by Jill Cooper
Chapter Seventeen
With a deep breath, I ring the doorbell at Mom’s townhouse. A moment later, she answers with surprise. Her mouth drops open and her eyes widen. They crinkle in that way they always do when she’s tired, and I do my best to smile.
How had she taken Dad’s suicide? It must’ve been harder on her than most. Even more than me.
“Lara?” she tightens the strap of her bathrobe around her waist, “Is everything okay? Come in.”
She backs away from the door. I smile at her and gaze past her into the living room. Jax is sitting on the sofa with the newspaper laid out in front of him. It’s just as I remember from when they were happy and together. I’m about to destroy that all again by changing the past.
There’s always grief. Every decision unravels another, but I have to save my dad’s life. This isn’t how things are supposed to be, but for destroying their happiness, I’m sorry. I have to stop Cameron before something is changed that I can’t fix.
Jax waves and steps from the living room to greet me. “Hey! I didn’t know we’d see you again tonight.”
“It was a long night. I was wondering if I could spend the night here? If my old room is still available.”
“Always, honey.” Mom fusses with my hair. She straightens it and runs her fingers through it as if they’re a comb. “Is everything okay with you and Don?”
I tense, but Jax shakes his head at her. “Miranda, come on.”
“Well, the wedding is in just a few days, Jax,” Mom huffs, but smiles for me, “I mean, if something’s wrong you can tell your mother. That’s all I’m saying here. I’ll go get your bed made up. It’ll be like you never left.”
I watch her hurry off while Jax and I fall into an uncomfortable silence. It’s on my part because of everything I know. Everything I’m about to do.
“If someone comes for me tonight, Jax, I’m not here. You never saw me.”
“Something is going on.” Jax places his hand on my shoulder. “What is it? You know you can trust me. I hope out of everything, you know that.”
“I do, but it’s better for you, Mom, and the kids… Where are they anyway?”
“They’re upstairs. Molly will be happy to see you. She was asking about you when we got home.”
“I’ll say goodnight to her before I turn in. See you tomorrow, Jax.” I swallow my little white lie as I climb the stairs.
“Is it about that speech Cameron made tonight? Lara—.”
“Good night, Jax.” The less he knows, the better. And that was the honest truth.
Upstairs, I can hear the twins arguing—but that’s nothing new. “Molly,” Mike’s voice strains with anger, “you’re not making any sense.”
Molly’s been crying; there’s a warble in her voice. “I know they wouldn’t believe me, but I thought you would. Mike, you’re my twin. You feel what I feel. You are what I am!”
“Not like this. Sorry, Molly, but not like this. You’re freaking me out!”
I cringe and move down the hall so the kids can have their private conversation. As I approach my room, I can hear Mom humming. It’s nice to hear her happy, no matter the timeline I happen to be in. I watch her fluff my pillows. “Thanks, Mom. For everything. I know…I wasn’t an easy teenager to raise.”
She laughs as she comes over. “No, but you’ve always been worth it,” she kisses my cheek, “Let’s talk tomorrow morning, okay? Whatever is happening between you and Don…”
I nod. “Promise. Good night.” She heads back downstairs. Before I enter my room, Molly pulls her bedroom door open. She looks like a typical fourteen-year-old girl in her purple pajamas. Her top has a picture of an electric guitar rather than fluffy bunnies and princesses. I’m struck by how fast she’s growing up.
In a few years, she’ll be the same age I had been when I’d first traveled in time. I can’t even fathom or imagine her taking on so much, or risking her life like that.
Molly holds a tissue to her nose. “Lara!” she crushes me with a hug, “I’m so glad you’re here.” She squeezes me so tightly it hurts to breathe. There’s a ton of distress in her voice and I wonder what’s the matter.
“It’s good to see you too, Molly.” I stroke her curly hair, which is very similar to my own and she lifts her head. I see a trail of blood under her nose and in the tissue she clutches in her fist.
