The Hazing Tower

by Leland Roys

  “Remember you’re not dead, you’re new. New Nikki. Nikki New. I think I like that.”

  “OK then, Mr. New. Unless you were joking, which I’m sure you were, let’s go to Greece.”

  • • •

  Lifetimes

  So much for the joking. She looked out the jet window as the city lights disappeared into the night sky. Alex was resting beside her. She looked at his arm. She hadn’t been able to see the tattoo yet. Maybe it wasn’t even him anyway. She remembered she wasn’t supposed to ask questions yet. Those were her own rules. She had decided to live for the moment for once, a chance she never had when she was alive. Or, if she did, she had wasted it. She refused to waste it again.

  He had said he would answer her questions whenever she was ready. That was enough for her. She trusted him. It made no sense, but she did, and that was what mattered. If she was wrong, then what did it matter anyway? She was already dead.

  She smiled and felt so free. Free like the wind for the first time. She was dead and felt the most alive; the most excited she had ever been. Maybe she was meant for this. Maybe she was better off as a dead girl. As she looked around the huge private jet it was clear death better suited her.

  She put her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. No pain; just warmth and the feeling of safety. She tried as hard as she could to remember the last time she felt this way. Her memories didn’t go back that far.

  Everything was blurry. They had landed it seemed. She felt a jolt of panic and her eyes flew open. He was still there. She grabbed his hand hard.

  “Are you all right? You slept a long time.”

  “Yes, I was having a nightmare. I’m fine now.”

  “May I ask?”

  She felt herself blushing. Should she lie? she wondered.

  “I— We were married, we had been for a long time. I woke up and you were gone. I couldn’t find you. No one would help me.” She started to cry. She had finally lost her mind. The emotions still felt real, raw.

  “I won’t leave you, Nikki. I promise. Where would I want to go that would be better?”

  Her hand was shaking as she held his. This wasn’t like her, she thought; she wasn’t this person.

  “Alex, I’m not a tease. You must think I am.”

  He started to talk and she cut him off.

  “I need to say this.

  “When I found out I was dying, my fiancé, he left. He just left. I thought maybe it was because he loved me too much to watch me die, to see me get sick. Later, a month later, I saw him with a girl, eating in a nice restaurant, kissing.”

  Her whole body was shaking now.

  “I felt so alone at that moment. I had already run out of money. I was cold and hungry. Seeing that he had forgotten me so easily, I felt I had already died. I felt worthless.”

  Again, she started to cry. “Alex, I begged him to stay. I begged him, pleaded for him to stay with me until I died. I would have done anything to keep him from leaving.

  “How pathetic is that! I think you should know. I am not strong like you might think. I am not confident. I was on the floor, begging like a dog.” She looked away from him.

  She felt he was close to her. She slowly looked up.

  He kissed her softly. She wasn’t sure at first if it was real. She felt his kindness, his strength. The memories flashed through her mind now. Alex had stayed with her, next to her, while she was dying. She saw him cry for her. He never left her side. He had been there for her when she needed someone the most.

  She touched his face for the first time. It was electrifying. She looked into his eyes. She knew he was different; it was true, he had saved her.

  “Nikki, look at me.”

  She was mesmerized by his eyes. She already was looking.

  “I will tell you what pathetic is. Your ex. And I don’t want to know the bastard’s name. He isn’t worthy of a name. He is a coward. He is dirt.

  “Nikki, you thought you were dying. Begging someone to be there for you, someone who told you they loved you, that is not pathetic. Trust me, life will not go well for him. I have been around a long time; that kind of guy, he will be the one who dies alone.

  “Will you promise me one more thing?”

  She nodded.

  “Now it’s your turn.”

  “My turn?” Nikki asked.

  “To forget him.”

  She already had.

  • • •

  Island

  He held her as the jet taxied to a stop, not saying a word. She figured he would stay with her forever, right here and there if she asked.

  As the door was opened, she could smell the air. It was spectacular. It was the same thing again, like all her senses were on full speed.

