Rewrite Redemption

by Walker, J. H.

  It’s not your fault, A.J.

  Those guys down there are dangerous. You wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me.

  He morphed in for a second and gave me a soft smile. He shook his head. There’s so much I still have to tell you, he said. Then he ran his hand through his hair and looked away for a moment, as if he was thinking of what to say. It can wait, he said finally. We need to figure out how to get back. He faded out. I’m going to stay shaded for a while.

  Will this tree get us home? I asked, trying to concentrate on getting home. The change in focus had been pretty abrupt, and I was still reeling from all the feelings.

  I don’t think so. It’s too old. Cottonwoods don’t live that long. I doubt it will be alive in our time. Where did you land?

  I just needed to keep talking. Mindspeaking made it easier. An aspen grove not too far from here.

  Excellent. That means we don’t need to find the exact tree. Do you know the way?

  I concentrated and then pointed. I followed a stream about half a mile where it merged into the creek. I followed the creek here another mile…maybe a little more.

  That should be doable, he said.

  How do we know if a tree will still be alive in our time?

  With an aspen grove, it doesn’t matter. Aspens are special. They appear as separate trees, but they’re really a collective organism, a colony. They’re all intertwined beneath the ground. Each visible tree might live forty or fifty years—a hundred and fifty at best. But the colony…the roots underground can survive for a couple thousand.

  That’s cool.

  Yeah, aspens are way powerful. They’ll be our ticket home. It looks like he’s asleep again. I think we’re safe for a while longer. I’m going to take a look around. He morphed in and climbed higher. I can see the meadow. That’s where we’ll be most vulnerable. We can shade under the trees, but it won’t hold past the tree line.

  If we can use any tree in the grove, it’s probably less than a mile across it to the aspen grove itself, I said, combing my hair with my fingers. I couldn’t believe I was wearing my stupid SpongeBob pajamas.

  It looks wider than that, he said, returning to sit beside me.

  I smiled at him, trying hard to seem like I had been before when I’d thought this was a dream. What do you have, night goggle vision? I can’t see anything past the campsite.

  Actually, I sorta do, at least here in the tree. We call it TV for twilight vision. It’s closer to half vision, like twilight is halfway to dark. It’s a little ghostly, but incredibly useful. It’s one of the easiest things to learn. I’ll show you. Then, not only will you be able to see better in the dark, you’ll be able to see me when I’m shaded. That way I can keep shaded till we leave.

  He disappeared, but I could still feel him there in front of me. His invisible arm moved like a faint whisper in the corner of my awareness. I felt him touch my cheek softly and brush a lock of hair behind my ear.

  I shivered.

  I have to tap a sequence of acupressure points at your temples and the back of your head, he said. It won’t hurt, but it might feel a little strange when I wake up the circuits. You game?

  Go for it.

  All right, this is going to sound a little weird, but you need to hum.

  Perfect. I not only had to look like an idiot, I had to sound like one too. Hum?

  Yeah, humming activates the part of your brain that I need to work with. It releases chemicals…it’s complicated. Just hum something. You don’t have to do it loud.

  Okay, I said. It kinda made sense. I had no idea why, but I’d always hummed when I healed Lex and Ipod. I began to softly hum the theme song from one of our favorite TV shows.

  I heard him rub his hands together. Then he began to tap on my temples with two fingers. He moved his hands to the back of my neck and tapped gently on several places on my head in a sequence. He repeated this three times. Then he returned to the spots on my temples once more, rubbing them gently.

  Tingling energy swirled through my brain, making me a little dizzy. I just kept humming, feeling like a dork, waiting for him to tell me what to do next.

  Feel anything?

  I nodded. I didn’t say anything because I was still humming like an idiot.

  Okay, you can quit humming now, although, I was enjoying it.

  Yeah, right, I said, feeling my face flush.

  Seriously, he said. At least you hum in tune. He was still shaded, so I couldn’t tell by his face if he was silently laughing at me or not.

  I really hoped he wasn’t. Can we just move on to the next step?

