by CS Patra
“I would like you to meet my friends,” Ms. Howard introduced them. “This is Gemma Allman, and Alice Packard. Gemma, Alice, that’s Donovan and Olivia. They were the kids I was telling you about.”
Olivia wanted to protest that she wasn’t a kid, but she stopped herself. These women wanted to help out, and she didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot. “It’s very nice to meet you both. Ms. Howard told us a little about you.”
“She probably told you our names and that’s about it. Anyway, let’s get the more important things out of the way. I’m Alice, and I live by myself with my dog and my bedridden mother-in-law. She might be ill, but she never shuts up. God will to shut her up soon enough. As for me, I’ve been retired for years, and I’m waiting for the day that the world ends,” The skinnier one said. “Gemma and I are very interested in what you have created.”
“Oh, I didn’t create anything. That was all Donnie.” Olivia nodded towards him. “Go on. Tell them about your other worlds’ stuff.”
Donnie shrugged. “Well, I haven’t actually finished anything. I was making a time machine, but I stopped working on it years ago. I know Madeline asked me to get back to it, but I don’t think I—”
“It’s okay, dear. We already know,” Gemma said. “You are both very intelligent.”
“I don’t know about that. I just work at the lab,” Olivia shrugged. “I don’t even do anything important there. I just put in a bunch of data into the computer, and that’s it.”
“Ah, that doesn’t mean you aren’t smart. You believe that this is possible. You have listened to the tales and you accept the idea of another reality. At the very least, it means that you are open to new things. You are willing to see something that others are afraid of to see.”
“I’ve wanted to tell her that myself.” Donnie said, turning to her. She tried her hardest to resist those green eyes, but couldn’t. There was something about them that drew him towards her. “I think she’s a little scared because of the risks.”
“Risks exist everywhere, dear,” Alice said. “Look at me and that banshee I call my mother-in-law. Did I want to take her in? Absolutely not! I realized, however, that no one else was going to take care of her. My husband is dead, and she has no other living family members. It would be very risky to live with her, and yet I knew I had to take that risk. Unfortunately, I also realized that I’m far too soft. It would have been better to leave her out in the cold, or at least put her in a home.”
“Alice, please, you’re getting ahead of yourself.” Ms. Howard said, pushing a plate of cookies in front of the group. “I see what she is saying, though. Sometimes, you have to take a risk to find out the truth. Donovan has been working on something that could do that.”
Donnie nodded. “I have been working day and night on my invention, but I’m afraid it’s not ready to be used. I don’t want to try it before anything’s ready. Who knows what could happen if it malfunctioned?”
“Oh, we’re not going to use that, dear.” Gemma said. “We know that it’s not ready.”
“Then why did you call us over here?”
“I wanted to tell you about that message on your car.” Alice looked at Olivia, who was speechless. “You were the only one to get frost on your window with a message, and I can tell you right now that the incident wasn’t weather related.”
“Yeah, I figured that out. How did you know about the frost on my car?” Olivia asked, turning to Ms. Howard, who just shrugged. “I really wanted to keep this a secret.”
“We have our ways,” Gemma said cryptically. “No one needs to tell us what happened with you. I also know about the dreams you’ve been having lately. You always find yourself in another world, but you don’t know why you’re there.”
“Whoa! How?” Olivia stood up. “How did you know that I was having strange dreams about being another world? I didn’t tell many people about that!”
“Hey, I didn’t tell anyone, either,” Donnie said. “I promised to keep your secrets safe, and that’s what I did.”
“I said it before—we have other ways of knowing things. Anyway, you have been transported to various worlds in those dreams, and you were exploring. You wanted to know who was leading you around, and you finally figured something out in your latest dream.”
“Are you reading my mind?” she turned to Donnie. “Did you know about this?”
“No! I’m just as lost as you are!” Donnie insisted, looking at the three older women. “You keep saying that you have your ways of knowing. Were you following us around or something?”
“Hardly. We’re not exactly what you call mind readers, but we aren’t normal humans, either,” Alice explained. “The thing is that we have known about other worlds for a long time. We have even traveled to them before. The concept isn’t new, but most people don’t really think about it. We’ve wanted to tell others about the great discoveries we’ve found. The thing is, no one would believe us. They would just see us as old ladies who were losing their minds and rambling about nothing.”
“We were losing hope in finding someone to help us in our quest.” Ms. Howard jumped in. “When I went to see Raymond a few years back, he told me that you were making some sort of machine that could move from one universe into another. You were trying to find patterns and parallels with this one. All of a sudden, I found someone that I could tell my stories to. I could get them to help me on my quest.”
“Your quest?” Donnie asked. “Does it have anything to do with what Olivia found on her car?”
“It might. You said that someone put ‘Your heart is under ice’ on the car, right? Well, I know of a world that is covered in frost, and two of the rarest gems found there are known as The Iced Hearts. They’re also called the Hearts Under Ice. They are supposed to be worth more than any diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald combined. Even people in this universe have heard about them.”
