Edge of Time (21 page)

T
hey got up as the first faint rays of light slid over the rooftop. Alec was sore all over from a combination of a miserable night of nightmares and sleeping with his neck in an awkward position. They kept mostly to the shadows as they jogged towards the high-rises in the distance. An uncomfortable sensation built inside Alec's stomach with every step closer to his home and what waited for him there. He couldn't stop the worrying thoughts that spun around in his brain: his mom, Peter, zombies, Rhozan, the list was endless. How on earth would he fix the mess he'd started?

Darius spotted a convenience store that hadn't been looted and called a temporary halt mid-morning. Between them they pried the locks off the doors and raised the metal shutters. Darius pulled the glass doors open and they advanced into the gloom. The power was still off, but otherwise the store looked and smelled normal. There were three small aisles loaded with snack foods and a bank of refrigerated coolers along the back wall.

“Grab something healthy,” Darius reminded them as Alec reached for a bag of chips.

Alec dropped the bag back onto the rack and surreptitiously grabbed a chocolate bar, shoving the whole thing in his mouth before Darius could notice. Alec gave the magazine rack an interested look, his eyes straying to the girlie magazines on the top shelf. No one would know if he …

“You don't need those either.” Darius' voice came from the other end of the store.

Rolling his eyes, Alec wandered down the aisle.

“Do you like chocolate chips?” Riley was looking at something on a lower shelf.

“Cover slugs with chocolate and I'll eat them. That and carbonated liquids were the things I missed the most while I was off planet.” Darius reached down and pulled up a box. “Grab a bag, Alec,” he instructed.

Alec sighed and turned around to head for the cashier desk. He circled it, and reached under the counter for a stack of neatly folded plastic bags. Then his heart stopped.

Sparkles.

“They're still cold. Do you want chocolate milk or regular?” Darius shouted to him from the back of the store.

Alec couldn't answer. The sparkles were an inch from his hand. If they moved …

“Alec?”

Goosebumps rose all over his body. Alec pulled his hand back carefully and looked around, terrified. Sure enough, there, by his feet. Between him and safety.

“Darius,” Alec said softly, almost afraid the rips could hear him and would zero in on him once they did. “I can't move.”

Darius didn't hear because his head was inside the cooler, but Riley did. Her arms were filled with milk cartons and granola bar boxes. She walked up to the cashier and looked down her nose. “What's the matter with you?” she asked, her mouth full of granola.

“Watch where you're walking. This place is filled with rips.”

Riley blanched. She peered over the cartons at her shoes. “Are you sure?”

“There are two right here,” Alec whispered. “I can't move.”

Riley dumped the milk onto the counter. “I'll get Dare.” She headed towards the cooler, watching her feet with every step.

A carton of granola bars slid off the counter. Alec watched in horrified fascination, only stopping his automatic urge to grab it in time. The box fell straight into the sparkles. It vanished. Alec's guts clenched.
Just like Peter.
He forced himself to take a long, deep breath, trying to keep his eyes on the sparkles at his feet and those by his hip at the same time.

Darius was suddenly at the counter. “Where?” he demanded.

Alec pointed.

“You're going to have to jump over them. How're your high jump skills?”

“Normally, I get a bit of a run first,” Alec said. If Riley could fake nonchalance in the face of danger, so could he.

“Yeah, well, sorry.” Darius leaned over the counter. “Could you climb over the register instead?”

Alec twisted around. The cash register was huge and the flimsy shelves might not hold his weight. “Looks okay.”

Darius kept one hand hovering over his pocket but didn't actually touch his orb. “Go for it.”

Alec pivoted carefully. Then, reaching up with one foot to balance on the thin shelf, he grabbed Darius' outstretched hand. He pulled himself up.

He was halfway there, poised over the cash register, one leg lifting up to step onto the narrow space on the counter, when the shelf broke. Darius yanked. Alec fell over the counter, knocking Darius backwards onto the floor. The cash register fell beside them with a crash. He landed on top of Darius with a grunt. He was just about to apologize when he saw them. Sparkles. Less than a hand-span away from Darius' right ear. And
moving
.

Without thinking, he leapt to his feet, pulling Darius' hand as hard as he could, hauling him upright. “Look out!” he yelled.

Almost immediately Darius shouted, “Don't move.”

Riley halted in mid-step towards them. She looked down at her feet and then nervously around the room. She opened her mouth to speak, but Darius laid a finger across his lips and shook his head slightly. He pointed to the closed-circuit camera system over the cash counter. Its red light was on. Slowly the camera tracked in their direction.

A decidedly clammy sensation ran down Alec's spine. No one was watching that camera. No one alive, that was. He turned to keep the closest cluster of hovering sparkles in sight while he kept one eye on the moving camera. They had drifted a few inches closer and now were still just above the dirty floor, next to a display of motor oil. In the bright light from the overhead fluorescents, they were almost impossible to see. How many more were there?

Riley screamed. Alec whirled around.

Just like a scene from a movie, anything not tied down became airborne. Cans, bags of chips, greeting cards: everything sailed through the air directly at them. A can of ravioli hit Alec squarely in the middle of the forehead. He staggered, and would have stepped right back into the rip had Darius not grabbed him.

