by West, Shay
Alex couldn’t even meet her mother’s eyes when she exited the bathroom.
“I thought you’d be in bed.”
“The car woke me up.” The lie came easily to Alex’s lips.
“Well, I’m tired and we both have to work tomorrow so I’d suggest we get to bed.”
Alex jumped off the bed, too angry to sit. “How could you? How could you run off with him and blow off my driving lesson?”
“Bruce wanted to come with me for your driving lesson. But your behavior is unacceptable. He’s a perfectly nice man and I’m a grown woman who can spend time with whomever I choose. I like spending time with him. How would you like it if I acted like you in front of your friends?” Her mom stood with her hands on her hips.
“It’s not the same thing.”
“It is the same. Until you learn to behave like an adult, I’ll spend time with Bruce without you. If that means you don’t get as much driving time, then so be it. The world doesn’t revolve around you.”
“I never said it did! But when you and I have plans and you break them to hang out with that dork—”
“That’s enough out of you. I will not stand for this attitude, Alexis. I deserve to be happy.” Patricia took the throw pillows off the bed and tossed them against the wall.
Alex wanted to rant and scream at her mom but it was obvious she had pushed her mom too far. She stormed back to her room and slammed the door knowing it could bring down her mom’s wrath but not caring if it did. She couldn’t believe her mom was justifying breaking their plans.
She acts like I don’t want her to be happy.
Her laptop beckoned her from the desk. Alex grabbed it and brought it over to the bed. She needed to tell Jenn what had happened with her mom and with the reflection changing in the mirror. Jenn’s name didn’t show up on the chat menu but Alex sent her a message anyway. She knew she was going to be awake for a while and was willing to take the chance that Jenn would receive the notification on her phone and get on her computer. Alex wished she could have internet capability on her phone but her mom refused to pay the extra money and still forbade it even when Alex offered to pay for it herself.
Thinking about that incident only added fuel to the anger bubbling inside her. Her fingers shook as she typed the message to Jenn. She hit send and checked her email and Facebook newsfeed to kill the time.
In moments, Jenn was online and asking her about the woman in the mirror. Alex filled her in on the details she could remember about the woman she had seen.
-Are you going to try again?
-I don’t know. I’m scared to try.
-Maybe I can come over, bring you back after a certain time or something?
-That’s a good idea. Maybe tomorrow after work?
-Text me when you’re done and I’ll come get you.
-Good idea. Mom will probably be with Bruce the Dork anyway.
-I think you should give him a chance, Alex. If he makes your mom happy and he’s nice, then what’s the harm?
-I don’t want to give him a chance. Mom and I don’t need anyone.
-Sounds like maybe your mom does.
Wanting to end the conversation, Alex said good night and slammed her laptop closed wincing a little hoping the noise wouldn’t bring her mom in to ground her. She couldn’t believe her best friend in the whole world wasn’t on her side when it came to her mom dating someone. Alex just didn’t think it was appropriate. The more she thought about her mom choosing Bruce over her, the angrier she became until she was literally seeing red, another of those expressions she didn’t really understand until now. If Bruce walked into her room right now, she thought she had it in her to punch him in the face.
Some dim part of her mind reminded her that she wasn’t the type to go around hitting people no matter how angry they made her. The voice sounded suspiciously like Jenn’s. She stuck out her tongue at the voice in her head and walked to the bathroom in a huff, barely able to brush her teeth because her hands were shaking so badly.
As she tossed her throw pillows on the floor under her desk, she caught site of her hand mirror on the bed. Alex was glad she had decided to try to find the evil Traveler again while Jenn was there. She liked the idea of having someone to wake her up.
As she lay there trying to calm her nerves and emotions, Alex thought about the two women, the nurse with the tired blue eyes, and the African-American woman she had barely glimpsed, hoping she had it in her to save the one and use the body of the other to take someone’s life.
CHAPTER 15
“HOW DO I wake you up again?”
Alex rolled her eyes at Jenn. “Take the mirror out of my hand.”
“That’s it? Seems too easy.”
“That’s what Gavin said when I emailed him last night. All someone has to do is break the contact of my eyes with the mirror. Seems like the easiest thing would be to take the hand mirror out of my hands.”
“What if I can’t?” Jenn looked a little panicked.
“What do you mean?”
“What if you hold it too tight?”
Alex laughed. “You are such a drama queen. It will be fine, seriously.”
Alex settled back against the pillows on the bed and held the mirror with shaking hands. Jenn sat next to her with her notebook in her lap. Alex took a deep breath and closed her eyes to help her focus on the evil Traveler. Just as before, she trained her mind on the feelings he invoked in her, all things bad and wrong.
The image shifted to that of the African American woman. Alex held her breath as she watched the woman’s dark brown eyes widen in shock and fear. She ignored the part of her mind gibbering to throw the mirror against the wall and stop this dangerous experiment. She reached out a finger and touched the mirror.
