Paradigm (Travelers Series Book 3)

by Claudia Lefeve

  In the end, I don’t call anyone. I decide to take this time to myself and use it to my advantage. For days I’ve allowed everyone to guide my life, beliefs and opinions. From Jaime questioning my relationship status, my boss asking me to go above and beyond at work, to Cooper urging me to join him in some another world. It’s time to take a step back and think for myself for a change. People are taking bits and pieces of me, and it’s time to reclaim them.

  • • •

  “It’s about time you finally showed up! Customer service said you’d be here between the hours of nine and eleven.” I berate the poor cable technician, feeling instantly sorry. It’s not his fault I was without cable.

  The poor guy that’s standing in my doorway looks lost. In a way, I don’t blame him. He doesn’t even look like a cable technician. He looks more like a nerdy college professor. Now I feel even worse about the way I just spoke to the tech.

  “You’re here about my cable box, right?”

  Again, the tech guy just stands there shuffling his feet, as if he’s at the wrong door. “You say you’re cable’s out? I should be able to fix that.”

  For the first time since opening the door, I look at his feet and free hands and finally notice the lack of a uniform. Don’t they normally wear something that signifies the company they work for? I start to close the gap between the door and the guy standing behind the frame. “You don’t have any tools. How do I know you’re from the cable company? Do you have ID?”

  “I assure you, I can fix your box. You probably have the 3678 model, am I correct? Those things are notorious with lost signals.”

  He sounds like a tech, all right. Against my better judgment, I allow him in and lead him towards the television. My desperate need for quality television overrides any concern for safety. “It’s right over here. Thing just stopped working yesterday afternoon. You can fix it right?”

  The guy kneels down, face level with the box. “Uh, huh. Yeah, I see your problem. I’ll just have to tweak a few wires and you’ll be all set. It’s been ages since I’ve worked on anything this outdated, but I should have you up and running in no time.”

  Ages? When the cable company installed it a year ago they claimed it was a new model. That and the tech doesn’t look old enough to have worked for the cable company that long. “Wait. What do you mean ages? You said –”

  He stands back up to address me. “I’m not from around here. Are you familiar with the theories pertaining to alternate dimensions?”

  Oh no, not him, too. I back away from the man slowly. Nerdy looks or not, this guy is some kind of nutjob wacko. Is this who Cooper meant when he said he was going to send someone over to talk to me? Not my idea of a convincing plan. “Why don’t you just leave and we’ll call it a day?”

  “Well of course we can. It’s daytime,” he says, obviously not getting what I’m saying.

  “Seriously, just leave. I’ll just call the cable company another time.” At this point, television is seriously becoming overrated and he’s still not getting the hint, I can tell. I don’t know for sure if he’s one of Cooper’s friends or not, but I’m not taking any chances. There’s no way I’m going to engage him long enough to find out if this is one of Cooper’s friends. The guy totally came into my house under false pretenses.

  “Did you know your father helped craft some of the methods of time-travel through the use of portals?”

  Huh? Where the hell did that come from? And what does he know of my father? “I don’t have a father.”

  “Sure you do. In another reality. I thought Cooper explained all that to you.”

  I stop backing away from him enough to listen. He confirmed that he not only knows Cooper, but everything he’s told me so far. Maybe this guy is a wacko, but a harmless one. Maybe I can appease him by pretending I’m paying attention to his ramblings. “What do you know about my father?”

  “That he died four years ago. Not in this reality, but in another one. He was being held by Oliver Thornberry, and when he didn’t get what he wanted out of your father, he killed him.”

  Cooper didn’t say anything about my father being murdered. Only that he was dead. Was that an oversight on his part or was he just trying to protect me from knowing the truth? Either way, finding out from this guy doesn’t make hearing about it any easier.

  “Dude, what the hell are you talking about?” When Cooper mentioned my father’s death yesterday at Maggie’s, I didn’t ask about the details. Perhaps I cut our conversation a little too prematurely.

  “My name is Chance, and I’m trying to tell you about what happened to your father.”

  Jeez, I may think this guy is nuts, but this Chance guy doesn’t have to be so sterile and blunt about the whole thing. If there’s a grain of truth in that, he just told me my father was murdered. I knew he was dead, but this is different. So I take the bait and ask. “What could this Thornberry person possibly want from my father enough to kill him?”

  “You.”

  “I don’t understand. What about me? If I never went to that reality with Cooper, how would this guy Thornberry even know about me? Cooper said that timeline shifted.” For a second, I wonder if he’s talking about the same Thornberry that fostered me back when I was a child. Another thing I didn’t think to ask Cooper about at the time.

  Chance cocks his head to the side, all knowing like, as if he expects this question. “He still knew about you and your powers. That’s why your father sent you to this reality in the first place. To keep you safe.”

  “Powers? I don’t have any powers,” I say softly. I’m still not willing to admit to my weird psychic freak moments. I worked so hard to control it, the last think I need is some stranger using this information to his advantage. Maybe Chance is the one I need to worry about, not Thornberry. I take another step away from him. “How do I know you’re not the bad guy?”

