by Imogen Rose
“Too much coffee, Kevin?” she asked, eyeing the nearly empty jar.
“Morena, you have to see these emails,” Kevin said, and opened them for Morena to read. “What do you think we should do?”
“I don’t know. Kevin. Do you want me to contact the Elders?”
“I don’t know. I should probably deal with this myself. I can’t get Donna involved with the Elders.”
Morena nodded. “We do need to contact Raj and set up a meeting. We need to make sure that he releases Donna. And we need to make sure that she doesn’t go to the cops.”
“Well, that’s easy,” Kevin said, shrugging in defeat. “This is such a mess.”
“We can do this,” Morena reassured. “We just have to think it through. Raj isn’t going to harm Donna. That would be plain stupid. He’s after the kids. We don’t have them. We do need to let him know that. The question is: Will he flip when he finds out? Would he do Donna harm then?” She closed her eyes to think through the permutations. They had to get Donna first. Goodness knows how Raj would react once he found out about the children. But how–how would they get Donna out of Raj’s house?
“You could go in and rescue her, like Inez did for me,” Kevin suggested.
Morena shook her head. Kevin was obviously not thinking clearly. “Kevin, think about it. First of all, I would need the Elders’ permission to do so. Then, I’d need to explain time travel and Wanderers to Donna. I don’t think that’s wise. We don’t know her at all. There’s no way we can reveal ourselves to her.”
“You are right, of course,” Kevin sighed. “What if I agree to talk to him only if he first releases Donna? Then you’d have to talk to her, convince her not to go to the cops. You’ll have to convince her that we’ll take care of this. Could you do that?”
Morena nodded. “But, what about you? What if he flips? What will you do?”
“I don’t know. The main thing is that all the kids are safe. We have to keep them that way. I’ll do whatever it takes.” He started tapping away at the keyboard, drafting a message for Raj Sen. He looked to Morena for approval once he was done, and hit send when she nodded.
They received a reply five minutes later.
Ok. Come to the house.
Kevin looked up at his house from the driveway where Morena had parked her car. It had never seemed so unwelcoming. He noticed the kitchen blinds twitching and made his way to the front door. Donna opened it and looked at him nervously.
“It’s going to be okay, Donna. My friend Morena is going to take you home,” he said, pointing at Morena’s car. I’ll talk to you soon. Don’t worry about me.”
Donna bit her lip and nodded before running to Morena’s car. Kevin stepped inside and walked into the kitchen. He was a bit overwhelmed when he saw that it wasn’t just Raj waiting for him. Sophie and Dan were there as well. He felt more than intimidated as he sat down on a chair facing them.
“Where are the kids?” Raj spluttered.
“Back home,” Kevin replied.
Raj turned pale, the blood draining from his face.
“Home?” Sophie asked. “Whose home?”
“Their home,” Kevin replied triumphantly.
“How?” Raj whispered hoarsely from his chair. “The portal is not functioning.”
“Think about it, Raj,” Kevin said, not wanting to mention the Wanderers in front of Sophie and Dan. He could see Raj working it out and nodding at him.
“Dan, tie him up,” Raj said unexpectedly, a look of madness coming over him. “Is that how you disappeared from the house?” he yelled at Kevin. “They rescued you?”
“Who?” Sophie and Dan asked in unison.
“Shut up, just shut up! Don’t ask any questions! Just do what I say. Is he tied up good?” Raj shouted hysterically.
Sophie backed up; she’d never seen him so agitated.
Dan nodded.
“Get out then! I’ll call you when I need you.”
Kevin watched them leave hastily. He was all alone with this mad man.
“So, are they coming to rescue you again?” Raj asked, picking up a kitchen knife.
Kevin tried to remain calm. He didn’t want Inez to feel his terror and come to him. It was way too dangerous. “No,” he said simply.
“They better come, and they better come with the blueprints or they won’t see you again. I expect you’re precious to them in some way, since they came for you before. Tell me how? How did you make contact with them?”