“Get out of here,” Darius yelled.

Hands around their heads to protect from the sharpest of items, they ran to the door. Darius reached it first. There were sparkles hovering over the door handle. Darius braced his hands on the glass to stop from falling into the rip as Riley and Alec barrelled into him.

“Oof,” Alec grunted, as his chin made painful contact with Darius' shoulder blade.

Darius shoved them both backwards. A hail of canned goods hit the door and smashed the glass. Riley cried out in pain.

“Get your orb out, Riley. See if you can put up a shield,” Darius shouted.

“I can do it,” Alec gasped as he fended off a flying bottle of cola.

“No.” Darius' tone brooked no argument.

Riley struggled to reach her orb. She grasped it and held it out towards the store, eyes shut tight with concentration. Alec tried to shelter her. Darius turned back to the door. He kicked at the glass several times, but despite the multiple cracks, the door seemed to have a mind of its own and refused to open.

Another onslaught of cans and bottles headed their way, sailing through the air as if thrown. A bottle of orange soda hit Alec on the side of his head as he ducked to miss several cans of soup.

“Get the barrier up,” Alec yelled at Riley.

Tears streaming down her cheek, Riley shook her head mutely.

Darius hit the glass again. It bulged outwards, the thin wire mesh inside the glass holding it in place. He reached for his orb.

Alec looked up just in time to see the heavy glass doors of the wall coolers pull off their hinges and start to fly towards him. Thoughts flew even faster. Darius wasn't looking; he was focused on the door. Riley wasn't looking; her attention was on the orb. The barrier wasn't up. Those doors were heavy and would kill them if they struck them.

There was only one thing to do.

Alec reached out, grabbed Riley's hand around her orb and yelled at the top of his lungs.

“
Stop.
”

T
he power came alive the instant Alec's fingers touched Riley's orb. In him, through him, around him.

The barrier Riley'd been trying so infuriatingly hard to put in place winked into existence the very second Alec willed it so. A wave of satisfaction flooded him.
This
was what he was made for. The door bounced off the invisible barrier and fell with a resounding clatter to the floor. The second and third door did the same.

“Good job,” Darius cheered as he turned around for a moment to look. “Alec, no!” he shouted as he took in who exactly was protecting them. “Let go,” he ordered.

“Get the door open first,” Alec panted. His eyes were blazing and a thin beading of sweat lined his upper lip. Rhozan was throwing more things at them and the power, which initially had come so easily, was now starting to tire him. At the back of his mind a strange touching sensation was oozing in.

Alec saw Darius' fury for only a second until he turned, and, with renewed purpose, smashed open the door with a well-aimed kick. The door swung open, protesting on its hinges. Alec focused on the hordes of things still flying at them: the shelving, the ceiling tiles, the cash register, the safe. Wait a minute.
The safe
?

He doubled his effort.

“Alec, get out of here,” Riley yelled as Darius eased around the rip and ran outside.

The safe hit the barrier and fell with a heavy thud to the floor at his feet, cracking the linoleum.

Alec dropped his arm, let go of the orb and ran out the door in one smooth move, just remembering in time to avoid the rip. He pushed at the foreign presence inside his mind and it dissolved the second his fingers left the orb's crystal surface. He couldn't help but grin despite his exhaustion. That had been so
cool
.

Alec's pleasure turned to dust the moment he was outside. Darius was waiting for them in the middle of the street and he looked furious. Before either of them could speak, the sound of a truck engine revving shattered the silence. Several blocks down the street, a heavy army transport turned onto the road and began to advance.

No one needed any orders. Darius led them down the sidewalk as fast as they could go, towards a narrow opening between two demolished storefronts. They rounded the corner, feet pounding into puddles and garbage alike, down the rank alley and out into the wide secondary street behind. All three skidded to a stop.

“Get your hands up.”

A small squad of soldiers, their truck nowhere to be seen, stood together in a tight formation, their rifles raised and levelled directly at them. Their uniforms were filthy and bloodstained, their faces coldly pale and grimly determined.

For a second no one moved. Then Riley stumbled against Darius, grabbed him around the waist and wailed loudly, “No, no, don't let them hurt me.” She buried her face against his chest. Her muffled sobs could be heard in the next street.

All the soldiers visibly tensed. Alec's heart zoomed up into his throat. What the hell was she
doing
?

That was before he noticed her hands. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as one small hand surreptitiously reached into Darius' pocket. He tensed all over, trying to keep his facial expression neutral.

“Stand back from him, or I'll shoot,” yelled a rapidly blinking soldier, hefting his gun directly at Riley.

With remarkable speed, Riley pulled out Darius' orb and thrust it upwards into his hand. Darius grabbed it and held on with her. A bright flash of light emanated from the orb towards the soldiers. Instantly they fell to the ground. There was a stunned moment of silence.

“Guess that's one time you wanted me to read your mind,” Darius said.

