Adventures of Alexis Davenport Series

by West, Shay

  Drifter knew that if the body he inhabited died before he could reach a mirror, his spirit would be unable to return to his body. He was trained for battle and did not often feel fear but the thought of his soul wandering in some limbo for all eternity gave him chills.

  I need to tell Master of this.

  Drifter dressed quickly and went to Master’s quarters. He would be sleeping but would want to be awakened for this bit of news. Drifter knocked and waited patiently until the order to enter was given.

  The room was dark as always. Master sat in his usual chair, head shrouded in darkness. He did not have a cigar at this early hour.

  “You have news?”

  “Something happened. An old slave woman thwarted my plan. She claimed she could sense I was there, waiting to stab Jefferson Davis. I escaped their futile attempts to imprison me and questioned the lady. I even resorted to breaking one of her fingers but she only told me the same thing; that she could sense my intentions.”

  “And did you believe her?”

  Drifter answered without hesitation. “No. I can’t explain it. There was something more to her, I could feel it.”

  “Anything else to report?”

  “As I was finishing off the old lady, someone came in and shot me. I barely got away.”

  “I see.” The voice sounded angry.

  “You said you had a theory. What is happening?” Drifter waited so long for a reply he feared he might have overstepped his bounds. However, he was the one putting his life on the line and he thought Master owed him some answers.

  “Surely you have guessed? The woman is probably a traveler too.”

  “I thought you said that without Masters to train them, these other travelers wouldn’t be able to figure out how to use their gifts.”

  “Legend has it that there are travelers born that have extraordinary abilities. They can travel without the use of a mirror if need be. They are knowledgeable about history. It is this gift that enables them to preserve the time line.”

  “Sounds like they are more than a match for me.” Drifter was angry that he had never been given this information.

  Master snorted. “Nonsense. Most of these travelers are not aware of their full abilities and have no one to train them. Masters are in short supply.” He chuckled.

  “Do you think this old woman was a traveler?”

  “It is possible. However, it is highly unlikely. The old woman was probably just lucky.”

  “But there is the possibility. Why wasn’t I told about this? I could have taken steps to be even more careful about my tampering.” Drifter tried to keep the anger from his voice.

  “Temper, temper. I tell you what you need to know when you need to know it.” Master’s voice was so low that Drifter could barely hear him but he felt the power and authority as though Master had shouted.

  “What do we do now?”

  “You say you killed this woman? Are you certain she is dead?”

  “I am not certain. I was shot and had to jump out of the window. She had a bad heart and suffered an attack while I was suffocating her. If she did not die right then, she surely did not live long.”

  “Good, good.” Master steepled his hands beneath his chin. “We must make certain she is dead. You will make as many trips as are necessary to determine if she arrives to stop you. If you are able to make a minor change, then we will know she is dead and will no longer be a threat to us.”

  “What if she isn’t dead? And if she is, will another take her place? How many of these people are out there in the world?” Drifter wasn’t about to travel again without as much information as he could get.

  “There will always be time protectors. I don’t know exactly how many there are. So it is possible that either the same woman, or someone new will be there to stop you on your next trip. If she isn’t dead, then you will have to hope she hasn’t figured out the full extent of her abilities.”

  CHAPTER 46

  ALEX CAUGHT HERSELF before she fell to the ground. Her body felt as though it belonged to someone else. The muscles did not want to cooperate and the pins and needles were painful. Alex hissed through her teeth, trying to be quiet. She did not want her mother to come in and see her like this. It would be difficult to explain why she was lying on the bathroom floor with whole-body muscle spasms.

  She lay quietly on the cold linoleum and let the discomfort wash over her. Her thoughts raced. I made it back! I really did it. She smiled and tears of relief trickled down her cheeks. Alex wished it were morning so she could call Jennifer. There was so much to tell her.

  I wonder what time it is.

  Alex forced her body to stand, even though it wanted nothing more than to lie on the floor. She groaned softly as the pins and needles prickled her leg muscles. The feeling was a welcome one. It meant she was very much alive.

  Alex stumbled to her room to check the time on the clock. She remembered the clock in her room had read around a quarter to four when she had gotten up.

  The clock now read 4:23.

  This trip took much longer. Alex bit her lip. She wondered what would have happened if her mother had gotten up to use the restroom and found her daughter standing in front of the mirror, lifeless and cold. If she would have called paramedics and they had taken me away, I would never have been able to find my way back.

  Her heart hammered and she sat down on the edge of her bed. She was shivering and sweating. The reality of her strange gift was setting in. She could easily be lost forever.

  Her eyes were grainy and heavy but she was not sure she could sleep. She lay in bed, going over all of the events in her head. Now that she was back, she was sure if the man tried his tampering again she would be called back to stop him. Alex put her arm over her eyes, trying to stop her racing thoughts. The thought of the strange man terrified her. As did the prospect of traveling again. The possibility of being killed was very real now. The “cool” factor was wearing off and Alex wanted this to stop.

  For good.

  The evil man thinks I’m dead. Maybe I can use that to my advantage. I wish it was morning already! Alex wanted desperately to call Jennifer. She was glad she had someone to talk to about this strange stuff. If she had to cope with all of this alone, she didn’t think she could handle it.

