by Al K. Line
"I promise," said Peter. "Right, I'm off. I'm going to get Wozzy and then I will get rid of the Hexads. I'll see you back in the present, let me know when you are home."
"We'll be home soon, this is time travel, after all," said Dale with a smirk.
"Oh, yeah, right, of course. Just don't go home to the present now, Hector and Laffer are in the kitchen, remember?"
"How could we forget?"
"See ya."
Peter was gone.
Amanda was asleep.
A Welcome Rest
78 Years Future
Amanda woke to a gentle tinkling sound, heat that felt unnatural for the British climate, and the feeling she was sinking. She opened an eye and it came back to her: they weren't in the UK, they were on a beach, somewhere definitely tropical, probably Thailand if she knew Dale.
She turned her head to the left in search of the familiar noise. Dale was smiling at her, holding out a glass full of beer and ice — that explained the sound. She smiled at the man she loved more than anything in the world, head fuzzy from sleep, nerves ready to put her on edge, her subconscious expecting something bad to happen at any moment.
She sat with a start and stared around the beach, frantic, expecting Laffer to grab her, Hector to buckle her into a straitjacket, or to wake from her dream and find herself playing dominoes while she stared at countless incarnations of herself, lost to madness.
"It's okay, it's just us here. Relax." Dale handed her the drink and she took a grateful gulp, the cool beer bringing back memories of lazy days lounging on similar beaches, swimming in turquoise water and eating Pad Thai for dinner.
"Oh, thanks." Amanda smiled, forced her body to relax, to accept that everything was all right and she was safe. Dale was looking after her, she was fine. "You know me too well, Dale. Thank you. Is this Koh Tao? It looks familiar."
Dale nodded. "Yep. I figured after what you'd been through we could have a nice break. It, um, didn't go exactly as expected," Dale frowned at the close encounter with Hector and Laffer, "but the main thing is we are here now."
"Just us?"
"Just us. And, er, well, I think we should keep it that way now. I love Peter, and he did just save us in his own rather unique way, but this mess is down to us, so we have to clear it up ourselves."
Amanda drained her glass, not even asking where it came from — there was certainly no bar nearby — and said, "Agreed. What Peter just did was great, but the more he's involved the messier this will get. He's already put everything at risk by taking the Hexads, I just pray he'll do as he promised and get rid of them."
"He will, he meant it. Knowing Peter, he'll do something epic and throw them into a live volcano or something. You know what he's like, loves a bit of drama."
"Haha, he does, doesn't he? But we seem to keep getting involved in rather dramatic things ourselves, don't we? God, what are we going to do, Dale, this is such a mess?"
"Hush, hush, just relax, don't think about any of it. Let it go, get your energy back, pretend it happened to someone else."
"How can I? You know what we've done. We started this whole thing off and Hector is probably right now somehow figuring out how the damn Hexad works and thinking of ways to get all those poor women to give him what he wants. It's a sick game he's playing. I don't know why on earth he did what he did, but we have to stop him." Amanda let the tears flow. There weren't enough she could shed for all the lives that were ruined because of what they had done. No, what Hector did, not them, not her. Him.
"Don't think about it now. We're seventy-eight years into the future and the place is deserted. It's just us. We're safe, and once we are ready we will go and finish this once and for all. I promise."
Amanda looked into the eyes of Dale, saw the determination, the truth behind his words. "Okay. Now, where are we staying? If this is a vacation then it better be somewhere nice."
Vacation? I must be mad. How can I relax at a time like this? Because I have no choice, that's why. A few days ago I was in an asylum, full of drugs and lost, and since then things have just got crazier. Maybe I am crazy, maybe I'm still there?
"Amanda? Amanda?"
"Eh?"
"Come on, love, let's get you to bed. And yes, I have picked somewhere rather nice. I think you'll like it."
"But what are we going to do? We can't stop this now, not now it's happened, or is going to happen anyway. We did this to ourselves. We messed around when we shouldn't have and now we've broken everything." Amanda stood rapidly, suddenly aware of something Dale said. "What did you mean about nobody being about?"
