by C J M Naylor
I followed my mother out onto the upstairs landing and we bolted down the stairs. My father was downstairs waiting for us—he was looking around in confusion. My mother grabbed his hand and we ran out the back door and down the path to the shelter.
"Wait."
I turned around and there she was. Her blonde hair was blowing around her face in the wind. Once again, she was barefoot and she wore the same white dress. It blew around her in the wind.
"Are you my mother?" I asked. Why did I ask that? My mother was behind me. "Are you my biological mother?"
"Don't go." The woman's eyes had a strong plead in them. She didn't want me to go. I turned around and looked at the shelter. I had to go. The bombs would drop and I would die if they did.
"I have to go."
The woman shook her head.
"Death," she spoke.
The bombs dropped.
My eyes opened. The room was quiet. I saw the ceiling above me and turned my head to look out into the living room. The room was dark. I was sweaty again. I stood up and walked across the room to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water.
After downing most of it in one gulp, I set down the glass, walked into Phillip's room, and around to his side of the bed. He was turned on his side, facing me. I knelt down on the floor and admired him. He was beautiful when he was asleep. He was calm, peaceful, and vulnerable.
I heard a squeaking sound and turned my head to look out the bedroom door and into the living room. In the moonlight, I could see the silhouette of a shadow sneaking in under the apartment door. Someone was standing outside the apartment. I heard something touch the door frame and then the shadow disappeared. I walked up and looked through the peep hole. There was no one on the other side. I quickly unlocked the door and opened it. Once again, there was a note taped to the door. I took it off and shut the door—locking it.
The note was from the person that had left the first note. It wasn't from the person leaving the disturbing and threatening messages. However, my heart still dropped as I read it.
I fear that you are in danger. I know that another person leaving notes has threatened you. To find the old Headquarters, go to the Tower of London. Go to where the Tower overlooks the Thames. Here you will find the second entrance to the old Headquarters. The first entrance is no longer usable because your father closed it off. Jump into the Thames and swim downward until you see a hole in the wall under the water. Go through and you will know where to go. I will leave something there for you to gain passage.
I realized that this person had to be a Timekeeper, or something like a Timekeeper. It was the only explanation of why they knew so much. I despised the fact that I would have to jump into the Thames again, but I would do it anyway. I grabbed a torch, some clothes, and my coat, as well as Phillip's car keys, and left.
The drive to the Tower of London took longer than I thought it would. Maybe it was because I had not gone there in a while or because I was too busy worrying internally; and worrying internally made everything go slower. I saw the tower in the distance however and parked some ways off. I was fairly sure there would be someone somewhere here tonight and I did not want to draw attention to myself by pulling up in a car and then proceeding to jump into the Thames.
I made my way to where the tower was overlooking the river. The river was calm again tonight; however I knew the water would be freezing—and disgusting. I would have to swim fast to avoid catching hypothermia. I had dry clothes in the car so I would have to hurry up and swim back to change so I wasn't in cold clothes for too long.
Sitting down near the edge of the river, I looked over the side. I waited for a moment and considered the possibility that this was a trap, but then I also considered the possibility that every time I met with my father was a trip. Was this a risk I was willing to take? I thought of my mother and knew the answer. I took a breath and slipped into the river.
Unlike last time, where I felt outside of my body, this time I felt everything. The water was cold—freezing cold. I felt pain throughout my body as I swam further down. I turned the torch on so that I could see, hoping the water wouldn't damage it right away. I swam downward and found the hole in the wall and quickly swam through it. As soon as I was through the hole I swam upward and broke the surface. A ledge was nearby and I climbed up.
I shook myself off for a moment and then used the torch to find out where I was. There was a narrow hallway just ahead and I walked toward it. The hallway turned into stairs and I was walking down. The descent took longer than I thought and I wondered how far down this Headquarters was buried. Finally, I reached a solid wooden door. There was one large hole in the center of the door. I tried to peer through it, but there was only blackness on the other side. It was more like a place where you might set an object, like something needed to be put into it. I shone the flashlight on the door and there was a message carved into it.
That which is used to travel is used to pass.
The message clicked instantly with me. In order to travel with time a Timekeeper needed their pocket watch. But I didn't have one, at least not yet. I sighed in frustration but then remembered what the note had said. They would leave something there for me to gain passage. I pointed the torch in various locations, looking for anything out of the ordinary that may have been left behind. Hanging on the wall directly in front of me, was a pocket watch. I held out my hand and touched it, turning it around. The letter E was carved into the front of it. This was my mother's. It had to be. But did that mean that she was also a Timekeeper? Mathias had told me she hadn't been. Was this one of the secrets he had referred to?
I removed it from the wall where it hung and placed it in the hole in the door. A solid door slid down and the hole disappeared along with the pocket watch. Immediately the door began to ascend upward, revealing an archway. I stepped through and just as I did, the door lowered itself once more. My mother's pocket watch was lying on the floor in front of me. I picked it up and put it safely around my neck. I used the torch to look around the room I was now in.