  “What is that amazing smell?”

  “The sweet air of Santorini Island. This is my favorite of the Greek Islands. Let me show you everything — only if you are ready. We can rest here as long as you want.”

  “Who are you?” she said, without meaning to again.

  He looked confused.

  “I’m sorry. I just mean, I don’t think you realize you are not like most guys.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “No! I don’t mean in a bad way! I meant to say, you are different in a good way. You seem very kind; it’s just that a lot of guys I used to know were jerks.”

  He looked at her with those eyes again. She could feel herself blush. “Well, you are different as well, Nikki. And in a good way.”

  Hearing him say her name gave her goose bumps all over; this was so crazy. Am I back in high school? she thought to herself! She sure felt like she was.

  They got into a Jeep and started to drive along winding dark roads. She realized she had never been outside of the U.S. country before. She had never felt the rush of this much adventure, this much change. The moon was full and the air smelled nothing like New York City. It was as if candy filled all her senses.

  She was mesmerized by the moon and the stars when the Jeep came to a stop.

  “We have arrived! Your own windmill, Nikki New.”

  She walked out slowly and looked at the building. It was shaped like an old windmill, with a huge tower on one end. The vista was breathtaking, with an uninterrupted ocean view.

  As Alex talked to the driver, Nikki took time to look around outside. It was a sheer cliff down to the ocean. She could hear the waves crashing against the side. The moon glowed off the water and the sand below. Maybe I have died, she thought to herself. Maybe this is heaven. It certainly wasn’t hell. Even more than before, she didn’t feel like asking questions.

  They walked inside together. She couldn’t help herself. “Can I climb it?” She was like a kid again.

  “Of course!”

  She went running up the circular stairs to the top of the tower. Halfway up, she started to laugh. At each turn was a small window and she stopped to look outside. She reached the top — a beautiful room painted in pastel shades and covered in white linen. It was like a dream. “Is this mine?” she yelled down.

  She could hear him laughing.

  Maybe this is the only bed? Probably. I mean, he did just fly me across the world. What should I expect? She had slept with guys for a lot less than this. They had just kissed. It was amazing. She had never met anyone even close to him before. He was more than just different. It was like he really was from a different time and place. If it was the only bed, she was OK with that. She felt it. She was falling for him. It was so crazy; she knew it. She was already in love. Her hands started to shake again.

  He showed up at the doorway. “Of course, it’s yours. There’s another bedroom on the first floor. Hey, I’m always here if you have another nightmare.”

  Did he wink? She could have sworn he did. But he was so hard to read. Such a gentleman, and it seemed so even on the inside. She didn’t think it was an act, especially since he could have killed her by now a hundred times over. What did he want? Nothing? Wait! She promised herself no questions. She thou
ght about it. What made her think he even liked her that way? She was plain compared to him. He could have his choice when it came to women. He was clearly rich and, well, beyond handsome. She felt a bit bad, but then he did save her, somehow, maybe. She was so rough around the edges. He was cultured and seemed so smart. For once, she felt worried that a guy would want only to be her friend. How the tables had turned, she thought to herself.

  She dropped off her pants and shirt and pulled the covers over her. She felt safe again — warm and safe and without pain. She smiled as she drifted off to sleep.

  • • •

  The One Hour Girl

  The knocking awakened Joshua. He had slept in his office again. Well, it’s not like he had a girlfriend anyway, or a life. So much for the nerds get the girls theory, he thought to himself.

  “Come in. It’s open.”

  It was Jinny; he brightened up at the sight of her. Out of all his graduate students, she shined above them all. A genius for sure, plus she was nice; that combination wasn’t so easy to find. He had always been attracted to her, but he never acted on it, of course; that just wasn’t his style. Anyway, she was so out of his league.

  “Dr. Richards, did you sleep here again?”

  Josh’s face went red.

  “Hey, your supercomputer time slot came back. You know, Josh, you would think you could find a better use for a fifty-million-dollar computer.”

