Previously: Luci’s consciousness became trapped inside Frank’s body with him, all because Carrie wanted to rig up the time machine. Frank took control, for a last ditch effort…

PART 3.23b: TIMELINE FOUR 2

Carrie sighed back. “Oh, now what are you–” She stopped when she saw the look in Frank’s eyes. And saw not only the quiet intensity there, but somehow, how those same eyes were also pleading desperately with her.

Which was when it first occurred to Carrie to really question why, ever since the plan had been proposed, Luci had not been in control of the body.

“No,” Carrie breathed, the truth of the situation dawning on her. The reason why Frank was experiencing those physical pains as he tried to enact this plan. Along with the explanation for why Luci’s essence would get forced out of Frank’s body. But he wouldn’t… he COULDN’T…

Frank nodded slightly, as if he knew she’d worked it out. “Take care of Luci for me, Carrie.”

“Frank, NO!” Carrie screamed, jumping for him.

He brought Luci’s hand down. The rod slammed into the fuse box. There was a huge shower of sparks, and an explosion of light and sound. Carrie was knocked back off her feet, only dimly aware of the cloud of smoke billowing around her. Only dimly aware of the residual static left in the air, after Luci’s body and the time machine had disappeared. But all too aware of the lethal charge that had been sent through Frank’s body.

Carrie felt like her head was being peeled open like an orange.

“DO… YOU…. MIND?!” Carrie shrieked, rolling over onto her back, holding her hands to the side of her head. If she moved them, surely the top of her head would pop off. “FOR GOD’S SAKE GLEN, FRANK JUST DIED! HE’S DEAD BUT IN THE OTHER TIMELINE HE WASN’T AND IT HURTS INSIDE OH GOD IT HURTS EVERYWHERE, WORSE THAN IT DID WHEN THIS ALL STARTED I CAN’T TAKE THIS IT’S TOO MUCH I WANT TO DIE TOO OH PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!!” She couldn’t tell if she was yelling, or if her head was simply adding reverb to every syllable.

“Carrie, calm down,” Glen said sternly, leaning over her. “You’re feeling some added pain because of your proximity to this event, but give it a few hours. You’ll be fine. I know, because this is the reason I was sent here. To ensure that in our timeline three, the one where your powers awaken, you will leave town when one of your classmates unexpectedly passes away. Don’t worry about the rest of them changing anything once we leave, I’m pretty sure Frank’s last act shorted out the time machine for good.”

There was a cracking noise as Carrie’s fist connected solidly with Glen’s nose. “THAT’S… NOT… HELPING!” she howled, before slapping her palm back against her head. She realized that she was hyperventilating, yet somehow, that knowledge didn’t help her to stop.

“OWW!!” Glen yelped. “You dough Carrie, gedding so emodiondal ondy maggs de payn werze. We shud work on dat.”

Carrie curled up tightly into a ball, trying hard to resume breathing regularly without inhaling too much smoke. Gradually, awareness of her surroundings returned - Frank’s parents were shouting something upstairs. Probably upset that the basement door had been jammed closed prior to their experiment.

“Carrie, we hab to go dow. You hab no altwernatib.” Glen chuckled. “As dey say in daht moobee, come wid me if dyu wand do libe.”

The pain was starting to ebb – from her head, if not from her heart. Desperately, she tried to take stock of the situation. Did she really have no alternative but to run away with Glen? Part of her thought so. Actually, most of her thought so.

Because there was no way to explain this to anyone. No way at all, and if this was how timeline three was supposed to play out, then Glen was right. Besides, she’d already burned all of her bridges in town, slapping Julie, cutting off Chartreuse… it was time to move on.

‘What sort of monster ARE you?’ Elizabeth accused.

‘I’m you,’ the majority of her mind retorted. ’The girl tied to time. The girl who should never have existed. Come on now. We can’t fight fate.’

‘Like hell we can’t! We said we’d FIX this!’

‘HOW, idiot? How can we fix this? How do we even know the first THING about fixing something of this magnitude?’

The part of her that was Elizabeth felt the fight draining out of her. ‘We’ll figure it out. Later. Then come back and tell ourselves…'

‘…changing our future, preventing us from coming back…'

‘I’m immune to paradox, damn it!’

‘And the tradeoff is, whatever we see, becomes permanent. Surely you’ve realized that by now? We saw this, and we haven’t come back yet, meaning we cannot change this. Stop fighting. This is our timeline. It’s time for us to go.’

Elizabeth/Carrie shook, her cheeks wet with tears. “No, no, no, no…!”

“Cub on, Carrie,” Glen said, pulling her to her feet. “I cad use by pawwer to ged us oud of here. Bud id hass to be dow.”

Mindylenopia! Oh God, Mindy was the key. By inserting herself into the timeline, Mindy had forced Carrie to power up faster. To learn a technique like banishing sooner. Mindy had moved her abilities along at an accelerated rate - in fact, Glen likely wouldn’t have revealed himself two weeks ago, if not for Mindy! Surely, Mindy’s involvement meant that Elizabeth/Carrie had it somewhere within her to undo this.

‘No. You remain weak.’

Moreover, she had told Luci/Frank that she would fix things, one way or another. She had meant that.

‘No, stop!’

And there WAS a way. She saw it now.

‘NO!’

“Go to hell, other me,” Elizabeth gasped. Her eyes flashed golden. She felt like she was being torn in two, but despite Glen guiding her towards the stairs, she pulled away from him, vanishing into the time streams.

Carrie pressed her palm into her forehead, then marched to the window. “Any future Carries want to come back to tell me what to do this time?” she called out into the darkness. “Send me a letter maybe? No?”

She stared down at the ground outside. “Screw it,” Carrie sighed. She turned and knelt back down in front of the time machine. Yet as she reached out to open it, another Carrie appeared. Smelling of smoke, with her hair awry, dirty smudges on her tearstreaked face, and two golden eyes that seemed to be staring right though her present - prior? - self.

Carrie had never been more terrified in her entire life.

