by Holly Hook
"Then why didn't you remember us when we first came here today, if you've been researching us for a long time?" I ask.
Arnelia doesn't seem fazed. She keeps explaining like she's giving a lecture. "It seems that every incident I have with the Timeless, they send me back to a time where I am sleeping. I never have my hair clip on when I sleep, so I always wake not remembering anything until I put it on. This time, it seems that Frank and Isabel had erased the two of you from my memory before sending me back. That is why I did not know you at first when you arrived here today. In fact, I had forgotten all about my mission for a short time."
'That's true," Isabel says. "We Timeless can erase all memories of a certain person. Frank and I erased your memories of the four of us, just to be extra safe. We always take extra measures against you Travelers." She holds up her hands like Arnelia's about to attack her. "We only erased your memories of Julia and Simon because you happened to meet them today. I didn't think we were messing with your memories in this time, too."
"It is okay. You were only doing your duty. How could you have known?" Arnelia smiles, forgiving.
I remember when Frank and Isabel were about to erase Nancy and Monica's memories of me, and me only. It makes sense that they had done the same to Arnelia. I'm sure they removed her memories of Monica, too.
“You told no one else about the Timeless? I hope? If the other scientists here figure out what you've done...it could be disastrous." Isabel's tone darkens.
“I informed no one else,” she says. “Do not worry. I will not tell anyone about you or how to get around through Time like this. I am worried that some of my fellow researchers would like to go back and tamper with things that they should not. This might be a time different from yours, but there are still people who would use this for the wrong reasons. For power and greed. It is better for everyone to think that time travel is a failure.”
Isabel steps back. She has nothing to say. She already knows all about people like that.
“I get it,” I say. There's a question burning in me. “I hope we're not messing anything up by stopping our ships from sinking. Did you do any research on the effects of our plan?”
“Look around us,” Simon says, waving to the vines on the marble walls. Nearby, the water flows peacefully around the green tunnel. “This is the world we both survive and start a family in. Does it look so bad?”
He's right. This place isn't terrible at all. The world hasn’t crumbled with our changing history.
Will this look the same if Frank gets his way?
“Okay,” I say. “I think we can work something out with that memory butterfly of yours. Arnelia, thank you so much for this.”
“It is no problem. But can I have that back?” She's reaching out for the butterfly, cheeks flushing. “I have to erase my memories from this before you take it. Even scientists have things they like to keep private.”
Chapter Fifteen
Arnelia leads us through the purple corridor and to another lobby, one lined with matching purple chairs. Hallways branch away everywhere. We're in another sunny dome and I feel like I'm in the middle of some hive. Arnelia explains that this is the entrance to the living quarters. "Wait here while I go prepare this," she says, rubbing one finger down the butterfly's wing.
Simon, Isabel and I sit as Arnelia disappears down one of the hallways. I wonder how she remembers where to go in this place. It's almost as confusing as the Hub.
Simon wraps his arm around me. “She's just like you, Julia. Figures she would be the one to finally outsmart Time.” He speaks with pride that I can't help but share.
“Maybe that's why Time wanted me to die,” I say. "It didn't want Arnelia to be born. Since, you know, she found a way around its rules." It makes me want to survive even more, not only to save my father and brother, but to give Arnelia a chance to shine. What if she becomes some famous scientist who changes the world? She's a genius.
“We should definitely survive the sinking and go on with our lives in 1912. At least now, we have a way to stop the sinking. Perhaps..” Simon casts a cautious glance at Isabel, who sits on the other side of me. “Do you still want to go through with this plan?”
She nods. “It is the only way to make this happen, isn't it? I take it I must wear that butterfly hair clip when I go to get the two of you in 1912."
“Yes. If you stay mortal in your own time,” I say. “It's a complicated plan. Isabel, you'll have to put your memories on the device first and give it to us. Then Simon and I stop the Gustloff from sinking. That will prevent you from ever becoming Timeless. Simon and I will then find the past you and gift you with this. When you put it on, you’ll remember all of this. Then you can come through another rift with us and go through to the Titanic.” I take a breath. "This should work, right? Since it'll be your Timeless memories on there, they shouldn't get erased when we change your history. They can't be tampered with, ever. Right?" I face Simon.