“Weird. I’ve never heard of them.” Olivia muttered, trying to make sense of the whole thing. “I just—I have no idea what to say. I don’t even know what to think right now. You’re not humans. You just told me you aren’t humans, and that I’m supposed to believe you.”
“We’re not here to hurt anyone. We’re simply travelers throughout many universes,” Gemma explained. “We have wanted to find these gems for a while, but now we are getting too old. We need someone to take our place.”
“Huh?” Olivia blinked. “Now I’m getting more confused. Are you telling me you did this to me?”
“No, we had nothing to do with the frost. While we were hunting the Hearts Under Ice down, we certainly didn’t leave that message behind,” Alice said. “We know that you’ve been plagued by dreams of other worlds for a while now. We want to help you, but we need your help in return. You know a lot more than you realize.”
“Let me get this straight,” Donnie said. “You are travelers of parallel universes, and you want us to go on a quest with you to find some gem. I still feel lost, here. What makes you think we’d be willing to do this?”
“You want to know the story behind that message, don’t you?” Ms. Howard asked. “It came from that frosty world that Olivia was dreaming about. Someone wants your help, and you need to give it. As crazy as it sounds, you might be the one who can replace us as a traveler. You had no problem with dreaming another world up. You should be able to move in and out of them without trouble.”
“I-I can’t get out of this?” Olivia asked, still very worried. Everything was coming down on her too fast. “Hold on, guys. I-I don’t think this is a good idea. You should probably find an expert for this. Can’t you ask someone else?”
“I’m afraid not. When something from a parallel universe leaves you a message, you are to follow it all the way through. If you don’t, there could be dire consequences that will affect both worlds.”
She gulped. “So—what am I supposed to do? How do I get to this world? All I’ve done is go to sleep and end up in them. I never thought they were real.”
> “Hang on, Olivia. I need more answers.” Donnie said. “I want to know why you kept this from me for so long. You’ve always known that I’m interested in other worlds, Madeline. How do I know that I can trust you to take me into another world? More importantly, is it really a good idea to do this?”
“You always said that we need to take risks to make great discoveries,” Ms. Howard began. “Are you having second thoughts, Donovan? There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s a lot to take in. I know we’ve dropped a giant bomb you both, and you have no idea whether you should trust us or not. I’m here to tell you that we are your friends. We don’t wish to take you anywhere you don’t want to go. The most important thing for you to understand right now is that we can travel to other worlds, and that the message Olivia got is important. No one would leave a message if they didn’t want her specifically.”
Donnie took a deep breath and looked at Olivia. “Do you mind if the two of us talk it over? This is something we need to think about.”
“Of course. I wasn’t going to send you into another world without letting you have some input!” Ms. Howard got up. “In fact, you don’t need to get back to me right away, but I do need to know in three days’ time. You don’t want to be too late.”
“Right.” Olivia said, her head reeling. “I should go home. I have a lot to think about. My head is spinning right now.”
“Go on. Take your time.” Ms. Howard led them both to the door. “Remember, I need your answer in three days. It may not make sense right now, but it will. If you choose to go through with this, you will learn everything.”
Once they had left, Donnie turned to her. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know what to think.” Olivia rubbed her forehead. “I’m confused by the whole thing. How about you? You’re the scientist. Do you think they’re telling the truth?”
“The logical side of me is saying no.” He began to follow Olivia toward her house. “But I know that I’m the last person to find this ridiculous. As a scientist, I’ve learned that things can always be explained with science. I even believed that this could be explained by science. Somehow though, I’m having a hard time believing Madeline and her friends.”
“You don’t want to do this,” Olivia surmised.
“The logical side doesn’t want to. There’s another side to me though, a more hopeful and open-minded side that wants to see all possibilities. That side is excited and does want to do this,” he explained. “I don’t know which side to trust right now.”
“Donnie—” she began, but could not finish. He was experiencing the same worries that she had. Ms. Howard meant no harm from this. She wanted them to be a part of something big because they could do it. As of now, they were the only ones who could believe in this. “She gave us three days to make a decision.”
“I know.” He put his hands in his pockets. “Do you have any idea what you want to do?”
“I would do whatever you wanted to do,” Olivia said. “You’re the guy who knows all this stuff. You’re the one who has the desire to see things and become something great. That’s not me. I just had some dreams that I didn’t think were so important.”
“Speaking of that, how come you never told me about them?”
“Well, like I said, it didn’t think they meant anything.” She shrugged. “I ignored them at first because I’ve had recurring dreams in the past. It’s just the dream that I had last night that’s throwing me off. I was in a frost world this time. I heard someone tell me to find a heart under ice. Whether it’s the same heart Ms. Howard is talking about or not, I don’t know. I just feel so confused and scared.”
He held out his hand. “I feel the same way. I don’t know what decision I’m going to make. Either way, it’s going to change everything.” Looking down at her fingernails, he added. “I like that color.”