“This… ends… HERE!” Elizabeth hissed, and before the Carrie of the past could react, her future self had popped open the time machine, yanked out a bunch of the electronics, and then slammed her free hand right into her double’s chest.

Carrie screamed.

Then she couldn’t stop screaming.

She screamed as she felt her future counterpart sinking into her, she screamed as the memories of the coming week began to overload her psyche, and she continued to scream as she relived Frank’s death. Soon her throat was raw and her own vision had become blurred with the tears of her counterpart and the only thing she knew about now was how to scream.

Which was when she finally, mercifully, fell unconscious.

“Hrrngh.”

“She’s awake!” came a voice. “Chartreuse, go get her father!”

“Hrrngh,” Carrie said again, as she heard someone running from the room. Wait, that voice… she recognized that voice! She forced her eyelids open.

“Hey there,” Frank said, smiling down at her. “Welcome back. You were really starting to worry us there, Carrie. You’ve been unconscious for over a week now!”

Carrie blinked away the tears that were reforming in her eyes. Over a week? Yes, that made sense. The only way that OTHER her had been able to keep from going temporally insane had been to merge. To merge, then induce unconsciousness for the duration of those other memories. The ones leading up to now, the moment in Frank’s basement when he had… no. He was here. Because she had pulled apart the machine…

“You’re alive. Oh, Frank, yes, you’re alive!” Carrie tried to sit up, but felt too weak. She became aware of the fact that she was lying in a hospital bed. “L-L-Luci,” she croaked, mouth dry. “Where… WHERE?”

Frank blinked. “I’m not sure. She’s been spending a lot of her time lately with Tim, working on that gun and logbook. Why, did you need us to find her? What the heck happened anyway?? Your father said you simply started screaming, and in your room I found the time machine all wrecked!”

Carrie ran a quick self-assessment. The pain in her head, it was back to manageable levels. And yet - something felt off. It took a moment, but Carrie pinpointed the problem.

When Shady had brought back his machine, destroying “timeline two” and setting in motion “timeline three”, there had been little resistance. And timeline two had been irrecoverably overwritten. But here, when Carrie had initiated what she might as well dub “timeline four”… that was not the case. That third timeline, the one where she had fled town? It wasn’t giving up quietly at all. It was still out there. But that was impossible!

“Carrie?”

She forced herself to remain calm. The trouble was, Glen wouldn’t know they were supposed to be leaving town today. Right? Because he hadn’t been waiting for a date! Rather… for an event. An event… that could still happen. Pushing this new timeline back in line with “three”? Unless she became powerful enough to not merely delay, but truly prevent a classmate’s death…

‘You CAN’T DO…'

“Shut UP!” she shrieked at the voice of resistance in her head.

Frank flinched. “I’m sorry?”

“No, not you,” Carrie said, bringing her palm to her forehead. “Sorry. As to what happened, I… I made an error in judgement. One which I’m now attempting to correct.”

“Oh! Does that mean our time group is back together?”

Carrie bit down on her lip. The best chance for her friends… surely it was to make her new timeline four as much like timeline two as possible. The one without the machine. The one where her powers hadn’t awakened. The one where Frank had also lived.

“No. The more I connect with the rest of you, the more I might cause someone’s… no. I’m sorry, Frank. Any time travel, it’ll be me and Glen now. We’re the anomalies, it has to be that way. Is the time machine destroyed?”

“I… I left the pieces under your bed, but…”

“Good. Consider it gone. Never speak of it again.” She would dispose of those pieces. Then get Glen to teach her as much as he could about what she was capable of, while staying away from the rest of them. That was the best way to keep everybody safe. The best way to preserve her destruction of timeline three.

“Carrie, I don’t understand.”

She turned to face the opposite wall, biting down hard on her lip. “I know you don’t. Please don’t try. Just… leave me be.” The pain, the sheer mental and physical agony of dealing with the time streams and the ramifications that came from her alterations of them… honestly, it was her cross to bear. Hers alone. The girl tied to time.

After all, ever since the loss of timeline one? It had been the only reason for her existence.

END OF BOOK 3: Destruction

-New Commentary this Sunday!

-A vote for T&T at “Top Web Fiction” does bring in a hit or two. (A personal recommendation or review might even get people to read past Part 1.)

-This does mark the first time I’ve ever revisited a prior scene… and changed it. Did you notice the bit with Carrie at the window is from Shattered Part 2? Related, one of my favourite “Buffy” series quotes was spoken by Oz in Season 3: “Time’s up. Rules change.”

-We now leave Carrie, on her own to deal with her new timeline, with all the other teenage relationships similarly broken around her. You can walk away and hope for the best… or stick around for Book 4: Resolution. Coming next week. Tell your friends.

Previously: An accident with the time machine placed Luci’s consciousness into Frank’s body. They can communicate while unconscious, and are looking for a way to fix things.

PART 3.23a: TIMELINE FOUR 1

Luci/Frank managed to suppress a sigh, poking her/his fork into her/his plate of cafeteria fries. “Repeating that back to us isn’t going to make it any less true, Carrie.”

“Right, okay.” She thought for a moment. “On the bright side, if both essences are available, we have a shot at disint… er, UNintegrating the two of you. Right?”

Luci/Frank shook her head. “I was late to school today because I wanted to keep at the equations. So far, it doesn’t look good. Did you and Glen have any luck talking about the machine itself?”

Carrie shook her head back. “I stayed on the phone with him as long as my dad would let me, but the only scenario we can think of is to have your body - that is, Luci’s - available on the other end of the wormhole when you emerge from your initial trip. You know, when you first got, uh, fused. Granted, it presumes Luci’s essence will be able to find itself - yourself - and then, for the sake of self-consistency, it will require that the resulting version of Frank travels in time, to our present. Where he pretends he’s Luci. Which would be what you’re doing here.”

Luci/Frank wrinkled her nose. “Okay, but since I know I’m NOT pretending, we know THAT plan won’t work,” she reasoned.

“Aha, but how do I know you’re not just pretending to not be pretending?” Carrie countered, waggling her finger. Luci/Frank glared. Carrie lowered her hand. “Fine. If it’s any comfort, the longer this goes on, the bigger the temporal headache I seem to be getting. I might not last until your future arrival date.”

