Hexad: The Ward (20 page)

She turned to the side, only to see an Amanda clamber out of the window and land on the ground before picking up Wozzy — the poor guy looked terrible.

Then he was there: Dale. It was him, it really was. He grabbed hold of Amanda, only to pause and stare at her, as if she wasn't supposed to be there. His confusion was evident, and he looked from one woman to the other, undecided how to proceed.

It wasn't surprising, the note she had been given was obviously sent by Dale after whatever had initially happened here had happened. So now he was seeing her then Dale's past was being changed. That was right, wasn't it?

Then things got really confusing.

Another Dale appeared just off to the side, looking confused with his hand out like he thought he was already holding onto her, then smiling at her in that way that always made her heart melt and thank whatever deity was listening that she had such a great guy to spend her life with.

So this was the him from his own future, but her past, that had arranged for her to have the Hexad and the note, right? Amanda tried to think through the cold that gnawed at her bones like a starving dog, but her jumbled thoughts were interrupted.

The new Dale, stared at incomprehensibly by the Dale holding on to the other Amanda, said, "Okay everyone, we don't have much time. Here's the deal. Dale, that isn't our Amanda. She is." Dale pointed at her.

Was this it, was she being saved? What would happen now?

"Amanda, please come here. Sorry, love, but we haven't got time for hugs. Don't be scared."

Amanda walked cautiously toward Dale.

"Keep coming, quick, we don't have much time."

She ran. Dale whispered something and then she was beside him. She grasped his hand eagerly. The warmth sent shock waves of pleasure up her arm, touching her heart and reminding her of the love that had been missing for what felt like an eternity.

"I love you," whispered Dale. "Now, run!" Dale ran toward the other Dale and Amanda before she had the chance to think about what he was saying. What now? Did it matter? She held on tight to his hand and ran with him, knowing she loved him, trusted him.

"Dale! Dale, what the hell are you doing?" shouted the other Dale, confusion and fear registering on his face. The other Amanda dropped Wozzy and he ran toward Amanda. She scooped him up as they dashed across the soaking grass. She could see understanding on Dale's face. "I messed up, right?"

"A little, yes, but don't worry, it won't even have happened."

Dale and Amanda were a few paces away from the others when suddenly she felt the world split in two and she lost her vision. Her head screamed at her, her mind went blank, and she felt a pain in her back as she landed hard on the ground.

Home

Present Day

"Ugh." Dale grunted next to her and Amanda clutched at the damp, cold grass.

Except it wasn't grass, it was carpet.

"Hey, guys," said Peter. "Hey, Wozzy. What you doin' down there?"

"Did it work?" asked Dale, before sitting up and rubbing at his head. "God, I feel like my brain's been taken apart atom by atom then put back together with pins. Ugh, did that make any sense?"

"No, none," said Peter, chortling. "Um, guys, is this you? I mean, um, is this the you that just jumped like about three seconds ago?"

Amanda watched from her position on the carpet as Dale's brow creased while he tried to think. God, how great it was to see him again, even Peter.

"Well, that's kind of debatable. Um, this is me, this is the me that just jumped with the other Amanda. Ugh, my head is splitting open."

Other Amanda? What? The one that was there with the other Dale. What does he mean?

"So it's done?" asked Peter, stroking Wozzy who didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

Hang on, wasn't that Wozzy over there by the door to the hall?

Dale and Peter turned as they realized Amanda was focused on something, and then there was silence for a few moments.

"Um, Dale, that isn't a good sign, is it?" said Peter worriedly.

"Bugger, no, it definitely isn't. There can't be two of him, not here, not now."

"Wozzy, no!" It was too late, Wozzy saw the other Wozzy and clawed his way out of Peter's grip and bolted for the intruder like a flash of death.

Wozzy and Wozzy disappeared.

"Um, hi, guys, nice to see you," said Amanda, feeling a little neglected if she was honest, considering she hadn't seen either of them for months.

Dale smiled down at her, grimacing a moment later as he clutched his head. "Hi. Sorry, it's been a rather confusing few minutes." Dale leaned down and sniffed the top of Amanda's head before reaching out a hand for her. "Sorry, just checking."