  Thoughts of Jennifer made her remember what happened at the Pizza Hut and her mouth went dry. The thought of having to face Beau and Catelyn at school made her want to pack everything she owned and run away. Her anxiety swelled and her heart raced, so much so that she feared she would vomit. The fear of what happened to Agy and Jefferson Davis mingled with rage and humiliation at what Beau had done to her. Alex wondered how she was going to deal with these trips through time and evade the attentions of Beau Johnson and Catelyn Montgomery.

  CHAPTER 47

  WHEN THE ALARM went off, Alex wondered what in the world an alarm clock was doing in 19th century America. She sat up, exhausted and disoriented.

  Everything’s fine. Get a grip.

  Alex turned off her alarm and winced when she moved her fingers. She stared at her hand, her pinky finger swollen and purple. That’s the same finger he broke!

  She hurriedly took a shower and threw on a new pair of jeans and shirt she got the week before. She grabbed a cereal bar and ate it on the way to the bus stop. Alex felt a little guilty not saying good-bye to her mom, but she needed some time to process all of the things that had happened to her. Her emotions jumbled all together and she felt either on the verge of crying or laughing hysterically. Or both. She knew her mother would know something was wrong and she would pester Alex, trying to get her to fess up. That was something she just couldn’t deal with right now.

  There was about fifteen minutes until the start of first period. Alex hoped Jennifer had gotten to school already. It wasn’t a lot of time to talk but it was enough to give Jennifer the basics of what happened. She hurried to her locker and stopped short, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

  Someone had
taped a nude photo on her locker. Several students nearby were whispering and snickering, giving Alex dirty looks. The picture was of a very buxom woman, with her legs spread in a lascivious way and her hands cupping her large breasts.

  The face on the woman was Alex’s.

  Alex reached out with numb fingers. She wished she were back in the Civil War south rather than standing here right now. She pulled the picture off and crumpled it. With tears of embarrassment flooding her eyes, she fumbled with her locker and took out the books she would need for the morning.

  She ran to the girl’s restroom, the laughter of the students in the hall following her. Alex pushed the door shut hard and sat on the toilet. She tried to stop her shaking and tears before the start of first period. Alex thought she knew who had left the photo on her locker. Maybe I can just skip first period. Or better yet, all of high school. Alex wondered for the hundredth time what she could have possibly done to earn the wrath of Catelyn Montgomery. I wish I had never come to this school! Maybe I can transfer.

  Alex sniffed loudly. If she really went to a different school she would never have met her friends. Until she could drive herself, transferring was out of the question. Alex knew she would have to find a way to deal with the bitchy Catelyn on her own.

  She hurriedly tried to wash her face and make herself presentable. Her cheeks and eyes were red and puffy. There was nothing she could do about it. It was obvious she had been crying. Alex did not want to face Catelyn and Beau in first period. If it wasn’t for her fear of getting grounded, she would have gladly skipped and sat in the library.

  You have to go to class. Mom will be pissed if you don’t. Alex hated this logical part of her mind. It kept her from getting into too much trouble so it wasn’t all bad, but there were times when she wished the voice would shut up.

  Alex steeled her nerves and tried to quiet the butterflies in her stomach. She grabbed her backpack and left the rest-room just as the first period bell rang.

  “Alex! Hey...what’s wrong?” Jennifer asked as she saw Alex’s face.

  “Someone left a photo on my locker. It was a naked woman but she had my face.”

  Jennifer glared down the hall toward Alex’s locker. “Yeah, and I bet I know who that someone was. Are you gonna be ok to go to class? I’ll skip with you if you want.” Jennifer looked nervous at her last statement. Her mother was also a stickler for the rules and insisted on Jennifer going to each class every day. She’d be in big trouble if she were to get caught ditching.

  Alex smiled gratefully, glad that her friend had made the offer. “I’ll have to face her sooner or later. Might as well get it over with.”

  “Is your mom still coming to get us after rehearsal tomorrow night?”

  “I’ll text her and remind her at lunch. I left without saying good-bye.” Alex grabbed Jennifer before she entered the classroom. She couldn’t believe she had almost forgotten about her adventures in the American South. “Oh, my God! We need to talk over lunch.”

  Jennifer met Alex’s hazel eyes with her brown ones wide with excitement. “Did you travel again?”

  “Yes, and something terrible happened.”

  “Planning on coming to class girls?” Miss McDaniel stood behind them, hands on her hips.

  Alex and Jennifer walked into the room. Alex’s heart dropped when she saw Catelyn and Beau sitting in their seats. She had been hoping that they had come down with a case of food poisoning, or better yet, had been kidnapped by aliens and would never return.

  Catelyn met Alex’s eyes and turned her head to the side, clearly laughing. Beau tried to pretend not to notice but his face turned red from trying to hold in his laughter.

  Alex took her seat, trying to be as invisible as possible. She was glad when the teacher began lecturing on participles. Taking notes and focusing on the subject matter meant that her troubles had to take a back seat.

