Time Will Tell

by M. Ullrich

  “She left for good.” A pregnant pause followed Casey’s words. Lizzy just stared at her.

  “You’re kidding.”

  “No.”

  “You dumped her?”

  “She left me for good.” The clarification tasted bitter on Casey’s tongue. So much for mindfulness.

  “She came all the way here to dump you?” Lizzy stood and started to pace. “I told you she was no good for you. I should’ve just told her to leave you alone when I saw her sitting like a sad puppy in the hallway.”

  Casey bit at her lower lip. How could she explain Eva when she was still struggling to understand? “I’m okay,” she said. “It’s okay. She came here to apologize for everything and to say good-bye. I think she’s about to do something stupid, but I know I can’t stop her. She believes she can fix things, and for her sake I hope she’s right.” Casey thought of everything Eva had been through in such a short life. “All I want is for her to find happiness, whether or not it’s with me.”

  Lizzy wrapped her arm around Casey’s shoulders and pulled her close. “I really want to beat her up, you know that, right?” Casey laughed as she fought off tears. “I can’t imagine Eva or anyone being happy without you in their life.”

  “Thank you, Lizzy, that’s sweet.” Casey sat up straight. “But Eva’s chance at happiness was taken from her before I came along.”

  “What do you think she’s going to do?”

  “I have no clue at all.”

  * * *

  The humid summer air weighed Eva’s lungs down. She remembered so many small details of this day, but she never knew it had rained back home and that storm clouds hung around well after the downpour had ended. Eva had had a sunny day at camp, but a couple hours and over a hundred miles could mean all the difference in weather. Car tires sloshing through puddles and dripping drainpipes filled the narrow alley with noise. Eva had always known this particular neighborhood to be safe and inviting, with family-owned businesses and eclectic shops. No one would ever suspect a couple to be attacked between the buildings, and that’s most likely what made her parents the perfect target.

  She waited in a shadowed corner. Eva didn’t know the exact time her parents were attacked, but she knew the sun had set. She thought of Casey and the good memories they had made during their last night together—anything to keep herself from focusing on what she was about to witness. Her stomach was already in a knot so tight it’d never untie. Eva closed her eyes and let her head rest against the brick building behind her.

  Casey had looked beautiful in the moonlight, her freckled skin the most flawless canvas for shadows and moonbeams. Eva didn’t wake Casey for a proper good-bye, and she was fine with that selfish decision. They’d only share more tears and cast a dark cloud over their perfect night. Eva kissed Casey’s bare shoulder, her brow, and finally her lips before slipping out from between the covers. With a whispered “I love you,” Eva tiptoed into the bathroom and disappeared into time.

  If her plan didn’t work out, if this sacrifice didn’t have the desired effect, Eva needed to know she’d left Casey with one last happy memory. She didn’t give Casey many of those, and she surely owed her more.

  Eva heard the sound of distant laughter. Her breathing picked up, and her gut told her this was it. She scanned the alley the best she could without giving up her spot in the corner. Wherever her parents’ attacker hid, he was also well-cloaked. Eva listened closely, hearing two sets of footsteps and two familiar voices conversing jovially. Eva peeked out and saw her parents walking hand in hand in the distance. They had no idea what was about to happen, that fate called for their lives to come to an end. Not one person was able to help them that night. Eva realized then that saving them was as simple as causing a distraction, a scene that would draw attention to them and scare their attacker away.

  Eva stepped out into the alley, filled her lungs with air, and was about to let out a scream when her mother beat her to it. Before her very eyes, Eva watched as a man knocked her mother to the ground and shoved the blade of a knife into her father’s belly. Eva stumbled back, her footing unsure and unsteady, while her mouth fell open in silent cries. The attacker stabbed her father multiple times before pressing the blade to Rosalie’s throat. Eva turned away and vomited on the pavement. After wiping her mouth, she turned back to see the man hunched over her father’s body, searching his pockets. He turned from the bodies as he stood, and in the orangey streetlights Eva caught a quick glimpse of Luke’s face. Her breathing turned shallow and rapid.

