Schasm (Schasm Series) (25 page)

“Damn straight you are.” Alex stands down and takes a couple of steps back, but his shadow remains hovering over Tomas.

“Let me be very clear: You can’t take two of those pills ever again. The effects are not multiplicative…they are
exponential
.” Tomas’s eyes remain fixed on Alex as he scolds me again. But this time Alex doesn’t interfere. It’s probably because I do deserve this lecture. “You very likely could have gotten yourself stuck…or separated entirely.”

“I don’t know what that means…separated.”

He rubs his face. “You took two pills and caused a ripple in your mental world.” Tomas sighs. “You may also have added yet another split to your already fractured mind. The pills put you in a dark place that may have become a permanent environment…a place you can’t control your drifts to or from.”

Tomas says it as if there might be more to the story. “And how do I pull it all back together again?” I ask.

He pauses.

“I can pull it back together…can’t I?”

He slowly nods. “Possibly…if you can somehow manage to shift things back to the way they were.”

My face falls at his lack of an explanation. “And how exactly would I do that, Tomas?”

His eyes circle the room, but Alex sees me shivering and cuts him off. “Before we continue with our questions,” he asks, “can you please give Chloe something for her wounds?”

Tomas shakes his head as if coming out of a stupor. “Oh yes, of course.” He reaches across his desk for his medical case and pulls out a needle and a vial full of clear liquid. “This will sting for a second, but it will prevent you from getting an infection or a disease.”

Tomas takes slow strides over to me while stabbing the vial with a needle and plunging the liquid out of it. Before he has a chance to inject me with it, Alex snatches it out of Tomas’s hand and studies the label.

“It’s a tetanus vaccine,” Tomas says.

I lay my hand on Alex’s arm. “It’s fine.”

I barely feel the prick of the needle as it enters my arm. It’s painless compared to the bites on my legs. Then Tomas walks over to the sink and returns with a wet cloth. Alex pulls it from his hands and cleans up my leg, and then wraps it with tight bandages. The compression eases some of the discomfort.

Alex whips around and continues badgering Tomas with questions. “Since you don’t have any other magic pills for her to poison herself back into semi-sanity, do you have any advice on how she can eliminate this new dark place she’s created?”

Tomas walks over to his chemical lab area and selects a vial of blue liquid covered with a thin layer of foam. “This would be her only hope.” He stretches his arm out to Alex, handing him the vial, making him choose whether or not I should take it. “I haven’t tested it yet.”

Alex glares at him. “Of course you haven’t.” He looks at me and his demeanor softens entirely. “You don’t have to take this, you know.”

I disagree. “What other choice do I have at this point? I can’t keep returning to the rats.”

He breathes deeply and nods.

I feel as though I’m left with no other choice since I can’t imagine ending up anywhere worse than those caves.

Alex walks over to Tomas’s desk and leans in close to him. “What type of side effects are we talking about with this stuff?”

Tomas doesn’t look up at Alex. He just fidgets with his pen, twirling it between his fingers. “Dizziness, headaches, violent seizures. Further disconnection from her own physical mind.”

Alex nods. “Oh. Is that all?” His voice is acid.

Tomas sits in his chair and folds his hands. “No…there’s a risk of death, too.”

“Death?” Alex shouts, smacking the pen from Tomas’s hand. “Are you out of your freaking mind? You may be willing to take that risk, but I’m not.”

“Nor am I.” Marius finally speaks.

“There has to be another option.” Alex grips his hands into his own neck, pressing away the blood that’s already reddening his face.

Tomas shrugs. “She could wake up in the catacombs every morning for the rest of her life, if you and she prefer.” His face is empty as he says it.

I’m feeling a little worse in spite of the shot. Alex takes my hand to help me up and leads us out of the office, followed by Marius. He mutters something to Tomas as he walks out the door. We walk quickly, me wincing with every step, but I don’t say a word. There’s too much to think about.

Alex stops us all once we reach a bench along the river. He takes both of my hands within his as he stares at me with uncertainty. “Chloe, I don’t think you should do this.”

“What other choice do I have?” It really hits me now. “If I leave things this way, I’ll never have control of where I drift.”

