by Jill Cooper
He talks about further treatment—medicine—all the things I don’t want to hear. Molly shouldn’t need any of those things. Instead, she should be enjoying her life like a regular kid, but instead she’s more gifted than any of us. Her ability to feel and predict time in the multiverse is powerful.
And apparently dangerous.
Mom thanks the doctor but she can’t stop glancing at me. I know what’s coming and I stand up straighter. Donovan stands to attention, his hand on my neck as if he knows I’m going to need my support. Mom heads over and there’s fury in her eyes that can only be described as a mother bear.
She’s my mother too but I’m not laying in that hospital bed. I grit my teeth to stand up for whatever Mom is going to say. Her finger points at me. “What did you say to her? What did you say that upset her like that?”
Jax puts his hands-on Mom’s shoulders but she shrugs him off. “I need answers and I need them now. Lara, what did you do?”
Her words bite but it’s not her fault. Once I blamed her for all of it, but I’m older and wiser now and I’m ready to take my licks. “She did all the talking. I tried to get her to stop and take a breath but she wouldn’t listen.”
“Of course she didn’t.” Mom’s eyes line with tears. “You’re supposed to protect her. You’re supposed to keep all of this away from her!”
“Mom…” I whisper, but she won’t let me get a word in edge wise.
Her chin quivers and her lips crumble into a frown. “This wasn’t supposed to touch her, Lara.” Mom storms off, leaving all of us behind her in the dust. When she gets to the end of the hall, she puts her arms around waiting Mike and I want to disappear into the wall.
We went to great lengths to keep Mom in the dark about how Molly can manipulate time, but if Dad saw what Molly could do….maybe Mom did too. And now she’s angry and headed into the strongest case of denial I’ve ever seen.
“She didn’t mean what she said,” Donovan whispers as he strokes my neck. He doesn’t flinch when his finger accidentally strokes the port that’s back there—forever embeded in my brain.
I nod. “She might not, but she’s right about a lot of it. I didn’t make Molly what she is, but I set all this on motion from the very beginning.”
Donovan’s eyes crinkle with a serious frown. “I don’t want to see Molly hurt, but I can’t wish any of this away. What if we hadn’t…I’m glad you’re in my life. I’m glad you’re my wife.” He took my hands and we squeeze closer together for a tender kiss.
Wife. Husband. I’m a James now and the joy of being married has been muted by Molly’s injury. For the first time, I let that happiness fill me. “I could never wish us away.”
“What will you do?” Donovan asks. “Are you going to go change this? If you do, I’ll support you, every step of the way.”
His words warm me even though they were unnecessary. Since the last secrets Donovan kept had nearly destroyed us, we put all the cards on the table. Losing all the millions he earned on the stock market has brought us closer together. The last thing I ever questioned was his support and dedication to us.
“I might. First I need to learn more.” The last thing I wanted to do was make any of this worse. The air in the hall trembles and shakes as Cassidy opens the gateway to the bridge somewhere nearby.
Other can’t feel it but Molly and I both can.
I excuse myself and follow the vibration to a lone hallway. Cassidy emerges from an opening shimmering hole. On the other side, is a computer lab where other technicians work at a frantic pace. It causes a rise of panic in my chest I can’t swallow away. Cassidy’s face is drawn down severe.
“Lara,” her hands grip each other, “we have a problem.”
“How bad is it?” Am I going to lose Molly for good? Of all the infinite possibilities what could be worse than that?
“The bridge…The data entries are all blank. We can’t see anything anymore. The only thing I can track is you.”
Chapter Five: Lara James
“Me?” My knees shake and I warble on my feet as if struck.
Cassidy nods. “There’s no other presents or futures. Only this one and when I try to move forward further, I couldn’t. I can hone in on you but nothing else. It’s as if the bridge has been reprogrammed to only care about you.”
A chill moves through my skin like a tidal wave. “Who could do that?”
“Your guess is as good as mine and I’m betting we’re thinking of the same person.”
