“What? Like planet of the apes when you see the statue of liberty in the sand? Future Earth?”
“Can’t be future Earth it looks too much like our time line.”
“What if it is our time, but not our timeline? What if we are in a dimension that is parallel to ours? For all intense and purpose it is our time just a different dimension.” She raised a brow liking it better than the future earth theory.
“Tara, we watch too much television.”
“I know. Getting rid of the television is on my to do list once we get home.”
“Home. That sounds good.”
“It does, but we have to get there first.”
“What if we are in our world, but with a different time line? Let’s say there are thousand’s if not millions of possible timelines and changing one thing put us in a different line. Our timeline still exists, but the door to it has simply been closed.” Paul took a deep breath before continuing. “Then all we have to do is find a timeline that will allow us to access the door to our timeline.”
“Good plan. How exactly are we going to do that?”
“Jumping out of the pan into the fire.”
“What?”
“Tayrel said he had moved the fight to someplace that gave the demos a fighting chance. So there must be buildings and places to recharge. Why not open a door into a time line of Earth, just not this one. There’s a possibility that we could open a door to our earth and our timeline from there.
She walked over and sat on the bed. It really was a pretty prison. If one had to be held hostage this was the place to be.
“Have you ever thought of not fighting? Giving into the inevitable?” She wasn’t suggesting they quit. It’s just that she would have liked a break.
Moving to sit by her side Paul put his arms around her and held her close. “Does seem like we have seen a lot in a little bit of time. For you though it must feel like you have been fighting forever. Do you want to give in? Just hide until it’s over?”
She rested her head on his chest and simply let the heat of his body warm her. His musky scent was surrounding her and for just a minute she dreamed of a house and a normal life with him. Squashing stupid dreams, she came back to reality.
“No. I just want to rest.”
“I know, but we have to get home first.”
“What about Amanda?”
“We can’t help her if we can’t help ourselves. Beside, even Tayrel said it, Raimel wants you not her. We just have to hope she will be ok.” He said the last part with a smart aleck grin on his face.
Punching him in the shoulder she stood up and started looking for a door in their timeline theory. The search took a while, but finally she stumbled over something they might be able to use.
“I think I found it, but the only way to know for sure is to step through.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Then here we go. Paul tell me what epic line are you dying to say?”
They were standing with an open doorway into a world which was pitch black. There was no way of telling what was on the other side. Gateways to timelines did not work like doorways to worlds. So there was no telling if there was a future on the other side. It was simply a chance they had to take. The worst case scenario, they died. The best case scenario, the world reset itself.
“That one’s easy.” He replied. “I see you.” They walked into the darkness together.
Chapter Thirteen
It had not been an easy transition between timelines, not that she had been expecting one. Yet ending up sprawled on her behind again hadn’t been the plan either. Rubbing her behind, she looked around to see that she was in a room that was filled with boxes. Paul lay next to her getting his bearing’s when they heard a door open.
Two aliens she had never seen walked in. They had skin that was a dark shade of red and seemed to be bald from where she was hiding. They hauled in what looked like an industrial-sized, round container between them, placing it on the far wall.
“Why do we always get the grunt work?” The shorter of the two spoke up.
“Be glad we get the grunt work. From what I hear, things are not going in our favor right now.”
“I thought Tayrel, ah the Godfather captured them, taking them out the battle?”
“He did, but I don’t think it’s making a difference. They are determined to win. Although, we can always pull out our secret weapon.” The taller of the two slapped the other on the back. “Not that it matters we are picking them off one by one. They won’t know what happened when it hits them.”
“So we are on the winning side.”
Laughing the taller one gave the other’s shoulder a punch. “Of course we are, brother. We never back a loser.” There was a sound of a bell and he pulled his communicator out. He frowned when he finished looking around with suspicion.
“They’re gone.”
“Who’s gone?”
“The gateway and the shield. They may be here. We are to go join the search for them.” They struck the container once with hard fists and left.
“We need to go. They are looking for us.” Tara had sighed silently when she watched them leave. She wiped her sweaty palms along the sides of her great pants that she really wanted to get out of right about now. Throwing Paul a casual look she worked on her breathing before he noticed how fast and shallow it was.
“Which means we are safer right here. What we really need to do is check that container.” Paul was staring at the container.
“Why?” She looked over to the container and then back at him. His eyes were fixed on that container as if it had a beacon calling out his name.
“What makes a man hit a container before he goes out on a hunt?”
“Why are you asking me?”
They circled the container looking at it, but not touching it.
“I have seen men and women who had been left for dead in things like trash bags and worse. One thing most had in common was that the perp felt a need to make their already miserable lives worse.”
“Like banging on a metal container if it contained a living body.” Thea replied with a grimace.
“You got it. Let’s open this up.”
