by Holly Hook
"Of course something went wrong at the daycare. A boy almost died." My happy tingles disappear as a fresh wave of cold air washes over me. The panic returns and my heart tries to beat its way out of me all over again. The hallway seems to close in on us and only stops when Simon wraps his arm around me and pulls me closer.
And it was my fault.
Only it wasn't. Why do I keep telling myself that?
"That wasn't supposed to happen. I'll be looking into that. The Timeless aren't supposed to put people in danger. Just guide them back to where they belong."
“Which would be putting me in danger,” I say.
Simon smacks his hand to his forehead. “Exactly. You see, usually we're helping people. Time doesn't make us send people back to horrible events very often. I think it chose Frank because he's all about following orders. No matter what Time wants him to do, he'll do it. He's dangerous, Julia.”
It might be minutes later, or eons, or only a few seconds, but we make our way out of the endless hallway and come out into an open area that's about the size of ten cathedrals.
I'm lost for words again. It's a crystal dome big enough to house a small city, so big that I feel a little sick just trying to take it all in. It reminds me of the garages NASA has for its equipment, the ones I saw in that film in school last spring. Only this is far more elegant and magical. Rain and weather could probably form in here, but there's nothing above us except for the top of the dome which shines with a colorless light that's impossible to describe.
“Yes, Julia. You've been in here before, too,” Simon tells me.
"How can I not remember this?" I ask, shrugging.
He shrugs. “It sure stinks that you can't. You were pretty amazed.”
“Sucks is the more modern word. It's another term I learned from Monica."
“I forgot.”
“So...what is this place?”
"This is the Main Chamber," Simon tells me as he rubs his hand down my arm. He's so close now that I stop shivering. “It's the place where we take orders, where Time wakes up if it needs to."
“Does Time know I'm here?” I ask. I look up at the top of the dome. The strange light keeps shining, almost like a giant eye staring down at me.
“I'm sure it does, but it can't do anything. It already sent Frank and Isabel after you. It's all in their hands now.”
“I don't like this. What if they're coming up behind us?”
Simon hugs me from the side as we walk closer to the middle of the room, crossing over the giant ballroom floor of crystal. "That's why I'm taking you to my quarters. Frank and Isabel won't follow us there. They can't.”
“I do like that idea.” I scan the hallways surrounding us. There must be hundreds of them and they're so tiny compared to the rest of this.
We finally step under the light. It's warmer here with the energy that radiates down from the ceiling. Lighter, even, so much that the crystal under us turns white enough to make me squint. He crouches down and places his hand on the floor. A thrumming sound fills the air. "Try not to panic," he says, glancing at me over his shoulder.
“About what?” A glowing floor's hardly enough to scare me compared to what I've been through already.
Simon's smiling.
Before I can say anything, the ground vanishes from under my feet as a flash of light burns my eyes, blinding me. Simon's smile vanishes into the white void. I reach out for him but grasp wind which escapes through my fingers.
I'm falling again.
I'm going back there, to 2:20, and before I know it, the world will turn black and--
My feet thud against a hard surface and I crouch and blink the fading light out of my eyes. My hands brush against a hard, smooth surface.
Another floor.
Warmth.
I search my memories. I remember Nancy. Monica. The Branch. I'm not in the past after all. If I was, they'd all be gone.
Simon's hands squeeze my shoulders from behind. "Julia. We're okay. I'm sorry that was quite a ride, but that's the way we get to our quarters. We have to go through another rift that's always in the middle of the Main Chamber.”
I let out a breath.
Okay. The word rolls around in me over and over until my heartbeat slows and I get up the bravery to look.
The Main Chamber is gone and a room with plain white walls and a row of bunk beds with white sheets has taken its place. An iron sink sits bolted into the wall, shiny and new. It's a cozy version of an army barracks, only much smaller and just a hair classier. All the beds are made as if waiting for the very first troops. It's the time before the bloodshed starts and the new recruits are still joking and playing cards and writing happy letters home. It's the time before reality wakes them. Even the floor's polish has no trace of footprints.
Somehow barracks doesn't seem right to me, like this should be something different, but I can't put my finger on it.
And yet a sad air fills the room. It's something about the way the air vibrates, the way it brushes against my skin.
Simon's breath tickles my scalp. He works at kneading the tops of my shoulders. "I should have warned you about the drop.”
"It probably wouldn't have made a difference.” That's the truth. 2:20 is so ingrained in me that no amount of warning is going to change that. If I come here again and take the exact same trip, it won't be much easier. "So…this is where you stay. It looks a lot...saner than the rest of the Hub."
Simon nods and stops the massage. He speaks before I can protest. "We're somewhere under the Hub, actually. This is my memory made solid. I try not to stay here too much. There are too many bad things connected to this place. And not to mention, I’m by myself here.”
"Then why is this your quarters?" I take my time walking around the room, letting my hands run across the perfectly made bunks. Cotton. The sheets are as real as my own at Nancy's. There's another tickle in the back of my memory, like I've seen this before, but the feeling is gone as fast as it came. "Oh. This has something to do with your past. Our past, I mean." My heart pounds. Simon brought me here to help me figure this out. I face him. He stands in the middle of the room, letting me take it in. I don't miss the hope on his face, as faint as he keeps it.