Kevin shook his head. He was not going to say any more. His head suddenly flew backwards as Raj pounded his nose with his fist. He could feel his nose swelling up with blood and a stream starting to flow. He knew that Inez would be in the house by now. There was no way she wouldn’t have felt him. He hoped that she wouldn’t do anything silly. There was nothing she could do to help at the moment. She needed to wait. He closed his eyes and concentrated on conveying this to her, hoping that she was receptive. Please do not walk into the kitchen. He repeated it again and again. I will find a way to get to you.
“Put the knife down, Raj,” a voice said from behind him.
Kevin looked up at Erica’s beautiful face. “Erica, don’t. Get out while you can. He’s insane!” Kevin begged.
The knife struck Kevin’s chest before he had a chance to take the next breath. He stumbled forward as Raj pulled the knife back out and glared at Erica. Erica lunged herself at Raj. Inez came rushing into the kitchen. She untied Kevin quickly as Erica continued to wrestle with Raj. Inez saw them stumble out of the kitchen into the hallway, hitting and scratching each other. Then she heard a door slam.
Inez looked down at Kevin’s bloodstained face, crying. Lars appeared and helped put him down gently onto the floor.
“Lars, we can’t transport him back. He’s too hurt. We need to get him to a hospital. Call 911.”
Lars nodded. He went out to the hall to make the call while Inez tried to stop the wounds from bleeding. She held him close until she heard the blood-curling cry from the hallway. She gently laid Kevin’s head back on the floor and rushed out into the hallway. She stopped short as she saw Erica’s lifeless body on the floor. The end of a knife stuck out from her chest. Lars bent over her in despair.
Inez fell to the floor as the rest of the Elders arrived. Kevin was still alive. He would be okay, the Elders would see to that. Erica was gone, though. Inez felt hollow. It was her fault. She had approved this marriage between Erica and Raj. Now he’d killed her. He’d left Simla without a mother–without parents, for Raj would never be allowed near her again. How could she have let this happen? She should have insisted that Erica stay behind, that she let the Elders handle this. She had been weak, a weak leader. It was time for her to step down. She looked up at Constance and extended her thumb. “Constance, it’s time.”
Halloween is my favorite time of year. I’m not sure why, it’s always just been. It’s not like I enjoy the dressing up bit, although I would have to get into that this year. I wouldn’t want to disappoint Kellan, he’d been so enthusiastic about it. I still didn’t know which costumes he’d chosen. He had been annoyingly secretive about it. I just hoped that it wasn’t too trampy. I don’t do tramp. It would be too much to hope that it was our favorite hockey players. Now that would be cool.
It’s great to have Halloween on a Friday, a Friday with no school. It was some sort of training day for the teachers in the district, so we were off–awesome. This was the second time in a row Halloween fell on a Friday for me. I’d already lived through this Halloween in my other life. That still blows my mind. Last time, in the other dimension, I’d dressed up as an ice-hockey player–myself really. It had been comfortable and hassle free. I’d gone trick-or-treating with Monica and Ariele. Simla had been away somewhere and hadn’t been able to come. The evening had been spent skating around at the rink. It was so much fun, trying to knock those girls in their nurse’s outfits off balance. Geez, I hoped that Kellan and I weren’t going as a doctor and nurse! If we were, he was
wearing the nurse’s outfit, that’s for sure.
My cell rang. I was still in bed; it was only ten in the morning.
“You’ll never guess what,” Ariele whispered into the phone in a desperate voice.
“Not until you tell me,” I said impatiently.
“You know how I told you that Ingrid was taking care of our outfits?”
“Yes, you were pleased about that, if I remember correctly.”
“Well, I didn’t know what she had in mind at the time. She just dropped mine off. I’m dying here,” she said dramatically.
“Well, you can’t tell me what it is,” I said firmly. “It’s supposed to be a surprise. Remember?”
“I know, but what am I going to do? I can’t wear this!” she whined.
“Oh, put your big girl pants on and deal with it,” I laughed. How bad could it be! “Remember our last Halloween in Princeton, Ariele?”
“I sure do. It was such a hoot. You dressed up as a hockey player and I was a lacrosse player. Remember those silly girls on the ice?” she laughed, but then suddenly went quiet.
