by West, Shay
Gavin was waiting for them in the library. He had a large book on one of the tables. It looked very old and worn. Alex’s hands shook. There was nothing she wanted more at that moment than to touch the book. Is it some ancient historical account of Scotland?
Gavin saw her greedy eyes and smiled. “It’s the Master’s tome. An ancient text handed down from Master to Master. Each one adds to it as they see fit. There are as many books as there are Masters.”
“Can you go through time also?”
“Masters don’t typically travel back in time. But they have the knowledge to train their students so they can succeed in their quest.”
“Why don’t I have a Master? How do you find your students?”
“We are called to them. It’s hard to explain. When they come into their powers, we are drawn to them. We can feel them no matter where they are. I am originally from Australia.” He laughed at Alex’s look of disbelief. “Never would have guessed, eh? I picked up the accent after many years. As to why you don’t have a Master, I think I may have an answer.” He brought her to the book and indicated she was to sit. “My uncle passed this book on to me when I was barely eighteen. Masters know who the next one in line will be. I didn’t want to believe it of course, but curiosity eventually won out over my fear and I began reading the book. At the end, he writes some disturbing news.”
Alex looked at the passages he was pointing to.
My student ran across another traveler today who was lacking a Master. This news disturbs me greatly. That makes five total now. Is it possible someone is killing the Masters? But why?
She swallowed as she read the words, a glimmer of thought burning through the knot of fear in her belly.
“What is it, Alex?” asked Sean.
“Could this evil guy I’ve been dealing with have something to do with this?”
Gavin frowned. “I have to say yes. If he’s purposely messing with time, he obviously works for a Master with nefarious intent. Are you sure it’s the same man each time?”
Alex nodded. “I’m pretty sure. And Sean told me he never senses anything evil like that from the people he encounters in the past.”
“So I’m faced with not only a rare gifted traveler, but the possibility of a rogue Master using his student to change the past.”
“But why would someone do that? I mean, wouldn’t changing the past change everyone’s future? It’s not like you can pick and choose who gets to come out on top,” said Sean.
“I’m not sure. I have tried to piece together Alex’s travels but there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. More like he’s been testing the waters to see if it’s possible to change the past. Or worse, he’s trying to get rid of the protectors so he can work unimpeded,” said Gavin.
“Is there any way to find out which time period this guy lives in? I mean, maybe we can find him and I don’t know...get rid of him,” Sean suggested.
“There’s no way to know what time period he originates from. And are you sure you could kill a man in cold blood?” Gavin asked.
Sean blushed but didn’t say anything. Alex thought she might be able to do it if it meant being free to live her life as a normal person.
“How do I go about protecting myself against him? I can’t just keep doing what I’m doing. He knows more than I do and it’s only a matter of time before he manages to kill me for good.” Alex hated saying that. She never thought she would be facing the real possibility of death at her age. That was something reserved for old people like her grandparents.
“I don’t know that there’s much I can do. Sean taught you the spell to force a traveler from the body he inhabits...” he paused, moving away from the table.
“What is it?” Sean asked, sensing his Master’s hesitation.
“There is a way to kill a traveler while they are in another body.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before? Tell me,” Alex demanded.
“Don’t you understand what I’m saying?” Gavin sat facing Alex, fixing her with his stare. “I am talking about killing someone, another human being. Someone who, no matter his intentions, may have a wife, children, a family who loves him and cares for him. Can you honestly say you could snuff out a life?”
Alex wanted to reply in anger that this man had tried to do the very same to her, that he had killed the body of Agy, knowing he would be killing her as well, and yet she held her tongue. She had been willing back in Egypt to simply leave the evil man’s soul in that strange void for all eternity, hoping he couldn’t find his way back. But Sean had stopped her. Could I really do it?
“This other spell won’t just send someone’s soul into the void. He will die back in his own time, as will the body of whomever he inhabits. So you will not only be responsible for the death of the man that hunts you, but the innocent person he inhabits as well.”
Alex gulped, unsure she could kill the man knowing she had to kill the innocent vessel for his soul. It would be better just to force his soul into the void, wouldn’t it?
“He will likely be ready for you next time, child. I doubt he will allow you to send his soul out of the body. There are ways he can protect himself. And the next time you travel, you will be alone.”
“Is there any good news you can tell me?” Alex slammed the book closed and stood. “When I go back, I’ll be at his mercy. When he decides to go romping through time again, I’ll be called back. I don’t have a Master to help me. And you don’t seem to have any information to help me. So I guess I’m right where I started.” She stood alone for a moment, trying to collect herself. She turned quickly to face Gavin. “I want to know the spell to kill this guy. That may be the only way to stop him. If that’s all the information you have to give me, I’ll take it.”
“It’s not a simple matter of saying a spell. I wish it were that easy. At the same time you recite the spell, you must also stab the body right through the heart. If you do not, the magic won’t work.”
Alex felt ill. Saying a spell was one thing; she didn’t know if she could actually stab someone, even to save the world. She slumped into a chair, the weight of her gift crushing the life out of her.
