by P. T. Hylton
Alice thought for a moment. “The man in the shed?”
Wilm smiled thinly and nodded. She reached out and put a hand on Alice’s shoulder. Alice had to force herself not to pull away.
“It wasn’t easy to suck you out of time,” Wilm said. “It took most of the power I had left. But it was worth it. You’re a very special girl.”
Something about this woman—the air of authority she carried—made Alice flush with pride when she said that. Alice was terrified and angry with Wilm for bringing her here. But, for some reason, winning her approval seemed very important, too.
Alice waited, not sure what to say. As much as the strange conversation upset her, it did keep her mind off those scary, featherless birds.
Wilm followed her eyes to the group of birds standing down the street. “Oh, don’t worry about them. They’re pretty harmless this far outside of time. It’s the other ones you have to worry about.” She cocked her thumb up at the shadow creatures over her head.
Somehow, this didn’t make Alice feel better.
Wilm continued, “No need to worry about them, either, though. I can handle those rascals. The thing is, my friends and I keep an eye out for special people. They’re surprisingly rare. Every time we think we’ve found someone, they end up letting us down.” She looked at Alice, and Alice felt like the stare was boring into her brain. “You wouldn’t let me down, would you, dear?”
“No.” The word passed through Alice’s lips unbidden. But it was true, she realized. She didn’t want to let this woman down.
“Good,” Wilm smiled. “Then we’ll get along just fine. Come with me.” She turned and walked down the street.
Alice hesitated. Now that the woman wasn’t looking at her, that strange urge to please her lessened. Alice considered making a run for it. But where would she go? If time didn’t exist here like Wilm said, did that mean people didn’t exist here, either? There were some cars parked along the road—a few parked right in the middle of the road, which was weird—but she didn’t see any people.
What she did see were the featherless bird creatures. Wilm had told her not to be afraid of them, but saying it and doing it were two different things. And she saw the swirling shadow creatures in the sky.
As she watched them, she heard a strange, singsongy voice say, “Alice.”
It was as if many voices were all singing her name at once.
She took off running toward Wilm.
Wilm didn’t look back as Alice followed at her heels. “Don’t let them bother you. They know better than to mess with one of mine.”
Is that what Alice was? One of this woman’s students? Her friends?
As if reading Alice’s thoughts, Wilm said, “I have a feeling you and I are going to be great friends. We can help each other.”
“Help each other do what?” Alice asked.
“That’s what I’m going to show you. It’s just a few blocks ahead.”
As they walked, Alice saw the swirl of shadows overhead. It was growing.
“Alice,” the singsongy voices called, and a chill ran through Alice.
“Oh for the love of Pete,” Wilm said. “One new arrival and they lose their manners.”
“Alice. Come to us as a friend, and we will feed you.”
“Really now.” Wilm stopped and thrust her hand into the air. The creatures froze. The mass of shadows stopped swirling. “Enough, all ready! The girl’s under my protection.”
The voices were whiny when they replied, almost like they were begging. “She is fresh from the river. We can smell time on her. It’s dripping off her. Let us have a taste.”
“I won’t ask again.” Her voice was stone. “Behave. Or there will be consequences.”
The shadows dispersed into a hundred smaller shadows and scattered in every direction.
Who was this woman that even the stuff of nightmares listened to her?
“I want to go home,” Alice said. She knew she sounded like a baby, but she didn’t care.
Wilm smiled at her. “Good! That’s very good. I was counting on that. Come on, we’re almost there.”
They rounded a corner, and Wilm stopped. “Do you see it?”
Alice looked around, trying to figure out what the woman was talking about.
Wilm pointed. “Right there.”
Alice still didn’t see it. Wilm seemed to be pointing at the pawn shop across the street.
“Not over there,” Wilm said, following her gaze. “In the air. Right here.”
Then Alice saw it. A black dot the size of a dime hanging in the air just past the end of Wilm’s finger.
