Milayna by Michelle Pickett Page B

through my teeth, making a hissing sound.
    Muriel put a hand on my arm. “What’s up?”
    “I don’t know yet,” I answered, distracted. For once, I was trying to focus on the vision rather than fight it.
    Running. Splashing water. Chlorine.
    “Someone is going to run through water and slip, I think. I see them running. I see the blood in the water and taste chlorine.”
    Kids! Kids. I can’t fail this time. I can’t fail again.
    I pressed my fists to my eyes, sucked in a deep breath, and tried to empty my head of anything but the vision. This was my duty as a demi-angel—to protect humans. I was created for this.
    Blowing out a breath, I swung toward Muriel and grabbed her arms. “Is the youth organization using the pool today?”
    “It’s Thursday. I guess so.”
    I tightened my grasp on her arms and shook her. “You’ve got to listen to me. One of the kids is going to get hurt.” My head started to pound, and then the room grayed out around me, replaced by a clearer picture of the vision.
    “Okay, okay. Just tell me what you see.” Muriel tried to keep her voice calm, but I could sense the tremor and feel how tense she was. “Dark curls bounce in front of me. I can only see her back. She’s wearing a red and white polka-dot bathing suit.”
    Please, please, find her.
    “Here they come, Milayna!” She grabbed my hand and squeezed. “It’s fine. It’ll be fine. Just keep telling me what you see,” Muriel said all in one breath. Her fingers gripped mine tighter, and I started to lose feeling in my fingertips.
    “They’re singing. There are at least two of them. Maybe three. Red and white bathing suit!”
    “I don’t see her.”
    “Hurry.” I gasped for air. The clenching in my stomach rose up my throat, squeezing the oxygen from my lungs and closing off my throat. I couldn’t get a breath. I tasted chlorine; it burned my nose. “She’s gonna drown.”
    “How do you know?” I could hear the panic in Muriel’s voice.
    I felt dizzy. The pounding in my head was unbearable, and the room started to tilt to the side. My body felt light, like I was floating in the pool. I could hear the water whooshing in my ears.
    “I feel it.”
    “Oh, damn.”
    “Hurry,” I whispered.
    Can I die from a vision? It feels like I’m drowning with the girl. Will I die if I can’t save her?
    “I see her! There she is, Milayna.” I felt Muriel leave my side.
    Moments later, the feeling started to fade. The chlorine burning my nose and throat disappeared, and my lungs filled with air. The pounding in my head lessened. It subsided gradually, but after what seemed like minutes, the vision faded away completely.
    Muriel rejoined me, and I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. What’d ya say to them?”
    “I told them if I caught them running, I was going to tell their counselor, and they wouldn’t be able to swim for the rest of the year.”
    “What’d they say?”
    “ Yes, ma’am . Which, by the way, I take great offense to. I am not a ma’am !”
    A giggled bubbled from my lips. With the vision over, I almost felt normal again. I always felt drained after one. My energy was zapped, tapped out. But otherwise, I felt fine.
    Muriel and I hurried and dressed to go home. Walking out of the pool room, I stopped short. Chay stood outside the girls’ locker room door. One shoulder leaned against the wall, and a thumb hooked through a belt loop on jeans that rode low enough to make every girl pant.
    “Uh, hi,” I said.
    He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and slowly, and I mean slow-ly , looked me up and down. “You look fine,” he said matter-of-factly.
    I narrowed my eyes at him. “Thanks, I think.”
    “I got the feeling something was wrong. I’m just checking on you two.”
    I fiddled with the strap of my messenger bag and tried not to stare. “Oh, well, thanks, but everything is fine here.”
    Now go away. You make me feel weird. I don’t know why, but I don’t like it. Or maybe I do?