by West, Shay
But Alex knew it could be the biggest mistake of her life. She just couldn’t bear it if Jennifer laughed and told everyone Alexis Davenport was a lunatic.
Yet, there was a part of her that wanted to tell Jennifer, hoping she believed her. Alex was tired of this secret and tired of handling this mystery alone. Maybe if I told her, she could help me figure this out.
Jennifer sighed and turned to go.
“Wait!” Alex was tense with terror when she realized she was going to tell Jennifer everything.
CHAPTER 15
“IF I TELL YOU what’s been happening to me, you have to swear you won’t breathe a word of this to another soul as long as you live. I mean it.” Alex took Jennifer by the shoulders and pushed her backward until they were in Alex’s room. She shut the door and pushed Jennifer down on the bed.
Jennifer looked sorry she had demanded the truth.
“You insisted on this, remember? Now do you want to know or not?” A part of Alex hoped Jennifer would change her mind and decide she was better off not knowing.
Jennifer took a deep breath. “I want to know what happened.”
Alex put her hands to her face, completely unsure of how to begin. She paced the room, trying to collect her thoughts.
“It started on the trip up here. I was in restroom in the Burger King in Eagle. When I looked in the mirror, the person looking back at me wasn’t me.” Alex did not look at Jennifer. She was sure she would see disbelief on her eyes.
When Jennifer didn’t say anything, Alex continued. “It happened again here in the guest house. Only this time, I had the urge to touch the mirror. The feeling was so strong, I couldn’t fight it.” Alex’s breath came faster as she remembered the fear of that moment. “I woke up on the banks of a pond in medieval Ireland.”
“Alex, that is insane! You must have just passed out or something…”
Alex grew angry. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me! Why do you think I didn’t want to tell you in the first place?”
“How do you expect me to believe a story like this?” Jennifer stood to leave.
“I’m not crazy. I went to Ireland and just now I was in Venice,” Alex frowned. “Or at least my spirit was.”
Jennifer turned from the door, her hand poised just short or grabbing the knob. She turned slowly and Alex could swear she heard the creaking of Jennifer’s neck.
“You were in Venice? Venice, Italy?” Jennifer wanted to run screaming from the presence of this obvious mad woman but she could not deny that Alex had been unresponsive and cold as ice.
“Yes, Venice, Italy. I was a…well, I was a, ummmm…” Alex found herself blushing.
“A what?”
“A courtesan.”
Jennifer broke out into nervous laughter. “A courtesan? Really? A souped-up whore?”
“If you’re going to laugh at me, you can just forget it.” Alex was angry and exhausted and not in the mood to be laughed at.
“Come on Alex! This is just too bizarre.” Jennifer did not know what to believe.
“How do you think I feel?” Alex flopped down on the bed, wishing she had kept her mouth shut.
Jennifer took a deep breath. “I’ll try to keep an open mind here. I do know something strange happened to you. Okay…” She paced the room. “Why are you traveling through the mirror?” She tried to keep a straight face when she asked that last question.
Alex let out her breath in a rush. “At first I didn’t know. But after this last trip, I think maybe I am supposed to set history back to the way it’s supposed to be. When I was in Ireland, a young man gave me the Book of Kells…” She paused at the blank look on Jennifer’s face and rolled her eyes. “Google it later. Anyway, he told me to hide it from the Viking invaders. I remembered that it wasn’t known how the book survived the raids and when the Book was found, it was missing the cover and found buried.” She spoke faster and faster, eager to finally share this strange adventure with someone.
“I ripped the cover off the Book, replaced it with the binding from a different book, then buried it next to the farm.”
“And what happened in Venice?” Jennifer asked, feeling her skin prickle with goose pimples.
“I was a courtesan who was friends with Veronica Franco. She was arrested by the Inquisition, accused of practicing witchcraft.
“Only, the timing was all wrong! She was supposed to be arrested after the plague hit Venice. She and others were arrested because it was thought they had brought the plague to the city because of their ‘profession’,” Alex said.
“When I was there, the plague hadn’t yet arrived so I knew something was wrong. I don’t know how to explain it.” Alex felt exasperated that she sounded like such a fool.
“Anyway, I went to Domenico Venier, who was one of the men responsible for getting the charges dropped, and told him about her arrest. He had a little chat with the High Inquisitor, who had been a patron of Miss Franco’s, and he let her go.”
“Sounds like you saved the day again,” Jennifer said.
Alex waved off her praise. “There was a man at the trial. He said he provided evidence that she was indeed a witch. I don’t know who he is but I knew he was bad. I just don’t know how it all fits in.”
“I wished I knew what to tell you,” Jennifer said.
“Yeah, me too.”
“So how do you know when it’s time to leave? Enter the mirror, whatever you call it.” Jennifer waved her hands about.
“I don’t know. When the mirror shifts and I see the other girl, I know something is about to happen. When the actual transport takes place, I can’t control it. It’s like something knows that it’s time and forces me to touch the mirror. It hurts.”
“What does it feel like?”
