Future Imperfect

by Simon Rose

  “But we don’t know that for certain either,” Alex protested.

  “I’m sorry, Alex,” said Stephanie, firmly, as she stood up from the couch. “I’ve made up my mind. I don’t know much about Veronica. I have no idea what her plans might be, but I don’t think we should get involved.”

  “But we’re already involved,” Alex insisted. “Are you saying that we should just forget about all this?”

  “Yes, we should.”

  “And what about my dad? Are we supposed to just forget about him too? Alexander can help him.”

  “How do you know that for sure? We have no idea if he’s telling the truth.”

  “But what about all the things he knows? The things he showed us about the future?”

  “We don’t know how real any of that is, Alex. I just don’t trust him.”

  “And then . . .”

  “Look,” Stephanie interrupted. “I don’t want to discuss this anymore, okay?”

  She hurried over to the front door, but Alex followed her.

  “But, Stephanie,” Alex pleaded, as she slipped on her shoes. “This is crazy. You can’t mean this.”

  She didn’t say another word and simply opened the front door before running off into the night without a backward glance.

  Chapter Ten

  Expect The Unexpected

  ALEX SENT STEPHANIE several texts that evening but received no response. He could only hope that she would feel a little better about everything the next day. He spent a fair amount of time wondering if she was right about him becoming something he currently wasn’t. Yet, it was so difficult to make any sense of it all. It was certainly possible that Alexander might be leading them astray. Perhaps he also wasn’t really who he said he was, but it was all so hard to fathom.

  The remainder of Alex’s evening involved researching the websites about Veronica’s past and her business dealings. He wanted to see if he could spot anything he’d missed when he and Stephanie had looked at the sites earlier, but still, nothing in particular stood out. He was surprised when his mom came downstairs to get a glass of water from the kitchen.

  “Hey, Alex,” she said, as she stepped into the sitting room. “What are you still doing up?”

  “Nothing much,” he replied, as he promptly closed the laptop screen.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Just a new game I found the other day. I’ve had enough of it for now, to be honest.”

  “When did Stephanie leave?”

  “A while ago. She said she had to be home earlier than usual tonight.”

  “Okay,” said Angela, nodding. “How’s she doing? I spoke to her mom and dad the other day and they said that Stephanie’s recovered very well from the accident.”

  “Yeah,” Alex replied. “She seems to be doing okay. At least she doesn’t have a scar on her forehead.”

  They both laughed.

  “That’s true,” said Angela, smiling.

  She sat down at the other end of the couch and placed her glass of water on the coffee table.

  “And how about you?”

  “Me? I’m fine.”

  Angela reached across and gently squeezed his hand.

  “I hope so, Alex. I know this hasn’t been easy for you, for either of us. I’m sorry I’ve not been around much after work and at the weekends, I’ve just had so much to do with the police and the lawyers and everything else.”

  “It’s okay, Mom,” Alex assured her. “I know what you’ve had to do. I just wish I could help you with some of it.”

  “That’s very sweet, Alex, thank you.”

  “And I’m sure they’ll find Dad soon.”

  Angela smiled but was clearly fighting to hold back her tears. She took a sip from her water.

  “Yes,” she agreed. “I’m sure they will too. Something will probably turn up soon. As you know, the police have been very helpful and kind. I’ve been dealing quite often with the two officers who came to see you at the hospital. I’ve mostly spoken with Officer Marino. Do you remember her?”

  “Yeah,” Alex replied. “She seemed very nice.”

  Angela smiled again and gave Alex’s hand another gentle squeeze.

  “Okay, I’d better go back to bed. I have another hectic day tomorrow.”

  She stood up and grabbed her glass of water from the coffee table.

  “Don’t stay up too late.”

  “I won’t. Night, Mom.”

  “Goodnight, Alex.”

  She turned and left the sitting room then headed up the stairs. Once Alex heard her bedroom door close, he reopened the laptop. When the screen reactivated, it still displayed the website belonging to one of the companies that he and Stephanie had been researching earlier. Alex contemplated doing some more work looking into Veronica’s business dealings but accepted that it was time to call it a night. With a yawn, he closed the web page then signed out of his email.

  He thought about Stephanie as he waited for the laptop to shut down. He quickly checked his phone even though he knew that she hadn’t been trying to message him. All he could do was try texting Stephanie again in the morning and hope that she was in a better mood. The laptop finally shut down so he closed the screen and carried the computer up to his room.

  SURPRISINGLY, ALEX WAS able to sleep well, despite going to bed with his mind still racing. Angela had gone out by the time that Alex woke up at 11:30 on Saturday morning. To his disappointment, there were no messages from Stephanie. He figured she must still be mad at him, but decided he’d go over to her house to see if he could reason with her. Perhaps sleeping on it had mellowed her attitude? Alternatively, maybe he and Stephanie could at least talk about her misgivings concerning Alexander and the bizarre situation they found themselves in.

