QUANTUM (Portal Chronicles Book Three)

by Imogen Rose

  “Well?”

  “Arizona, of course I do. What’s the matter with you?”

  I couldn’t help but shake my head. This was bizarre. We needed to talk, but not here, everyone was staring at us, my shouting had brought us unwanted attention. “David, let’s go to your house and talk. Okay?” I felt safer knowing that his dad had been stabbed by Raj–warped, I know–but he wasn’t likely to be in cahoots with Raj under those circumstances.

  He nodded and wheeled me to a cab.

  “Where’s your bike?”

  “It’s in the parking lot. I’ll come and collect it later. It will be easier to get you home in a cab.”

  True. He lifted me gently and placed me in the back of the car and secured my seatbelt for me. We were driven back to the same house that Dan and Sophie had dropped me off outside before. Sigh. David carried me in, and put me down on a couch in the homey-looking family room.

  “Can I get you something to eat and drink before we talk?”

  I nodded and waited while he busied himself in the kitchen. When he came back, he was bearing a tray full of sandwiches and sodas. I was famished and dug right in, as did he. When we finished, I sat back and stretched, I was so tired. “Well, let’s talk. How do you know Raj?”

  “The same way you do, Arizona! What the heck is going on with you?” He was clearly frustrated. “Raj kidnapped you, we rescued you, took you back home and here you are again! Acting really odd! How did you get back here?”

  “Wait a minute now!” I protested. “Yes, Raj kidnapped me, but what’s all that other stuff? You hardly rescued me! I practically got dumped here. So, that’s really stretching your contribution to my predicament by quite a bit. And you certainly haven’t brought me to my home yet. This is your home! Although, I will be grateful when you do get me home.”

  He shook his head. I could see him struggling. “Arizona, tell me, what happened to you? How did you get here?”

  “Well, I was home in Princeton–that’s where I live– when Raj and his little entourage of Dan and Sophie broke in, drugged me and took me on a road trip that culminated in a cottage, here in California by the look of things. Then he, Raj, disappeared, and Dan and Sophie couldn’t be bothered with me anymore, so they dropped me off here. They asked me to ring the doorbell and said someone would help me get back home. I’ve no idea why Raj took me in the first place, the idiot!”

  “They took you from your house in Princeton?” David mused. “How did Raj get back there and then come back here?”

  “How am I supposed to know? How do you know Raj anyway?” I retorted.

  “How do I know Raj?” he repeated, looking at me like I was deranged. “Arizona, I have to call my mom. I’ll be back in a little while. Make yourself comfy. Here are the controls to the TV,” he said, as he stood up. Then he left and I switched on the TV. I was too tired to concentrate and my mind was churning with muddled thoughts. Who was this guy? He still hadn’t told me anything. I was going to tackle him and get some answers as soon as he came back. I stretched letting my head fall onto the cushion at the end of the couch and closed my eyes.

  ~

  As soon as Arizona had asked him how he knew Raj, David knew that he needed to take a breather away from her. He needed to clear his head. She appeared lucid, but still unaware of obvious stuff. One thing was clear: Raj had gotten to her again. David really needed to let his mother know. He called her, hoping she was back by now.

  “David?”

  “Mom, I’m glad you are back. How did it go? Are things crazy at the Darley house? Is anyone else missing?” His mother was silent at the other end. “Mom?”

  “David, we have to talk. Where is Arizona now?”

  “She’s here at Dad’s house with me,” he said, walking over to peek through to the family room. “She’s sleeping on the couch,” he relayed, as he noticed her passed out in a deep sleep.

  “Good. I’m on my way over. See you shortly. How is Kevin?”

  “The same. The hospital will call us when he wakes.”

  David walked over to the couch where Arizona lay sleeping soundly. She looked so peaceful. He gently placed a blanket over her and sat down to watch her sleep. She looked different. What could have happened to her? She didn’t seem confused in any way, but she obviously was. When he heard his mother’s car in the driveway, he got up and quietly let her in, making sure not to awaken Arizona. They walked through to the kitchen.

