A noise downstairs saves him from answering. Someone shouts up the stairs, ‘Hello?’
Mrs Dunbar! She’s not supposed to be here today!
‘Travis,’ she calls, ‘are you up there?’
I put my hand firmly over Chase’s mouth. ‘Yeah.’
‘I was passing, so I thought I’d drop off a bit of salmon. Mr Dunbar caught it yesterday in Loch Crian.’
‘Sorry, can’t come down, Mrs D; just got out of the shower.’
‘That’s all right. Tell Dr Mac I’ve put it in the fridge, will you?’
‘Yeah.’
‘All right; see you Thursday. Cheery-bye.’ The front door clicks shut.
‘Come on, you,’ I say to Chase, ‘we have to move. How do we wake her up?’
‘You’ll need the antidote.’
‘Where is it?’
‘Jacket pocket.’
I rummage in his pocket, and take out a small capsule filled with liquid. It flows onto Demi’s tongue as I tip it into her mouth. She starts to cough; then her eyes open slowly.
‘What’s – what’s happening?’ she gasps. She looks at Chase, and her hand reaches out to him. ‘Chas! Have you been fighting? Travis? What’s been going on?’
‘There’s no time to explain now,’ I interrupt. ‘I have to get out of here, and I’m taking him with me. Are you all right?’
‘Yeah.’ Demi runs her hand through her hair. ‘My head aches a bit, but – och, Travis, the police! They’re out looking for you! They think you killed my dad! You didn’t, did you?’
‘No, I didn’t, Demi, but I know who did.’ I pull Chase’s head back. ‘Tell her!’
Demi turns to him, her eyes wide with fear.
His voice is barely a whisper. ‘I did it.’
Demi swallows. ‘What?’
‘You saw me do it,’ gulps Chase. ‘That’s why I had to make you – forget. I’ve blanked it out of your memory.’
I tell her how he did it.
For a moment she doesn’t speak. I think there’s a look of recognition on her face, like she already knows, but doesn’t want to believe it.
‘The nightmares,’ she mutters, almost deliriously, ‘they weren’t nightmares at all; they were real! I saw my dad die! It was – you...’ She lets out a blood-curdling scream.
Then, as weak as she is, she finds strength from somewhere, jumps off the bed, and slaps his face before spitting into it. She kicks him, over and over, in the nuts, on the legs. I could let her finish him off for me, but that would mean two of us being done for murder, so reluctantly I drag her away.
‘Why?’ Tears are streaming down her face. ‘Why did you do it? Why didn’t you kill me, too?’
‘I couldn’t. I love you.’
‘You love me?’
She delivers one more fierce kick at his nuts before flopping down on the bed, spent with anger and grief. I haul Chase to his feet.
‘I’ve got to go, Demi. Are you going to be all right?’
Slowly she raises her tear-stained face. ‘There’s no need for you to go now, Travis,’ she says hoarsely. ‘He’s confessed. We’ll tell the police everything. Either that, or I’ll fetch Dad’s shotgun, put an end to him now!’
‘No, you won’t, Dem, he’s not worth you risking your freedom for.’ Chase, battered, bruised, bloodied, is barely able to stand, but I won’t let him drop back to the floor again. ‘There’s something I have to do.’
‘Just give him up to the police, let them deal with him.’
‘I want answers to a few questions first. It’s to do with – what I already know about him.’
‘You mean about him being from the future, like you?’ She gives Chase a look of pure hatred. ‘Is it true, then, about that? It wouldn’t surprise me, not after what I know now!’
‘Drop dead!’ he snarls, spitting at her feet.
‘Stay here, Demi.’ I grab Chase by the scruff of the neck. He wriggles, tries to get away, but I soon put a stop to that by kicking his shin. ‘You need to recover, and Dr Mac will wonder where you are if you disappear.’
‘Where will you go?’ she asks. ‘Unless you get off the island, there’s nowhere you can go. They’ll catch up with you.’
‘Well, if they do, Chase can own up then.’
She follows us out of the room. ‘Take some food with you.’
‘I’ve packed food, matches, and candles, and I was about to get my duvet when I ran into him.’
