And then the flames reach the gas cans.
The blast blows the man at the door backward. It rains fire down on the man under the beam. Pain. He screams and thrashes under the flames eating his flesh like worms boring into his skin. Pain. His hair is scorched and burned away, and the flames begin their assault on the flesh below. Pain. It crawls over him like it’s a living thing enjoying the torture it’s exacting. The man is still screaming, but his voice has long since quieted. Pain. His lips are gone. His face is bubbling and turning black as the fire continues its feast. Pain. His skin begins to flake and float away like ash. Pain. Pain. Pain. Then nothing. The man is quiet. He’s gone.
The vision ended. I sucked in a deep breath and opened my eyes. “We need to stop him from going into the garage.” I grabbed Chay’s arm. My hands trembled, and my eyes were full of tears. “He’s going to die if we don’t stop him.” Bits and pieces of the vision began replaying in my mind.
Burning flesh. Explosion. Gas cans.
“Which one?” When I didn’t answer, Chay shook me. I closed my eyes so I could concentrate. “Which one, Milayna?”
I opened my eyes and looked around, trying to find the man. “I don’t know. I… in the vision… his face… it’s burned… I can’t tell! I can’t tell! What if I can’t find him in time? What if—?”
“Listen! Focus on his face. Concentrate. What does he look like before the flames reach his face?”
“Him!” I pointed at a man with an ax.
Chay took off. He ran smack into the man who was walking, ax in hand, toward the blazing garage.
“Sir, that group of kids over there started this. We saw them in the yard just before the fire.”
“Son, tell it to the police. Move out of my way.”
“But, by the time the police get here, they’ll have taken off. Can’t you do some kind of arrest?”
“No. I’m only going to ask you one more time to move.”
“But—”
The fireman pushed Chay out of the way and walked toward the garage. He was just a foot away when the roof collapsed. The fire hit the gas cans, and an explosion knocked him backward.
“It’s gone,” I whispered, pressing the palms of my hands over my eyes to block out the memory of seeing the man burn alive, his skin bubbling and turning black, hearing his screams pleading for help. The feel of life draining from his body.
The group of demi-demons took off before the police arrived. We were interviewed and, of course, lied to the police. Somehow, we didn’t think they’d buy a story of fat, roly-poly demons with burning fingers throwing fireballs at the garage. So we told them a group of kids started the fire. No, we didn’t know why and no, we didn’t know who they were.
“I better call my dad,” I said after I talked to the police. Thankfully, the garage wasn’t attached to the house, so it wasn’t damaged. Dazed, I walked inside. I didn’t make it to the phone. I slid down the wall to the floor and started crying. The vision was horrible. The worst I’d had. I could almost feel what the man felt, the pain from the flames licking at his flesh and the smoke choking the air from his lungs.
Chay walked in and sat next to me. I turned to him.
“A bad one, huh?” I nodded. “They’re getting worse.” He put my hair behind my ear. “It’s okay to be upset, Milayna. I haven’t had visions like yours, but judging by the few I’ve had, I can imagine they’re terrible.”
I looked at him, tears flooding my eyes. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me against him. Burying my face in his neck, I cried. He held me silently. Muriel came in and called my parents. Chay sat on the hard tile floor in my kitchen holding me until my dad got home. He ran his fingers up and down my back; occasionally, he’d smooth my hair back from my face, placing it gently behind my ear. He didn’t talk. There was nothing to say.
When my dad pulled up, Chay kissed me softly on the forehead and eased himself up. He went outside, told my dad what happened, and then went home.
My dad helped me up from the floor. “You want to talk about it?” His voice was soft and his eyes full of concern and love.
I shook my head. “No. Not now.”
“Okay. When you do, I’m here to listen.” He put his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.
“Thanks, Dad. I’m so tired. I think I want to lie down for a while.”
“Okay. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll be right outside, dealing with this mess.”
I climbed the stairs, each one an effort. I was always tired and weak after a vision, but after that one especially. Maybe because it was such an emotional one. Maybe because the images were so vivid… so grotesque. I wasn’t sure. All I wanted was to fall into bed, pull my soft comforter over me, and block out the world.
Just a few hours. That was all I needed.
Then I’d be ready to fight back.
Three weeks until my birthday.