The Rewind Series Boxset

by Jill Cooper

  My body hits hard and my pounding heart aches my chest. I probably should be dead on impact but the bushes and assorted plants that once decorated the street, cushion my fall. Still I can’t move and I struggle to regulate my breath. My mind is spinning in a million different directions.

  Just like the police station that is soaring up through the air. It’s flying up toward the giant schism in the sky, where the sky itself is gone and is replaced by stars and the moon.

  Finally I manage to sit up and I see it isn’t just the police station that’s gone, but a city block has been ripped from the planet and down below is nothing.

  Just like the sink hole I peered into earlier, Boston is dissolving into space and time. And if my horrifying guess was right, it wasn’t just Boston.

  “Damn you, Lara.” I mumble the words to myself and don’t expect anyone to hear me.

  “Lara Crane?”

  My head turns and I see him the stupid rich kid from school. Donovan James.

  James.

  The name clicks and I roll over onto my side and cringe from the pain. I must have broken a rib or two. Of course, I guess I’m lucky that’s all that’s broken, but if I’m right about what’s happening, soon it won’t matter. Soon we’ll all be reduced to dust.

  But it can’t be a coincidence that this rich brat has the same name as Patricia James, the woman who wanted me out of the way. What would be better than to use him, to get to her? I was in no condition to strong arm him, so I was going to have to use my charm.

  Boy, was I in trouble.

  “What’s it to you?”

  Donovan snorts. “Whatever, man. I just thought the name was familiar. I feel like…feel like it’s being whispered to me all day. I barely know who she is, but the things I’m feeling…I feel like I’m in love with her.”

  My jaw tenses. That’s not possible. Lara is my girl, not Donovan’s. Somehow if he’s experiencing the flashes from the time line like I am, no—it’s just not possible. Lara would never leave me behind for this jerk.

  Never.

  I roll up and when I struggle, Donovan grips my hand and helps me. Police are swarming our location and pushing our back from the crater that is threatening to swallow us all alive.

  “I think you need a doctor.” Donovan says.

  I stare at the destruction and the crumbling buildings in a distance, as if some unknown monster lives beneath the city and is pulling us slowly to our destruction. “I think a lot of people need doctors.” I can’t keep the horror out of my voice. “Look around you. You think any of us are going to survive this in the long run?”

  Donovan studies the landscape and the pretty boy looks to be on the brink of falling apart. He shakes his head. “This can’t be happening. I was just over there, my house is over there. My family.”

  Family.

  I’m shaken back into the present. I turn to avoid the ruin laid out in front of me as overhead lightning strikes even though there isn’t a cloud in the sky. Beneath us the Earth cracks and begins to crumble. “Your mother, is she Patricia James?”

  Donovan nods, dumbfounded as we race further back to avoid the opening crater. “Yeah. Why? What’s it to you?”

  “I need to see her. Needed to see her yesterday. What’s going on here. I think she has the answers. Where is she?”

  He scowls. “How can she--.”

  I hobble after him. The shooting pain up my side is intense. I don’t know how long I can keep this up. My hand grips his shirt. “Don’t you want to know what’s going on before we all die?”

  “Die?” Donovan snorts. “We’re too young. This can’t be—it can’t be the end of everything. It just can’t.”

  The ground quakes beneath us and his face falls. I know for him this is a lot to process. He doesn’t know about the time travel. It’s not possible for him to believe our universe might be imploding, but for me—hell, yeah it’s possible.

  “Okay man, okay.” Donovan puts his arm around me to help. I should be grateful, but I can’t help the seething hate for him flowing through my veins.

  “Just where is she?”

  Donovan shrugs. “Where she works, I guess. If it’s still there.”

  “And that is?” I urge him on.

  “The Rewind Agency. She founded it.”

  And then in a crazy way, it all makes sense. Scary sense and I wretch, puke right on the sidewalk as thunder clouds loom overhead.