  Alex immediately noticed the three police cars as he turned the corner into Stephanie’s street. The vehicles were parked outside Stephanie’s house and there were several uniformed officers standing on the front lawn. Some of them were talking to Stephanie’s parents. Alex quickened his pace as he approached the house. The front door was wide open and he could see that there was some damage inside. Two of the windows were also broken. As Alex arrived at the house, one of the police officers turned to greet him. It was Officer Marino, whom he’d spoken to at the hospital.

  “Hi, Alex,” she said, smiling. “I thought I recognized you. How are you feeling? Looks like the accident left quite a scar on your forehead.”

  “I’m fine, thanks,” said Alex. “What’s going on here?”

  Stephanie’s parents were deep in conversation with the other officers in front of the house. Stephanie’s mother looked very upset as she answered the officers’ questions.

  “There’s been a break in,” replied Marino. “No one’s been hurt, but your friend’s missing.”

  “Stephanie?” said Alex.

  “Yes, you’ve saved me a trip, actually. I was going to come over and see you later today.”

  “What’s happened? What do you mean she’s missing?”

  “There was a break in earlier today, probably just after Mr. and Mrs. Thomas left the house. We think Stephanie was still sleeping. There was some damage to the house. Some windows were broken and a few drawers had been opened, as if the crooks were looking for something, but apparently nothing of value was taken. However, Stephanie’s now missing, along with her tablet. There were a couple of other laptops in the house but they weren’t touched. There’s no ransom note or anything like that, which we’d expect if she’d been kidnapped. Her parents haven’t had any messages either. Right now, we don’t have any leads, although the guys are still going through the house to see if there’s any evidence we can follow up on.”

  Alex froze. Had Stephanie been kidnapped just like his dad might have been? He tried to maintain a poker face as he listened to Officer Marino.

  “When did you last see her?”

  “She was over at my house last night. We were just hanging out.”

  “Was your mom at
home too?”

  “Yes, but she went to bed early. She wasn’t feeling well. I guess the stress has been getting to her lately, with everything that’s happened.”

  “What time did Stephanie go home?”

  “Early evening. I’m sorry, I don’t remember the exact time.”

  “Did she say she was going straight home?”

  “As far as I know. She never mentioned that she was going to be doing something else. I assume she just went home for dinner.”

  Marino nodded.

  “And you didn’t text each other or anything else last night?”

  “No, nothing like that. We don’t always chat online or message each other if we’ve already spent most of the day together.”

  Alex declined to mention that he and Stephanie had had an argument. He also didn’t tell Marino that Stephanie hadn’t been answering his texts the previous evening or that morning.

  “What did you do in the daytime?” asked Marino.

  Alex hesitated. Did Marino know he and Stephanie had been to Castlewood Dynamics? How could she have found out about that?

  “Same thing, really,” he replied. “Just hanging out playing games and stuff most of the time.”

  “You didn’t go out at all? It was such nice day yesterday.”

  “Yeah, I know, but we decided to stay in. Is it important what we did?”

  “Just trying to get a clear picture, Alex,” Marino replied, smiling. “You never know what might be helpful. If you think of anything, give me a call. You still have my card, right?”

  “Yes,” said Alex. “I hope she’s okay.”

  “So do we, Alex. Will you be home later? We might want to talk to you and your mom about what’s happened.”

  “What for?” asked Alex, trying not to panic.

  He certainly didn’t want the police poking around at his home or taking an interest in his phone or his laptop. He also wanted to avoid them looking at messages from the mysterious Alexander, even if they weren’t genuine.

  “Just routine,” Marino replied. “Apart from Stephanie’s parents, you and your mom were probably the last people that saw her. We need to follow up on everything, I’m sure you understand.”

  “Yes, of course,” said Alex, trying to remain calm.

  “Anyway,” said Marino. “I’d better go back and talk to her parents. Thanks again.”

  She smiled before turning to rejoin the other officers.

  ALEX CALMLY WALKED to the end of Stephanie’s street. Once he turned the corner he quickened his pace and hurried home, his mind in a whirl. He didn’t want to believe it but it seemed as if Veronica might have captured Stephanie. And if Veronica had the tablet, she’d also know all about what he and Stephanie had been investigating. Even if she didn’t know anything about the reasons for the research, Veronica would probably still be suspicious regarding why they’d been looking into both her past and present business dealings. She might even be aware that they were at the company offices the previous day. Alex started to panic when he realized that some of Alex’s messages had been communicated through the tablet. If Veronica had that in her possession, she’d know about Alexander as well. Alex stopped walking when he felt his phone vibrate. He took it out of his pocket and saw that Alexander was trying to contact him. Alex sat on a bench at a bus stop to access the message. Before Alexander could say anything, Alex told him what had happened and that Stephanie was missing.

  “What do you mean missing?” asked Alexander. “That’s not supposed to happen.”

  “What are you talking about? I thought you knew how things were going to happen here in our time. Hasn’t this all happened before, as far as you’re concerned?”

  “Yes. I mean, I don’t know. This is all very confusing.”

  “Veronica’s probably kidnapped Stephanie,” said Alex. “If she’s got Stephanie’s tablet, it’ll show all the research we were doing about her.”

