Paradigm (Travelers Series Book 3)

by Lefeve, Claudia

I hear muffled voiced coming from the foyer and after few minutes pass, I can detect two sets of footsteps as she walks back into the kitchen with Cooper in tow.

  “What are you doing here?” My surprise over seeing Cooper walk into the kitchen couldn’t be more blatant. I think even my jaw dropped. How’d he track me down here? Forget the case of the jumps, call me shocked.

  “This young man says he’s here to clear up some things,” Maggie says, looking unsure as to why he’s here.

  I’ve warmed up to the idea that there are things beyond my control. The fact that I’m sitting in my aunt’s home is proof of that, so while I’m surprised to see him here, I can’t very well get too upset that Cooper’s followed me. I’d like to get some answers. The first being how he knew to find me here.

  “How did you know I was here?”

  He shrugs, as if it’s no big deal. “I told you. I’m from the future. It’s kind of a long story, but I knew you were here because I knew where to find you.”

  See? Riddles. That makes absolutely no sense, but whatever. “I’m not even going to pretend I understand any of this, so you might as well try and explain. You’ve obviously left some things out, and you’re not leaving until I get some answers.”

  “Fair enough. May I?” He points to the kitchen table.

  Maggie ushers him to the table where I’m seated. “Please. Why don’t I go into the next room so you can have some privacy?”

  “No, Maggie, you stay here.” It’s her place, after all. Besides, even though I feel as if this conversation has played out before, I want another set of ears to help me sort all this out. It’s not like she doesn’t already know about the alternate reality part. Another wave of déjà vu hits as I stare into Cooper’s eyes, the second time this week. “Okay, so spill.”

  He looks over to me and then to Maggie. “Looks like you’ve reconnected with your aunt.”

  “Yeah, well, it would have been nicer if you had forewarned me.”

  “Things aren’t always easy, especially when it comes to you, darlin’.”

  There’s no doubt there’s some sort of chemistry between us, but I fight the urge to find him charming and sexy as hell, which of course, I obviously do. “And what’s up with that, anyway? Why do you insist on calling me that?”

  Cooper shrugs. “Habit. You don’t seem to mind it so much in the future.”

  “Well, we’re here now in the present,” I grumble, still not relenting to his charms.

  “Touché. Now that we’ve got all that cleared up, where would you like me to start?”

  I didn’t think it be this easy getting answers from Cooper, but I have a feeling we’ve done this before. “Why don’t you start from the top?”

  “As I told you back at the coffee shop, you’re not from this reality. You were brought here as a young girl by your father to protect you –”

  “Wait,” I interrupt. “Maggie said earlier my father is dead.” She told me he died in the same plane crash that took the Etta and her mom from this reality. Wouldn’t my real father from my own reality have met the same fate? I look over to her for confirmation, as she nods in response. I can tell she’s trying to keep out of this discussion. Which is probably a good idea as Cooper tends to talk and answer in riddles.

  “Unfortunately he is. In both realities.” He can see the confusion on my face, so he continues. “The Victor Fleming from this reality died in a plane crash along with Etta and her mother. The Victor from your true reality died several years back.”

  “Oh.” For a second, I was a bit hopeful that I would be able to reunited with my parents in my other reality. That is, if I believe him and chose to go back. I’m slowly starting to get used to the idea of alternate worlds and if I’ve already traveled to this reality, I guess I hoped I could go back to my real one. “And my mother?”

  “I’m afraid she’s gone too. She died in the same plane crash in that reality as she did in this one.”

  Seems like I was right. History repeats itself, even if it’s in another universe. I wonder why it was only my mother that died in the other reality. I decide to save the tougher questions about my family for later. I don’t know if I can handle the answers to those just yet.

  “So what else? I’m brought to this reality and now what? Why are you here exactly?”

  Cooper shuffled in his seat. “That’s where things gets complicated.”

