by Simon Rose
The two boys briefly broke away from each other and Kane stepped back and grinned, as if he knew what Max was thinking. He was about to initiate the final assault on Martin, sending him crashing to the ground. Max knew that he’d hit his head on a rock and die, the teachers deeming it to be a tragic accident.
Max knew that he couldn’t let that happen. Yet as he and Kane wrestled while precariously balanced on the brightly painted blue and yellow platform, Max seemed powerless to prevent what was about to occur. He teetered on the outer edge of the platform, knowing that he’d die too if Martin fell. Somehow Max pulled himself back from the brink and lunged at the young Kane. He dodged to one side but in the process stumbled and fell forward off the platform with a look of sheer horror in his eyes.
As the young blonde boy fell through the air Max swore that he saw the adult version of Kane, complete with his disfiguring scar, racing toward him across the playing field that bordered the playground. Yet as the young Kane dropped to the ground, cracking his head on the rock, causing a trickle of blood to run along his left temple, the sinister figure approaching in the field simply vanished. At that moment, Max hoped that his nightmare was all finally over for good before everything faded to black.
Chapter Thirty-Three
New Beginnings
“MAX? ARE YOU coming down?”
Max was in his room, sitting at his desk in front of his computer. He quickly scanned his room, wary of how Kane had tried to trick him before by invading his thoughts and dreams. Max’s room was as much of a mess as usual. The desk was covered in papers, binders, and folders, and there were clothes and pillows on the floor. In front of the bookshelves, comic books, loose game discs, and empty cases lay on the carpet next to the bedside table. The small TV was still on top of the three-drawer dresser, along with a tangled collection of game system wires and cables but the wooden box containing the memories of his mother was missing. Was it his mother that had called him just now? Max stood up from the chair and stepped outside his room.
“There you are.”
Max looked down the staircase and was overjoyed to see his mother standing at the bottom of the steps.
“Are you okay, Max?” his mother added. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
Max simply smiled.
“No, I’m fine.”
There were a few people downstairs that Max didn’t recognize, assuming that they might be friends of his parents. However, Max didn’t see his father. Was it possible that his dad wasn’t alive in what appeared to be yet another revised timeline?
“Where’s Dad?” he asked, hesitantly.
“He’s just texted me,” his mother replied. “He’s picked up the cake but he’s stuck in traffic. He won’t be too long.”
“Okay,” said Max, relieved. “I’ll be right there.”
MAX REMAINED CAUTIOUS and went back into his room. His parents were alive, but was this part of the new reality that he’d created by his actions in Kane’s memories? Or was this evidence of yet another false timeline that had been created in his quest to put things right? Max quickly checked his phone but there was no sign of Deanna’s number. However, he wasn’t too alarmed because if things had really changed he’d never have had any reason to meet Deanna. He’d also never have met Carrington as an old man. However, Max was surprised that Julia’s number wasn’t still in his phone. Her death had been horrific but he had remained convinced that if he fundamentally changed the course of events she’d be alive again, just like his parents and the others that had once died. To anyone else it would have been hopelessly confusing yet Max had to admit he was almost getting used to the bewildering timeline fluctuations.
Since the computer was on, Max decided to make sure that everything was as it should be. He quickly located information on the Dexter family. Jonathan’s career had been much the same as Max remembered. He’d been in politics then surprisingly resigned to pursue a different career as the head of a charitable organization. The Dexter Foundation was still in existence and Max was relieved to see that David was the current CEO. Jonathan had only recently died of natural causes and David has assumed his father’s role.
“Max!” yelled his mom. “Are you coming down?”
“Be right there,” Max called back.
He needed to check two more things. He quickly typed “John Carrington private investigator” into the search box. Carrington didn’t have a website but there was a link to his online listing in the local Yellow Pages. Max clicked on the link and saw that Carrington’s office was still at the same address. Max heard the voices of Jeff and Jason downstairs as they arrived at the front door, but he had one more thing to do. Accessing the website for the local White Pages, Max searched for the name D Hastings. Although it didn’t show Deanna’s full name, the address was the one that Max remembered, proving that Deanna was also alive. He wondered if she’d know him now that there was a different timeline or if all the changes would finally have erased any knowledge that he and Deanna had ever met. The connection between them would never have existed if Kovac hadn’t even started his operation years before.
Max turned off the computer and went downstairs. He discovered that all his friends from school, his mother and grandmother, as well as some of their friends and neighbours, were at what Max somehow instinctively knew was his fifteenth birthday party. He was still trying to take it all in when someone slapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey, Max, thanks for the invite.”
He turned around to see Jason standing with Jeff. Max tried not to think about the time when Kane had possessed Jason in the parking lot outside the convenience store.
“Yeah,” Jeff added. “Where’s that cake?”