  He shrugs. “Because I’ve been sent here to level with you. Although I’m not sure I can reason with anyone who doesn’t have the capacity to truly grasp what I’m telling her.”

  Did he just call me dumb? “Now wait a second. I’m listening all right?” I soften my tone a bit. “Look, you seem like a smart guy –”

  “Smarter than most,” he interrupts. “For the exception of my twin brother perhaps, but not by much.”

  Is he for real? “Fine, you’re brilliant. Genius even. So I’m sure even you understand that I have the right to question. Questions are considered part of any intelligent conversation, right?” I try to appeal to his sense of logic.

  “Yes, I supposed you’re right.”

  “So, please, help me understand what’s going on. I don’t know you from Adam and yet, I’m supposed to accept what you’re telling me.”

  “I don’t know of an Adam being involved, but my twin brother’s name is Chase.”

  Yeah, he mentioned him already. At first, I think he’s kidding, but then realize Chance is totally serious. I bite on my upper lip to keep from laughing out loud. “Hey, don’t be so literal. It’s just an expression.” Maybe this kid isn’t the bad guy after all.

  “Oh, right. Identifying colloquialisms has never been my strong suit.”

  “Clearly. So, now what? Why are you here?”

  “Isn’t it obvious by now? I’m here to show you your past.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The Wrong Kiss Goodnight

  The Past / Alternate Timeline

  They say that everything eventually runs full-circle. I’m not sure who they are, but perhaps they do know a thing or two, I think to myself as Chance takes me to an all-too-familiar place. I’m confused as to why he brought me here to Maggie’s house. What does this have to do with the past?

  “Judging from your expression, I assume you’re wondering why we’re here.”

  Boy, nothing gets by Chance. “Brilliant observation skills. Yes, I’d like to know why you’ve brought me to my aunt’s house.”

  “Technically, it’s your house. This is where you liv
e with your father and aunt.”

  “But –” I start.

  “We’re not in your present reality. We’re now in your true world, only in the past in the original timeline. We thought it best to take you to this moment in time so that you can see for yourself how vested you are in our mission.”

  When did we travel to another reality? That’s not possible. For one, I don’t notice anything different (wouldn’t it be?) and secondly, I didn’t experience anything that would indicate that we traveled to another dimension. Wait, make that three things. How did we even get to the past?

  “Who’s we? And more importantly, how the hell did we end up in a past alternate reality?”

  “Ah, yes. I forget you have no idea what I’m talking about,” he says.

  This guy is kinda getting on my nerves. I tap my foot impatiently outside Maggie’s house, waiting for Chance to continue. For a genius, he totally seems to be lacking any semblance of a coherent train of thought. Or maybe I am as vapid as he thinks I am. “So? Are you going to tell me who decided how and why we’re here or not?”

  Chance shakes his head. “Sorry, where was I? Yes, the we in which I am speaking of is you. And myself, of course.”

  “Me? So you and me came up with this idea to take me to my aunt’s house, only it’s not my aunt’s house here in this reality, but one my father and I share with her in another reality, in the past? Oh, but in a timeline in which I came to this world four years ago? Do I have that right?”

  “Correct. Shall we?” He moves toward the walkway, expecting me to follow.

  Ha! Maybe I’m not so dumb after all, Mr. Smarty Pants.

  “No, we shan't. You still haven’t answered how we got here.” My patience is beginning to wear thin.

  No one has to interpret Chance’s facial expression. It’s obvious he’s annoyed with me. Well, join the club. Somehow I think Cooper could have chosen someone with better social skills to be my guide.

  “Through the portal,” he says, as if the answer is obvious.

  Oh, yeah, sure. How stupid of me not to know this. “What portal? I don’t remember going through an intergalactic worm hole.”

  Poor Chance. He looks like he just got stuck babysitting one of the dummies in school who sits in back of the classroom. Just call me the girl with the dunce cap on. But at this point, I really don’t care what he thinks of me. I have every right to question how we got here and if we’re even where he claims we are.

  “The advances in the technology used to travel within worlds is complicated, but I assure you, we’ve passed through the slit between realities.”

  “I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”

  I’m rewarded with another dry look from Chance. “You know, you’re a very capable leader in our future.”

  Somehow, judging by his tone, I don’t he means this as a compliment. It’s more like bewildered amazement.

  What do I have to lose? So I have to listen to his stoic conversation and allow him to show me my past. After everything I’ve been through the last couple of days, I guess have to see it for myself. Even with Chance as my guide, I take everything I’ve learned so far and decide to go on following him into the house. I have to find out for myself what my past would have been like. My palms begin to sweat as I try to concentrate on what Chance is trying to show me four years ago in another reality. The one I was born into and would have returned to had I made a different choice. I wonder why things changed. What happened in this timeline that made everything go out of whack?

  The door isn’t locked, so we walk on in and head toward the hallway, away from the front foyer. Within moments of arriving, I hear footsteps from the opposite side of the foyer, going towards the front door we just came through followed by voices. It’s as if Chance knows exactly where we need to be at precisely the right time. I quickly take a step back and put my back against the hallway. I don’t like eavesdropping. But that’s why I was brought here, right? To observe my past?