There's doubt on his features. He takes his arm from around me and rubs his palm on his robe. "No one has ever attempted this before. But I think that, since it's possible for Arnelia to exist here, that it must work. We have to try."
"I agree. And then,” Isabel says, “I will visit the two of you in 1912 and we can stop the Titanic from sinking before any Timeless can find me and send me back to 1945. Then, the two of you will live happily ever after. And hopefully, so will I with my mother and sister." There's a dark undertone in her voice. “I won’t go back to my father after I remember all of this. I will take my family and get them away from him. I never plan to speak to him again.”
I don’t know what to say. I can’t imagine how it feels to find out that not one, but two people you once loved are monsters. Isabel’s own father, and then Frank. I’m beginning to understand why Frank’s actions hurt her so deeply.
“When are we going to do this?” I ask after a long, dragged out silence.
Oh.
Nancy and Monica.
My heart sinks. If we do this, I’m going to have to say goodbye.
I breathe out and my happiness bursts.
“Julia?” Simon asks. Even Isabel looks at me.
“I don’t want to leave Nancy or Monica.”
Simon blinks and glances at the floor. “Oh. I forgot. I know how much you care for them.” He shifts in his chair and pulls me close to him. “What do you want to do?”
“Well, we can’t make Arnelia blink back out of existence, can we? Or the generations of people between us and her.”
“You’re right. We can’t. And I don’t want to.”
“I like Arnelia,” Isabel says. “And without her, we can't do this.”
“So it's done,” Simon says.
I open my mouth to say something, but I can't speak. Now that I've finally started to heal the growing distance between me and Monica, it's going to be like none of it ever happened all over again. Like I never even existed to her. Who will Monica have to talk to after school? Who will go the Branch with her? Not Shauna, who went off with her boyfriend and stopped talking to everyone else. And Nancy. I'm going to leave an empty spot at her table, a chair that collects dust. A space on the couch during all those movie nights. A bare room. Maybe, at least, she can foster another girl.
My eyes fill.
But my brother and my father and Arnelia...
We will have to lead our lives back in 1912 for her to happen.
I'm ripping apart inside, but I know what I have to do. I promised my family. I won't break that now.
“Simon,” I manage. “I'm going to miss them."
“So will I,” he says, pulling me close to him. “Maybe we should go back to Nancy's for a while. So you can spend some more time with them. We can go to the Gustloff at any point. Besides, it will let plan this a little more before we dive in.”
“I like that idea.” I'll go back and we'll spend a bit more time with Nancy and Monica. I'll spend all of my time with them. Go to the Branch with Monica again. Take Nancy
out to dinner. Even play with the kids at Happy Rabbit's. I love them all. I'll treasure every moment.
And I know I won't want to leave.
But Melvin--
There's a cry from down the hallway, echoing from where Arnelia disappeared.
My heart leaps and I leap off the couch. Simon does the same. Even Isabel's eyes widen and she pales. “Check on her. Now!”
Simon and I bolt down the hallway, past closed doors and branching hallways. The cry comes again, and a guy's voice echoes from one door that's, like the others, closed.
I recognize the voice. It's Frank. He's found Arnelia.
I try the door. It's locked. Simon nods at me.
Simon and I ram our shoulders into the door at the same time. It creaks, but doesn't break. It looks like wood, but it must be a different material.
“Frank!” Simon shouts. “Open the door. Stop messing around!”
There's a thump from inside the room and something about it makes me snap.
He's not going to kill another member of my family, even if they're thousands of years away.
I look at Simon, nod, and we both ram into the door again.
An ear-splitting crack sounds and it bursts open. Frank’s standing there in the middle of Arnelia’s room, his knife to her throat. Her brown eyes are wide and terrified. They bore into us, begging for help.
