by MJ Fletcher
I glanced to his right and sure enough the young girl in the photo had the same eyes that studied me now. Rosalita had not just known Bodie; she had lived during his time.
“You were there at the Tavern at the End of Time?”
She nodded. “We were all supposed to meet up if we couldn’t find Ian Gatekeeper. Bodie came rushing up to us saying he had just met his great-great granddaughter. He was so excited, and then we heard the fight break out. I couldn’t hold him back. Bodie was like you in that way, he ran to help knowing it had something to do with you. We reached the edge of your battle just as you grabbed your friend and the jetpack and jumped over the ledge. I saw you for the briefest of moments, but you’re image stuck with me till the day I finally saw you again.”
“But why wait for me? It’s not some stupid prophecy is it?”
“It’s nothing like that. All of our technology even our abilities are based in science. When you met Bodie you created a loop in time, one that we had to be sure was closed from both ends. We had to make certain you made it to that meeting or the results could have been disastrous.”
“A paradox.”
“Exactly, if you hadn’t shown up it would have disrupted the flow of time itself and caused unfathomable damage to the dimensions. But now you have, we need to finish the other part of what we started.”
“What’s that?”
“The Darkwatch. Bodie was afraid that it was connected to your First Kind and he was right. They are one and the same.”
“How do you know that?”
“Chloe, I haven’t been simply waiting this whole time, I’ve also been investigating and more importantly acting. I know more about what’s going on than the Council ever could.”
“Is it Gatekeeper?”
“It may be, I’m not sure. We’d thought that Bodie defeated him, but we may have been wrong. There are still threads that you can’t know about yet. I can’t risk anything going wrong.”
“What can you tell me?”
“I can tell you it’s time that you fully embraced your abilities. That day at the Tavern at the End of Time I felt you access them to survive; now it’s time to use them.” Rosalita took a Skeleton Key from the folds of her dress. The air crackled around it and the key glowed brightly as she held it out in front of her and turned it in mid-air. Energy sizzled all through the room and a shaft of light appeared as she opened a portal. She reached in grabbing a case and pulled it out.
The case was about the size of a small briefcase and old. The leather on it was charred in places and the straps were well worn. She pushed the key into the lock and clicked it, flipping the lid open.
It was red velvet inside with small vials strapped along one side. Next to them was a row of Skeleton Keys and resting snuggly next to them were doorknobs. A well-worn leather bag with the impression of an HVO star sat in its own section. While on the other side was a row of wrenches and screwdrivers that could only belong to an Impossible Engineer. And finally a smaller case that I assumed held the implements of a Mapmaker.
“This is a Polymorph case. They are rare and can only be used or accessed by our kind. The dimension you felt me open was my own. When you fully access your powers you will find your own dimension where you will keep this and safeguard it.” She pushed the case toward me and I stepped back.
“I can’t take yours.”
She smiled and cricked her neck at me. “Dear girl, this isn’t my case, I’ve been holding onto it for you. It belonged to your ancestor.”
“Bodie?”
Rosalita smiled. “Yes.”
Chapter Thirty-four
Status: I don’t know when to quit.
“He was a Polymorph?” My fingers slid over the case, the surge of energy was immediate. Each device contained inside spoke to me, calling out my name, asking me to blend with it and make use of it. It was like reuniting with an old friend you hadn’t seen in years, one you could always rely on.
Rosalita nodded. ”He was.”
“What are these?” My fingers walked over the corked bottles that were strapped into the case.
“You have a good eye. They don’t fit with any of the Societies, do they? You see Polymorphs are more in tune with the Universe and themselves. The liquid in those bottles are what we call catalysts.” She leaned over and pointed to one bottle with a red liquid swishing around inside. “For example, if you were to drink that one, plus activate your abilities; it would speed up your healing process.”
“Seriously?”
“Try it,” Rosalita urged.
I unsnapped the button and lifted the vial out of the case. The bottle was old and had a hand lettered label. The script was wide and long and I couldn’t make out the name. I glanced to Gavin and he nodded his approval, though the untrusting side of me couldn’t help but wonder if I was setting myself up somehow. But Gavin was a good friend and I had already made the mistake of not trusting him once.
I uncorked the lid and took a swig of the red liquid. It burned going down and I leaned over coughing and trying to catch my breath, though I did remember to activate my abilities.
Pins and needles exploded up my arm and across my back and stomach as energy swirled around me. A thousand tiny stabbing wounds rained down on me and I clutched the bottle trying to gut my way through the pain. Then the pain subsided and a warm glow came to rest all through me. My arm no longer hurt and my back and stomach didn’t ache in the least.
I placed the vial away and reached over unlatching the Impossible Engineer bracer on my left arm. It popped off with a squeal and I twisted my arm testing its range of motion. It felt wonderful.
“It worked,” I said startled, though pleased.
“Of course it did,” Rosalita took the bracer from me and placed it in one of her file cabinets. “Polymorph’s tend to heal more quickly anyway. But the potion really speeds up the process. It should remain in your system for at least a day. So if you find yourself in a fight you’ll be able to take a bit more damage than most. But you have to be careful not to get too cocky. It doesn’t make you invincible by any means.”
