"That's all that we have on him for now, guys. You should all keep a lookout for him, especially Chloe, he seems to be trying to get in contact with her specifically. He's turned up at both places where he knew she was, the bank and the funeral. Let her know and make sure she memorizes his face." said Carson. "We will, you all keep your eyes peeled too, and then come back soon, it's almost the 9th, so we need to be ready for the reset, today is the 7th." said Dad. That made me nervous, I wasn't ready for that day to happen again yet. "Okay, we will do one more sweep around Auntie's house and then we will head back, see you soon." I told them, and we turned off the Screen.
Nothing happened over at Auntie's house again, and the cats were fine, I called Mom to make sure that she would feed and water them while we were gone again, and she said no problem. "Kat thinks that Auntie is dead now, so she won't be by anymore I don't think." I explained. I got back to our house and told them that everything was fine there. "Okay, looks like it's time to head back, let's get ready to go." said Callie. I went to get the links and clip out of the safe and I switched the date to July 7th 10:00 AM. I forgot to ask them what time it was over there, so I just picked a time, hopefully it was late enough and we wouldn't startle them with our appearance. We all dropped our meds and then sat down in our spots and Callie changed the links to 2045. "Ready?" I said. "Ready, let's go." said Carson, as he clicked the link and sent us away, back into oblivion. It was time to finish this.
CHAPTER THIRTY
We landed back on the couch and nobody was home. "I wonder where everybody is?" I asked. "Who knows, they'll be home soon though. Chloe is probably already with Alyssa. Maybe they're next door." said Callie, getting up to walk the few feet across the sideyard to the other house. "July 7th, I am sure not ready for the 9th, after what Callie and Allie told me about the past fighting them, it's going to be tough." said Carson. "You're right, I'm not ready either, but we gotta do it." I said, sadly.
Callie came back in the house with Allie and Carson trailing behind her. "Got them, they were over there." she hollered, walking inside. "Hello Harmons, welcome back." said Dad, and me and Carson looked at each other and busted out into fits of giggles. "What?" said Dad. "Nothing, Dad, thanks." I said, wiping my eyes. We all sat down and caught back up. 10:00 AM was an okay time to turn up, we had talked to everybody on the Screen at 8:30 AM, everybody remembered what was going on, and nothing reset in Dad and Auntie's brains with our arrival.
We decided that we would all spend the day out and about, driving around, just to make our presense known everywhere. We wanted the mystery man to find us, or Ugly Don and The Scot. We thought about going to the bank, to try to draw the mystery man out, but in the past, it had been weeks before that we had gone there. We started swapping out the links right after that, and we did that for a few weeks before the shooting actually happened.
"Everybody just drive around and we will see if we are being tailed by anyone, at least maybe we can know, right?" said Dad. "Right, we can go in twos." I said. "I'll have to go with Chloe though, because the two of you need to be together, for this to work I think." I said, nodding toward Auntie and Dad. "Okay. I'll tell her to come back." said Dad, switching through his Contacts to call her. "She's coming back now, she will be here in ten." he said.
Chloe popped up ten minutes later. "Welcome back, what's up?" she said, sitting down next to me. "We're going riding around, we will ride together, so the other two can be together while they ride. We're trying to see if we can draw out Ugly Don and The Scot or the mystery man." I explained. She missed our call from the future earlier, so we gave her the run down of the mystery man. "Do you recognize him, Chloe?" asked Dad. "Maybe, I feel like I've seen him somewhere before, but I can't place him." she said. "Same." said Dad. "Well, let's go driving then." said Carson. "You look freaking weird." said Chloe. "I know, hush. It'll grow back damnit." he said. We all laughed, Poor Carson.
We spent the whole day driving around, nobody tailed us. I turned on the rear Snap in the car and Chloe kept her eyes on the mirrors but neither of us spotted anything out of the ordinary. We called everybody else from the car but they said the same thing, nothing strange and no sign of any of our friends. We all finally gave up and went home by 10:00 PM. "I had a feeling it would be like this." said Callie, and Auntie nodded in agreement. "We went through and did all kinds of shit back in the day, put up fire alarms and turned off the power to the house, but something different still happened, no matter how prepared we thought we were. I think we will just have to wait for the actual day." said Aunt Allie. "I think so too." said Callie.