I wish he could nod. Blink at me enough to tell me I have a hit, but he doesn't. His eyes tell a different story. Please figure it all out right now. Please. I can't hold this in any longer.
"Let's say this place does have to do with our past," I continue, hoping that I've just smashed through another roadblock. "And that's why you brought me here. So what exactly is this? A barracks?" I look around again. No windows.
Again, silence. Simon's lips twitch like he wants to say something, but they're glued shut.
Is that a yes or a no?
“An apartment?”
Again, nothing. Simon lets out a sigh and sits down on one of the bottom bunks. He's bent over so he doesn't hit his head on the top one. "You deserve the truth. It's killing me to hold it in.”
I rush over and take a seat next to him. The mattress stays firm like it's never supported a body. It’s brand new. This feels so familiar that I want to scream with it.
"I know."
A cloud moves over his features and he drops his face to his hands. "The Timeless always stay connected with their past. It follows us like a shadow night and day. I can still remember every detail of what happened. This is just my memory, where Time makes me stay when I'm not out in the world, doing an assignment. This...place isn't the real thing.”
"Comforting." I'm hating Time more and more by the second. But there's something soothing in the sadness here. "Can you show me more of this area? It might help me. I know it'll help me."
Simon shakes his head to clear the hair from his eyes. "Sorry, but I don't think Time will let me show you. That would be showing you my past, and it doesn’t want that. I wasn't even sure it would let me bring you here. I'm actually quite surprised that I could pull it off." He rises from the bunk. "We can try, though.
I don't make any guarantees."
I shoot up from the bunk. I rush for the door, hungering for whatever's on the other side, good or bad. Anything's better than the gray of not knowing.
"Don't move too fast." Simon's at my side again, wrapping his fingers around my wrist. It's gentle but firm at the same time. "I’m not sure what’ll happen. The Time in my blood might force me to do a mind trick on you, to make you forget what you see outside this door. If that happens, I’m very sorry.”
“I understand.” I’m shaking. The door waits to the rest of Simon’s memory...and mine.
I pause. Simon takes my arm. His grip awakens every circuit under my skin, making it hard for me to breathe. "If you do remember this, it’s going to upset you. I’m sorry for that, too.”
Whatever's on the other side of that door's in the bad category, then.
Simon takes my other wrist, sliding his hand down to interlock with my own. His face grows close to my own. “I love you, Julia. I have for a long time. If you wake up back in Nancy’s time, don’t go anywhere on your own. I’ll see you soon, but I might have to lay low for a little while after what happened today. I will be watching you.”
“I love you, too.” I know I’ve said those words to him before.
I can only focus on his lips as he draws closer. They appear smooth, not dry and cracked like mine. My heart races like we're doing crazy circles around the skating floor back at the Branch.
Simon leans forward.
Presses his lips to mine.
They're desperate and soft at the same time. I melt into him, feeling his heart beating against my chest and matching mine. His salty smell is so strong that we must be standing on that beach. In the sudden quiet, the soft roar of the ocean plays.
We embrace, taking in the moment like it's never going to return.
This is one memory I hope I get to keep.
At last we separate. Simon catches his breath. He slides his hands down my arms. "Ready?"
I nod, trying to suck air back into my lungs.
I'm ready for anything.
Simon's hand lands on the doorknob.
He pulls it open to the truth. There’s a hallway outside. I step out. It looks just like the one I heard that boy shouting for help in, with white walls and red carpet. We’re in…we’re in…
I know where we are. What horrible event. How could I not have remembered—
Simon wraps his arms around me from behind. “I’m sorry!” he says.
I know what’s happening and I thrash. “No!” I shout, more at Time than anything else. If I forget where I’m from all over again—
Chapter Nine
“Julia. You finally awake?”
I open my eyes to darkness. Am I in a void? How did I get here?
No. I can barely see the surface of an orange table and the arm that my forehead’s resting on. Somewhere, metal clangs against metal and a song about returning a letter back to the sender is playing.
Table. I blink a bunch of times.
I'm back at the Branch.
I lift my head from the table. Numbness lingers from where my head rested on my arm. I must have a red stripe stretching across by forehead.
"Si--" I start. I remember standing in a barracks or something with him. Us kissing. Him opening a door.
And before that, us running from Frank and Isabel.
I scan the inside of the Branch for them. They're gone. Monica and Trey lean over the table, studying me. The music stops. I can tell by the yellow quality of the light in here that full night has fallen. Everybody's vacated the skate floor, leaving only a couple of die-hard guys playing that Stacker game. The arcade screens all display their title screens and a woman sweeps up pieces of paper and stray tickets off the floor. Greasy food smell lingers in the air.
The Branch is near closing. Hours have passed. It must be close to midnight.
“I must have fallen asleep,” I say automatically. I sound like a machine.