  “I just got a call from the hospital. Kevin has woken up. He seems to be doing better. I’m going to head over there soon, but I wanted to talk to you first.”

  “I bet things are crazy over at the Darley’s. Did you tell them that we found Arizona and that I’ll bring her back soon?”

  “Well, no.”

  “No? Mom? What’s up?” David asked surprised.

  “Well, Arizona is home at the Darley residence. They’re all fine. No one is missing.”

  David’s jaw dropped. “What?”

  “David, Arizona is home, with Olivia and Rupert.”

  “So who’s that girl in the living room? What I’m saying is, Mom, I know that it’s definitely Arizona!” David insisted.

  “It can’t be, David. Maybe it’s someone who looks like her. You did say that she was different. Maybe that’s because it isn’t Arizona.”

  David let out a frustrated sigh. “Mom, it is Arizona! I’m a hundred percent sure. She answers to the name Arizona and she looks exactly like her apart from her hair color which is now brown–and she told me that Raj abducted her.”

  “Well, she can’t be in two different places at the same time, can she?” Inez shrugged.

  “Mom, are you sure that Arizona is at home? Did you actually see her?”

  She nodded. “I talked to her. She’s worried about you. Worried about how you coped with Simla as well as how you are coping with your dad. I need to talk to the girl in the living room.”

  David nodded. “Yes. Let her sleep for now, though. There’s no point waking her up. She’s not going anywhere.”

  “Are you certain about her?” Inez asked. “I mean you would know, right?”

  “I’m certain.”

  “I wonder if she’s from the future?” Inez mused.

  “From the future…?”

  “Maybe Raj managed to open the portal in the future and brought her through?”

  David shook his head. This was blowing his mind. “Mom, could you explain that, I don’t follow.”

  “Well, fast forward this dimension by a year. Imagine that during that year Raj somehow manages to seize control of the portal. He transports his way over to the Darley dimension, also a year in the future. He kidnaps Arizona–who has maybe changed a bit during a year–and resets the portal to bring him back to the past.”

  David closed his eyes. “Mom, that still doesn’t explain why she didn’t recognize me. Besides, she called herself Arizona Stevens, so if anything, she’s from the past.”

  “Hmm,” Inez mused. “However, it’s a possibility, right? That Raj went and got her somehow?”

  “Well, it’s easy enough to check. I’ll head over a year into the future into the Darley dimension,” David suggested.

  “Well, we’ll need to discuss that with the Elders. They are unlikely to grant you permission to pop into the future for a look. It will be less complicated to try to find out from Arizona what’s going on. She’s slept long enough. Let’s wake her.”

  ~

  I stretched and let out a yawn. I was awake, but didn’t feel the least bit refreshed. My knees still hurt; Tylenol would be welcome. I looked around. It was dark, but there was light coming from the hallway and I could hear muffled sounds. I sat up and stretched again. Then as I contemplated getting up, David came walking back into the room. He had a lady with him. She was older, older than my mom anyway. She was short and blonde. Her face had a serene quality to it, but she did look surprised, her eyes wide.

  “Ah, you’re up, Arizona,” David said, when he saw me.
>
  “Yup.”

  “This is my mother, Inez. Do you feel up for a chat?”

  “Yeah, but I wouldn’t mind some Tylenol first, if you’ve got some,” I said, pointing to my knees.

  “Sure, I’ll get some. Be right back.”

  The lady–Inez–walked over toward me and sat down on the couch opposite me. When she smiled at me, I felt instantly warm and relaxed.

  “How are you, Arizona? Do your knees hurt a lot?”

  “Yes, but I’ll be okay, just need to rest them.” I noticed David coming back and he handed me the pills and water, and sat down beside his mom, nodding at her.

  Inez looked me over carefully. “Arizona, do you recognize me at all? Do you recognize David?”

  “No. Should I?”

  “I’m not sure. We are trying to work out how we are connected–if we are. You seem to know Raj.”

  “Know is a bit of a stretch. He abducted me. That’s all I really know. Wait… he’s my friend Simla Sen’s dad, which is kind of odd. But I never knew that before. I mean before he kidnapped me.”