  Chapter Eight: John storms the Castle

  All day I ignored my ringing phone as I pour over the papers I took from the YMCA locker. The money trail was hard to follow. Finances weren’t my thing so it took me longer than even I expected to piece together, but in the end, I had enough evidence to take to the police and bring charges against Patricia James and Jax Montgomery. I was sure that the Rewind Agency was built on a house of cards.

  Illegal experiments, breaking of international time travel law, and worst using human test subjects. The papers confirmed Miranda had been there and part of the trials. I remember how jittery she was, but I had no idea her experiments and science were on the opposite side of ethical.

  But it explained a lot of things. Why she wanted to leave Boston with me. Why she wanted to move at night when people weren’t watching. I thought she was ashamed of me, but really she was terrified of Patricia, her boss. Someone who I thought once was our friend.

  Sure, she made more money and was more refined than me, but I always thought she was my friend.

  Now I know things I shouldn’t. I wish Miranda had just told me. I wish she had gone to the police and put a stop to it all. I’m sure she would if she suspected Patricia would take things that far. If only I could go back in time and warn her.

  But that was impossible. It was impossible to change the past. Interact with it.

  If only there was another way.

  But there wasn’t. All I could do was pick up and find my daughter. I had to deal with this future and if I could finally prove my wife’s death was murder and not an accident, that would at least give me peace. Playing what if, that never got me anywhere.

  I must have spent the last hours in a research haze because the closer I get to the Rewind Agency, with my duffle bag thrown over my shoulder, the more chaos I run into. One second the streets are empty enough to look like a ghost town, but when I turn the corner, everything is destroyed.

  The ground beneath my feet is cracked; one side is higher than the others and the cars on the street are smashed together. Like if you took a bunch of old Hot Wheels car, put them in a bag, shook them up, and emptied them out, that’s exactly what I see.

  People are running everywhere and off in the distance, there’s smoke and the hint of flames shoots up toward the sky. And the sky…

  The sky’s open with a gashing hole torn through the center like a ripped piece of paper.

  My bag falls from my shoulder at the same time my mouth opens. Half the sky is a bright, violent blue, but it’s tattered and torn like a piece of paper rips between two strong hands. And along the ripped, tattered part, well, is space.

  Black space, twinkling stars.

  And past that, is just nothing. Not black. Not empty. Just absolute nothing.

  How is any of this possible?

  What is this?

  A fit man runs past me and I grab his arm and jerk him toward me. My eyes narrow and my voice comes out in a husk. “What’s going on here?”

  “It’s the end of the world man. The end of the world! Europe’s already gone. And we’re next!” He screams and laughs right in my face. “We’re next!”

  That’s impossible, but the surge of adrenaline that rushes me doesn’t know that. My stomach summersaults and I feel sick. My fingers loosen on his arm enough that he can pull his arm free.

  “What’s done this? What’s caused this?”

  He shrugs. “No one knows. Meteor? Aliens? Doesn’t matter. Life is over. Reboot. Just…get as far to the west as you can as fast as you an. Boston’s a goner, man. It�
��s a goner!”

  He takes off screaming and runs toward the subway platform, but if the planet is opening up like I saw evidence of, that’s the last place he should go. It’ll be a death trap.

  I have my own places to go. If this is really the end, I won’t go out without answers.

  Running down the street, I am fighting against the hordes of people running the opposite way. I’m not far from Commonwealth Ave. where the Rewind Agency is located. The usual trees are blooming with flowers and it’s a beautiful backdrop for the terror I see.

  Tourists are running and screaming in the opposite direction. Cars are crashed up on the sidewalk and off in the distance, is the landmark of the Prudential Tower. A Boston staple, a sign of wealth, power. Articture and prestige.

  And it’s swaying back and forth. It’s going to crash.

  I scream and lunge off down the street. I’m not young anymore and all the running sets my lungs on fire. I lean against the hard, callous red bricks of an old pub I used to frequent to catch my breath. Deep, long, labors breaths.

