by Jill Cooper
I know I can.
And Molly…. Oh God, what if Molly has some natural time-travel ability like I do? Mine had been unlocked by stress, but what if Molly’s is being unlocked by something else? What if…?
My breathing starts to change. I labor for air and my chest rises and falls. The date on the newspaper starts to change, as everything else on the page starts to pixelate in front of me. It swirls and comes alive like a 3D image, but then it vibrates. Like on an old tube-television, everything fluctuates like static.
The date is three days prior to Dad’s death, just as I had wanted, but the news article has changed. Instead of Dad’s face, I’m staring at my own where the headline reads: Local teen still missing.
I’m jumping backward into time, but into the wrong timeline.
I can’t stop it. There’s a whirlwind of emotion out of control in the center of my chest and as I try to pull it back, it swirls faster. I can’t see anything in front of me and then wham!
My body slams into a wall.
Chapter Eighteen
My face smashes against a brick wall. The pain radiates out my nose as my knees slump toward the ground. Someone grabs both my arms and twists them behind my back and with their knee, forces me back against the wall.
I groan and think of screaming at him, but I can’t find my voice as I try tugging my arms free. It’s no use, whoever he is he’s too strong.
“Knock it off, Crane,” whoever this guy is, he snarls into my ear, “You think we don’t know what you’re up to?”
Roughly, he pulls me away from the wall and slams me down into a seat at what appears to be a cafeteria table. There’s a tray with a meager lunch and a carton of white milk. I’m not alone, either. In the tiny cafeteria, other people are eating and they’re all dressed as I am, in white scrubs.
Dad and Jax are at one table. And across from me…Rick.
His head is hanging down low as he spoons one pea at a time into his mouth, but I notice his eyes glancing up at me even though his body doesn’t move.
“Eat,” the big orderly hovering above me says, “If you don’t,” he leans down and whispers in my ear, “Rex will give me ten minutes alone with you this time.”
He walks away and my insides fill with fear. I’d jumped into the wrong timeline, but I’m not sure how to get back. I’m not even sure if I can while in a facility run by Rex. I rub the back of my neck and slowly pick up my fork. My hand is shaking so badly, I can’t hold it very long. Just as I’m about to drop it, Rick squeezes my hand tightly.
I glance up at him and I can’t help the tears forming in my eyes. “Rick?”
“We’re not supposed to talk or touch,” he wiggles in his seat as he leans in closer, “But you really seem to know it this time.” His finger strokes against my hand and it’s something I thought I’d never feel again.
He doesn’t seem angry like the last few times I had seen him at the prison. Was it possible…?
“Where are we? What is this place?” I whisper.
Rick shakes his head. “You’re the time traveler, what do you think it is?” He tilts his head to the side and I see the port just sticking out from the base of his neck.
Was Rex trying to make time travelers out of everyone?
“Why you?” My nostrils flare as I glance around the room. “Why my family?”
“Rex wants to hurt you, Lara. He wants to hurt you more than anything. Even more than he wants to control time travel.”
Revenge.
As the orderly makes his rounds, Rick lets go of my hand and goes back to eating his peas, but he glances up at me. His eyes tell me I need to do the same thing. So, I pick up my fork. I’m not interested in getting hurt again. I eat my peas before I move onto my bland chicken. If I’m here, for now, maybe I can find out something useful that I can use in my own timeline when I get back.
Maybe. If I stay long enough.
After lunch, I watch as one at a time, everyone is taken out of the cafeteria. Dad and Jax both glance at me as they’re taken away. Then, when it’s Rick’s turn, he mouths to me, “Be careful” as if I’m always trying to push the envelope. As if he knows I’m always trying to find a way out.
Sounds like me.
The orderly grabs my shoulders roughly. “Your turn, Crane.” He shoves my arms behind my back and handcuffs my wrists together so tightly my skin is pinched.
I cringe. “The others didn’t get handcuffs.”
