Within Darkness

by C J M Naylor

  I looked from him and back to Headrick and then to Thomas and then back to Elijah on the floor. Everyone around me was dying and if people were going to say it wasn’t my fault, that I didn’t cause this, well I could honestly say I felt they were wrong. In that moment, I wished I was a normal Timekeeper. No. I wished I could just be a normal human being. I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask for my mother and father to die. I didn’t ask for Phillip to die. I didn’t ask for Ian to betray my trust as Bessie had done before him. I never wanted Bridget to die, and now Elijah? It was too much. It was all too much.

  “Don’t move.”

  It was Headrick who had spoken. I looked up and saw Thomas trying to inch forward, but she had the blade extended outward, clearly ready to plunge it into him if need be. Headrick, her eyes still trained on Thomas, began to speak to me. “Abigail, you are coming with me. You were clever and managed to outwit that idiot Aldridge, but you won’t do the same with me.”

  “It was you,” I said suddenly. “You killed Winston, didn’t you? You were there that night. All of the Council members were.”

  “Of course, it was me,” Headrick said. “I’ve played my cards well. How do you get people to trust you and like you Abigail? You’re nice to them. You tell them what they want to hear. Winston may have been a misogynistic piece of work, but he didn’t know how to play the game. If he was smart, he would have truly convinced his peers he wanted to make the world, our world, a better place. And right when you have them convinced, right when you have them under your thumb, that’s when you pull the rug out from under them. That is when you take over. I know how to play my cards Abigail.

  “Now, we are going to wait for your grandmother to arrive and neither of you will move an inch, or I am going to plunge this blade into Jane’s chest. Lucinda will be here momentarily, and she will take you with her to London, as was originally planned.”

  “Why did you have to kill him?” I asked. “He was about to tell us where the original Headquarters was located. Isn’t that something you need? Isn’t that information you would have wanted?”

  I didn’t know what else to do. I had to keep her distracted while I figured something out, and I hoped that Thomas was trying to figure something out as well.

  “No,” Headrick replied. “On the contrary, we don’t need the place at all. The prophecy can be fulfilled without even entering the place. And I didn’t want you to know the information either. I’ve heard the rumors—the stories. I don’t need you messing anything up for us.”

  Her words made my brain’s wheels spin. Maybe, just maybe, there was a way to correct this mistake at the original Headquarters. Mathias had told me the rumors. He’d said there were stories that the original family could change things—that they had more power than a normal Timekeeper. I needed to get there. I needed to find the Headquarters. But first, I needed to get out of this mess.

  Just at that moment, I saw a shadow at the end of the hallway. It was Alma. She had entered almost as discreetly as Headrick and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the blade pointed at us and Elijah’s body on the floor. We had to keep Headrick looking at us. I trusted Alma. She would think of something.

  But Headrick was about to turn and see her.

  “No,” Thomas shouted.

  Alma grabbed a decor vase from a stand at the end of the hall and began moving quickly, but quietly.

  “Jane,” Headrick said, turning back to face him and raising her blade, “I’ve always respected you as a Timekeeper, but that doesn’t mean I won’t plunge this blade right through your heart. What is it?”

  “I just wanted to say to be careful.”

  Headrick gave another questioning expression. “Be careful of what?”

  “This, bitch.”

  Alma stood directly behind Headrick and slammed a vase into her head before she even had a moment to respond. The vase smashed and Headrick fell to the floor, dropping the blade.

  “Grab her,” Thomas said. “Both of you. Now!”

  We did as we were told. Thomas turned around, taking out his pocket watch again, and clicking the travel button on it. A projection of the globe appeared and Thomas quickly selected a location. Thomas then placed his pocket watch around Headrick’s neck.

  “Throw her at the Time Line,” he said.

  I looked at Alma, she shrugged, and we both threw Headrick’s body into the Time Line and there was a bright flash. Her body vanished into thin air.

  “That was amazing,” I said, “but your pocket watch, it went with her.”

  Thomas looked at me with a grin on his face. “We can’t use them anymore.” And then he jumped into action.

  “Alma,” he said. “I need your help. We need to warn everyone that they need to get out of the city as fast as possible. There are going to be catastrophic events happening. And we need to be quick, because some not-so-great-people are going to be here soon to use the Time Line. I need you to use your pocket watch to send a message, and then you need to get rid of it. If we don’t get rid of it, they can use it to track us. Abigail, you’ll need to leave yours as well.”

  “Just the one I received at my initiation, right?”

  Thomas shook his head. “You should probably leave both.”

  “What if we need the one Eleanor left me with?”

  Thomas looked annoyed, but then he nodded. “We might. Let’s just hope it can’t be tracked.”

  Alma looked back at the Time Line as she took her pocket watch out. “Where did you send her?”

  “For a nice trip to Antarctica,” Thomas said, the grin returning to his face.

  “Won’t that just send her to someone else’s Headquarters?” I asked.

  “Nope,” Thomas said. “The Time Line works differently when you are traveling in the present. It will simply drop you into the location that you request. However, you have to be careful, because if there isn’t a Time Line in that location, you’re stuck coming back the normal way.”