‘I’ll get it for you,’ she offers.
I shove Chase down the stairs while Demi carries the duvet. She finds a bin bag for it, and puts food and the other stuff in with it.
‘Take care,’ she whispers, hugging me.
‘Are you sure you’ll be all right?’
She shrugs. ‘Go on.’
‘Move it!’ I say to Chase, closing the door on Demi’s sobs.
A man is walking along the beach with a dog scampering at his heels. The dog is jumping in and out of the sea, chasing sticks. It trots up to me, panting, wagging its tail eagerly. I stroke its black fur, until the man whistles, and it runs back to him.
Before following its master the dog drops the stick. I put it into the bag with the other rubbish I’ve collected for a fire. The sticks are slightly damp, but I’m confident I’ll get them to burn.
The tide is out. I run across the stones, up the jagged steps, and into the cavern. Chase lies on the flat stone bed, still tied up, his eyes heavy with the effects of his own truth drug I’ve forced into him. I don’t trust him to give me honest answers without it. I swallow my pod; my insides are the safest place to keep it. It’s no good talking; Chase’s mouth is swollen, he can barely open it.
‘Answers,’ I demand.
His thoughts are weak, but just about decipherable.
‘You know how interrogation works, Travis. You have to ask me a question first!’
‘Why have you followed me?’
‘To kill you.’
‘Why do you want me dead?’
‘So you don’t kill me.’
A pause. ‘I didn’t know I was meant to kill you.’
‘You want to. You’re going to try, anyway.’
‘That’s not a bad idea. How did you get here?’
‘Through the hole.’
‘What hole?’
‘I came to this world through a time portal, in this cave.’
‘A portal?’ I stare around the cave walls. ‘Here?’
Time portals are fairly common phenomena in my time. They usually appear during violent electrical storms, encased in bright, golden lights, forming holes in the air, often drawing people through them into other time dimensions. I’ve never actually seen one myself, and I wouldn’t expect to see one in this world as the atmosphere isn’t hot enough to create such storms, but a portal inside a cave sounds a bit strange.
Then I think about the lights which always appear during my seizures, and I’m wondering now if they could be portals. That may be why I’m so drawn to the cave, and why I hear voices from my future. There may be a portal here all the time, trying to draw me back to my own world, but if so, where is it coming from?
‘It’s the electricity which triggers them,’ says Chase. ‘A portal isn’t very far away when you’re around.’
Of course! The electricity generated in my brain when I have a seizure! And there’s the electro-convulsive therapy, the ECT projecting me here...quickly I scramble that thought, so Chase can’t hear. I don’t want to drop Alexander in it.
‘They’ve got something to do with your seizures, I believe,’ he adds. ‘Sorry, I don’t really know how a portal works; I’m not a physicist. I only know how to control one once I’m in it. They can appear anywhere, you know, indoors as well as outdoors. That’s why they appear in the cave. One appeared in your room at the institution, just as you were having a fit, so I went through it, and told it where I wanted to go. That’s why I’m here now.’
‘You make out you use them like some sort of public transport!�
� I sneer.
‘I do. That’s exactly what they’re for, if you know how to use them properly.’
I stop laughing. I remind myself he’s pumped up with the truth drug, so he can’t be lying. ‘Suppose I believe that; how did you know I was here?’
For one awful moment I think he’s going to say I got it out of Alexander, until he replies, ‘I read your mind with a cortexoscope.’
He goes on to explain how a cortexoscope works, but I already know. A cortexoscope is attached to the brain’s cortex, and can track a person’s thoughts and feelings. Every police guard has a cortexoscope program built into its software, so that it doesn’t have to bother extracting a confession from a live prisoner. The thought of Chase attaching one of those things to my brain makes me want to throw up. Even so it’s good to know my brain is still functioning in twenty ninety-nine, and there are still thoughts floating about in my head, even if my body is lifeless.
‘All right; tell me how come you’re so much younger.’
‘I injected myself with Deprovine. It took immediate effect as I stepped through the portal.’
The age reduction drug, given to the old ones at the institution to keep them alive longer so they can keep on working, also used illegally by rich women to try to stay young.
