Shadow of Time

by Jamie Hawke

  Keisha moaned again, and Frank glanced over to see she was touching herself while watching. Upon making eye contact, she came back in and kissed him, not minding the way Esmerelda’s hand ran down her back, slapping her ass.

  Frank wished this could go on forever, but he was exhausted and already completely turned on and spent from Keisha, so he knew he wouldn’t last much longer. A few thrusts and he clenched up, pulling Esmerelda into him and burying his face in her breasts as he exploded inside of her.

  Shit, he had to be careful or he was going to end up with little pirate babies, he realized. Falling back, he stared at the stone ceiling, breathing in the cool air, and decided he didn’t give a fuck. Yes, having babies in a world like it currently was would suck, but he planned on fixing all of that eventually. He was young, but after all he’d been through, he wouldn’t hate the idea of settling down with these women.

  Could he settle down with multiple women? Multiple women from another time at that. And then there was Temra, and he had no idea what to do about her. Wait a second—he suddenly remembered Esmerelda telling him how she couldn’t have kids. Well, that was one less thing to worry about, for now.

  He glanced up at the two ladies at his side, wondering what they’d think about his little talk with her. Both of them were apparently as exhausted as he’d been, however, because they curled up on the bed, Keisha taking his hand on one side. After quickly cleaning herself in a connecting bathroom, Esmerelda took the other side and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before closing her eyes. Keisha’s soft breaths told him she was already asleep before he looked her way. He laid there, staring at the ceiling.

  Damn, he’d been so tired before. Now, after that, his blood was flowing and mind racing. He thought about the fact that he hadn’t gone to clean up. Since he couldn’t sleep anyway, he pulled his hand free from Keisha’s and went to take a piss. The bathroom had a sheet hung between it and the bedroom and was fashioned by someone managing to connect pipes to what looked an old restroom that would’ve been otherwise out of commission long ago.

  He pushed his hips forward over the sink and cupped water, washing his dick and any residual cum, but froze on the third splash. There, over his shoulder and half under a curtain on the opposite side, was Temra.

  Her eyes went wide, unable to move away from his exposed ass and cock, and then she started to pull back.

  “Wait, Temra—” he started, then froze, realizing she hadn’t run. He actually didn’t know what to say here, but at least covered himself. “I didn’t know it was a shared bathroom.”

  “Yeah, and… walls don’t really block out noises either. But I figured you were done.”

  He cringed. “Shit.”

  She motioned to his hands on his crotch. “For the record, not like I haven’t seen it before. Just… like this, knowing what you were doing. Fuck. I thought you’d be done, that I’d be safe now.”

  “That must be… awkward.” Frank glanced down, not sure if the polite thing here would be to move his hands away, or what. He tried to put himself in her shoes, meeting any of his ladies in another world where they were… no, he couldn’t even finish the thought.

  Temra was staring into his eyes, and finally answered, “You have no idea.” She gave him a nod, walked into one of the stalls, and went about her business.

  Frank shook his head, let out a sigh, and returned to the room. He grabbed his shirt to dry himself, then settle back into bed and tried to sleep. All he could think about when he closed his eyes, though, was the way Temra’s eyes had stared at him when he’d been exposed. It wasn’t with the shock or curiosity a stranger would betray, but longing… desire. Lust.

  He shook his head, not sure why he felt guilty, as if he had somehow betrayed her. But still, the feeling persisted.

  It wasn’t until he was able to focus on the sensation of cumming inside of Esmerelda, and the way Keisha had looked when she’d orgasmed both times, that he managed to finally drift off to dreamland. His dreams brought Milly and Mary into the mix, all four of his pirate ladies moving about in an exotic dance of lovemaking, first on a beach, then on a ship as water splashed over the side…

  …dripping on his face. But suddenly he was elsewhere, in a world where the sky was red, plumes of steam rising up outside the windows, and Temra was there, nude and kneeling over him. She shoved her mound over his mouth as she moaned, back arching, and then it was her fluids on him instead of the waves.

  He woke up with a sputter, wiping his face to see that it really was wet. Shit, it had started to rain and was leaking on him. Whatever he’d just felt could’ve been simply a sexual dream, a fantasy… but it felt like more than that. Part of him took it as more of a memory. But it wasn’t his memory, of course. Was he somehow experiencing memories from his other self? No, it couldn’t be…

  He frowned, moved the bed with the ladies still on it, and laid back down to return to his dream, he hoped.

  10

  The next day had started with rain dripping down the sides of the walls, as he imagined would be sure to happen wherever there was a hidden or underground hideout in Seattle. That hadn’t mattered to the others, though, and Frank’s grandpa looked chipper as could be when he found them after a light breakfast. He wore the ninja getup again but without the hood and mask.

  “Up and at ‘em,” his grandpa said. “We’ve got training to get to.”

  “Training?”

  “Of course.” His grandpa’s hand rested on one of the sword hilts at his side. “Time to teach you to be a ninja. How else do you think we’ll get that compass back?”

  Frank chuckled, looking at those next to him, even Temra nearby, as if they would tell him it was all a joke. None did.

  “You’re serious right now?” Frank stood. “Fine, ninja me up.”