  “What?” He had no clue what she was talking about, plus he kept staring.

  “The video processing. It’s done. OK, I snooped. Fire me. Oh, wait, I don’t get a paycheck!” she smiled, playfully. “But no matter. Working for the best at MIT is well worth it.” She smiled again.

  “Oh! The video, I had almost forgot.”

  “Josh, you’ve done some weird studies, but eight hours of a young girl sleeping? What the hell.”

  He dropped his mug and it shattered on the floor.

  “Josh, are you all right?”

  He felt weak in the knees and sat down on the floor. “What did you say?”

  “It’s weird, watching a girl sleep?”

  “No, before that; did you say eight hours?”

  “Yes, a bit over eight hours, I fast forwarded; it gets a bit boring after the first hour.”

  “My God.”

  “What’s wrong? Who is she anyway?”

  “Jinny, I’m sorry. I will explain later, I need to look at something. And I swear, it’s not what you think, I mean the girl.”

  “I know. I was kidding. You’re one of the nice guys, Josh. Hey, lunch later?”

  “You bet.”

  She realized he was clearly distracted. He didn’t even look up at her; that was a first. She really liked him. She thought he was also attracted to her, but he was so tied up in his work. Why do I always fall for the smart guys? They never have time for romance, she thought to herself.

  She closed the door and he loaded up the video on the local computer.

  He almost passed out. He could feel the blood leaving his brain. There was Nikki, the one-hour girl, now the eight-hour girl. His hands shook as he scrambled for his phone.

  Hunter got there as fast as he could. He had worked with Joshua for years. He was one of the brightest at MIT, maybe the world. Anything science related and he would know the answer.

  Josh’s hair looked like a bird’s nest, as usual, and Hunter could swear Josh was wearing the same shirt he had on when they last met. Of course, Josh’s brains far overcame any issues with his personal habits.

  “Hunter! Come in, come in. Sorry about the mess. I haven’t slept in days, not after what happened.”

  “Happened?”

  “I’m not sure I can believe it myself.”

  He walked over and pulled the blinds down and turned down the lights.

  “OK, let’s get to the point, I know you like that.” He smiled, but was clearly nervous about something.

  He started the video. Hunter had seen it so many times it was almost as though he had memorized every frame.

  “Two years I looked at this, two years, and it wasn’t until I was doing a lecture on space-time that it hit me like a rock,” Josh recounted.

  Hunter sat up straight in his chair, on the edge.

  “OK, we know the frames seem to flicker, right? We knew that all along, as Nikki is sleeping, we can see the frames jump back and forth,” Josh continued.

  Hunter nodded his head.

  Josh’s hand started to shake.

  “The frames are not skipping, Hunter, that’s the thing. My mind was stuck on the wrong puzzle the whole time. Hunter, the frames are not skipping, they are bumping, and actually, to be clear, the frames are not moving at all. It was her eyes, Hunter, her eyes were the answer.”

  “What?”

  “OK, think of it this way, you’re in a car and you drive over a speed bump. Even if you don’t slow down, when the car hits the speed bump, what happens? It slows, or, more correctly, the forward velocity slows down, and that energy, it goes somewhere else. It moves upward. Some of it goes to the shock absorbers, the tires, etc.”

  “Speed bumps?”

  “Right, it took me changing my tack to get it. I focused on Nikki’s eyes, her eyelids to be exact. She is in R.E.M sleep. The thing is, to make a long story short, her eye movements are continuous; they don’t skip like the video frames.

  “Using my theory, I reconstructed the video,” he continued, while starting the video. It looked like a normal video of a person sleeping. She looked peaceful; no more frame flicker, a clear video.

  “I will stop it now.”

  “Why? What happens?”

  “Nothing, that’s just it — it goes on for eight hours.”

