Tethered

by Vaughn Ashby

  You see the house had a way of bringing out the worst in me. I wasn’t the same man I once was. The man who owned the trailer hitch shop, the man with the kids and wife, the man the town knew in its own little town gossipy way. No, I wasn’t that man.

  Over the years I tried to fight against it, I tried to force more of myself into it, try and take back control of myself, I didn’t care about the house I just wanted to be me.

  Maybe I’d have fought harder if it wasn’t for Nicole. My poor innocent little girl. I don’t understand how it happened. I guess when, it’s hard to even get this out, but when she died down there in the hole, I, I guess she took the place of that woman just like I’d taken the place of that man. She was the woman and I was the house.

  She was like me, changed, she wasn’t herself. I struggled with watching what she’d become. At times I wished I could die to spare myself from watching her, selfish yes, but fathers have limits. Not that I could have killed myself if I’d wanted to. You know taking the samurai way out had crossed my mind, but she kept me there. I couldn’t abandon her.

  We stayed like that for years. Decades even, I think anyways. Time where ever we were didn’t have the same rules as back home. The sun seemed to have its own schedule. It didn’t help either that I, or the house rather, could basically just summon the sky changes whenever we wanted.

  The worst part of it all was how much we changed even day to day. Some days Nicole and I would chat for days on end. We’d think that maybe whatever this was was over. Then someone would wander too close to the house and like a switch, we’d lose our minds. Like shark bait, we couldn’t resist and we’d go crazy for it. We killed so many people. Young and old, woman, men, we just didn’t care and they’d stay here with us. We’d kill someone, then have to see their face forever. They'd be just another one of those people, aimlessly walking around. Those people that kept us here but also did whatever we wanted.

  The desire to kill was so strong, it was impossible to fight against it. You could hope it would end soon, which always had the same outcome, no one ever made it home.

  So many images burned into my brain, so many things I can’t unsee. And I saw them all, unblinking and from a million angles, I could feel them all. I know she could see it all too, Nicole, damn it, the things she…

  I don’t think I can write about this anymore.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  2014-B Shane: Will Things Be The Same With Me Here?

  Shane stood there trying to decide if all of what had happened was a dream, or maybe if this was. Surely one had to be. He'd watched Travers' face be not so pleasantly blown off his face. So he was dead and this was a dream. Maybe he was crazy? Maybe the air here fucks with your brain, making you see things? Like some form of LSD or something. Probably the most likely reality was that he had died as soon as he came through the portal, and this was his way to the afterlife. This was a shitty afterlife, seeing one of your best friend’s dongs is not the greeting he'd expected. So, maybe he wasn't dead either.

  Shane pressed his arms against the sides of the portal and braced himself. He didn't want to get sucked, or pulled through by anything.

  He slowly poked his head through, just in time to see the hell spider rip the head off some guy while chomping down on the arm of another.

  Shane pulled his head back through the portal. He could still see Travers slumped against the post, he looked cold.

  Shane considered waiting the spider out, but what if it moved on to Travers after it was done with everyone else? Without much of a plan, he flung himself through the portal and back into the world he knew. Unfortunately, the grass was coated red, and slippery with blood. Again Shane found himself laying on his back having just gone through the portal. He hoped that was the last time he'd have to do any more portal hopping but he did have a sudden urge for cake.

  He quickly turned to look for the spider, who was running full speed towards the woods. Shane let out a sigh of relief and laid back down. Sure there was blood and other pieces of people everywhere, but he really didn't care. He laid there looking at Travers.

  He watched as his chest moved, so he was breathing at least. Which was a lot better then he'd left him before.

  Did the portal somehow take him to another dimension or reality? Its possible he was just on what seemed to be another planet or something.

  Then it hit him, if Travers was alive maybe Kristen was too. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and found her on his favorites list. He pressed the call button.

  It took what felt like forever for the first ring, but after only two rings she picked up. She sounded like she'd been crying, “Hello."

  His heart just about stopped. She was alive. He felt like getting up and dancing all around these severed body parts, but then he remembered how tired he was, and that he was, in fact, surround by dead people. Still, he smiled from ear to ear, a grin seen from space.

  “I love you,” he finally said.

  There was a pause on the other side, “I… I love you too.”

  Shane exhaled, he didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath. Then he hung up the phone. He laid their phone in hand, looking up at Travers.

  He looked at the date on his phone. It said it was two days ago.

  “This must be what you were doing when I picked you up on the side of the road, pant-less.”

  Shane sat up, looking at Travers. “So did the portal send me back? Was it the house? Or the woman? I have no fucking idea.”

  He slowly got to his feet, being careful not to slip on the gore below him. He slid his way over to Travers, and cut the rope holding him to the post. Again slowly, he lowered Travers to a sitting position. The post hummed behind them.

  “Looks like you found the source of your signal,” Shane ran his hand along it. “Could your signal be doing this?”