  His grandpa grinned. “It won’t be that easy, but come. Let’s begin. Keep in mind that I’m no expert, but trained as I did and came out a better man for it. That, plus, as you might be aware… other training and strength that I got along the way.”

  At first Frank stared, confused, but then blinked with the realization that his grandpa was aware of this sensation he’d been feeling—this idea of kind of feeling something from other selves who were no longer in existence. But that seemed… too out there.

  Rose, for her part, was eyeing him with an intensity he never thought he’d see from her. Judging by the way Frank’s grandpa hesitated, eyes going over her, he noticed too.

  Lowering his voice as he nodded toward Temra again, his grandpa said, “I’m not one to put myself where I don’t belong, but… try not to ostracize her, at least. Yeah?”

  “Sure thing, grand—” Frank stopped himself with a cough, realizing how weird it was to say that out loud.

  “You can call me by my code name if you want,” his grandpa said. “Like you call your grandma Rose.”

  “You have a codename?”

  “Of course.” He grinned. “Shadow.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Watch your mouth. Again. And so yeah, I might have given it to myself, but why the hell not.”

  Frank chuckled. “Maybe I’ll start calling myself T-Bone. Or… Masterchief?”

  His grandpa—or Shadow—didn’t show any sign of recognition at the reference. He nodded. “Neither seems to fit but suit yourself. Talk to her, maybe? At least be friendly.”

  Shadow motioned for them to follow, so he and the others did. Soon they were in the training room, his grandpa taking a spot in the middle, hands behind his back.

  “Being a ninja isn’t simply about knowing how to fight. There’s karate, judo, and so many other forms of fighting techniques for that. Ninjutsu is more about infiltration, strategy, and more,” his grandpa went on, regaining his composure. “And we’re going to use these skills to get that compass.”

  “How?” Frank asked. “I mean, he’s out there now, waiting. Won’t he be holed up in his most defensible position, all guns at the ready?”

  “Yes
. And that’s why we know where to hit.”

  Frank glanced over at Keisha, exasperated, but she nodded as if that made perfect sense.

  “I’m guessing you know where this fortress of his is?” Esmerelda asked.

  Shadow smiled, then nodded. “It’s hardly a fortress, but it will prove challenging. It’s the Space Needle itself.”

  “The fuck?” A hand over his mouth, Frank added, “Sorry. But… what the fuck? Why there?”

  His grandpa chuckled. “You’re familiar with the way it rotates? Well, nothing special about that, per se, but… here’s the part where I’d tell you to sit down, if I was going to allow you to sit… they’ve aligned the spinning with the compasses, so that he’s been able to set up the Space Needle as a portal point.”

  “Just to check,” Keisha glanced around, “is anyone here understanding this?”

  A couple of chuckles broke the silence.

  “What I’m saying,” Shadow continued, “is that it’s a point of travel, one where he’s been able to focus others who enter this world, so that he can work with other versions of himself to best set up this empire he so desires.”

  “And he hasn’t succeeded yet because…?” Frank asked.

  “Me.” Shadow indicated the dozen or so others now gathering on the other side of the room. “And them. And soon, you. All of us.”

  “But to be clear, you don’t really need me,” Frank protested. “I mean, anyone could be in my place.”

  “Maybe that would’ve been true, but the original compass is tied to you, and you only. That’s a BFD.”

  “Big fucking deal, I guess,” Frank whispered to Esmerelda, who suddenly looked confused.

  “Yes, exactly.” His grandpa paced, looking them over. “You see, all of the other compasses exist, but unlike the other versions of us, they aren’t exact. It’s more like they’re trying to get back together with the first one, the real one. And that is the one that’s tied to you. It was tied to me, once, but… I died.” At a look of grief from Rose, he added, “Another me, at least.” He turned back to Frank. “And you figured out how to activate it. To level up. To travel—you did things with it I never knew were truly possible. In theory, yes, but not in practice. So, it’s not that nobody else could do it…”

  “It’s that I’d have to be dead first.” Frank gulped. “Yeah, I think I get it. Let’s train.”

  His grandpa laughed. “That’s the attitude. And while I said this isn’t all about martial arts, I’d like to ensure you’re at least at a basic level.” Taking a sword and tossing it to Frank, his grandpa drew his own. “Come at me.”

  Frank had trained with his Jedi club at school, then had Keisha teach him a thing or two. He was by no means an expert but had gone up against real pirates and lived to see another day. That said, the sword in his hand now was a katana, and he knew enough about swords to understand that using a katana was very different from what he was used to.

  He tried using it like a saber, but his grandpa quickly had him on the ground, blade to his throat.

  “It’s not like the other swords. Your fighting can’t be like it was before—or not only.”

  What followed reminded Frank of his pirate training, time with the Jedi dueling club, and someone kicking him in the face repeatedly. His grandpa had him practice with the sword for a while, but then turned the session to the spirit, the mind, finding one’s true self.

  “How does sitting with my eyes closed help me take down Rick the Dick?” Frank blurted out after an hour of meditation, where he was supposed to be practicing some cultivation bullshit, or who the hell knows what.