It makes my heart skip a beat to see her distress, even though I know I only have a few minutes left to get set up. “You okay? What’s going on?” I usher her into my old bedroom and guide her over to the bed. Together, we sit.
Molly shakes her head she wipes her nose clean. Her splotchy cheeks signal she’s been crying. “Something weird is going on.”
“Okay,” I’m guarded and I sit on edge, while I wait for her to get started, “Weird how? You and Mike have another fight?”
“No, no.” Molly’s fingers clench tight. I haven’t seen her this agitated in a long time. “We’re fine. Lara,” she places a hand on my shoulder as if she is the one that should be comforting me, “Your dad… This is going to sound crazy.”
“Just tell me, Molly.” Inside, I feel like I’m sitting on pins and needles.
Molly sighs and closes her eyes. She blurts it out as if it hurts to keep the secret in. A secret that’s desperate to come out. “I don’t think he’s supposed to be dead.”
The words she speaks are ones I never expected to hear, especially in this timeline. “What do you mean?” My voice hushes and there’s a slight tremble in its undertone.
Molly sighs and glances around the room as if she expects someone to interrupt us. “I know I just saw him a few days ago. I know it, then I had the memories. Like flashes? Of things I know I didn’t do. A funeral? When I asked Mom about it, she got really upset. She said he’s been dead for three years, but I…”
Her face crumbles and Molly sobs. I want to help her so I rub her back, but I’m having trouble processing everything she told me. How is it possible in this altered timeline that Molly remembers things from the previous timeline? Except for me, that has never happened before, at least to my knowledge.
I grab her wrists to steady her and that’s when I once again notice the bloodied tissue in her hand.
The streak of dried blood beneath her nose.
The flashes she spoke of were memories—two timelines, merging into one. But how? Then it dawns on me; what Rex had said to me long ago. Rewind had perfected time travel thanks to my mother’s brain scan. Time travel had been taken a step further because of my brain… And Molly…
She was next in line and after her…Cassidy.
It’s all linked together. We’re the answer.
“It’ll be okay.” I whisper because I’m not sure it’s true. I rub the back of her neck to calm her down, but also to check for a port. I sigh with relief. There’s nothing on the base of her neck. She’s still normal. She hadn’t been taken, so how come her memories from the altered past still exist?
“Am I crazy?” Molly gazes up at me with tearful, wide-eyes. My stomach churns to see her so upset. I wish there was a way to save her from this, but I don’t think one exists.
“You’re not crazy,” I say forcefully, “What I’m about to tell you, can’t leave this room. You’re right about everything. Dad isn’t supposed to be dead.”
“But,” Molly interrupts, “then why…Mom.” She points at the closed door as if Mom might be right there.
“She doesn’t remember, but I’m going to fix it. Whoever’s trying to destroy my family…tear us apart…I’m going to go find them, and then I’m going to stop them.” For good, but Molly doesn’t need all the details. She doesn’t need to know.
“Time travel?” Molly’s words are barely a whisper, “You’ll get caught. We’ll lose you too.”
“I have friends who can help. I’m not going to get caught, but I need to go now. I’m almost too late.” Ironic words spoken by a time traveler. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck, Lara.” Mo
lly kisses my cheek and being a good little soldier, hurries out of my room. She closes the door.
I set up on the other side of the bed with my duffle bag. Sitting with my legs crossed, I pull my bag open and pull out the newspaper clipping of my dad’s obituary. I focus on the date. I want to go back to three days before this date. Before Dad’s ‘suicide’. I can find Cassidy and stop her before she gets to him.
I know I can.
And Molly…. Oh God, what if Molly has some natural time-travel ability like I do? Mine had been unlocked by stress, but what if Molly’s is being unlocked by something else? What if…?
My breathing starts to change. I labor for air and my chest rises and falls. The date on the newspaper starts to change, as everything else on the page starts to pixelate in front of me. It swirls and comes alive like a 3D image, but then it vibrates. Like on an old tube-television, everything fluctuates like static.
