Time Spent (27 page)

"You're from another world, another place.
In your world, the crash happened ten years ago. The Kevin from our
world, the one who was on the bus with the others...he disappeared.
He vanished and never came back."

Kevin had taken him to another world and
left him there to die. Then he had returned to find other refugees
from another reality, like him, and taken them back to their world.
He had taken them home, but their home was not his. There had
already been a Kevin there, living happily with his parents, having
never been a part of the school bus crash. Kevin was lost, alone,
and the one place he had known as home was not only destroyed, it
had never been his home to begin with.

It all seemed so surreal, to stand in the
place where his parents had died and know they were never his
parents at all.

Kevin knew he had to find his own home, had
to go back to the world from whence he came, but he had no idea
where it was or how to find it among the infinite alternate
realities out there.

There was something else, too. It had
started the first time he opened a portal of his own, carrying bus
driver Carl Macklin to the world which would become his tomb. He
had felt it first then, on his return trip home through the void:
eyes, boring into him, watching him from the shadowy paths between
worlds. Then had come the rooftop, where he had confronted the red
woman. He was certain she had watched him as he returned the others
home, and she would be watching him again, as he made his way
between the worlds to find his home.

She can't kill me,
Kevin reminded
himself.
Nothing can even touch me.

Steeling himself against the fear, Kevin
vanished, leaving one home forever to begin his search for
another.

"What's going on?" Kevin asked. Carl had
been quiet a long time, too long, and he and Becca were looking at
each other curiously. "Are you talking in your heads? What is he
saying, Becca?"

Becca looked to him and back to Carl. "I
don't know. I mean...I'm not sure."

"Hey, I never got to ask my questions,"
Brandon interjected.

"Shut up, Dork!" Becca said.

Brandon threw up his hands. "What did I
do?"

"Like we don't have more important things to
do than answer the question about the aliens one more damn
time!"

"What's more important?" asked Kevin. "What
was he saying?"

"It's all right." Carl nodded to Brandon.
"Go ahead, Brandon."

"I asked you a question!" Kevin strode up to
Becca. "What was he saying just now?"

"I was trying to show her what Zachary
showed me," Carl said, "but it's like a dream, you know, they fade
once you wake--"

Kevin turned quickly, driving his fist into
Carl's face. "QUIET."

______________________

When Kevin returned from the world where
he'd abandoned Carl, he sensed something was terribly wrong. The
military base was in chaos, the others from school bus 313 were
nowhere to be found, and stepping outside, he saw something
else.

Above the top of one of the tallest
buildings downtown, the sky had darkened and a wide funnel cloud
had formed.

Kevin opened a portal and stepped through
it, landing on the rooftop.

Wind was screaming around the rooftop, and
many of the others were already there, joined by newcomers, other
kids their age who seemed to have powers also. There was something
strange about them. Kevin could see it inside them, like they were
just out of synch with everything and everyone around.

Sparks were jumping between them, faster and
faster, and when Kevin arrived they sped up, forming arcs of energy
that leapt into the sky. Where they came together, the sky
darkened. A shimmering hole began to form in the air. A sound rose,
like the sound of cracks opening in ice, only a million times
louder.

______________________

"Hi."

Kevin opened the door a little farther. It
was a little girl, close to his age (Kevin was ten
and a
half
as he was proud to point out to his parents), perhaps a
bit younger.

"I saw you looking out of your window," the
girl said. She was shorter than Kevin, with lustrous red hair that
spilled down the back of her little red dress.

"Oh."

"Can you come out and play?"

Kevin shook his head reflexively, closing
the door a bit. "No...no. I don't like to go outside."

"Oh..." Her bottom lip pooched out a bit as
her lips curled downward. "How come?"

Kevin looked down at his feet. "I like to
stay home. It's safer."

"Oh."

Silence fell between them for a moment, in
which both studied the ground. Finally the little girl looked up,
eyes widening. "I know! I'll come in and we'll play inside!"

"Ummm..." Kevin let go of the door and
looked around behind himself. His parents were out, and he wasn't
supposed to let strangers come into the house.

She was past him and through the door before
he realized what had happened. "Come on!" She ran up the stairs and
was almost out of sight before Kevin had gotten the door closed and
locked and followed.

"Wait!" he called after her. "What's your
name?"

______________________

His key fit the lock as if it were meant to
do so. Kevin entered the front hallway to find the house dark and
cold.

"Mom?" he called into the darkness.
"Dad?"

No answer.

He walked into the living room, where by the
light streaming in from the back yard he could see the framed
photographs lining the shelves. Kevin looked at pictures of his
parents and himself, at various ages, smiling.
At least I exist
in this world,
he thought. How many had he visited so far where
there was no child in the family photos, or some other child in his
place? It felt like a hundred. This looked right, though.

It looked like home.

Kevin no longer trusted his feelings,
however. The irony was not lost on him. Carl Macklin had spent a
good bit of time and effort trying to make Kevin believe none of
what had happened to him was real, and had failed. If he had only
known how Kevin's own quest to find home would affect him, he might
not have bothered. His parents were dead, but were never really his
parents. A home lost, which had never truly been home. Now, world
after world so much like home yet so different, one after another
after another, so close and yet so far. Had he ever really had a
home? Did his family ever truly exist at all? Kevin no longer
knew.

He picked up the photo in his hand and
brushed the dust away, turning it in the light to look closer into
his parents' eyes. Would he even recognize his real parents, if
they were right in front of him?

"Weird, isn't it?"

Kevin turned. A hand flicked the light
switch, and the room was illuminated, revealing the man standing in
the arch to the hallway, a young man with a bald head and smooth,
dark brown skin, wearing a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans.

The man was the spitting image of Kevin
himself.