Terror squeezes my heart. It’s too much like Melvin. I have to save Arnelia. If I fail, it will be because I let her down.
Frank’s shaking. “Don’t come any closer,” he says. “I don’t want to stab her. I really don’t. I need to talk to the two of you about what you’re doing. I know you’re both planning to change history. You already have. Julia’s here. That proves it to me. I’m surprised you’re both still here. I have to put a stop to you. They said so.”
Frank’s talking like a crazy guy. He trembles, and the knife brushes Arnelia’s flesh. Her breaths come shallow. The butterfly hairpiece hangs in her tight fist. Frank must have no idea what it is.
“Arnelia has nothing to do with us,” I lie. “Why are you holding her hostage? Isn't that changing history?”
Frank's eyes are wide. Crazy. “You were talking to her in the bathroom before Isabel and I sent her back here. And now the two of you are here, defending her. I’ve been watching her. Now that I think about it, there was no Arnelia here in 5052 until after you went Timeless, Julia. You did something. Changed something. And now they’re going to come.”
“They?” I ask. I have to stall and get him to lower the knife. “Who are you talking about?”
“This is nothing personal.” Frank lowers the knife a bit from her throat. “I just don’t want to see them again. I don’t want that to happen to anybody else. That’s why I’m cleaning up this mess.”
“Frank, speak clearly!” Simon's fists are balled. He’s ready for another fight.
I know what Frank means. He’s going to stab Arnelia. Stop us from saving my family and Isabel’s, too. But there’s a look of terror in Frank that matches my own. He’s afraid of something.
There’s a stun prism sitting on Arnelia’s desk. If I can get to it, maybe I can stun Frank. If it worked on me, it’ll work on him. But will I know how to use it? And Frank could stab her before I even get there. Where's Isabel? I glance up and down the hall. She's nowhere.
“You'll find out what I'm talking about if you keep going with this,” Frank says. He pushes the knife closer to Arnelia's neck. She sucks in a breath. Simon's squeezing in beside me. We have to move.
“Frank,” I say, trying to sound as tough as I can. “As far as I know, you're the one messing with history. Eric, remember? That kid who wouldn't have fallen into the pond if you hadn't been there?” I don't dare look at the prism on the desk. I'm two feet from it. As soon as I move, he'll stab. “Shouldn't you be the one who's worried?”
Frank balks. I've hit something. “I...I did it for Isabel!” He's fumbling now. “You don't know anything about her history. I did it so she wouldn't have to be the one to send you back. Now they're going to come after me if I don't work for them. I made them a deal. That's it. It's nothing against any of you.”
There's real terror in Frank's voice. And anger. He's furious that Isabel left him. Maybe that's why she couldn't stick around.
“Frank, just tell us what's going--”
Simon jumps at him. Frank's grip loosens and Arnelia ducks. Simon knocks Arnelia out of the way and she falls to the side, grabbing the edges of her bed. Frank waves his knife through the air. It catches on the arm of her sky blue robe, ripping the arm. Drops of blood fly, but Arnelia grits her teeth and grabs the wound. She doesn't cry out.
I'm furious. I leap at Frank and forget all about the stun prism thing. His knife's on the floor. He keeps hurting my family. He keeps taking everyone I care about. He deserves to suffer. I can't kill him, but I can cause him pain.
Simon's holding him down on the floor, arms quivering. Frank tries to sit up, but a punch from Simon lands on the side of his face. Frank slumps back, unconscious. I grab the knife and raise it.
“No!”
It's Arnelia, standing there and holding that prism thing. I drop the knife. She's pointing it at all of us. I don't really have a choice.
“Why are you stopping me?” I ask. I'm almost gone with rage. “You of all people should realize what he's done.”
“I want to hear what he has to say.”
Frank's lying there on his back, still out. Simon scoots away from him. It's not like Frank's going to move, anyway. If he does, Arnelia's going to paralyze him.
“I want to know what can happen,” Arnelia says. “We all need to know. There are some questions even our computers can't answer.”
