Within Darkness

by C J M Naylor

  She started laughing again and I did too. But based on what I knew about him, I did wonder if that was something he wanted.

  “Well,” Alma said, “I need to be getting back. It was nice meeting you. Please let me know if there is anything at all that you need. I’ve been here a while now and at least know where most things are.”

  I smiled and nodded and she walked away, leaving me alone.

  You are a traitor.

  My body went cold as I looked around the room for the voice, knowing I’d find nobody there with me.

  What would Phillip think if he saw you now? It hasn’t even been a year and you’re already running off with another man.

  Deep breaths. That was what I needed to do. I closed my eyes and took a long, deep breath. When I opened them again, the voice, or my voice, was gone.

  That evening I managed to arrive home after Bridget for once. When I entered the apartment, she was in the kitchen preparing dinner. I could hear pots and pans clanging away as I made my way into the kitchen. She looked up as I entered.

  “Hey, there.”

  I smiled at Bridget and took a seat at our small table.

  “What’s for dinner?” I asked.

  “I’m just throwing together some stir fry,” Bridget responded. “Ian and I had lunch today. He tells me he ran into you at the American Headquarters?”

  News travels fast apparently.

  “That’s right,” I responded. “I felt like it was finally time to go back and I also think Thomas might be able to help with some of the problems I’ve been having lately.”

  “How so?”

  “He thinks that while some of it may be because of the trauma I’ve experienced, some of it might also be because of Timekeeping.” I launched into an explanation about what we had found out in the library about my premonitions and possible telepathy. Bridget’s eyes grew wider as I mentioned the possibility of having a twin.

  “Mathias never mentioned any of this to you?” she asked in response.

  “No,” I responded. “And honestly, I don’t think he knows. My biological mother left their secret Headquarters to have me and never returned. There would be no way of knowing she was pregnant with twins. Except for maybe a premonition.”

  “Are you going to contact Mathias and ask him about it?”

  I shook my head. “I’ve tried contacting him and he hasn’t responded to any of the letters I’ve written.”

  Bridget’s face changed into one of suddenly remembering something. She stepped out of the kitchen for a moment and then quickly returned, an envelope in her hand.

  “Usually Ian gets the post,” she said, “but since I was home early, I picked it up and I noticed a letter for you from London.”

  My heart began beating anxiously as I reached out for the letter. I clutched it and began tearing it open immediately. After eight long months, Mathias had finally written me back. I hoped it contained answers to some of the questions that I had asked him.

  Dear Abigail,

  I understand that you are probably angry with me, even though I had thought we made amends before you left London. I so desperately wish you would respond to my letters. It is getting rather lonely here without anyone to talk to, especially now that I no longer have Ian. I suppose the time has come that I should finally consider bringing in some other Timekeepers to help run the place.

  I hope that you are finding solace in your new home, even if you aren’t pursuing Timekeeping at the current time. Councilor Headrick informed me of your decision shortly after you arrived in San Francisco. Please understand that I am truly sorry for how I previously acted, and I hope to hear from you soon.

  Love,

  Mathias

  I looked up at Bridget in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, continuing to stir the skillet on the stovetop.

  “He’s acting like he hasn’t gotten any of my letters,” I responded. “He’s asking why I haven’t responded to his letters, and this is the first one that I’ve gotten from him.”

  Bridget looked at me, a look of confusion on her face as well. “Maybe they’ve been intercepted and weren’t sent along?”

  “Every single one?” I asked. “Not only mine, but his as well?”

  “That is odd,” Bridget said. “I honestly have no idea. You should write back though. Maybe you can run down and get it sent off tonight?”

  I nodded. That would probably be a good idea. I found pen and paper and quickly began to write.

  Dear Mathias,

  I’m not sure what to make of your letter. I’ve sent you several letters in the past eight months and you act as if you’ve never gotten them. The letter that I just received from you was the first letter I have gotten from you. S,o either our mail has been intercepted, or something else is going on.

  Anyway, I’m doing okay here in San Francisco. I’ve been struggling though. I’ve had dreams about Phillip and my parents, and it often ends with them accusing me of killing them. I have decided to seek help from Thomas Jane and will probably continue my studies. I won’t say much in this letter. I just want to make sure you get it. Write back quickly.

  Love,

  Abigail

  The door to the apartment opened and shut as I signed my name. Ian walked into the kitchen.

  “Evening ladies,” he announced, quickly crossing the kitchen and giving Bridget a kiss on the lips. He turned to me and sat down at the table. “Sending off another letter? Leave it on the counter and I’ll get it when I go out in the morning.”

  “I’m actually going to just run it down and get it sent off now,” I responded. “Bridget got the post today and I finally got a letter from Mathias. He acts as if I haven’t sent him anything and also asks if I’ve gotten his previous letters.”

  I stood up, took the letter, and grabbed my coat hanging on the wall hook.

  “Abby,” Ian says, “you’ve had a long day with everything at the Headquarters. I’ll run that letter down for you. You stay here and rest.”

