by Ashlee Price
I grab the brush from the dresser. “Who are you and what did you do to me? Where is this place?”
He puts his hands up. “Careful. You don’t want to kill me with that thing.”
I look at the brush and frown. Then I exchange it for the pair of scissors.
“Whoa.” The man steps back. “Now, that’s a more painful death right there.”
I step forward. “Answer my questions. Who are you?”
“Travis Freeman.”
The name doesn’t ring a bell.
I point the tip of the scissors at his throat. “What did you do to me? Why do I look like this?”
Travis shrugs. “Like what?”
“What is this? Some reality show, or some sick experiment? How the…?”
I’m unable to finish my sentence, because Travis suddenly moves behind me. He places one arm around me so that my arm is pinned against my side. Then he grabs my wrist with his other hand and twists it just painfully enough so that the scissors slip from my fingers.
“Ouch,” I complain as the scissors fall to the floor.
I prepare to hurl even more complaints, but they all evaporate as I realize his arm is pressing against my unprotected breasts through the thin cotton.
I push him away and cross my arms over my chest. “How dare you?”
“I wouldn’t be ashamed about them if I were you,” he says as he picks up the pair of scissors from the floor. “I’ve seen less flattering versions.”
My eyes grow wide. “You saw them?”
“And touched them,” Travis adds nonchalantly as he spins the scissors around.
I grit my teeth. “That’s sexual harassment! I’ll sue you for this.”
“Sue him for what?”
An older man who looks like he’s in his late fifties enters the room.
“Ah, Phil,” Travis greets him as he puts the scissors down on the dresser. “How good of you to join us.”
I turn to him. “Are you the one in charge?”
He shrugs. “I suppose so.”
“I want to speak to a lawyer right now.”
“A lawyer?” He gives me a puzzled look. “But, child, I don’t think we…”
“And I want a phone so I can call my parents.”
“We don’t have reception,” Travis says.
What? “Then I want someone to give me a ride home right now. Or I’ll call the cops.”
“But you don’t have a phone,” Travis reminds me.
“Quit fucking with me!” I shout at him. “I want to go home right now!”
“And where is home, exactly?” the old man asks.
“Pasadena,” I answer.
Travis’s eyebrows furrow. “California?”
“Yes, genius,” I tell him.
“But…”
The old man lifts a finger and he falls silent. Ah, so he knows how to keep quiet after all.
“Child, what year were you born?” he asks me.
“2017,” I answer.
That I remember, too.
“And what year do you think it is now?”
“2038.”
He looks at Travis, whose jaw has just dropped.
“What?” I ask curiously.
The old man exhales. “It’s 2045, child.”
I cover my mouth as a gasp comes out. My other hand grips the footboard of the bed as my knees weaken and wobble.
What on earth?
Chapter 7
Travis
“The newcomer, Grace Dawson, has no recollection of the past seven years,” Phil informs the Hope Creek town council at the town hall.
Their placid, blank expressions instantly become painted with various emotions.
Shock. Disbelief. Confusion.
I felt the same way just a while ago, and I still find it hard to believe that someone could forget the Icebreaker.
I tuck my hands into the pockets of my jeans as I lean against the wall.
Then again, everything about today has been unbelievable. First, I found Grace—with Toby’s help—and I brought her to Hope Creek. That makes her the first outsider to be brought to Hope Creek since I myself was taken in six years ago. Then I had to clean her up. I hadn’t touched a woman since Angie passed away, and I still haven’t been able to cast the images from my memory. Now, I’ve learned Grace has a huge memory gap.
How much crazier can this day get?
Eileen Robard, who used to be the principal at Hope Creek High, speaks up. “Just to be clear, are you saying the outsider has amnesia?”
“Yes,” Nancy answers for her husband. “But her memory loss only covers the past seven years, which incidentally happens to be the time after the Icebreaker.”
Incidentally? More like conveniently, I think to myself. I’m sure a lot of people would like to forget the past seven years.
“I have a few theories as to how such a thing could have come about,” Nancy goes on.
“Let’s hear them,” says Anthony Dwayne, formerly the wealthiest man in Hope Creek.
Nancy nods and clears her throat. “The first theory is that she could have suffered a head injury and been in a coma for the past seven years. That means she must be a Pioneer, because they’re the only ones with life support equipment capable of sustaining a person in coma for that long.”
“But why throw her out of the city, then?” asks Jerry Hamilton, the Mayor.
Nancy shrugs. “Maybe someone decided to pull the plug and threw her out to die. It could have been a family member who had given up hope or someone else who thought she wasn’t worth keeping on life support.”
“You’re saying this could have been attempted homicide?” asks Daniel Wilson, Hope Creek’s Chief of Police.
Nancy nods. “No one ever said all the Pioneers get along.”
I nod too. I’ve seen up close how members of powerful families fight among themselves for even more power.
“Another possibility is that the coma might have been induced, not the result of an injury,” Nancy adds. “Maybe some of the Pioneers were put to sleep while they were in space, to conserve resources, and maybe some didn’t wake up. The outcome would have been the same in any case.”