She's right. I suck in a breath. Force my rage back down into a dark pit. Frank blinks. He's coming to.
“Okay,” I say to Frank. His gaze shifts to me and his eyes cross. “What's going to happen to us that you're so worried about?” I don't mean to make it sound like it's not a big deal, because it probably is.
Frank blinks again. Sucks in a breath. Opens his mouth to speak.
Coughs. Gags.
Dread clutches my chest. I've seen this before. Simon had the same problem when he first wanted to tell me where we came from.
“Fantastic,” I say. He can't talk about it. Time won't let him. But Frank shouldn't have any issues talking to us. We're both Timeless now. “Does Arnelia need to leave the room for you to open up?”
Frank shakes his head and raises his hand to his face, shielding himself from Simon. He's still shaking. “It's not that. There's a secret most Timeless don't even know. If you're smart, you'll stop trying to change history now.”
Arnelia stands there, tightening her grip on the prism thing. She swallows. We can't stop. She'll cease to exist. It'll mean that I never rescue Melvin and my father like I promised.
Whatever Frank can't open up about, we have to risk facing it. There's no other way. And if the Time in his blood won't let him talk about it, there's only one way to discover what he means.
We have to face it. It's the last thing I want to do, other than giving up.
“Stun him,” I say.
"No!" Frank sits up, but flops to the floor. He stares at the ceiling like he's dead, but his chest rises and falls. There’s no way he’s moving for a few minutes. It's our opportunity to get away.
“We need to go,” Arnelia says. She hands me the butterfly and keeps the stun prism in her hand.
We're running down the hall a second later, leaving Frank to think about whatever we're going to run into. “Simon,” I breathe. “Do you know what he's talking about?”
“No.” He looks at me, all worried. “I don’t like the sounds of this. I don’t think he was faking.”
“Neither do I.” I grasp Arnelia’s butterfly hair clip tighter. We bolt through the lobby and through the purple tunnel, passing a lone man in a tan robe.
And Arnelia is still here. That’s a good sign that
our plan will still work—right?
“I will let the three of you through our rift,” Arnelia says. “I will disable our security. Where did Isabel go?”
“Beats me,” I say. She can’t just walk out on us like this. She still needs our help. And we need hers.
But we find her standing there just outside the time travel room, right at the end of the blue water tunnel.
“There you are,” Simon says. “Where did you go when we needed you back there?” He’s holding down rage. I wonder if he’s going to go off on her, but he keeps his fists balled and his lips tight after that. He’s still pretty old-fashioned. He won’t start all-out screaming at a girl.
“Frank doesn’t know that I’m involved in this,” she says. “We need to keep it that way. I could be the secret weapon in all of this. That’s why I ran back here before he could see me.”
“Oh.” Simon unclenches his hands. “That makes sense. I forgot.”
“Frank thinks something is going to come after us all for changing history,” I say. “You used to date him. Do you know what he’s talking about?”
A look of confusion falls over Isabel. She glances side to side and narrows her eyebrows at me. Arnelia pushes around her and runs the lab, where she’s going to shut the security down so we can go back in. We have no choice but to wait for her, or we're all getting trapped on those walls or those metal boxes again. I don't even care about the water, not after Frank's revelation. “There isn’t anything that can come after us. We are the time police and Time can’t defend itself without us. Frank must be lying. I have never heard of anything else.”
“He sure didn’t sound that way,” I say.
Isabel makes a disgusted sigh. “Frank does have a history of lying. That boy he pushed into the pond, remember? He never told me about that. He never planned to. That’s why I broke up with him. I’m tired of having monsters in my life.”
“Ready,” Arnelia says, running back up to the tunnel. “You need to leave and get ahead of Frank.”
The three of us run into the lab. Arnelia runs up beside us, ready to dart to the rift wall and fire it up. “To use this device, press the butterfly’s head once while it is on your head. It will download your memories and feed them back into you when you wear it again. Then to erase the memories, press the butterfly's head three times fast."