“My own body might not last either!” Luci/Frank noted. “When I checked on myself this morning, my body’s pulse was even weaker than last night. Besides, what do we tell my parents, that I went on vacation to Florida??”

Luci/Frank swallowed her/his forkful of fries as Carrie trailed off. “Might be what?” s/he asked.

Carrie sighed. “A time-share of my temporal self. Luci, know that I won’t let things end for the two of you this way. I promise that much.”

Her tone had become very serious. “Carrie, can you even control your temporal self yet…?” Luci/Frank pressed, trying to read into her expression.

“No. But if it’s within me to do it, I’ll find a way,” Carrie said. Her grip tightened on her soda can. “Somehow, I’ll find a way to fix things.”

“Luci! LUCI!” Frank called out.

Luci blinked as she felt the palm slapping at her cheeks, and with effort, she managed to focus on the image of Frank above her. “Oooh,” she moaned. She propped herself up on one arm, realizing she was lying on the grass of their dreamscape. “It… it happened again, didn’t it…”

Frank nodded. “That’s the third time, and the second time tonight. I don’t like it. When you go transparent like that, it’s as if you’re… fading away. You’ve got to hang on, Luci! We’ll figure a way to get you back where you belong!”

Luci shifted her focus back to the blue sky. “Frank, it’s been four days, and in terms of saving both of us, we’re back to square one.” She paused. “In fact, I don’t know if you realized, but I – that is, our body – it blacked out in class today too. If Chartreuse hadn’t caught me…” She swallowed. “I don’t want to die, Frank. Not like that.”

He grabbed her by the shoulders. “No one’s said anything about dying. We’ll find something! We always do.”

“Frank, seriously? Even with Glen’s input, we still don’t know half of the science we’re dealing with!” She pounded her fist into the ground. “It’s time to face facts, we’re running out of time! I’m… I’m simply going to die, and there’s nothing we can do about it!”

“No!” Frank countered. “You are NOT! Not so long as I’m here!” He pulled her into an embrace, and Luci hugged back, hard. Then, after a moment, she worked to change her body. And before Frank had a chance to react, he was holding a twenty year old.

“Frank, don’t,” Luci said as she felt him pulling away. “Please, don’t. If this doesn’t work out… I want something to take away with me. Something good, like the time I looked like this, and I told you my feelings. In fact, since we’re only in a dream, you could even–”

“Luci, stop,” Frank protested. He ceased trying to pull away but refused to meet her gaze. She saw him biting his lip. “We both know this is more than a dream, it’s… I don’t know, a mind link. So don’t tempt me this way. It’s not right. When you’re back in your own body, then… then maybe.”

Luci remained in his arms for a moment before reverting back to her normal appearance. “Maybe?” she said quietly, as they separated their embrace. “Tell me Frank, if I do get back, will we really be able to have a healthy relationship?”

“Well… why not?”

“You know why,” Luci said quietly. “The memory you saw. The one I’ve spent years repressing.”

Frank’s face fell, and he looked down at the ground. “I wasn’t going to bring that up again.”

“You didn’t have to. The more I struggle to hold onto myself, the more that particular mental block crumbles away.” She paused, then closed her eyes. “Fine, let’s do this. How much did you see?”

Frank sighed. “He touched you. He…” His tone became harder. “Your parents should never have let you use the pool next door!”

“Were my clothes still on?” Luci continued, feeling a strange calmness come over her. She reopened her eyes.

Frank was staring, horrified. “Of course they were. You don’t mean…”

“Okay. You really did only brush the surface."

“Oh dear God, Luci!! You mean he… that is… he didn’t… DID HE?!”

The young girl shook her head. “Oh, he didn’t go THAT far, if that’s what you’re thinking. Linford touched. He had me touch back. He took a couple pictures. We never…" Her voice trailed off as she began to feel sick to her stomach.

She shoved the emotion aside, deciding instead to focus instead on the facts. The way she always did. “I was seven at the time. Barely four months out of the orphanage, and I didn’t want to cause any trouble. I didn’t want to get sent back, to be… rejected. The way I always had been, for mouthing off and being a know-it-all.”

“What–” Frank’s voice cracked. He tried again. “What happened to this pervert?!”

Luci shifted her gaze to the horizon. “I’m not sure… when Linford moved away at the end of the summer, I finally got up the nerve to tell my parents about it. Mom and Dad, they raised an uproar and got me some counselling, but the perpetrator himself, he didn’t leave any forwarding address.”

She sighed. “Ultimately, we Primroses decided to move too. It’s how we ended up in this town. And ever since coming to live here, I’ve tried my hardest to forget. I wanted to move on, and to… to overwrite those memories with some happier ones.” She slumped. “Pity I never got the hang of social interactions at school.”

“Oh, Luci…” Frank reached out to put an arm on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off, stepping away, looking at the ground.

“Wait, let me finish. Let me do a thorough analysis.” She swallowed hard. “So… this has become a case of classic displacement. Linford to Linquist. And even though I know they’re both different people, and maybe Linquist isn’t as bad, they both did things to me, without my permission. Which is why, deep down, I can’t feel truly comfortable so long I know that they’re somewhere out there. Experimenting. Hence, my obsessive vendetta with the logbook when it turned up.”

Luci spun back to face Frank, a tear running down her cheek. “But it’s worse than that. The more I find myself facing up to those truths here, the more I feel that my desire for a loving relationship with someone has been largely motivated by the desire to overwrite those bad memories. So… was ours a romance of convenience? Did I truly love you, or did I pick you because you were my best shot? Is it possible our relationship has been doomed from the start?”

Frank took a step back as if struck. “If… if that’s honestly what you believe, then… I suppose we both have some serious thinking to do.”

Luci started to turn away.

“BUT,” Frank continued, “That doesn’t change our current situation. Boyfriend, best friend - those sorts of distinctions are unimportant right now! You’ve told me what you believe, so let me tell you what I believe. Namely that someone with your strength of character wouldn’t let her life be dictated by the actions of some perverted BASTARD. That’s not the Luci I know! That’s not the Luci I fell for! And moreover, that’s NOT the Luci who is going to come out of our current situation feeling even stronger than she was before! Okay?!”

