Crystal almost fell back, her arms flailing for something to grab on to. She regained her balance, then said hurriedly, “I’ll get you some water. Would you like some water? I’ll get you some water.” She jumped up to grab a cup just as reality crashed through the surface.

“Someone’s trying to kill me!” I said, staring straight ahead in astonishment. “And the world is going to end.”

She paused, bit her bottom lip in thought, gestured toward the cup. “So, no water?”

I swung my legs over the side of the cot and she hustled forward to help me stand. After swaying a little, however, I sat back down, the effects of the visions still weighing heavily.

“Should I get the nurse?” she asked.

I closed my eyes. Inhaled. Fought to regain my balance. This had happened before. The worst was when I saw a classmate die of thirst in the desert. Death by dehydration was not a good way to go, and I was thankful when Crystal drew me a cup of water anyway.

She put it in my shaking hands before sitting beside me on the cot. “Did you say someone is trying to kill you?”

Apparently parched, I emptied the cup in three gulps, then handed it back to her. She rose to refill it, then took up position beside me again. I was short for my height and Crystal was actually a tad taller than me, yet I couldn’t help but think of her as small, childlike. It was her innocence. Her inquisitive disposition. So when her brows cinched together, her expression grave, and she said, “You know you can tell me anything, right?” I was surprised at how mature she sounded. How concerned.

I nodded and decided to let her into my warped little world. Even though I probably shouldn’t have, I took out the note and showed it to her. I simply didn’t know what else to do. Who else to talk to.

“Do you recognize this artist?” I asked.

She studied it, turning her head this way and that, then said, “My nephew draws like this, but he’s not usually so morbid. Is that supposed to be you?” She pointed to the stick figure on the ground covered in blood.

“That’s my take on it, yes.”

She turned her head again, furrowed her brows in concentration. I wanted to hug her, she was so adorable, but that would mean touching her. That would mean getting a vision. I didn’t want to see her death. I didn’t want to see the deaths of her friends or family members, the devastation and fear in her eyes, so I stayed insulated with several inches between us.

“What is he doing?” she asked, indicating the dark matter leaving my mouth and entering my attacker’s. “Why is he throwing up on you?”

Surprised, I regarded the picture again and realized that is exactly how it would look to someone who didn’t know what was inside me. Who didn’t know how it entered my body or the fact that it would probably exit the same way.

“I have no idea,” I said.

“That’s just disgusting. We have to take this to the headmaster.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll figure it out.”

“Lorraine, this is a death threat.” She shook the note at me. “They don’t take these things lightly. He has a knife.” Her voice rose an octave as she spoke.

I took the note back and tucked it into my pocket. “I know, but it’s okay. Someone is just trying to scare me.” It was too much to hope that she would know who did it, but it’d been worth the shot.

“Scare you? Well, then, it’s working,” she said. “On me anyway.”

I pulled out my cell and dialed the phone my grandparents got that was reserved just for me. For my calls.

Crystal ignored the communication device at my ear. “Maybe you’re not scared, but trust me when I say fear has entered the building.”

“You have reached a private number. Please leave a message.” I soaked in the soothing sound of my grandmother’s voice and waited for the beep.

“I’m scared.”

Beep.

“Grandma, Granddad—,” I began, but Crystal interrupted me.

“I mean, who wouldn’t be scared?”

I shook my head and continued. “—something happened. Something changed.”

“You act like this is nothing,” she ranted.

“Call me back,” I said into my phone. “Please.”

“Like you get death threats every day.”

I cupped my hand over the mic and whispered into the phone, “I need help.”

Oblivious, Crystal stood and waved her arms about wildly. “We need to get the authorities involved.”

With disappointment consuming me, I hung up. I really wanted to talk to them. To hear their reassurances that everything would be okay.

“We need to call the cops. Our state senators.” She pointed her index finger toward the heavens. “The White House!”

But mostly, I wanted to go home.

Crystal frowned. “These kinds of things should not be allowed to happen in our schools.”

I shouldn’t have left my family and friends. I should never have run.

“We are the future.”

Apparently, if I die, everyone dies. Cleary my destiny was not something I could outrun. If I could survive the next few days, maybe it wasn’t too late. Maybe I could still do what I was supposed to be doing, whatever that entailed, to try to stop the coming war.

“What time is it?” I asked her for no reason whatsoever as I checked my phone.

“Our safety should be guaranteed,” she replied.