Chapter 7

"Oh, why can't it just be Catastrophe Day?" remarked Kay sadly as we left school. It was windy and it looked like there was a thunderstorm brewing. Fallen leaves blew around my feet and my hair seemed to suddenly have a life of it's own. I looked at the sky and saw black clouds approaching fast. Not a good sign. On a normal day I would have a bad feeling in my gut, but now I knew that something bad was going to happen. Right now, the sky reflected my exact feelings. As if I could control the weather according to how I felt. Which would probably a better "power" than having premonitions.

Kay and I crossed the road from school to the park and sat dejectedly on the swings. The leaves seemed to follow us across the street, circling around me as I sat slumped on the swing.

"Cheer up Kay, we only have two-" I stopped. My surroundings disappeared before my eyes, giving way to another, unthinkable scene. I froze where I was standing. This was the very last premonition I expected to have. The park dissolved before my eyes, and a dark, eerily familiar room appeared before me.

I looked around. The window to my left had a cracked pane, and moonlight filtered through what was left of the filmy curtain. I glanced out the window. It was a full moon. I scanned the room. What was about it that looked so familiar? A flash of white to my right caught my eye. I turned swiftly, and saw a girl climbing on to a stool, her back to me. She was wearing a long, flowy dress that blew around her even though there was no wind in the room. Her hair was long, silky and extremely black. It flowed in dark waves down her back. I looked above her head and spied a rope hanging from the ceiling. She reached up and knotted the rope into a loop.

Suddenly, it dawned on me what was about to happen.

"NO!" I yelled as the girl slipped the loop around her neck. She turned, apprehension etched on her face. I inhaled a sharp intake of breath as our eyes met.

It was Kay.

An older Kay, her face beautiful, hauntingly beautiful. Her eyes widened as her pupils searched my face. Her mouth moved, forming words I couldn't hear. She stretched out a hand towards me, paused and then drew it back. Confusion was written all over her face. Suddenly, she lunged towards me, and in her haste and confusion, she kicked the stool out from under her feet.

I screamed.

Kay struggled, suspended in the air, her hands scrabbling at the rope around her neck that was becoming tighter by the second. I tried running to her, but I found that I couldn't move. Move, feet, MOVE! Come on! MOVE! My brain screamed silently at my feet. They didn't move. Tears spurted out of my eyes. "Kay!" I screamed, but I knew it was useless. Kay's hands dropped to her sides. Her head was bent, and her long hair covered her face. I knew that she was dead. But I had to know why.

I moved forward slowly, tears still streaming down my face. My feet found the will to move again, but it was all too late. I gingerly climbed on to the stool and came face to face with Kay's bent head. Slowly, I lifted her hair. What I saw will haunt me for as long as I live.

Scrawled on Kay's forehead, stil dripping scarlet, were the words "You're Next."

I screamed and promptly fell off the stool, but I didn't hit the floor. I kept on falling, falling through blackness, falling through hell, desperate to get away from the nightmare that had become my life. I was still screaming when I opened my eyes and saw Kay staring at me through worried eyes.

"Vicky, what was it? What happened? Who did you see?" she exclaimed frantically, almost hysterically. Her face was white, but I'd never been so happy to see her. But that feeling soon gave way to fear.

I stared up into her face disbelievingly. "Kay...." I whispered. "I.... I saw.... you."