Fir Lodge

by Sean McMahon

  ‘Well, let’s do this thing then,’ she said, standing up and dusting off the imaginary dirt that hadn’t adhered to her out-of-phase legs, and making her way to the presumably-fluctuating breach in reality that would trigger the next restart.

  Hal stood up, taking a single step towards the boundary-line of their permissible existence, then stopped, turning to face Kara.

  ‘You know what, it really is a beautiful day,’ said Hal, noticing that even the fog wasn’t as noticeable when mixed with the direct sunlight.

  Kara agreed with a casual shrug.

  ‘Maybe we just sit this one out today?’ said Hal. ‘Take a walk to the lake, and you can tell me how you and Greg met? You’ve never really gone into that much detail before.’

  As her eyes welled up, she hugged him with all she had, generating a huge spike of electricity that forced them apart.

  ‘Ouch,’ said Hal. ‘What was that for?’

  ‘I’d love that,’ said Kara, wiping a lone tear from her cheek.

  Not for the first time, Hal wondered how they could generate such a large feedback of electricity when they were so far away from their considerably more-alive past selves. He thought back to the three things he had observed, just before Kara had triggered the last restart.

  “Variable Number Two…” he thought to himself.

  The Restarters turned around, leaving the barrier that separated their timeline from that of the outside world behind them.

  As they made their way to the nearest lake, Kara began telling Hal everything about the past six months of her life, with added details that she had never told anyone before. Just two friends catching up, with not so much as a whisper about time-dilation, flutterby-effects, or their plans for manipulating their self-contained pocket of space-time.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Lodge This

  13th Restart – Friday Afternoon, 12:17pm

  The scales that were balancing both the list of things Hal and Kara did and did not know experienced a notable rebalancing, as Kara uttered three, simple words.

  ‘It wasn’t Kevin,’ said Kara.

  They were sitting on the grass that ran along the edge of the rear garden of Fir Lodge, not wanting to have to move or be disturbed. Hal had seen it too, but was waiting for her to be ready before broaching the subject. They had been on completely the wrong track by assuming their dilemma had been caused by something Kevin had either done, or was doing. They had felt uneasy when in his presence, but now they knew it was more due to their lives being interconnected with him in a way they could never have imagined.

  ‘Yeah. Not Kevin,’ said Hal, who was both lost in his own thoughts, and giving Kara the space she needed to steer the conversation in whatever direction helped her come to terms with things the most.

  ‘So now we know. All this…’ said Kara, lifting her arms and gesturing out towards the huge garden, to Fir Lodge, and up into the sky. ‘It’s all fake. It isn’t real. Just a snapshot of time we’ve fabricated as some kind of coping mechanism, until we finally decide to…let go.’

  Her eyes welled up, and she suppressed the burning in her throat by coughing forcefully. Hal flicked open his cigarette box and offered her one of his newly-printed three smokes. She fumbled with the box and grabbed one, as Hal chucked her his lighter, then took one for himself.

  As they stared out across the large garden at the faint mist that was haunting them with increasing vigour from restart to restart, Hal exhaled the artificial smoke and offered a counter-argument.

  ‘I don’t think that’s true, Kar’. It’s real. This place, our friends, all of it,’ said Hal, clearly gearing up for another one of his patent-pending mic-drop moments. ‘And I’m going to prove it to you,’ he added, jumping up and extended his hand, offering to pull her up.

  She scoffed, and pulled herself up, not wishing to be electrocuted.

  ‘I’ve had just about all the shocks I can handle for a while, but thanks. So, where are we going?’ asked Kara. But Hal was already off, heading back up the garden, and taking the side-exit to the driveway.

  ‘Urgh. Such a drama queen,’ she said, addressing Hal’s past-self as he sat on their bench, completely oblivious to her presence. She sighed, and set off after her fellow restarter.

  *

  After about fifteen minutes of walking, he turned around to face her, and began to make his point.

