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The girl went back to sweeping, and David went back to eating and trying to keep visions at bay

Once, he’d needed help to see the future Needed guidance and the s clearly Now he couldn’t seele to keep himself rooted in the present And the worst part of it was, he had no idea what the visions even s on fire, blood on the front of a yellow dress—but so fro of men on horseback, plus the one of men in robes in caves, the smell of incense heavy in the air

There were ti visions at all, but si insane Given how violent and awful his visions had gotten, soht be the better option

“Um, we’re about to close?”

Glancing up, David saw the cashier standing near the counter, her fingers wrapped around the broo in her eyes, and she was shifting her weight fro against the linoleu David had learned in the past two months People were scared of hilasses: People could sense that there was so way past normal

“Right,” he said, gathering up the re his fries in the paper that had wrapped around his burger Sliding out of the booth, he grabbed his tray and walked over to the trash can, pretending not to notice the way the girl moved closer to the counter

It had been stupid to come here Not only had he wasted money he really didn’t have on food he barely ate, but now he’d freaked the girl out, and he hated that David wished he could say it was because he didn’t like scaring people, but the truth was, he didn’t like being reminded of what he was The more time he spent alone, the weirder he felt when he had to join the public

It felt worse now than it had before Back in Pine Grove, heeyes and the occasional vision, but he’d had friends, too

He’d had Harper

Then there was the other part The other truth The reason he was spending so much time alone these days, no matter how many times he told himself that he couldn’t be sure what had happened those other nightsto those other girls

Hands shaking, he tipped the re out what he would do when he got back to the , see if there was any extra change around the vending et the heck out of—

Then the pain caht actually die from it, like you couldn’t hurt this much and not die

Blood on a yellow dress, the taste of salt on his lips More blood? Tears?

As if fro the ground and gritted his teeth against the sudden fire inside his brain Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the girl h he’d scared her, she was still co her fear

People were better than you’d think they’d be Another lesson from the road, and one that broke his heart now

She was just at his elbohen the golden light shot out of his fingertips, sending her reeling back, her broolass doors, her lips parting with both the shock of her fall and the jolt of power David had just sent her way

“I’m sorry,” he said, and his voice was his and not his at the same time “I didn’t mean to”