Dale stood and took hold of Amanda's hand. "Honey, we are in a future where there are no people. It's happened, what Tellan said would happen. What we saw on that huge screen, about that billionaire getting a Hexad, then everyone would be able to... Well, that happened. I saw it, I jumped all over looking for a way to undo what he did to you, and I saw things fall apart. All the jumping messed things up too much, just like Tellan said, and people vanished. They aren't here; they aren't in any futures I went to. Whether they are the ones in our universe, or Peter is right and when you jump you create a new one, I don't know, or care to be honest, but everyone's gone."
"But Dale, what—"
"Look, don't think about it. I am telling you so you know that for now you are safe. Rest up, we have all the time in the world to fix this, and that is exactly what we will do. We will find a way to get this sorted out and we will put an end to this for good. But for now... Ta-da!"
Amanda hadn't even realized they had been walking while they talked, and at Dale's huge smile and excited grip on her hand she looked where he indicated with his other hand.
"Oh. Oh, wow!"
"Who loves ya, baby?"
~~~
Four days later and Amanda couldn't contain herself any longer. The large house set on a high point overlooking the beach was absolute heaven, perfect. She slept, lazed about, swam, ate and drank, and she could almost make herself believe that everything was perfect and they really were on vacation.
But that wasn't the truth, and she could never quite allow herself to forget the mess they had left behind them. It was obvious Dale felt the same way. He smiled, put a brave face on it, but she knew he was waiting for her to recover so they could try to undo what they had done, not that she knew how that was possible.
Every time she brought up the subject with Dale he would smile and shake his head, refusing to talk about anything but trivial matters, forcing her to relax and not dwell on things that had come close to breaking her. It worked to some degree, she certainly felt like her old self again, but the memories of The Ward lingered, refused to leave her. She doubted they ever would.
Now and then she would catch Dale looking at her funny, clearly trying to imagine what it had been like in that terrible place, maybe even thinking of the other Amandas that had possibly sacrificed their very existence for her to have the chance to be with him again. It seemed like the better she got the quieter he became. He was probably just anxious, wanting to put an end to it, but refusing to do so until he was sure she was as close to well as was possible.
Amanda got up from the hammock, now quite an expert at moving from prone to standing without falling on her bum as she tried to get out. "Right, that's it, I can't stand it any longer. Are we going to go and sort this stupid, bloody ridiculous mess out or what?"
"Oh, thank god, yes! This is driving me nuts." Dale was up and across the room in a heartbeat, bare feet loud on the dark floorboards, staring at her like she'd just saved him from certain death.
"If you're that keen why didn't you say something sooner?"
"Because you had to get well," said Dale. "But this has been driving me mad. I'm bored out of my brain and I can't help thinking about everything we have to do."
"That's exactly the problem though, isn't it? What are we supposed to do?"
"Well, I'm glad you asked..."
You What!?
78 Years Future
"That
's your plan! No way." Amanda forced back the tears. I will not cry, I will not cry.
Dale turned to her, still sweaty from love-making, the heat making it a bad idea to go to bed mid-afternoon and be so active.
Amanda wished she hadn't brought up the subject of what to do so soon after such a pleasant experience, it kind of put a downer on their enjoyable, if rather too hot, afternoon tryst.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we won't do it, but I couldn't think of anything else. There's more to that place than we've seen, I'm sure of it. We have to find out what he has been up to. We have to know exactly what to change before we can even think about changing it. I'll go alone, you don't need to come."
"Dale, you know that I have to. Without me then something could happen to you, and anyway, I don't want us to be separated again, not ever."
"I know, honey, but maybe you should wait here? It was my idea, after all, and as long as one of us knows what the hell Hector got up to, then that's all we need. But we do have to know, and I'm sure The Ward is just a part of whatever is really going on there. We have to know."
