The Licensed Mage

26 Sam Wilkson

        “Sam? He’s over there.”

        Claire and Raven looked up to the young boy the bookish girl they were asking pointed to. They thanked the young girl and quickly made their way to the slinky looking young man with stooped shoulders and bowed head. The morning assembly went off without a hitch and the entire student body was paying as much attention as teenagers could afford to give to anything else outside their lives. When Ashley Campell took the stand and gave a eulogy in memory of Emily Brown every head was turned and gave her their undivided attention. There was not a single dry eye in the gym.

        The school was state-of-the-art despite being a New York City public school. Claire was impressed when they walked in and continued to stay impressed as they walked around after the assembly, asking around until they found Sam Wilkson at his locker. The hallway was crowded and noisy as kids tried to open their lockers, grab their books, put books back, talk with friends, and text all before the late bell rung for their next class. Claire looked Sam up and down as they came closer and noticed the dark shadows under his eyes and the apparent tiredness of the young boy. She elbowed Raven behind her, mentioning her head to the boy and after a moment of looking Sam up and down he caught on to her meaning.

        Raven stepped up to him, “Sam Wilkson?”

        A head of badly needing a comb brown hair shot up. Pale fingers slightly shook as he adjusted his glass looking Raven up and down wearily, “Yes?”

        Hiding his badge from the hallway crowd Raven flashed it to Sam, “I’m Detective Black. This is my partner Detective Dunsworth. Can we have a minute?”

        Sam’s hand shook even more as he looked back and forth between Raven and Claire. He nervously licked his lips as he slammed his locker shut, “I-I’m sorry. I can’t be late.”

        He turned and started walking off. The crowd thinned as the late bell was about to ring and Claire put her hand on Raven’s arm, stopping him from pursuing the boy as she stopped him with her words.

        “They’re horrible aren’t they? The dreams.”

        Sam stopped, his shoulders hunched as he brought his backpack strap up closer, “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

        “It’s the blood, isn’t it? The smell. It stays with you, even when you’re awake.”

        Raven stared at Claire questioning as Sam slowly turned around with horror and unshed tears in his eyes. Claire ran to him as the late bell rung and threw her arms around his shoulders. She was shocked to feel his bones poking through his cold skin and rubbed her hands up and down trying to warm him up. She and Raven quietly lead him to an empty class room and luckily it was a science lab and Claire was able to quickly brew some soothing tea in a beaker as the boy sobbed.

        The boy calmed down as Claire brought the steaming tea to him, “Here, drink this. It’ll help calm you down and give you some energy.”

        His fingers shook as he took the beaker and looked up at Claire, “You’re a witch, aren’t you?”

        A playful smile twitched her lips as she pointed a finger, “We like to be called mages.”

        He made a poor attempt at a smile that only came off as crocked as he sipped the tea. They waited till he finished when Claire asked the first question, “When did you first have the dream?”

        Sam swallowed hard at the rock in his throat, “About a year ago. They weren’t bad at first but lately…lately they just became so horrible I couldn’t take it anymore.”