by Donna Wagner
Fifteen minutes later, Tim knew they had another problem. The “warehouse” wasn’t just one building. It was a very large complex and Tim could see at least ten buildings from the street, alone. The whole thing was fenced and there was a guard station at the gate. Tim followed the streets around the fence line, looking to see if there was another way in. He’d almost made a complete circle around the complex before he saw it. Part of the fence wasn’t permanent. It looked like at some point, the fence had fallen down and instead of replacing it, a freestanding fence, like the ones around construction sites, was put up instead. It could be moved back enough to slip through, quite easily. “We need to wait until it’s dark. We can’t risk any employees or guards seeing us,” he told Anna.
Anna didn’t respond. He could tell she wasn’t happy with waiting. Tim found a place to park the car where they could still the temporary fence. They had about three hours until it would be completely dark. Anna was fidgeting in the seat next to him. “Why don’t you put the seat back and relax for a bit? We have time.”
She started to argue, but then stopped and put the seat back. “It’ll be okay. It’s almost over,” Tim said, giving her hand a squeeze.
She didn’t let go. Tim tried to help relax her by running his thumb back and forth on the back of her hand. He could tell she was fighting to keep her eyes open and decided to help a little more. He sent a pulse of power, telling her to sleep. She finally relaxed and Tim breathed a sigh of relief when he finally heard her breathing slow and saw her eyes stay closed.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
The next few hours passed slowly for Tim. Anna continued to sleep and Tim kept watch. He was watching to see if anyone came or went near that part of the fence. He was also studying the buildings he could see, and it looked like one, not too far from where they could get in, wasn’t in use anymore. It didn’t even seem like any guards patrolled this area. He also tried reaching out with his power to see if he could sense any thoughts of anyone nearby. The buildings were either empty, or he was too far away.
When it was finally dark, he gently shook Anna awake. “Hey, sleepyhead. It’s time.”
Anna woke up slowly. At first, she looked at him, eyes still half closed, as if she didn’t remember why they were in the car. Then, suddenly, her eyes shot open as she remembered everything that was happening. “I can’t believe I fell asleep.”
Tim just nodded, letting the lie of omission remain. She didn’t need to know he had helped. “Can you hear any thoughts?”
Anna closed her eyes and concentrated. “No! Do you think we’re wrong? That no one is here?”
Tim shook his head. “I tried too. I didn’t get anything either. I think we’re too far away. We need to get a little closer to that building there,” he said, pointing to the building he’d focused on earlier.
They both exited the car, taking care to close their doors quietly. They snuck closer to the building. Tim had his power reaching out in all directions. If someone came near them, he wanted as much warning as possible. He could tell Anna was on high alert as well. They slipped through the fence, easily. Once inside the complex, Tim could make out faint footprints in the dirt. He pointed them out to Anna, and they decided to follow them. They led directly to the empty building. The building’s windows were boarded shut, but when they reached the door, it opened quietly, with no problem. Once they were inside the building, thoughts began tumbling into his head all at once. It seemed that whatever the building was made of had blocked them until they were inside. I noticed that too.
Anna spoke in his head, after hearing his thoughts, which was much handier than whispering. We’ll have to look into that when this is all over.
Yes.
They kept walking. The first floor seemed like one large empty room. There were broken tables and crates scattered around. Around the top of the room, Tim could tell there were rooms on the second floor, with windows that looked out into the empty space. At the far end of the room, one of the second-floor windows had a faint, flickering light. Tim pointed towards it, incase Anna hadn’t noticed it yet. I see it.
Tim could hear Einna’s and Tre’s thoughts loud and clear by the time they reached the halfway point. They were confused and scared. Tre was also thinking telepathic powers would be nice at a time like this. Tim finally saw steps leading up against the wall. They were going to have to walk under the room to get to them. I’m going to send my words to your parents to warn them we’re coming before we go up the steps.
Anna nodded. Tim closed his eyes and concentrated on sending his message to both of them at once. Einna, Tre. It’s Tim.
A thud sounded above them. Anna and Tim both froze. He hadn’t meant to startle them but hearing someone’s voice in your mind when you’re not used to it is always going to be startling, he thought. Anna rolled her eyes and motioned for him to get on with it. He closed his eyes and concentrated again. Anna and I are here to bring you home. I know your confused. It’s a very long story, but we’ll tell you all about it later. I just wanted to warn you that we’re coming upstairs. If you can do anything to protect yourselves, do it. We don’t want you to get hurt when we surprise him.
He opened his eyes and started walking again. They reached the steps and started slowly climbing them, freezing with every creak and groan. Halfway up, Tim realized that there was nothing separating the top of the steps from the area the flickering light was coming from. Tim could see him sitting on a ratty old couch watching TV, of all things. Anna’s voice echoed in his head. Invisible?
Tim nodded and took her hand. They finished climbing the steps quickly, because even if a noise was heard, there was nothing to see. Tim wished he’d thought of it sooner. They entered the room and took in the scene. Anna’s parents were nowhere to be seen. That door over there must be a closet.
They went closer to the door. It’s locked.
Anna sounded defeated. We’ve got this. It’s almost over. Now, let’s finish this, but we could have some fun, too.