"Is it her?" asked Peter.

"Yeah, it's her. It's Amanda, my Amanda. Hi, honey, I can't tell you how great it is to have you back."

"And I'm even more pleased to be back. Now, about the cat..."

An Explanation

Present Day

Amanda felt exhausted, utterly drained in the way that only explanations concerning time travel can drain you. Dale and Peter had tried to explain what had been happening in the months she had been away but it all got a little too convoluted even for her — even if she wasn't still rattling full of strange chemicals. Her clarity of the morning was fading. She could feel herself flagging, reverting to the fluffy-feeling state that the constant drug dosing had done, leaving her empty of everything. Not numb, but uncaring, unknowing.

She had to fight it, to stay alert, try to come to some kind of understanding as to why she had been left. She'd felt abandoned for so long in the lucid moments she had clung to like Wozzy clung to her when he insisted that he loved you for a few moments.

Dale seemed to have recovered from the effects of the paradox caused by himself jumping with another Amanda back to where he had earlier helped her to escape, and he'd explained all of this to Amanda, but it was clear that he himself didn't really understand what had happened.

Amanda, the other one, had agreed to trying to create a paradox — she wasn't happy to risk so much but if it had worked, which Dale thought maybe it had, then she would return to her own life, her own universe, and who knew, maybe she was the real, original Amanda and if Dale and Amanda solved the multi-universe creation because of their actions then she might be the one that remained. Or was she getting confused herself?

"So where did she go when you jumped with her?"

"I don't know," said Dale. "Maybe she popped out of existence as there was already one of her where we were jumping to. But, um," Dale scratched at his head, "that would mean I should have disappeared too."

"I don't think so," said Peter, interrupting Dale. "You had to be there as if you weren't then you wouldn't have jumped in the first place, would you? Then that would mean there was no paradox and... Um..."

"Anyway," resumed Dale, "the main thing is that you, the other you, agreed to it, and I suppose that the other me kind of disappeared."

"Or jumped to the other universe, or timezone, whatever it is, that we were both somehow in before, got taken from," offered Amanda, half believing she was actually beginning to understand any of what had happened.

"Maybe."

"Dale?"

"Hmm?"

"Well, I don't know how to word this really..."

"It's okay, ask away. God, I missed you so much. I'm so sorry it took so long."

"I missed you too, more than anything, but I—"

"Should I leave? Is this, you know, a 'moment' or something?"

"No, it's fine, Peter, honestly," said Amanda. "But I want to ask, I need to ask so I know. Why did you leave me in that awful place for so long? They were trying to drive me insane, and they nearly succeeded. Most of the time I didn't even know my own name, they dosed me up so high if I misbehaved." Amanda began to cry, not the racking sobs of the lonely and the beaten, but gentle tears of sadness, tears of a woman abandoned by the man she loved and thought would move heaven and earth to be reunited with her. "You left me."

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry, but we tried, honestly we did. We tried everything, jumped as soon as we realized you'd gone, but we didn't know which one was you. We had to try to jump to when we knew it was safe for us to get away, which wasn't easy, and we, well, we ran out of jumps pretty quickly."

"But not anymore," interrupted Peter.

"Later," said Dale, giving Peter a warning glance.

Peter shrugged.

"We were out of options pretty quickly. With the Hexad spent we didn't know what to do. We used our jumps going to The Ward and trying to figure the place out, find how to get to you, uncover which woman was you. It was obvious it wouldn't be easy, and we had to try to understand what was happening in the future there, think of a way to stop it all from ever happening, but we didn't know how."

"You should have just been able to jump to me, the Hexad should have taken you."

"But it didn't; wouldn't. I think it was because you were all so drugged up, and, well, because you were all so close to being the same person that it simply didn't work like that. Look, sit down, I'll tell you all about it." Dale led Amanda over to the sofa and sat her down.

