(Credit to randomshitposting on DeviantArt!)

(Y/N POV)

'Emily?'

Once more, I made my way into the room to confront my sister. By now, she was devoid of all emotion but sadness. I wanted to say that things would get better, but truthfully, I knew that they would not. We'd escaped execution once, but who was to say that we'd escape a second time?

I came closer to her bedside. 'Emily -'

'Go. Away.'

Her face was buried into the quilt, her blonde hair sprawling about, her hands clutching the bed for comfort. Since I'd entered, she'd quietened her sobbing and instead sniffled every couple of seconds.

'We'll be fine -'

'YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT!' She abruptly twisted her body around to meet my eyes. 'YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT THINGS WILL GET BETTER AND THEY DON'T! I DIDN'T ASK TO BE HERE AND I WANT TO GO HOME!' Emily came into a sitting position, gripping the edge of the bed to relax herself. 'The last time we came here, there was a ring. What if we just - what if we got one, like Alexander's or Eliza's, and used it to go home?'

There was a spark of hope in her eye, as though whatever I said would shape what her next steps were going to be. Alas, I couldn't lie to her and shook my head. 'It wouldn't work.'

Overwhelmed, she pounded her fist against the bed and sunk her head into her chest. 'I just want this dream to stop.'

'You... still have it?'

She nodded. 'And it just gets worse. There's the two men, and the loud bang, and -' Emily took a minute to compose herself, at last meeting my concerned gaze. '...W-what-what's going to happen to Philip?'

'...I-' With no prior warning (or permission, I could assume), Alexander's brother careered into the room. He trudged over, stopping in front of us with his finger pointed out. Alexander speedily followed with his appearance through the doorway.

'You're witches!' screeched James. 'Witches sent from Hell! And I suppose you want to drag me in, too, why else would I be involved in this nonsense?!'

Alexander came up behind him. 'Back off, James!'

'No!'

'Your involvement was my proposal, not theirs!'

'Oh,' - He spun himself around, a smirk of disbelief across his face - 'so you expect me to believe that they are from the future?'

Emily leapt over to her pillow, rummaging her hand through the case and drawing out what seemed to be her phone. She presented it to James, though he raised his eyebrows unconvinced. Sighing, she removed the case and out fell a peculiar little photograph. Holding this out to him instead, I recognised it to be a photograph of her and I at the zoo one day... Yes, I'd seen this before...

Emily reached into the pocket of her dress to withdraw a folded piece of paper. It was covered in yellow stains and pen markings. Some ancient Maths equation, the ink spluttered across the paper. Emily unfolded it; somehow, the image was still intact. It was a photograph of the two of us, apparently at a zoo. I must have been five? Six? I checked the bottom right corner: dated 27/08/2012. Seven. Close enough.

'Look how chubby I am!' Emily pointed to her cheeks, squashed against mine as she embraced me into a forceful hug. I gave an awkward smile to the camera, begging to be set free.

'I've got hair,' I joked.

'I've got no teeth...' she noticed. Inspecting closely, Emily's two front teeth were missing.

'What is this?' James inspected the image. Alexander was just as confused.

'A photograph,' Emily said. 'That's me and that's my sister.' She used her finger to guide James.

With moments of intense squinting, he scoffed. 'Some elaborate portrait.'

'It's real,' I defended her. 'It was a device, it - it took a picture of us at that time. And look.' I bent my head over to show him the date in the bottom right corner. '2012.'

Clearly, he did not want to be convinced by this but the evidence provided stunned him to immobility.

Alexander poked his head past his shoulder. 'Please. I ask you to leave us in peace. If it should provide, I can tempt you with payment for the inconvenience this has c-'

'Payment, yes,' James responded, unsure where to look. 'Payment.' Nothing more to say - he wandered from the room.

Alexander did not follow after and stared back at the photograph. 'That's remarkable.'

Emily tucked it back away.

'The future, it is... something.'

I shrugged. 'Nothing great. Technology-wise, yes, but -'

'Better than here,' Emily disrupted.

Alexander gave out a breath. 'Have you been able to discuss the matter at hand?'

'Yeah, and I'm not going.'

'No,' I dismissed, 'we have not.'

'I want that ring!' she insisted, directing Alexander to the one still on his finger. It gave me hope to know that he had not removed it.

He withdrew his hand. 'Uh - why?'

'Emily -'

'No!' she cut me off. 'I at least want to try, I want to know if it -!'

'It won't work!'

'JUST LET ME TRY!'

'WE'RE NOT GOING BACK!'

Her lips trembled at my words, and though she did not sob, tears fell from her eyes. Unable to speak, Alexander took steps back.

I sat beside her, resting my hands on her shoulders. 'This is our future, Emily, here, with these people who treat us like family. Sure, they are really our family, but they are all we have. Shit, we even have the President on our side! Can it get any better than that? Listen, would you rather be living with George Washington or Donald Trump?'

She grinned. 'Washington.'

'Exactly. We'll be living a life of luxury with the greatest power in this country. Only for a short while, but I'll be sure to make it the greatest experience that you have. Okay?'

Emily nodded.

'And if it makes you feel any better, when it's safe again, we can find a way to get back together. No secrets though.'

'No secrets.'

Alexander folded his arms. 'Alright, well, I suppose that that is settled -'

'Alexander?' Emily faced him.

'Yes?'

'...I'm worried about Philip.'

'Oh? Has something occured?'

'No, I - I keep having this dream, and I... I think he's in it. Will he be okay, Y/N?'

Through all of the commotion, I'd forgotten about Emily's dream. The dream of the supposed Philip and the loud bang. Merely with this information, I could make a guess at what this was, not to mention that it was a reoccurring dream...

Like my own...

Philip was going to die. I knew that. Just as Alexander would years later... But Philip, for now, was a boy. Any attempts to disrupt his life now would inevitably be disastrous. Could I even save him from death? If I couldn't save John then what hope was there that I could save him? Had I somehow forgotten about John?

No. I couldn't tell. Not now. In time, I would try to prevent it, yes. Maybe the events of today would lead him away from it as a whole, but I had to reconcile my sister. She couldn't sink any further than she already had, and neither could the Hamiltons.

'Yes,' I lied. 'Yes. Nothing will happen to him. I promise.'