  Hunter couldn’t speak. His heart stopped. The original video had been less than one hour. She had been in a sleep study, never able to sleep more than an hour. Someone mailed the video and Nikki’s name to Hunter years back. No return address or name. It wasn’t until recently he figured out it might be related to the bigger mystery.

  “You’re saying she stopped time?” he asked out loud, as insane as it sounded.

  “She didn’t stop time. She altered it, or someone did, something,” Josh explained. “Time was slowed, altered in its path. Think of the speed bump again, but now imagine millions of tiny speed bumps and think of the car as time. Time is moving over those millions of speed bumps, that is what makes the video look like it does, distorted, flickering. And for whatever reason, Nikki wasn’t going over those speed bumps, she slept the full eight hours.

  “Eight hours of her sleep was one hour of real time, our time. It’s fascinating, it’s exciting; I don’t know how to describe it. Nothing like this has ever happened, at least never documented.”

  “Have you told anyone else about this?”

  “No, no, I haven’t had time to even digest it myself. I have so much more to do to understand, to study. Hunter, do you know what this means? If this is real, it changes everything.”

  “Joshua, you have to promise me, for now. You need to promise to keep this quiet. I am not the only one looking into Nikki. I think you could be in danger if this got out, real danger.”

  He nodded. “I may be a geek, but you remember my love for history, I know all too well that people have killed for much less than this.”

  “Yes they have, my friend.”

  They both sat silently for a time.

  “You told me Nikki is dead? That she had a terminal genetic condition?” Josh resumed.

  “She’s supposed to be dead, but she’s not.”

  “What? If the data you gave me on her condition was right, that wouldn’t be possible.”

  “Is this possible?” Hunter pointed to the video.

  “Point taken,” Josh acknowledged, nodding his head.

  “Let’s walk outside for a while,” he made a swirling motion with his hand, Josh got the hint.

  They went out into the courtyard. The air was already changing. It wouldn’t be long before w
inter took hold, Josh thought to himself.

  “Josh, back to Nikki; we know that a cab dropped her off in an abandoned part of town,” Hunter recounted.

  “Did anyone see her leave?” Josh asked.

  “All the cameras went out for miles, every street cam. We have no idea where she is now. But I’m sure of one thing. She is alive. Josh, we have her making a phone call almost a year later.”

  Josh’s eyes flew open.

  “Hunter, if she is out there, if she is alive, you have to bring her to me. And, like you said, she isn’t safe out there. If someone else knows about this, and she is alive, I can’t imagine what would happen. She has unbelievable power, and I doubt she has a clue.”

  Hunter pulled his stuff together to leave. “Be careful, Joshua. I don’t have the same pull I used to have with the agency, I can’t protect you like before. I brought you into this; I’m to blame.”

  “Are you joking? This is the most exciting thing that I could ever dream of; my life was meant for this. Something like this, it never comes without danger, history has taught me that. Danger and discovery always go together.”

  • • •

  Music for Your Life

  The radio had worked for days now — a first. The station was playing one of his favorite classics. His mind wandered as he let the music surround him.

  Jeremy and Leonard had called him. This time it was something so important they didn’t want to talk on the phone, not even one word. His heart raced as he got closer to the site.

  He had noticed the car lights earlier. At first he just took note of it; now, he was getting closer to the site, out in the middle of nowhere, and the car was still behind him.

  He turned off the radio and snapped into focus. He maintained the same speed and watched.

  POP! The sound was so loud he immediately lost most of his hearing. The engine stopped dead. He knew what had happened in an instant. All his training seemed to rush back over him like a wave. Someone had shot out his engine block with a .50 caliber sniper rifle — one of the most powerful weapons made. He had used the same technique many times when he was a young agent. Shoot straight through the engine block and you take out the car. This also meant one important thing: they didn’t want him dead. Yet. They could have easily killed him, instead of shooting the engine. They wanted him alive, never a good thing for an agent; that meant they wanted information from him. He knew all too well that everyone eventually breaks under torture. Movies would have you believe that a real man could hold out forever. Bullshit, of course.