  ‘This bubble of time we’re in, it extends all the way to the boundary line. Acres and acres of land, right?’ he said, stopping at a literal crossroads, pointing in the general direction of the time-barrier that was situated over a mile away in the opposite direction to where they were heading.

  The dirt road before them split into four directions, large logs acting as dividers between the road and the surrounding forest. ‘You ever been down any of these roads?’ he asked her, in a playfully challenging tone.

  ‘You know I haven’t,’ she said, staring at him with a suspicious glare.

  ‘Right? Neither of us have,’ said Hal. ‘We arrived here two days ago, relatively speaking, and we spent most of our time at the lodge.’

  He recounted how they had originally driven in from the other end of the lakes, where Kara had discovered the portal that acted as a restart-point. They were working on the assumption that the barrier surrounded the entirety of Pentney Lakes.

  ‘But we’ve been here, what…twenty-six days now? If we include every restart,’ said Hal, taking much longer than it would have taken Kara to work out the maths. ‘And we’ve never headed off in this direction. There hasn’t been a need to come here.’

  Kara held up her hands, as if to indicate she was waiting for the big reveal.

  ‘Let’s go. Try and keep up,’ said Hal, as he set off at a sprint, choosing at random to head off down the road veering left.

  ‘Where are we going?!’ shouted Kara, as she set off after him.

  *

  Eventually, they came to a building they’d never seen before. It was different, in a lot of ways, to Fir Lodge, which was designed in a much more traditional log-cabin style, feeling more rugged and welcoming, due to the natural colouring of the wood. Homely even. The sides of their lodge had been designed to create the illusion that they were comprised of logs that were piled on top of each other, with the balconies extending out beneath the traditional triangular roofing either side of them, supported by clever structural design rather than any visible supports.

  The property currently in front of them, however, was on the other end of the spectrum. Rectangular in shape, and devoid of flair, it was a minimalist approach to design, coated in a slick, black colouring. With enormous, sleek-looking, sweeping windows that were as wide as the surface area of the entire walls, what it lacked in character, it made up for in its chic demeanour.

  ‘Okay, confession time,’ said Hal, who was clearly revelling in the theatrics. ‘I think it’s time we open up to each other about any structural-engineering or design degrees we’ve been hiding from each other?’

  She had to admit, she was actually enjoying not having to spend the day memorising probability patterns, or the ramifications of cause and effect. Kara replied robotically, speaking loudly to an imaginary audience as if she was an unwilling participant in a poorly implemented cruise-ship stage-show routine.

  ‘I can confirm that I do not have a degree in structural engineering or design, and neither do you.’

  ‘Come with me madam!’ said Hal, and they proceeded to the back of the high-tech-looking black lodge.

  Two young children were running up and down the garden, their parents chucking lunch together in the incredibly expensive-looking kitchen.

  ‘Recognise these people?’ asked Hal, knowing for a fact that she didn’t.

  She shook her head, and Hal ducked in through the patio doors, making his way into the living room. Hal seriously hoped the current occupants were the owners of the lodge, and not just guests that were renting it for the weekend. And then he saw it; a family photog
raph on the mantelpiece. Hal gestured with both arms, to add emphasis to the photo-frame, finishing with a completely gratuitous bow, as the point he was trying to make began to make sense to her.

  ‘You get it now, right?’ he asked her. ‘We walked down a road we’ve never been down before, to a lodge we’ve never seen before, occupied by a family we’ve never met, having a conversation about–’ he listened to them intently for a few seconds, ‘–correction, having a hipster argument about who forgot to bring the kale. Jeeze, if only they knew what a real problem was,’ added Hal. He sat himself down on an uncomfortable chair by the kitchen counter that, presumably, cost hundreds of pounds, and addressed the strangers directly.