  I immediately recognize Cooper’s voice as I strain my neck to catch what’s being said. Then I realize the other voice belongs to me. It finally sinks in. I really was a part of a whole other life. It’s not this me, but the girl who made a different choice, and I get front row seats to the show. I position myself closer to the foyer so I can hear them more clearly.

  “So, when is it my turn to head to Thornberry’s reality?”

  “You can’t come with me, darlin’,” I hear Cooper say.

  “That’s absurd! Of course I go. Didn’t we just spend the last half hour with Victor, discussing how this is all predestined and how I’m supposed to lead everyone?”

  “And you do. Just not now.”

  “Then when?”

  “Uh, well… in five years,” he mumbles.

  “Five years?”

  As I listen to myself and Cooper, I do the math in my head. Five years. If this is the period of time shortly after I supposedly went back to that reality, then that makes it next year. Is this when I’m supposed to go? That means it’s another year from now that I’m supposed to join him and the others. Did he know all along that the timeline would change?

  “Well –”

  “You knew this the whole time? When were you going to tell me? You told me you’d never leave my side!”

  Then I hear a whole bunch of back and forth on the subject of how this isn’t Cooper’s fault. And boy, do I have a temper. Seems like I’m not liking what he’s telling me then and I’m surely not liking it now. I move just a little bit closer, almost exposing myself, in order to catch the rest of the conversation. Chance tries to pull me back, but I shrug him off. I have to hear what Cooper’s telling the other me. This is why Chance brought me. To listen.

  “This isn’t funny, Cooper. Why five years?”

  “Because that’s when you travel to that reality. Everything follows the destined timeline. Despite what you think, this isn’t a decision I made. It’s just the way things play out. It’s not your time to come with me now. It would create a paradox. Which means –”

  “Yeah, I remember what a paradox is. So, basically what you’re telling me is, I won’t see you again for five years.”

  “I’m afraid so, darlin’.”

  “Ugh, I hate it when you call me that!”

  “Yeah, I know. That’s why I do it.”

  I wonder if we’re destined to argue in every reality in which we’re thrown together. I suspect that the Etta of that reality is reacting very much like I would in this reality: stubborn. I doubt my personality would change much, no matter where or when I am. It’s still the same me, after all.

  “I’ll ask you again, why can’t I go now and prepare like the others?”

  “Because everything happens on the premise that you remain here. You haven’t experienced the catalyst which drives you to fight. Simply put, there is no rebellion if you don’t stay here.”

  “That’s crap and you know it,” I hear myself say defiantly.

  At that exact moment, I manage to take a peek at the two figures standing at front door and watch Cooper as his shoulders slump in defeat. I don’t blame him, though. I’m giving him a pretty hard time about it, but then again, I can’t really blame the alternate version of me either.

  “I’m sorry, Etta. But this is your time to be you. You’ll be starting college soon and several years to enjoy before you arrive. It’s just not your time yet.”

  “I go to college?”

  “Of course you do.”

  No, I don’t, I think to myself as I hear Cooper try to convince me. That ship has sailed and had things not gotten messed up, perhaps I would have gone to college. Maybe being in that reality with my father and aunt changed things.

  “What if I mess up?”

  “What do you mean, mess up? Mess up how?”

  “The timeline. What if college is something that’s planned, but I decide now not to go. Or what if I go and I’m so happy I don’t want to leave. Does that ruin my chances of being with
you in the future?”

  Better yet, what if the timeline changes well before this conversation even took place? I’d say that’s a scenario that could totally screw everything up. It would be kind of funny, if it hadn’t actually happened. That’s irony for you. I so want to rush over to the both of them to tell them what happened, but Chance senses it and holds me back. This time, I allow him to keep me hidden from the two.

  “I suppose it could, if you made a major life-altering decision, like meeting someone else perhaps,” he drawls.

  Or, someone makes that decision for me and screws up the plan instead and messes up the timeline, I think wryly. Perhaps they don’t need me butting in after all.

  “Doubtful. But what about the small changes? I’m not the same Etta who was supposed to grow up here. My life was changed the minute my dad dumped me in that horrible reality.”

  I hate to admit it, but my life hasn’t been all bad. Sure, I had to endure countless foster homes and ended up in that institution for orphans. But I ended up with a great group of friends and though it took me a few years, I actually like the life I’ve carved out for myself. Only now, I’m starting to question everything about that life.

  “No, that’s always been a part of the grand design.”

  “Huh?” Me and other Etta say in unison.

  “If he’d never taken you to that reality as a child, and you had grown up here, you would never have continued towards the path you were destined for. You still have yet to experience the loss and anger that spurs your determination to defeat Thornberry,” he says.

  The more I stand here listening to this conversation, the more I’m convinced that the loss and anger that I’m supposed to feel is what I’m experiencing now, regardless of how things ended up, because I’m pretty damn mad now, that’s for sure.

  “Predestination paradox,” I then hear myself say. What the hell is a predestination paradox?

  “Will you still be able to visit me?”

  “I’m afraid not, darlin’. It would just make matters worse for you, and to be honest, complicated. It hasn’t been easy being around you.”