  No problem, he said. Are you familiar with those optical illusions, where you kind of defocus your regular vision and the picture changes?

  Yes. Ipod had a book of them.

  Let your eyes relax, as if you were looking at one of those. Imagine you have eyes in the back of your head…way inside. Try and see me with those eyes. Anything?

  I kinda see a ghostly outline, but—

  Bring me into focus.

  I’m not—

  Trust me. You can do it. Relax your eyes.

  I jerked, spooked by his sudden appearance in front of me. He dropped his hands and laughed, quietly. It was wild. Not only could I see Constantine, I could see his energy. And it wasn’t just him. Every living thing radiated light.

  The sky stayed fairly dark, but I could see the terrain around us. The shadows shimmered and the trees blazed as though they were lit up from inside with electricity. They were striking against the darkness of the sky. The grasses and bushes glowed. It was as if we’d been dropped into some surreal, digital landscape. I stood up on the limb to get a better look at this amazing new world.

  Suddenly, my stupid outfit just didn’t matter anymore. And somehow, I got the idea that it didn’t matter to him either. It all was just too extraordinary to waste time being self-conscious. This totally rocks, I said, grinning at him.

  I can’t believe how quickly you catch on to stuff, he said. Watch this. He shook his hands. Sparks shot off his fingertips. He swung his arm up and waves of light whipped out into the night. He looked like a gaming character created with off-the-chain special effects, painting glowing colors in the sky. Trippy, huh?

  “Trippy doesn’t begin to describe it!” I whispered. It was the most incredible thing I’d ever seen. When the wind blew the grass, it flicked light beams out into the darkness. Far away, I could see little darting lights in the stream. They had to be fish.

  He leaned against the tree trunk and grinned. It’s a little like infrared, he said, only instead of heat; we’re picking up life force. And it’s not just red; it’s the whole spectrum. He ran his hand through his hair and sparks shot out.

  I waved my own hands and watched waves of color whip out into dark sky. I shook my hair. Does it make sparks? I asked.

  Serious sparks. It’s been so long since I’ve hung out with another Editor. It rocks sharing this with someone, even though we’re literally up a tree. He laughed again, catching himself before he got too loud.

  It was indescribably cool. It was better than a dream. Will I be able to do this on my own now?

  I have a feeling that you can do all kinds of things, he said. You picked up mindspeaking immediately. The TV is fun and all, but it can be really useful as well…as in now you can see me, but they can’t. He pointed to the men below. Then he smiled and ran his hand through his hair again, shooting off sparks.

  I imagined running my own hands through that hair and just stood there getting baked on the fantasy. It was as if we’d hopped into a wild online game and become our own avatars. We played with it for a while longer, and then he sat back down on the limb.

  This has been fun, he said. But we better quit screwing around. I need to teach you to shade, and then we need make a plan to get out of here.

  I nodded and sat down beside him. He ran me through another complicated procedure to open up the circuits in my brain. Shading required more concentration than the
twilight vision did, but after a few tries, I got it down. Then he taught me how to balance my energy. Apparently, I’d been out of phase my whole life, and that’s why leaving my tree was so overwhelming. I was psyched—no more static and creepy-crawlies at school. I could be a normal person.

  So we’re just going to shade and sneak away? I asked, shoving my mop of hair over my shoulder.

  It’s not that simple. Shading has its limits. It works here in the tree, and it will work on the ground as far as the tree roots go. But any further than that, it won’t hold.

  Does it work with any tree?

  He nodded. Anything old enough to have a substantial root system, but the older the better.

  What if we go from tree to tree?

  It doesn’t work that fast. I landed in this tree, which gave me a connection to it. You have to form a bond with the tree first. It’s not going to happen instantly. At the very least, it takes a minute or two, which would leave us visible some of the time.

  Oh.

  He narrowed his eyebrows in thought. That’s the problem with our abilities. We need the tree connection for them to work for the most part. The faster we get to the aspen grove, the better. Because it’s connected underground, it will work like one big tree. We can shade quickly, because you’ve been there before. The root matrix has a kind of memory.