“And if you take that garbage, you could end up gone forever.” His volume drops. “I couldn’t take losing you.”

Marius interrupts “I agree with you Alexander, and I truly wish there was someone else who could help us. But considering that he created the first pill Chloe took, I’m afraid he’s the only one who can be of any help. Chloe not taking the serum would almost guarantee her ending up back in the caves. Trust me when I tell you both that the last thing I want would be for anything to happen to her. But I’m also well aware of the darkness she faces otherwise.” He nervously shifts his weight from foot to foot. “I’m afraid Chloe’s odds are safer with trying the serum.”

Having two people worry for my safety is something new. But they’re not taking my feelings into consideration. I clear my throat to get their attention. “I agree with Tomas and great-grandfather: I think I should take the formula. I really don’t want to risk ending up in a pile of cadavers again…or becoming one of them, for that matter.”

“Chloe,” Alex pleads, “We have no idea how this is going to turn out."

I lay my hand on his. “And I have no other choice. I’ll be okay. I will be walking out of this with you. Just try not to worry.” It’s a stream of lies pouring out of my mouth. I’m terrified that I
won’t
come out of this. I’m so scared that this could be the end of me. I feel sick to my stomach, and I just need to get this over with. But I can’t let him see that or we’ll never move forward with this plan.

I pull the vial from his clenched hand. He releases his fingers hesitantly.

“Wait.” Alex’s voice is abrupt. I almost drop the serum.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just want to say good-bye. You just…you just never know. I don’t want to have any regrets.” He grips my arm. I throw my arms around his neck, squeezing him into me. I press my lips up against his, breathing him in and denying that I have to let go. When I run out of air, I part my lips from his and pull back enough to look into his eyes. “Meet me back at your house in San Diego. I’ll be waiting for you there.” I force a smile.

He gives me a tiny smile in return.

I close my eyes so he can’t see my fear. He can’t know how scared I am right now. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.”

I make my way over to my great-grandfather and give him a quick hug. He looks at me with worried eyes as well. “You’ll be okay, sweetheart,” he says. “Don’t worry.” He sounds much more convincing than Alex.

I uncork the vial and pour the serum into my mouth. I drink it all in one swallow.

I’m focusing on waking up at Alex’s house, praying that I don’t end up back in the caves. The anticipation is killing me. I’m still coherent for the moment. I scold myself again for forgetting to ask how long it takes for this stuff to work.

Suddenly, my breath becomes short, and I feel myself gasping for air. I clasp my hands over my throat as I collapse. Alex and my great-grandfather rush over to me, but I’m unable to respond. Alex is calling my name, but I don’t hear any sound. He shoves his head onto my chest while grabbing my wrist to look for a pulse, but I don’t think he hears one. His hands grab my face, and he lifts my head off the ground. He’s crying…I’ve never seen him so unhinged. My great-grandfather’s face comes into focus now. He looks horrified.

But I’m not dizzy.

I’m not having trouble breathing.

E
verything goes black, and I feel nothing at all…

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

TWENTY-NINE

I HAVE NO IDEA
how long I’ve been in the darkness.

My feet and hands are prickling with pins and needles. My back is cold and stiff, and my head feels flattened against stone. I struggle to peel my eyes open, but when I part them enough to welcome light, everything appears glossed over.

I shove the heel of my palms into my eyes, twisting and thrusting until they clear up enough to give me a few feet of visibility. I’m lying on the ground in the exact spot where I’d fallen after taking the formula Tomas gave to me. Alex isn’t here, and neither is my great-grandfather. They’re gone.

Who knows how long I’ve been lying here?

I lean over to my side and pull myself up to my hands and knees. One foot, then both feet are now sturdily placed below me and I stand up straight. I expect to be sore since I may not have moved in God knows how long. But I feel fine.

I rub my eyes again, hoping they’ll clear up enough so I can see a little farther. Now I can see about fifty yards in front of me. People are walking away from where I’m standing. They’re dressed in clothing from an era I’m more familiar with. It looks to be present time rather than the past. I hear a faint but growing voice behind me yelling, “Chloe, run.” I turn to look toward the shouting, and I see Alex sprinting toward me.