The date is three days prior to Dad’s death, just as I had wanted, but the news article has changed. Instead of Dad’s face, I’m staring at my own where the headline reads: Local teen still missing.
I’m jumping backward into time, but into the wrong timeline.
I can’t stop it. There’s a whirlwind of emotion out of control in the center of my chest and as I try to pull it back, it swirls faster. I can’t see anything in front of me and then wham!
My body slams into a wall.
Chapter Eighteen
My face smashes against a brick wall. The pain radiates out my nose as my knees slump toward the ground. Someone grabs both my arms and twists them behind my back and with their knee, forces me back against the wall.
I groan and think of screaming at him, but I can’t find my voice as I try tugging my arms free. It’s no use, whoever he is he’s too strong.
“Knock it off, Crane,” whoever this guy is, he snarls into my ear, “You think we don’t know what you’re up to?”
Roughly, he pulls me away from the wall and slams me down into a seat at what appears to be a cafeteria table. There’s a tray with a meager lunch and a carton of white milk. I’m not alone, either. In the tiny cafeteria, other people are eating and they’re all dressed as I am, in white scrubs.
Dad and Jax are at one table. And across from me…Rick.
His head is hanging down low as he spoons one pea at a time into his mouth, but I notice his eyes glancing up at me even though his body doesn’t move.
“Eat,” the big orderly hovering above me says, “If you don’t,” he leans down and whispers in my ear, “Rex will give me ten minutes alone with you this time.”
He walks away and my insides fill with fear. I’d jumped into the wrong timeline, but I’m not sure how to get back. I’m not even sure if I can while in a facility run by Rex. I rub the back of my neck and slowly pick up my fork. My hand is shaking so badly, I can’t hold it very long. Just as I’m about to drop it, Rick squeezes my hand tightly.
I glance up at him and I can’t help the tears forming in my eyes. “Rick?”
“We’re not supposed to talk or touch,” he wiggles in his seat as he leans in closer, “But you really seem to know it this time.” His finger strokes against my hand and it’s something I thought I’d never feel again.
He doesn’t seem angry like the last few times I had seen him at the prison. Was it possible…?
“Where are we? What is this place?” I whisper.
Rick shakes his head. “You’re the time traveler, what do you think it is?” He tilts his head to the side and I see the port just sticking out from the base of his neck.
Was Rex trying to make time travelers out of everyone?
“Why you?” My nostrils flare as I glance around the room. “Why my family?”
“Rex wants to hurt you, Lara. He wants to hurt you more than anything. Even more than he wants to control time travel.”
Revenge.
As the orderly makes his rounds, Rick lets go of my hand and goes back to eating his peas, but he glances up at me. His eyes tell me I need to do the same thing. So, I pick up my fork. I’m not interested in getting hurt again. I eat my peas before I move onto my bland chicken. If I’m here, for now, maybe I can find out something useful that I can use in my own timeline when I get back.
Maybe. If I stay long enough.
After lunch, I watch as one at a time, everyone is taken out of the cafeteria. Dad and Jax both glance at me as they’re taken away. Then, when it’s Rick’s turn, he mouths to me, “Be careful” as if I’m always trying to push the envelope. As if he knows I’m always trying to find a way out.
Sounds like me.
The orderly grabs my shoulders roughly. “Your turn, Crane.” He shoves my arms behind my back and handcuffs my wrists together so tightly my skin is pinched.
I cringe. “The others didn’t get handcuffs.”
He forces me up and his laugh, full of cigarette breath, invades my personal space. “The others aren’t you, special case. C’mon.” He shoves me hard but keeps a hand on the base of my neck to guide me through the facility.
I study everything as we walk through the small cafeteria and over to the elevator. There are nurses walking the halls and another three clustered around what appears to be a nurses’ station. Two security guards stand at the elevator and using the mirrors above it, I can see two additional security guards moving to stand behind us.