I couldn’t help but snort, I couldn’t wait to see her. It should be a good laugh.
“What time are we meeting up to go trick-or-treating?” she asked, changing the subject.
“We’re meeting at Kellan’s house at five and going from there. The dance starts at eight.”
“Who’s going with us?” she asked.
“Everyone! See you later!”
I lay back down on my bed and thought back to last night. Kellan had stayed over again, for the second night in a row. There had been a lot of commotion during the middle of the night, with Larry dropping Kellan and David off at our place and then disappearing with Mom and Rupert. I had snuck out of my room and made my way to the guest bedroom where David, Kellan and Harry were up, whispering.
“What’s up, guys?” I had whispered in the same low, secretive tone.
“Something big is up,” Harry said. “Larry got Kellan out of his bed and drove to David’s and picked him up. Then he dropped them both here and took off with Mom and Dad. We’ve got no idea what’s going on. They wouldn’t say. They left Grandma in charge again. She’s fast asleep next door. Anyway, go back to bed, Shrimp. We’re going back to sleep as well. Hopefully they’ll be back by morning and we’ll know what’s happening.”
I did go back to bed, but couldn’t get back to sleep again. My mind kept churning out images of Dr. Sen being back, of him having done something awful, but what? I was glad when Kellan snuck through to my room and got under the covers. I put my arms around him and snuggled into his chest.
“I can’t stay long, Shrimp. David fell asleep, so I thought I would come through for a bit, but we can’t get caught.”
I nodded into his chest, kissing him gently as I stroked his skin.
He laughed. “I’m going to have to leave much sooner then I planned if you don’t quit!”
I could feel him starting to move up against me. I put my lips to his and let myself drown in his kiss.
He was gone by the time I woke up in the morning. I lay in bed for a bit longer and wondered why Ella hadn’t woken me up as usual. So I got up and got dressed–Kellan and David could still be around–and then headed off to the kitchen. I heard a lot of commotion coming from the family room, so I peeked in. There was Kellan, David, Harry and Ella going at Guitar Hero. That explained the quiet in the rest of the house. I didn’t disturb them, they hadn’t noticed me, and went through to the kitchen.
“Good morning, Arizona. Did you sleep well?” Grandma asked.
I went over and kissed her. Finally, some alone time with her. Perfect.
“Any idea what’s going on, Grandma?”
“Not really. Something’s happened. I don’t know if Olivia even knows exactly what. I know it’s something to do with Kevin. He’s in some kind of trouble,” she shrugged.
I tensed up. What about Kevin? Wasn’t he still here, safe at Morgana’s house? “What happened to Kevin?”
“I don’t know yet, Arizona, Your mom said that she would call me as soon as they know anything. I’ve tried calling this morning, but there’s no answer. So I expect we just have to wait. Probably best not to mention it to David until we know more.”
I nodded. It had to be something serious. But, there was nothing to do other than wait for them to call us.
“Grandma, can I ask you something?” I asked, taking advantage of the opportunity of having her all to myself for a bit.
“Certainly. What is it, Arizona?”
“How did you get here?”
She looked at me thoughtfully. “Arizona, Olivia did mention that she had a chat with you. Did she explain me to you?”
I shook my head. “No, but then we had so little time. We are going to get back to our chat soon, I hope. We were mainly trying to figure our how I’m suddenly a Stevens again.”
“Do you remember anything from back then? From when you were about eight?” Grandma asked curiously.
I closed my eyes. I had spent so much time avoiding thinking about those times that I literally had forgotten them. And I didn’t want to remember them now. After all, there must have been a reason that I pushed those memories to the very back recesses of my mind. I was happy now, why spoil things? I shook my head at Grandma. “I can only remember the feeling of sadness, of desolation,” I whispered.
She nodded. “That’s what your mom was trying to take you away from. She was already here with Rupert and Harry when the portal was ready for your transport. I wasn’t happy about it at the time. I thought it was totally bizarre and wrong. But, I agreed to go along with it anyway. Especially when your mom told me that I was going to pass on shortly and wouldn’t get the chance to see you and Ella grow in that dimension. So, I agreed to accompany you and Ella through the portal. Larry and Kellan came with us as well. I don’t think Larry trusted me fully,” she smiled. “And now we’ve lived here, comfortable and secure, until now. I don’t know what’s going on and deep down I don’t want to know. I just want things to get back to normal,” she sighed.