  Maybe we should leave now while they’re asleep. The Indian, he’s cool, but the cowboys are bad news. I looked down at the men.

  He shook his head. The meadow grass is really tall. I’m concerned about animals, mainly mountain lions. We’re too close to a water source. They hunt at night and I saw shapes moving in the meadow.

  Something big?

  Well, bigger than rabbits. Could just be deer, but I don’t want to chance it. It’s pretty dark out there. Hopefully, dawn’s not too far off. I say we go just before the sun hits the horizon. We can shade from the men, but the animals can track us by scent.

  I felt a moment of fear at that thought. This wasn’t going to be easy. Then I remembered how high we were. I pointed down. Regardless of the cowboys, we have to get down from this tree. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are no low branches.

  I can get us down from the tree…easy deal. Watch this. He climbed to a nearby branch. Prepare to have your mind blown.

  Looking down at me, he stood on the limb and leaned against the trunk. Once he was stabilized, he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. He just stood there for about a minute, humming softly to himself. Then he shook his hands, opened his eyes, and grinned. You’re going to love this, he said. He held his hands out, fingers spread, as if he was going to play the piano.

  Energy radiated down from his hands, casting a gentle glow on the ground below. At first it was just a flow of slow and silvery filaments, falling softly to the ground. I watched in wonder. Then he flexed his fingers several times and waved his hands up and down. The energy began to build. With each wave of his hands, it got brighter and brighter, faster and faster, until he was shooting white-hot needles of lightening.

  I was so mesmerized by the light show, that at first I didn’t notice. Suddenly, I realized…his feet were no longer touching the tree! Slowly, he began to rise. Then he just hovered there, in midair, like Criss Angel: Mindfreak. Only, we weren’t in a studio, and there was no way that it was a trick. He was really floating on air. I couldn’t believe it.

  After about a minute, he opened his eyes and gave me a sly grin. Pretty cool, huh?

  I…how…I don’t know what to say. Are you sure I’m not dreaming?

  He laughed and slowly floated back down on the tree limb. The energy faded. It’s funny how this one seems to really mess with people’s minds. Traveling back in time…people can accept that. But air walking…that seems to push them over the edge. All the new Editor recruits are blown away by it. I know I was, the first time I saw it.

  How the heck did you do that?

  We can do some sick things with gravity, he said. You know how gravity attracts like a magnet. Well, we can push against it. That’s how you kicked the guy across the campsite and got up the tree. You used repulsive gravity without any training even. I’m impressed.

  So, I’ll be able to do these things?

  He nodded. Apparently, you’re a natural. You just need someone to show you how. You’re going to love it. I know I do. You have to watch yourself, of course. You can’t go letting anyone see you. But then you know about keeping hidden, I guess.

  I do. If I knew anything, it was that.

  Some skills take longer to learn than others. Repulsive gravity is one of those. You have to be sixteen before the Regents will even let you begin. I’m still at a pretty low level, but I can float us down from the tree. Experienced Editors can walk on air and dart around and stuff. We can’t fly, but we can push against things, like how you jumped up this tree. It’s really fun. I’ll show you more when we get home. Right now, we need to figure out how we’re going to sneak out of here.

  What’s the plan?

  When they’re not looking, we drop to the ground, he said. We’ll be visible in the air, but just for a moment. I’ll carry you on my back. Once we’re on the ground, we shade again. Then we move to those rocks under the shade of this tree. See that cottonwood hanging over the rocks?

  I nodded.

  The roots probably spread out a good thirty feet. We hide behind the rocks and wait until we can shade from it. That should cover us to the next set of rocks. Then we run like hell across the meadow to the aspens, hopefully, without being seen. As soon as we reach the grove, we’re safe.

  I nodded, but inside my stomach clenched. Run like hell. Yeah, right. I couldn’t even run like heck. In the light of full disclosure, I filled him in on my lack of running skills and reminded him of my current footwear.