  “You know Simla Sen?” David asked smiling.

  Something about that smile just drew me in, gave me butterflies, so weird. I shook myself. “Yes, I go to school with her. Do you know her?”

  Inez interrupted us. “Arizona, can you tell us how you were abducted by Raj, as much as you can remember, please. We want to help you get back home and the more we know, the more we can prevent Raj from trying this again.”

  “Well, I came back from hockey camp and….”

  “Hockey camp?” David interrupted, his brows furrowed.

  “Yeah, an all-girls ice hockey camp. It was a five-day camp. I left on Saturday and came back home to Princeton on Thursday. I was hoping Dad would be back from Atlantic City by then, but he wasn’t.” I could see David and his mother shooting each other quizzical, pointed looks. “What are those looks all about?”

  “Oh, nothing. Please do continue, Arizona,” Inez encouraged.

  “All right. As I said, I came home to an empty place. Christian, one of my friends, picked me up from school and drove me home, not that it’s relevant, but anyhow. I was tired. It was late. I had been up since very early so I went to bed. I didn’t even change. I’m not sure at what time, but I was woken up by the sound of glass breaking and I was then seized by Dan–one of Raj’s pals. The other one, Sophie, drugged me and I was put into the back of a van. They drove me to a cottage here in California. Nothing much really happened there. The important stuff seemed to have happened when I was locked up in a bedroom. Next thing I knew, Raj had apparently disappeared and Dan and Sophie just wanted to get rid of me. So, they dropped me off outside this house and told me someone would help me. I was standing outside thinking about the pros and cons of knocking at a completely strange door versus trying to find a cop when you came riding up on your motorcycle,” I said, looking over at David. “You know the rest. Can you help me get home? If not, I’m sure the cops will be able to help. My mom actually lives here in Mountain View. We could try to find her.”

  “What’s your mom’s name and where do you think we could find her?” Inez asked, looking at me intently.

  “Her name is Olivia Stevens. She works at Ames, I think. She is a physicist. I tried to contact her from the hospital with no luck. But, I’m sure the cops could track her down. I would much prefer it if you could help me get back to my dad, though. Mom and I don’t get along. So, can you?”

  “Yes, that’s no problem. Why do you think Raj took you?” Inez continued.

  “Haven’t a clue. At first I thought it was mistaken identity. But then I thought maybe my dad had gotten into some gambling debts and Raj was holding me until my dad paid him back. But, I really don’t know. The fact that he’s Simla’s dad is really strange. I suppose they may gamble together, I don’t know. Can I ask something now? How come you think you know me, David? And how do you know Raj?”

  David cleared his throat, throwing his mother a glance and reaching for her hand. This was getting too weird. “Arizona, I guess I don’t. I thought you were someone else.”

  “Someone else called Arizona? Why were you wondering about my hair? My friend, Christian, said something about it earlier as well. What’s going on?”

  “I’ve no idea,” David shrugged. “Raj stabbed my dad, right here in this house. He is very dangerous. Can you try calling your dad again? Mom and I are going to go to the kitchen and get on the computer to figure out how to get you home, okay? Here’s my cell.”

  I watched them walk back out and then dialed Dad and waited for his answering service.

  “Hello?”

  “Dad, it’s me! Arizona!”

  I was so relieved when Dad finally picked up his phone. Turns out that he’d gotten invited to a private poker game–who can resist that?–and lost all sense of time. He sounded upbeat and pleased with himself, having done pretty well. I decided not to worry him about my current predicament, other than to ask him to transfer some money to my card, since he now had some. He was going to head home tomorrow, so I guess I would wait and update him when I got back home. I wasn’t in danger anymore. And even if I was, there wasn’t a thing he could do about it anyway. So why worry him? At least now I’d have the money for airfare. I was going to be fine.

  David and his mom looked sorta at odds with each other when they walked back into the room. Probably sick of having me to deal with when they needed to be with David’s dad. “Hey, I got hold of Dad! He transferred money over to my account, so I’m okay. I’m going to call a cab to take me to the airport and I’ll be out of your hair.”

