by D. B. Green
More glass drops in the cup. “Yup, but I still remember the other stuff,” Nicci says. “If I concentrate, I can remember everything that happened to me in this timeline too. It’s overwhelming, like when you wake up in the middle of a dream and you’re not sure where you are.”
I carefully place the pendant back inside the locket and pass it back to Amber. “Was it the same for you,” I ask.
“No, she’s an Enchanter, just like you,” Nicci says, before Amber can answer. “We think her magic sparked at the exact moment time changed. It kept her safe.”
A large piece of bloody-glass splashes into the mug.
“At first I thought she was a victim of whatever caused the Fall. It’s a good thing we ran into Luther and Eddie.”
Eddie.
“Kathy said Eddie was executed. What happened?”
Luther brakes for traffic lights. “Read this.” He passes a folded newspaper page over his shoulder to Amber and she gives it to me. The paper feels strange to the touch, smooth and waxy.
“The paper’s different here,” Nicci says. “It’s got a plastic compound mixed in that stops any… magical interference.”
I unfold the page and read it.
Magic Terror Suspect Executed – By Cassie Collins
Without a trial or a chance to defend himself, Edward Munro was executed by firing squad at high noon. Members of the media were allowed into the Greenwich MDC to witness the execution. Yet another sick display of force by the Military Police.
There’s a photo of Eddie in the paper. Underneath, another photo shows protesters holding banners. “Magic terrorism?” I ask.
“They blame Enchanters for the Fall,” Nicci says. “Present company excluded.”
“The Fall,” I say. “I read something about that at the hospital. All those deaths.”
“Remember the limits on using magic for time travel?” Luther asks, cutting in.
“Yes, it kills you,” I say. “One second of time takes a life… Your life… Or that’s what it’s supposed to do.”
Emma.
Memories of a time magic experiment with Emma attack my mind. It was only a one-minute Time Traverse — we didn’t know the full consequences.
“Imagine if someone found a way of taking the life of other people without a risk to themselves,” Luther says.
He knows Affinity can do that. He knows what we did.
“With Affinity,” I say.
“Yes, and imagine the damage someone could do with a seventy-six year Traverse to the past,” Luther says.
“But that would kill millions of people.”
“Billions,” Luther says.
“Two point four billion, to be exact.” Nicci forces me back around. “Keep still.”
“So, this Fall was caused by a time doorway,” I say.
“Yes, it happened two years ago today,” Luther says. “But whoever changed the past didn’t realize the same price had to be paid in both timelines. When time reached the same point in this one, over two billion people died here too.” Luther sighs. “They called it the Fall. Look outside. There’s banners and flags everywhere to remember the people that died.”
I look out of the window. No buildings, just trees now. But the flags are still there, forming a blurry blue line as we drive past. Billions of people dead. It’s too much to take in.
“Was this my fault?” I ask. “Did I cause it?”
“You were there when the doorway—” Luther pauses for a second to correct himself. “—when the Traverse opened. Eddie too.”
I turn away from the window. “What about Emma?” I ask.
“No, Emma wasn’t involved.”
Emma.
“Do you know where she is?” I ask, leaning forward. “Right now?”
Luther glances over his shoulder at me. “We’re taking you to her now,” he says. “I hope you have the same reaction with her, like you did with—” He pauses. “Like you did before. As it stands, she doesn’t remember our timeline. But she needs to remember it, for your Affinity to work.”
Butterflies. Intense flutters. “You know where she is?”
“We know where she will be…” His voice trails off, and the van slows down. “Nicci, there’s an MP roadblock at the junction up ahead. They’re checking cars heading to the freeway.”
“Go left onto Amelia Road,” she says, studying her tablet. “We can skirt around the junction and come back on to Longstone Road. Go now, Luther!”
He grips the wheel, turning it sharply. Nicci peers out of the rear window. “Looks like we’ll be okay. No one is following us.”
“I knew those magic attacks would make it difficult for us,” Luther says, anger ripping through his voice. “The roads will be difficult to travel on.”
Nicci sits down next to me again. “We only need to get him to Emma.”
Emma.
I try to slow down my heartbeat. Thoughts of seeing Emma make me dizzy. “Kathy mentioned you had a plan.”
Nicci drops a couple more chunks of glass into the mug. They clink on top of the growing pile, like a glistening island surrounded by a red sea. “Yup. I worked out the point when history changed,” she says.
“When the royal family was assassinated. Kathy told me.” I turn to Luther, but he’s concentrating on the road. “What did that do to Eddie?”
He ignores the question. “The plan is for you to open another Traverse, to before the assassination attempt,” he says. “Then I will stop the assassin, which should put history back on the correct path.”
I shake my head. “No, that will cost more lives… There will be no one left.”
“There’s no other way,” Nicci says.
“There has to be,” I say. “Why don’t we go back to last year and stop the time Traverse opening?”
“If we went back to last year, it would be in this timeline. Not ours,” Nicci says. “There’s no way to get back to our time.”
I bury my head in my hands. “There has to be another way.”
John Munro.
“What about the Sanctuary?” I ask. “That’s protected. There may have been a way back to our timeline from there.”