  “And there isn’t a Time Line in Antarctica, is there?” I asked.

  “Nope.” Thomas grinned again.

  In a split second, however, the room began to violently shake. I fell backward and landed on the floor, as did Thomas and Alma. A line split into the ground down the hallway, and rubble broke from the ceiling. It was over within seconds.

  “We need to get out of here now,” Thomas said. “There will be tsunami’s next. I need to call Oliver. He has a plane. It can seat four, but that’s it. Are you coming with us Alma? What about your family?”

  “My family left for Europe after the ball,” Alma replied. “Do you think they’ll be safe there? Why can’t we travel through the Time Line?”

  “There’s a lot to explain,” Thomas said, “but Elijah said that the catastrophes will spread like a virus, but that it will start here in San Francisco. Your family should be safe, for now at least. As for the Time Line, the Council has been infiltrated and they will be able to track us if we use it to travel. We can’t risk it. Alma, send the message now.”

  “What is she going to do exactly?” I asked.

  “I told you, if they are programmed to our Headquarters,” Thomas said, “they can be used to send messages.”

  Alma took out her pocket watch and turned a few dials and then shut it. Within seconds my own pocket watch, not my mothers, but the one I had been given at initiation began to make a loud squealing sound from my pocket. I took it out and opened it.

  This is Alma James of the American Headquarters. Everyone needs to evacuate San Francisco now. Get to the Time Line and go to Europe. You need to leave immediately, or you face imminent death. I wish you the best.

  “Alright, both of you, leave your pocket watches here,” Thomas said. “Let’s go. We need to get to the military base on Treasure Island. Oliver is there and he can get us a ride out of here.”

  Alma and I dropped our pocket watches on the ground and followed Thomas up the stairs that would lead back out the entrance of the Headquarters an
d into the Ferry Building. As we soon as stepped back onto the streets of San Francisco, another earthquake hit. Cars moved across the streets unwillingly and buildings were swaying. It wasn’t as bad as the last one, and thankfully neither had been that bad, so it looked like all buildings were still intact.

  “There will be tsunamis soon,” said Thomas as he climbed on his bike. “I guarantee it. Both of you get on and hang on tight. I’m going to move fast.”

  As soon as Alma and I climbed on, I heard shouts. “There she is.”

  I swung my head around and saw Aldridge. He was pointing at me; Lucinda stood behind him. And then another earthquake shook the city and both of them stumbled.

  “There’s no time,” Lucinda said as Thomas began speeding away. Within moments, the two of them were out of sight as we headed in the direction of Treasure Island.

  Thomas drove his bike on the road that was just on the edge of the bay. He led us into the East Cut and then made a U-turn so he could get onto the Oakland Bay Bridge. As he did, another earthquake hit. Everything began to shift. I turned my head and literally saw the streets rising up and down as the quakes spread throughout the city. And then I saw it—the Russ Building. It was the tallest building in the city; it had been for almost twenty years. And the building was starting to come down.

  “Thomas,” I said.

  “What?” he said, clearly irritated as he navigated around the various traffic trying to escape the city.

  “The Russ Building is coming down.”

  “What?” This time his tone was shock.

  “She ain’t kidding,” Alma added in.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” Thomas said. He pressed harder on the gas and the bike sped up.

  “Um,” Alma said, “not to burst anyone’s bubble, but the Golden Gate Bridge…”

  We all turned our attention to the Golden Gate Bridge. The wires holding the bridge up began to snap as it swayed in the bay from the magnitude of the earthquake. And then, in a matter of seconds, the bridge came down into the ocean.

  I looked back ahead of us and saw Thomas driving straight for a car in our path.

  “Thomas, look out!” I shouted.

  He looked ahead again. “Shit!” The bike swerved sharply to avoid hitting the car that was in front of us. Alma and I managed to hold on as Thomas sped up even faster, knowing full well this bridge wasn’t going to last as soon as the quakes caught up with it. It was only a matter of seconds before the bridge started swaying.

  I looked behind us and saw the bridge coming down on the other end. Cars began to fall into the bay. We didn’t have much time before it caught up to us.

  “Thomas,” I said, looking forward. We were almost there, but not quite as the bridge was beginning to separate from the island.

  Thomas didn’t slow down, he pressed down hard on the gas and pushed the bike to go at the fastest possible speed.

  There was now a large gap between the end of the bridge and Treasure Island.

  “Thomas,” I said. I didn’t know what else to say. I squeezed his waist harder, as did Alma to mine. “Thomas, Thomas, Thomas…”

  I put my head against his back and closed my eyes.

  “FUCK,” Thomas shouted as pulled the bike upward, sending us into the air, off the bridge, and onto the island.

  As soon as we were on the island, Thomas stopped the bike and looked back. We all did. The bridge fell away into the water, the cars and people that were on it along with it. Screams. Cries of agony. People shouting, “help” were all I heard as I looked back. All of this destruction. All of this chaos. All of this death. Caused by me.

  And then the sirens came on. The sirens from the Coast Guard telling us a tsunami was coming.

  “We need to get the fuck off this island,” Thomas said. He put the bike into gear and we began racing toward the military base that Oliver was at.