“What is it?” Alice asked.
Wilm smiled. “It’s what I’ve been working on these many years. It’s a hole into time. A tiny one, but a hole nonetheless.”
Alice looked at it. A hole in time? What did that even mean?
“It was nasty work,” Wilm said. “Difficult and monotonous. Most wouldn’t have the stomach for it. The good news is there’s two of us now. And I’m locked in on where we need to go and when we need to get there. When we’re done, it will open on a very specific time and place. King’s Crossing, Wisconsin. No matter how long we work on this, we’ll arrive only an hour or two after you left.”
“You want me to help you make this hole bigger?” Alice asked.
“Exactly,” Wilm said. “Adding your power to mine will make the work go faster. And while we work, I can teach you so many things. I’ll bet being able to pull on time is just the surface of your abilities.”
Alice felt a sob rising in her throat. She couldn’t help it. She said it again. “I want to go home.”
Wilm patted her on the shoulder. “I know, dear. That’s why we have to get to work. See, I brought you on a one-way trip. I’m locked out of time, and now so are you. You can’t get home unless I come with you.”
3.
They drove to the park in silence.
It was just Frank, Sophie, and Mason in the car. Helen and Matt were too busy frantically looking for their daughter. Though, to Frank, it seemed unlikely the two events—Alice disappearing and Zed calling to say there was trouble at the shed—were unrelated.
“Anybody have a plan?” Frank asked.
“I was about to ask the same thing,” Sophie said. “Let’s play it safe like last time. No big decisions in there. Hell, no small ones either. Don’t agree to anything.”
Frank nodded. Sophie was right, of course. There was a better than average chance this was all a trick. Some further manipulation by Zed.
“What about the book?” Mason asked.
“Leave it here,” Frank said. “Use your lock to hide it. No, actually use your lock to hide the whole car. The last thing we need is somebody stealing the car with the book in it.”
“Seems unlikely,” Sophie said.
“So does a girl who can tell the future.”
She shrugged as she parked the car. “Fair point. Let’s go.”
The door to the shed was closed, so they knocked when they reached it. The door opened a crack, and they saw Willis staring out at them, his deep red hair giving him away even through the tiny opening. When he saw them, he opened the door a foot or so and motioned them inside.
They squeezed into the shed.
It was much the same as they’d left it except for the smell. A sickly sweet funk hung in the air.
Rayd was still tied to the tree, but his skin was an alarming shade of pale green. A strange wheezing noise came from his chest when he breathed.
Zed was kneeling beside him.
“What happened?” Frank asked.
Zed looked back at him. He was wearing his usual smile, but it looked thin and forced. “I don’t know.”
Frank raised an eyebrow. “Pretty sure I’ve never heard you use that phrase before.”
“It gives me no pleasure, believe me.” Zed grabbed Rayd’s chin and lifted it, inspecting the man and his half-closed eyes from a myriad of angles. After a moment, he looked up at Fran
k. “Matt told you about the time loop? That I’ve been sending people back in time to get redos?”
“He told us,” Sophie said.
Frank knew it drove her crazy how Zed always addressed him and never her or Mason. He didn’t blame her.
Zed glanced at her, then back to Frank. “Yes, well, this is the forty-sixth time we’ve run this iteration where I bring Rayd through the tree. This has never happened before. Him getting like that.”
“How do you know?” Sophie asked.
“What do you mean?” Zed asked, a bit of irritation in his voice.
“How do you know it’s been forty-six times? Matt said you can’t go back yourself. You can only send others.”
“The people I send back report back to me.” He waved away her question. “I just wish I understood. I wish he’d tell me what’s happening to him.”
Rayd let out a weak cough. “Waiting…for…you to ask.”
Mason chuckled. “You never were the asking type, Zed. More of the telling type.”
Zed ignored this. “Rayd. Please tell us what’s happening to you.”