He forces me up and his laugh, full of cigarette breath, invades my personal space. “The others aren’t you, special case. C’mon.” He shoves me hard but keeps a hand on the base of my neck to guide me through the facility.
I study everything as we walk through the small cafeteria and over to the elevator. There are nurses walking the halls and another three clustered around what appears to be a nurses’ station. Two security guards stand at the elevator and using the mirrors above it, I can see two additional security guards moving to stand behind us.
I have my own detail. No one trusts me, and for good reason.
At the elevator, the security guard pushes the button for us and when the doors slide open, we move inside. “Have a nice night, Crane.”
The guards laugh and I guess I’m supposed to be humiliated, but I’m not.
I’m just angry.
****
We take the elevator up to the level of my cage.
That’s when I realize, that though this place might resemble my previous prison, it’s different. It’s bigger and better organized, with more security. There might not be a way out.
The guard pushes me down a corridor and I see a glass cage at the end of the hall. It’s lit up brightly and someone is inside. “Mr. Kincaid wanted you to see this.” The security guard stands beside me, even though my arms are still handcuffed behind my back. He licks his lips as if he’s having a great time. “Go on. I want to see your face.”
Curious—even though I don’t want to give him the satisfaction—I step closer to the glass cage. Inside, there is a woman on her knees. Chains tether her to the floor. and with her are two ‘technicians’—for lack of a better word. They shove electrical batons into her sides and against the base of her neck.
When she throws her head back to scream, I recognize her face. “Cassidy,” I whisper without even meaning to.
“Pretty sweet, huh?” The security guard raises his eyebrows and his face flushes with pride. I want to hurt the jackass. “Mr. Kincaid is going to use her to destroy you. Once she’s ready.”
So, this is the place. This is the launching ground of Cassidy’s training, so one day she’d be ready to come for me.
I didn’t deliberately come here, but maybe my mind took me where I needed to be, in order to see this. To get ready.
In order to break Cassidy’s training, maybe first, I needed to witness how they had broken her. As I stare at her tear-streaked face, I wish I didn’t have to see it. She might not remember me and what we had done together, but I remember her.
We had been friends and I had loved her. And now, my heart broke for her more than it was angry.
I had to save her. It was time to do what I did best.
Get angry and save the world.
Chapter Nineteen
There’s no running from your destiny, no matter how hard you try. I’ve learned that the hard way, and I’m still learning it. It’s a lesson that won’t stick. I had let things like a normal life and the idea of a glamorous wedding get in the way, but maybe those things aren’t me.
Maybe I need to accept that.
I’d love nothing more than that life, but right now, I have to deal with the life I have. For now, I sit on my bed with my legs crossed and gaze out past the glass of my cage. The lights soften with a warm glow suitable for sleeping. Inside my cage, there’s only one book. A journal, but most of the pages are blank.
I’m surprised when I flip through the lined pages and find a few notes in the middle of the book.
Mom’s memo
ry is wiped again.
Jax has no memory of her or you. Must be from another timeline.
Donovan is dead. My heart is broken.
Trust Rick. He only remembers you as his girlfriend. He doesn’t remember the betrayal. He doesn’t know how much you miss him.
How much I miss him. My heart pangs with grief for the Lara who wrote these notes. Why was she even trying to piece it together, trying to figure out what timeline everyone was from? Just to escape? Was escape even possible?
I flip to the back of the book and the last note stills my heart.
Where is Molly? What is Cameron doing to Molly?
“Molly?” I whisper her name aloud. She’s here?
“She’s not here.”
I glance up at the sound of Rick’s voice. He’s standing in his cell next to mine. I hurry over toward the plane of glass that separates us. “Where is she?”
Rick shakes his head. “No one knows for sure. We see her sometimes, but…Cameron’s experimenting on her. Thinks…says her brain waves are different. Way different. He won’t let you see her for long. We don’t think she’s doing well. Whatever he’s doing to her, well, it isn’t good.”