Luci couldn’t stop the tears from coming, but for the first time, she didn’t feel like they made her weak. “Thank you, Frank,” she choked out. “I only hope you’re right. And that I don’t die here. That maybe, one day, we can figure out our–” Her voice caught. Again he moved towards her, and again she waved him off. “Wait, stop, I’m about to–”

She fell to her knees and threw up all over the grass.

“Oh, Luci,” he murmured, wiping a tear away from his own eye as he reached out to gently stroke her hair. “My poor, dear Luci… don’t despair, I’ll get you through this… no matter what it takes.”

It was exactly one week after the initial incident that saw the four of them gathered together again in Frank’s basement. Carrie, Glen, and Luci/Frank. Or rather, Carrie mentally amended, Frank/Luci. Because according to Frank, Luci’s essence had grown so weak that he’d had to retake control of his own body after waking up that morning.

“It won’t work, you know,” Glen declared, folding his arms as he leaned back against the wall.

“It will,” Carrie countered. She ground her palm into her throbbing temple. “It has to.”

The trouble was, Luci’s own body wasn’t faring much better than her ‘essence’, having become cold to the touch. On top of that, the e-mails Luci had been writing for her parents, trying to explain her continuing absence from town had been less than convincing. A police investigation was already underway. So if this effort didn’t work… well, Carrie wasn’t looking forward to the temporal repercussions.

Glen shook his head. “I’m telling you, it’s a bad plan.”

“Look, if you don’t have anything useful to say, don’t say anything at all!” Carrie snapped.

“Actually, Glen is correct when he says that this is liable to kill at least one of us,” Frank/Luci rasped.

“But you said there’s a chance, right? I mean, despite having to take control, Luci’s essence is still inside you?”

Frank nodded slowly. “Ohhh, yes. She’s still in here. She just hasn’t been able to articulate since last night. I…” He winced and clutched at his stomach. “I r-refuse to let Luci give up so easily.”

“Which isn’t helping you any,” Glen observed. “You’ve been getting weak and feverish throughout the day. If I didn’t know better, I’d say your body has started fighting against her. Perhaps treating her essence like some kind of virus.”

“Oh, shut UP, Glen!” Carrie fumed. “As long as there’s still a snowball’s chance in hell of this working, we’re doing it!!” She looked around the room. “All right, it’s almost exactly one week since the incident. The machine’s set for a one hour jump, I’ve jammed the tweezers in where you said, and that metal rod is long enough for you to reach the fuse box, to access the extra power. You’ve got a coin to use, so… let’s light it up! Okay?”

Frank/Luci nodded weakly and slipped off the chair to crawl over next to Luci’s body. He slipped his arm around her, reaching out to brush some hair off her face. “I said I wasn’t going to let you die,” he murmured, smiling sadly. “So you can stop arguing with me.”

Carrie’s eyebrows knit at the oddity of that last sentence, watching as Frank placed Luci’s limp palm on the handle of the time machine. He then dropped the coin into the slot, and slowly brought the metal rod into position.

-Book 3 ends on Friday. Care to vote? Or comment? Tell me you’re not bored…

Previously: Frank’s body appeared after a time trip, while in the present, Luci is unconscious. Worried, Carrie discusses the mechanics of the time machine with Glen.

PART 3.22b: DO YOU MIND? 2

Glen rubbed his forehead. “Look, I’m no expert on the inner workings of the devices themselves, what I’ve said is pretty basic temporal theory. All I can say for sure is that the equations get trickier when metal is involved. Because it’s metallic coins which are flash fried in the thing as a power source. So maybe Luci… her brain… well, part of it might have been flash fried too. Through that metal conduit."

“But… but look, LOOK, she’s still breathing…” Carrie said, releasing him as her whole body began to shake. “And it w-was just tweezers…”

Glen bent down next to Luci’s body once more, again checking her eyes and her pulse. He shook his head. Maybe the time had come for them after all? “There’s no way to know for sure, but given she’s been like this for more than half an hour…”

“No! I refuse to accept that I had a hand in turning Luci into a… a vegetable!!” Carrie said, stepping forwards. “There must be some…”

She froze as the basement door opened, and there came the sound of someone rushing downstairs. But it wasn’t one of Frank’s parents. In fact, as Glen turned, he saw it was Frank himself. The latest arrival took in the scene, immediately catching sight of the body on the floor. He then dropped the time machine, running to kneel down by Luci.

“Oh my God!” Frank gasped. “What’s happened to me?!”

“We’re not sure,” Carrie admitted. “Glen thinks that some part of Luci was…" She stopped. “Wait, happened to YOU? What do you mean, Frank?"

“Huh. Well, this is unprecedented," Glen mused.

Luci/Frank stared at the page of equations in her hands, trying hard not to cry. Not again. Carrie and Glen had left long ago, when Frank’s mother had insisted on her son coming up for dinner.

Dinner, of course, had been a quiet affair… it had felt awkward pretending to be someone she wasn’t. Luci knew she’d acted oddly enough for Frank’s parents to sense something was up. At least they’d interpreted it as sickness, advising him to go and lie down after the meal. And though it meant that Luci couldn’t go back down to the lab to try and work things through on the large chalkboard, maybe that was for the best. Her body was still lying on the bench down there, covered by a sheet.

Which felt unbelievably creepy.

Naturally, both she and Carrie had pressed Glen for more information, immediately following her return of Frank’s body to the present. “All right, all right!” Glen had said, after several attempts to deflect. “My best guess? What happened here is Luci’s… essence…? For lack of a better word… was caught by the event horizon of the wormhole. But instead of being lost forever, it somehow managed to connect up with Frank’s body.”

“Then where’s Frank’s ‘essence’?!” Carrie had demanded. Glen could only shrug helplessly.

