Chapter 2

I can't begin to focus on even the music during service. Being still, even standing for the music, is impossible with the turmoil happening in my head. Why would Jefferson break out of prison? He has to have more of a motivation than just taking pictures again. I don't even notice myself shifting back and forth at my seat. Thankfully, Avi goes to a church where movement during the music is the norm. I try to last through the service but before the sermon even begins, I walk out of the sanctuary. I start pacing in the hallway between the foyer and the youth room where Avi is. I just can't shake this feeling that I have a target on my back. I didn't even meet Jefferson and even if Nathan mentioned me to him, I'm nothing like his previous…victims. I turn to look at the youth room door. And he certainly doesn't know Avi. So why can't I shake this feeling?

The youth room door opens and Avi steps out. She's making such a beeline for the bathroom that she almost doesn't notice me in the hallway. "Hey," she says, finally looking up and stopping in her tracks. "Why aren't you in service?"

"I can't get my mind to stop racing," I say sheepishly. "I haven't been able to sit still since I read that news article. I can't shake the feeling that something bad is about to happen." I hang my head as Avi puts a hand on my arm. I look up at her as my throat tightens again and tears prick my eyes.

Avi lets out a sigh, "I can't leave now, but I will try and get out of there as soon as service is over and we will go home and talk this through, okay? Just stay in the foyer until service is over and text me if you need anything." I nod as she squeezes my arm before darting into the bathroom. I walk into the foyer, going between pacing, sitting on the couch and bouncing my knees, and then pacing again. In the middle of this church foyer, a place where Avi says she gets her peace from, I feel anything but peace.

After what feels like an eternity, people start trickling out of the sanctuary and youth room. Soon, I feel a tap on my shoulder as Avi says, "Let's go." I follow her as she walks quickly out to the car. She unlocks and slides in, starting the car before I'm even in my seat. She backs out and drives onto the main road without saying a word.

After several minutes of silence, I finally ask, "Are you mad?"

Avi shakes her head, "No, I'm just thinking." I can tell by her voice that she's being sincere. After a few more moments, she lets out a sigh, "I still hold firm to what I said earlier. I do believe that God works everything out for good and even if it goes horribly wrong, He's still got me. But I won't deny the fact that I feel really uneasy too." She gives me a nervous look before turning her eyes back to the road.

"I almost wish you hadn't told me that," I mutter as I feel my stomach roll. There is no way Jefferson has any info on either of us…right? How would he know about Avi? Her power isn't known to anyone outside of our families and Amber's family. And even if he knew, he wouldn't know where to look for either of us…right? I swallow hard to try and keep the nausea at bay.

"How long ago did he escape?" Avi asks. I pull my phone back out.

"A week ago," I say after a moment of searching for the article. "I guess they wanted to make sure they couldn't catch him before releasing anything. Don't spook the people without a reason to."

"A week is a long time," Avi says nervously. "Someone can get pretty far in a week…across the country even." She glances over at me.

"You're right," I say, feeling my heart sink into my stomach. "It took us less than a week to get here from Arcadia Bay. If he had someone driving him, he could already be here."

"Alright, then let's come up with a plan," Avi says a bit more confidently. "We have to let my parents and Pastor Dave and Mrs. Tammy know. They need to be on the lookout too. If Jefferson is targeting us, he could strike at home or church."

"Then I guess I need to keep my gun on me at all times," I add. "And you need to make sure to wear your shifting clothes under anything else you wear."

"And we need to not leave each other sides," Avi adds. "If we're not at home then we're glued to each other's sides. I'll talk to Mrs. Tammy about you hanging in the youth room on Wednesday nights then."

"What about work?" I ask, turning to face Avi. "I can't carry my gun on campus and you can't shift in front of everyone at school. And we can't stay with each other; you have kids to teach and I have a school to clean."

"We work at an elementary school," Avi says. "Since the Stoneman Douglas shooting, every school in Florida has trained and prepared for an intruder on campus. My kids even know what to do. All the doors will be locked, there are security cameras everywhere, we have officers on campus or nearby at all times. Work honestly is the safest place we could be." I look at Avi as she glances back at me with some confidence in her posture.

"Okay," I say with a little more security.

"Just stay behind a locked door and we'll be fine," Avi says. "We've got this." She finally pulls into her driveway and parks the car. We both head inside and head upstairs to change.

"Aren't you glad spring break is next week?" I say as Avi walks back into the bedroom after changing into her pajamas. "Then we don't have to worry about going to bed early and waking up before the crack of dawn."

"Oh, for sure!" Avi says as we both chuckle.

As I go to stand up, suddenly it feels like the room freezes. My mind's eye flashes back to the girls' bathroom at Blackwell. And I am overcome by the same fear that I felt over five years ago.

I back up against the wall with my hands up. "Where'd you get that? What are you doing? Come on, put that thing down!" I say with my voice shaking.

Nathan puts his hand on the wall and slaps it, leveling the gun with my stomach. "Don't ever tell me what to do! I'm so sick of people trying to control me!" he growls.

"You are going to get in hella more trouble for this than drugs," I say shakily, my eyes darting between him and the gun almost touching my stomach now. I can feel the color draining from my face.

"Nobody would ever even miss your punk ass, would they?" Nathan growls. I feel my heart drop. He's going to kill me, I think, my heart racing even faster.

"Get that gun away from me psycho!" I yell as I shove Nathan away. The sound of the gun echoes in my ears as I feel pain explode in my chest. I vaguely hear someone yell "NO!" as I crumple to the ground, almost in slow motion. Everything begins to fade around me and by the time I hit the ground, the world has turned black.

I gasp as I crumple to the ground, arms immediately scooping me up and holding me tight. I clutch them as I feel myself hyperventilate, "H-he shot me…it was so real…it was so real!"

"I saw it too," Avi says, her voice clearly strained, and it's the first time I register that she's trembling too. "I was behind the stall watching…I saw him shoot you…I watched you die." She squeezes me tighter as I continue to sob, not noticing the tears dripping onto the top of my head.

After several minutes, it finally clicks what Avi said. I sit up and look at her, "Wait, how did you see it? You saw me get shot?"

Avi nods, "It was in a bathroom. Nathan had you up against a wall with a gun and you two were yelling at each other before you shoved him and the gun went off. I was watching behind a stall…it was awful."

"That was the bathroom Max died in," I say softly. "Every happened exactly like it did in that vision except Max jumped out and saved me. You must have been where Max was. It's like you saw it through her eyes."

"But why did you die?" Avi asks. "The most I saw myself do was jump out and shout 'NO!' as I watched you fall in slow motion. Or it seemed like slow motion at least."

I shake my head, "It felt so real too. It felt like it was a memory. I felt the pain, I felt myself fall to the ground, I felt myself fade away. And why did you see it? You weren't even there! What does this mean?!" I feel myself start to hyperventilate again as Avi pulls me close.

"We will figure this out," Avi says as she scoops me up and sets me on the bed. She slides us into a laying position as I still clutch her tight. "Whatever this is, we will get to the bottom of it." I let out a sigh, laying my head on Avi's chest, still trying to wrap my brain around what we just experienced. But soon, the consistent thump of her heartbeat against my ear lulls me into the realm of sleep.

If there is a reason I'm still alive

When I'm the one who should have died

Then I'm willing to wait for it