  He just smiled. Then he showed me how to pull really deep into the tree’s core and then lock in the power, so I could store it like a battery. He thought I’d be able to boost my running capabilities long enough to get across the meadow.

  Think I could store enough to get me through P.E.? I asked, hopefully.

  Depends on the location. It’s easier to hold on to power when you’re actually touching the ground, especially if you’ve just tapped a tree. Inside buildings, things are harder.

  I’ll take anything I can get.

  He laughed, but then he looked down and cut the laughter off. Joe was still snoring, but Edgar had gotten up to stoke the fire.

  The only flaw in the plan is getting down from the tree without them seeing us, Constantine said. We’ll be visible in the air. This might be harder than I thought. Once they see us, we’re in trouble. We’re sitting ducks in the meadow. The guy that’s up doesn’t look too friendly. He must be the one you pepper-sprayed.

  He deserved it, the rat. He’s bad news. The other one is even worse. But you’re still shaded to them, right?

  Yeah, only you can see me now. He waved his arms wildly in the air.

  Edgar, who was looking right at us, obviously didn’t see him. He just poked at the fire and scowled at me. He tossed a couple of logs on the fire and then he crawled back into his bedroll. Con was right. We had a problem.

  What if we create a diversion? I asked.

  Works in the movies, he said. What do you have in mind?

  Technology. The reason I got caught in the first place was that Lex’s phone alarm buzzed. I must have set it by accident, fumbling around. Her phone was in the mix of things I picked up, on my way out of the bunkroom. I grabbed everything in reach. That’s why I’m dressed so…okay, the elephant in the room. Admittedly, I dress strange, but usually I wear my own clothes. It’s because I try to keep a low profile, you know, because of my secret.

  Hey, I understand about being hidden, and I know what it’s like to have a secret. Even so, I can’t imagine how hard it’s been all these years, having no explanations for all the stuff that’s happened to you. Lex told me all about it. The fact that you’ve held i
t together the way you have is impressive

  You must have done something big to get her to spill. She does not trust easily.

  I told her I could bring you back. She’s crazy worried.

  I bet. They always stress when I’m gone. I hoped they were okay. I grabbed my key and rubbed it for luck.

  You guys are really tight, aren’t you? He asked.

  She has my back and there’s nobody I trust more. We’re family, her, Ipod and me.

  Yeah, so she said. He looked serious all of the sudden, with his eyebrows kind of drawn together. He looked away and ran a hand through his hair. I felt a waver in his energy. It pulled away a little.

  She’s okay, right? I asked, suddenly concerned. I mean, other than being stressed about me being gone?

  Yeah. At least, I assume she is. She was when I left. Well, she was before I got pulled into the vortex. I don’t exactly know how she reacted to my disappearing.

  She knows my secret, so the disappearing itself wouldn’t be over the top. But she’ll be freaking not knowing what’s going on.

  I’ll time our return so that it’s close to the time I left. She won’t have to wait long. He sat down on his limb and leaned against the tree trunk. Anyway, the diversion?

  I have Lex’s phone—rigged for sound. We can use that. This has to be pre-electronic. They’ll freak.

  Excellent. We should get it as far from us as possible. Too bad we don’t have a rope.

  I thought for a moment. We can make one…at least one strong enough to hold the phone. I pulled out the folded piece of sheet from my hammock and started tearing it into strips.

  He came back down to my branch and sat across from me. Can I help?

  Sure, I said. Our being together was going really well. I couldn’t believe it. And I was just flowing with it…like a normal girl. Wait till I told Lex. I smiled at him and handed him some strips.

  He started tying the strips together. Excellent, he said again. We need a way to hold the phone so it won’t slip off.

  Oh, I know what we can use, I said, picturing the inside front pocket of Ipod’s jeans. I could cut the white lining out. It would work like a little pouch. I stood up on the branch and held a higher one for support. Without thinking, I undid the cloth belt that was holding the heavy jeans on my skinny hips. The pants dropped to my ankles, and I stepped out of them.