I'm not sure how I should sound after going to the center of time, kissing Simon, and somehow ending up back here. How can I not remember how I got back? Simon and I walked through those hallways and fell into his quarters. We kissed. Made out, as Monica would put it.
There should be something else there, but it’s gone.
Trey grips the chair in front of him and rocks it. “You must have broken a speed record, considering that you just got back here. If there were championships for falling asleep, Julia, you should try out for them."
I throw Trey's words around in my mind. Could that mean--
“Yeah,” Monica says. “The last time I saw you, you were skating around with Simon around six-thirty. Then you were gone. Where'd you guys take off to?”
I stiffen.
The Hub. Simon's kiss.
Yes. Definitely real.
I fumble for an excuse. “I didn’t want to be here with Isabel and Frank coming in. Sorry I took off on you. I should have said something first. Simon and I sneaked out before they could find us.” That's the truth. Every ounce of it. I actually laugh a bit thinking about it. "When did they leave?"
Monica pulls her hair out of the ponytail it's been in since this afternoon. It falls wavy around her ears, hiding the chain Trey got her earlier this week. “That's what I thought you guys did. I kept an eye on them. They didn't stay long. Mostly they talked to Wendy for a few minutes and left. But yeah, they were looking for you. They kept staring at the empty skate floor like you vanished into thin air or something.”
My glee dies and I let my hands slide off the table. I know why the two of them didn't stay. I scan the entire inside of the building again. Examine the wall where the rift might still be. Yes. Frank and Isabel spotted it.
The far wall of the skate floor seems as solid as ever, even more so now that the disco lights no longer dance across it. I want to run over there and poke at it to see if the wall ripples and my hand goes through.
No. I can see Monica searching for a rational explanation for that all night. It'll have to wait.
I'm just about to get up when Monica points down at the table. “Oh! What did he get you?”
I look down.
There's a blue jewelry box on the table. I reach out and let my hand close over it.
It's real. I can feel the velvet on my palm.
A clue?
“It looks like I'm going to find out. Simon must have put it here before he left.” Before I came back, I want to say.
Confusion steals over her face. She glances at Trey for an answer.
He glances at the door and shrugs. “He must have left pretty fast,” he says.
“He did,” I fill in, knowing that none of this makes much sense to them. “It was getting late. His grandmother called and told him to get home right this minute." The idea of Simon having a cell phone just feels weird, but Monica and Trey nod. "Speaking of that, we need to get going ourselves. They'll kick us out in a minute if we don't leave.” I hope my voice sounds light and relaxed, but it's shaking.
Monica points. “First you show us what he gave you, and then we'll go.” She's trying to sound bossy, but her smile ruins the effect.
I open the lid, heart pounding.
It's a necklace.
And not like one I've ever seen before.
I pull it out. It's a glass teardrop, filled with some kind of black substance that glitters in the light when I turn it around in my hands. I squint. They're hundreds of little black flakes that tumble around each other as I twist the chain, making the necklace twirl.
"That's so sweet," Monica says. "I don't think he's a Frank. But what's in it?"
"No clue." I search the box for some kind of paper or certificate, but there's only tan, velvet backing. It's probably one of the most unique necklaces I've ever seen. It's my second gift from Simon, the first being the coin. It's nothing the Snob Squad would wear. I decide that for those reasons, I'll wear it all the time. This might be my only connection to Simon for a little while…and my only re
al hint to our past, if I can figure out what the stuff is inside. "Can you help me put it on?"
She does. "I think this one's a winner," she says as Trey makes a last-minute run to the bathroom. "He really likes you, Julia. I can tell."
"Agreed," I say. I poke at the teardrop hanging from the chain.
"Come on," she says as Trey rejoins us. "Let's go before Nancy gives us the lecture of the year."
The parking lot is mostly bare, but I can't help but look around for any sign of gold eyes peering at me from the bushes. I’m not sure if seeing any will be good or bad. But Simon feels close, wherever he is.
But tonight there is only darkness where he should be, darkness like the mysterious substance filling my necklace and taunting me with a door I can't go through.
* * * * *
April 8
Simon is a no-show at school Wednesday, Thursday, and today.
He's not at lunch, nor is he there in his seat at Independent Study. Maybe he's laying low due to almost getting caught by the other Timeless at the Branch the other night. I keep telling myself that. If they catch him, after all, he’ll get punished and trapped in his quarters, and then he really won’t be able to help me. I'll miss him. I might never see him again.
But can't Simon pop out at any time he wants? If he's dodging Frank and Isabel, he could always wait until a time they won't be around to come back out of the Hub. I think of that more and more as the hours pass.
The panic monster is starting to grow again as the weekend draws nearer. I wiggle in my chair in Independent Study, unable to stop watching the clock.
I have work this afternoon again and Monica can’t walk with me to Happy Rabbit’s. I have to go by myself all the way there. I’ve had her come with me the past two days so I’m not walking alone, but today she’s stuck meeting her classmates after school for some Physics project that she can’t miss out on. She tells me to be careful, that she'll see me later.