Everybody went to bed late and woke up early on the 8th, nobody looked rested, we were all worried for what was going to actually go down the next day. The whole family decided to stay together until whatever was going to happen, actually happened. "Nobody needs to be asleep by themselves or in another house, we all need to be together to face this shit head-on." said Carson. Everybody nodded in agreement.
"I think we need to drive around again tomorrow, Chloe can tail Callie and Carson and I can tail Auntie and Dad. If something is going to happen, it's going to be tomorrow. That's our time to find these people, no matter how scary the day is." I said. They might mistake Callie and Carson for Auntie and Dad. The dye had finally washed out of their hair and thanks to the hair growth thingies, Carson's beard was grown out enough to make him resemble Dad again. "The four of you can dress alike, just in case they decide to tail the younger ones." I said. "Good plan." said Dad.
Nobody slept that night, we were too high-strung. We just sat together on the couches and waited for that inevitable date to appear. The clock on the mantel dinged. "DING! DING! DING!..." until it dinged 12 times. "Well, it's here." I said, very scared. "Here we go. We have 24 hours." said Callie and Carson. Auntie and Dad were trying to keep on their game faces, but they were scared, you could tell. "I can't believe that we are doing this shit again." said Auntie. "I know, it's the worst." said Callie.
Nothing happened and we saw the sun start to rise in the distance, through the backyard window. Birds were chirping happily and I knew that it was going to be a nice day, I remembered from the first time around. "This waiting is HORRIBLE!" I said. Chloe nodded next to me. "We know." said Callie. "Something always has to happen on the nicest days too, I remember the day that our family died, it was such a beautiful day." said Auntie. "Everybody go put your Contacts in, and let's load up." said Dad.
"We have to drive around all day, we have to find these people." said Carson, as we all got up to get the Contacts out of the ElectroFluid. "Full charge, should last a while." I said, slipping them into my eyes, Chloe doing the same. "So, you follow Callie and Carson but keep the Contacts on with me, that way we can know if anything happens to anybody. They will have their Contacts on with their Others as well." I said and she nodded. "I'm super scared." she said. "Me too, Twin." I said, giving her a hug.
Everybody loaded up into their separate cars. Auntie and Dad were going to be taking her own personal car, Callie and Carson were in the white rental because it looked similar to Auntie's car, and then me and Chloe each took one of the other two rentals. "Stay behind them, wherever they go." I said to Chloe over the Contacts. "Okay, Twin." she said, nodding in the driver's seat. I would miss having a twin when this was over and done with, it was interesting. "If something happens to Auntie and Dad, God forbid, I'm doing the reset immediately. Auntie hung around until the end of the year, but since I have the clip, I don't have to, I will just tap the links together and go. They're already preset and one is in each pocket ready to go." I told her. "Okay, good, just get out of here if something happens." she said.
I watched with dread as all of the cars pulled out of the driveways and we started to go. I made sure to stay far enough back from Auntie and Dad that I wasn't on their ass the whole time, and I would be able to keep an eye on the other cars and drivers on the road. We drove for hours, and still, nothing was out of the ordinary. "Nothing, Twin?" I asked. "Nope, all
is well." she replied. It didn't sound very good to me, I knew that the past was lurking around the corner somewhere. It was nighttime whenever the shooting happened, so I knew that once the night fell, something was going to go down.
The sun finally started to drop in the sky and the clouds turned a lovely cotton candy pink. "The suns going down, it's almost time." I said to Chloe over the Contacts. "I think I might have nervous gas like Auntie." she said, and I laughed. "Gross, Twin. POOT!" I said, trying to lighten the mood. It made her laugh. "I'm not going to lie, I think I might have nervous gas like Auntie too." I said, and she laughed harder. We were losing it a little bit. "Anything yet?" I asked. "No, still nothing." she replied. "Here either." I said.
I saw Dad and Auntie merge onto the highway, going toward a town that was a little further north from where we lived. I merged on too, and traffic was pretty light, it was after rush hour at least. The sky had gone completely dark by the time we entered the freeway, and still, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. We sped up, the speed limit was 75, so we kept a nice speed as we drove the straight line toward the next town. I looked at the cars near us, and didn't think that I could see anything. I didn't want to switch to night vision because of the headlights on the opposite side, so I changed the contrast a bit, so I could at least see the drivers' faces as they passed us.
