Xavier floored the engine and took off in the direction of mile marker 122.

 

“There it is.” I pointed at the bridge I saw in my vision. A knife sank into my side, and I stifled a scream. I squeezed my side with one hand and massaged my pounding head with the other.

 

Broken windows… mangled steel… smashed cars. I look down. Not a knife. A piece of metal protrudes from my side. Blood. Lots of blood. Screaming.

 

I smell… sulfur. Rotting flesh… charred meat. Hell.

 

“You didn’t say anything about a bridge,” Drew said.

 

“I saw one. It’s just before it.” I nodded toward the window. “See?

 

There’s the mile marker. This is definitely the place,” I gasp around the pain.

 

“What do we do now?” Muriel asked quietly.

 

“Xavier, turn the SUV sideways and start driving back and forth in front of the cars to make them back up. The farther back they get from the mile marker, the better.” My breathing was labored and my voice barely a whisper.

 

“And if some don’t move?”

 

“I don’t know.” I met his gaze. “We tried. That’s all we can do.”

Xavier turned on the shoulder and drove across the lanes of the highway, earning a lot of honks and quite a few fingers along the way. When he reached the median, he’d back up until he reached the other side.

 

Then he’d throw it in drive and start again. It worked. Some cars started backing up, away from the lunatic driver. Others held their ground. Too bad they wouldn’t be able to hold it much longer. I could already hear the pavement cracking. Xavier had time for one, maybe two passes. That was it. Whoever was left had to fend for themselves.

 

A large crack sounded, and I looked at Xavier. It was time to get out of there. He threw the SUV in reverse and flew across the highway until he reached the shoulder. Swinging around, going toward traffic, he drove on the shoulder away from the impending sinkhole.

 

“How’s the vision?” Xavier asked, looking over at me.

 

“It’s still there, but not as bad.” The pain in my head had lessened.

 

The sharp icepick had been replaced with a rubber mallet, and the piece of scrap metal in my side had disappeared.

 

His eyes darted in front of him for a second before his gaze fell back on me. “I thought when the situation was corrected, the vision would go away?”

 

“It will.”

 

“Well? How come it hasn’t?” Drew leaned forward, sticking his head in the space between the two front seats.

 

“People are still going to die. I didn’t fulfill everything I was supposed to. And Jord is still out there somewhere. Until he’s caught and killed, along with the other three Brothers, I don’t think my visions will go away completely.”

 

“So… you… you’ll see those people—”

 

“Die?” I interrupted Drew. “No. I don’t see it. I just kinda know. It sounds awful, but I’ve gotten used to it.”

 

I don’t see it—I feel it. Too much. Stuff I don’t want to feel. And I’m lying. I haven’t gotten used to it. I won’t ever get used to it.

 

“That’s not horrible, Milayna. That’s just your coping mechanism kicking in. You have to have one or you’d go insane from the things you’ve seen and gone through in the last year,” Xavier said softly.

 

“Who said I haven’t gone insane already?” I said with a chuckle.

 

“That’s true, Xavier. Some of us are taking bets on when her first nervous breakdown will be. Want to wager?” Muriel chewed on the end of the straw in her Coke and grinned.

 

“No!” He sounded indignant.

 

“Don’t worry; she’s only joking,” I said and rolled my eyes at Muriel.

 

Xavier was an angel. He’d only lived on earth a few months. He hadn’t gotten used to how humans joked and teased yet, which made him the perfect person to play tricks on. It could be hilarious.

 

I jumped when a sharp stab bit into the side of my neck. Warmth spread across my skin. I felt my neck, but I knew nothing was there. Just a sensation of the vision. Another pain radiated up my leg. My leg vibrated with it. The warmth in my neck disappeared, leaving it cold. The person was gone.

Michelle
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