Out of Time (8 page)

“Garage?” Simon asked, surprised. “You mean
warehouse. What are you on?”

“Wait a minute.” Sasha’s mind was racing. She
knew she wasn’t back in her sixth grade body. Simon’s voice was too
deep. How could she find out
when
she was? “How old are
you?”

“Thirty-seven.” he replied. “Really? You were
just at my birthday dinner last week. You should get checked out...
as soon as you’re safe anyway. Maybe it’s your hormones. Mandy’s
taken off work in case there is an accident.”

“Great.” Sasha said, although to herself she
thought,
The future
.

“What was that?” Simon asked.

“I was just thinking about my dad.” she said,
quietly. She never got to tell him she loved him, or to not drive
that day. Now she had more regrets.

“Yea, I know it’s been a while since he’s
been dead. It’s gotta be hard. Especially now with your mom gone.”
he said to her, and she realized she could feel a hand on her back,
cradling her.

“What?!” she exclaimed, as quiet as she
could. If he was being so quiet there was a good reason for it. It
would be best to follow suit.

“Seriously Sasha, what has gotten into you?
Ever since you told the police about the attic and they should
board it up, you’ve been sidetracked. Your mind is all over the
place.”

“Wait.” she said, cutting him off before he
could continue. “I came back?”

“Yea. It just took a couple weeks. Your mom
freaked out. Remember? You went to the police station and then your
house and that’s when you found she had just committed suicide.”
Simon said, bringing his arm up higher, rubbing her back. It
brought shivers to her spine.
Why is he getting so familiar with
me?

“Oh.” Sasha whispered numbly. If she wasn’t
already on the floor, she would have crumpled. It was just too much
to take in at once and she edged away from his gentle touch.

“Did you...just...phase here?” Simon wondered
as he retraced his arm.

“Phase?”

“You told me about visiting your past and you
went into your past body. Did you just do that now? Your future
body?” he asked her. Suddenly she wished she could see what he
looked like.

“I guess so.” she said after a moment of
thought.

“The police did an inquiry and then the FBI
got involved.” Simon explained. “When the top secret classification
on their documents expired, a rogue political party found out and
now you’ve got this group of radicals that want to take you into
some sort of experimental quarantine and check you out. Time travel
is something we are
just
now tapping into. You’ve done it
and they want to know how. It’s more than that, really. They want
to harness it so they can reshape the whole country. They are
calling themselves The New Illuminati. There is no way I’m letting
them take you.” He brought her closer, and Sasha couldn’t tell how
close they were. Were their faces inches away?

“So I’m running away from them?” Sasha
asked.

“We all are. Mandy too. Of course, she’s got
her baby so she can’t do too much. She doesn’t want to jeopardize
him. I don’t want to lose our child over this either.” Simon said
to her.

“We’ve got you surrounded.” Sasha heard,
echoing through the warehouse. Simon urged Sasha down to the
ground.

“Like hell.” Simon said in an angry whisper,
spitting out the words. Sasha didn’t notice him. She was thinking
about what he had just said prior.

“Wait a minute.” she said to him, brushing
off his hand. “
Our
child? What, you and Mandy are
together?”

“Felt
your
belly lately?” Simon asked
humorously. Sasha took a shaky breath and hesitantly put her hand
down. It rested on a lump. A lump could only mean one thing.

“What?!”

“Shh!” Simon reprimanded. “They’ll hear
you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning I
was pregnant?” Sasha demanded.

“I didn’t want you to be doing
exactly
what you are now. Keep quiet or they’ll find us.” Simon said to
her.

“Sorry.” Sasha muttered, although Simon
already dismissed her as just being hormonal.

“We are going to have to be discreet about
this. There is an underground tunnel system in this warehouse. If
we time it right, we can make it to Newcombe’s Tavern before they
even know we’ve gone. That’s where we’ve been meeting. In the
basement of course.” Simon said to her. He wanted to say a lot
more. He wanted to reach out and touch her face. He wanted to grab
her towards himself and tell her he loved her and wouldn’t ever
leave her side. It wouldn’t have gone over well. Their relationship
now wasn’t what it was minutes ago.

“What are we waiting for?” Sasha asked.

“Okay, give me your hand and follow me.”
Simon instructed. Sasha did so, not even flinching, as if her older
self encouraged her to trust him. Perhaps it was just a pang of
self-preservation. Nonetheless, she followed. They took delicate
steps until Simon stopped and Sasha heard a grate moving nearby. He
pulled her close and told her to head down the metal stairs.

“This is your last warning! You have thirty
seconds.” the radical echoed through the stale air.

“At least I know they won’t kill me.” Sasha
commented.

“
Yet
. Come on, get going.” Simon said
to her as he followed her down. Simon just started to close the
grate above his head when the lights powered on.

“Where’d they go?” the man wondered as he
scoped out the floor of the warehouse, all abandoned and empty,
except for a few towering shelving units.

Sasha entered the basement of Newcombe’s. She
heard the clanging of glasses and chatter from above. Simon had his
hand on the small of her back, guiding her into the room. It was
dark and musty, but it was safe. She breathed a sigh of relief, but
she felt horrible.

“My back hurts.” she told him. She could make
out Simon nodding in the dim light.

“You’re about due. I would expect it to
hurt.”

“Remind me when I’m younger not to have
kids.” she said sarcastically. Simon took her seriously,
however.

“Backwards doesn’t work for me.” he told her,
referencing her travels through time.

“Oh right. I’ll remind myself if I ever find
my way.” she said with a light and nervous giggle. She heard
movement and walking down steps.

“Sasha?” a voice sounded from the stairs.

“Mandy?” Sasha asked tentatively. The voice
did sound very much like her school friend, although a bit more
mature and full-bodied.