  “No…” Her heart hammered and her head started to spin. She tried to latch the bracelets together several times before making a solid connection. Eva fell to the basement floor the moment she arrived in present day. She sobbed continuously, leaving a small wet mark on the floor beneath her cheek.

  All this time, she was nothing more than part of a plan, and her parent’s death was step one. Eva slammed her fist into the ground once, twice, and then enough times to break skin and leave bloody prints beside her tears. She stood up, swaying as she walked to the corkboard on the wall. She braced her weak body against the desk and scanned the few remaining newspaper clippings. Her uncle’s trophies. The articles left didn’t have corresponding binders, matching plans, and details. Eva found the one she was looking for in the bottom left corner, hidden beneath so many other crimes: Couple Slain in Mugging.

  She didn’t have to wonder why. Money was his motivation, but she didn’t understand why he kept her around. Was he so desperate for a punching bag that he decided to keep his broken-down niece in his custody? Her fate should’ve matched that of her parents. He could’ve ended her life many times, but he didn’t. Eva’s wet eyes widened. Luke probably would’ve killed her too, if she hadn’t had Casey and her parents watching over her and caring for her.

  Eva shook herself from her self-pity and disbelief clouding her. She needed a solid plan to overtake the villain that had tainted every aspect of her life. Luke had a knife and stealth on his side, but a bullet always travels faster than a person. Eva went to the desk in search of the lockbox and pulled out the revolver. She wasn’t sure if a gun was capable of time travel. Maybe it would explode during the trip, but Eva didn’t care. Intense fury flowed through her veins, heating her skin, and making all rational thought impossible. She tucked the firearm into her waistband, closed her eyes, and connected the bracelets one last time.

  Eva dropped the revolver the moment she arrived two blocks from the alley her parents were murdered in. It was too hot to hold. She scrambled around to pick it up before anyone around her noticed it. She held it loosely beneath her shirt, using the material to shield her hand from the heat, and rushed toward her hiding spot.

  She arrived with only moments to spare, which didn’t help the fact that she had yet to put a solid plan into play. She didn’t know whether to confront Luke or just take the shot. Maybe she’d fire into the air to scare him off, or maybe she’d look him in the eye as she ended his life. Like he had done with his own brother.

  After situating herself into a corner, Eva looked at the revolver again. She probably should’ve figured out how to use it before attempting to save her parents’ life with it. But if she had to guess, Luke’s gun didn’t have a safety, and from what she could tell, it was fully loaded. She breathed deeply, feeling weak and shaky. She wanted a drink and an instruction manual that told her what to do next.

  Maybe I should go back, she thought. Maybe I need to think a little bit more about this and make a solid plan. Eva looked up to the twinkling night sky for every elusive answer. Maybe I should go back and find my happiness there. No one should play God like this. Her thoughts were cut off by the same laughter she heard last time.

  Now or never, she had to choose. Saving her parents wasn’t about being a hero, it was about saving four lives. Eva stepped forward slowly in near silence, so as to not be detected. She still didn’t know where Luke was hidden, so she was careful to stick to the shadows. Sweat trailed from be
tween Eva’s shoulder blades to her lower back, and she felt sick with anticipation. She gripped the handle of the revolver and kept it close at her side. Eva knew she had one chance at making things right, because if Luke caught her…

  Eva Caldwell would cease to exist that night.

  Rosalie’s voice grew near, and Eva ducked behind a dumpster. The sound of another set of footsteps caught her ear. They sounded a lot closer than she expected. Eva pressed the side of her face against the brick building to look behind the dumpster. She saw a dark figure who held a blade in his left hand. Luke had been hiding on the other side of the dumpster the whole time. Her shock didn’t have time to wear off before Luke shot from the wall and approached Eva’s parents.

  She stepped out after him, but before she could shout for his attention, he hit Rosalie across the face and knocked her to the ground. The impact left Eva speechless. Luke approached her father, who was clearly torn between tending to his wife and guarding himself against the attacker. The light from the streetlamp reflected off Luke’s knife and shined in Eva’s eye, breaking her trance. She looked between Paul, who stood with his hands up, and Rosalie, who was holding her face, moaning on the ground.