  “No, it’s okay. I really want to make sure this one gets out.”

  Ian reached out his hand for the letter. “No, really, Abby. I insist.”

  I gave Ian a questioning look before it all dawned on me. How could I have been so stupid? Ian had been the one handling all of the correspondence. He had sent out every single one of my letters because I hadn’t wanted to leave the apartment. He had been the person in charge of getting the post every day. Today was the first day, in probably all of the time that we had been here, that Bridget had gotten home early enough to get it.

  “No,” I said firmly, shaking my head. “Thank you, Ian, but I will get this delivered.”

  I put the letter in the pocket of my coat and quickly walked out of the apartment. Bridget had given us both a questioning look, but turned back to her stir fry. I knew now that Ian had been keeping my letters from me. Why? I didn’t know. There were things that didn’t line up, but I needed more proof before I could say anything to Bridget about it. And if it was proof I needed, I would get it.

  As soon as I was on the street, I crossed over to the nearest mailbox and placed the letter safely inside. I had a strong inclination that Mathias would get this one.

  CHAPTER TEN

  As the day slowly ticked by, my mind was focused on the same three things. First, Thomas had asked me out on a date and we would be going out after I was off today. Second, Ian had been the one handling my letters, none of which had gotten to Mathias. Third, there was a prophecy about me, and apparently a twin sister that I knew nothing about. I did my best to not let these thoughts consume me, but as I had already verified the budget for the day and cleaned Thomas’ office entirely, there wasn’t much else for me to do except to sit and think. Thomas had yet to show up for work. Even though this was usually how he conducted his days, a part of me felt like he was rethinking his proposal the previous evening. I laughed out loud at that.

  “I’m sitting here worr
ying about be being rejected,” I said to the room. I felt selfish for it, but I also felt grateful. It felt… well it felt normal to sit here and think about being rejected instead of focusing on the thoughts that were constantly pouring into my head, causing me unwanted anxiety. If it was my sister doing the talking, why would a sister do that? Where was she? Why did she dislike me so much? But the answer to that went to the grave with my mother. Only she knew what happened that night. If she had twins, she left one of us with the sisters at St. Agnus’s Orphanage in London. Or maybe she had left both of us? As soon as this thought crossed my mind, Thomas walked through the doorway.

  “I need to go to London,” I immediately said.

  He stopped abruptly, clearly surprised, and gave me a questioning look.

  “Well that’ll be a little difficult,” he said. “You’ll have to go the way you came and that won’t be cheap.”

  I shook my head. “No. I need to get there now. Can we travel through the Time Line?”

  “Travel through the Time Line has to be approved in advance by the Council,” Thomas responded.

  “And what happens if it isn’t? Can they stop us from going?”

  Thomas looked wary at this. I could tell he wanted to help me, but I could also tell that he didn’t want to get us into any trouble either.

  “Well, no,” he finally said. “But they will know that we did it. An alert will come up on their end and we will be questioned.”

  “Thomas, I really need you to help me with this. I need to go to the orphanage that I was left at and ask them if they knew anything about me having a twin.”

  Thomas looked away and then began pacing the room, clearly thinking through my request. He looked like he wanted to fight me on it, but he also looked like he was fighting himself on it. Finally, after rubbing his hands through his hair and sighing, he looked at me and nodded.

  “Fine,” he said. “Let’s go, now.”

  I followed him before he could change his mind.

  The long narrow hallway that led to the Time Line stood in front of us. I could see it glowing at the end, floating above ground. It was almost as if it was waiting for us to come to it and use it. As we approached, Thomas reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocket watch. He opened it and began to move some dials.

  “First,” he said, “you need to set it to travel, and then you put in your location. A map of the world will appear, and you can select your location. It can be broad, such as the United Kingdom for example, but if you do that, you will end up wherever it takes you. For now, we will narrow in on a certain location.” He hit a button on the side of his pocket watch that read “travel” and just as he said it would, a map appeared. It was like the Time Line; it was made up of some sort of energy that floated from out of the pocket watch. Thomas selected the United Kingdom, and then narrowed in on the London Headquarters, which was clearly marked on the map.

  “And then,” he continued, outstretching his arm, the pocket watch just barely touching the energy of the Time Line, “you touch the Time Line and go.”

  He quickly grabbed my hand, lowering the pocket watch as he did, and the room around us began to dissolve completely. For a moment, we were standing on nothing. It was as if we were floating in space, with nothing around us except blackness, but then, slowly, the London Headquarters began to materialize around us and I found myself in the room, just beyond Mathias’ study. I had only been here once, when Mathias had first trained me on parts of the Time Line, but I remembered it. Directly behind us was the small opening that would lead out through the fireplace and into the study which would then lead to the hallway and up through the exit in the Parliament building. Before we could even move, footsteps were heard, and Mathias, my biological father, stood before us.

  The sight of him sent my heart racing. He looked even worse than when I had seen him last. He was skinnier, almost to the point where it looked as if he was unhealthy. His hair was longer, coming close to being past his shoulders, and he really needed to trim his beard. It was growing wildly in different directions.