Fun?
We don’t want to give away our secrets all at once, but before we become visible we could always throw something at him and watch him panic when no one is there.
Tim could tell Anna was trying not to laugh at the image. Let’s just get this over with as quickly as possible.
They walked back towards the entrance of the room and Anna made them visible again. They were behind him, so he still didn’t notice them. Tim started to let go of Anna’s hand, but she shook her head and held on tight. “So, this is what you call family stuff, is it?”
Jason leapt up from the couch and spun around in surprise. “How did you…” his voice trailed off and his eyes narrowed.
Tim knew what was coming before it even came out of his mouth. “Nothing going on between you two? What is that, then?” he yelled, point towards their joined hands.
Anna raised her eyebrows as far as they could go. “Seriously? Seriously?”
She raised her and Tim’s joined hands and said, “This is none of your business you idiotic-”
Jason cut her off. “We’re done. I thought we could work things out, but if you’re going to cheat and throw it in my face, then it’s over.”
Tim thought Anna was going to fall over in disbelief. “Work things out? How stupid are you? You kidnapped my parents!”
Jason started to say something and then stopped. “What?”
Tim could see Jason’s thoughts as if they were visible in front of him. He was thinking very hard, trying to find a way out of this. His eyes kept darting to the locked closet door. Tim watched the moment happen, as Jason realized his charade was over. “My father disappeared, and I was told you two were at fault. So, I took your parents. I couldn’t take Tim’s since they’re- you know. Give me back my dad and you get yours back.”
Tim couldn’t remain calm. “My parents are dead because your father had them killed!”
Jason finally looked directly at Tim. “Why would my father do that? You don’t even know him.”
“I apparently knew him better than you. Please, enlighten us. What do you think happened to him?”
“My father was trying to save that world of yours from your families’ tyrannical rule. You captured him so you could take his throne.”
“His throne?”
Jason nodded. “When he left that world behind, he left that weird mustached man in charge.”
“Ronnoc?”
Jason nodded. “He’s the one who told me you two did something to my father.”
Tim nodded. Ronnoc had already told them that much. So far that was the only part of this whole conversation that made any sense. “Do you know Ronnoc is Tim’s uncle?”
Jason finally looked at Anna again. They could both see in his thoughts that he hadn’t known that, but he didn’t answer her question. Tim reached out and searched Jason’s head. It seemed he really believed what he was telling them. Aaron had told his son nothing but lies to make himself look like the hero. “Are you not going to talk to me now?” Anna asked him.
“Not until you tell me what happened to my father.”
“Let my parents go and I’ll tell you.”
He laughed. “Do I look that dumb?”
Anna and Tim exchanged a glance. “Fine,” Anna said, “Let me see my parents. I need to at least know they’re okay.”
Jason finally gave in. He went and unlocked the closed door and flug it open. Einna and Tre were inside. They weren’t even tied up. How in the world had Jason gotten them there? “There you see them. They’re fine. Where is my father?”
“I don’t know.”
Jason clenched his fists. “I’m telling you the truth. The last time I saw him, he grabbed my arm. I got scared and my power kicked in. The next thing I know he was gone.”
“Powers, yeah right.”
“Aaron didn’t tell you Snillotians have powers?” Tim asked.
Jason rolled his eyes. “Like I’d believe that. Another world was hard enough, but he took me there. Dad’s a little wacky.”
“A little wacky? Only a little?”
“Did he tell you to start dating me?” Anna asked, suddenly.
“Huh? No! He only realized who you were after that time we were supposed to go out to dinner with him so you could meet him. Remember when you got to the restaurant, I said he had a work thing and couldn’t make it? Well he was really there still. He saw you when you walked in and said you could never see his face and that he had to leave.”
“How did he explain that?”
“You were living with his brother. He and his brother had a falling out.”
“You know Adam is your uncle?”
Jason nodded. “Seems like a nice guy to me, but my dad hates him.”
“Did he explain that Adam is his twin?”
“No, that’s impossible. My dad is like 15 years older than him.”
Anna and Tim just looked at each other again. “Okay, so as interesting as this all is. We’ve told you what you asked. Now please let Anna’s parent’s leave.”
“No! My father is still not here. He disappeared months ago and hasn’t come back. I want answers.”
“We want answers too,” Tim responded, “Do you know why your father wrote to my mother? What did he want from her? Why did he hate my parents so much that he told the Rebels where to find them? That’s what got them killed, so it is his fault.”
Jason’s face paled, slightly, “I don’t know about all that. All I know is he just wanted your mom to help us get my mom back. She didn’t. She didn’t even have the decency respond to his letter!”
Anna was putting the pieces together. Aaron missed his wife and wanted to go back to a time before she had died. He had assumed Tim’s mom knew how to control the time inconsistencies between the worlds, because he read the books she’d written. Tim heard Anna’s thoughts as she made that conclusion.
“How did he know who my mom was? She didn’t write under her real name.”
Jason rolled her his eyes. “You. We went to school together. Don’t you remember when we used to sort of be friends? Well, you were friends with Evan. You told us all about your mom’s stories. I told my dad.”