  “Yes,” Alexander agreed, “but that won’t prove anything.”

  “We also talked to you on the tablet, remember?” Alex pointed out. “Unless Stephanie deleted the history, that’s going to show up on there as well.”

  Alexander thought for a moment before answering, furrowing his brow.

  “Okay, let’s try not to panic. We don’t know—”

  “She could even be hurt or worse,” said Alex, interrupting him. “My dad might be dead and Veronica poisoned Robert as well. You know what she’s capable of. How could you not know about all this?”

  “I don’t know, Alex. This didn’t occur before. Like I already told you, your actions based on the information I’m giving you must be altering the timeline somehow but it’s just a theory.”

  Alex wasn’t convinced.

  “Or maybe you’re not telling me everything,” he said. “Are you holding stuff back?”

  A few people walking by the bus stop glanced over as Alex’s anger mounted and he raised his voice while using the phone. Yet Alex was beyond caring. As far as he was concerned, Alexander wasn’t being straight with him.

  “Where’s Stephanie?” Alex demanded.

  “I can understand your confusion,” replied Alexander, “but let’s try and look at this logically. I agree that Veronica might have taken Stephanie, but I have no idea where she is. Like I told you, this never happened before. I remember back then that Veronica operated several different facilities in other buildings apart from the main Castlewood complex but I don’t recall the exact locations.”

  “I don’t believe you,” said Alex. “You have to know. Why won’t you tell me? Stephanie could be in real danger.”

  “Sorry, Alex, I don’t know what to tell you. I’ll do my best to investigate these events. I don’t know when I’ll be able to be in contact again. All my computers here are designed to avoid being tracked, and it’s vital that I’m not discovered. I usually move locations on a regular basis to avoid detection by the authorities.”

  The video message began to break up.

  “I’ve also faked details of my own death many times and changed identities frequently. However, I’ve been forced to stay at this apartment for longer than I usually like. I needed to get all the right equipment so that I could contact you in the past, but it’s becoming too dangerous to maintain this link.”

  Before Alex could ask him any more questions, Alexander was gone.

  Chapter Eleven

  The Mansion

  ON HIS WAY back home, Alex began to second-guess himself. He wondered about what Stephanie had said about Alexander. Was it true that there was something just not right, and at times downright suspicious, about the entire situation? Alex admitted that it was uncanny that Alexander knew so much about the course of events. He’d more or less convinced himself that Alexander really was from the future. Yet why was there such a discrepancy in what he knew about events, especially something as important as Stephanie’s disappearance? Surely he would have known about that? Then there was the situation with the laptop too.

  Alex didn’t buy the theory Alexander had put forward about the timeline changing because he was guiding Alex and Stephanie. Okay, he accepted that the situation was very weird but the theory still didn’t ring true. Maybe Stephanie was right? Perhaps Alex couldn’t trust his future self after all? And what if all the recent events were actually the cause of Alex becoming Alexander? If his future self really was evil and in league with Veronica, could Alex even stop things? Maybe even doubting Alexander’s sincerity and second guessing himself was all somehow part of how things were supposed to happen? Or maybe events couldn’t be changed anyway and everything was inevitable, no matter what Alex did in his own time. It was maddeningly confusing.

  Alex then had an idea. Both he and Stephanie had apps on their phones that could track each other’s locations. He wondered if he could learn where she was, presuming she still had her phone with her. Alex sat down on the bench at another bus stop. He activated the app and saw that Stephanie had been at home earlier in the day. Her p
hone also indicated that she’d then been closer to one of the area’s more upscale neighbourhoods before the signal stopped. Alex conceded that someone could have stolen Stephanie’s phone and that could be the source of the trace signal. However, it was the only lead he had related to Stephanie’s possible location. And based on what had happened to his dad and then to Robert, Alex was convinced that Stephanie was in terrible danger.

  HE WAS ABOUT to put his phone back in his pocket and go home when there was another video message from Alexander. Alex reluctantly opened the message, which was marred by static.

  “What do you want?” said Alex.

  “Look, I know you’re suspicious, Alex, but don’t go home. Please.”

  “Why not? I thought you couldn’t predict what was going to happen anymore? Lost your magic powers?”

  Alexander ignored the question.

  “I don’t know what’s happened to Stephanie, but if she’s been kidnapped, whoever took her might also be targeting you. The police are obviously still in your area, but once they’ve gone, maybe tonight or when your mom’s gone to work, you could be next.”

  “What do you suggest?” asked Alex.

  “You need to get Dad’s laptop.”

  “But we don’t know where it is.”

  “It’s at the Castlewood mansion.”

  “How do you know that?” Alex demanded, angrily. “I thought everything was all screwed up now? And why should I trust you anyway?”

  “I know this is hard, Alex. I know you have doubts but the laptop is there, believe me. You know where the mansion is, right?”

  “Yes, I went there with Dad a couple of times.”

  “Veronica won’t be there. I know that she went to New York right after Robert’s death to deal with lawyers and then to sign the government deal in Washington. Veronica has an office in the mansion. It used to be Robert’s and should be easy enough to find.”