‘You went a bit mad with it, didn’t you?’
‘I didn’t want you to recognise me, but of course you did; and when I met Demi...’
‘Mr Fraser’s murder,’ I interrupt, ‘what did you do to make the police think I might’ve killed him?’
‘During our fight at the café I tore off a piece of your shirt. I took it with me back to the farm, and, er, persuaded the policeman there that he found it, and that it belonged to you.’
I think back to the fight. I’m almost impressed by his ingenuity. ‘You sly, cunning little git!’
He doesn’t answer. His thoughts are very weak now, and almost immediately he’s unconscious.
‘To hell with you!’ I kick his foot. ‘Why don’t I just kill you now?’
10. Portal
Only I’m not ready to kill him just yet. I want to know a bit more about the portals.
I throw the last stick onto the pile, and light the match. I’m not entirely sure I believe what he’s just told me, truth drug or not. My seizures producing enough electricity to induce portals! It’s too fantastic! Still, I can’t help daydreaming, as I watch the sticks catch light, that a portal would come in handy right now, so I can escape the police.
No matter how I get away the hardest part will be leaving Demi, especially since I’ve just found her again. I’m still pondering on this when I spill the bag of food onto the ground.
‘Chase,’ I prod him with my foot, ‘wake up.’
No answer. He’s fast asleep, so I shake him, and drag him into a sitting position.
‘Chase, I’ve got food.’
I hold a biscuit to his lips; still no response. I turn away with a shrug. ‘Suit yourself; all the more for me.’
Suddenly I feel the full weight of his body on mine, and his arms tighten around my neck. I notice the broken cord at my feet. The crafty swine’s been faking it, loosening the cord around his wrists somehow, and probably scraping it on a jagged rock. I swing around, trying to shake him off. My leg is burning; I’ve fallen onto the fire. I can’t cry out, because his hands are squeezing my throat. Now he’s sitting on top of me, his cold grey eyes burning into mine. My lids start to droop; I’m fading away.
The colours are strong: orange, red, purple, yellow – and then black. Dr Alexander and Hudson appear in my mind’s eye, smiling at me. I also see a woman in her forties or thereabouts, standing on tiptoe. She kisses me on the cheek. She calls me by my name. She looks vaguely familiar, but I don’t know who she is.
I hear Demi’s voice. I try to speak, but the words don’t come.
The colours have gone, the cave is back. Chase has fallen from the cavern ledge onto the stones below. I hear the sea swishing around; the tide is coming in. My leg hurts like hell. Demi is standing over me, shaking with fright, one of Dr Mac’s golf clubs in her hand.
I stare down at Chase. He’s unconscious again, with blood trickling down his face.
‘He’s still breathing,’ whispers Demi. ‘I didn’t hit him hard enough to kill him.’
‘You shouldn’t have followed us, Dem.’ Bloody hell; my throat hurts, too!
‘It’s a good job I did! It wasn’t hard to work out where you were. I came to warn you; the police are on their way!’ She bends down next to me. ‘Oh, God, Travis, look at your leg!’
‘I fell in the fire,’ I croak.
‘I must get you back to Dr Mac’s, then.’
‘I can’t go back there. There’s the little matter of the police.’
‘But, like I said, Chas can tell them the truth now.’
‘He’ll deny it, Demi,’ I say irritably, ‘and they might think I tried to force him to say he killed your dad.’
‘You have me as a witness. I’ll tell them what he did to me. If he has any more drugs on him you can show them to the police.’
‘That wouldn’t help. They might say I planted them, and persuaded you to speak up for me.’ I struggle to my feet. ‘Come on; the sea’s coming in fast; I don’t want him to drown!’
The pain in my leg is now so bad I’m worried I might collapse, but Demi helps me to climb down to the lower chamber of the cave, where Chase is lying, apparently lifeless, the sea lapping around his face. I manage to stagger along the rocks. Chase’s pulse is strong; his heart is still beating, but his face is white.
Demi is scared, but not of the sea.
‘Travis, he doesn’t look well!’ she says worriedly.