  “Hey!” she called out. Both Luke and Paul looked at her. “Leave them alone,” Eva said weakly as she raised the gun. Luke charged at her and knocked the gun from her hand. She collapsed to the ground, feeling a searing pain below her sternum. Eva touched her hand to the spot and brought it to her face. She was covered in blood.

  Eva looked up into the night sky and took rapid, shallow breaths. The sound of her mother’s cries rang out in the distance. Her head fell to the side and she watched her father fight Luke. Still, no strangers came to their rescue. Not one bystander had answered Rosalie’s bloodcurdling calls. Eva looked around on the pavement for the gun, exhausting her fleeting energy with every move. Disappointment filled her heart. She was supposed to put up more of a fight than this. She was supposed to succeed.

  Eva tasted copper as she coughed up viscous blood. She felt around, the ground beneath her growing wetter by the second. She hit the cool metal of the revolver and picked it up. The handle slid in her wet palm. Luke had Paul on the ground beside Rosalie, a boot on the center of his chest and his knife in the air. Her outstretched arm was weak and her aim was shaky, but Eva closed one eye and pulled the trigger three consecutive times before letting her hand drop beside her.

  Tears fell down the side of Eva’s face as she listened to her parents calling out for help. She could hear the pain in Paul’s voice as he discovered the betrayal of his own brother. Rosalie was mostly calm as she took charge of their rescue, calling out for anyone to tend to Eva. Sirens sounded in the distance.

  Eva lay motionless, engulfed by pain and haunting thoughts. Everything she imagined dying to be paled in comparison to reality. In quick succession, she was hit with visions of her parents kissing her good night, school projects, worried teachers, Luke’s hands against her skin, and finally, Casey’s smile. Casey’s beautiful face surrounded by an awe-inspiring halo of warmth. Every one of Casey’s freckles stood out and her green eyes shined and sparkled with golden highlights and pure happiness as she smiled at Eva, a grin more blinding than the light that swallowed Eva whole. Her smile was one of love and contentment.

  Eva had done the best she could.

  The End

  Epilogue

  “I’ve been fortunate enough to spend some time beside this talented, lovely woman, and to say it’s been a delight would be an understatement. I fell in love, hopelessly so, almost instantly, but I had convinced my heart that the timing wasn’t right.” Casey’s hands shook, rattling the sheets of paper she was holding. She swallowed back a lump in her throat and reprimanded herself for being so emotional. She knew this day was coming. She’d been preparing for years, if she was honest with herself.

  “I was lucky to know a younger version of Eva, a version that was a little less sure of herself and naïve in the loveliest way. She never expected to succeed, which hurt my heart but lit the pride I feel today. I am proud of her success, and I am proud to call her mine. Let’s raise our glasses in celebration of Eva and her very first published novel.” She raised her champagne flute from the small table beside her and smirked over the rim of the glass as Eva approached her.

  Casey gave herself a mental pat on the back for picking such a wonderful dress for Eva to wear. The cobalt blue did wonders for her tanned skin, and her dark hair fell in healthy, heavy waves around her face. Eva could easily be a model. Casey was still unsure how someone as stunning as Eva, as genuinely kind as Eva, had fallen in love with her.

  Eva winked at her before turning to address the crowd. “I think it’s much more important to celebrate the fact that this beautiful woman has agreed to marry me,” she said, pointing her thumb at Casey. Casey subconsciously tugged at the skirt of her tea-length black dress. “Having her by my side makes my every accomplishment all the sweeter.” Eva turned to Casey and kissed her lightly on the lips. The crowd shouted cheers and well wishes before Casey’s parents swooped in to envelop the couple in robust hugs. Close to forty people crowded their two-bedroom apartment, family and friends gathered to celebrate Eva and Casey, their separate achievements, and the new engagement.