Rayd chuckled. “Isn’t it obvious?” His voice sounded stronger now. “I’m dying.”
Frank had never seen Zed look so shocked. Whatever he’d been expecting to hear, it wasn’t that. Frank wondered if this man was the same type of creature Zed was. Maybe this man’s mortality was making Zed question his own.
“Sorry, I don’t believe it,” Zed said. “The tree should weaken you, of course. That’s the reason I tied you to it. But it won’t kill you. I know that.”
“Oh, the trees can kill us. If we aren’t strong enough to protect ourselves.”
Zed rose to his feet and looked down at the man. “But you are! You’ve survived this.”
Rayd chuckled. “Right. Your redos. Interesting idea. Have they gotten you any closer to beating us?” Zed didn’t take the bait, so Rayd continued. “I can’t speak to those other times. I can’t remember them. You must have done a good job covering your tracks. And you’re right, maybe I could have survived this, but I had to use some of my power.” He smiled up at Zed.
Zed shook his head. “We have to reset. Try again. Willis, come here. I’m sending you back.”
“No!” Frank hadn’t meant to shout the word. But Alice…if Zed sent Willis back as far as he’d sent Matt last time, there was the chance Alice might not exist. “What good will sending him back do? The same thing will happen next time unless we figure out what changed and how to deal with it.”
Zed said nothing. He just glared down at Rayd.
Frank decided to keep things rolling before Zed decided to act on his threat. “What did you use your power to do?” Frank thought he knew the answer, but he asked anyway.
Rayd chuckled. “The girl wasn’t like you, Zed,” Rayd said. “She was clumsy with her powers. Not her fault. She’s young. But I was able to see through her redos. It’s rather humorous. All this work you went to, and you didn’t know you had a weapon living among you.”
Zed looked up as if slapped. Something about those words struck a nerve. “Who? Who is it?”
Rayd fell into a coughing fit before he could answer. The others waited.
Sophie nudged Frank’s arm and nodded to the other side of the room. Mason was slowly making his way along the perimeter.
“It was a little girl. Her name was Alice.”
Frank’s heart sank.
“She came to see me the other day,” Rayd said. “I have no idea why. She just came to the shed and showed me what she can do. Funny how life works, isn’t it? A little while ago, I felt the girl’s power starting to fade, and I knew Wilm was trying to pull her out of time. I used my power to help things along.”
“That didn’t turn out so great for you,” Sophie said, “with the dying and all.”
“How do we get her back?” Frank asked.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that part. She’s coming back. Wilm’s bringing her. Should be here by the end of the day.”
Zed took a step back. “No. That’s not possible. She doesn’t break through for two more weeks. She escapes her prison and opens a portal over the Mississippi two weeks from now.”
Rayd grinned, a smile that revealed his teeth were speckled with blood. “Maybe before. But now Wilm’s locked in on me. And she’s got the girl to help her break through. Before she didn’t know where to go, not precisely. The tree muted my power, but we connected when I helped push Alice through. Wilm’s locked in on me now. Alive or dead, she’ll be able to find me. She’ll want to give you as little time to prepare as possible, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s here in a few minutes.”
Zed looked at him for a long moment, and then an expression of calm washed over his face. “So what you’re really saying is, if you weren’t here, she wouldn’t be able to find us as accurately. She’d still arrive two weeks from now.”
Rayd barked out a weak laugh. “What are you gonna do? Throw me in the river? It won’t matter where in the world you are. It’s where in time that matters. All she needs to do is track me to a location in time. She can easily find you from there.”
Zed’s smile widened. “And what if you weren’t in a certain location in time? What if you were outside of time? With her?”
Rayd shook his head. “You can’t make that happen. You don’t have the book.”
Zed smiled. “Maybe you don’t know everything. Maybe I’ve found a way to open the portals without the books.”
“Impossible.” Rayd practically spat out the word.
“Wait,” Sophie said. “What happens to Alice if you do this?”