  As soon as we got there, Thomas pulled to a screeching halt. Surprisingly, Oliver was there waiting for us. He ran up to Thomas and gave him a hug.

  “How’d you know we would come?” I asked.

  “Oli and I are all we have on this island,” Thomas answered me. “He knows we’d never leave each other and that this is where we would meet.”

  “But what if something happened to Thomas?” I asked.

  “It’s Thomas,” Oliver replied. “I’m not trying to boost him up and put him on the spot or anything, but as you could probably tell from your adventure on that bike, the man’s got talent.”

  “Well,” Thomas replied, “as much as I’d like to stay here and discuss everything that makes me wonderful, I think we need to get off this island. And like right now. Can you get us out of here? Do you have a plane?”

  “Everyone’s left already,” Oliver said. “But, yes, I’ve got a plane. What kind of question is that? Come on!”

  Oliver led us toward the runway where sure enough a civilian plane that would manage to seat us was waiting.

  “Abby, hurry!”

  I had stopped in my tracks. Instead of keeping up with everyone, I had turned my attention to the city of San Francisco. The skyline was laid out perfectly in front of my eyes and to the right of the city was a tsunami that would devastate it in only moments. This was my doing. I did this. And now I was running away from it.

  “We have to go back,” I said. “We have to help them.”

  “There is NO time!” Thomas screamed at me. “If you want to help them, we have to leave and find another way.”

  “Thomas is right,” Alma added. “Abby, you can’t fix this here. We need to go!”

  My eyes began to water, and I felt hot tears falling down my cheek. I fell to my knees and put my head in my hands.

  I felt a hand on my shoulder.

  “We need to go, now,” Thomas said.

  “No,” I said, “just leave me. Leave me here. If I die, there’s nothing more she can do. It’s over.”

  He pulled me up, but I pushed him away.

  “Get off me!”

  “Abby,” he yelled, “I am not leaving you here.”

  I was screaming now. My entire body shook and scratched at Thomas’ face, but he was persistent. He was not going to leave me here.

  “ABBY!”

  Thomas grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into his arms. I was beating him to put me down. I was screaming to be let go. He was stronger than me, though. He had me pinned in his arms, keeping me from getting any further away from him.

  He grabbed my face in his hands and then he pressed his lips to mine. Pulling away, he looked into my eyes.

  “That was REAL,” Thomas said. “And I won’t leave you here, because if I do, everything will have been for nothing. We can’t fix this if I leave you here. And I will never be the same if I lose you. I know how much you’ve lost, but can you fight for me Abigail? Only you can overcome this darkness. I NEED you to overcome this darkness. You’ve changed me, and I love you, Abigail. I love you. Now is the time to send this darkness and despair back to wherever the hell it came from. Can you do that?”

  In that moment, I remembered my mother, Annette Jordan. She had told me she knew who I was. That I wasn’t a bad person, that I would do great things. And in that moment, she lifted me off the ground. I nodded at Thomas and began to run toward the plane with him.

  “Let’s get out of here!” Thomas shouted as we reached the plane. Oliver was already seated in the pilot’s seat and Alma was with him. Thomas and I climbed into the seat behind them and Oliver took no time to start the engine and get us moving. Thomas positioned me on his lap and placed a helmet on my head.

  A roaring sound disrupted my racing thoughts, and I saw the wave heading toward the city. It crashed into buildings. The Chambord Building, the home Bridget and I had made, would soon be under water. The water washed over the remains left behind by the devastating earthquake and in turn, would leave the city in shambles.

  The tsunami touched the back of the plane as soon as we lifted into the air. The plane rocked down, but O
liver managed to lift it back up and fly away from the tsunami that was tearing San Francisco apart. Thomas and I were tucked together in the back seat. Alma was up front with Oliver. We were getting out of this today. We were going to make it today.

  I looked out at the city below. The waves had washed over the city. It was almost entirely covered by water. Treasure Island was being impacted by the tsunami as the plane rose higher and higher into the air. As the plane flew away from the city, my mind was no longer consumed by the darkness. I no longer heard Melanie speaking terrible things in my mind. I had fought against her voice, her influence. Ian would never again take advantage of me and my kindness. He would never again drug me. I had fought against Lucinda’s influence. We would meet again, I knew we would.

  In that moment, I felt like I had ascended from being a person consumed by everything that had destroyed my life. I was done feeling sorry for myself. I was done being upset about all the terrible things that had happened to me. Instead I was now angry. I was angry at my sister, even though I knew I couldn’t blame her entirely for everything. I was angry at Aldridge for manipulating me. I was angry at myself for continuing to allow myself to be manipulated. I was angry at Headrick for misusing people’s kindness for her own agenda. Finally, I was angry at Lucinda. At the end of the day, everything led back to her. She was responsible for this as much as I was. She was responsible for me being taken away from Mathias just as I got to know him. An idea she fed to Headrick, no doubt. She was responsible for my mother’s death and for my sister’s imprisonment and brainwashing. In that moment, I made a vow to end Lucinda. I would fix this. I would fix all of this, or I would die trying.

  For the Readers

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