  He looked at his phone again, still two days ago. “Why now?” He checked Travers’ pulse again, he seemed fine. It looked like he’d been hit in the head a few times, blood ran down the back of his neck. So, he was as well as you could be from that. He was breathing and his heart was pumping, so that’s something to be happy about. He considered calling 911, but stopped when he realized that Travers survived it last time, he’d survive it this time.

  “Wait, will things be the same with me here? Was I here last time?” he scratched his head. “Time travel is confusing.”

  The plot lines of dozens of time travel movies and books came flooding back to him. Could he change things? Was there another him out there doing what he had done before? Did this all happen before or was this new? Was he changing the timeline or did what happened last time happen this time. Fucking confusing. He’d kill for a Time Travel for dummies book right about now, either that or a scientist with crazy hair and a flying car to help him out. Who knew actual time travel felt just like watching Primer, confusing as fuck.

  His phone buzzed, it was Kristen calling him back. None of that time travel crap mattered. He was going to save her, save them all, except for whoever this giant spider had already killed, they were fucked.

  Part Three

  Part 3 - The Again

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  2012 Jessica: The Tall Wheat Swayed With The Wind Around Her

  Jessica sat up and took a deep breath. It was the sort of breath you take when coming up for air after you've escaped from the Titanic. She took another more controlled breath, and settled into a normal pattern of in and out. It felt strange, as if she hadn't done it in a while.

  The tall wheat swayed with the wind around her. She looked up at the sun and smiled. It felt warm and comforting. Again something she hadn't felt in a long time. But why?

  Other than knowing her name was Jessica she knew nothing about herself. She didn't even know why she was here. A sensation that should have left her feeling uneasy, but instead, she felt free. Free from what, she had no idea.

  Slowly she got to her feet, worried that her muscles would perhaps be as useful as h
er memory. But she was wrong, they felt great. She jumped and yelled in excitement. Around about the fourth or fifth enthusiastic cheer, she noticed she was lacking in the clothes department. The wind whistled across her behind and she didn't care. It felt great, and so did she.

  After a few more prances she calmed a little and didn't know what to do next. She had no idea where she was, except here in this field. So she started walking.

  In the distance, she could hear cars moving along a highway. She skipped, still very naked, all the way there.

  It was surprisingly easy for an attractive naked woman to get a ride once she got to the highway. She had no idea where to go, she just knew she wanted to go somewhere. Somewhere that felt happy because she did.

  Her first clue as to her location came when they passed the city of Lethbridge. She watched in awe as they approached the city, the lights from the train bridge along the right-hand side of the highway lit up the river valley. It was like a dream, simply beautiful. By this point, the trucker had started to feel bad for how much staring he’d been doing and offered her his jacket. It still didn’t cover much, but she took it anyways. Nothing could break her happiness.

  The lights of the train bridge won her over, she stayed in the city for a while. For a while she worked odd jobs around town, eventually, she found work at a flower shop. Her job was to put together all the orders people placed. The flowers were stored in a cooler in the basement so that’s where she did most of her work. She watched the feet of the people pass by the shop. She only had two windows to look out of, both street level, only barely. Still, it was a unique view of the world. No one knew she was watching.

  After months of work, she’d saved up enough money for a trip. She’d decided to travel to Paris, the city of lights. She'd spent most nights looking at images online trying to find out where to go. It reminded her of the train bridge she’d seen lit up so beautifully when she first came to the city she figured it was a sign. But not having a passport, or knowing who she was axed that idea. Instead, she went to Vancouver.

  After a couple days of wandering around on her own, she stumbled across a tour group from Japan, and snuck into the group. Their tour guide seemed to know everything about the city. He showed them everything from the obvious Olympic grounds to the more hidden doorways to the long-condemned underground tunnels. She loved it, even if the other people in the tour group drove her nuts with the way they brushed everything off. She couldn't understand why they'd come all this way to spend so much time on their phones.

  After being caught by the tour guide for not really being in the group, he agreed to meet her later for drinks. Which lead to dinner, which led back to his place, his bed, then breakfast.

  She actually ended up staying the rest of her trip with him. Then she moved her flight, and stayed longer. Over time she started buying things for the apartment while she was out seeing the city. Sometimes she was with him on his tours, others by herself. Eventually, the apartment became theirs without them knowing.

  After months of being together he got a better paying job up in northern Alberta, she followed him. Sure it was cold, but it was peaceful and the locals were nice.

  She managed to get a job at a trucking company working the phones. She'd run into the owner at a local diner one morning, it had came up in conversation that she was looking for work. He'd told her about the phone operator position he had, and she accepted on the spot.

  When her first day came she was nervous, it was a much higher profile job than the flower job. Nobody had any idea of who she really was, how could they, she didn't either. She'd made up an elaborate backstory about her parents, and the town she grew up in. She felt bad, but she also so badly wanted to fit in and just be normal. And she was normal, well until her first day. She took a call from a guy named Moe about his truck named Nicole, and her reality crashed back into her. She remembered everything and started to cry.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  2014-B Shane: Conveniently Located Severed Arm

  With the blood from a conveniently located severed arm, Shane left Travers a note on his chest. It simply read, “Liz @ Hospital”. The at symbol was particularly hard to work out in the blood, but he was sure Travers would figure it out.

