9 – This Gift, This Curse

 

 

"Will. Will?"

 

Will felt someone grab his arm and shake him. He turned to see Mick beside him, and could tell from the look on his face he wondered what was going on.

 

"We have to find that boy!" Will said, as he hurried across the roof to the fire escape.

 

Mick grabbed their packs and followed. "Why? What's going on with you? Damn it, slow down." The last was said as he scrambled down the iron steps after Will.

 

All he got in reply was Will repeating, "We have to find him. Before it snows."

 

Racing down the alley to the sidewalk, Will veered left toward the street with the movie theater. When he got there, the young man and his companion were nowhere in sight.

 

"Where the hell did he go?"

 

"Like I said, maybe the coffee shop?" Mick replied as he handed Will his pack.

 

They walked rapidly down the sidewalk, crossing the street when they were opposite the shop. Will peered through the steamed-up window, searching for the young man and his companion.

 

"They aren't in there," Will said in desperation, spinning around to search the street.

 

"Who is he, that he's so important?" Mick asked.

 

"I don't know. I just know…" Will rubbed his forehead and realized he was sweating, despite the cold weather.

 

"Will," Mick said quietly, gripping his arm, "what's going on with you?"

 

"I saw something. He's going to be badly beaten and—and maybe he'll die. I didn't see the end."

 

Mick stared at him in shock. "Hold on a minute! What do mean you saw that? Are you clairvoyant or something?"

 

Rather than reply then and there, while there were people within earshot, Will walked a few feet to the entrance of an alley. Mick followed, stopping when Will did, a few yards inside the alley.

 

"Okay, talk to me," Mick said.

 

Will nodded. "I have precognitive abilities. It happens rarely, but when it does, it always involves someone who's going to be harmed in some way."

 

"Like you can see their future?"

 

"Yes."

 

"But…" Mick frowned. "If you see it, you can change it?"

 

Will nodded. "Sometimes. Remember the schoolyard? When I told you I thought I knew the woman? I didn't. I saw a man kidnapping her child. Well, more I saw that it was going to happen, which is why I went over there. I was in time. The man must have seen me coming because he disappeared just as I got there and she picked up her kid and left."