***
Alex gasped and braced herself against the counter. She found it strange how easy it was to acclimate to the new body when she chose to do the traveling rather than being forced to do it. As she gazed at her reflection in the mirror Alex noticed how muscular she was, even larger than Arachadamia, the Spartan princess she had visited. She had close-cropped black hair and the largest eyes Alex had ever seen. As she turned and flexed in the mirror Alex was reminded of the movie Aliens and thought this girl bore a striking resemblance to Vasquez, her favorite character in the movie.
A quick look around revealed that she was in a large bathroom with several stalls and showers. Am I in a gym? Her arms pebbled with goose pimples when she noticed how modern the bathroom looked. Her heart beat so fast and hard that she feared she would pass out.
Something’s wrong.
She left the bathroom, hoping to get answers as to why she didn’t appear to have traveled back in time — at least not very far — and stepped into a large room with rows of bunks. Seems more like summer camp. Alex thought the woman a little old to be in summer camp. Counselor, maybe?
Why don’t you access her memories you twit?
Alex snorted laughter as Sean’s voice rang through her mind. As she relaxed, Alex ran through the woman’s memories. Her name was Annabel Jennifer Jensen, her friends called her AJ, and she was a Lance Corporal in the Marines. She was an intelligence analyst and was supposed to report to Colonel Jackson at 0830. There was a calendar on the wall and Alex walked closer as though in a trance.
She’s living in my time!
While the year and month were the same, AJ’s memories indicated that Alex had indeed traveled back in time, just not very far. As close as Alex could tell, she had traveled back in time about half a day.
Alex walked to the bunk that belonged to the woman and opened the wall locker that held her fatigues and got dressed quickly, spurned by the urgency she felt from AJ at not wanting to be late for her meeting with Colonel Jackson. Alex knew she couldn’t let the woman get in trouble. It would probably mean being kicked out of the military for treason or something. She would have to play out the next hour until Jenn woke her up then she would try again.
She walked quic
kly to her destination. It was all she could do not to break into a trot. Her right hand came to her forehead in an automatic salute whenever she saw someone with a higher rank insignia badge on their arm. Alex bit the inside of her cheek to keep from giggling at the strange mantra that was playing through AJ’s mind: Shiny badge on the arm, salute! Shiny badge on the arm, salute! One of her superior officers had taught her that and she couldn’t help but hear his voice in her head.
You mean you are hearing his voice in AJ’s head.
She didn’t think she’d ever get used to the idea of having her own thoughts jumbled together with those of a stranger. Then again, the girls didn’t feel like strangers while her spirit was in their bodies. They felt closer than sisters. Accessing their memories was a bit like trying to remember that person’s name you only met once and only for a brief moment. The knowledge was there but it sometimes took a while to retrieve it. If she was relaxed and not consciously trying to sift through the girls’ memories, they came easily and quickly. Yet another aspect of her “gift” that she didn’t understand and probably never would.
A pair of men walked toward her. One of them looked familiar, even from this distance. And there was something else. Her skin prickled and her hair stood on end. Alex fought the urge to vomit and run in the opposite direction. She needed to see the men and figure out which one was the evil Traveler. As they drew closer, she caught her breath and stopped dead in her tracks. She knew one of the men.
Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “Uncle Mark?”
***
“What did you say?” Mark asked the startled woman standing in front of him.
She looked around as though waking from a dream. “I don’t remember. Sir, what am I doing here? The last thing I remember was getting out of the shower.”
“Did you imbibe any alcoholic beverages or take any recreational drugs this morning, Lance Corporal...?” Mark left the question hanging.
“Jensen, sir, AJ. And no, sir, I did not.” She saluted.
“Did you hit your head?”
“No, sir.”
“I suggest you report to the doc immediately.”
“I’m to meet with Colonel Jackson at 0830.”
“I’ll inform the Colonel that you are indisposed. Dismissed.”
Mark watched the young woman walk away, skin tingling and heart heavy with dread. The only one that called him Uncle Mark was Alex. And this tough-as-nails Marine definitely wasn’t his niece.
“What do you think that was all about?” Mark turned to speak to the man beside him.
Lane Stygian was pale as a ghost and stared at the young woman making her way to the medic as though he wanted to devour her on the spot. His lips were pulled back from his teeth in a feral grin. Mark took an involuntary step away from the man, fear twisting his guts. The last time he had seen Lane this angry was on a mission where the man had gleefully shot someone at point blank range, not even flinching as the enemy’s blood drenched his face.
“Hey, wait, where are you going?” Mark called fruitlessly at the retreating man’s back.
He debated whether to follow or visit Colonel Jackson. He didn’t want the Lance Corporal to get in trouble for being late for her duties. Jackson first, then I’ll see what Stygian’s up to.
As he walked to Colonel Jackson’s office, Mark pondered the strange event that just took place. If he had to come up with an explanation on the spot, he would swear that for a split second, AJ Jensen had somehow transformed into his niece.
But that’s impossible. Isn’t it?
CHAPTER 16
ALEX AWOKE with a start and stared into the worried face of her best friend.
“Are you okay? I waited exactly an hour before I took the mirror away from you.” Jenn held up the hand mirror so Alex could see.
Still trying to get her mind around what she had just seen, she sat up slowly.
“Did you find him?” Jenn asked.