“I wish I had better news for you. I will teach you the spell, if that’s what you want,” said Gavin.
Alex didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what to say. The power of life and death could soon be in her hands. What do I do? If I refuse to learn, I may lose the only chance I have of killing this guy. And if I learn the spell, will I even be able to use it? For the thousandth time, she wished this gift hadn’t come to her. She cursed whatever Gods or fate had decided that she, Alexis Dawn Davenport, would be saddled with this so-called gift. What did I do to deserve this?
Just learn the spell, Alex. Decide in the future whether you will use it. Her mother’s voice broke through her internal whining. She took a deep breath and stood, ready to learn the spell that would end the life of the interfering traveler.
***
Alex committed the words to memory. Gavin made her repeat them so many times she wanted to scream in frustration.
“You can’t write this down, do you understand me? It’s too dangerous. You must commit the words to memory and that’s all there is to it!” His Australian accent surfaced in his eagerness to make her understand.
“I get it, I’m not a baby ya know,” Alex grumped.
“You’re certainly acting like one,” Gavin snapped. “Whether you want it or not, the duty to protect the timeline is yours. It’s not easy and it’s not fair, but who said life is fair? If you fail, the world crumbles. Best deal with the truth of things rather than hide away like a child.”
She was taken aback by his anger. She tried to reply but Gavin held up his hand.
“I should not have been so harsh with you. If you’d had a Master, he or she would have trained the petulance out of you. I had to do the same thing with Sean.” He patted her on the shoulder to take some of the sting from his words, but he never apologized.
Though still thinking the situation was terribly unfair, Alex made the decision to at least pretend she was fine with all of this. She recited the spell about a hundred more times before Gavin was satisfied she had it totally committed to memory.
“If worse comes to worse, I can always come back here if I forget it,” said Alex.
“Don’t be silly, child! What if the next trip you are forced to take is to face the evil man? Best to make sure you have it memorized,” said Gavin.
“It would be nice to be able to call him something other than ‘the guy’ or ‘evil man’. It would be nice to put a name to the person trying to kill me,” Alex said glumly.
“Just make something up. Call him Traveler or something,” said Sean.
Alex shrugged. “Guess that works as good as anything.”
The rest of the day was spent sitting around and reading the Master’s tome, Alex carefully turning the earliest pages, taking special care to turn them gently. She couldn’t read the sections in other languages, which just happened to be most of the book. But she read those she could understand. A lot of it was boring and stuff she already knew.
“There’s nothing in here about those like me.” Alex was disappointed.
“Not in the passages in English. The only two I can recall that mention special travelers speak of escaping the void and them having access to spells that no others can perform.”
“Do they say what the spells are?” Alex asked, flipping through the book.
“I’m afraid not. Most of what this book contains is hearsay. The previous Masters sound as though they don’t believe most of what they heard.”
Alex fought the urge to scream and throw the book out the window. She had hoped that by coming here, Sean’s Master would fill in all the holes and give her the answers she so desperately needed. I’m all alone here.
At least you know about the spells, and how dangerous this Traveler really is, especially if he’s the one killing all the other Masters. Alex fought the urge to stick out her tongue at the annoyingly logical and mature voice in her head. She wondered why it seemed to be more vocal lately.
She didn’t speak much on the ride back. Sean prattled on about the local scenery, annoying Alex to no end. Can’t he see I don’t care? She crossed her arms and stared out the window, hoping he would get the hint and leave her in peace. Alex refused to admit that part of her wanted him to keep talking. The jumble of thoughts running through her brain demanded something to halt their random flitting so that she could have the time to grab a hold of a single one and focus.
“Why’re you so quiet?”
Alex rolled her eyes. “Gee, let me think. Ummmmmm...I have no Master to help me through this time travel crap, some guy is trying to mess with time and kill me, the stupid book wasn’t really a big help. So you think I should be jumping for joy or what?”
“Are you forgetting you learned a new spell and figured out how to travel to any time you want? The trip wasn’t a total waste of time,” Sean mumbled.
She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. I’m not going to apologize. Alex sat back and refused to look at Sean, staring out the window until the car stopped in front of her house.
“Maybe I’ll see you around,” said Alex as she climbed out of the car.
“Sure. See you around.”
“Listen, sorry I snapped at you and all. I know it’s not your fault, but this whole thing just really sucks for me.”
“Sucks for me too. But I can see where you have it worse. Hopefully we’ll run into the same guy again and maybe we can finish him together.”
A chill of fear ran down Alex’s spine. Although she enjoyed action and horror movies and had seen plenty of death on the big screen, this was something she was totally unprepared to deal with. Hearing Sean speak to nonchalantly about killing someone sounded so surreal. The truth of whom and what she was dealing with was more apparent.
The evil man wasn’t going to stop, and he would kill her without hesitation. Alex knew she would have to find a way to stop him and to do that, she might have to kill him.
