He froze.
... a dark vapor lifted from the cup and spread out between the two of them. It was shot with tinges of red and green which pulsated slowly. Within the vapor, he saw a road and he seemed to be racing down it, the weary miles flashing by, strobe-like. He saw a fork in the road and knew he had to choose one direction swiftly, or he would have a choice forced upon him. One fork led into a maelstrom of dark gray clouds and the other led to a long straight road that ascended a small hill and disappeared over the crest.
He was nearly at the fork ...
Kevin abruptly got up, grabbed his wallet and dumped a twenty on the table and grabbed Pam’s arm. Under his breath he simply mouthed the work ‘move’ and propelled her from her seat.
Pam’s reflexes eclipsed Kevin’s and she was already starting to stand up as Kevin took her arm. As she stood, she scanned the restaurant quickly, spotted nothing overt and then led the way out the door at a fast walk. Her movements were swift, assured and hinted she could handle anything that might pop up. Would handle it, with speed and precision.
Kevin’s premonitions were no joke and Pam would follow his lead implicitly, all the while watching out for worldly threats. Those she could handle. She left the magic to Kevin — that was his province.
Once on the street, she took one look at Kevin and hailed a cab, ushering him into it without a word. Only when he fully relaxed — several blocks away — did she take the time to fix him with a grim, expectant look.
“I don’t know. Something was coming; something was after us. I don’t know what but it was powerful. I’m surprised we got away at all.”
Pam snorted and then replied, “But it’s over, now? Right?” Kevin nodded. “And you don’t see any immediate threat?” Kevin licked his lips as he shook his head. With that, Pam sat back in the seat and relaxed minutely. After a moment, she said, “Well, that kills that idea. Let’s just head home.” When Kevin didn’t reply, but sat, now lost in thought, Pam shrugged and gave the cabbie directions to their own car.
By the time they’d arrived and paid off the cab, he had managed to put a few things together.
That inviting hill that he’d chosen might not have been the right choice, after all. Kevin had topped the hill and stood on the crest and seen the valley below and it was only because he was a disciplined pragmatist that kept him from allowing Pam to see his fear and dismay.
Pam was going to die. Soon . Within six weeks, he thought.
He saw her death. He saw her fall as bullets from three or four gunmen riddled both of them with round after round of high velocity 9mm bullets.
That’s one future, he thought. Just one. It might even be the most probable one. But I can still change it. I will change it. There’s no way I’m going to let Pam just die. I can’t.
I won’t.
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