“Basically, you’re saying theory one is that Grace was in a coma,” I sum up all that Nancy has just said.
She looks at me. “Well, my second theory involves a coma, too, but a more recent one which caused her brain to wipe out all the events from the run-up to the Icebreaker until now. It’s possible, theoretically, but not all that likely.”
“And the third theory?” Eileen asks.
Nancy leans forward. “What if after the Icebreaker, she suffered depression and even catatonia? Even Pioneers have lost loved ones. What if she suddenly found herself all alone and the trauma was too much?”
“Are you suggesting she completely repressed her memories?” Anthony asks.
Nancy shakes her head. “No. I don’t think that’s possible. But it is possible the Pioneers could have come up with a way to delete those memories as a therapy.”
Jerry’s eyes grow wide. “Are you saying that the Pioneers have a machine that deletes memories? The thought makes me shudder.”
I shrug. “Who knows what they’ve come up with? They have the most brilliant minds and all the resources, not to mention no laws to follow.”
“It’s just a theory,” Nancy says. “It could be useful for some medical purposes. But if that’s what happened, I don’t understand why they tossed her out after.”
“Maybe they wanted one less Pioneer,” Jerry says.
“Or maybe they thought the procedure wasn’t successful,” Phil suggests. “The Pioneers aren’t exactly tolerant of failure.”
I glance at him. He should know. He’s one of them. Well, he would have been if he hadn’t resigned before the Icebreaker.
“Alright, we have theories about what happened to this Grace,” Anthony says. “But they don’t really matter, do they? What matters now is what we do with her.”
&n
bsp; “Are you suggesting we toss her out just like the city did?” Eileen looks at him in horror. “We can’t do that.”
“Calm down, Eileen,” Phil tells her. “No one is saying that. And I also think we shouldn’t do that.”
“You’re saying we should let her stay?” Jerry asks. “Even though she could be a Pioneer?”
“An ex-Pioneer,” Phil corrects him. “Yes, I’m saying we should let her stay. There’s enough room in Hope Creek for one more, and since she doesn’t remember the past seven years, including how she got here, she won’t tell anyone our secret. She doesn’t even have to know it.”
“We won’t tell her about the dome?” I ask with eyebrows creased as I fold my arms over my chest. “About the Icebreaker?”
“I don’t see why we should,” Phil answers. “At least not right away.”
“You’re saying we won’t let her leave?” Anthony asks. “Because that and letting her stay are not quite the same.”
Phil exhales. “Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”
“What if she has family looking for her?” Eileen asks.
“I highly doubt that,” Nancy answers.
So do I. Since the Icebreaker, few families have stayed intact, and those that haven’t don’t waste time looking for each other. They’re too busy trying to survive.
“I don’t mind it,” Anthony says. “But where will she stay?”
“You have plenty of spare rooms, don’t you?” Jerry asks him.
“No,” Phil says. “Grace won’t stay with Anthony. If we want her not to leave, we have to make her believe she belongs here. We have to give her a family, or at least someone.”
My eyebrows go up at that suggestion.
“You’re saying we’ll give her a new identity?” Nancy asks. “As a Hope Creek local?”
Phil smiles at her. “My dear, you’ve always been able to read my mind.”
“So you’re saying you’ll rewrite the past seven years?” Eileen asks.
“Why not, Eileen? A lot of us would love to,” Anthony replies. “So what new identity will we give her?”
“Given the likelihood that she could be fertile, we should make her someone’s wife,” Phil says.
“A baby in Hope Creek?” Eileen gasps as her face lights up.
“You’re forgetting that being fertile and being able to give birth to a live, healthy baby are two different things,” I point out.
“We’re not,” Nancy says. “But remember, Travis, she was once a Pioneer. She could be different.”
I say nothing.
“So whose wife will she be?” Jerry asks curiously. “There are a lot of widowers in Hope Creek.”
“Travis’s, of course,” Phil answers. “He was the one who found her, after all.”
My heart stops as all heads turn to me.
I shake my head. “Phil, if you’re joking, this isn’t funny.”
“Do I look like I’m joking?” Phil asks.
No. He does not, which means he must have gone crazy. Maybe all these years of inventing and maintaining cutting-edge technology have finally gone to his head.
“No way.” I shake my head again. “I can’t take a wife. I…”
“You need someone to help out at your farm, don’t you?” Jerry asks.
“Yes, but…”
“All in favor of having Grace live in Hope Creek as Travis’s wife, raise your hand,” Phil interrupts.
All hands in the room go up except mine.
“It’s done,” Phil tells me with a grin. “Congratulations, Travis. You’re finally a married man.”
~
“You can’t do this.” I approach Phil once we’re all alone in the town hall. “I can’t do this.”
“Why not?” Phil doesn’t even look up from the sheets of paper he’s reading.
I place my hands on my hips. “Well, because she’s an outsider.”
“You brought her in,” he points out.
“Not to marry her. I barely know her.”
“Really?” He sits back in his chair. “Nancy tells me you’re already acquainted.”