CHAPTER 20
ALEX AWOKE in her own room, feeling faint with relief at being back in her own familiar body. A quick glance at the clock confirmed what she already knew; she’d only been gone a few minutes. Her phone was next to her on the bed. Her fingers swiped across the keys as she informed Jennifer of her success at traveling at will.
She could feel the disappointment in Jennifer’s reply. Alex promised to do it again soon so Jennifer could write about it in her journal. Despite the excitement of her accomplishment, Alex’s eyes closed of their own accord and she fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
The next morning, her mother banged on the door, startling her out of slumber. Alex groaned, wishing her gift allowed her to actually turn back time. For some reason, time travel left her feeling drained, as if she’d been awake for days on end.
She mumbled some incoherent reply to her mother’s knocking and stumbled to her bathroom, trying unsuccessfully to wipe the sleep from her eyes. It took her a full minute of staring at the water running into the sink to remember to grab her toothbrush. It took less time for the realization that she had forgotten the toothpaste to sink into her fogged brain.
Get a grip, Alex!
As warm water from the shower gushed over her face, awareness slowly crept in. By the time she was done, she felt almost human. A glance into the mirror had her rethinking that feeling. Her eyes were bloodshot and her skin was pale. Mom’s gonna think I’m on something. She stuck out her tongue at her reflection in the misted mirror and grinned ruefully. I’m not sure even make-up will fix this.
Her appetite didn’t seem affected by her travels through the mirror. She ate two bowls of cereal, ignoring pointed looks from her mom. Instead, she asked her mom what the plan was at Karen’s new store, hoping to detour any questions about her sudden love for Cheerios.
She half-listened to her mom prattle on about the merchandise coming in that day, the fixtures that needed assembly, and the stockroom that needed organizing. Alex nodded and mumbled affirmation every now and then when needed, but most of her thoughts were on her recent trip. Just to make sure she could still remember it, she recited the spell that would kill the malicious traveler. Right, like I can actually kill someone.
Alex forced that dismal thought from her mind, refusing to allow it to fester inside her. She didn’t want to continue chasing this guy through time for the rest of her life. There were a lot more lives at stake if she couldn’t stop the man for good. Maybe he’ll get sick of me interfering and give up.
This renewed sense of hope sent her heart racing. Anything that meant an end to her crazy gift was good news. I just might stop this Traveler without having to do him any harm. She almost laughed out loud right there at the breakfast table.
What had started out as a lousy day was turning out to be not so dismal after all. She climbed into the Blazer without her usual sigh of disgust at having to be seen in such an old rusty vehicle.
As they pulled up in front of the store, Alex groaned in dismay; Catelyn Montgomery and her mom were walking into Uptown Girls. Her good mood deflated. This is just what I need. She hung back, pretending she was playing with her phone, waiting to see if her mom would head straight for the new store or go into the existing one.
“Well, come on. Karen’s waiting.”
Alex gritted her teeth and followed her mom into Uptown Girls. She wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and tried to slow her heartrate. Her mouth tasted sour as bile rose into her throat.
She refused to look at Catelyn as she made her way to the front counter where Karen waited. As Alex passed by, she hunched her shoulders, certain she could feel the daggers of hatred from Catelyn shooting right between her shoulder blades.
“Isn’t that your friend from school?”
“She isn’t my friend, Mom. She’s just some lame girl who thinks she’s hot stuff.”
“Catelyn! You take that
back this instant.”
Alex’s face burned. She had moved too far away to hear any more of the exchange between Catelyn and her mom. The encounter made her realize that school was starting in a matter of weeks and she would be subjected to the mean girl and her little posse every day. Maybe we won’t have any classes together
“Just ignore her, Alex,” her aunt said.
“Easier said than done.”
“How about we go next door? I’ll show you what we need to get done today.”
Alex followed her aunt through the archway that now connected the women’s and men’s clothing stores. The smell of fresh paint assailed her nostrils as did the smell of freshly cut wood. That smell always reminded her of being a young girl watching her grandfather shape wood for the little birdhouses he lovingly crafted.
“It looks great,” Alex said, turning slowly. Other than some boxes stacked against one wall, the space was totally empty. Three walls were a pristine shade of white while one accent wall was painted a green that reminded Alex of a pine tree. The floors were spotless and shone under the glare of the fluorescent lights.
Alex got to work helping her mom assemble clothing fixtures. The work was mindless which left her brain free to dwell on what she had learned while visiting Sean and his Master in Scotland. No matter how hard she tried to shut down the image of plunging a knife through some man’s heart, it swept across her mind like a curtain being blown by a gentle breeze.
“You’re awfully quiet. Something on your mind?”
“Just thinking of another lovely school year being picked on by Catelyn and her snobby friends,” said Alex.
“I thought she had started to leave you alone.”
“Well, this is a brand new year. Maybe she’ll start in again.”
“That’s no way to look at things, Alex. Think positive.”
Alex rolled her eyes. She totally doesn’t get it. Her mom’s answer to everything was to just think of the best outcome and it would work itself out. Alex knew in her heart that life wasn’t that simple. If it was, I wouldn’t be dealing with this time travel crap.