I was in a study, similar to the one at Big Ben. Cobwebs were everywhere. The room had clearly not been entered in a long time, or if it had been, no one had bothered to clean it. The study was dark and there were several bookshelves, mostly empty as well as an old desk. A fireplace was in the middle of the room. Some old chairs and a couch were in here as well, but they looked torn and ratty. It looked like animals had gotten in here at one point, or mice.
At the other end of the room was a doorway that was completely boarded up. I assumed this was the usual entrance to the place that Mathias had closed off. I wondered why he left the other one open. Then again, it was hard enough to get to the place anyway so why bother?
I turned and there was an archway that led down into a hallway. The hallway stopped with a brick wall at the end. There were three different doors. Overall, this appeared to be it. The Headquarters was smaller than the one at Big Ben, which is obviously why it was used as a backup.
I tried the first door and it swung open. The room was completely empty. Only cobwebs and dust took up the space of the room. I shut the door and proceeded to the next. This room had a large canopy bed inside it as well as a dresser and some other pieces of furniture. I walked into the room and opened the first drawer of the dresser. I was not expecting it to be full, but it was. Women's clothes were inside the drawer. They were old and it looked like they belonged to the twenties decade. I realized then that these must've been my mother's clothes.
My eyes began to water. I decided I might as well get out of these wet clothes, I would probably be here a while.
I stood before an old mirror in a bathroom that I had found inside the bedroom. The mirror had a crack in it, but I could see my reflection all the same. I had found an old, cream-colored dress with a bow on it. My hair was pulled back into a pony tail. For a minute, I could see how similar I looked to the woman in my dreams—with the exception of hair.
I went back into the
main bedroom and looked through the drawer of an old vanity. Inside, I found several different pieces of jewelry including a pearl necklace that I immediately tried on. I went back to the mirror and I enjoyed the way the necklace looked on me. But at the same time, it felt like something too extravagant for a time when things were supposed to be rationed and people weren’t able to have the things they wanted. It felt like something that I shouldn't be able to have.
There was a creaking sound and my head snapped to the right immediately. I had turned it too fast and cursed under my breath as a string of pain shot through it. I walked back out into the main hallway, but it was still empty. I remembered that I was underground as well as near water so I probably heard a sound from that.
One more door remained at the end of the hallway and I decided to check it out. I pushed the door open and again, it was something that wasn't meant to be.
The room was a nursery—my nursery I assumed. But I had never come home to use it. I slowly took in the sight of crib, changing table, and different baby toys. A rocking chair sat in one corner of the room. They had all of these preparations for something that would never be. Something that couldn't be.
My mother had touched these things once I thought, or at least, I hoped she had. I walked over to the dresser and opened a drawer. A few outfits remained—some little girl outfits that I never got the chance to wear.
Another creaking sound disturbed my attention. I turned around and looked at the doorway. I proceeded to check the hallway again, but it was once again empty. I decided I should get back to Phillip's. I didn't want him to wake up and find me gone. Whoever had left the note was obviously not going to make an appearance. I turned around and grabbed the handle of the door, but I stopped to admire my nursery for just another moment. I wondered—what would it have been like to grow up here? I immediately felt guilty for thinking it, thinking about my adoptive parents and how they had done everything for me, and went back to the first room to change into my clothes. I then turned back and left the way I came. I realized I still had the pearls on when I returned to my car. I placed them carefully into the inner pocket of my coat. I would take them back later, I thought, as I drove back to Phillip's.
I did not return to the old Headquarters for the rest of the week, nor did I mention it to anyone, including Phillip. I wanted to learn more about my past, and I wanted so desperately for Phillip to know, but I was also afraid. First off, the place was strange. I felt like someone was there. The creaking sounds made it sound as if someone was there, plus someone had given me the information to get there. Second, the place left me distracted. I knew if I went back I would probably spend hours there and I didn't have hours to devote during the day without people noticing I was gone. Finally, Christmas was in a few days and for the first time in weeks, I had the chance to do something normal.
"What do you want for Christmas?" I asked.
Phillip and I were at the library in his office. He looked up from what he was reading and I laughed. He was wearing his reading glasses. They always made him look different. He scowled at me.
"All I want is you," he responded with a flirtatious smile, "and I've already got you."
I got up off the couch and walked over to his desk. He swiveled around in his chair and pulled me into his lap.
“Well that's nice and dandy," I said, "but I think I could get you something."
He sighed. "I honestly cannot even think about what you could get me that I don't already have. I really am a lucky man."
"Of course, you are lucky," I responded, "if you weren't, I wouldn't be here. I'll find something for you though."
"Okay, what do you want though?" he asked.
"I've actually already got that planned out," I responded.