They pulled at the lid, but it wouldn’t budge no matter how they pried at it. Sighing in frustration they leaned against the crate. Soon they began a search of the room they were in, noting that they were in a warehouse. Finally they found a couple of crow bars and slowly began to pry the top off.
Inside they found a winged angel? Pulling her out, Paul started CPR. She began to cough after a few minutes. He sat and smiled.
“She will live.” The joy in his voice was enough to make Tara want to stop and stay forever in that minute. She gave herself a small shake to get herself under control.
“That’s great. I hope the rest of us live too.”
“Tara.” He just smiled at her and shook his head.
Leaning over he helped the new arrival sit up. “I am Paul and this is Tara. What is your name?”
She looked over and shook her head. She had screwed up this time. “I am April.”
“Nice to meet you April. I am a doctor, how are you feeling?”
“Much better now that I know I will live.” April gave him a smile before continuing. “Thank you. Paul.”
“Do you know where we are?” Tara asked April wondering what the white wings represented.
“Yes you’re in a time where you no longer exist.” April’s face gave away nothing.
“Exactly what does that mean?” Tara’s voice sounded like she was challenging April. One more unknown thrown into this was not something we need.
“It means you have a chance to help this timeline as well as your actual timeline. The choices you make will effect two worlds.”
Paul looked at Tara they really didn’t need more pressure. “Exactly how do you know this?”
April had the nerve to look a little guilty before she answered. “I am a
ssigned to watch over, Tara.”
“Like my guardian angel? Well let me be the first to say you have failed miserably.” She took a deep breath getting ready for the next part of her tirade, but nothing came out.
“There were some situations I just couldn’t help you with. You had to be allowed to make your own choices. Tayrel, came as a surprise. He wasn’t expected to make a play so soon. So I am here, getting caught, which was not in the plan, but necessary in order to get close to you.”
“Well you’re next to me. What now?”
A hologram appeared in the air of a young teenager. She had what had to be the deepest green eyes Tara had ever seen, pale skin and long black hair.
“Who is she?” Paul asked staring at the picture.
“She’s your mission.” April answered encouraging them to look closer as she pointed to the picture.
“What happened to the mission of getting home alive?” Tara tried to retreat from the image. Now she wasn’t just hope in her timeline, but she needed to be hope in another timeline. Was she whining? No. She just didn’t know how to handle all of this.
“There’s more to life than safety. Eventually you will learn that. If she dies this world dies.” April’s voice came out hard.
“Where is she? How do we save her?” Paul came between them.
“I can’t help you with that one Paul. I will say this, the answer is in Tara’s past. Good luck.” With a smile April disappeared. No gateway needed.
“Tara.”
“No, don’t Tara me.” She started to pace back and forth feeling the tirade that should have come earlier about to explode now. “Some angel chick just shows up and says she’s my guardian angel. No apology for the hell I have lived through. No wish I could have helped more. On top of that, no here’s some magic fairy dust to pop yourselves home. No she couldn’t say that.”
She stopped pacing and just stood there with her eyes closed. She knew she was rambling and making no real sense. Yet she understood. It was a deep frustration of feeling like her life wasn’t her own. That she had somehow been targeted at birth, labeled the omega. She was tired of it. That’s where her initial death wish came from. That’s where her running originated. She had simply become tired of being someone else’s patsy. Maybe it was time to change her life around.
She smiled at him giving him an, I am really not mental look. “So we go save a teen with amazing green eyes?”
“Are you sure you’re up to it?”
“Yeah.”
“So where do we start? She said to look to your past.”
Tara didn’t know the answer to that, but she did know how to get home. “The gateway is downtown, top of the triangle.”
“How do you know that?”
“I felt it immediately after we arrived.” It was like she was attuned to it. She could feel in in her body. The location of every gateway or doorway within about a hundred miles resonated in her body. She had also figured out the difference between a gateway and a doorway. A gateway took you to a different timeline. A doorway took you to a different place within the same timeline.
She started pacing again. What did she mean look to my past? She had lived all over the city and spent all her time roaming the city. This teen could be any one. Why would she know a teen? Any friends she had would be around her age. When was the last time she had friends? Real friends the kind you laugh with.
“We’re going to the Hill.” Tara’s voice was a shock in the silent room.
“The Hill? Why?”
“I grew up there. Spent a lot of time there. That’s where my friends were before I ran. More importantly I would go back there even after I ran. If there was a teen who knew me I bet it was through one of my friends.” She smiled feeling almost as if she could be in charge.
“Next question. Where are we are in relation to the hill?”
“I took a good look outside earlier. I think we are on Centre. Down the hill to get to town and up the hill to get to the Hill District.”
“After you.”
Getting out the building was no problem since it was empty. The streets on the other hand were crawling with demos and other life forms. She tried for a fast doorway up the street, but everything was locked up tight. They would have to do this the old fashioned way.