  When I look up again, I wipe my mouth and I see the logo for the Rewind Agency spinning in the sky.

  It’s still there and I have to hope, my answers are still there too.

  I trot over and outside are security guards. Overhead the tall building dark clouds are rolling in and thunderous bolts of lightning. Whatever is going on, it’s almost like it started here. And now it’s not only tearing apart the city, but the entire world.

  Aiming to push past everyone, I’m grabbed. “Sorry, Sir, but you can’t go in there. The building is closed.”

  “I have to go in there.” My voice grumbles. “My daughter’s in there. I need to know if she’s okay.”

  I don’t know if it’s true, but it feels true. Besides, if I want to garner any sympathy, this seems like a great way to do it.

  Doesn’t work though. They just shake their heads. The taller, olive skin one does all the talking.

  “No one is okay, Sir. I’m sorry but we can’t let you in. No one is going in or coming out right now. You’re just going to have to go home.”

  Home. I don’t even know if it even exists anymore.

  I sigh with frustration. “Look—.”

  “No, you look.” The security guard pushes me back and I dig my boots into the concrete sidewalk to stop from sliding backwards. “You aren’t getting in here. If you try, I’ll call the police.”

  “Look around you. The police are busy. Use your walkie, radio up and tell Jax Montgomery I got his package. See what he says about that.”

  The security guard gives me a look that clearly says go to hell. Beneath us, the ground shutters and then everything pops like an underground railroad has crashed. When it happens again, all the windows of Rewind blow out. I fall to the ground and cover my head as the land beneath us quakes and tremors with a powerful jolt.

  The Earth is groaning and cracking like a wild animal is trapped beneath us. The pavement opens up and twisted metal of the subway T platform regurgitates up. The screams, my God, the screams of the people crushed inside still me.

  Terrify me and all I can do is stare at the blood splattered windows, their hands clamped inch by inch on top of each other, desperate to get out. I don’t know if anyone can still be alive in that wreckage, but they are like sardines trapped inside.

  Everyone around me is as transfixed on the sight as I am. It’s my moment. Horrible as it is, I need to seize it. So I bolt for the revolving front door of the Rewind Agency, and stumble inside mid-run.

  My work boots squeak across the tile floors. I run passed the old spinning clock, its hands moving counter-clockwise in their usual logo, and sprint up the stairs. I don’t see anything. It’s hollow as a tomb as the stairs creek and begin to shatter like structural damage is about to take this place down.

  I don’t dare take the elevator.

  But I ran up the stairs, taking two—sometimes three at a time, until I am on the science level. It’s a corridor of closed doors. All the windows are darkened by closed blinds. I run by, looking for the one with the name that’s seared in my brain.

  Jax Montgomery.

  When I find it, I don’t even knock. Pulling the gun from the rear of my jeans, I throw it open and stick my head in the room. “Jax!” Sweeping the area with my gun, I see the office is empty and mostly orderly.

  Desk, monitor, filing cabinets off to the side. But the laptop is gone. Jax was here and he made a run for it, but where’d he go?

  I check the rest of the rooms and the situation is the same except for the room at the end of the hall. With a heavy heart I approach it. It’s the science lab where Miranda did most of her work.

  This is the place I took Lara to visit her mom. This is the place where her affair started with Jax. This is the place where I lost Miranda, even though I hadn’t known it before.

  But I know it now and my heart’s horribly heavy. The weight of it threatens to break my chest open and all I can do is take a deep breath and throw the door open.

  The room is a swirl of energy and wind. Whatever is going on to our world has originated here, I’m sure of it. The wide room filled with metal tables, and computer equipment is filled with lab coated scientists. In the center of it all, I recognize the back of Jax Montgomery and Patricia James.

  The ones that murdered my Miranda. Directly or indirectly.

  They are bent over a table and from the way are gesturing their hands, they are either excited or arguing.

  Can’t tell which. Don’t care.

