Free Misfits, Inc. by Holly Copella

usual.
    He appeared unable to stand still, telling her
something had gotten him worked up beyond his usual issues.
    “I was on the beach with Mel and her friends
cooling off in the hot, tropical sun,” she informed him.
    Skyler appeared baffled by her comment, causing him
briefly to stand still.  The moment was short lived.  His baffled look almost
humored her, causing her to hold back her own laugh.
    “I’ll tell you all about it later.”  She studied
his expression and wondered what had him riled into a state of constant
movement.  “Is something wrong?”
    “I saw a woman killed in my dream,” he informed her
in rushed speech, barely able to contain the news.  “I know I’d seen her at the
hotel.”
    Hailey stared at him as her mind reeled from his
announcement.  She didn’t know why, but she was getting a strange image in her
head, and it troubled her.
    “A short, blonde girl around my age?”
    “How did you know?” he suddenly asked as his eyes
widened with alarm.
    Something seemed strange about his premonition,
which oddly coincided with what she’d seen earlier.  She didn’t like the
thoughts going through her mind.
    “I followed her into the woods this morning,”
Hailey announced as her heart rate increased at the thought that Skyler had a
vision involving Amy.  “She’d been injured.  I tried to talk to her, but she
kept walking and then disappeared.”
    “The woods?” Skyler suddenly gasped louder than
anticipated and nearly jumped out of his skin.  “That’s where I saw the woman
killed in my dream.”
    She shouldn’t have believed him.  Everything
indicated their reasoning was insane, but she couldn’t help feeling something
was terribly wrong.  What if Skyler had foreseen Amy’s death after she’d
wondered off into the woods?  Hailey suddenly felt terrible for not pursuing
the injured woman.  If something unfortunate happened to Amy and she could have
prevented it, she’d never be able to live with that guilt.
    “We have to find her, Skyler,” Hailey suddenly
announced, feeling overwhelming concern.  “I should have gone after her.  I
should have made sure she was okay.”
    “Show me where you last saw her.”
    Hailey hurried across the lobby toward the main
entrance with Skyler on her heels.
    †
    H ailey and Skyler entered the clearing in the woods and looked
around the knee-deep grass covering several acres, which was surrounded by more
woods.  It seemed almost impossible they’d find her beyond the thick grass and
with so many adjoining trails.  Hailey couldn’t help wonder how she disappeared
so quickly.  Where did she go so fast?  The better question almost seemed to
be, why would the injured woman return to the woods rather than seek help? 
She’d seen Hailey, and she was sure she’d heard her calling to her.  Why not
let her help?  Skyler touched a thick blade of the tall grass and stared at
what was possibly dried blood.  He appeared alarmed while looking around and
released the blade of grass.
    “That’s blood,” Skyler gasped with concern.  He
then indicated more blood on some grass a few feet away.  “There’s more this
way.”
    Hailey scanned the area and saw some blood in the
opposite direction.  “It goes this way too,” she announced.
    Skyler gently parted the tall grass with a stick
and followed the blood trail.  Hailey walked in the opposite direction,
following her own trail.
    “She can’t be dead, Skyler,” Hailey insisted as
they drifted further apart.  “She was alive when I saw her, which was after
your dream.”
    “My visions aren’t an exact science,” he announced
without looking back at her.  “In my dreams, dead could just mean injured or
missing.”
    Hailey straightened and looked toward the nearby
woods.  Something darted into the shadows and growled at her.  Hailey gasped
while taking a quick step sideways, stumbled over a rock, and fell to the
ground, landing in the thick grass.  From where she lie,