“How do I get to Edgar?” I asked rotating my arm through a series of motions, making sure everything was in working order.
“What’s you plan?” she asked.
“Haven’t gotten that far yet.” All I knew was that I needed to get Edgar to safety and away from the First Kind and for that matter the Mapmakers Union too. Then I needed to work on figuring out how to rescue Nightshade and make Faith pay for what she did to me.
“Gavin wasn’t kidding when he said you fly by the seat of your pants. I don’t know the coordinates to get to the Mapmakers dimension or what to do once you get there. I can help with the healing,” —Rosalita shrugged— “but when he comes to the other parts, sorry, I have no idea how to help you.”
“I figured you might have some other crazy doohickey here that could help.”
“You mean like the mirror?”
I hadn’t thought about the mirror and what had happened between it and Ichibod’s version until now. So naturally I had to ask, “Is that why you gave it to me?” I reached into my bag and pulled it out. Gavin’s eyes went wide and he stood staring from Rosalita to me. He cricked his neck and she waved her hand telling him to sit back down.
“I gave it to you because you needed it. Tell me what happened?” She leaned forward her eyes gleaming.
“You mean you don’t know?”
She laughed. “I know a great many things, Chloe Masters, but not everything. Have you tried using the mirror since?”
“No.” I twisted the gears around the handle activating the looking glass. It shimmered and rippled like a pond when a stone is dropped in it. The image in the mirror distorted and took on a new shape. I could only see shadows and hear faint noises, as if I was watching a TV show with bad reception.
“What is this?” I was about to turn to Rosalita when the image in the mirror shifted and I saw a beam of light flash across it and then
the image was moving. Someone picked the mirror up and he came into focus.
“Chloe?”
“Bodie?” He was sitting in a room that look oddly familiar, his tie undone and hanging around his neck. He looked as if he had just woken up and ran his hand through his hair to make himself more presentable.
“How is this possible and where are you?”
I looked to Rosalita and she pointed at herself and shook her head, letting me know that I couldn’t tell him about her. “I’m at a fixer in the Diesel Factories.”
“A fixer, are you okay? I saw you leap off the ledge at the Tavern but didn’t have a clue as to what happened to you afterwards?” He leaned forward in the chair and I was surprised by how happy I was to see him.
“I got hurt pretty badly but I’m okay now.”
“How’s that possible? Has your recovery time been that long?
“A day or so.” I let the words hang in the air and his eyes shifted down for a moment and then the back up to me.
“You’re like me aren’t you?”
“You mean a Polymorph?”
“Be careful what you say, it’s very dangerous for anyone to know what we are.” He looked back and forth nervously.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. It is more an anomaly in our time than dangerous.”
“Thank goodness, I was afraid I had cursed the Masters name because of what I am.” He wiped his brow and his worry lines eased a bit.
“No, we’re still going strong. But how is it possible for us to talk like this?”
“It must be the mirror. Somehow the same mirror connected at two different points in time and created some type of bridge making it possible for us to communicate.”
“Bodie, we think that the man who ran the Darkwatch might be the same one in charge of the First Kind, I need to know about him.”
“Ichibod?” A woman’s voice called from the distance.
“Damn, I’ll contact you when I’m free. Whatever you do don’t let anyone know that we are able to communicate. If someone thought that they could affect time with this mirror, it would be very dangerous for both of us.” He reached his hand out and the image disappeared in a blink.
I was annoyed that I had already broken his rule about not telling anyone since Gavin and Rosalita were here. I slid the mirror into the Polymorph case and closed it, snapping the locks shut and shoving it into my bottomless bag. It wasn’t my own personal dimension, but it would do for now.
“He’s right.” Gavin said. ”That kind of power in the wrong hands could do real damage. You need to be very careful about anyone finding out that you can connect and talk with someone in the past.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“You heard her Gavin,” Rosalita said. ”She’ll be careful. Now you two better get going before some Mapmaker finds out that you’re here. I’ll contact you soon and we can work out what our next move will be.”
There it was again, someone else telling me what to do and how we were going to proceed. I liked it less and less.
We walked out of the office passed Cher and I waved to her. She smiled, though it was strained. She was worried about her brother Edgar and so was I, though I intended to do something about it. When we reached the waiting room I pulled out my doorknob and Gavin already had his Skeleton Key in his hand.
“Going somewhere?” I smiled at him.
“I wasn’t lying when I told your father that I would look into Gatekeeper for him. I’m going to check some sources, but first I want to get you back to the Reliquary.”
“I can handle it.”
“You’re going to go to the Reliquary, correct? You’re not going to do anything stupid?”
I pasted a wide smile on my face. “Of course not.”
He shook his head and sighed, as if he wasn’t quite sure if he should trust me and then he capitulated. “Fine,” He activated his key, opened a portal, stepped through, then turned back to me “Stay in contact and please don’t start any trouble.”
“Of course not,” I repeated.
He disappeared into the portal and it slammed closed.