Paul took lead putting his finger to his lips as he slipped out of the building and quickly hid behind a dumpster. She waited until a demos passed and then did the same. The area was not built up the way it was in her time line. The streets were littered with garbage. There were big dumpsters lining the streets, yet the trash lay on the ground. There were metal looking boxes all around looking, like someone may live in them.
Moving slowly, they stayed in the shadows thankful for the night. They made their way up the street and finally ran out of material to blend in with. They were looking at freedom corner. Tara wiped her eyes because it was becoming obvious there was no freedom in this world.
“How much further?”
“Six, eight, ten blocks. It’s hard to tell.” Tara squinted looking up the hill then shrugged her shoulders.
“We’re going to have to make a run for it.” Paul grabbed her hand squeezed.
“Hope these boots hold up.” Tara threw him a smile.
Paul started out at a slow jog, trying to blend in with the night as much as possible. They ran for a block without anyone noticing them before they heard the first shout.
“Stop identify yourselves.”
They kept running as if nothing was wrong.
“Last warning. Stop now!” She knew the stranger had a weapon from the confident sound of his voice. One heartbeat later it was being fired at them, going just above their heads as a warning.
They took off running leaving the relative ease of the roads to veer off into the overgrowth that seemed to be everywhere. They could hear shouts of capture them in the background as they ran faster.
They ran for what felt like hours but Tara knew it had only been around thirty minutes, but she was tiring fast.
“Paul, I need to rest.”
“We need to keep moving.”
“If I keep moving I am going to pass out.”
“If we stop we will have to fight.”
“Because if we run they won’t catch us?” The exasperation in her voice seemed to get his attention. He came to an abrupt halt, Tara was thankful for that. Her legs felt like they wanted to cramp and she was breathing hard.
“We have to keep moving.” Paul took off walking at a fast pace, but it was still slower than the run had been.
“I know, but at least we are walking now.”
They walked, trying not to jump at every sound they heard. Tara ,took the lead. She was the most familiar with the terrain. They came up to what she assumed was their equivalent of a fence with a guard tower about fifty feet down.
“That shouldn’t be there.”
“The Demos shouldn’t be here, but they are.”
Signing she shook her head. Paul was right. Why should a fence and a guard tower surprise her? This world had been taken over by things that went bump in the night. Was there really any hope for them? She cringed at the word hope since she seemed to personalize the emotion.
“Which way now?” Paul whispered, before they heard a branch snap.
Turning, they were facing Raimel, her own personal nightmare. He almost looked happy. Her life was now forfeit. She was sure of that. There was no way he was taking her back to Tayrel. She would end up an unfortunate causality in a war she had been drafted into. Life was so not fair. The only question left to wonder was if her death would be enough to reset the board. She wasn’t going to live long enough to find out.
“Raimel, so nice to see you. How have you been?” Tara’s voice was sugary sweet hoping that catching more flies with sugar was true.
“Much better now that I have found you.” The look he sent her way was triumphant. His lips were turned up in a smile and Tara almost thought she saw both joy and hope i
n his eyes. Shaking her head she desperately looked for a way out.
“I guess you will be calling Tayrel and collecting a big reward for our return?” She tried to plant a thought in his head, but had no faith it would work.
“The shield will have a big reward, but you will not make it back. You understand right? It’s personal.”
“Of course it is. How, I wonder, did you of all people end up finding us?”
“I know you. While everyone is waiting for you at the triangle I knew you would try and help the world. You’re such a bleeding heart. If you’re looking for your doppelganger she died a long time ago.”
“Is that why this world was overtaken with Demos because she was not here to fight?”
“Partially. Without hope the humans began to give up.”
“Partially? What else happened? What could explain this?” She swept her arm out to indicate what could almost be a police state. This was the kind of thing that only happened in horror films. Not in real life. Closing her eyes briefly she considered clicking her heels three times, then remembered that only worked in movies.
“The will to fight seemed to leave the humans. They offered no resistance. It was such an unexpected bonus. No hope, no will to survive, they were all ours for the taking.” Raimel looked detached, this bothered Tara more than the look of Joy she had seen earlier.
“If you have this timeline why do you want mine?” Tara asked more to keep him talking than to hear anything he had to say. She was running out of time and needed a plan.
Raimel pulled out a deadly looking sword. Deadly, yet beautiful. One swing would remove her head from her body. If he did it right, it might almost be painless.
“What glory is there in an adversary that does not fight back? What tales of greatness to pass on if the battle was never a real one? A people who will not defend what is there’s do not deserve to live. We will destroy this timeline and then we will dominate yours.”
The whole time he had been talking, she had slowly been trying to move away. Putting space not only between herself and the fence, but between her and him. Maybe she might make an escape, even if it was limited before he swung.
Hope (Other World Protection Agency Book 1) Page 10