Zed glanced at her for a moment, then licked his lips. “She’ll be trapped with Wilm. Outside of time until they can break through. There are unfortunate casualties in any war.”
Frank said, “Mason.”
Suddenly, the compass disappeared from Zed’s outstretched hand.
Zed’s eyes widened, realizing what was happening. He lunged out wildly behind him, but his hands went through empty air. “Where is it?” His voice was crazed. He took a deep breath and spoke again, sounding more like Zed this time. “Mason. Don’t do anything rash. After all we’ve been through, please hear me out.”
Mason remained silent.
Zed turned to Frank. “You and your damn locks. So that’s it then? You’re going to let the world die to save one girl? No, that’s not even right, is it? The girl won’t survive this, she’ll just die with her parents by her side.”
“Not necessarily,” Rayd said. “I doubt Wilm would let a talent like that die. I expect she’ll take Alice to wherever they go next.”
“Zed, we just need to think this through,” Frank said. “We need to understand the consequences.”
“What’s there to think through? Rayd dies here, the gates of hell will open. We’ll all be killed.”
“So why not reset things?” Sophie asked. “Isn’t that what you do when things go wrong?”
Zed shook his head slowly. “You all don’t understand what’s happening here. We might have a chance to beat them! For real! If I send him back through, I might be able to close the hole. If I do that, they’ll be trapped outside time.”
“Can’t they just dig their way out again?” Frank asked. “Isn’t that what happened this time? And they’re outside time, so they’ll still get here at the same moment no matter how long they dig.”
“Yes, but they will be much weaker by the time they break through. We may have enough power to defeat them.”
“And Alice?” Frank asked.
“Alice stays with them. It’s not ideal. But she’s not dead. She’s just…”
“Away,” Frank finished. He remembered his time Away. The untold years he’d spent living off the meat of the Unfeathered, battling daily to survive against the Ones Who Sing, the strange shadow creatures who seemingly wanted nothing more than to strip the flesh from his bones. “There might be worse fates, but I can’t think of many.”
&nb
sp; Zed nodded sadly. “I’ve been there, too. It isn’t pleasant. But it’s necessary. Just hand me back my compass and I’ll do the rest.
Frank looked at Sophie. “What do you think?”
Sophie’s teeth were gritted and her eyes were fixed on Rayd. “It’s not my decision.” She turned to Frank. “If we do this, Alice will be cut off from time for who knows how long. She’ll be trapped with a person who, if we can believe Zed, is evil. The only person qualified to decide is the only person who’s experienced that. Mason, what do you say?”
There was a long pause as they all watched and waited. Mason had hidden himself from all of them so Frank couldn’t see his face, couldn’t even read the non-verbal cues as to the emotions he must be going through.
Slowly Zed held out his hand.
After a long moment, the compass dropped into it.
Zed grinned and clutched the compass.
Mason appeared, his face streaked with tears. “I’m sorry, Alice. We have to do this. We have to.”
Zed looked at Mason with something like pride. “You made the right decision, son.”
Mason turned away. “Don’t call me son. Not ever.”
If Zed cared about Mason’s words, he did an excellent job not showing it. He held the compass up to the tree.
Rayd looked up at him. “You send me through, you kill me. I’m not strong enough to survive.”
Zed shrugged. “You said you were dying anyway.” He lifted the compass and muttered, “Show me Wilm.”
From where Frank was standing, he saw the needle spin wildly for a moment, then come to rest pointing roughly southeast.
“You kill me,” Rayd said. “You might regret it.”
“I doubt it,” Zed said. He touched the tree and drew a pattern with his finger.
A light burst forth from the tree, filling the shed with hot white light. Rayd cried out in pain as he was pulled backwards into the tree. It was the reverse of the process they’d seen this morning. This version seemed even more painful. Rayd’s torso folded as he was pulled into the tree. His feet were the last part to go through, and, as they did, the hole closed with an audible snap.