“Rex?” I whisper his name, as if saying it too loud might bring him running.
Cassidy nods. “I killed him, but he doesn’t exactly stay dead and with a multiverse of options, it could be any version of him.”
“Molly said he was back, but why would he let himself be seen by her? And how would he get onto the bridge with any of us knowing about it? Someone would’ve reported it in.”
Cassidy’s eyes widen. “She’s okay? Awake?”
“She’s awake.” I decide to spare Cassidy the details about what’s happened with Molly. She’ll find out soon enough but now isn’t the time. “They’re trying to keep her stable but her heart’s been beating erratic. I’m scared that someone did something to her. She thinks it’s Rex.”
“What did she say?” Cassidy watches me with intensity. One of her hands on her hip as if she might leap into action at a moment’s notice.
“Most of it wasn’t coherent. She’s experiencing….a lot of timelines at once. She doesn’t seem able to pull them apart and know which is which. To her, they’re all as real as this one.”
Cassidy stares far off and chews on her lip. The anxiety on her face is what I feel in the center of my chest. It’s like I can’t breathe and I have this innate need to protect Molly but I also have to figure out what’s going on. Who better than to watch over my kid sister but her future granddaughter? She might have more at stake than I do.
“What do we do?”
“I’m going back to the wedding. I want to be closer. See whoever this person is and what he did to Molly. If I can catch him and end it now, all the better.”
Cassidy gives me a gentle hug. She’s not big on affection or touch so this is a big step for her. “I’ll watch everyone while you’re gone. Of course, I guess that goes without saying, hopefully we’ll remember none of this when you get back.”
“Except for Molly.” Sadness overtakes me as I say it. I know the burden of remembering a future no one else does. Life in a cage, a glass box, and the infinite hurt that exists when your family has all but given up on you time after time.
But that’s in the past.
It’s time now to save the future. One step at a time.
Chapter Six: Lara James
I remove my veil and place it on a metal cart before continuing down the hall. Delicately I lift the hem of my dress so I can move faster. Picturing the reception from only a few short hours ago, sets the hospital walls in motion. They spin like small whirlpools and pixelate into falling dust. As I reach the wall, I step forward into the past.
So easy, like a reflex that I almost can’t control. Almost.
The reception builds around me block by block. I’m standing by the bar while the other version of me stands with Delilah Chase. The round tables with white and purple daisy centerpieces appear and then my family and friend. Their faces are relaxed even if they are still frozen in time just like everyone else in the room.
Everyone but one.
Molly stands over by the punch bowl and she raises her hand to wave at me. She rushes over to me but I raise my hand to stop her. If I could just carry her out of there unharmed I would, but things aren’t that simple. If Rex is here, he’ll just keep trying. I have to catch him and discover his plan of revenge, whatever it is.
If he’s going to use Molly to get to me than he has to be stopped. Again.
She seems to understand what I’m trying to tell her. She back tracks toward the punch bowl and I hurry behind a pole, hiding myself from just ab
out everyone at the reception as time snaps into place. Time speeds up in an instant from the strings of the violins playing gentle romantic music, to the clinking of silverware on China plates. People talk and they laugh for. What a joyful occasion.
I keep my eyes on Molly as she talks to Mike at the refreshment table. Odd, I don’t remember him being there before. Had he always been there? He walks away and as he does, a new set of footsteps immerge. Slinking back, I keep my eye on a new set of footsteps as a pair of freshly polished Italian loafers come into view.
He steps from the crowd as if magically manifested and heads toward Molly. He adjusts his collar and just as he’s about to reach Molly, I leap forward in time so I appear to skip like a recorded frame on a movie reel. I take her place on the dance floor and my hand shoots out, grabbing the man’s throat.
It jolts him back and he falls to the ground, dropping a white device in his hand that looks like a futuristic taser. I kick it away with my white pumps and gaze down as Rex sneers up at me. “How?”