  “I was wondering which of you would ask first,” Patricia said as she appraised the one-carat solitaire on Casey’s ring finger. Casey was still getting used to the new piece of jewelry, but she had already recognized that her finger was naked before. Just as her heart was empty before Eva. “I knew Casey was thinking about proposing,” Patricia said, “but she kept getting nervous.”

  “Casey was planning on proposing? Really?” Eva smiled at Casey, the kind of smile that always made her stomach drop pleasantly.

  “Once or twice I may have wondered aloud, around alert ears unfortunately, about what kind of ring you’d like.” Casey held her diamond up to the light. “But I think this was the best case scenario.”

  Jim took his daughter’s hand and kissed it. “I’m so happy for you both. I couldn’t have picked a better woman, a better person for my Casey.”

  Casey felt her emotions rising again as her father spoke, but she was distracted by someone coming up behind Eva.

  “I was just going to say the same thing about your girl, Jim.” Eva’s father stepped in and shook Jim’s hand before placing a polite kiss on Patricia’s cheek. “I think our girls grew up with the ideal example of extraordinary women,” Paul said with a playful glimmer in his eye.

  Rosalie took Paul’s champagne and finished it herself. She looked at Casey and said, “I hope my daughter didn’t pick up her father’s smooth-talking habits. He thinks he can make any woman swoon.”

  “If she had, I’m not sure if I would’ve agreed to marry her,” Casey said. Eva looked like her father, standing next to him and gawking in just the same way.

  “Patricia, we’ll have to get together soon to start planning the necessities our girls will need on their big day,” Rosalie said with a hand on Casey’s shoulder.

  Casey and Eva shared a look. “Parents,” Casey said with a sigh.

  Eva laughed and wore a warm smile. “But we wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world, would we?”

  “Never.”

  “When is Eva going to tell us about this book she wrote? I didn’t come here to celebrate the engagement, I’m surrounded by your sickening love all the time.”

  “Hello, Lizzy.” Casey pulled her into a hug. “Mom, Dad, you remember Lizzy, right?” They nodded.

  “This is Peter, my date for the night.” Lizzy introduced the shy man beside her. He tightened his tie before shaking everyone’s hands, a move Casey found endearing.

  “How did you and Eva meet?” Peter asked Casey.

  “Eva was a freshman assigned to me when I joined the sophomore mentoring program at the University of Pennsylvania. We hit it off immediately, like we’d known each other our whole lives, but I was still shocked when she asked me o
ut.” Casey laced her fingers with Eva’s.

  Eva laughed. “I shocked myself that day. I was this awkward tomboy still struggling to make sense of hair products and wearing my dad’s old bowler hat and cargo shorts that were two sizes too big for me, but Casey was kind to everyone and inclusive, all while being outrageously attractive.” Casey bit her lip and blushed. She held Eva’s gaze even as she wanted to look away shyly. “My gut told me that this woman was something special, and I’d regret it forever if I didn’t ask her out.”

  “Blah, blah, blah,” Lizzy interrupted.

  Casey rolled her eyes.

  “You’re soul mates, we get it. Talk about your book already.”

  “I’ve told you about her book a hundred times,” Casey said.

  “No, you haven’t. You’ve told me about how talented Eva is, how wonderful the book is, and how incredible her writing is,” Lizzy said, looking from Casey to Eva. “Please tell me more about this wonderful book that you wrote with your incredible talents.” Lizzy batted her eyelashes, and Casey elbowed her.

  “Well I, uh,” Eva said, stuttering a bit and clearing her throat. “I’m actually really bad at explaining it.” Casey shook her head when Eva looked to her for help. She had to learn to do this on her own. Eva continued a little more confidently.

  “A few years ago, I learned that my parents were attacked. I was young at the time and they never told me until I was older, for obvious reasons. They could’ve been killed, and that got me thinking how different my life would be. What if, what if, what if, you know?” Eva said. As Casey listened, she noticed Eva looked a little less troubled each time she told the story. Casey remembered what Eva had gone through after her parents told her. Sleeplessness because of detailed nightmares and haunting visions. But Casey always made sure to hold her tightly every night and be the best protector she could.