by West, Shay
He went home and climbed behind the wheel of his silver Porsche, gunning the engine and peeling out, leaving black marks on the asphalt. He stopped by the armory to pick up his M9 Beretta pistol. There were a few full clips in the bottom of the case. After he tossed the case in the backseat, Drifter made for the exit. He slammed on his brakes at the gate, flashing his badge to the young Marine in the booth. He barely let the swing arm complete its upward movement before roaring away.
The civilian shooting range was only a few miles from the Marine base. Drifter kept his foot to the floor, swerving past cars moving at a more normal pace. He ignored the honking horns and furious glares. These people have no idea what I can do!
He felt a rush of power fill him at the thought that these people could at any time be wiped off the face of the earth by his tampering with time. Ever since he realized he possessed this great gift, he had wondered if it would be possible to change the past. Meeting Max Poder had been the best thing that could have happened to him. The man had understood Drifter’s desire to use his gift to change the past rather than protect it and had nurtured that desire.
For the first time since meeting Master, he wondered if perhaps his plan to irrevocably change the past was folly. Each attempt had failed dismally. Drifter gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. When he thought about the girl, anger threatened to overwhelm him. He was not used to being thwarted in anything he set his mind to. His inability to stop the girl had shaken his confidence.
He screeched into the parking lot of the shooting range, nearly hitting an SUV that was pulling out of the parking lot. The man’s obscenities had no effect on Drifter. He marched into the facility, checking in at the counter.
Drifter was no stranger to the shooting range. Something in his face stopped the grizzly old man behind the counter from making his usual small talk. He simply told Drifter what booth to use and kept his mouth shut.
As he fired shot after shot into the paper target, Drifter thought about how to stop the girl who seemed unstoppable. Everyone has a weakness. I just have to find hers.
CHAPTER 16
ALEX THOUGHT her heart would explode. She paced from the living room to the kitchen, then to her room to check her make-up and clothes for the hundredth time, before wandering back out to the living room.
“Alex, you’re driving me nuts.”
She looked at her mom and rolled her eyes. “Sorry.” She flopped down on the end of the couch and tried to relax. In about two minutes she sighed loudly and began pacing again.
“It’s not like this is a first date, Lexi,” Patricia said.
“I can’t help it if I’m nervous.”
Patricia laughed. “If I didn’t know better I’d say you were twitterpated.”
“Twitter-what?”
“You know, from Bambi?”
Alex waved her hands. “Oh, yeah. And no, I’m not twitterpated.”
“Whatever you say.”
Alex turned to give her mother a smart retort when the doorbell rang. Saved by the bell! She smoothed her hair and took a deep breath, trying to slow her racing heart. She opened the door and her face broke into a huge smile when she saw Drake standing on her front porch, hair combed forward, sweeping across his perfect forehead. He had his hands shoved into his pockets and looked as nervous as Alex felt.
“Gonna invite us in or leave us standing out here?”
Alex shook her head, blushing to the roots of her dirty blonde hair. She had been so focused on Drake that she hadn’t noticed James and Jennifer standing right behind him. She stood to the side and waved everyone inside.
They greeted Alex’s mom and commented on how nice the living room was. Alex felt a thrill of excitement that they seemed impressed with her new home. She showed them the rest of the house, taking special care to mention that she had her very own bathroom. They didn’t seem nearly as excited about that as they did the backyard patio.
“What an awesome place for a party! Great view, Alex,” James said.
Alex’s heart swelled at the compliment. It felt good that her friends wanted to hang out at her new house. “Maybe after the play mom will let me have some people over.”
“I’ll be here for sure!” Drake said, smiling.
“Well, we should get going,” Alex said.
She led them back through the house and said goodnight to her mom as she closed the front door behind her. Drake grabbed her hand when they were half way down the sidewalk. Alex tried to act natural but she worried that her hands were sweating or shaking. Get a grip, Alex!
The four chatted about the impending dress rehearsals while they drove to the movie theater. James drove as fast as Jennifer usually did, which made Alex more than a little nervous. He got much too close to cars ahead and would only merge at the last possible second. When the traffic lights turned yellow, he gunned the engine rather than stop. Alex held on tight to Drake’s hand and tried to pretend that she wasn’t totally freaked out.
The theater was packed and they ended up having to park in the furthest row from the building. Alex didn’t mind. It meant more time to walk hand-in-hand with Drake. She wished he would put his arm around her.
As if reading her mind, Drake let go of her hand and snaked his arm around her waist. Alex bit her lip and put her arm around his waist, heart racing at the warmth of his hand and the feel of their hips touching.
When they got to the ticket window, Drake and James took the lead, buying the tickets for the four of them. Alex loved that the pair was so chivalrous. She and Jennifer had tried to pay on several occasions when they went out, and the boys had always refused the offer. James said it was because his dad was old school and had taught him that it was the courteous thing to do. While many girls would feel aggravated or belittled by such behavior, Alex was appreciative and made it a point to never take their kind gesture for granted.
The lines at the concession stands were long. Alex and Jennifer offered to go ahead and save them seats. Once they were out of sight, Jennifer squealed and hooked her arm through Alex’s.