  He looked from Thomas and then to me and then ran forward and pulled me into him. He held me like that for what felt like hours, until he finally pulled away.

  “I thought I heard someone come in,” he said to us. “You got a visit approved?”

  Guilt seeped into me. He thought I was visiting him.

  “Not exactly,” I said, looking at Thomas.

  “Mathias,” Thomas said, outstretching his hand. “I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting. I’m Thomas Jane.”

  Mathias took it. “Well, you tend to not show up to anything.”

  “Because he’s the only one that does that,” I muttered, brushing past the two of them and into the study. I immediately found my familiar spot on Mathias’ couch and sat down. Thomas followed me and took a seat next to me, with Mathias sitting behind his desk.

  Thomas beat me to explaining our visit. “We didn’t get this visit approved, Mathias. There will no doubt be someone calling soon, so I think it would be best if you would come with us. We needed to come to London to do a bit of—” he hesitated, clearly unsure of what exactly to say. Finally, Thomas simply said, “A bit of research.”

  Mathias nodded. I could tell he knew there was more to this, but he was clearly willing to help us out.

  “Let me get my coat,” he said. “It’ll be nice to get out for a change.”

  As Mathias went to find his coat, a part of me worried he had not been out since I left.

  The three of us made our way to the tube and boarded the train that would take us to the closest exit to St. Agnus’s. I was surprised to find it was now dark, whereas when I had left San Francisco it had been in the early afternoon. Then, I remembered the time difference.

  I had no idea if our journey would be worth it, but I was appreciative Mathias was with us and we could fill him in and question him along the way. As we sat in the train car, amidst some questioning stares at Mathias’ unkempt appearance, I filled him in on everything that had happened. I told him about the letters I had been sending, but that had apparently not been sent. This was also new information to Thomas, as I hadn’t had the chance to tell him yet today.

  I informed Mathias of my suspicions about Ian as well as his sudden change in behavior. Finally, we got to the part about what we found out in regards to my possibly having a sister who was communicating with me telepathically. When I finished, Mathias sat back, eyes wide, and stared ahead.

  The train continued to rumble on and Mathias simply sat there in silence. Finally, he sighed and looked back at me.

  “Well,” he began, “for Ian, I don’t know what to say. I’ve known the boy for years. I trained him. Never once has he acted suspicious to me. Please, don’t think I’m saying you’re wrong or aren’t telling the truth. I believe you about what you’ve seen. I’m just saying I have no idea as to why he would be acting this way.

  “And as for a twin sister, I honestly have no idea. Your mother never once said anything about carrying twins, even in the letters she left me.”

  Thomas leaned forward, a curious expression on his face. “Going back to Ian, how did he come to train at the London Headquarters? Do you know his family?”

  Mathias had a quizzical expression on his face. He carefully pondered this question before he finally answered. “Honestly, I can’t say I know much about the boy. He was brought to me by Councilor Headrick. Now that I recall, it was a rather unusual situation. Usually training with a Timekeeper is planned months in advance. Headrick showed up one day with the boy, told me he needed to be trained, and she left it at that.”

  “Why does everything seem to involve her?” I asked both Thomas and Mathias. “Surely there are other councilors that handle things, but everything, at least from my end of things, seems to be coming from her.”

  “So many things we didn’t get around to training you on,” Mathias mumbled. “Headrick was the assigned councilor to Europe, that is
before the death of Winston. Now she’s leading up the Council, which for all intents and purposes would mean she’s the boss of us all. Before that though, she would handle all official business with the Timekeepers in each country within the continent. Every continent is assigned a different councilor that oversees the business of each country’s Headquarters.”

  “That’s right,” Thomas confirmed. “You heard yesterday about my meeting with Councilor Keaton. She’s assigned to North America.”

  “You said Headrick replaced Winston,” I repeated to Mathias. He nodded at me. “If that’s the case, then why wouldn’t there have been someone else to oversee me going to America? Why her? Surely she had enough going on that such a minor thing as transferring a Timekeeper in training could be pawned off on someone else?”

  Mathias didn’t know how to answer this. He considered it for a moment before finally saying, “I honestly can’t say.”

  “Abigail,” Thomas said, “what are you implying? Are you suggesting our leader is working against us?”

  Was that what I was suggesting? I honestly didn’t know. I just didn’t understand why Headrick would be so concerned with the minor task of transferring a Timekeeper when she was in charge of everything. It would be like the president of the United States getting involved with a state issue when there were clearly governors who could handle the situation.

  “I don’t know,” I finally said to Thomas. “But something isn’t right.”

  Before either of us could respond, the train came to a screeching halt as we arrived at our destination. I tucked away my thoughts as we ascended the stairs to make our way to St. Agnus’s.

  Sister Margaret, the same nun who had assisted both Ian and I months ago, opened the door of the orphanage when we called. She looked from Mathias, to Thomas, and then finally to me, a smile widening on her face as she remembered.