I begin toward him eagerly. I just want to wrap my arms around his neck and hold him against me. "I’m okay,” I yell.

He sprints up to where I am. The look on his face tells me he isn’t concerned about me being okay right now. He doesn’t even greet me. Instead, he latches his hand on to my arm and pulls me along behind him. We’re running so fast we can’t even talk. The air is smoggy and smells like stale smoke.

I’m getting so tired of this.

I turn to see what we’re running from. The well-dressed people who were all just walking away from me are now running toward us.

“Alex?” I shout.

He doesn’t acknowledge that I’m yelling. Instead, he just picks up his pace. There’s a small tunnel ahead, and I can only hope that’s where we’re heading because my arm feels like it’s about to be torn off. We slow down as we approach the shadow of the underpass. Alex falls down to his knees, dragging me with him.

His hands cup around my cheeks as he pulls my face close. His eyes are large and his face is only inches from mine. “Chloe, what did you do?”

“What are you talking about?” I ask. “I took the blue serum…you were there. You saw me do it.”

His hands are holding my face with a firmer grip now. “You were out for twenty-nine minutes, but you drifted decades into what we know as the present time. A cloud covered the city…it was pitch black. Sounded like an avalanche. Then Tomas ran from his office and told me that the serum didn’t work the way he thought it would.”

I’m not terribly surprised. “And how did it work instead, then?”

“It sort of tore us loose from our time and threw us forward.” I don’t think I can comprehend what the problem is. So what, we’re back in 2013. “The bottom line is, we’re all in a shitload of trouble until we figure out how to undo this.”

I’m frightened, but I don’t know what of. “Why are we in trouble? How are we supposed to figure out how to undo this if I don’t know how I did this in the first place?”

Alex speaks slowly. “It’s too much to explain right now.” He closes his eyes and swallows hard. “I don’t know how to fix this either, but if we don’t do something right now, it looks like our chances of survival in any form are pretty slim.” He wraps his arm around my body and pulls me onto his lap, lowering his head over my shoulder. I’m encapsulated within him, and my thoughts aren’t focused on being chased.

“How much time do you think we have?” I whisper into his ear.

 People are pressing past us now. “We should probably assume only minutes.”

In the midst of the hundreds of wild thoughts running through my head, Tomas appears before us, sweating and breathless. “Chloe, you must tell me exactly what happened when you took the serum.”

Alex and I both stand up and brush the dirt from our pants. “I passed out, pretty much. That’s all I remember.”

He shakes his head in disagreement. “We need something to fix what you’ve done here.”

“What
she’s
done?” Alex grabs Tomas by his lapels. “
You
caused this…you and your homemade happy drugs.”

Tomas looks as if he wants to argue, but he can’t. “Come, then.” He motions for us to follow. Neither of us moves. “Now!”

We follow as he strides into his office. The walls are now a light tan color, finished with white crown molding. The examination table is white with a leather finish, and computers line the desk. Everything seems to have changed except for the chemical lab and the associated scent.

I pace around the room, taking everything in as Alex hovers over Tomas’s back.

“How long is this going to take, Tomas?” Alex demands.

Tomas ignores Alex’s question. He just races around his office like a tornado instead of answering me.

A knock at the door interrupts Tomas’s frenzy, and he stops dead in his tracks. I sprint to the door, thinking it must be Marius…he’s the only one we haven’t found.

“
Arretez-vous!
” Tomas shouts. “
Don’t open it!”

I don’t listen. I turn the knob.

 The door bursts open. Standing in front of us is a man dressed in a blue suit, wearing some form of armor. He points his dirty finger at me, and says, “Give it back…”

There’s a crowd of others just like him walking toward us. I have no idea what they think I have. This must be some kind of mistake. I freeze. Alex lifts his leg and drives his heel straight into the man’s chest, sending him rocketing backwards. Then he slams the door shut and races around the office, gathering heavy items to barricade the door.

“I thought it was…my great-grandfather.” My explanation has no merit.

Alex shouts while gasping for air. “Chloe, Marius is not out there,” he grunts. “It’s 2013. He’s long gone.”