“You were right about the whole pestering thing. Geez, I’m glad we figured it out before I ran him off! It would suck if you couldn’t see Drake because of it.”
Alex refused to answer. She didn’t know what she would do if James and Jennifer ever broke up. She didn’t think it was fair to have to break things off with Drake if those two broke up. I wonder if Jenn would stop seeing James if Drake and I broke up?
The theater was packed, but the girls managed to find four decent seats together. They sat down and waited for Drake and James, chatting about the coming dress rehearsal for Wicked. Alex was excited about the coming performance. She didn’t think her old friends from Longmont would believe that she was pursing acting as an extracurricular activity. Being the center of attention had never been Alex’s strong suit. But it seemed that she had skills and abilities that she never realized.
“So have you practiced making the reflection change?”
Alex hissed and looked around, certain that everyone within earshot had heard Jennifer’s question. “No, and could we maybe save this topic for a time when we’re alone?” She looked pointedly at the other people seated all around them.
“No one’s paying attention. Besides, I can’t stand not knowing! I thought you said you were going to practice.”
“I just got busy doing other stuff.”
“Well, when you do, let me know how it goes. And no trying to travel till I can be there!”
Alex agreed, if only to get Jennifer to stop talking about her gift. She looked around to see if anyone was staring at them.
“Miss me?”
Alex smiled as Drake walked up holding a tub of popcorn and a large 7-Up. “You’ve only been gone a little while.”
“Well, with the way you were looking around, I figured you were looking for me,” he said with a wink.
“She was probably looking for the nearest exit.” James elbowed past his friend,
poking him in the ribs as he passed.
The four settled in and spoke in hushed whispers until the lights went out. Alex loved going to movies. She loved the crackle as the movie first started, the way she could feel the bass rumble deep in her chest and the accidental touches over the popcorn tub and soda cup.
Alex found her mind wandering during the movie. Romantic comedies weren’t really her thing and the plot was so thin and the characters so boring that she couldn’t pay attention. Jennifer had insisted on this movie, saying she had been a good sport when the other three had picked action or horror movies. She sat next to James, eyes glued to the screen, obviously enjoying herself immensely.
Even though she enjoyed holding hands with Drake in the dark, she was glad when the credits rolled. Jennifer gushed about the movie as they walked slowly to James’ car. Alex, though thoroughly enjoying Drake’s company, was eager to get back home and practice forcing the reflection in her handheld mirror to change. And despite her assurances to Jennifer that she wouldn’t try to switch places with the girl, she knew she would try if the girl didn’t run away like last time.
Geez, Alex! You’re out with a hot guy and you’re thinking about the traveling thing. She tried to force time travel from her mind as they drove toward Alex’s house. They still had about half an hour until she had to be home so they decided to stop by Sonic for an ice cream.
Alex was a little envious of the girls on roller skates. They were so graceful, skating forwards and backwards, twirling around as they brought the trays of food to the waiting vehicles. I bet they can’t perform as well as me on stage.
She waved goodbye to her friends, having kissed Drake goodnight while still in the backseat of James’ car. The porch light wasn’t on which meant her mom was still awake. Alex didn’t want to kiss Drake on the front porch where her mom might catch her. She was afraid that if her mom caught her kissing a boy, it would bring on another one of her “talks”.
“How was the movie?” Patricia asked as Alex walked in the door.
“Kinda lame, actually. We only went because Jenn wanted to see it so bad.”
“You must get your love of action movies from your father—”
“Or maybe I just happen to hate sappy, lame movies.” Alex walked off before she had to listen to any more talk of how alike she and her father were.
She slammed her door and muttered under her breath while she got ready for bed. Most of the time, it was easy to keep Gary from her thoughts. There were days she liked to pretend that he was like her Uncle Mark, off on some important mission for the military, putting his life on the line for God and country. Or that he was a doctor on a mercy mission in Africa, helping those who needed him most.
Alex wiped angry tears from her cheeks, refusing to waste time crying over something that was a lie. Her father wasn’t a military hero and he wasn’t a humanitarian; he was a low-life who chose the single life over his wife and daughter. Alex hated him for that. When she pictured his face, the rage filled her like a red-hot flame, burning her from the inside out. Her friends never mentioned Gary, and seemed uncomfortable even mentioning their own fathers around her. She tried to put them at ease but most of the time, she didn’t want to hear about how their fathers were taking them to the games, or how much they fun they had spending time with their families, or how their dads were always on their case. At least your dads care about you! Alex wanted to scream at them, asking how they could not know how lucky they were, but she never said a word.
She grabbed her small mirror and walked back to the bedroom. Since the temperature was still warm, despite being almost eleven at night, she stayed on top of the comforter and propped her pillows against her headboard.
Alex closed her eyes, preparing herself to empty her mind and focus on the girl she had seen previously. Since she had appeared to her twice, Alex felt certain this was the girl she was supposed to switch places with.
Her heart raced. She knew this wasn’t going to be just another practice session to force the reflection to change. If the girl appeared, Alex was going to try to change places, despite her promise to Jennifer that she wouldn’t.