She wiped away her tears, trying to focus, to listen to what Dale was telling her, but it wasn't easy. She wanted to curl up into a ball and sleep. Sleep until her old life was back and nothing bad had ever happened to her, ever. "Sorry, I missed that." Dale had been talking; she hadn't heard a word he'd said.

"I said, I had one jump left on the Hexad and I risked everything to find you. I could have been stuck ten years into the future."

"How? What? I don't understand."

"I went to try to find Cray."

Amanda shot up from her chair in a panic. "What!? Are you mad? He's deranged. Was deranged."

"You remember what Tellan said? That sometimes he was good, sometimes bad, sometimes both. Well, I just hoped I'd find a good version of him, and luckily I did. At least I think I did at any rate."

"Seems like a nice guy to me," said Peter, "if a little serious. But I suppose all police are a bit like that. It's kind of like they're institutionalized." Peter got another warning from Dale. "Oops, sorry."

"It's okay. But look, what happened? No, not now, I'm too tired. As long as I know you tried, that's the main thing."

"Of course I tried. I'm so sorry you thought I'd abandoned you, Amanda. I would never, ever do that. I love you."

Amanda sat back down and sighed deeply, her body sagging like she was made of nothing but tiredness. "I love you too. One more thing?"

"Anything."

"Don't let me sleep on the sofa again, I think I'd freak out if I woke here. I'd imagine Laffer was going to come and get me."

"Let's get you to bed then," said Dale, holding out his hand.

Amanda took it and said, "Goodnight, Peter, great to see you again," as Dale led her toward the bedroom.

"Night-night, sleep tight," said Peter, smiling broadly.

"I hope Wozzy comes back, I kind of missed him."

Peter stared at the spot where he'd disappeared. "Yeah, I've kind of got attached to the little dude."

~~~

Dale walked into the kitchen to find Peter munching on a huge block of cheese. "She's out like a light."

"I'm kind of getting a sense of déjà vu here, dude, it's like we're doing what we did a few days ago all over again. You sure it's her this time?"

"I'm sure. Damn, I feel awful about this. I wonder what happened to the other Amanda?" Dale looked exhausted, drained of energy like he'd finally come to the end of his reserves.

"She will have returned to where she's supposed to be. You did the right thing, Dale, you did what she wanted. Here, have some cheese."

Dale stared at the offered lump of cheese and realized that he was starving. He took it and had a huge bite, knowing it would take a lot more than that to allow him to recover. But at least he could relax for a moment now.

But could he? "Well, I guess all we have to do now is figure out how to save the universes, stop Hector and Laffer, save the Amandas and hope for the best."

"Yeah, easy-peasy, right?"

Dale passed the cheese back to Peter.

"Just a walk in the park." Dale put his head in his hands, wondering if it would ever all be over.

Peter took a huge bite and chewed, then frowned. "Um, Dale?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, how come I... er, how come I remember that you were here with the other Amanda? Surely, if you jumped back and made yourself and her disappear before you, er, then jumped back here with her and then realized it was the wrong one, how did it happen if now it means you didn't do that as you both disappeared before you came back? Er, that's right, isn't it? What about the Amanda that jumped with you when you went to do all that? There were three of her at one point, right?"

"Oh, shit!" Dale looked panicked, but slowly a smile spread across his face. "You know what, Peter, I honestly don't give a flying fuck. It's the paradox thing. You have to remember it all, and it has to have happened, as if it hadn't happened then I wouldn't have jumped back to confront myself and get the right one. I think."

"Oh, well, why didn't you say so?" Peter took another bite of cheese then hunted for some crackers.

Some Down Time

Present Day

For two days nobody did anything apart from eat, sleep, and talk. Peter kept away apart from a few brief visits to check on her, although she got the impression he was more concerned about if maybe Wozzy had turned up. Dale had promised to call if he did but Peter popped in anyway.

By the second day, Amanda felt a little more like herself again, although there were constant flashbacks to time spent in solitary in a straitjacket, times when she felt truly insane surrounded by others that always looked just like her, no matter how hard she tried to do what Hector suggested and picture them as having different faces — that had never worked, and she knew that she had fought it to prove to herself that it was him that was mad, not her.