“Me too. I thought it fit the mood.” She was hesitant at first but then took it. They weren’t that far from her house, but she wanted him to walk her all the way back. Somehow, she felt safe now. It may have been just down the block, but she was inexplicably glad that he was walking her home.
Chapter Ten
The offer was on Olivia’s mind all day as she puttered around the house. More than that, she thought about Donnie. All the excitement that he had over his project had disappeared in an instant. She had expected him to be more ready for this, more willing to take the risk. Now that he had the opportunity, he was frightened. As for her, she had no idea what to make of anything. She had a message, strange people, and strange dreams all telling her what to do. There was a part of her that wanted to run away from it all and forget this ever happened. Her entire reality had been flipped on its head, and she needed to make a life changing decision in three days. As much as she hated to do it, she wanted to do whatever Donnie suggested. This had been his desire. This was what he wanted, and he would be the one who could figure things out for both of them.
Unfortunately, Donnie seemed far more lost than she was. She finally got his number and called him up. He seemed distant—gone, as though his mind had been separated from his body. It was still him, but he didn’t seem like himself.
“Olivia, I don’t know what decision to make,” he admitted. “I was hoping you did.”
“Me? I’m trying to decipher all of these messages here. What if we get trapped in these other worlds? What if I can never get home?” she asked. “Those are the questions in my mind, Donnie. Deep down, I’m wondering if I’m the right person for this at all.”
“Well, they seem to think you are,” he pointed out. “I’m sorry that I’m not much help. You’d think I would be all over this, but reality has sunk in. I’m starting to think that I’m a fool.”
“No, you aren’t!” she insisted. “You were the one who thought of this before anyone else did. It’s just that we’ve got a big decision to make here. Do we even tell our families and friends about this? What if it takes us too long to get back?”
“Believe me, I have those exact questions in mind. I’m weighing the pros and cons of this right now. The best thing to come out of this would be that my theories will be proven correct. The worst to come out of it is that I may never come back to this world.”
“When you think about it, the choice should be easy. I can’t help it, but want to try this. I want to know where that message came from. Surely, you can tap into my dreams or something,” she suggested. “Come on, Donnie! You’ve got to have something that does that!”
“I’m afraid I don’t—but that doesn’t mean I can’t help you. What I can do is find a pattern between your dreams. Tell me all about them,” he said. “What did you see in them? What were you wearing? Where were you going? Did you speak to anyone? Those are the things that I can use to come up with something.”
Taking a deep breath, Olivia told him about each dream. She did her best to remember each of the worlds and what she was doing in them. She also remembered that silly dress that she had worn in each place. “I’ve never worn something like that before. I don’t know why I dreamt it, but I did. I wore it in every dream. It would be more expensive than most of the clothes I own.”
“Well, that’s interesting. Did the figure in your dreams ever say anything?”
“No. I never got to see his face. In fact, I’m not even sure if it’s a he or a she.”
“Okay, this does have an obvious pattern in the sense that you are wearing the same thing and that you have a mysterious figure in these dreams. Would you say that this person is an enemy, or a friend?”
“No idea. It seemed like he was leading me away from something in one dream, but he was blocking me in another.” She didn’t know why she was using the ‘he’ pronoun, but the figure did feel like a male to her. “He never said a word to me. The only time I actually heard any voices was in the third dream. That’s the frost world dream we were talking about.”
“Yes, I remember that. Did you ever see who you spoke to?”
“No, it was
dark and I couldn’t find a match. I kept demanding for a light, but I got nothing. They just kept telling me that I had to find some heart under ice. Until today, I had no idea what that was. I did promise to find it, though. That’s why I’m having all of these conflicting thoughts. I’m not the kind of person who breaks promises.”
“Are you telling me that you want to do this?”
“I don’t know what I want to do. Anyway, do you think that we’d be able to help these people? Maybe if we went into their world, we could figure out what they really want. Maybe Ms. Howard or her friends knows what this heart under ice looks like. I want to trust them. If they wanted to hurt us, they could have done it back there.”
“I know Madeline very well, and she’s not the kind of the person to hurt anyone. Of course, I also didn’t realize that she had this ability until now.”
“She only told you that she had this ability,” Olivia reminded him. “We have yet to see her actually do anything. We’ve got three days to come to a decision. I’m wondering if we should tell anyone else.”
“Like who? No one is ever going to believe us. Even if they did, they might try to use this for their personal gain,” he said.
“How about asking someone else at work? Surely, there’s got to be another employee you could discuss this with.”
“I trust Vijay, Leila, and Pam, but I don’t know if I could trust them with this. Besides, it’s not like they ever pay attention to me outside of work.” She heard a hint of sadness in his voice. It was first bit of emotion she had gotten from him since they had started talking on the phone. “Hey, Olivia, I’ve got to go. I’m going to try and see if I can find out more from those dreams.”