  ‘Seriously guys, things could be worse, you could be trapped in a time vortex!’ said Hal, turning his attention back to Kara. ‘So, all of this?’ he said, gesturing to the living room, the lodge they were in, and to the apparent absence of over-priced kale, ‘these events are happening all around us whether we’re here to witness them or not. Why would our minds bother? How would our brains even be able to maintain this level of detail over hundreds of acres of woodland? It just can’t–’

  ‘Can’t just be our imagination,’ said Kara. ‘We couldn’t create detailed buildings, or people we’ve never seen or met before,’ she added, a great big smile gradually appearing on her face. ‘You couldn’t just tell me that? You had to bring us all the way out here?!’

  ‘No one can be told what The Matrix isn’t dude…you have to see it for yourself.’

  ‘I got that reference!!’ said Kara, pointing at him enthusiastically.

  ‘Besides, I had no way of knowing for certain. I don’t know what this place is Kar’. I don’t know if we can get back. All I know is, we have to try. And I think we need to start by finding out what the connection is between Kevin and that brick shit-house that murdered us.’

  And for the first time since she saw herself die, she felt something deep inside that she could latch onto. She felt a sense of hope.

  She moved closer to Hal, a look of unprecedented excitement on her face.

  ‘Can we do another one?’ she whispered, causing Hal to laugh.

  ‘Hell yes we can do another one!’ he said, equally excited by the prospect of getting to indulge in a once in a lifetime opportunity to play a game of people-watching, their currently inherent invisibility providing them with a uniquely unrestricted access to the inner-sanctum’s of the unsuspecting residents of Pentney Lakes.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Repeating Peter’s Paradox

  14th Restart – Friday Afternoon, 12:01pm

  They landed unsteadily into their next restart, as Hal attempted to maintain his composure, and commenced walking immediately, apparently losing his bearings, as he walked straight into the exterior wall of the sauna room.

  ‘Ow,’ said Hal, more out of embarrassment than through the pain they both know he couldn’t feel.

  ‘Why do you always try to walk off as soon as we land here?’ asked Kara, a barely concealed smirk plastered across her face.

  ‘You’ll think it’s stupid,’ said Hal sheepishly.

  ‘As stupid as walking into a wall, or falling over every time we land?’ asked Kara.

  ‘Okay, fair point. It’s just…I’m trying to pull off a time-traveller landing. As we materialise in the past, it’s just so much cooler if we’re walking somewhere with purpose don’t you think? Like, “Damn! There go some competent time-travellers right there!”’

  ‘Uh-huh. Your argument would hold more water if we weren’t completely invisible to every single human person in this timeline, but I’m sure any wildlife nearby would be blown away,’ replied Kara.

  Hal shrugged dismissively. Nothing could ruin his good mood today. In fact, The Restarters had both been instilled with a feeling of positivity, the tragedy they had witnessed pushed slightly further back from the forefront of their thoughts, as the possibilities before them suddenly seemed infinite. They had a purpose now; to learn more about the relationship between Kevin and their murderer. But Hal had a more pressing matter he needed to discuss with her. With everything they had been through, it hadn’t seemed all that important in the grander scheme of things until now.

  ‘Something weird happened a few restarts ago,’ said Hal.

  ‘What happened?’ asked Kara, ‘and which restart?’ she added.

  ‘Well, not to sound like the title of a nineties sitcom, but “The One Where Hal Murdered Robert.”’

  ‘Ha. Good one,’ said Kara. ‘Nothing about that night wasn’t weird, but go on.’

  Hal shrugged off what he was certain was a double-negative, and cut right to it.

  ‘Peter…he was…’ Hal was struggling to find the words, realising that it would be much easier to show, rather than to tell. ‘Listen, how do you feel about holding-fire with following Kevin? We don’t know how far that will take us, and I really think you need to see this,’ said Hal, acknowledging that he was asking a lot of her, given that it would mean sacrificing another restart.

  ‘Sure,’ said Kara. ‘If you think it’s important, I trust your judgement.’

  If she was being honest, she wasn’t entirely ready to get back on the Restarter horse just yet anyway, and if she could put off witnessing her own murder for a second time, she was all for it.