Alex shrugged. “I don’t know...like my soul is being ripped out and transported to some other person.” She was frustrated. At hearing the full story actually spoken aloud, she realized how mental she sounded.
“Do the other girls look like you?”
“No…” Alex paused. “Well, they resemble me in some ways, but we don’t look identical. Like sisters, only more than that,” Alex paced again, trying to find the words to explain. “The only thing that is me is the eyes. There is something about them, even though they are different colors and different shapes. Their eyes are mine.”
Alex threw her hands up. “I almost know what the word is that explains about this whole mess but every time I think too hard, it’s just gone.”
Alex noticed that Jennifer was sitting rigid, her eyes wide. “Alex, where is your computer?”
“On the dining room table.”
Jennifer jumped up and Alex followed her into the dining room. Jennifer sat and began banging away at the keys, an excited look in her eyes.
“Jennifer, what…” Alex began but just then, Jennifer turned the laptop computer around so that Alex could see what was on the screen.
“Could that really be what’s happening?” She stared at the word, knowing that it just barely covered the tip of the iceberg, but it was a start.
Reincarnation.
CHAPTER 16
“DO YOU REALLY THINK this could be it?” Jennifer asked.
“I don’t know. Reincarnation? Past lives? This is all so much to handle.” Alex put her head on her crossed arms.
“Imagine all this from where I’m sitting,” Jennifer said, a smirk on her face.
“It’s bad enough I have to be the new girl in school with the most popular girl as my sworn enemy. And now I am jumping through mirrors into myself in a past life?”
“It could be worse. You could jump into a guy next.”
Alex glared at Jennifer and stuck her tongue out. “Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had these dreams where I’m in the body of someone from the past, usually someone famous. I always thought they were kinda cool. Not exactly the kind of dreams you want to come true.”
“Is it possible that this didn’t happen? I mean, there isn’t really any pr
oof. Maybe you should see a doctor, Alex. What if it’s a brain tumor or a seizure or something?”
“You think I hadn’t thought of that? Seriously,” Alex snapped. “This is real. I can’t prove it, so you’ll just have to trust me.” Alex didn’t want to admit that the idea of a giant tumor lurking in her brain scared her more than traveling through time.
All other talk stopped as the door to the guesthouse flung open and Paul and Simon entered.
“Girls always take forever in the bathroom but this is ridiculous. You aren’t even in the bathroom.” Simon whined.
“We got distracted,” Jennifer said.
“By what? What’s this you’re looking at?”
Jennifer tried to close the window on the computer before Simon could see what they had looked up on Wikipedia but she was too slow.
“Reincarnation? Why are you looking that up?” Paul said as he read over Simon’s shoulder.
Simon gave Alex a hard look. “Does this have anything to do with the question you asked me about time travel?”
Alex had hoped he had forgotten about that question. “Nah. Just me looking stuff up. You know how I am.”
“Yeah. I know you are all into history. But this has nothing to do with history. This is stuff that is way out there, even for a nerd like you.”
Alex appreciated his attempt at humor but she thought this situation was anything but funny. She felt as though things were spinning out of control and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.
“Did the party move in here when I wasn’t looking?” Amy half walked, half danced into the guesthouse.
“We were just on our way out. The boys couldn’t let us pee in peace,” Jennifer rolled her eyes at Paul and Simon and grabbed Alex’s hand. “Let’s go dance some more!”
Alex was grateful to Jennifer for not saying anything to the others. The relief at finally sharing her secret was overwhelming. She only hoped that the two of them could figure out what was happening, and why.
“Listen, I don’t know what is happening to you, but I’ll try to help you figure it out,” Jennifer gave Alex a big grin. “It’ll be kind of cool playing time detective.”
CHAPTER 17
“YOU LAZY, incompetent FOOL!”
Drifter cringed from the fury in his Master’s voice.
“I gave you a simple task. Bring about the death of Veronica Franco. You swore you could handle it.” The man sat shrouded in shadow, the only thing visible was the end of the smelly cigar he smoked.
“I did as you said. But the High Inquisitor let her go.” He knew better than to raise his voice.
“Why did he let her go?” Master never raised his voice above a raspy whisper, which made him sound all the more terrifying.
“He said that my charges could not be proven.”
Master did not say anything for a few minutes. Drifter stood on the balls of his feet, a stance that he adopted naturally. It was the stance of a predator, ready to pounce.
Or prey ready to flee.
“Perhaps it will be more difficult than we thought to change the course of history. We may need to be a little more…direct.”
“I await your orders, Master.”
CHAPTER 18
ALEX WAS SO BUSY with school she barely noticed when the Christmas holidays came around. Her classes kept her occupied. She had also been busy helping Beau with his homework.
“He isn’t that busy. The other players manage to get their school work done,” Jennifer said.
Alex ignored her, content to spend the extra time with Beau. She also had the extra-added bonus of knowing it made Catelyn furious.
Alex remembered that first day back to school after her birthday fiasco. Beau had had the nerve to greet her as if nothing had happened.