I pin his arm down with a press from my shoe and resist the urge to dig it in. “Let’s just say it’ll take more than a few parlor tricks for you to pull a fast one on me.”
“Yes.” Rex sneers. “It might take me having an accomplice.”
The hairs on the back of my neck raise up. “What?” I can feel the presence of someone behind me and I spin, my hand up high to defend myself from however might be there. It’s a young man with brown hair and brown eyes and they flash with recognition when our eyes meet.
Everyone around us is frozen as if someone pushes pause on a movie.
“Who are—.” My question is sliced in half as he pushes his hands out toward me and time ripples me backward. The tiles of the floor bounce up, freezing in midair as if there’s no gravity. As I fall backward, I grab one and hurl it at the man’s head, but he deflects it with just a glance of his eye.
Time dust like pixel images swirls around him. I’ve never met someone this gifted with the ability to use time as a weapon. I skid backward and hear Molly call out in a panic. She rushes toward me. Anger colors my cheeks pink. I can’t remember the last time I was caught off guard this badly.
I’m better than this. I need to be.
Rex and this young man stand together gazing at me with equal part amusement and vengeance. “Now, dear, Lara, it’s time for you to pay your dues.”
“Not this time, Rex.” I wipe the corner of my mouth and feel a tinge of blood in my saliva. A moment later, I’m thinking of Donovan as we recite our vows. If I can’t stop Rex now, I’ll just go back further.
And this time, I’ll be prepared.
Rex charges for me and I blink my eyes. Time rushes by and I’m gone in the flash. With time travel, there are an infinite amount of choices and an unending supply of do overs at least that’s what I think before I open my eyes.
I’m wearing an orange jumper and when I try to move, I can’t. Metal handcuffs keep them binded together. It’s a scary realization when it hits me that I’m in a court of law. My mouth falls open as I gaze around behind me looking for a familiar face.
“In the murder of Patricia James, how does the defendant plea?”
Chapter Seven: Cassidy Winters
I wait in the hospital hallway, hovering outside the door to Molly’s room. Soft voices come from inside the room between Jax and Miranda. I feel like a creeper as I listen to their private and intimate moments so I slink a bit further down the hall and take a drink from the water fountain near the nurse’s station. Wiping some stray cold water off my lip, I gaze to my left.
Mike stands, staring at me and I stare back at him. I should say something to him, give my condolences. “Your sister….”
I’m not good at this. I should easily be able to say what I need to but I have to hide my relationship with Molly from everyone, even Mike. They wouldn’t be able to fathom or understand who I really am. It’s bad enough I’m living in the past as it is.
He blinks and points to the fountain. “I just wanted a drink.”
“Oh, right.” I laugh nervously and step out of his way. “Sorry about that. Everything’s just…I want her to get better.”
“Me too.” Mike grips the fountain as he bends down for a drink. When he turns back to me, he studies me. “I’ve seen you around before with Lara and Molly.”
“You have?” His statement catches me off guard and I take a deep breath.
“Yeah, no one really notices me. Not much. I see things. Are you really Doovan’s cousin?”
I open my mouth to give the pat answer, the one I need to give, when Jax and Miranda walk by. I back up away from them as Jax motions for Mike to follow him. “We’re going to get some dinner. We’d like you to be with us, son.”
“Okay, Dad,” Mike says, but as he walks away he gazes back at me. He’s not done with his questions and I’m not ready to answer.
I guess I better get ready and soon.
I’m glad for the chance to sneak into Molly’s room. While Lara’s gone to change the past, I’m the last one who might be able to protect her from Rex, wherever he might be. Being left behind is painful, but watching after her sister is the most important task I could have. My very future depends on it.
She sleeps restfully and her breathing is calm. Any medical danger she was in, seems to have passed. I sit in the chair and watch her. When I grow restless of that, I peel back the curtains and peer outside at the bright sunshine and fluffy cotton ball clouds. It’s a perfect day as any for a wedding celebration.