Cameron wouldn’t get away with this. He could hurt just about anyone, but Molly? She was just a kid.
“How old is she now?”
Rick startles as if the question is strange. “Ten.”
Ten. Still so young…
“I can tell from how you look at me you’re not her. I mean, you are, but you’re not my Lara. You’re one of the Laras with him. Donovan.” Rick sighs. “The rich boy.”
One of the Laras. How many different versions of me had he met?
“When did you jump in? How long have you been here?” Rick asks.
“Dinner time,” I admit sadly and I watch Rick’s face fall, “Where is here? Where are we?”
“Nowhere. That’s what Cameron calls it. He says it’s nowhere. I don’t know what he means by that.” Rick rubs the back of his neck and grimaces, as if it hurts.
“I’m going to find a way out for all of us. Find a way to send you back. So you can be…you can be with your Lara.” It hurts to say the words. Once upon a time, I wanted Rick and I to work out more than anything, but although I’m with Don, I know I have to make things right for him.
“I believe you. More than the others I’ve talked to.”
“Why?”
Rick shrugs as he walks back to his bed. “There’s a fire in your eyes I haven’t seen in a while. You mean it. The others, well, I think they gave up.”
He lies on his bed and I allow the desperation of his words to wash over me. I never gave up. Why would different versions of me give up? Was there something I had that the others didn’t?
“Lights out.” A voice far off in the distance says. With a snap, I’m left in total darkness and barely find my way back to my bed. I lie down and hope when I wake up, I’ll be back home, in my timeline. Maybe ready to jump backward to stop my dad from being murdered.
But I’m not. When I wake up, I’m still in the cage and find myself staring into a bowl of oatmeal with a side of Jell-O.
“Eat up.” Mom smiles at me before she leaves the cage and locks the glass door behind her.
I pick up my spoon and smash it against the wall of my cage. When I do that, the coils on the floor light up brightly. Well, that’s something new. I nearly smirk, but an intense jolt of pain radiates from my port and surges through my brain.
A burning, as if I’ve been lit on fire, gathers in waves behind my eyes. Groaning, I grab my temples and fall to the floor. The pain won’t stop and my legs kick in reaction as I try to wait it out, but instead it just grows worse.
Footsteps stop at the cage. “Won’t you ever learn your lesson?” Cameron asks.
No. No, I refuse. I’ll never stop fighting. Never give in. No matter what. Even if it kills me.
****
The pain finally subsides and when it does, Cameron sends his orderlies in to collect me. There’s not much fight left in me and I’m limp as they force me up. My legs wobble and if not for the men hooking their arms through mine, I’d collapse.
My sneakers drag on the ground as we make our way down a long hallway. “Have her fix Lara up. She’s of no use to me like this.”
No use to him. What use am I? What is Cameron really after? I wish I knew.
The orderlies take me through a locked door, into a small room lined with cabinets. Medical supplies. In the center are two hospital beds. One is already taken, but that person is rolled over toward the wall and I am unable to see their face.
“Strap her down.” The larger of the orderlies says as they toss me into the bed. Vomit rises in my mouth as they pin my arms to my side. My wrists and ankles are shoved into thick leather straps.
“She’ll be in to fix you up real soon. You lay there and don’t mutter a single word. If you do,” his lip curls as he gazes my body up and down, “we’ll get to know each other real well.”
I’m horrified at his words and it drowns my disdain for him. I bite my lip and hold my tongue. I count the seconds as they tick by until the door latches shut behind him. With a breath, I relax and that’s when I hear crying.
Crying. Coming from the other bed.
I glance over and see the person’s body is rocking back and forth as they sob. The frame is small, so I think it’s a woman. I wonder who she is and why she’s crying so hard.
“It’ll be okay.” I struggle to roll over, but can’t. Still, I keep my eyes on her.