“If you all think I am going to leave Edgar on his own in this mess you can kiss my ass,” I said to no one in particular as I activated my doorknob and stepped through the portal.
Chapter Thirty-five
Status: How do you find a Mapmaker?
I stepped out into my bedroom at Mission Way in Cape May. It was a beautiful day out and I went to the window for a moment to listen to the rolling surf only a few blocks away. How I wished things were different. That our little group whose friendships I had come to rely on was all together again. I missed them all terribly and I felt guilty. My screw ups had hurt all of us and I needed to make amends for that.
I changed quickly since I was wearing spare clothes that I’d left at the Reliquary in case of emergency. I put on my good set of beat up old sneakers and black stretch pants with a black skirt. I tossed on a white concert T and my hoodie, then glanced at Nightshade’s jacket draped on the edge of my bed. I scooped it up and tossed it on. The weather was a bit warm for it today, but who knew what the Mapmakers dimension would be like. On my dresser the picture of Nightshade and I the night of the dance poked out of the mirror frame, I snatched it and slid it into my inside coat pocket. I wanted to remember him the way he was before they stole his memory from him. Somewhere inside of him that guy in the picture still existed, and I needed to remember that.
I took my phone out and sent out a quick text while I ran downstairs and raided the fridge for some added energy. I found day old Chinese take out and ate some noodles as fast as I could.
My phone buzzed and I pulled it out and smiled. Perfect, I hurried to the front door, yanked it open, and ran out letting the door slam behind me. I hoofed it down the block as fast as my legs would carry me, my fingers flying over my phone sending out a flurry of texts. I might not have all my friends with me, but this time I was sure as hell going to let them know what I was up too.
The Cape Beanery was packed and I zigzagged through the occupied bistro tables out front, then entered the shop to see Val shifting nervously where she stood behind the counter. As soon as she saw me she begged off to a co-worker, came around the counter, and hugged me so tightly I thought she’d squeeze me to death.
“Are you okay?” Her voice cracked as she as she spoke and I patted her back reassuringly, happy to see her. “I was so worried about you. The medics refused to let me go with you to the hospital.”
“It’s okay.” I eased her back to arm’s length and waved my hand in front of me sort of like my dad does when he’s about to do an illusion in his magic act. “See all fine.”
“What the hell is going on?”
I did a quick recap leaving out more than I told her, but she got the gist anyway.
“And that’s where we’re at.” My brain finally connected with my nose that had been getting whiff after whiff of coffee and I realized that it had been quite some time since I had a one and damn if I wasn’t jonesing for one right now.
“Jess and Slade?”
“I texted them but neither has gotten back to me. Jess is stuck trying to avoid me since her mentor is hunting me and as for Slade, I don’t think he’s interested in helping me right now.”
“Well it’s up to us then,” Val said seriously.
“I want to get to Edgar, but the truth is I have no idea how to get to the Mapmakers dimension.” I shrugged and wondered if I might be able to sneak a quick coffee.
“I think I do.”
Val’s comment couldn’t have shocked me more then a punch to the face. “What?”
Val yanked off her apron and walked to the counter tossing it over the edge, grabbed two cups filling them with coffee, and then walked back to me handing me one.
“Follow me.”
I took a deep drink and walked in step with Val as we marched out of the Beanery and back down Mission Way. We passed my house and made our way to hers a few
places down. She was a woman possessed and pushed the front door open with a flourish and we walked in.
“Valerie, is that you?” Her mother walked out from the kitchen, her latest power suit cutting a smart figure. “Why aren’t you at work?” She looked on disapprovingly.
“Not now, Mom.” She attempted to walk past her mother and upstairs but her mother stepped in front of her.
“I don’t think so, dear, you get yourself back to work right now. You need to make sure you have enough money to pay for your education because your father and I aren’t going to pay for it.”
Val’s mom had always been rough on her ever since we were little. There were many times I felt sorry for her for what her parents put her through.
“You know what, Mom? I don’t care what the hell you and Dad pay for. I’ve been saving to get out of this house since I was five and if you think you can tell me what to do anymore your sadly mistaken. Now get the hell out of my way before I move you out of my way.”
I’d never in my life heard Val talk to anyone like that let alone her mother. I stood quietly behind her trying to blend in with the wall.
“You wouldn’t dare,” her mother sneered.
Val plastered her face only an inch or two in front of her mom’s. Her cheeks burned bright red and her voice grew louder with every word. “You’ve made me take Tae Kwon Do for ten years, Mom. I’d love a chance to use it.” Her mother quickly stepped out of the way and Val stormed past her up to her room. I followed behind as her mother glared at us as if we were some alien creatures.
“Val, that was amazing,” I said as we entered her room and she crossed to her bed and kneeled down beside it.
“It’s all true. My parents could care less about me and what I do. They’ve dictated rather than encouraged me my whole life. And love? Hell, I don’t even think they know the meaning. The only time I’ve ever felt cared for or safe was when I was with you guys.” Her voice cracked as she pulled something out from under the bed.
“Val.” I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder “You’re always welcome at my house.”