And shortly thereafter, Luci/Frank had lost all self-control. “Damn it, Carrie! This is all your fault, with wanting to rig the device!” she’d screamed, kicking the other girl in the shins. Carrie had let out a loud yelp and fallen backwards, almost on top of Luci’s own body.

Seems a kick from Frank’s body packed more of a punch than what she’d intended. But it’s not like she’d had much time to get used to being inside him or anything - as soon as she’d regained consciousness after her unscheduled trip, she’d reset the machine to travel back to now! Having held out some hope that doing so would automatically fix things.

Which it hadn’t. Did this mean that Frank was somehow trapped inside HER body, unable to get out? Unable to move, unable to speak? Or was HE the one whose essence had been…

Luci looked back down at the paper she held, before crumpling it up and throwing it aside. Followed by the pencil. She drew her knees (yet not her knees) up to her chest (Frank’s chest) and finally allowed another tear to escape her/Frank’s eye.

This was so messed up. They couldn’t even duplicate this situation in reverse, like they’d done the time she’d been prematurely aged. Hell, to hear Glen speak, it was lucky she’d survived this experience at all. But of course, the worst part of this whole situation was how, deep down, Luci knew she’d been lashing out again. At people who didn’t deserve it.

This wasn’t Carrie’s fault, no more than it had been Julie’s fault when Frank had ended up in the future with Mindy. No, this was all on her. On her and her obsessive nature.

She’d allowed herself to get distracted. Again. Not by the logbook this time, but instead by the revelations about Glen’s origins and mental powers. Frank’s wild suppositions at the start of the year had apparently been correct. And she’d been thinking more about the repercussions of that, and the temporal gun, instead of the task at hand.

Why had she written off Frank’s concerns? Why had she tried to bring his focus back to her in September, and off the person with the crazy mental powers? Worse, ever since her vendetta against Linquist had ramped up, she’d simply started avoiding him. WHY? Did she not want this relationship with Frank after all?

There was a ring of truth to that which alarmed her.

Luci prided herself on her intelligence, and yet here she was, still making huge emotional errors in judgement. Errors which might have now cost the life of the boy that she… loved? Well, it was impossible to fix any of her relationship issues now.

‘Maybe not…’

Well, perhaps not, if she could work through the equations. Find a way to reverse things. But she was so very tired… Luci looked over towards her clock, checked herself, and looked to where Frank’s bedroom clock was. Already after 2am! At least her parents wouldn’t worry. Carrie had said she’d suck up her pride long enough to talk to Julie, to pretend like Luci was staying over at the mansion. Their standard fake-out. But that would only work until school resumed tomorrow…

‘Sleep, Luci… sleep…’

Luci’s eyes snapped open. She couldn’t sleep! Not until she had the answers she needed! Luci tried to shake herself awake, almost knocking Frank’s glasses off in the process. Another tear ran down her cheek at the realization, and she brushed it aside.

Focus, girl, focus! You can’t break down now… not now, not when Frank needs you the most. If only he was here though, to help her with these crazy temporal equations! They had been such a good team that way. If only he was here…

‘Luci, sleep, and I can be here…’

Luci’s eyes snapped open again - and she realized with some shock that she was back inside her own body. Except she was no longer in Frank’s room, or even under the sheet in his lab. She was sitting underneath a tree, with a field of green grass spread out around her.

“What? How?” And she reached up to her throat, recognizing it was her own voice coming from her own vocal chords.

“It’s elementary, my dear Luci,” came Frank’s voice from above. She looked up in time to see him jump down from a tree branch and land on the ground beside her. He fired off a weak smile. “You see, my body - or rather our body? - is now unconscious.”

“Then you saw and heard the whole thing,” Luci concluded. The two of them were now following a wandering pathway through the ‘field’ dreamscape, comparing notes.

Frank nodded back. “It’s a weird feeling, having my body do things without any control over what those things are. I guess you just have the more dominant personality? Or perhaps it was the only way my own mind decided it could keep your essence stable. At any rate, I couldn’t get through until your - our? - consciousness started to drift. Which it wasn’t prone to do so long as you were focussed on fixing things.”

Luci looked at the ground. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no, nothing to apologize for. Actually felt oddly satisfying kicking Carrie in the shins…”

“No, I mean sorry for everything,” Luci corrected. “For not believing you about Glen back then. For going through the logbook again when I said I wouldn’t. For not giving it my all today, when helping you with the machine. And most of all, for avoiding you when we should have been working things out.” Her fists clenched. “I’ve been the worst girlfriend ever.”

Frank pursed his lips. “Luci, I wasn’t racing to give you a phone call either," he pointed out. “And I’m the one who tripped an activation circuit, and who shouldn’t have prematurely plugged in a coin into the device merely so things would be lit up more clearly. That’s all on me, not you."

“Still, you didn’t almost get me killed and banished to the past!” Luci reminded. “That happened to you, all because the first thing on my mind was a vendetta against Linquist! I’m so sorry, I just… God, I don’t know why, but he irritates me so much!”

Frank stopped walking. “Luci… our minds are connected here. I can’t see everything but, ah, you don’t have to hide the truth of that situation from me any more.”

Luci froze. “What do you mean?”

Frank glanced down at her, then shifted his gaze skyward. “Oh boy. See, in the beginning, right after we… well, ‘merged’… you slipped unconscious. I tried to find a way of getting through to you then, but I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing and… instead of contacting you, I ended up sifting through certain memories of yours.”

Luci blinked and involuntarily wrapped her arms about herself. “Do you mind?” she said irritably. “I have some very private stuff in my psyche!”

“I know! It wasn’t intentional,” Frank insisted. “Really it wasn’t. But at the time, you were feeling hurt and scared and confused. Which brought up a similar time you’d felt that way, namely back when you’d been aged up by Linquist. From there it was only a short leap to your childhood when…”

“NO!” Luci gasped, and almost before she knew it she had physically reached out to slap her hand over Frank’s mouth. “Don’t say it!” she whispered. “Don’t make me remember that time, please, Frank, don’t, don’t… that part of me, I blocked it off, even from myself…!”

Her body shook, her eyes pleaded. Frank slowly nodded, and she took her hand away. “I-I’m sorry," he said. “Obviously, I… I misjudged the scope.”