  I lift my gun, step into the room, and remove it’s safety. I hold my arm out and steady it with the other. “The day of reckoning has come, Montgomery. I have your folders. I know what you did. I know what you both did!”

  They both spin, shock on their faces. Jax’s is frozen in horror but Patricia’s twists with annoyance. Both their hands go up in the air.

  “John,” Patricia says with a dramatic sigh, “it’s not as bad as you think. Let us explain. Let us show you what we’ve done.”

  “What you’ve done?” My eyebrow twitches with angry respite. “You’ve destroyed the world. With your time travel experiments, playing of God. I’m sorry for our part in all this, but it was you. It was all you!”

  “It doesn’t matter if you kill us.” Jax’s face fills with mourning. “It’s over.”

  “Over my ass.” I whisper and just when I am about to take the shot, Patricia moves out of the way and what is on the table comes into view.

  Who is on the table.

  First it’s just a flicker of soft brown curls, but then I recognize the nose that I’ve kissed to sleep a thousand times. Her soft hand, laying against the metal slab, her body covered with a simple white sheet.

  There is only horror, absolute crushing pain in my chest, “Lara!” My arm lowers and I rush over to her without realizing I did it.

  One arm scoops underneath her neck, while my other strokes her hair back. “Lara? Sweetheart?” The words chock out of me as I realize how pale she is. How cold.

  Lara’s dead. Like her mother. She’s gone.

  “Oh God, baby.” I whisper and my lips tremble. I kiss her forehead. I want nothing more than to have her back with me. “I’m so sorry, so sorry.”

  I cry against her skin. If the pain of losing Miranda nearly destroyed me, the pain of losing Lara will obliterate me. I’m glad the world is ending. I’m glad I won’t have to endure this much longer.

  My lip snarls as I glare at Patricia through my tears. “You killed her! Your company, your tech destroyed my baby girl!”

  “No,” Patricia whispers with glee in her voice. “She has saved us all. This time line will be destroyed yes, but we will live on in the others. In the one where Miranda didn’t have to die. Lara did it. She went back and saved her mother ten years ago.”

  None of what Patricia says makes sense. I block her out and stroke Lara’s hair. Overhead the ceiling tiles begin to leak dust onto us as the building rocks.

&
nbsp; “Changing the past isn’t possible.” I whisper.

  Patrica laughs. “Of course it is. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be illegal. But I haven’t perfected it, without Miranda, it wasn’t possible. A lot wasn’t possible without Miranda. She quit before we were able to finish memory storage, memory wipes, and memory changes. There’s a lot I wanted to accomplish but without her, it wasn’t possible. But with Miranda back, think of what I could do. Just think of it, John.”

  “You had her killed.” I grit my teeth.

  Patricia shrugs. “I was a little short sighted, I’ll give you that. Lara’s been planning to save her mother a long time. She thought we didn’t know, but we watched her returns to the past. The route she was practicing. We knew what she was up to and her brain scans said she was the perfect one for the job. I guess it must be genetic, because Miranda’s brain scans always were similar, which was why she was the perfect scientist for us. Perfect scientist to test her own tech out on.”

  I shake my head. Miranda wouldn’t have been on board with any of this.

  “So this time line is falling apart, because this future no longer happens.” Patricia says. “We’re going to die here, but there we’ll all live. Things will be different, but we’re all there. With Lara.” Patricia gestures her head toward Lara. “She’s not here because she’s already there, melding with the new present in the new timeline..”

  “That’s not possible. She’ll be killed. She’ll bleed out. Her brain--.”

  “Maybe.” Patricia smirks. “Or she’ll be first. Think of the possibilities. The tests we can perform. The better future we can cultivate together. All of us. And you’ll have your family. Your daughter and your wife.”

  “You’re crazy.” I shake my head and lift Lara up in my arms. Her body goes limp like a doll and a sob lodges in my throat as I gaze down at her dead, lifeless body. “You can’t know any of this.”

  Jax is slumped on the ground where I shot him. “She’s done it before. This isn’t the first time.”