A little girl’s voice responds through the darkness. “It won’t be okay.” Molly. It’s Molly’s voice. I’m surprised that Cameron would let us be together. Molly’s voice shakes as she glances over at me. It kills me to see her so scared, to see her hurt. Her face is bruised and burned on the side, probably from the electrical current they force her to endure, I don’t know for what reason.
“Molly,” my voice cracks, “Don’t give up. I’m going to get us out of here. I promise.” My words sound hollow. I’m not sure I even believe them. No matter what I do, where I go, I always seem to end up back here, one way or another.
I hate the tears that fill Molly’s eyes. “I just want to go home. Please, Lara, take me home.”
Home. One day here and already, the idea of home seems so farfetched. So distant.
“Where are we?” I whisper, “Do you know?”
“Nowhere,” Molly rolls over, ignoring me again, but her body still rocks back and forth, “We’re nowhere.” She sobs and I shush her as outside I hear the rush of footsteps. The door swings open. I direct my gaze upward again and the lights of the ceiling blind me.
Cameron smiles down at me; there’s a syringe in his hand. “Time to send you back where you came from.”
I grip the restraints on my wrists and look away from him. “Do whatever you want to me, but leave Molly alone. Leave…”
A pinch in the back of my neck interrupts my thought process. My eyes close and I hear the sweet sound of a lullaby. It must be a figment of my imagination. Hot breath blows against my ear and Cameron speaks to me. “I haven’t finished taking everyone you love away from you yet. By the time I’m done, you’ll wish you never got out of the cage in the first place.”
Chapter Twenty
With a scream, I open my eyes. I’m back, sitting in my room, still holding the newspaper clipping as I had before my trip through time had started. With bittersweet relief, I gaze at my Dad’s obituary.
I am back and part of me was afraid to try again, but I have to. I didn’t have much of a choice, did I? I needed to find a way to be ahead of this thing, one way or another and I couldn’t accept this version of the timeline as my home. It wasn’t home.
Home is where Dad is. I couldn’t accept that he was dead. Throwing a quick glance at my watch shows I still have time. With a deep breath, I close my eyes and feel a whistle of wind blow by my hair. I can smell the trash and rotten onions of the dumpster, where Dad’s body wi
ll be found.
And then, a piercing scream echoes from Mom’s hallway and it pulls me back before I manage to complete the time jump. “She’s just sleeping! You can’t just barge in here.” It’s not Mom’s voice, it's Jax’s.
Keep everyone out, my own words echo in my ears.
I leap to my feet and kick my duffle bag under the bed. My door opens wide as Cameron comes in fast with two police officers charging behind him. “There she is.” He points at me. “She’s attempting to change the past, gentlemen. I want her arrested. Immediately.”
They rush towards me and my vision doesn’t waiver from Cameron. “I thought you wanted time travel laws changed, Cameron. I thought this is what you wanted.”
He doesn’t say anything as my hands are pinned behind my back. I’m handcuffed and dragged through my childhood home. Mom and Jax put their jackets on over their pajamas and follow us out.
“I’ll go with her,” Jax says, “You stay with Molly.”
I’m led down the stairs and Jax doesn’t leave my side. I gaze up at Mom gripping the stair railing tightly, and behind her, Molly creeps out to the side. Her eyes are haunted, scared, and a fresh trail of blood leaks from her nose.
“We’re nowhere,” Molly whispers, “Nowhere.”
Nowhere. Somehow, Molly keeps the memories of the altered timelines. Somehow, Cameron isn’t just messing with me. He’s messing with her too.
****
At the police station, I’m thrown into a holding room and it feels as if I’ve been left there for hours. I pace the floor and when that gets boring, I sit in the metal chair. They’re letting me stew in my own juices, and boy am I.
I need this to be over and done with.
When the door unlocks, I tense. I’m not sure who I am expecting to see, but I relax when it’s Jax. The police officer glares at me before he closes the door, but I don’t care. I rush into Jax’s arms and he strokes my hair back.