He gave me a questioning look. "So, what you are saying is, that you do not need anything else because you already have the greatest gentleman in the world."
"You are hilarious, but I was thinking we could have Christmas with your parents. That would be my present."
The look on his face went from jolly to a child who had just received socks instead of toys. I knew he would react this way. Phillip had only communicated with his parents through the telephone for the past few years. They lived in Scotland. They knew about me, but had never met me. Phillip only told me "what I needed to know" about them and that was that. He said to not expect them at the wedding. I couldn't even begin to understand why he was on such bad terms with them, but I wanted to try and fix that.
"Abby, we've been through this. They don't want to see me—I don't want to see them. Because you are my fiancée you are associated with me and anyone in association with me they also do not want to see."
"Fine," I responded. I had my own idea in place anyway. I knew he would say no, so I had a plan B, but I wanted to ask him in case he had one of those miraculous Christmas turnarounds. "I guess we will go with the second option. My mum wants you over for Christmas Eve dinner and she's going to set up the guest bedroom. We are going to stay up late and play games and then you'll stay over."
Phillip smiled. "That sound's lovely."
"So, what time did you want me for Christmas?"
Bridget and I were shopping out in London today. I figured it would be good for us to get out and do something for once since I had been so busy recently. She seemed to have let go of the conversation we had had outside Big Ben. I didn’t know if she believed me or not, but she wasn’t pestering me about it, and for now, that was enough. However, as soon as she had brought up Christmas, which she had every right to, a pang of guilt shot up and down my body. I had only just remembered a month ago when I had invited Bridget over for Christmas because she had no place else to go, but with everything that had been happening, I had forgotten.
"Abby?"
Bridget turned to look at me and I knew she knew before she even said anything. I had waited too long to respond to her and she could tell.
"I'm actually planning something secret for Phillip," I said.
"Oh."
Bridget turned and began to walk ahead of me. I had to walk faster to keep up. She was trying to get away from me. I grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around. Her eyes were beginning to glass over with tears.
"I'll cancel it Bridget. It’s okay. I owe you this Christmas. We'll spend it together."
She shook her head.
"No, Abby, it's okay, honestly. The two of you are getting married, and are about to spend the rest of your lives together. I'll be fine."
"Bridget, no. You come over to my house for Christmas. We'll have it together."
"No, it’s fine."
"Please, Bridget, really, it's okay."
"Abigail, no!" She went red in the face immediately and then said, "I need to go." She turned on her heel and walked away. I didn't stop her.
Phillip had packed his bags and I told him that my mum and I would swing by and pick him up so that he wouldn't have to drive over. I was continuing to feel guilty over what had happened with Bridget, but I vowed that we would spend time together when I got back. I owed that to her as a friend, but I wasn't sure if we were even going to be that for much longer.
"You know he'll probably return whatever present he bought for you when he realizes what you've done."
"I know.”
Phillip's grandmother, Marie, and I were on our way to pick up Phillip. Phillip loved her. She was the only relative I had had the pleasure of meeting. Together, she and I had set it up so that we would drive to Scotland for Christmas with Phillip's parents. His mother was apparently thrilled with the idea, which confused me.
"Does Phillip get along with your daughter then, Marie?" I asked her. Marie's daughter was Phillip's mother, Edna.
"Oh yes, sweetheart," Marie responded, "that boy is a mum's boy through and through. It's his daddy that he doesn't get along with. My poor Edna has to drive up here to London just to see him because he won't ever come home."
"Well, he's never introduced me to her.”
"Yes, well, it took me a lot of hard work just to get him to introduce us. I suppose he didn't want you to meet his mum because he was afraid something like this would happen."
I smiled.
We arrived to Phillip's flat in no time and I went up to meet him at the door.
"I've missed you," Phillip said. He leaned down and kissed me and then turned around to lock up his flat door.
"I just saw you last night.”
"It has been a long while for me.”
Phillip and I walked down to the lobby and out the door, hand in hand. His hand dropped to his side however when he saw his grandmother and her car instead of my mother's.
"Abby," Phillip said angrily under his breath, "what in the hell are you doing?"
"I've planned an intervention darling," I responded, "just like you tried to fix my relationship with my father, I'm going to try and fix yours with your parents. We will have to put money on who is more successful."
Phillip didn't say a single word on the drive to Scotland. Phillip's parents lived in Glasgow, so the drive itself took around seven hours. I drove for a few and Marie drove for a few. Phillip refused to drive. He sat in the back of the car the whole time either with his arms crossed or asleep.
Phillip's parents lived in a wealthier area of Glasgow. His father was a doctor. Marie finally pulled into the driveway of Phillip's childhood home as the sun was beginning to set.
"Nana," Phillip said, "Could you give Abby and I a moment? We will meet you inside. I'll bring in the suitcases."
Marie gave me a look and nodded. She left us alone in the car.
