A man. Burning. Falling beam.
I could see it all. I could smell the smoke, the burning flesh of the firefighter trapped under the beam. I squeezed my eyes closed, willing the vision to leave. It was horrible. The man’s skin blistered and bubbled as the flames ran up his arms and to his face, turning the skin red and then black as it peeled away from the bone.
“They’re here,” Chay said.
Muriel turned to Chay. “Who?”
“Demi-demons.”
“Chay.” I grabbed his arm. “There are gas cans in my garage.”
“Where?”
“In the far right corner.” I wrapped my arms around my waist. My head was pounding in sync with my heart and my teeth were chattering.
Why are my teeth chattering? Does that happen when you’re in shock? Or just freaked out? Or scared?
Chay ran to the garage and pulled open the door. The air spurred the fire, and flames darted out in front of him.
“Chay!” I screamed and grabbed his shirt, pulling him back. “It’s too late.” I let go of his shirt and rubbed my temples. “It’s spreading too fast.” I shook my head. Tears zigzagged on my face.
“I need to call the fire department.” Muriel bounced on the balls of her feet.
Not yet. The man will still get hurt. We can’t call yet.
“Oh, I already did that,” Lily said.
I swung around and shoved her shoulder so hard that she stumbled backward into one of her demi-demon freak friends. “You didn’t.”
Lily looked at me with wide eyes. “Yes, I had to report a burning building. You wouldn’t want the fire to spread?”
Fire. Unbearable heat. A man. A beam. Pain. Fear. Nothingness.
I squeezed my eyes closed and rubbed my temples. “My vision hasn’t changed. There’s going to be an accident. A firefighter.” Before anyone realized what I was about to do, I raised my head, pulled back my fist, and landed a hit across Lily’s jaw. Pain radiated up my arm from the impact. I hoped that meant it was a good hit on her end.
“Do you know what you’ve done?” I screamed. My gaze darted around the group. “Do any of you realize you’ve probably just killed a man? Each and every one of you deserves to burn in Hell with Azazel.”
I could hear the sirens in the distance. They were close. My stomach churned and bile rose in my throat, burning it.
Jake and Steven ran up the drive, shouldering through Lily and Shayla and knocking them out of the way.
“What’s going on? Did someone call the fire department?” Jake looked from me to Chay.
“Yeah, but one of firefighters is going to get hurt.” I bent at the waist and rested my elbows on my thighs, my head in my hands. I was dizzy, so dizzy, the effects of the vision starting to overwhelm me. I tried to keep functioning, to keep talking and telling the others what needed to be done, what was going to happen, but the vision was strong.
Stop it. Burning. Pain. Stop it.
The images and sensations were washing over me like waves in a hurricane. Everything played behind my eyes as though it were a movie…
The firefighter walks to the garage door. He breaks through with an ax. Something catches his eye, and he steps inside. Black smoke fills the garage. Red-and-orange flames roil across the ceiling above his head. The man looks up. He sees the ceiling… he knows. I feel his panic. He turns toward the door, but it’s already too late. The beam collapses. It hits him in the head and knocks him to the floor, landing on top of him. I feel his bones crack when the beam lands on his chest, hear his scream of pain.
“Milayna.” Chay pulled my face to him. “Open your eyes.” His voice was smooth and soft.
I opened my eyes and looked into his blue-green stare. He was blurry. Watery. I didn’t realize I’d been crying until then. “I’m okay. I can’t stop… I can’t stop shaking.” I wiped my eyes with my fingers. As soon as I closed my eyes, the vision started to play…
The heat is suffocating. I can feel it crawling down my throat and into my lungs with every breath the firefighter takes. His mask was knocked off when he fell. His arms are pinned. He can’t reach his breathing apparatus. Every breath he takes is a deadly mixture of smoke, and blistering heat burning away delicate tissue.
Pain! He kicks his feet back and forth. He’s lying in a puddle of fire. His suit isn’t on fire… but the heat… the heat is too much. He starts to feel lightheaded; the room tilts to one side and then the other. He tries to scream, but only manages a croak. He looks at the door and sees another firefighter coming to get him. He has a moment of peace… ’I’m going to be okay.’