Suddenly, on my left, I spotted something. "CHLOE! I see them!" I screamed. "WHO!" she screamed back, scared. "Ugly Don and The Scot! They're in the left-hand lane, right here next to me! They didn't notice me though, they're going for Auntie and Dad!" I screamed. "OH MY GOD!" she screamed back. I sped up, I had to get to Auntie and Dad to warn them, but Ugly Don and The Scot picked up speed at the same time. I prayed that someone was paying attention in their car, and that they would spot the car speeding toward them. I drove frantically and flashed my lights a bunch of times, if they were watching their backs, they would notice my erratic driving. They noticed, and they sped up even faster.
Ugly Don and The Scot were almost neck and neck with them. We were going almost 100 MPH now, and there were no other cars nearby. I tried to look at their car as I was driving, but we were going so fast, I couldn't make much out. Auntie and Dad had to get away, and I watched as they picked up speed even more. Suddenly, I saw The Scot in the passenger seat, pull out a gun and aim it through the window, right at Dad in the driver's seat. I screamed, which made Chloe scream on the other line. Dad hit the brakes to slow down, and the car skidded and hopped. That's when he lost control. I screamed and hit my brakes too, trying to keep control of my own vehicle while I watched in slow motion as Auntie and Dad's car skidded and slid all over the road.
I was crying, I could feel the hot wetness of tears on my cheeks as I watched the car squeal, tires smoking, and hit the guardrail. They were on an overpass, just over a bayou. The car squealed and lurched and I finally came to a halt on the shoulder of the road. That's when I saw the hood smash and crumple against the rail, then it bounced and the guardrail groaned and the metal tore. They were flying through the air in slow motion, straight through the destroyed railing and toward the rain-deepened waters of the bayou down below. I screamed again, and jumped out of my car to run for the mangled guardrail, I had to see what happened. "They have to get out!" I screamed. Chloe was crying on the other line.
The car was upside-down in the water. Huge bubbles were appearing and popping all around the car. I could barely see anything in the dark and I hurried to turn on my night-vision, I had to see if they got out. I max-zoomed and saw nothing, just bubbles and the car slowly disappearing into the murky brown waters of the bayou. I checked the banks of the bayou, to see if anybody was swimming, and I saw nothing. "NO!" I screamed and I could hear Chloe crying on the call. Nobody appeared on the banks and nobody swam free from the fast-sinking vehicle. All I could see was the trunk and the taillights now, and it was falling faster and faster into the water. I looked all around the highway, but Ugly Don and The Scot were long gone. "I'm going, Chloe." I cried, over the call. "GO!" she screamed.
I got into my car and drove as quickly as I could back to the house. I couldn't leave from the middle of the highway, otherwise I'd have to walk or wait for a cab to come and pick me up in my own timeline. I finally screeched into the driveway, tears in my eyes and I ran for the front door. I got into the house and sat on the couch, then I reached into my pockets to remove the links. The clip was already firmly attached to my shirt, but since I was returning to my original timeline, I didn't have to set a date, I just had to click away. I didn't even think about it, I just held my hands out, blinking away the tears, and tapped the links together, disappearing back to the near future once again.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
I landed with a "THUD" onto the couch. I looked around and the house was a wreck again. "We are going to be here by tomorrow, so I have to get back out of here and reset everything by then." I thought to myself. I couldn't have the Others popping in for a visit and seeing me already here. I looked at the clock and it was 2:00 AM. "Right on time." I thought to myself. Now I had double the memories of my family dying, and it was horrible. I got up to snap the Screen on because I wanted to check the news. Even though they were dead again, I wanted to see if it had really changed in the future. The news would say if they found them shot in the parking garage, and a car upside-down in the bayou would definitely be on there.
I flicked through the different feeds until I landed on a news broadcast. "... there have been no survivors recovered at this time, but authorities continue their relentless search of the bayou." said the anchorwoman. The same view of the bayou that I had just left was on the Screen. I kept watching for 30 minutes, just to see if there was a story about Auntie and Dad on the news being found dead in a parking garage, but there was nothing, only the car in the water. "At least SOMETHING changed." I said out loud to myself. I flicked off the news feed and sat back down. "Time to go back and try this again." I thought, sadly.