I frown. “Yeah, she almost killed me.”
“Because she doesn’t know you’re her husband. Once she does, I’m sure she’ll change her mind about you.”
“Really?” I pull out the chair next to his and sit back with my arms folded over my chest. “Because I have a feeling that she’s very strong-minded.”
“Then she’s just your type.”
I fall silent.
Phil glances at me. “That’s the real reason you’re so against this, isn’t it? Because of Angie.”
I draw a deep breath at the sound of her name.
Phil shakes his head. “Travis, it’s been three years.”
“The Icebreaker has been over for two years, but have we recovered?”
“Are you seriously comparing Angie’s death to a…?”
“Cataclysm?” I finish the sentence for him. “Yes, because that’s how it felt for me.”
I get out of my chair and grip the back of it as I look at the floor.
“Angie,” I say her name with a lump in my throat, “was my world.”
“And you think my children weren’t mine?” Phil asks.
I look at him.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t feel their absence,” he goes on. “And yet, if only Nancy and I could still have children, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
“That’s your decision,” I tell him.
“Sometimes we need other people to make important decisions for us because we’re too scared to make them ourselves.”
I sigh. “Now you sound like an old man.”
“I am an old man,” he acknowledges.
My gaze goes back to the floor. “I’m not scared, just… not ready.”
“And do you think the world will wait for you? Do you think the world cares?”
“Not the world, but I thought Hope Creek would.”
“Hope Creek is dying, Travis.” He throws the sheets of paper he’s holding on the table. “Every day the dome gets older, and every day I wonder how long it will last, how long Hope Creek will stay safe and hidden, how long we can live in peace before we’re scampering for survival just like everyone else. Each day that no child is born in Hope Creek, hope and life fade.”
“There is no guarantee that Grace can have a child.”
“There is a chance.” Phil stands up. “And in these times, a chance is all we hope for, all we live for.”
“So you want me to be Grace’s husband just so I can get her pregnant?” I ask him. “Just so Hope Creek can have children? I’m to be some kind of stud?”
He shakes his head. “You know that’s not all.”
I give him a puzzled look. “Do I?”
“Martin made me promise I’d help you get back on your feet,” Phil confesses.
I blink. Angie’s father did that?
“You know he treated you like his own son,” Phil continues. “And he saw how Angie’s death hit you the hardest. He was worried about you.”
I touch my chin and say nothing.
I don’t know what to say. I never knew…
“Grace came to Hope Creek for a reason.” Phil touches my arm. “Who knows? Maybe it’s to give us all hope, you most of all.”
I point a finger at my chest. “Me?”
He pats my shoulder. “Not too many people get a chance to live again after the Icebreaker. Not too many people get a future. You have that chance, that future.” He squeezes my shoulder. “Don’t throw them away for something that’s already out of your grasp.”
He says nothing more as he gathers his things, and I can’t seem to find anything more to say either. After he leaves, I sit on a chair and bury my face in my hands.
Okay. I guess I’m taking Grace as my wife. And just when I thought things couldn’t get crazier.
I sigh as I let my hands fall onto my lap.
I just hope Grace is the marrying kind.
&n
bsp; Chapter 8
Grace
“We’re married?” My eyes nearly pop out of their sockets after Travis gives me the news.
Travis gives me a wide grin from his chair across the room. “I know, I know, it’s too good to be true. Even I can’t believe it sometimes.”
I shake my head. “I would have remembered.”
“Um, you can’t remember anything from the last seven years, remember? You hit your head when you fell out of a tree.”
Right. My memory isn’t reliable at the moment. Still…
I keep shaking my head. “You’re kidding. This is another cruel joke.”
“A joke?” He lifts his hands. “Is that what you think of our marriage? I’m offended.”
I say nothing as I walk towards the window with my hands on my hips.
Really? I’m married? And to this guy? This… hunk?
Impossible.
Then again, I’ve just learned that seven years have passed of which I have no memory, so impossible is a bit of a flexible concept right now.
Still, I got married?
I glance at my empty finger. “Where’s my wedding ring, then?”
“Um, we pawned our rings,” Travis answers.
He holds up his hand for me to see.
“See, I don’t have my ring, either.”
My eyebrows bunch up. “Who pawns their wedding rings?”
“Us.” He folds his arms over his chest. “We’re not exactly rich, sweetheart.”
I look at my hand again. Well, I do have the mark from a ring, though not on the ring finger.
“My ring…”
“We exchanged rings and mine was too big for you,” Travis explains.
I glance at my wrists and hold them up. “And these marks?”
He gives me a mischievous grin. “Do you really want me to explain in detail?”
I blush and hide my hands behind me.
Wait. I’m into that? No way.
I narrow my eyes at Travis. “You expect me to believe you?”
“You certainly vowed to at the altar.”
My eyebrows furrow as I place my hands on my hips. “I didn’t know the words ‘I promise to believe you’ were included in wedding vows.”
“We made our own,” Travis tells me.
“Really?” I place my hands on my hips. “And what exactly did I say?”