“Oh, Jenn, it’s worse than that.” Alex put her hands to her eyes and cried.
“What happened, Alex? Did you run into the guy? Did he hurt you?”
Alex ignored her friend’s incessant tugging on her arm. Things were spinning out of control and Alex needed time to think, to sort it all out. Only one thought kept raging through her mind: get in touch with Sean and Gavin.
She reached for her laptop, vision blurry from crying. Jenn’s worried voice was a buzzing in the background. Alex opened her browser and got into her Gmail account. It took her several tries to compose the email as her hands were shaking so badly and every blink brought an onslaught of fresh tears to her eyes.
“Alex, I swear to God, if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on, I’ll—”
“Jenn, I need to you please shut up. Seriously. I can’t right now. I...I just can’t.” Alex didn’t look up from her computer screen as she hit send.
Jenn got up from the bed and threw the time travel journal into her backpack. Alex wanted to shout at her best friend to please stay, that she just needed some time to sort things out, that it wasn’t personal but the words stuck in her throat. Jenn opened the door and glanced back and Alex looked away, chest hitching with barely controlled hysteria.
“My God, Alex, something really bad happened, didn’t it? I don’t even know what it is and I’m scared out of my mind.” Jenn came back and sat down next to Alex.
Alex leaned on her friend’s shoulder and sobbed, unable to hold back the emotion raging through her. She thought if she didn’t get a handle on things she would simply cry herself out of existence. Is that even possible?
“Enough is enough, Alex, okay? Seriously. Time to bring in the adults here. It’s great you found Sean and Gavin but you need to tell your mom about what’s been happening.”
“I can’t do that and you know it.”
“You’re in over your head. When are you going to finally decide this is too much for you to handle? When this guy finally manages to kill you?”
“Sean and Gavin can help—”
“They’re on the other side of the freaking ocean!”
Alex cringed at the anger and fear in her friend’s voice. She knew Jenn was right but the thought of telling her mom the secret she had kept for the past three years was just too much to handle on top of what she had just seen. Her phone buzzed and she pushed away from Jenn to grab her computer, hoping the notification was from her email account.
Her shoulders sagged with relief when she saw the email from her Scottish friends. She opened it and motioned Jenn to come closer so she could read what the email said. Alex wasn’t sure she had it in her to actually verbalize seeing her uncle walking next to the man who was trying to kill her and change history.
Dearest Alex,
My heart is heavy with dread at this new development. When the suggestion was brought up about you using your gift to seek out the Traveler, I never imagined that he would actually be living in the here and now. The fact that he has ties with your uncle makes me even more concerned for your safety. Did you do anything that would give the Traveler any hint of who you are? I eagerly await your reply and will speak with Sean about possible options. The first order of business is to ensure your safety. Do not attempt to travel to find him again until you hear back from me.
Alex wanted to crawl into a hole and hide for the rest of her life. Screw driving, screw graduation. She just wanted to live long enough to see her eighteenth birthday.
“This can’t be happening. I’m more convinced than ever that it’s time to tell your mom. And you may want to consider telling your aunt and uncle. I mean, this guy could easily slit your uncle’s throat in the middle of the night or something.”
“Uncle Mark is a highly trained officer. I’m sure he can take care of himself.” Alex bit her lip, remembering her childish outburst at seeing her uncle. I called him Uncle Mark!
“I guess if he doesn’t know that Mark is your uncle...Alex, what’s wrong? What did I say?”
“Oh, J
enn, I messed up so bad. It was just so shocking to see my uncle walking right in front of me, ya know? And then knowing that the evil Traveler was right there with him.”
“Slow down and tell me everything that happened.” Jenn hurriedly grabbed her time travel notebook from her bag.
Alex started from the beginning and told Jenn everything she could remember, from her first realization that the girl she was inhabiting was actually living in the present and not the past to seeing her uncle and blurting out “Uncle Mark” just before she awoke back in her own body.
Jenn’s face turned pale and she gulped audibly. “Oh man, oh man.”
“Is that all you can say?”
“What do you want me to say? It’s going to be hard for that other girl to blow that one off. What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I emailed Sean and Gavin. And they don’t seem to have any answers either. Maybe I should try to travel again, just to see what damage I caused.”
“Oh, no way, Alex. Nope. You read that email. They said not to do any such thing until they figure things out.”
“But what if my uncle figures it out? I’m the only one who calls him Uncle Mark. And that poor girl. She’ll never be able to explain why she called him that. Why am I the great Protector anyway? I can’t even keep my mouth shut in a situation that clearly calls for it.” Alex sighed and covered her face with a pillow.
“I don’t know what to tell you.” Jenn looked as miserable as Alex felt.
“It would be nice if you could say that this was no big, that I just didn’t screw everything up royally. Something along those lines would be helpful, thanks.” Alex knew she shouldn’t be taking it out on Jenn but there was no one else around to unleash on at the moment.
“There’s no way to know for sure.”
“Unless the guy comes knocking on the door. ‘Hey, I couldn’t help but figure out who you are. Thanks for the ‘Uncle Mark’ hint and all.’ He’s going to come here and kill me and continue with his plan, whatever that may be.”