“Kellan came through the portal with us?” I gaped.
She nodded. I was gobsmacked. I was sure that he didn’t know. “Were we sedated?” I asked. That was the only explanation I could come up with.
She nodded, looking down at her hands.
“Grandma, I’m thirsty,” came the little voice from the doorway.
I got up to get Ella some water. “Here you go. Do you have your costume ready? You’re coming trick-or-treating with us, aren’t you?”
“Obviously! I hope Mom and Dad are going to be back soon. Grandma, will you help me with my costume if Mom’s not back on time?
“Of course,” she said, as Kellan, David and Harry walked in. The kitchen suddenly seemed much smaller.
“Grub?” Harry said, looking at Kellan and David. Kellan came walking over to me, but Ella grabbed him and said, “Rub my back, Kell?” and threw me a cheeky look.
Kellan guffawed. “Ella, you’re a real little monster. Dressing up as one today?”
“Maybe,” she said, winking at him. “You’ll have to wait and see–patience is a virtue!”
“You don’t even know what that means,” I said, flicking a bit of bacon at her.
“Grandma, we’re going to take off on our bikes for a while, is that okay? Have you heard back from Mom or Dad yet?” Harry asked.
“No, but take off. Be back before lunch. I’ll call you if I hear anything,” she replied.
“Poppet, can I have a quick word?” David suddenly asked.
I looked up at him, surprised. I could feel Kellan tensing up behind me. “Sure, let’s take Gertrude for a walk. See you later, Kellan.”
David and I walked along the dirt path at the back of the house, leaving it to head through the woods. “What’s up, David?” I asked, when we were about five minutes from the house. We’d seen Harry and Kellan leave on their bikes.
David took my hand and pu
lled me down beside him. I felt an instant warmth when he touched me. He bent down and kissed me, ever so gently. I could feel my pulse quicken and I pulled away. “David....”
“I know,” he said. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”
“It wasn’t uncomfortable, just confusing,” I said, taking his hand. I looked at him and wondered if he knew that his dad was in some kind of trouble. He probably didn’t. He wouldn’t be here if he did. I decided not to mention it. He would freak.
“Dad? What about Dad?” he asked, squeezing my hands. “He’s in trouble? How?”
“David, what?” I asked dumbfounded, it was like he was reading my mind.
He nodded. “I can read you. Do you know anything else?”
I shook my head. Read me?
“Poppet, I have to go. I’ll see you later,” he said before he vanished into thin air.
I walked back to the house with Gertrude. I was very worried. I was mostly worried for David. Where had he vanished to? Was he safe? I could feel a hollow pit forming in my stomach. Ella was waiting for me and pulled me along to her room.
“So, what do you think?” she asked pulling an outfit out from her wardrobe. I could only assume it was her Halloween get-up. I tried not to giggle. “What is that exactly?” I wondered, looking at the hideous colors.
“A Goth cheerleader, obviously,” she sighed, rolling her eyes at me.
“Of course. Silly me.”
“Now, I need you to do my makeup. Mom’s not going to be back until later.”
“Mom called?”
“Yes, she spoke to Grandma just before you came back home.”
I rushed down the stairs, nearly tripping over Gertrude who’d fallen asleep on one of the steps.
“Grandma, what did Mom say?”
“It’s not good, Arizona. Olivia, Rupert and Larry are over at Morgana’s house at the moment. Grayson gave them an update.”
“Grayson? Justin’s dad?” I asked puzzled. “What did he say?”
“Not a lot. Kevin’s been badly hurt. He’s in the hospital but he’s going to be fine. There is more though, but she wouldn’t discuss it, I’m guessing in case our phones are tapped. She didn’t even refer to Kevin by his name, she just said he. I assumed it was Kevin she was talking about. Anyway, she asked us to get on with life as usual. She’s going to meet us at Larry’s at five for trick-or-treating.