  *

  Early that Saturday afternoon, they positioned themselves to ensure they had a good spot in Robert’s room. Kara had tried to get Hal to spill the beans on what to expect, but Hal was adamant this was another one of those “You have to see it for yourself” kind of deals that he had apparently invested shares in, given than this was the second time in as many restarts that he’d taken this approach.

  They spent the day planning how best to proceed in terms of stalking Kevin, and had decided they would follow him Saturday afternoon for the duration of their next jump into the past.

  The day dragged for the most part. They had to endure some awkward moments, such as Daisy, Robert and various other members of the group hopping into the room Hal and Kara were occupying. They averted their eyes, as everyone changed from their swimwear, into regular clothes, to fancy dress costumes, and back again. The whole experience had firmly cemented Hal’s theory that they were truly witnessing the past, rather than an artificial dreamscape of their own concoction. A conclusion that became a solidified truth by the fact that Hal was adamant he had no point of reference to so accurately manifest the sight of Robert’s manhood, swinging in front of them like a pendulum of perpetual punishment.

  After what felt like an eternity, Peter finally entered the room. Hal sat up, berating himself for not having the foresight to have died whilst clutching popcorn.

  ‘Okay, here it is! Watch closely!’ said Hal.

  ‘Oh, now? Really? I was actually planning to look away after seven straight hours of waiting,’ said Kara breezily.

  Hal rolled his eyes at her for the millionth time, as Peter made his way to Robert’s bedside table, searching for a phone charger. Kara noted the door closing on its own.

  ‘That’s weird, don’t you think? The door closing like that?’

  But Hal was flapping his arms in Peter’s direction, panicking that she would miss what came next. Suddenly, Peter seemed to lose his balance, and fell against the bedroom wall. A faint blue sizzle of energy appearing around his eyes, as an unseen force kept him in place.

  ‘Woah,’ said Kara, as Peter began to whisper something.

  ‘Ha-Hal? Karrr? M-my f-ft. Mist…’ said Peter, trailing off.

  Kara moved closer, trying to make out what he was trying to say, her face barely an inch away from his, as the blue light continued to spark savagely within his eye-sockets. She reached up to his eyes, her fingertips mere millimetres away from the energy coursing through him.

  ‘Kara no! Don’t touch him!’ said Hal, his voice full of alarm.

  But she needed to. Being this close to the blue energy, she could see detail she’d never seen before,
like a blue universe, swirling within, yearning to be released.

  The energy ceased suddenly, and without warning, causing Peter’s eyelids to flutter as his consciousness reverted to a state that didn’t appear to be channelling the entirety of the cosmos, no longer a conduit to whatever it was that had taken him over. Startled, Kara recoiled, but it was too late. Peter walked straight through her, shuddering as he made his way to the door, leaving his phone behind to siphon off a more conventional form of electricity from the power sockets of the mortal realm.

  ‘Gah, I hate it when that happens!’ cringed Kara, shaking her body, as if doing so held the secret to expunging the residual essence of Peter’s past-self passing through her. ‘Well that was creepy as shit!’

  ‘I know, right,’ said Hal. ‘I mean, the only thing that was missing was a 360-degree head-turn and some luminous green projectile vomit.’

  ‘So, was that us? In the past, or future, are we…interacting with him?’ hypothesised Kara.

  ‘I can’t see how,’ said Hal. ‘What happened to Pete happened before we started restarting.’

  ‘Same with the hot tub jets though,’ said Kara. ‘They were tripped by you before we started restarting. How is this any different?’

  ‘True,’ said Hal, ‘but unlike the hot-tub jets, it carries on regardless without our intervention,’ he added, recalling how Peter was being held in place in every timeline, whereas the hot tub jets would only cut out on Friday afternoon if Hal actively chose to intervene and deactivated them manually.

  ‘The blue energy though, that’s so our thing,’ said Kara.

  Hal had no idea, but one thing did occur to him.

  ‘I guess now we know that this blue stuff can reach across and affect living things in this timeline,’ said Hal. ‘Now we just have to figure out how.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  It’s a Trap