‘He’s still alive,’ I assure her, ‘but we have to revive him. I want him to tell me more about the portals.’
‘Portals?’ Demi is clutching her head. ‘Travis, we’ve no time for any more of your crazy science fiction stories, the police are looking for you!’
‘Help me to sit him up!’ I slap Chase’s face hard. ‘Wake up, you git!’
This time I’m ready for any fast ones he might try to pull.
His eyes flicker. He looks straight at me, then at Demi. The sea is whirling in fast, around his body, around my backside, around Demi’s ankles. The salt is stinging my leg.
‘Demi,’ Chase whispers pleadingly. She looks away in disgust.
‘Never mind her, stupid! Sit up!’ I command.
‘My head!’ he groans.
‘Don’t worry; it’s still attached to your neck!’
‘Travis,’ says Demi in a hushed voice, ‘the sea! It’s – it’s getting deeper...’
‘Go back up to the cavern, then!’
She sloshes through the rising tide back towards the rocks leading up to the cavern. I hear a squeal, then a splash, and turn around quickly; she’s fallen in the water.
‘I slipped!’ she whines. ‘I told you I would!’ She drags herself out, grumbling about her wet clothes. ‘Don’t bother to help me, will you?’
‘Don’t be such a wuss!’ I snap. I’m sitting on Chase to keep him still. ‘Sort yourself out, I’m not leaving him.’
She ambles back to the rocks. For a moment I stare out to sea, but I’m aware of what’s going on. My vision is blurred, and my head is hot; I’m having an absence seizure. There’s the familiar light, right on cue. I can’t seem to move my eyes from it, even though it’s burning into my brain.
In the distance Demi’s voice is calling to me. ‘Travis!’
I turn to look at her. She’s gripping the wall of the cave; but there’s something else; I’m looking right through her! She’s transparent! The light is encircling her body, shuddering around her like ripples from a whirlpool. I splash towards her. She’s mouthing for help, but disappearing fast.
‘Demi! No!’
‘Anyone who comes into contact with a portal can be taken by it,’ gabbles Chase. ‘We could tell it where we want to go, but she won’t know what�
�s happening to her. She could end up anywhere. ’
‘Demi! Don’t worry; I’ll bring you back!’
I dive towards her, but I’m too late; she’s vanished! And so has the portal!
I’m banging my fists against the cave wall like a lunatic, blood streaming from my hands as they cut into the rock. Try as I might I can’t find any sort of gap leading back to Demi.
‘She’s gone,’ says Chase.
He says it like she’s just popped out for a walk along the beach. The blood from my hands is dripping into the sea, but I don’t feel the pain as I wade back to him, and grip his arm.
‘You’ll never find her,’ he yelps. ‘You don’t know where she is.’
‘I have to try!’
‘You’re pissing in the wind! You can’t just guess where she is! The only way she can come back is to tell the portal where she wants to go herself, and she won’t know she can do that.’
The cave starts to spin; this feels like a big one. A seizure now could give Chase the upper hand, or cause me to drown. Then I see the light, covering the mouth of the cave. I stumble towards it, not having much idea in my mind whether I’m going to take myself back to twenty ninety-nine, or guess a time where Demi might be, and try to find her.
The blow on the back of my head is skull-shattering, and I collapse into the water. I suffer the full weight of Chase’s body on my shoulders as he holds me under. No! I can’t die now, not like this, not at Chase’s hands!
My feet are dragging against loose stones. Do something...
I’m clawing at the water until my hand grasps something long and thin. Guessing that it’s Demi’s weapon, the golf club, I grip it tightly, and with all the strength I can muster I ram it hard between Chase’s legs. His roars are confused with the bubbling of the water in my ears, and soon I’m fighting for air, looking down at him as he clutches his nuts, howling in agony.
‘Now,’ I pant with rage, ‘it’s your turn to die!’
I let the golf club fall from my hands, watching as our blood mingles to form a dark, deep red pool on the surface of the water. I’ve never killed anyone before, but I’ve seen enough blood, beatings and death not to be afraid of the consequences. Well, it’s done; he’s dead.
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