“Guess so,” Riley replied shakily. She walked over to the soldiers who had collapsed into an ungainly heap. “I hate guns.” Riley yanked the rifle from the limp fingers of the closest soldier. “I can't stand them. Especially when someone is pointing one at
me
.” She whirled around to face Alec, the weapon still dangling dangerously from her trembling fingers.

Darius was at her side in an instant. He deftly pulled out the magazine clip and threw it away in a display that would have garnered him an award in the baseball hall of fame. “Well done,” he praised her.

She flushed. “I won awards for drama at school.”

“Darius.” Alec ground his teeth together. “I really need an orb. I could have saved the both of you, right then. Riley took a huge chance. Someone might have shot her for the over-acting alone.”

“Piss off,” muttered Riley.

“No orb.” Darius's expression hardened. “That's final. I'm not taking a chance on you hurting anyone with it. Riley, that means under
no
circumstances do you ever give an orb to Alec, again. Ever.
No matter what
.”

“You'd both be dead if I hadn't helped,” Alec hotly protested. Was a simple “thank you” too much to ask?

“Did I tell you not to touch an orb, Alec?” Darius began. Fury stained his cheeks. “Did I?”

“Yeah, but–”

Darius advanced quickly towards him. “Nothing, no excuses. If we die, we die. You
cannot
touch one again, do you hear me?”

“Nothing happened.” Alec barely resisted the desire to stamp his foot in rage. “He can't control me.”

“And you're an expert on Rhozan, are you?” Darius leaned in. He was only a foot away and the laser blue of his eyes was razor sharp. “Know exactly when he's with you and when he's not, do you? Keeping track, are you?”

“Well, I–”

“I, nothing,” Darius spat. “He's been around on and off all day. He got into your head while you were sleeping. Or didn't you notice?”

“You don't worry about Riley. Can't he get to
her
?” Alec sputtered.

“If Riley touches her orb, he doesn't seem to care. If Riley kills someone, it won't affect her. If you do, it will.” Darius turned his back. He bent down and began removing the soldiers' guns with sharp, angry movements and throwing them as far away as he could. He didn't look up.

“I'm not going to fall apart.” Alec kicked at the ground with annoyance and looked everywhere but at Riley or Darius. “If I feel him, I can force him out.”

“That's not what I'm worried about,” said Darius, unearthing a wicked-looking knife from the waistband of one soldier and tossing it up onto the nearest roof.

“So? What is it?”

“Death will corrupt
you
. Killing will corrupt
you
. Revenge, hatred, anger, all of it. It'll destroy your soul. And with the kind of power you've got, you'll destroy the world. So I'm stopping that before it can get started.” Darius pulled a grenade from another soldier, expertly pulled the pin and lobbed it well out of sight. A loud bang echoed from two streets away a moment later. Riley flinched but Darius didn't.

“I caused the rips, didn't I? The night I got into a fight with my dad.” There, he had said it out loud. The whole thing was his fault. He waited for the confirmation.

Darius released a long sigh, ran his hands through his messy hair and finally, after what seemed like forever, nodded. “You don't do anything by halves, do you?” he said quietly, the anger seeming to drain out of him, replaced by something that looked a bit like sorrow.

“I didn't mean to,” Alec said.

“No, of course not. And, Alec, Rhozan was waiting for it. Rips open all the time, and generally nothing happens. The rips aren't connected to any place or time, they're just weird anomalies in the fabric of the universe. Sometimes, someone is really unlucky and trips into one.”

“I've never heard about them,” Riley piped up. “I watch the news all the time and I've never heard about these.”

“Terran science hasn't gotten around to believing they exist. But you have heard about them. Hikers who disappear into thin air, sailboats discovered with no one on them, the Bermuda Triangle. All rips. It's just your planet's bad luck that this time someone was waiting at the other end, using the rips as a conduit between when/where they are and here.”

Alec shuffled his feet. It wasn't an easy thing to know that the mass destruction around you was singularly your fault. Even if it were an accident.

“All you did was let him in a bit early, Alec. That's all. He was waiting for a natural rip to appear and one would have, eventually. Don't beat yourself up over it.”

“But Logan–” Alec started.

“Logan's been wrong about me for years. He didn't know Anna very well and they were pair-bonded for after duty. Don't take Logan's word as absolute truth.”

The three of them looked at each other, while the words hung heavy in the air. Overhead, the sky was a dull pewter grey. A slight breeze sprung up, surrounding them with the stench of death and smoke.

Riley wrinkled her nose. “How much farther?”

Darius raised his eyebrow and looked at Alec.

“Ten kilometres at least,” Alec said, squinting off into the distance. “You can't see my building yet.”

“Then we're going to need transportation,” Darius decided. “There was a truck in the last street. Let's see if we can find it.”

“Aren't we going to take one of these guns?” Riley placed her hands on her hips and stared back and forth between Darius and Alec as if they were playing a fast game of tennis.

“No,” said Darius, shaking his head. “No guns. Rhozan can control inanimate objects, as we've just seen. We're better off without a gun. Your orb is a better weapon.”

“But I don't know how to use it without you,” Riley wailed to Darius' back. He was already heading down the street at a smooth run. Riley gave Alec an exasperated look and took off after Darius.

Alec took a deep breath and followed.