Forgotten by Kailin Gow Page B

bodyguard doesn’t look happy about it. I guess that he’s worried I’ll try to attack his boss without him there, but what does he think I’m going to be able to do with my hands in heat resistant cuffs and no way out of the room. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to people being that scared of me. Not the Others. Not Lionel’s group of Faders. Anybody. Still, the bodyguard nods eventually. He heads for the door with his colleague and they step outside, presumably to look menacingly at anyone who approaches.
                Senator Hammond holds out his hand for his son, and Johnny steps over, taking it.
                “Can I play now, Dad?”
                “Not yet. I need to tell Celestra and Grayson here about what you can do.”
                Last time we were here, the senator told us that his son had some kind of talent, but he didn’t give us any details. Now, with everything he has said, I can put the rest of it together.
                “Johnny?” I say. “Johnny, how is it that you know all about me?”
                “I saw you,” Johnny says. “I dreamed of you. I dreamed of you, and Grayson, and Jack. I dream lots of things.”
                I crouch down so that I can look him in the eyes.
                “You’re still tied up,” Johnny says.
                I nod. “I guess your dad still thinks that I’m dangerous. What kinds of things do you dream about, Johnny?”
                “He has a gift,” Senator Hammond explains, not letting his son answer. “Or maybe a curse. He sees things. Most of them come in dreams. At first, I didn’t think they were anything important, but then I read some of the intelligence reports about the Others and the Faders, and… well, there were too many similarities to ignore.”
                “I saw stuff,” Johnny insists.
                “I know that now, Johnny,” his father says, and he looks sad as he says it. Whatever Johnny has seen, it obviously isn’t good.
                “So you’re saying… what?” Grayson says. “That Johnny’s clairvoyant?”
                Senator Hammond shakes his head. “It’s more complicated than that. Clairvoyance would mean seeing things in other places, but Johnny does far more than that. We think… we know , that he sees other times .”
                “He can see the future?” I say.
                Senator Hammond nods, and at the same time, Johnny winces. He obviously doesn’t like being able to see it. That or he just doesn’t like what he sees.
                “He has nightmares,” Senator Hammond says. “He’ll wake up screaming, sometimes. Or his head will start hurting, and he’ll panic, and he’ll start reacting as though things are going on around him. Bad things. Terrible things.”
                I look at Johnny again. The little boy looks scared, as though he knows what I’m going to ask next. Maybe he does. “What do you see, Johnny?”
                “I see you, and I see Grayson. Jack too.”
                “Yes,” I say gently. “You told me that. Is this like a month from now? A year?”
                “You’re kind of older,” Johnny says. “Not like my dad’s age, but still older.”
                “So it’s a few years?” I ask.
                The senator interrupts. “That’s where it gets complicated. We think from other aspects of the visions that what Johnny sees isn’t anytime soon. It’s the far future, by which I mean thousands of years.”
                “But I’m not going to be around in thousands of years,” I point out.
                “You are,” Johnny says. “I’ve seen you.”
                Senator Hammond nods. “And I’ve been able to confirm some of his other… experiences. What