Mum heard of the music thing. I blame Yves, but she didn't give anyone away. As punishment, I was on shopping duty at the weekend – it was my job to go and get the shopping for the family. I fulfilled my duty loyally and with minimum grumbling.
"There," I threw the last bag on the kitchen counter "all done."
"Wait!" Mum called freezing me in my tracks "You forgot the milk, Zed! You'll have to go back and get some more. Hurry!" With much cursing (which never got me anywhere but in more trouble with my Mum) I jumped on my bike and zoomed off, riding way too fast round the corners just to piss her off. I would pay for it later, but for then revenge was sweet.
I was striding through the shelves when I heard it – the voice that puts fear in the heart of any man in a hurry. Mrs Hoffman.
". . .these pesky shelves so tall?" she was moaning "I've a mind to call the manager."
"No, no," a delicate voice rushed "I can get it." I walked to the end of the aisle just in time to see Sky peering at me with an annoyed expression, then looking back up at the shelf again. It was too high for both the old lady and the young girl, but I would be able to reach it. I was just about to dive for cover when Mrs Hoffman saw me too. Too late now.
"Well, look there, it's that Benedict boy – Xav – no, Zed. Foolish names if you ask me." She made no attempt to keep her voice down, the rude old lady. Good thing no one did ask you then, I thought sourly.
"Shall we call him over?" she continued hopefully. Oh, God, please, no, I begged silently.
"It's OK, I can get it." Sky said, climbing the shelf clumsily. This is going to end in tears, I thought amusedly, watching to see what will happen. Her hand reached for the elusive jar, almost there. She grabbed it just as her foot slipped and she fell backwards onto the floor. Time seemed to slow down and as my eyes stared at the shattering glass, red sauce splattering over the white lino floor, my mind's eye was crowded with a vision:
A knife.
It was covered in blood, practically dripping with the stuff, hurtling downwards.
Sky's horrified face as she screamed, eyes wide and glistening with fear.
Blood, everywhere, blood on everything.
I gasped as I was brought back to the present, not half a second after the accident.
"Bummer!" Sky was moaning.
"Sky Bright, I won't stand for such unladylike language!" chastised Mrs Hoffman. The assistant, Leanne, arrived, pulling her little cleaning cart along behind her.
"I'm not paying for that, Leanne." Said Mrs Hoffman immediately, pointing at the shattered jar and sauce that suddenly looked too much like blood for my comfort. Sky struggled to her feet, her hand twitching towards where she fell on her ass. It must have hurt.
But not as much as getting stabbed will, a dark voice sing-songed in my mind and I shook it away.
"It was my fault," Sky said, her hand scratching in her pocket for money and bringing out a five dollar bill.
"Put your money away, honey," Leanne said "It was an accident. We all saw that." Not wanting her to smash another jar, I quickly walked towards them and picked another jar from the shelf, putting it in Mrs Hoffman's basket wordlessly. Mrs Hoffman beamed at me.
"Thank you, Zed. It is Zed, isn't it?" she said gratefully, forgetting that a moment ago she had been criticising my name for being foolish. I nodded, looking at sky unhappily. I didn't want to be responsible for her safety, but now that I'd seen the vision, it was my duty, my job to keep her safe. And I hated it.
"How are your parents, Zed dear?" Mrs Hoffman continued and I groaned internally. I wouldn't be getting home any time soon, not unless Sky was merciful enough to save me, and I didn't think anyone was that kind. Now when Mrs Hoffman was involved.
"They're OK," I replied, hoping short answers would put her off "Ma'am." I added politely.
"And your older brothers, what are they doing these days?" she continued happily. Sky slipped away with a small 'bye'.
"Traitor," I hissed after her, but I couldn't be sure if she heard or not.
"Zed, dear? I asked how your brothers were?" repeated Mrs Hoffman, looking concerned that someone wasn't giving her their 100% undivided attention.
"They're doing fine," I growled back, unwilling to let my will-be-victim out of my sight and alone when the world was so dangerous – my vision proved that at least "I've gotta go – sorry." And I shot off and out the store. She hadn't gotten too far, so I followed her all the way home to make sure she was safe. She shot be weird looks but I didn't stop until she was behind a locked door and out of sight.
The next day's news was all about the shooting in Denver. No that I needed the news to know exactly what happened – in fact, I was very probably better informed about the case than most of the policemen on it. We didn't go to school that day, ironically the one day I was eager to go in to see if Sky was still alive. I had to learn to relax about her, but I couldn't. It was like this with every vision I got – everything bad I saw, I was obsessed with stopping. If I let it happen, I had failed. And I couldn't fail Sky, not when I had failed so many others.
Not Sky.
In case you haven't guessed, the title refers to Zed rescuing Sky from Mrs Hoffman! I wasn't sure when Zed got his vision about Sky's stabbing, so i put it in here as it seemed to fit well.