“I’m so glad you’re safe!” Mandy said,
running towards Sasha to give her a hug. It was an awkward hug and
Sasha noticed why. Mandy had a baby on one arm, resting on her
hip.

“Me too.” Sasha said with a warm smile.

“I came as quickly as I could. Whenever
something happens we all meet here. Do you want to hold the baby?”
Mandy asked. Sasha retracted.

“I’m not really into babies.” she
admitted.

“But you’re having one.” Mandy responded with
a giggle. It was true, but Sasha knew her viewpoints might have
changed. She never felt weird when it came to babies from family
members. Perhaps her own would be the same. Others though, she felt
like she would damage them.

“An hour ago I was twelve.” Sasha said,
eyebrow raised.

“You phased?” Mandy asked excitedly.

“The damned garage door in my house.” Sasha
said angrily, with a frustrated air in her tone. “I saw my dad. I
was going to talk to him. I would going to tell him how much I
loved him and missed him and how —.” Sasha started to get choked up
at the thought of it and could barely speak any longer. Mandy
rested a comforting hand on her shoulder and responded softly.

“You can’t change time.”

“Why not?” Sasha asked, tears beginning to
flood her eyes as she tried hard to push them back. Maybe it was
the hormones.

“You told me yourself it wouldn’t work. You
told me not to let you go into the attic and I let you. I didn’t
understand. Your dad would still have died. If you told him not to
drive I’m betting he still would have. That other driver would have
still killed him.”

“How can you be so sure?” Sasha asked.

“Sasha.” Mandy stated firmly. “You can’t beat
yourself up over it. You aren’t to blame.”

“Why do I feel so responsible?” Sasha asked,
her voice downtrodden.

“Maybe because you just phased? It’s
fresh.”

“Maybe because I’m pregnant.” Sasha said
sarcastically, placing her hand over her swollen belly.

“Are you sure you don’t want to hold the
baby?” Many offered again.

“Yes.” Sasha said. Then she looked around the
room. It was pretty empty save for a few barrels, a makeshift
table, and a couple chairs. “Have any mirrors? I want to know what
I look like.” Perhaps her imperfections had worked themselves out
by the time she was this age.

“In my diaper bag.” Mandy answered, pointing
to a small designer-style bag where she could see a bottle in a
slot and a cell phone in another.

“I’ll get it for you.” Simon said, not
allowing Mandy to be inconvenienced with a child on her arm.

“Are you and I?” Sasha asked, wondering about
their relationship. Was it further than just
boyfriend/girlfriend?

“Look at your hand.” Simon said, adding, “If
you can see it.”

“Oh.” Sasha said, twirling her wrist around
and flashing her fingers in front of her face. She had a beautiful
diamond ring on her next-to-pinky finger. There was a large center
stone encircled by a string of other stones. She couldn’t tell, but
supposed they were diamonds too. There was a white-gold band
underneath it. “Heh.”

Simon gathered up the diaper bag and rummaged
through it. Shifting through the baby products and then some makeup
that was hastily flung in there, he spotted a small mirror. “Here
it is.” he said, handing it over to Sasha.

“Thanks.” she responded, grasping it with
both hands. She took a look at herself, squinting and moving the
mirror around so she could get a full mental picture. It was hard
in the dim light, but her features made her gasp. “Wow. I look
hot
.”

“I know.” responded Simon, slyly.

“No really. Have I ever done modeling?” she
wondered softly, placing a hand over the lines of her face, tracing
the contours with a finger.

“Let’s leave that up to fate. Now get over
yourself and sit down. We all need to talk.” Simon said
seriously.

“What ever happened to Kendra?” Sasha
wondered, but Simon dragged a chair out and pointed to it.

“
Sit
.” he said to her coldly. She gave
him a worried look, but obeyed. Once she was seated he responded.
“Kendra’s dead, Sasha.”

“
Dead
?” Sasha asked dumfounded. Her
mind flooded with possible scenarios that could have caused her
death.

“She was caught by The New Illuminati. They
tortured her for information, but she never gave in. She didn’t
survive it.
They
didn’t care.” Simon said softly to his
wife.

“Why would they do that to her?” Sasha
wondered, thinking about the liveliness of her makeshift friend and
how her life could be snubbed out in an instant. Even though she
had the brains of rocks when she knew her, there had to have been
plenty of untapped potential.

“I don’t know.” Simon answered, pacing in the
room. “Perhaps they thought they could get to me and then get to
you. Kendra’s always been a bit obsessive over me. I never
developed feelings for her because she was shallow. At least — not
until she did that. I developed a new-found respect for her. She
was strong, Sasha. She just...” He paused, his voice strained. “She
just wasn’t strong enough.”

“I
have
to fix this if I ever get
back.” Sasha stated.

“You can try.” Simon added.

“I just need to find a door to another time.
I really need to find that house again.” Sasha said to him. While
they conversed, Mandy was busy changing her baby’s diaper.

“You’ve been trying to find a door for
years.” Simon said.

“Well I phased in
here
.” Sasha
replied, determined.

“I don’t know if it’ll work again, but I know
you eventually find your right time. That’s how this all started.”
Simon said cryptically.

“What about other people? I know I don’t have
my mom and dad now. What about Mandy’s parents? I’m sure they knew
something.”

“They escaped.” Mandy said from across the
room, ditching a spoiled diaper in the room’s solitary trash can.
“They wanted to protect me and felt like they were somewhat your
foster parents. In fact, they actually adopted you.”

“They did?” Sasha asked with surprise written
all over your face.

“You’ve been friends with Mandy for years.”
Simon said with a chuckle. “You’ve been around them for years. They
felt it was the best thing they could do for you.”