“I think it’s on its way,” said Max. “My dad’s stuck in traffic.”
He glanced at the shelf above the fireplace where the picture of his parents was proudly displayed. The decor in the sitting room was also no longer like that he’d seen when this had been his grandmother’s house, during the last timeline change that he’d initiated. Max glanced over toward the kitchen counter, where his grandmother was chatting with Jeff’s parents.
Max then began to panic. This was all too perfect. Wouldn’t this have been the ideal end to his experiences, the perfect life with his parents still alive and all his friends in attendance? Could this merely be Kane manipulating him again? Max clearly remembered the dream when he’d been at a party similar to this one. He recalled how all the faces had changed until he realized that Kane was simply using his powers to violate Max’s memories. Kane was also so powerful that the entire episode when Max had been in his memories at the children’s playground might still just be an elaborate illusion. Kane could very well still be alive somehow, ready to strike at any moment, like he’d done before. Max nervously glanced over at the back door, recalling how Kane had entered that way when Max had first returned from his journey to save David’s life. Was it possible that Kane would arrive again at any moment, this time not only killing Max but everyone in his life, as Kane had threatened to do?
Max excused himself and went outside to get some fresh air. He stepped onto the deck, closing the condo’s back door behind him. He moved out of sight of the door so that he’d at least have a few moments to himself. Could this actually be real? Had he really, finally succeeded in putting everything right?
“Hi, Max.”
Max turned to see Julia standing beside him.
“Julia?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“But how?”
“I really don’t know, Max. My only guess is that I’m somehow from another timeline, come to see you for one last time.”
“But Kane killed you. Are you a ghost?”
“No,” she replied. “Not exactly, perhaps more of an echo. You see, I never even existed.”
“I don’t understand,” said Max, feeling utterly confused. “That’s just not possible.”
Julia smiled.
“Kane died as a chil
d, so he never grew up. He also never met my mother, so I was never even born.”
“That’s insane,” said Max. “I remember us doing everything together, going to the hospital, the attack at the mall, everything. And before that when I used to see you around at school, before I knew you.”
“Yes, that’s all true but that was in another timeline now, Max, one that will soon be gone forever.”
“But how can you be here?” Max asked, still incredulous.
“I don’t know, Max,” replied Julia. “Like we often said, none of this ever really made any sense, did it? I think this is the final chapter, the end of the story. I’ve been allowed to come here to wrap things up for you. After this you won’t remember any of the other timelines.”
“What about Kovac and his experiments?”
“Because of what you did to change things, he never did any work with psychics. He never even came to North America and stayed in Europe where he had a distinguished career in medicine. Without Kovac, Evans, Lawrence, and all the others never worked on the project either. It’s finally all over, Max.”
“But is Kane really gone for good?”
“Yes,” Julia replied. “Remember, I was more linked to his memories, like that scene at the playground.”
“You actually saw what happened?”
“No, but I sensed it, so I know what happened and how Kane died when he was a boy.”
Max still wasn’t convinced.
“Are you sure? This isn’t all just another trick by Kane?”
“No, it’s all fine, believe me. You really did it, Max. You finally put things right.”
She leaned forward and kissed Max on the cheek. Max was then startled when the back door opened.
“Hey, Max,” his dad called. “What are you doing out here?”
“What?”
Max looked all around but Julia had gone. He felt dizzy and had to use the side of the deck to steady himself. He wondered what he was doing outside.
“Well, get in here,” said his dad. “Everyone’s wondering what’s happened to you. After all, it’s your birthday cake.”
“Okay,” Max replied.
His dad stepped back into the kitchen and Max walked over to the door, intending to re-join the party. As his fingers touched the door handle, something made him turn around. For an instant, Max thought he saw a shape in the trees in the corner of the backyard, but then realized that it was probably just the wind. He wondered again why he’d stepped out onto the deck before opening the door and going inside.
IN THE TREES at the edge of yard, the young dark-haired girl in her ripped jeans and battered leather jacket smiled. Then as a soft breeze gently swayed the tree branches and a handful of leaves slowly drifted to the ground, the girl disappeared.
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About the Author
Simon was born in Derbyshire, England and has lived in Calgary since 1990.
He is the author of The Alchemist’s Portrait, The Sorcerer’s Letterbox, The Clone Conspiracy, The Emerald Curse, The Heretic’s Tomb, The Doomsday Mask, The Time Camera, The Sphere of Septimus, Flashback, and Future Imperfect. Simon is also the author of The Children’s Writer’s Guide, The Time Traveler's Guide, a contributor to The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction Volume One, and has written many nonfiction books for younger readers.
Simon offers programs for schools, is an instructor with the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University and offers services for writers, including editing, writing workshops and coaching, plus copywriting for the business community.
Find Simon online at www.simon-rose.com
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
About the Author