I have my own detail. No one trusts me, and for good reason.
At the elevator, the security guard pushes the button for us and when the doors slide open, we move inside. “Have a nice night, Crane.”
The guards laugh and I guess I’m supposed to be humiliated, but I’m not.
I’m just angry.
****
We take the elevator up to the level of my cage.
That’s when I realize, that though this place might resemble my previous prison, it’s different. It’s bigger and better organized, with more security. There might not be a way out.
The guard pushes me down a corridor and I see a glass cage at the end of the hall. It’s lit up brightly and someone is inside. “Mr. Kincaid wanted you to see this.” The security guard stands beside me, even though my arms are still handcuffed behind my back. He licks his lips as if he’s having a great time. “Go on. I want to see your face.”
Curious—even though I don’t want to give him the satisfaction—I step closer to the glass cage. Inside, there is a woman on her knees. Chains tether her to the floor. and with her are two ‘technicians’—for lack of a better word. They shove electrical batons into her sides and against the base of her neck.
When she throws her head back to scream, I recognize her face. “Cassidy,” I whisper without even meaning to.
“Pretty sweet, huh?” The security guard raises his eyebrows and his face flushes with pride. I want to hurt the jackass. “Mr. Kincaid is going to use her to destroy you. Once she’s ready.”
So, this is the place. This is the launching ground of Cassidy’s training, so one day she’d be ready to come for me.
I didn’t deliberately come here, but maybe my mind took me where I needed to be, in order to see this. To get ready.
In order to break Cassidy’s training, maybe first, I needed to witness how they had broken her. As I stare at her tear-streaked face, I wish I didn’t have to see it. She might not remember me and what we had done together, but I remember her.
We had been friends and I had loved her. And now, my heart broke for her more than it was angry.
I had to save her. It was time to do what I did best.
Get angry and save the world.
Chapter Nineteen
There’s no running from your destiny, no matter how hard you try. I’ve learned that the hard way, and I’m still learning it. It’s a lesson that won’t stick. I had let things like a normal life and the idea of a glamorous wedding get in the way, but maybe those things aren’t me.
Maybe I need to accept that.
I’d love nothing more than th
at life, but right now, I have to deal with the life I have. For now, I sit on my bed with my legs crossed and gaze out past the glass of my cage. The lights soften with a warm glow suitable for sleeping. Inside my cage, there’s only one book. A journal, but most of the pages are blank.
I’m surprised when I flip through the lined pages and find a few notes in the middle of the book.
Mom’s memory is wiped again.
Jax has no memory of her or you. Must be from another timeline.
Donovan is dead. My heart is broken.
Trust Rick. He only remembers you as his girlfriend. He doesn’t remember the betrayal. He doesn’t know how much you miss him.
How much I miss him. My heart pangs with grief for the Lara who wrote these notes. Why was she even trying to piece it together, trying to figure out what timeline everyone was from? Just to escape? Was escape even possible?
I flip to the back of the book and the last note stills my heart.
Where is Molly? What is Cameron doing to Molly?
“Molly?” I whisper her name aloud. She’s here?
“She’s not here.”
I glance up at the sound of Rick’s voice. He’s standing in his cell next to mine. I hurry over toward the plane of glass that separates us. “Where is she?”
Rick shakes his head. “No one knows for sure. We see her sometimes, but…Cameron’s experimenting on her. Thinks…says her brain waves are different. Way different. He won’t let you see her for long. We don’t think she’s doing well. Whatever he’s doing to her, well, it isn’t good.”
Cameron wouldn’t get away with this. He could hurt just about anyone, but Molly? She was just a kid.
“How old is she now?”
Rick startles as if the question is strange. “Ten.”
Ten. Still so young…
“I can tell from how you look at me you’re not her. I mean, you are, but you’re not my Lara. You’re one of the Laras with him. Donovan.” Rick sighs. “The rich boy.”
One of the Laras. How many different versions of me had he met?