  “Like it’s not already?” Okay, Etta, enough with giving him a hard time. “Sorry. Go on with what you were saying.”

  Undeterred by my childish behavior, he continues. “It’s the timeline shift I told you about before. At first, when you were seventeen and still living at Dominion House for Girls, I went to retrieve you in order to take you back to your rightful world. Everything was set back into place, but then the timeline got skewed. You stayed in this reality and now here we are.”

  “That’s what you were doing all those years ago? Trying to get me to go back with you?” Boy, things would totally have turned out differently if I had. I don’t know if things would have been for the better, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t intrigued by the prospect of leading a different life these last four years. “And you’re saying that in another reality, I actually did go back with you.” Yeah, it’s complicated, all right.

  “Yes. It was only when you didn’t come with me that timeline shifted. Since you never went with me, this reality, not to mention your true reality, have been altered. I don’t know what happened to make you change your mind, but you did. So now here I am, trying to set the past right.”

  I don’t really remember anything specific about that day except for when Cooper came and asked me to leave Battle Grounds with him. Only I didn’t know then that what he meant was to leave with him for good. There really isn’t anything else I remember after that. Except Jaime. She showed up right as he was trying to convince me to go. Then she proceeded to lecture me about meeting up with him.

  After a brief glimpse back into the past, I finally speak. “So you still want to take me back. But why?”

  Both my parents are dead in that reality. There really isn’t any incentive for me to want to go back now. If I’m to accept everything at face value, which isn’t easy by the way, this is my life now. I can’t just decide to pick up and leave everything I know and love behind.

  “Because everything ties into the reason you were sent here in the first place.”

  “And that would be?”

  “Oliver Thornberry. He was your father’s partner in a new field of psionic study. Testing the extrasensory abilities in children. Later on, your father stumbled into time-travel while at the same time Thornberry became ruthless in his pursuit to change the world. You got caught in the crossfire and so your father brought you here. You were the key to everything.”

  It’s an improper moment, I know, but I burst out laughing. “That sounds like a really bad storyline for a series pilot that doesn’t even get picked up. What you just said makes absolutely no sense. Psionics? I don’t even know what that means.”

  “You should. You have the ability of telekinesis and astral projection. Those are psionic or rather, paranormal abilities.”

  My attention quickly shifts towards Maggie. I’m completely horrified that she now knows my secret. One I’ve spent my whole life trying to suppress. I slowly get up from my seat and back away from where he’s seated at the table. One thing I learned from working in a law office, not to mention watching countless legal shows, is to deny everything.

  The last thing I want is for her to know about my time in foster care. All of the disciplinary actions against me because I was considered a troubled kid. None of that was really my fault, but every time I was afraid or felt threatened, people got hurt. So I’m well aware of the freak powers Cooper’s talking about, but I’ll be damned if I ruin this new relationship with her over her knowledge of it.

  I turn my attention back to Cooper. “You’re out of your mind. Literally. I’m willing to believe your whol
e story about alternate universes, but psychic powers?” I’m sure he knows I’m lying, but there’s no way I’m going to admit my freakiness, especially in front of Maggie. What if she wants nothing to do with me once she hears about my weird ability? So, for now, it’s just deny, deny, deny.

  But I’ve already signed on the dotted line, haven’t I? Somewhere along the way, I developed these powers that I’d managed to hide over the years. What he’s saying scares the crap out of me, and I’m not sure I want to hear the rest of it. To find out my father has something to do with it is more information than I bargained for. And astral projection? I know I can’t do that. Moving objects sure, but transporting myself onto another plane? Ridiculous.

  “I already know you’re well aware of your abilities, but I’ll humor you. The reason I’m here is to ensure you fulfill your destiny. You are the leader of the rebellion that will take down Thornberry. It is your leadership that will ultimately lead us to destroying him and recouping the world that he destroyed. We’re years behind schedule in getting you prepared, but since we can’t do this without you, there’s no time like the present.”

