academic achievement. In the year 2118, everyone was given the same information, and the same education and there was no need to do all the research. There wasn’t even such a thing as a family tree anymore. The new proposal was a simple math where the highest numbers win. The strength and physical stability of the humans were the factors that contributed to being chosen ones.

“We need the strongest people and the strongest Alters for the upcoming fight. This can save our existence,” Katie’s added. The new proposal was a simple step-by-step process to prepare the nation for the fight. Liv exhaled deeply and looked at her daughter. She was still a child in her eyes, despite the fact that she was already a grown woman. She hesitated but eventually moved straight to the last page where there was an empty spot for her signature. She signed the new proposal and handled it back to Katie. “The Proposed Prophecies,” Katie added and Liv didn’t understand. “That’s the name of my book about your real story” she said and Liv smiled. Her story and the truth about the proposal was about to get out. And that was all she had ever wanted.

Liv smiles but her chest started to hurt more. The monitor next to her bed started beeping louder. Liv knew that Carly would be there any minute now. “I wish we could have more time together. I don’t want to say goodbye to you now that I have finally found you,” Katie says and Liv smiled again. “There is no such thing as time and no such thing as the last goodbye.” Katie burst into more tears, the proposal shaking in her hands. “I want you to have all my diaries, the ones I wrote after the original proposal. This way, you can have me in your memories,” Liv whispered as Carly rushed through the sliding front door. “It is time for your medication, Miss Liv,” she said and took out the liquid that supposed to make Liv calm down and go to sleep. But Liv knew that this time she wouldn’t wake up.

“Please, no!” Katie raised her voice and Liv reached for her hand. “It is going to be alright Katie. I just want you to know that I love you, even if we didn’t get the chance to be together for long.” Liv looked into Katie’s brown eyes and felt tiredness begin to envelop her.

“Is this the end?” Katie asked as Liv was closing her eyes.

“It is never the end. This is just a story that has been fulfilled,” she answered and exhaled for the last time.

“Even after the monitor next to the bed indicated that I had died, I could still hear Carly’s voice. “What happened? This wasn’t supposed to happen,” She yelled, as she was not expecting me to die. Well, at least not at that moment. Shortly after followed the crying voice of my sweet daughter. A desperate cry, just like on the day she was born. The last couple of hours spent with her gave me the peace in my heart that I needed. Maybe that’s why I had been unable to die for so long. I needed to live through her reappearance in my life and the knowledge that she was a strong, grown-up woman.

It doesn’t feel strange that I am dead, I feel strangely peaceful and calm. Nothing is bothering me, I am not angry or disappointed. Only quietly floating around my lifeless body. I used to be scared of death but now I know it is not the true ending of my life. It is just the story of Liv Johansson that was slowly disappearing, along with the memories of who she used to be. The traveler of the world will always be reunited with her family no matter in which direction the wind blows her. She had been the friend she never thought she could be, and the woman that made two powerful Alters feel more human than ever. And she was the story of the young writer who rewrote the history of human kind, once upon a time. A history based on lies that was in Katie’s hands now. I know the truth is out, Katie has her story and it might change the history all over again. But the game of life is in her hands now. My game is over.

As I slowly flow with the air I see a light in the end of the darkness and I know that once I pass it, Liv’s story will end forever but the memory will always remain in my loved ones and somewhere deep inside me. And perhaps one day we will be reunited again.”