  “I’m going to make a true warrior out of you,” Shadow replied, sitting in front of him, cross-legged with hands on his knees. “Not just pirate, not just ninja. Not just you. You will become more than you ever thought possible.”

  Frank held Shadow’s gaze, wondering if he’d meant something more with that statement. Nodding, he closed his eyes, returning to the point of inner focus. He tried to clear his mind, to focus on the flow of energy. In with good, out with bad. And then, with one deep breath, he wasn’t there at all.

  He stood alone, wearing old samurai clothes. On one side of him were old but pristine shoji screens, and on the other side an open patio where the shoji screens had been pushed aside so he could see rolling hills, trees swaying in the wind.

  And in his hand was a wooden training sword. He gripped it, feeling slightly pulled back from the whole experience, watching it like… a dream? No. A memory.

  This was another version of him, he was sure of it. Same hands, and although there were no mirrors to check his face, he was sure it was identical. In a flash, this other version of himself was up and practicing sword strikes, moving like the wind. Maybe not a master, but damn, he was good.

  For hours he trained like this, and when he needed a break, it was to meditate. It felt so familiar, yet so distant.

  His grandpa walked into view, wearing a similar samurai outfit, eyeing him with curiosity. As the other Frank stopped, turning to his grandpa to bow, it all faded.

  Deep breaths in, negative energy out.

  Frank shook his head, opening his eyes to see he was back in the hideout in Seattle, sitting cross-legged opposite Shadow. Another dream?

  “He’s out there, getting stronger,” Frank said, standing in frustration and not ready to accept what he believed had just happened. “Making moves—”

  Shadow held up a hand. “Focus. He is, but we’re watching him. Waiting for him to go to one of the hot spots.”

  “What? Like a mobile hot spot? Like WiFi?”

  This time Shadow opened his eyes. “No. What’s that? I mean one of the locations where he can access the fourth dimension. The way he can travel to the other worlds without all the stones.”

  Frank stared, flabbergasted. “And you expect me to meditate after dropping something like that on me?”

  Shadow glared. Then grumbled as he pushed himself up. “You’re pissing me off. Did my older self have patience with you?”

  “I think so. You loved me, so…”

  Shadow chuckled. “You’re my family. Of course, I love you. Now give me one hundred pushups, you need more muscle.”

  “And the hot spots, as you call them?”

  “One. Hundred. Pushups.”

  Frank stared, exasperated, but then dropped and started. To his relief, as he did the pushups his grandpa explained more.

  “We don’t have all the answers, but we have a few guesses at how everything works,” Shadow started. “The starting point is that a compass should only be able to go back to the last place it was used, unless it has the three stones. However, there was a fourth stone.”

  Frank nearly lost his balance on the pushup, but then recovered. “What?”

  “There was someone else with Rick when we were pulled to him, a boy who didn’t say much at the time. Rick would talk about trapping light in the stones in a way that would be able to make the unviewable universe viewable, in a sense. Multiple worlds, put into a format we could see and manipulate with the help of the compass device.

  “But Rose and I have been talking, and we believe that boy was more than Rick let on. We think he had a fourth stone on him, and that this stone is what allowed the fourth-dimension travel—or multiple-world creation—to happen. He might even be behind this leveling up and crafting you’re able to experiment with.”

  “Like he’s testing me?” Frank paused in the up position, arms shaking. “But… why would Rick have weapons, too?”

  “Great questions, but questions we don’t have answers to.” He indicated for Frank to continue with the pushups. “What we suspect, though, is that there are hot spots where the compass by itself can travel, and maybe with the right stone combinations can access this fourth dimension place. Some nebulous location where maybe this boy went… where maybe he still is, pulling strings like a puppetmaster.”

  “An amateur puppeteer is more like it.” Frank collapsed. “Dam
n. Seventy-nine.”

  “Then keep going.”

  Frank ignored his grandpa, sitting and stretching his arms. “How do you know about these hot spots?”

  “Temra and her eyepiece. The monocle as you might like to call it—when she uses blue, the top of the Space Needle shows up like a sort of slow-moving eclipse of light, she says. We believe that when it’s full, Rick will make his move.”

  That gave Frank a lot to think about as the sparring and other exercises continued. Already he was starting to get the hang of this ninja business. His skills with the katana were rapidly improving, as though he’d somehow gained muscle memory without the long hours of practice it usually took. If it had been only him, even with his Jedi sparring and whatnot, there would be no way this could have worked. Keisha and Esmerelda watched with curiosity, likely wondering how the hell he was learning so fast.

  At times he considered telling them about the vision of his other self in Japan, but what would that imply? That he was somehow absorbing the memories or… or even the essence of this other version of himself? He’d seen the Jet Li movie related to that, where all the other versions had tried to kill each other to get the power, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to accept any version of time travel which made that scenario true.

  Then again, the other versions of him were already dead. If that theory had any truth to it, why hadn’t he had more memory experiences? A thought hit him. Maybe it was because he was interacting with Shadow and Temra, and that somehow fueled it? Bam! A hit from Shadow in their sparring session reminded him to focus on the present, which he gladly did, coming back to block the next strike and then swipe Shadow to the ground.