“That’s what Eddie thought,” Luther says. “We tried everything to open the Sanctuary door. But it’s a dead man’s door. It only allows dying Enchanters through.” He sighs. “That plan stopped when Eddie wanted me to shoot him.” He pauses. “The only way forward is to stop the assassination.”
“But you’ll be stranded in the past,” I say. “A time Traverse is one way.”
“That will be my problem.”
“What about the price you mentioned? When time catches up, there will be another debt to pay. Another two and a half billion lives,” I say. “What’s the point in putting history right if there’s no one left to live it?”
Luther holds up a rolled piece of paper. “Eddie wrote this declaration for Kalendis, the Enchanter Council. They will have seventy-six years to work out how to stop the ripple effect. It’s the only chance we’ve got.”
I return to the view from the window. When Emma and I opened a one-minute time Traverse, we thought we could be clever and beat the rules. Taking a tiny fraction of a second from five billion people seemed harmless. Little did we know, it wasn’t just a rule, it was a fact. One second costs one life, no shortcuts. We took the lives of sixty innocent people. My heart sinks at the memory. I can’t go through it again. Not on the scale Luther demands.
Nicci grabs the mug from my hand. “All done.”
The camper van screeches to a stop. “Just in time,” Luther says. “We’re here.”
Nicci glares at Luther. “Careful with my brakes.” She hands me a blue checked shirt. “Put this on.”
“Get ready for a shock,” Luther says. “This is Longstone Park — all that’s left of the Longstone Estate, where you grew up.” Squeezing between the front seats, he holds out his hand and nods at the journal. I hand it to him and pull the checked shirt over my shoulders.
“Wait a minute.” Luther pulls his old Polaroid camera from his jacket pocket. The pocket opening stretches to accommodate the large camera.
“Still taking the photos, then?” I ask.
Luther nods and then points the camera at his face and takes a photo. Nicci and Amber line up next to me and Luther takes a group shot of us all together. The photo ejects slowly from the front of the camera.
Nicci nudges my shoulder. “He likes to keep a record of everything,” she says. “Everything.”
“Yes, I know.” Turning around, I look closer at my surroundings. Nothing here looks familiar at all. Straight in front of me there’s a billboard advertisement on the perimeter fence of the car park. I walk over to read it, leaving the others by the van.
7P7: Remember the Fallen
Lakeside Vigil – Release a Candle of Remembrance
The white fence under the billboard is covered with names. Written and painted, they fill every available space.
Luther joins me by the fence. He slips the undeveloped photos inside the journal. “Makes it all real, doesn’t it?” he says. “Seeing the names. This is why we must succeed. You of all people should know that.”
It was impossible to know who died because of what Emma and I did. But here, I’m looking at thousands of names. People killed because of my magic. Because of Affinity.
My fault.
I feel responsible for them all. If there’s any chance to save these people, I must take it.
Luther glances at Nicci and Amber. They’ve stayed with the camper van. Nicci taps on her tablet, like she’s searching for something.
“What’s the story with those two?” I ask. “How did they get tangled up in your plan?”
“When we realized what happened, Eddie and I looked for anyone else that might remember our timeline. We tracked his sister-in-law to a hospital in London.” He looks over his shoulder. “That’s where we came across Nicci and Amber. Kathy was working there as well,” he says. “You could call it fate.”
“Evangeline. You found Evangeline!” An icy chill runs down my spine at the thought of John Munro’s wife.
“Don’t worry, she’s completely catatonic due to the Fall. There’s thousands in the same condition — Amber’s stepmother being one of them.”
So many lives affected by my magic… So many lives ruined. “What does 7P7 mean?”
Luther glances up at the billboard. “It’s the time it happened. The Fall. Seven minutes past seven.”
“What exactly did happen?”
Luther glances over at Nicci and Amber again. “I was waiting at the Steel City Sports Bar in Sheffield. Jim Church picked that as the place to kick off your bachelor party. But someone attacked me there,” he says. “When I came around, I found out that you and Eddie were taken from your hotel room.” Luther holds up the journal. “I tracked you both to an abandoned steelworks. I just got inside as two people disappeared through a Traverse. I didn’t realize it was the time Traverse until all this happened.” He gestures with his hands along the fence.
“Who opened the Traverse?”
Luther shakes his head. “They were women, but I couldn’t see their faces. They were wearing Repelers — magic safety suits,” he says. “You and Eddie were tied to hospital gurneys; you were out cold… There was a woman there tied to a gurney too… Kathy.”
“Really?” I ask. “What was she doing there?”
Luther narrows his eyes, then shakes his head. “My mind was a little hazy after it happened… I didn’t realize anything was different at first. But then I realized you and Kathy had gone; it was just me and Eddie left.”
“Why weren’t you affected when everything changed?”
Luther taps the journal. “Because of this. Me and Eddie both primed it.” He checks his watch and glances across at Nicci. “I didn’t know Kathy had a connection to Affinity until she met you just now in the hospital. What was going on? Were you having an affair with her — in our timeline?”