It only took Alex a few moments to reach that place in her mind where she just knew it was time to focus her thoughts. It was strange, being able to do something without knowing exactly how she was able to do it. Sean would say it’s part of my gift. She mentally rolled her eyes and cursed when she felt her mind slipping from focused to disjointed.
Get a grip, Alex!
She let out an explosive breath and began to clear her mind once again. When it felt right, she began to focus on the cute girl with the bob haircut. At the right moment, Alex opened her eyes and smiled when she saw the girl’s face in the mirror.
Now what?
The girl’s eyes widened and Alex knew she was out of time. She reached out her hand and time slowed to a mere crawl, at least for the girl reflected in the mirror. The same sensation of someone controlling her body took over Alex, but it wasn’t as strong as her previous trips. If she really wanted to, she could stop at any moment.
But she wasn’t about to stop.
Her hand moved toward the mirror, obscuring the reflection of the other girl. Alex’s heart raced in excitement, terror, and triumph all at once. She held her breath as her hand made contact with the mirror. She grimaced when she felt it give under her fingers like gooey caramel. Her eyes widened in surprise; the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been on her previous trips.
She didn’t have long to ponder this oddity. In seconds, her vision went black.
CHAPTER 17
ALEX GROANED and shook her head. She frowned at the strange sensation and shook her head again. What the...? She reached her hands up and smiled ruefully when she felt how short her hair was. Guess the traveling worked!
The sound of voices brought her back to herself. A quick glance told her she was in a small bedroom. She was standing in front of a dresser with a mirror whose edges were covered in stickers and writing in bold colors of red, pink, purple, green, and blue. Alex wondered what could have possibly made the strange writing, until she saw the bottles of fingernail polish sitting on the dresser.
The walls and ceiling were covered with posters. Alex covered her mouth with a hand to stifle the giggles. Most of the posters featured men in tight leather pants and fishnet shirts, or no shirt at all. Their hair was either long and teased to perfection, or done up in such a fashion that Alex wondered how much hairspray they had to use. Upon closer examination, she noticed that some even appeared to be wearing make-up.
Her eyes widened when she saw a group she recognized. Alex stared at the poster of Bon Jovi and had to admit that he was just as hot with long hair. At least I know what decade I’m in.
Alex pursed her lips. She had no idea how to go about locating Sean. I’m not gonna find him just standing around. The voices on the other side of the door had stopped speaking. Alex wondered if they had left.
She opened the door and walked slowly down the hallway. The sound of rock music came from a room with a sign on the door indicating that it was Kevin’s room and that no one should enter.
“Kevin, if you don’t turn down that racket this instant, I’ll send yer da’ in to tan yer hide!”
Alex followed the angry woman’s voice to the kitchen. She was washing dishes and mumbling under her breath, punctuating certain words with a splash as she threw a dish into the rinse water.
“Hi, ma. Can I go to Bridgette’s house?” Alex tried not to giggle. She had always loved Scottish accents and it was strange to hear herself speaking it.
“Did ye finish yer chores like I asked ya?” She didn’t turn around.
“Aye. So can I go?”
“I suppose. You best be back before suppertime.”
“I will, ma!” Alex gave the woman a quick peck on the cheek before she left the house.
Not knowing what else to do, she started walking down the street. As she did, she accessed the girl’s memories.
Her name was Allison, she was nearly eighteen, and she was going to university next fall to study economics.
And she had a cousin named Sean!
Excitement flowed through her. He lived only about a mile away. When she found Sean, he would take her to meet his Master and she may finally get some answers. Alex knew she couldn’t continue to fight the mysterious man on her own. If she couldn’t find help, he would eventually succeed in killing her.
I’m way too young to be thinking about this stuff!
By the time she got to Sean’s house, she was practically running. Get a grip, Alex! She slowed her steps and took a few deep, steadying breaths. A million questions flowed through her mind, making it difficult to calm her nerves.
Alex knocked on the door of the modest cottage and shifted her weight from leg to leg, wringing her hands. What if he’s not even here? Footsteps approached the door and her breath caught in her throat. The door flung open and a young man with long hair, wearing a Scritti Politti band T-shirt.
“Allison! What...” His eyes widened and he grabbed her arm, peeking his head out the door to glance up and down the street.
Alex yelped as he jerked her into the house. “Hey! I don’t really feel like falling on my face just now, thanks.” She threw as much sarcasm into her words as she could muster.
“Did anyone see you?”
“Only anyone that drove past me while I walked over here.” Alex rubbed her arm. “Why are you freaking out?”
“Seriously? You wonder why I’m freaking out?” Sean paced back and forth in the living room, rubbing his hand over his head.
“Anyone that saw me would think that your cousin was coming for a visit,” Alex retorted.
“My...well, I mean...” He sighed and snorted laughter. “You’re right. But geez! I know it’s you, and I guess I just panicked.” Sean stopped walking and frowned. “How the hell did you end up here anyway? Is the bad guy here?”
Alex held out her hands, wanting to stop another freak-out moment before it started. “No, the guy’s not here. I figured out how to force the mirror to change. Figured I’d come here and have a little chat with your Master.”