“Obviously,” Luci said quietly. Moving off the path, she plucked a daisy from the grass and began pulling petals off of it one by one.

“Er, how about we go through some temporal equations then?” Frank ventured. “See about getting the two of us back where we belong.” He waved his arm, and a chalkboard appeared in the field with them, already containing some rudimentary equations. He walked over and began to write.

Luci joined him a couple of minutes later. They didn’t speak of the incident again that night.

Unfortunately, despite their efforts, every calculation pointed towards one of them being dead before the week was out.

-Next Episode: Timeline Four. Ending Book 3.

-Isn’t that interesting? Any speculations? Either about their situation, or Luci’s past? One more week, and this whole book wraps up. As always, you can vote for T&T at TWF, or recommend to a friend.

Previously: Julie broke up with Clarke. Carrie hoped Frank or Luci could rig the time machine for an automatic run. Hank Waterson wrote a short story about the Chosen Bunny.

PART 3.22a: DO YOU MIND? 1

“Ooooohh,” he groaned. “Frank, what caused that?”

The teenager struggled to sit up, moving to rub his eyes, his hands hitting his glasses. The dark haired boy paused, then reached up to pull the glasses off. He lay there for a moment, staring at them in shock.

“What the hell?”

Having spoken again, Frank reached a hand up to his throat. Then, slipping his glasses back on, he pushed himself up to his knees and took a look down at his body. “Oh my God,” Frank choked out. “Oh God, no, oh no, no, no… wh- what’s HAPPENED to me?!?”

Frank’s body swayed unsteadily for a few seconds before dropping back to the floor and falling unconscious.

“Hello,” Mrs. Dijora said pleasantly, opening the door. “How can I help–”

“He’s with me!” Carrie said, dashing down the hall behind her. The blonde teenager grabbed the arm of their visitor, tugging on it. “With us, that is,” she clarified. “We’re all still finishing our extra curricular project in the basement and we need Glen’s help! Now!"

“Um, yup, I’ll let him know that,” Carrie assured, while dragging Glen towards the basement door. “Now c’mon Glen, this is really TIME sensitive stuff!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Glen said, a hint of a frown appearing on his features. He looked back at Mrs. Dijora. “Er, I’ll keep my coat with me,” he assured her, having not had the time to pull both arms from the sleeves.

Frank’s mother watched in confusion as the two teenagers slammed the basement door shut behind them. “Teenagers. Everything’s life or death for them,” she decided, heading back into the kitchen.

“All right, what’s this about?” Glen questioned as Carrie hopped down the stairs ahead of him two at a time. “Your call sounded urgent.”

“You have NO idea,” Carrie retorted. She jabbed a finger at something just outside his field of view. “What the hell did the time machine DO to her?!?”

Glen moved down to the point when he could see where Carrie was pointing. His frown deepened, and he quickly moved to kneel down next to the unconscious body on the floor. Yes, unconscious - Luci still seemed to have a pulse. Meaning he didn’t know whether this was the event he’d been waiting for, or not.

“How long has she been like this?” Glen asked.

“Twenty minutes. Half an hour maybe,” Carrie said. “You sure took your sweet time getting here! I even debated calling an ambulance, but the tingling in my head says this is something temporal."

“I got here as quickly as I could,” Glen countered. He rolled Luci’s body slightly, stuffing his wadded up jacket under her head before lifting one of her eyelids. Her eyes didn’t seem to be focused on anything. Problematic. He needed more information.

Glen glanced around the room. “You said your time machine was involved. Where is it?”

Carrie swallowed. “It… it vanished. It took Frank along with it. Which is kind of the other reason I didn’t want to get Frank’s parents all worked up with an ambulance.”

Glen slammed his palm on the ground. “Carrie! I WARNED you about the danger of using it for more time trips, I TOLD you to destroy –”

“We WERE destroying it!” Carrie yelled back, hands clenching into fists. She bit her lip. “Kinda.”

Glen stood. “How do you KINDA destroy something?”

Carrie’s face took on a pained expression. “We… we were going to send the machine on auto-pilot a couple of months into the future. As a fail safe. So it would be available later. I even thought, hey, it’ll get Frank and Luci working together again, so that maybe I could leave the time group on a slightly better note than… than…” She threw her arms out to the sides. “Look, I made sure they were being careful, and that they weren’t arguing about their relationship or anything!”

“They were still messing with something they couldn’t hope to understand!” Glen fumed. He stared at her for another long moment. Carrie didn’t seem as distraught as he might have expected. So it probably wasn’t time yet. “Fine, what’s done is done. If we want to have a chance of fixing it, you’ll need to describe to me exactly what happened."

Carrie looked past him towards Luci’s prone form. She swallowed again, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay. The two of them were completing an analysis of some of the circuits. To see if there was any failsafe to prevent activation, should no person be touching the lever directly. Frank was reaching down inside the device - he said something looked a little funny - and he asked Luci to hand him the tweezers. She was in the process of doing so when the machine let out a whine, there was a bright flash of light, and then…" She reopened her eyes. “Then Frank and the machine were gone, and Luci was left there on the floor unconscious. After five minutes of trying to bring her around without success, I called you."

Glen pursed his lips, then moved towards the lab bench near Luci’s body. After a moment of looking around, he reached out and grabbed a set of twisted, blackened tweezers off the floor. “Are these what Luci handed to Frank?” he questioned.

Carrie shrugged. “How should I know? Probably.”

Glen frowned. “Well, they’re metallic.” He paused. “That’s bad. I’m sorry, Carrie… I’m not sure there’s anything we can do for Luci.”

“What are you talking about?” she protested. “Luci’s body is still here, she’s still breathing and everything, we simply need a way for her to wake up!”

Glen sighed again, rolling his eyes heavenwards before turning back to his future companion. “All right,” he decided. “I was hoping to avoid such direct talk of future technology but… Carrie, exactly what do you people know about how these portable time machine units work?”

