From Bad to Wurst
dash” fashion, bumping into each other as they tried to cut each other off. “Watch where you’re going!” I cautioned as they raced past me, monitoring the readout screens on their phones as they fled.
    â€œHow are you doing, Emily? Are you all right?” Zola Czarnecki paused in front of me, her freckled face creased with concern. “When I heard the explosion I feared the worst, so I can’t begin to tell you how thankful I am that there weren’t more casualties.”
    I grasped her hand and stared her straight in the eye, torn between disbelief and awe. “You knew.” My voice caught in my throat like a fish bone. “You knew what was going to happen.”
    â€œNot exactly. I got spooked by a bad vibe that turned out to be more than just a vibe.”
    â€œBut…how could you have sensed what was about to happen on that street? How is that possible?”
    She shrugged. “It’s a clairvoyant thing. I don’t expect civilians to understand the process, but what it boils down to is, I’m not wired the same as everyone else.”
    Guilt gnawed at my conscience, leaving a sour taste in my mouth. “I should have gotten the word out—warned the other guests. If I’d told them about your misgivings, maybe—”
    Zola held up her other hand, cutting me off. “You think they would have believed me? Shoot, you didn’t believe me. You thought I was a pain in the butt and a little nuts, and don’t tell me otherwise because I could see it in your eyes. You started thinking the ole clairvoyant might prove herself to be not only annoying but a real financial drain on your whole operation. I dare you to tell me I’m wrong.”
    Wow. If she could see all that in my eyes, I needed to think about blinking more. “I—uh, I guess the financial implications did enter my mind…a little.”
    â€œWhich is why when I get my twinges, I try not to shove them down anyone else’s throat. But I’m not about to charge straight into the jaws of danger if my ears start humming and every hair on my body is standing on end.”
    â€œIs that what happens when you get one of your twinges?”
    â€œNah. That’s the Hollywood version, but it’s as good as any. I’ve never been able to explain what happens exactly because I’m being bombarded by too many sensations when it hits me, but my ma used to say it was like getting zapped by a bolt of lightning, only on a smaller scale.”
    â€œSounds a little scary.”
    â€œI don’t recommend it to the general public. People think it would be so cool to be clairvoyant, but I’ll let you in on a secret: it’s highly overrated. Way too much grief involved.”
    Her words spurred two images. Zola standing in the plaza, head bowed, eyes closed, focusing all her energy on Astrid Peterson’s hand, and Zola releasing Astrid’s hand, looking completely unnerved. “You knew Astrid was going to die, didn’t you? You saw it when you did your hand-holding thing.”
    â€œThat’s not true. I had no idea she only had minutes to live.”
    â€œThen what caused you to look so alarmed after you released her hand, remember? Your expression frightened her so much, she asked if you’d seen something horrible in her future, and you said no.”
    â€œI told her the truth.”
    â€œThen why did you look so rattled? If you didn’t see her imminent death, what did you see?”
    â€œ That’s what frightened me. I can always predict something—something fun and harmless: a birthday party, a wedding, a vacation. It’s never unclear.” Her eyes grew haunted. She elevated her hands and stared at her palms. “But when I tried with Astrid, I felt as if my whole system had broken down. It was the first time anything like that had ever happened to me. It scared the bejeebers out of me. It was like looking into a

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