  By the time lunch arrived, Alex was emotionally drained. Having to sit through classes where students laughed and snickered when she walked in was too much to handle. Not to mention there was a homicidal maniac traveling through time who had tried to kill her. And would surely do so again if he got the chance.

  Alex wanted to scream at the other students and demand to know if they had any idea what she was going through right now. She thought maybe if they knew she was saving them all from certain doom, they would be nicer to her. Alex sighed. They would hound me even more.

  Alex grabbed a salad and hurried to the library, being careful to keep her food hidden from view. The librarian did not allow food or drink in the library. She found Jennifer in their usual spot already logged into the computer.

  “So tell me what happened!” Jennifer practically bounced with excitement.

  Alex plopped down onto a chair and laid her head down on her arms.

  “Rough morning?” Jennifer asked. She felt sorry for Alex. It seemed that Catelyn was bound and determined to make Alex’s life a living hell.

  “Rough is putting it mildly.”

  “Tell me about the traveling. It’ll take your mind off things.”

  Alex told her every detail she could remember. Jennifer’s eyes got wider and wider until Alex felt sure that they would pop right out of her head.

  “You died? Oh, Alex.” Jennifer’s enthusiasm was slowly being replaced with fear.

  “It was so strange. The pain, the fear, the void. It’s hard to convince myself that it wasn’t all a dream.” Alex shook her head.

  “Except that if this was a dream, your finger wouldn’t look like that,” Jennifer pointed out.

  Alex glanced at her finger and wiggled it a little.

  “If the man got shot, then maybe he’s dead,” Jennifer said.

  Alex shook her head. “I thought I was lost and ended up being able to find my way back. We have to assume that he did too.”

  “So what do we do now?”

  “I don’t know.” Alex drew little shapes on the table with her finger.

  “You have to be more careful. You can seriously die doing this Alex,” Jennifer said quietly.

  “You think I don’t know that?” Alex snapped. “It’s bad enough dealing with Catelyn and now I have the possibility of dying when I get sucked into the time warp.” She groaned and flopped her head down.

  “Well, maybe the man really did die and this whole thing is over.”

  Alex shrugged, not believing for a moment that it would be that easy. She and Jennifer ate their lunch and tried to talk about the upcoming rehearsal that night. It was more a meeting than a rehearsal, since they had yet to be given their lines. Alex was glad to have the play as a distraction from everything that was happening in her life.

  Alex dreaded her Biology class almost as much as she had dreaded her English class. She was relieved when there were no dissections or lab work requiring partners. Beau sat next to her and took notes, completely oblivious to her and to the hurt she was feeling. Are all guys uncaring, unfeeling bastards?

  Her mom was at the guesthouse when she got home from school. She took one look at Alex’s face and demanded to know what was wrong. Alex wanted to blow off the incident with Catelyn and Beau, but her feelings of frustration and anger and humiliation came pouring out of her. She told her mom about the picture on her locker.

  Patricia was angry that these teenagers were being so cruel to her daughter. She knew bullying was a part of growing up for most kids, but this seemed so much worse than anything she’d ever encountered in high school. Alex had never complained of bullying in middle school. Patricia had been hoping that her daughter would escape the one thing guaranteed to make a teenager’s life miserable.

  Alex didn’t know how long she cried. When the tears finally dried up, she felt like she had run a marathon. She could hardly keep her eyes open.

  “I don’t know what to do, Mom,” Alex whispered.

  Patricia sighed. “I’m not sure either. But I do know that if you let them get to you, they will continue their bullying. The best way t
o beat them is to make them think that what they do or say doesn’t bother you.”

  Alex stared up at her mom in disbelief. “That’s the best you can do? Just ignore them?”

  “I know it sounds lame, Alex, but that’s the best way to avoid it. Trust me, I know.”

  “You got bullied too?”

  Patricia nodded. “During my sophomore year. She had taken a disliking to me for some reason. It got so bad I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, and my grades started to drop. The school counselor finally got me to admit what was happening. She brought grandma and grandpa in and we talked. Where I grew up, there was only one high school so transferring wasn’t an option. My daddy told me that I best just suck it up and stop letting what she did bother me. I was upset that he didn’t seem to care what was happening to me.” Patricia smiled. “But he was right. I started ignoring her and her little snotty friends when they would start in. Pretty soon, they stopped bothering me.”

  Alex had never known that her mother had suffered at the hands of a bully. Or that she had managed to get the girls to stop. “It’s really that easy?”

  “I never said it was easy, Lexi. It was the hardest thing I ever had to deal with. I had to basically pretend that what they did didn’t bother me. But it still did. I just got upset about it where they couldn’t see me. And after awhile, the pretending got easier and easier, until it honestly didn’t bother me. I had my own friends and my own life to focus on. I wasn’t about to waste time on those little bitches.”

  Alex gasped and giggled. Her mother rarely used curse words and to hear her use them was quite funny. But Alex knew what she meant. She too had a lot on her plate.

  More so than her mother could possibly imagine.

  “So what do I do about the picture, Mom? She must have used my school picture and used Photoshop to put my face on that lady.”

  “I would suggest making a joke out of it. Really, Alex, you with the body of a sex goddess?” Patricia joked. “Maybe in a few years, but certainly not now.”