Carrie crossed her arms. “Well, they require a coin to activate, and the date on the coin corresponds to the year of arrival. Meanwhile, the place of arrival is determined by who is holding onto the handle, which has some sort of DNA sensing technology integrated into it. Though it seems that a trip to the future might involve not changing location at all, if you don’t have a counterpart there. So there’s also some built in homing device to target Earth, maybe.”

“Mmm. Yes, that’s about right,” Glen said, with grudging respect. “Though since the device goes along with you, the travel to a time with no counterpart takes it’s toll. More universal calculations, more circuits engaged, more power, more chance for burnout too. That’s on top of the normal proportional recharge, all part of the reason why not many such units were made.”

“Okay, so how does any of this relate to what happened to Luci?!”

Glen tossed the mangled tweezers aside. “It has to do with how the time machine manipulates the wormholes.”

Carrie blinked. “Worm… holes? Frank’s said something about them, but I never really bothered with trying to follow the science…”

Glen made a quick circuit of the room, grabbing a pencil and a sheet of paper that someone had started making notes on. “Wormholes,” he repeated. “Even in this time I know there’s been discussion on the subject.” He drew two circles, close to the opposing long ends of the sheet.

“Earth,” he said, pointing at one circle. “Alpha Centauri,” he continued, pointing at the other circle. He folded the paper over so that the far ends of the page were touching, and the circles overlapped. “Wormhole,” he concluded. He jabbed the pencil up through the paper at the Earth circle, the tip emerging through the circle he had denoted Alpha Centauri.

Carrie rolled her eyes. “Yes, the classic demonstration of using a wormhole to get to a far away place a lot faster than running along the length of the page itself. I HAVE seen that before. But what–"

“It works with time too,” Glen cut back in. He unfolded the sheet and drew a long line connecting the two holes. “1950,” he said, now physically writing that in over the first hole. “2000,” he continued, denoting the second hole. “Same principle. You want to travel from 2000 to 1950? The machine homes in on 1950 using the metallic substance you input, refines based on the traveler’s DNA, then creates a temporary wormhole that will fold space-time appropriately to transport the individual.”

Glen folded the paper over again as he spoke. “Once space-time is sufficiently warped, the device sucks you through,” - he pushed the pencil all the way through the hole - “then allows this universe’s timeline to snap back into place,” - he released one end of the page to let it straighten out - “all accomplished in a blink, before there’s any far reaching effects. Like miniature black holes or the like.”

Carrie observed Glen quietly for a few seconds. “So??” she said at last. “Lovely demonstration, but I STILL don’t see how that relates to why Luci is–”

“Oh for goodness sakes Carrie, can’t you at least humour me and PRETEND to have the mental discipline of your future self?” Glen snapped, before he could stop himself.

Her jaw clenched as he tossed the paper aside. “Sorry. But look, this latest issue is obviously related to how those portable time machine units control what matter gets pulled through the wormhole. Everything within a certain radius can’t get yanked in, or you’d be travelling with the ground you’re standing on.” There was a brief silence. “Do you see the problem now?”

“Sure,” Carrie said tightly. “Somehow the machine makes a point of registering anyone touching the handle, or any person touching that person, but ultimately rejects other biological matter within the same radius. Clever.” Her eyes were drawn to the tweezers. “Oh, wait. Are you saying…”

She hesitated, so Glen decided to complete the thought. “Yes, if the people going through are not in direct contact with the handle - or, less safely, with each other - the time machine might start closing the wormhole on them early.” He paused. “Best case, some people don’t go on the trip. Worst case? Depending on how badly you’re linked? You could end up on the other end of a time journey with only half a person.” Glen shook his head. “So, do you finally understand what happened here?”

-Do YOU understand? Any comment? This is the first time I’ve tried to go into the actual mechanics of time travel… and it’s why I can’t market this as Hard SciFi. I’m no physicist. But hopefully I invented something plausible.

Previously: Hank Waterson writes a story about woodland creatures with magical powers who have the names of Carrie’s friends. Raccoon Glen found evidence Fox Julie was a traitor.

PART 3.21b: WOODLANDS OMEN 2

“Carrie, she should get the benefit of the doubt,” Clarke put in quietly. “If we persecute people based largely on their animal heritage, we’re no better than the humans.” Carrie blinked at the beaver in surprise, appeared to think about that for a moment, then with a frown, she released Julie’s tail.

“But, okay,” Laurie said, puzzled. “If this documentation IS fake, and Julie’s NOT the traitor… who else COULD it be?”

As if on cue, there was the sound of something breaking the surface of the earth less than a metre away. Everyone turned in time to see a groundhog poke his head out. “Oh, g-g-good you’re still h-here!” it said in relief, scampering out of the hole. Behind him, a squirrel peered out of the hole as well.

“Luci?” Frank said in shock. “Where have you been?”

“Covert work underground,” Luci explained. “Sorry that me and Tim are late, but he can’t conjure his flashlight any more and we took a couple wrong turns.” She jumped out of the hole and shook the dirt off of herself.

“We were able to translate a pertinent passage though,” Tim said, holding a sheaf of papers out towards Julie. “I think you’ll be p-pleased with the r-r-results!”

“Passage? Covert mission? What the devil is going on here?” Corry said.

“This is a very clever smokescreen you’ve put together in case of capture Julie,” Glen said, folding his arms. “But you underestimate our ability to see through it.”

“Hold on. Let’s see what Luci and Tim turned up first, then compare,” Lee suggested.

Julie flipped to the second page, then quickly the third, before looking up at Tim in surprise. He nodded and shrugged. “Let’s get him then,” Julie declared. Throwing the sheets aside, she pounced - however, Glen was already moving.

With a speed no one had expected, Glen dove to the side, rolled a metre away and came up with one palm extended. “Freeze,” he ordered. All the other sentient animals stopped in place, with looks of surprise on their faces.

“Whoa, you’re totally more powerful than you look,” Chartreuse said, trying in vain to move her feet or her wings.

“Damn straight,” Glen said, now making no effort to hide his evil grin. “Of course, it helps that all of you have had your powers mostly leeched away by this point.”