"I'm sorry," Kevin said, putting the picture
down.
He must be the Kevin who belongs to this house, this
world.
"I didn't mean to intrude. I'm looking for my home."

"This is your home, Kevin. Mine was
destroyed...but you know that."

"What?"

"Home gone, parents killed. You know the
drill." The other Kevin grinned.

Kevin felt a sick sensation in the pit of
his stomach. "Who are you?"

"Umm...who does it look like, dummy?" The
other Kevin laughed, held his hands out and looked down at his
chest and out to each hand, then back to Kevin. "I'm Kevin
Lloyd."

______________________

"Hey hey!" Brandon tried to grab Kevin's arm
but his hands slipped away. "Calm down!"

Kevin turned on Becca, ignoring Brandon
completely. "You think you can put one over on me? What was he
saying?"

Brandon tried to move between Kevin and
Becca but something held him back. Simon pointed a finger at him.
"Let him talk. She's up to something, I'm telling you. I saw her in
my vision."

"And I told you to fucking drop it, didn't
I?" Becca asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He may be afraid of you," Kevin said,
moving closer to her. "But your little mind tricks don't work on
me...do they,
bitch?
"

______________________

The hole widened, and the others beheld
strange things that emerged through the rift to surround and bind
them. They were transfixed, amazed, and terrified.

Except...Kevin beheld nothing at all.

The wind hammered at him, the rooftop shook,
and a sound howled out of the void like a million voices calling
for redemption, revenge. The sound took many forms, and all the
others heard it and responded.

Except...there was no sound.

Kevin peered into the void and knew that
somewhere, beyond that portal, was his home. And he wanted to go
home, oh yes, he wanted that most of all.

______________________

The red haired girl had already found
Kevin's room and was looking around when he ran in after her.
"Hey..."

"Is this your room?"

"Yeah."

"It's pretty small." She looked out through
the window onto the Lloyds front lawn. "No wonder you always look
so sad looking out of your window."

"I'm not sad."

"It's sad to not go outside, silly." She sat
on the edge of his bed. "I was stuck inside for a long time. A long
LONG time. Like so long you wouldn't even know."

Kevin's mouth twisted to the side. He wasn't
sure what to say. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said with a smile that
brightened her face. "I'm out now!"

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. Like I
said, it's just safer is all."

She cocked her head to the side and peered
at him from under hooded lashes.

"Is it? Are you SURE?"

______________________

"You're him," Kevin said, his pulse
quickening. "You're the other Kevin, the one who
disappeared..."

"I wouldn't say disappeared so much as
got displaced.
Did you enjoy stealing my life?"

"Wha...Wait, no..." Kevin stammered, "I
didn't steal anything."

"Oh? So...my parents
weren't
blown to
bits? Hm?" The other Kevin put a finger to his lips. "Seems like I
heard otherwise."

"I didn't kill them," protested Kevin.

"They were your PARENTS!" The other Kevin
scooped the picture off the shelf. "You were supposed to, oh I
don't know, PROTECT THEM?" He tore the frame apart and flapped the
photograph at him. "Maybe NOT let them get MURDERED?"

Kevin backed up, holding up his hands in a
futile gesture.

"Oh but I forgot, they weren't YOUR parents
at all, were they?"

Kevin's mouth worked but no sound came
out.

"I knew you'd come back here once you were
finished ruining my life. All I had to do was wait. I knew you'd
want to come back to your nice, cozy home with your nice,
not-coincidentally STILL ALIVE mom and dad. But I got here
first."

Kevin looked around. "Where are they? What
did you do to them?"

"Brian and Glenda? They're so sweet, so
concerned about the neurotic little shit they raised." The other
Kevin advanced.

"WHERE ARE THEY?"

"They're fine, relax! I sent them away on a
little vacation. Don't worry, though." The other Kevin drew a long,
sharp knife from behind his back. "I'll get to them once I'm
finished with you."

"That won't work on me," Kevin said.

"In anyone else's hands, maybe. But in mine?
She thinks it will. She thinks it'll work just fine."

"She?" Kevin cocked his head. "You mean the
red woman."

"Damn right. You made a big mistake,
homeboy. You just FUCKED with the WRONG GOD." The other Kevin
brandished the knife. "But if I were you, I wouldn't worry about
her right now." He vanished, reappearing directly in front of
Kevin. "Surprise!"

He plunged the knife toward Kevin's
chest.

______________________

Yellow energy flared from Mia's fists but
washed over Kevin with no effect. Tyler moved up beside Becca,
turning his gaze on Kevin. His eyes dialed open, but nothing
happened. Max barked from somewhere. Brandon shouted something
about Cyclops and Wolverine that no one understood but him. Heather
appeared lost, staring at the ceiling. Carl tried to speak, but he
was dazed by Kevin's punch, his breath restricted by Simon's
invisible hands. Simon's eyes darted from Kevin to Becca, a savage
instinct rising in him but unsure who was its proper target.

Into this chaos, one hand, one finger
reached out to touch Kevin.

Red light exploded, throwing Kevin across
the room and into the opposite wall.

Kevin looked up into Zachary's blue
eyes.

Zachary folded his arms across his chest and
appraised Kevin with a cold stare.

"You're one of the bad people."

______________________

Kevin had created his own portals before. He
held his hands up, concentrating on the lines of energy that arced
around and around, creating the cracks in the sky. He imagined
himself holding them, contracting them, bringing them closer
together. Slowly, so slowly, he began to gain control of the portal
and contract it, shrinking it.

Then, something fought back. Something
bucked against his control and sent pain cascading into his
mind.

Something was there, just beyond the portal.
Red light coalesced, forming a shape. The shape stepped across the
threshold.

A figure stepped forth.

______________________

"So...do you want to watch TV or
something?"