  He then dug through the pockets of a few remaining lower torso haves and found a set of keys. He pressed the panic button on the key fob, a horn started honking off behind the movie screen.

  He’d been here as a kid, while he couldn’t remember the movie, he remembered the popcorn. He and his Dad had shared a massive bucket, well massive for a five-year-old. After a short moment of reminiscing, he started off towards the car honking. It felt strange to leave Travers here, but he just kept thinking back to how he’d survived it before.

  The white van wasn’t parked far, maybe a two-minute walk to a nearby parking lot. Not the most sexy vehicle, but he didn’t really have a choice. The van was filled with cleaning supplies, he dumped most of them out the door before leaving.

  The van drove like a toaster, no chance of a smooth ride. Shane checked his phone again. He had two more missed calls from Kristen. As far as he knew the other Shane, the current Shane, the Shane that hadn’t traveled through a portal from the future with a giant hell spider, that Shane maybe he answered the phone. Would both phones always ring? Did the other Shane’s phone stop working? He rubbed his forehead.

  “This always seemed easier in the movies,” he said to himself.

  Whatever, it didn’t matter he was going to see Kristen. He needed to see her face, kiss her lips, he just needed her. He checked his watch, normal him was just about to leave his house. Perfect time to stop by for a visit. But then what? Tell her you love her? And do not believe Past Shane? How was he even going to convince her he was from the future? He closed his eyes, oh that felts so good. He still hadn’t slept in forever. Wait, maybe he was dreaming all this, he’d been awake so long he’s hallucinating things. This whole thing could be his brain just fucking with him. His phone buzzed again, just an email this time. It was from Bill. He’d read it later, or had he already read it?

  “Ok, so assuming this is all real, what do I do to stop it?” he said patting the steering wheel. “Mr. Van, I work better if I can talk things out loud. If you are cool with that, say nothing at all.” The van made no reply. “Great, so Jason is either on his way to the house, or there already.” He put a finger up to signify Jason. “Travers is tied to the post right now, but when he reads the message he’ll go see Liz at the hospital, taking him away from the house. His face should remain un-shot.” He put a finger up on the opposite hand. “Pratt is with Anna, he’s safe, but he’s going to go with past Shane to pick up Kristen and head to Barrhead. How do I stop them?” He put three fingers up on the first hand and frowned. “At least one is safe so far. Right, Mr. Van?” Again no reply.

  “How do I save Jason? If he’s at the house already I need to get there, without Pratt, or Past Shane.” He paused when a new thought struck him. “They could help me.” He wasn’t sure if this was stupid or the best idea in the world. Either way, he didn’t have a lot of options, or people that would believe him.

  What about the website? He could post something there, maybe people would help him? What would he post, and how could they help? He grunted in frustration and turned into his subdivision.

  His own car passed him as he turned down his street. He tried to hide from himself. The fear in movies was always what happens when you see yourself? Do we both explode? Does the world explode? Does everything well explode? To much exploding to risk right now. The car passed without incident, he turned into his own driveway.

  His fingers tapped along the wheel, he reached for the keys and paused. Was he being selfish by coming to see her? Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. He put the van in reverse, and backed out, never taking his eyes off the house. She was in there, he so badly wanted to see her, but he shouldn’t. Her world was normal right now, he had to preserve that as long as he could. All of them act
ually. He’d already fucked up Travers’ timeline, he regretted the note now. Maybe he should just get to the town before them, and… finally, a plan birthed in his brain.

  Step one, he went to Jason’s house. Cops in movies always have extra guns just laying around their houses. While he was sure Jason was a better father then to just leave a 9mm laying around on his kitchen table, he assumed there were some firearms somewhere. After a quick search, and an obvious numeric password on the gun safe, Shane found the mother load. A note, don’t make your gun safe password your child’s birthday. A few shotguns, rifles and handguns later, Shane was back in his car.

  Step two, electronic store. He grabbed an armload full of portable cameras. The woman at the checkout gave him a funny look, she’d asked what he was doing with so many. He replied in the only way that wouldn’t bring up any more questions, porn.

  Step three, lumber.

  Step four, Walmart. Supplies for another portal. The store that has everything, well everything except guns, because as it turns out they had the cameras he bought before, and cheaper too.

  The white toaster van hit the highway heading to stop number one, the Gunn corner. Shane hoped that the house, or subdivision would be there. He didn’t remember passing it last time so chances are it won’t be there yet. But, that didn’t mean he couldn’t get ready for it. Shane drove the pedal down hard for the gas, the toaster slightly increased in speed. He made a mental note that next time he traveled back in time he should be sure to borrow a much better vehicle.

  He passed the big bear sign on the side of the road, and turned towards Barrhead at the Gunn corner, then he pulled over. There was a little rest area he’d seen there before so he parked there. He knew before getting out of the car that the subdivision wasn’t there. Nothing but trees, grass, and field.