  Inez nodded at me. “Arizona, I’m relieved that you got hold of your dad. Is he okay?”

  “Yeah, he’s been busy, but he’ll be back home tomorrow.”

  “Did you tell him about Raj?” David asked.

  “No, there’s no point in that until I get home.”

  “But what if Raj comes back for you?”

  “Eh? I doubt it. He’s the one who disappeared. Probably after he realized that he got the wrong person in the first place. How do you know him anyway?”

  Inez held a bit of paper up. “We’ve checked the flight times. The soonest I can get you on a flight is tomorrow afternoon. You are very welcome to hang out here until then.”

  I nodded. “Great, thank you. Let me give you my debit card so you can book it,” I said, scrambling for it in my pocket, realizing that I didn’t have it with me. Well, Dad could book my flight. I’d just call him back. I’d have to explain to him what I was doing in California. Sheesh.

  David shook his head. “No need. We’ll book it for you, it’s just easier. I’m going to fly out to Jersey with you to make sure you get home safely. Okay?”

  I was dumbstruck. I’m not five! “No need! I can take care of myself. Really, I appreciate you’re trying to help, but I can travel by myself. I’ve done it heaps of times before.”

  Inez shook her head. “I’m sure, Arizona. However, humor me. I’ll feel much better about this if I knew David made sure you get home.”

  She looked intense, no point in arguing with her, I could clearly read that. So I nodded.

  “Good. If that’s all settled, I’ll bid you goodbye. I need to head over and check on Kevin. I’ll call you with an update, David.” She touched his hands and they both closed their eyes–weird.

  Once Inez had gone, David and I stared at each other–a bit uncomfortably. We were sort of stuck with each other. I bet his mom had insisted on this and he was annoyed. Well, tough–he shouldn’t have chased me in the first place. This was his fault.

  “I’m sorry you’re stuck with me,” I pouted at him. “You can go. I can take care of myself.”

  He walked over and sat down beside me, looking at me intently as he did so. “Arizona, I’m happy to do this. Why would you think otherwise?”

  “Well, you seem put out. There was something up between you and your mom. I assumed it was about me.”

  �
��It was. But not about me looking after you. It was about taking you back to Princeton before we know what’s going on with Raj,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, looking decidedly miserable.

  So miserable, in fact, that I patted him–patted him with a full-blown you’re-a-really-good-doggie look on! Geez, what’s wrong with me? I only ever pat Gertrude like that. For whatever reason, I had, in that moment, bizarrely felt the same toward him as I did Gertrude. “I’m sorry! About the pat… don’t know what came over me!”

  He guffawed. And took my hand. I instantly felt warm and slightly euphoric. He put his arm around me–like it was the most natural thing in the world to do–and leaned back into the couch with my head resting on his chest. Now, this was totally unnatural for me, physical contact with people makes me very uncomfortable. However–for whatever reason–this felt strangely okay. More than okay, I felt safe and warm; I didn’t want to move. So I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling. I could hear his heart, steady comforting beats. I turned my head, so that my face lay resting on his chest. When he started stroking my hair, I wanted to… shut the heck up! I mentally slapped myself, sheesh. What the heck? Where did that come from? Arizona Stevens, wake up! I tried to gather enough strength to pull myself away from David’s arms, but couldn’t. Well, maybe that’s not entirely true. I just really didn’t want to. I just hoped that he couldn’t see my goofy grin. We sat like that for ages, though not long enough, until my uncontrollable big mouth went and spoiled the magic by spewing out questions. Seriously.

  “David, how do you know Raj?” And the magic instantly stopped, as David stopped stroking my hair and sat me back in the couch so he could talk to me. Moment killer.

  “Raj stabbed my dad, that’s how I know him.”

  “Why? If that’s too personal a question, it’s okay. I’m just curious, He seems to be the one connection between us. And I was dropped off here….”

  David took my hand again and squeezed it slightly. “Arizona, it’s a long story. The short version is that he was after some blueprints and thought that Dad would be able to help him procure them. When he found out that Dad wouldn’t, he stabbed him, pretty bad. He’s a very dangerous, deranged man.”