  This is way too much information, but I’m thankful he dropped the whole telekinesis part of the conversation. Why can’t he leave it at, “Hey, you’re from another reality and that nice lady over there is your aunt?”

  “I know it’s a lot to digest, but yeah, there’s a lot more to it than that,” he says, as if he can read my thoughts.

  I straighten my back, hoping to look a little more intimidating. “This isn’t my house, but I’m sure Maggie won’t mind if I ask you to leave. Everything was fine until you reappeared. My life is finally beginning to get on track, I have a great boyfriend, and I love my job. Why are you trying to ruin my life?”

  I talk a good game, but why do I do this? I don’t mean any of it, but why do I always feel the need to act so tough? Usually people chalk up my stone exterior to my growing up in foster care. Hell, I even let them think that, but in reality, and if I’m honest with myself, it’s because I’m scared.

  “I was afraid, but not exactly surprised by your reaction, and I can’t force you to do anything you’re not ready for, but might I suggest you keep your options open? In the next couple of days, you’ll be meeting the acquaintance of three of my… make that, three of our friends. If I can’t convince you, maybe they can.”

  My snort can be heard clear across the room. Thankfully, Maggie stands silently on the other side of the kitchen and doesn’t interfere by letting me know just how much of a brat I’m being. “Oh, I get it. You will be haunted by three spirits,” I mimic my best ghoul voice.

  Cooper smiles, apparently amused by my obnoxious behavior. “You warned me you’d have this kind of response, but I’ll go if it’ll make you feel better.” He stands up, ready to take his leave, but before he takes off, he leans in and whispers in my ear. “Dig down deep and remember why that particular story is your favorite.”

  What, Dickens? Because it inspires hope in others, I think to myself. I sit there, momentarily stunned by his last admission. It’s true that it is one of my favorites, but how in the world does he know that?

  It was a conversation that lasted maybe minutes, but seemed like an eternity.

  • • •

  I decide to cut the evening short at Maggie’s after I promise her I won’t be a stranger. I totally want to spend more time with her now that she’s in my life, not to mention some alone time with the pile of my father’s paperwork. So I’ll be back to visit sooner than she thinks.

  Maggie drops me off in front of my small apartment, with a bag full of delicious homemade pastries—of course—and I wave goodbye as she drives off once I open the front door. I stall long enough to see her turn past the stop sign and I re-lock the door. There’s somewhere I have to go first before I turn in for the evening.

  If my hunch is right, I know Cooper will be waiting for me at Battle Grounds. Even after I kicked him out of Maggie’s home, I still know he’ll be there. He said it himself that he knows my whereabouts, because he’s from the future, right? So I play on my internal instincts and walk the few short blocks towards the coffee shop.

  The bell that announces a new customer chimes as I walk through the shop door. I scope out the place, immediately sensing his presence. Cooper waves from one of the two-person tables and already has a cup of steaming coffee ready for me, hence his lack of surprise seeing me walk through the door.

  “Guess my hunch was right on the money. Do you always know where I am?” I say as I take a seat beside him.

  “No. Only certain points in time, like now and back at your aunt’s.”

  I’ll probably never get a clear answer as to how he always knows where to find me, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. “I’ve been thinking. About what you said earlier.”

  “There were a lot of things I said. Care to refresh my memory, darlin’?”

  Ugh! How can he be so smug and incredibly hot at the same time? Sitting so close to him, I’m able to take his scent in. Licorice and cloves. It’s how I remembered him all this time. It got to where I can’t walk into one of those bath and beauty stores without thinking of him.

  “The part about the timeline getting off track.”

  A frown forms and his eyes get all crinkly. “I wish I could tell you more, but that’s the one thing I don’t have a definitive answer on. It’s the one thing we don’t know.”

  “Is it even important? I mean, what’s done is done right?” Isn’t it? Maybe the fact that something or someone interfered isn’t as important as I first thought a couple of minutes before. I mean, there’s nothing we can do about the fact that I spent four more years in this reality longer than I needed to be.