I decided to go back after we talked to everyone on the Screen at 8:30 AM on the 7th, we reappeared from the future at 10:00 AM, so I was going to return at 8:45 AM. I set the links and the clip and took a few breaths. I'd only had to do one reset so far and I was already sick of it. Aunt Allie and Callie had to do like, 4 or 5 resets, each one getting worse. I wasn't ready to do that, and I hoped that maybe we would find a way to stop it. "What else could happen?" I thought, sadly. I attached the links, double-checked the date and time, and then clicked back to the past. "Time to try again." I thought, as I disappeared into nothingness again.
I arrived back on the couch with a "THUNK" and looked around. Nobody was home. "Chloe must have gone to Mom's really early this morning." I thought. I knew where Dad and Auntie were, so I wanted to go and see them right away. I ran out the front door and through the sideyard to Auntie's house and walked right in. "HELLO!" I called out. "HELLO!" said Dad. "Chloe?" he asked. "No, it's Zoey." I explained. "Zoey? Where's Callie and Carson?" Auntie asked. "They'll be here at 10:00, I'm not that Zoey." I said. They looked at me like I was nuts and Dad said, "What?" "What do you mean, you're not THAT Zoey?" asked Auntie. I sat down and explained the situation. "Oh shit." said Auntie, shaking her head. "So now, we've drowned?" asked Dad, and I nodded. "This is that bullshit." said Auntie.
"I got it all on my Snap through the Contacts, if you want to see, I can reverse back, I would think that the feed would still be there, right?" I asked. "Who knows, I guess we could check, those electronics are weird, how they still work through space and time. Let me call Chloe and tell her to come home." said Dad, getting up to make the call. He reappeared a couple of minutes later. "She's on her way. I didn't tell her anything yet, we will tell her when we are all together." he said.
We all got up and went back next door, to wait for the Others. "There's going to be another me!" I realized. "She's going to come back with Callie and Carson. Oh, that's going to be freaking weird!" I said. They thought about it and Auntie said, "You're right! That is going to be weird
. If you have to do more resets, how many versions of you will there be?" she said. "I don't know, let's hope that we don't have to do anymore." I said. Chloe walked in shortly after and said, "Hey, what's up?" and then sat down next to me. "Hey Twin, get ready, there's about to be a surprise." I said. "What?" she said. "Everybody get up and wait in front of the Screen, they'll be here in one minute." I said, and we all got up and stood up to face the couch. "What's going on here?" said Chloe, and I held my finger up for her to wait.
Suddenly, the Others appeared with a pop and a bounce onto the couch where we were just sitting, but it was only Callie and Carson, Zoey wasn't there. "What in the HELL!" I said, looking around. Callie and Carson jumped up and looked around too, then looked at me and Chloe, standing there waiting for them. "What is going on? How in the hell did you get way over there?" asked Callie, confused.
I was confused too, I thought that another Zoey was going to be arriving with them, like before, but she didn't show up. "Is that the surprise? No you?" asked Chloe. "Never mind the surprise. I guess she is stuck in her original timeline now, since I'm the traveler, I am here and she is living life normally." I said, shaking my head. "This shit is confusing, what are you talking about?" asked Carson. "I'm not the Zoey that you just left, I'm from the future, but I had to do a reset, so I'm back here on this day, to start over again." I explained.
"A reset? Already? SHIT!" said Callie. "What happened?" asked Carson. We all sat down on the couch and I stood in front of the Screen to pull up my feed. "I got it all on the Contacts, are you sure that y'all want to see?" I asked. Everybody nodded. "Okay, this was what happened." I said, and I flicked my hand to reverse the feed back to when we entered the freeway. They watched in horror as I noticed Ugly Don and The Scot driving next to me. Chloe screamed whenever the car flew through the railing. Auntie and Dad sat there in silence, watching the whole thing unfold. "How horrible, to have to watch your own death." I thought, sadly. Chloe started to cry when she saw the car sinking and bubbling in the water, after that, I stopped the feed.
CLIPPED: Another Time Travel Tale (The Harmon Family Adventure Series Book 2) Page 18