“Please don’t talk to me anymore.” Alex’s heart was beating so hard she nearly fainted but she had forced herself to say the words. She couldn’t even look at him. She kept her eyes glued to her hands on the desk in front of her.
He had feigned ignorance of the whole thing, saying Catelyn had taken the invitation without his knowledge. He begged and pleaded, swearing on his mother’s life that he hadn’t made fun of her for inviting him to her party.
“So you would have come?” Alex asked.
“I was out of town for a game that weekend.” He winked at her.
That had been the end of it. She continued to help him with his assignments and even let him peek at her exams. She felt guilty but she just couldn’t say no when he smiled at her that way.
Alex was looking forward to the Christmas break. She was having another party at her aunt’s house.
And she hadn’t seen any strange girls in the mirror.
That, more than anything, was the reason for Alex’s cheerful mood. She held out hope that the strange trips back in time were over.
She and Jennifer spent many a night talking about what Alex had seen and heard each time through the mirror. The only thing she kept to herself was the young man in each time period that she felt a connection to. She wanted to keep a little something private.
“I still can’t stop thinking about that man in Venice. It seems very weird that he would show up and try to have Veronica arrested,” Jennifer said.
“I know. I wish we had more pieces of the puzzle.”
Alex managed to earn enough money working for her aunt to buy everyone a little something for Christmas. There were times when she wished it could be more but she knew her friends and family would like what she got them.
The day of the party dawned cold and grey. Alex had been up since 8:00 am helping C.C. and Karen with the decorations. Alex knew her aunt was happy to have the party as a distraction. Mark had been called away suddenly and was not sure he would be back in time for Christmas Day. This would have been the first Christmas he had been home in years.
Alex’s friends arrived and they dug into the food C.C. had laid out for them. She groaned when she thought of how many calories of sugar she was consuming.
“Who cares? It’s Christmas!” Jennifer said, smiling around a huge bite of red and green Jell-O.
Alex had been so busy making sure her friends were having a good time she had not noticed her mother’s absence for most of the evening.
“Aunt Karen, where’s Mom?” Alex asked.
Karen put on a too-wide smile and told Alex she was fine and not to worry, but Alex could see the furrow in her brow and the tightening around her eyes.
Alex went to the guesthouse to find out what was going on. She hoped her mom wasn’t coming down with a cold or flu bug.
“Mom?” Alex called out. Patricia was sitting at the dining room table, holding pieces of paper in her hand.
Patricia looked at her daughter and Alex was shocked to see that her mother had aged about ten years since yesterday. The papers fell from her limp hands. Patricia did not try to stop Alex as she picked them up to see what had her mother in such a state of shock.
They were divorce papers, already signed by her father.
CHAPTER 19
ALEX SAT DOWN hard. She stared at the crisp white sheets of paper. There were little yellow arrows stuck to the areas where her mother needed to sign. Alex tried to read the words but it was as if her brain had lost all ability to make sense of the letters.
“Alex, I…” Patricia began. She shook her head, unable to finish.
“So that’s it? Just sign the dotted line and no more family?” Alex whispered. “What does this mean? Do I have to live with him part of the time and here part of the time?” Alex’s heart dropped at the thought of having to live with the man who was practically a stranger to her.
“No. He is giving me full custody, no conditions.”
Alex’s hand shook and she wanted to tear up the divorce papers into tiny pieces. “What does that mean, no conditions?”
“It means that he is out of our lives. Forever.”
“So he doesn’t even want to see me?” Alex’s voice broke. Even though
she did not want to have to share time between her mother and father, the fact that he was giving her up so easily hurt like nothing she had ever felt before. “Why doesn’t he want to see me? What did I do, Momma?”
Patricia reached over and held Alex to her. “You didn’t do anything, Lexi.”
“Then why doesn’t he want to even visit me?” Alex could barely get the words out around the sobs tearing her apart. She cried out in anguish, wishing she had a father that cared about her, worried about her, wanted to hear about her day. It’s not fair!
Soon, anger replaced her feeling of loss. How could he send this crap on Christmas? The anger burned inside, like a slow burning match and it seared her to the bone. Alex wondered if she would spontaneously combust.
“I don’t care if I ever see him again,” Alex said through a jaw clamped so tight she feared she would chip her teeth.
“Don’t say that, Alex. He’s still your father.”
Alex stood and threw the papers at her mom. “It takes more than being a sperm donor to be a father. And I meant what I said. I don’t care if I ever see him again.” Alex ran to her room and slammed the door.
She wanted to hit something, or scream, or curse, or run away. There were so many emotions running through her that she paced her room, breath hissing from between her clenched teeth, fists clenching and unclenching, tears falling down her cheeks.
Alex came out of her room and found her friends waiting in her aunt’s large family room. She knew Karen must have told them what had happened because Jennifer and Amy jumped up as soon as they saw Alex and gave her a hug. The boys just sat looking embarrassed and wishing they could disappear.
“If you need us to go, we understand,” Amy said. Her mother and father had recently divorced. Hearing the news about Alex’s father had brought back all of the painful memories she experienced. She had locked herself in her room for days. It took her over a week to feel up to going back to school.