Tim visibly paled. His fault. Don’t go there.
Tim tried to reign in his thoughts. He didn’t remember ever being friends with Jason, but it made sense. He had been to Evan’s house a few times, as a child. He knew they had all been in school together in elementary. He brought his attention back to Jason. “Let her parents go. We’ll take their place.”
Jason thought for a moment and finally agreed. “Fine. You two are who I wanted anyway. You just weren’t there when I got there. I tried at that storage place, but that stupid cop got in the way.”
Anna’s eyes widened. She had almost gone home with him to talk that night. Tim knew what she was thinking and now it was his turn to reassure her. He squeezed her hand. Jason saw the exchange and decided that they needed to learn just who was in charge of their current situation.
He turned towards Einna and Tre. “Go. Don’t come back,” he told them, as he reached behind his back and pulled a gun out of his waistband, “Don’t tell anyone where we are, either, if you want to see them again.”
“Oh no,” Anna whispered.
She turned towards her parents. “It’s okay. Go. We’ll be fine.”
Tim tossed Tre the keys to the car and told him where it was. He watched until they were safely out of sight.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Jason was pacing back and forth, gun in hand, but not pointing it towards them. I think I can make an energy shield, but I have no idea if it can deflect a bullet.
It’ll have to do, if it comes to that.
Tim squeezed her hand tightly, trying to reassure her. “I’m sorry, are you having a moment? Should I come back later?”
They both turned and looked at Jason. Anna couldn’t believe this was the same boy she’d spent so much time with over the last few years. “Jason, please calm down,” she tried reasoning with him, “We’ve given you the answers we can. We can’t do anything else.”
“Give me back my father.”
“I can’t do that. He’s gone. I’m sorry. He was going to kill me.”
“You’re a liar! You say things like that about my father. You say nothing is between you and Tim, yet you haven’t let go of him since you got here. You say you have powers-”
Jason stopped short and just started at Anna. She was holding up her hand, which was lit up with her light. It wasn’t the same energy that had ended Aaron, but Jason just needed proof there was more going on than he understood. “I have powers. Tim has powers. We are telling you the truth.”
Jason was visibly shaking. “No, it’s a trick. You’re trying to trick me!” he yelled, pointing the gun directly at Anna.
Tim focused his power as strongly as he could. He imagined a wall in front of her that would stop anything that tried to get through. If that gun went off, he hoped it was enough. Tim, can you make him fall asleep?
If I can get close enough to touch him, yes. I put a shield in front of you. Go invisible. It should distract him enough that I can get to him.
Okay. On the count of three. One… two… three!
Anna disappeared and Jason freaked out. He jumped over the couch, dropping the gun, his eyes searching everywhere to locate Anna. Tim changed his plan at the last moment. Instead of going towards Jason, he dove to get the gun. Jason saw him dive and realized he no longer had his weapon. They both landed on the floor, the gun underneath them. Anna knew this couldn’t end well. She tried to concentrate on the power that scared her most- the blue light that started their current mess. She focused and sent a tiny burst directly to the gun, which instantly heated the metal that it was too hot for either boy to touch. They both yelled in pain and dropped the gun. Before Tim could recover, Jason tackled him. They rolled around on the floor, neither one getting the upper hand. Make him sleep, Tim!
Tim pushed the calming thoughts with his power to make Jaso
n sleep. It didn’t work. He’s too angry. It’s not going to work, but I think I have another idea.
Tim grabbed Jason’s arm and sent him the memory of that day in the castle. Jason immediately fell back and froze as he watched the scene unfold. He saw his father surprise them in the castle. His father had an expression on his face Jason had never seen. He looked evil. He watched as his father froze and everyone ran from the room following the mustached man. He watched as his father grabbed Anna, who looked different. She was just a little girl! How was that possible? He watched as Tim, who was younger, as well, tried to free Anna from his father’s grip. Anna told Tim to let go of her. He saw Anna’s hand light up like it had a few minutes earlier, but then it kept getting brighter and turned blue, until there was nothing but that blue light. When it faded, he saw the younger Tim and Anna, alone in that hallway and the walls were falling in. He saw Tim pull Anna, urging her to run. The images faded and suddenly, he was back in the present. The real Tim was on top of him and Anna appeared behind him suddenly out of thin air. He shrank back, suddenly afraid of them both. He scrambled to get away from them. He looked around frantically for his gun. He saw it, but before he could reach for it, people rushed into the room. “Police! Hands in the air!”
Anna and Tim both raised their hands. Jason didn’t at first and eyed the gun and debated if he could get to it in time. “Don’t even think about it, kid.”
Jason looked at the cop who had a gun trained on him. It was the same cop from the other night. “Don’t point the gun at me! They’re the dangerous ones! I was just trying to protect myself.”
Officer Abbot looked at Tim and Anna. He spoke quietly into the radio on his shoulder and a minute later Einna and Tre burst back into the room. “Folks, we need you to verify which young man abducted you and which one came with the girl.”
They quickly pointed at Jason as their abductor, and then ran to Anna and Tim and hugged them both. “I guess that answers the question,” Office Abbot said, chuckling.