Amanda could tell he was resolute, and it did make sense in a weird kind of way. If they were to fight Hector, and win, then they needed as much information as possible so they could figure out the best way to stop him. They'd gone over and over the various options, returning to the conversations they'd had before they tried to stop him the last time, and the only conclusion they came to was that they had to go back to The Ward, to the time when Amanda had been there.
Everything centered around that time, that place. It was too much of a coincidence for them to have jumped there in the first place, right at that moment, right when Hector was getting ready to give his first Hexad to that billionaire. That was the crux, where pasts, presents, futures and universes converged. It was where they would find the answers and where they had to be to stop it all.
They were both certain, yet neither understood why they were so sure.
It was time travel — when Wozzy knocked the Hexad and they all jumped, they ended up exactly when everything was about to change forever in the world, and Amanda was incarcerated in The Ward when it was running as smoothly as they supposed it ever would. That didn't happen by accident, it was fate, time conspiring. It couldn't be ignored. That was where they had to be, when they had to be.
"I'm going to go pack," said Amanda, getting up, body slick with sweat. She'd worried about letting Dale see her naked as she wasn't feeling confident about her body, not after what she'd been through what seemed like a lifetime ago but was little more than a week, but he'd told her she was as beautiful as ever, and held her head in his hands and kissed her gently. God how she loved him.
"Haha, we haven't got anything to pack."
"Well," said Amanda, turning and putting her hands on her hips, jiggling her upper body just enough to see something stirring beneath the sheets, "in that case I guess I don't need to get up quite yet." Amanda nodded at the thin coverlet. "Although, speaking of getting up, I see someone—"
"Come here, you." Dale pulled back the sheet. Amanda got into bed.
~~~
Later that afternoon, Dale showed Amanda something she had put to the back of her mind: his collection of Hexads. They jumped away from the beauty and tranquility of the island, and she found herself at a place in stark contrast to the perfection and heat of the South East Asian paradise.
Now she was in what she could only describe as a bunker. Cold, gray, heavy on the concrete, light on soft furnishings. As they landed, Dale not focusing properly as usual and their jump bringing them a few centimeters above the floor so she felt like she was falling to her death, she stared ahead at the long concrete wall, lit by recessed overhead lights casting strange shadows across row after row of Hexads, blinking blue, pulsing their cool light against the stark interior, making it feel even colder and more wrong than it already did.
"You weren't lying about collecting a load of Hexads, were you?"
"Um, no." Dale shifted about, looking uncomfortable, as if he was about to be told off.
"What? What's the matter? These are all from the trunk in the garden, right? When you acted like a muppet and got Cray involved for no good reason?"
"I knew it! I knew you'd bring that up. Look, I got confused, okay?"
"Haha, I'm just messing with you. I'd be more worried if you weren't confused."
"Yeah, s'pose. Anyway, I just wanted to show you, show you they are safe. What I'm not sure about, and this has been bugging me for days now, is how to get rid of them."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, just how the hell do we stop them from popping up again? Look, all of this started with Tellan, with a different me in bed when you woke up, then he came again... Ugh, anyway, look, the damn Hexad just appeared, and they keep on appearing, so even if we got rid of these, doesn't that mean that as soon as we go back to our own time then in that future it will just happen all over again and they will still be sat there, buried in the garden, waiting to be dug up?"
"Dale!"
"What?"
"Now you've got me more confused than ever. I don't know, I don't know about any of it. All I know is we have to stop this, stop it for good, make it so there has never been a damn Hexad, ever. But you're right, they keep turning up, and the whole paradox of them coming to us at all ends in a stupid loop of nonsense with no end in sight. This is why we keep getting in one mess or another. We are stuck in this with no way to stop it."
"This isn't right, something isn't making sense. Come on."
"What, already?"
"Yeah, right now. But first we have to do something."
"What?" Amanda was worried. Dale had a funny look, like he'd made up his mind and she wouldn't like what that signified.
"We're going home."
Before she had the chance to ask more, Dale set the Hexad, held out his arm for her, and with a "Whooooooooooooooooooosh," they jumped.
Damn Cat
Present Day
"Wozzy!" Amanda had to admit it, she had missed the little dude.