  He ponders the question. “If someone made it a point to keep you from coming with me, knowing full well where I was taking you, I’d say, yeah, it’s important. It doesn’t change what happened, but at least we’d know how to avoid any other future obstacles.”

  Cooper’s got a point. “But it’s kinda pointless though, right? I mean, I have no idea who would possibly have a reason for me to doubt you.”

  Except for one person and it’s been nagging me in the back of my mind, but I shelve the thought for another time. Right now, I try to concentrate on what Cooper is saying.

  “Not necessarily. Besides, if we want to get back on track, we don’t need anyone getting in the way of you coming with me this time around.”

  “Whoa, wait a second,” I say. “What makes you think I’ve agreed to go back to the future with you? I’ll admit, I’m slowly beginning to adjust to the idea that I’m not from this reality and that someone purposely got in the way of me going back to my real one, but that’s history. I don’t see any reason why I need to go with you now.”

  He smiles that wondrous smile of his, except it’s like he’s got a secret. “Still need convincing, huh? Well, I suppose getting you to admit to your past makes it one out of two. Now I just need to get you on board with the program.”

  Maybe so. I don’t think he’d go through this much trouble just to succumb to my stubbornness. But there’s still a lot of things I have to consider before I go anywhere with him. Like, find out what my father was really up to and who stopped me from going back to my real reality all those years ago. If I can figure those things out, perhaps I’m willing to consider Cooper’s offer.

  He rises up from his chair. “I meant what I said at your aunt’s house.”

  “What part?”

  “About calling for reinforcements. If you won’t listen to me, then you’re going to have to trust in your friends to convince you.”

  The three ghosts.

  Chapter Ten

  This Reality Bites

  Present Reality

  Audrey wasn’t kidding about having me working from home. She emailed me this morning—with my new eStorm tablet that I’m starting to think is more of a curse than a gift—asking me if I wouldn’t mind checking the office inbox. So he
re I am, staring at countless emails in my inbox. If my curt replies to clients gets me in trouble, she can always yell at me come Monday. I have other things on my mind.

  An entire Saturday is wasted doing Audrey’s bidding—I might have to reassess my earlier opinion of her—and trying to regurgitate everything that not only Cooper has said, but my Aunt Maggie. Never in a million years did I think I’d ever be part of a family, and yet, now I have one. On some level, I know she’s not really my aunt—at least not in this reality . The little girl who died in the crash is her real niece, but just the same, Maggie’s the only family I’ve got.

  It’s just after three in the afternoon, and I don’t want to spend another second doing work stuff. I make the executive decision that some serious vegging out is in order. There’s nothing like some quality television viewing to take my mind off things. I do a quick check to make sure I don’t have any unanswered texts or messages on my cell and plop myself on the couch.

  And at the most inconvenient time, my cable goes out. I’m pretty good about keeping my expenses low, but cable television is my one major splurge, aside from coffee. Since I don’t have the means to go on fancy vacations, it’s TV shows and books for me. Fortunately for me, the library is free, so I’m just barely able afford to pay the exorbitant cable bill. Now it’s on the fritz, and right before the Fringe marathon is about to start. It’s been off the air for years, but every once in awhile, they play re-runs on syndication. I realize the irony in watching a show about alternate realities, but perhaps it will provide some much-needed perspective.

  I keep playing with the connector and box until I ultimately give up. Not knowing how else to go about fixing it, I call the cable company. Maybe they can reboot the signal or something. After being on hold for what seems like forever, they tell me that they have to send over one of their techs the following morning.

  What are my options? I can call Jaime or Alex since watching television is out, but I hold off on calling either of them. I’m afraid that if I reach out to them, I’ll have second thoughts about everything that’s happened so far. I can always reach out to Maggie, but right now, that’ll only result in me having more questions.