“It was just a kiss.” The memory of Emma asking the same question fills my mind. “Kathy didn’t have Affinity,” I say. “Not full Affinity, anyway. It was more like an echo of it. After I sensed the connection at Disney World, I talked to John Munro about what happened… about the kiss. You know how obsessive he was about Affinity. He did some research and found out that Kathy first sparked at the exact minute Emma and I were born.”
Luther rubs his chin. “So, all your magic sparked at the same time,” he says. “Did you share this information with anyone else?”
“Only Emma… and Jimmy,” I say. “Why?”
Luther glances over his shoulder. Nicci and Amber start walking over. He leans in close. “Don’t you see?” he whispers. “Whoever opened the time Traverse knew about you… and Eddie’s heritage. They also knew about Kathy’s connection to Affinity. They used her instead of Emma.”
“Jimmy wouldn’t have told anyone.” I shake my head. “I’m sure of it.”
Luther checks the time again as Nicci and Amber join us. His eyes narrow and he gives me the kind of stare that means keep quiet.
“Have they done it yet?” Nicci asks, indicating to the journal.
Luther opens it and takes out the developed Polaroids. He writes the time and date under the photos in black pen and then slips them in his pocket.
“We’ve been tracking Emma.” Nicci shows Luther her tablet.
“One of those Emitter things?” I ask.
“No, the old-fashioned way,” Nicci says. “We’re tracking her phone.”
Luther checks the time again. “How are you feeling?” he asks.
The thought of seeing Emma knots my stomach, in a good way. “Nervous,” I say.
“Remember, whatever happens, just keep calm.” Luther looks back over my shoulder. “You better get moving.”
The perimeter fence runs along the edge of the car park to a path. Overhanging tree branches cast the path in spindly, finger-like shadows. Lanterns hang from above, clinking together in the warm breeze. The further I get down the path, the more familiar it feels.
Then I see it… Our tree tunnel.
It’s neater than I remember, and gravel defines the pathway, but this is definitely one of our special places.
Emma.
Closing my eyes, I can still see Emma standing there. Her blonde hair waving over her shoulder. The glint of mischief in her eye as she ducks between the tunnel of branches to our secret wonderland.
Not so secret any more.
My heart pounds in perfect rhythm with each eager step as I run along the path. Turning a corner, I stop. There it is — our oak tree, dominating the sky like a wooden giant. This is where our Affinity first sparked. This tree became our tree.
Dandelions surround the base of the trunk, looking like a fluffy white blanket. I remember standing in the same spot all those years ago, with Emma in the snow, and asking the tree’s permission to carve our names into its bark. I remember her expression. She thought it was absurd to talk to a tree — she said I was nuts.
Pressing my palm against the tree, my heart skips a beat. The carving is still there. Both our names separated by a heart. Tracing my finger through the letters, my head suddenly goes all dizzy. How can it be here if we never met in this timeline?
A woman’s voice shouts from behind me, cutting through the silence. “Why did she want to meet in the park?”
There’s something familiar about the voice. But the dizziness clouds my mind. I stumble back from the tree. My lips tingle. It feels like I will pass out.
Another voice shouts, “Look where you’re going!”
I turn around to see, but a woman crashes into me, knocking me over. I collapse onto the hard gravel path. She falls on
top, landing on my chest, winding me. I push her off and roll over. I get to my feet and hold out a hand to help her up.
She shrugs away my help and stands on her own. “Why don’t you look where you’re going, you drongo!”
My heart suddenly pounds like a racing drum against my chest. “Emma!”
“Do I know you?” she asks.
Her voice has more of an Australian edge than normal, and her hair is darker. But it’s definitely her. My beautiful Emma.
“Are you all right, Emma? You just ran off.” Her friend runs over. “I saw you fall.” She turns to me, looking me up and down. “You idiot, didn’t you see her?”
“It’s me. Dean,” I say. But Emma’s face remains blank. “Surely you remember me? Please. Come on, tell me you remember.”
Emma backs away. “I’ve never seen you before,” she shouts. “Get out of my way.”
My eyes focus on the tree behind her. “Remember.” I point at the carving. “Remember our tree?”
Emma turns; her expression goes blank, like she’s in a trance. Her fingers touch the carving and she keeps her hand pressed against the bark for a few seconds… then she yanks it away, like she’s been burnt.
I jump forward and press her hand back to the tree. “Remember,” I whisper.
“Let her go, you idi—” Emma’s friend stops mid-sentence. Mouth wide open, she stares at us.
Emma swings her hand around and slaps me, hard across the face, her eyes sparkling with fiery-orange Radiance.
As I stagger back, my mind races to a different time and place. A school corridor where Emma did a similar thing. Same spot on my face — same stinging pain.
With the echo from the slap still reverberating around us, everything stops. Time freezes. Emma’s friend stands still, her hand outstretched, like a statue. The birds in the sky hover in the same spot. Even the rays of sunshine hang in the air, like shimmering fingers.
A sudden warm wind rushes around us, sending dandelion seeds into the air. They catch the frozen sunlight and glow hazy orange as they twirl. Everything else remains still.
My heartbeat sounds so loud. “Do you remember?!” I shout. “It’s the same as before!”