He swaggered across the kitchen, legs wide to accommodate his prized jewels as though he was immensely proud of his somewhat oversized testicles and wanted everyone to know it.
Amanda bent and scooped him up, gave him a hug and snuggled into his fur like he was a soft pillow. Wozzy purred happily, nestling to get under her chin.
"Blimey, the little man really missed you."
"Yeah, he's a little cutie, aren't you, Wozzy? Eh? Eh? Good boy. Argh, bugger, get him off! Get him off!" Amanda tried to prize Wozzy away from her but his claws caught on her neck, the skin pulling tight as she attempted to dislodge him. Wozzy finally retracted his claws and she dropped him to the floor. He sauntered over to the fridge and meowed loudly, expecting milk for being so good.
"Ha, same old Wozzy."
"The little sod. At least he's still here, which is something. I was half expecting us to just land somewhere where everything is different. Think this is, you know, really home?"
"No, it can't be, can it? We didn't have a cat, remember?"
Amanda stared off into the distance, letting Dale's words filter through the fog of confusion her life had become. "Yeah, you're right. I think. Unless..."
"Just don't worry about it. We're home, it's the present, and everything will be fine."
"Is it the present though? How does that work? How long have we been gone?"
"It doesn't matter. Anyway, looks like Peter has been taking care of things here. I'm amazed the place isn't in more of a mess."
Amanda looked around the kitchen. Dale was right — Peter had been looking after Wozzy while they were away, and that would mean he'd probably stayed over, eaten all the food and she expected the kitchen to be piled high with dirty dishes, but it was surprisingly clean. The table was wiped down, the counters almost tidy, and there were only a couple of plates in the sink to wash.
"Do you think he's okay? Peter isn't known for his hygiene."
"Maybe he's just being good as he knows we will be back at some point and doesn't want to leave a mess?"
Amanda stared at Dale, waiting for him to admit the truth.
"Okay, you're right, this isn't like him at all. Maybe he hasn't been for a while?"
"Oh my god, oh my god!" Amanda stared in horror at the sight that greeted her in the living room. No wonder the kitchen was so tidy.
Dale dashed to her side, looking worried, and put an arm on her shoulder to comfort her and jump if needed. "Bloody hell. Well, at least it isn't Laffer, but, um, wow, what the hell has he been doing?"
"Making a mighty mess, that's what. What's wrong with him? How can he live like this?"
"You've seen his house, he's just a bit of a messy bugger."
Amanda turned to Dale to see if he was being serious. "A bit of a messy bugger, are you joking? Look at my living room! Where's the table? I can hardly see it under all the mess." Amanda stared at the nightmare that was the living room, the only saving grace was he'd clearly stuck to the rules concerning no shoes anywhere but the kitchen.
Remembering her own rule, she slipped of her Converse and made her way across the carpet, managing to circumvent the pile of bedding strewn across the floor like some kind of nightmare day after the sleepover from hell and opened the window to let some fresh air into the stale room. It stank of curry, pizza, sweaty feet, and other things she didn't even want to think about — Peter had clearly not been expecting them home quite yet.
There were clothes strewn over the backs of chairs, cushions seemed to have done something very bad so as punishment Peter had flung them across the room at random, further humiliating them by throwing dirty socks on top to make them really suffer. Underpants hung off the back of the sofa along with shirts and jeans, and he appeared to have been trying to make some kind of den out of all the bedding.
That was nothing compared to the chaos that spread from the sofa where he'd seemingly spent the majority of his time. The coffee table was lost beneath piles of dirty plates, cutlery, mugs not on coasters, and boxes of takeaway, lids open, half eaten contents congealing like he was trying to breed new life forms. Stacks of burger wrappers had toppled where it looked like he had tried to build towers, cartons had plastic forks stuck in the top, decorated with hard strings of chow mein, and he'd clearly been trying to set a world record for eating the most fish and chips in a week judging by the greasy paper that revealed pieces of soggy batter and more salt than could be healthy for the whole country, let alone a single man.