Poor Lara. Time always just gets in her way.
I stroke Molly’s bangs back and gaze down at her youthful face, the face of my grandmother. I remember the kind woman she was in bits here and there. Rex stole me out of my timeline years ago, but her perfect skin despite her wrinkles, and her joyful smile never really left me, even if everything else did.
Here I am to protect her, like she and everyone else failed to do for me. Not that I blame them, no one knew Rex would come for me. It must’ve been an inconceivable notion.
A knock on the door my attention away. Donovan leans in the doorframe in a relaxed way. "I thought you might want some company.”
I offer him a reserved smile as he steps into the room and I back up. While it was Lara I tried to kill, several times, she’s family. I’m used to her being my crazy old aunt—something she lives up to every day. Donovan, in a timeline he doesn’t remember, I ruined his life by selling him stolen stock information from the future.
“Sure,” isn’t the most welcoming answer, but it’s the only one I’m comfortable with. I remember old Don with the silver hair and the business empire he ran with his sons and his daughter. When I saw him, he was stern, nothing like my crazy aunt.
“How is she?” Donovan asks with deep concern in his voice and I’m reminded that he might not grow into the old man I remember. He gazes down at Molly as if she is his kid sister too, the worry in his eyes palatable.
“Touch and go for a while, but things seem to be calm now. She’s resting comfortably at least.”
“Have the doctors been by?”
I nod. “I was hiding in the hall and couldn’t really hear what they said, but the tone was encouraging. Miranda didn’t cry, so there’s that. I think Molly’s responding to treatment.”
With relief, he sighs. “And Lara? I’m guessing if you’re here, she’s out there. In the past, trying to fix all this.”
“You know Lara, it’s what she does. Hopefully soon, none of us will remember this. We’ll be back at the wedding reception and you’ll be ready to take Lara away on your secret honeymoon.”
Donovan scowls. “We’re not taking a honeymoon. We—.” Suddenly his face lights up. “I was going to take her away for the weekend, wasn’t I?”
That’s how I remember it. "To White Mountains for a short romantic getaway. I promised to keep an eye on your business while you’re out of town. Even I can answer a few phone calls about computers.”
Hi
s eyebrows rise. “Yeah, I remember now. Funny, that I didn’t until just a few moments ago.” He scratches his head. “Must be…stress.”
“Stress,” I agree and glance back at Molly, but something in my gut doesn’t agree. Something in my gut is screaming this is a bad sign of something to come. Did a slight change in memory signal a change to the timeline? The bridge should’ve been able to track these things but if it was down, if it was only following Lara, how would we know when things were in jeopardy or not?
We both turn as we hear footsteps and see Miranda enter with John Crane by her side. They’re holding hands like they are accustomed to doing these days, Lara’s parents back together. Their faces right now are anything but happy. Miranda’s crinkling eyes on the verge of an emotional melt down as they fall onto Molly and then me.
Funny, I thought she was with Jax and Mike?
Miranda does a double take between me and Donovan. “Visitors, at a time like this, Donovan?”
Donovan introduces me with a flourish of his hand. “My cousin, Cassidy Winters."
Her face clears. “I'm sorry. I should have recognized you from the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. Molly talks fondly about you. I'm just a mess right now.” She sighs with exasperation at herself and covers her mouth with a hand.
John is there to massage her shoulders and offers me a wink. He keeps my secret. “No one blames you, Miranda.”
“Certainly not. You have nothing but my condolences. There’s more pressing on your mind than Donovan’s cousin visiting from Tallahsie,” I say.
Donovan coughs into his fist, my explanation taking him off guard. “And how’s the weather there, this time of year?”
“Great. Really nice.” I force a smile.
“I’ll have to visit some time,” Donovan gives me a pointed look and I shrug. Everyone has to have a past, even if it’s something you’re lying about.
Miranda steps past us up to the foot of the bed. Her hand strokes the top of the covers where Molly’s toes are. “Has she stirred?”