“But… but you’ll soon be losing your powers too!” Laurie protested. “Glen, why are you doing that?”

“Because,” Glen explained patiently, “as Tim’s translation no doubt revealed, my powers aren’t tied to this forest like yours are. And once you all revert, the humans will be granting safe passage for me and one other, all the way back to my real home. Far, far away from here!”

“The translation actually wasn’t that specific,” Tim admitted. “It just said the r-raccoon wants out of here.”

“We were kinda hoping that by doing things this way, you’d give everything away,” Luci added.

“Oh. Well, whatever,” Glen said with a shrug.

“Wait, who’s the other one you’ll be with?” Clarke asked.

“Who else?” Glen said, gesturing towards Carrie.

The bunny twitched her nose. “Me?? News flash, Glen, I don’t I want to go with you if this is how you treat my friends! I mean really, Glen, how COULD you?”

Glen shrugged. “Carrie, my mission was to track you down, and use a magic charm to help you understand your own inherent powers of sentience,” he replied. “Unfortunately, at the same time as I was awakening YOUR powers, Mindy and Shady were prowling through the forest, scouting for ways to expand that human settlement. To keep my item hidden from their probing, I buried it in that clearing - not realizing that it’s aura was still active, and able to affect other animals!”

“So, what, you think we gained our intellect and magical abilities because of this magical charm you owned?” Luci scoffed. “Please. I’m more special than an ordinary, everyday squirrel!”

“Believe what you like,” Glen said airily. “All I know is, after years of travel to track down the Chosen Bunny, I had to spend even MORE time messing around here, to learn how to reverse sentience on a bunch of useless creatures!” Glen shook his head. “I had hoped that by splicing together my Linquist contract with the signature I found for Julie, you’d all be thrown all off the track… and in another day, things would no longer matter… but, no matter. You’ve become weak enough for me to gain the upper ‘paw’ regardless.”

“Glen! If this is the real you? I’m staying right here!” Carrie said. Her body tensed. “And… and I’d totally put my paws on my hips to emphasize that point if only I could move!”

“I am sorry to hear you say that. But you’re coming with me regardless,” the raccoon said, smirking. “Because if you hadn’t figured it out yet, you dumb bunny, your powers aren’t tied to this forest either. It’s not the dumping, but rather that pendant I gave you earlier in the week which is suppressing your abilities. And once you’re powerless, we’ll be going. Don’t worry, your powers will be restored when we arrive back at my home.”

“But that’s kidnapping!” Carrie shrieked. “You won’t get away with that, or with using my powers in order to start a future war!” She shuddered. “Wait, how did I even know that’s what you were involving me in?”

“As the Chosen One,” Glen said. “Deep down, you knew all along.”

“You… you spent all this time tracking me down because your faction needed more power in order to stage takeovers of neighbouring forests!” Carrie realized. “And somehow you knew I could be more powerful than any of the other animals on Earth!”

“Oh, great, Carrie’s a powerful weapon. This information would have been useful a week ago,” Corry sighed.

“Too bad there’s no such thing as time travel,” Julie agreed.

“But Carrie, if you’ve got a bunch of magical power inside you, how come you can’t use it to shatter that pendant you’re wearing?” Laurie said.

“I… I’m not sure how to even move,” Carrie said. She grimaced in an internal effort, tears springing to the corners of her eyes. “I’m sorry guys. I… I don’t think I can do anything!”

“Here, let me get that for you then,” Lee offered, moving to take the offending jewellery off Carrie’s neck. There was a beat, as all eyes shifted to the porcupine. “Yeah, hey, I could move all along, I just wanted to hear Glen reveal the plot,” Lee said, tossing the pendant aside.

“Hmmmm. A natural immunity? That’s not good,” Glen mused.

Freed of the magic draining item, the blonde bunny quickly rounded on the raccoon, her blue eyes bright. “Kidnap ME will, you? Threaten MY friends?! Well then, it’s YOUR turn to freeze, you EX-BOYFRIEND!”

Carrie bounded forward, catching Glen before he’d even taken two steps. One tap on his forehead, and he dropped like a stone, lying on the ground as if he was frozen in time. Carrie blinked down at her paw in surprise. “I can DO that?”

With Glen down, all the other animals gave a collective sigh of relief, having regained their own mobility.

“Nice work, Carrie!” Chartreuse said, gleefully clapping her wings together. “And that was a totally cool fake out, Lee!”

Lee shrugged, tugging at his jacket lapels. “I live closest to the affected clearing - I must have built up a little extra internal power or something.”

“So what do we do with Glen now?” Tim wondered.

“Humans don’t look twice at roadkill,” Julie said offhandedly, producing another nail file from her fur.

“Julie dear, that’s a little gruesome, even for you, isn’t it?” Clarke said, reaching out to touch her arm. Julie hesitated, then gave a yielding nod.

“I say give HIM that pendant,” Luci suggested. “Seal it permanently around Glen’s neck somehow. I mean, if it worked on Carrie’s powers, surely it will work on his.”

“Good thought,” Frank agreed. “In fact, now that we know who our insider is, we can threaten the humans with exposing all this dumping they’re doing. If Shady really wants to keep things quiet, they’ll have to stop their interference.”

“Ooh, but what about cleaning up the damage that’s already been done?” Laurie said worriedly. “Chartreuse, your conjurable conjuring crystals, could they purify the area?”

Chartreuse shook her head.  “Already considered it. There’s, you know, too much there for me to handle.”

“Well, from what I learned about this glop from Mindy, there is a primary ingredient,” Julie offered. “I believe all we’d need to do is figure out how to neutralize that. Then the problem will take care of itself.”

“In that case, it’s a good thing I’ve spent the last few days analyzing slime from the clearing,” Corry spoke up. “You’ll be pleased to know that we’re not up against anything radioactive. Though the strange thing is, the primary ingredient - and believe me, I triple checked this - it seems to be… well… lime jello.”

“J-J-Jello?” Tim said, surprised.

“If jello neutralizes magic, remind me not to forage for it,” Lee said.

“Hah. If THAT’S all it is, I’m sure we can come up with a counteragent,” Carrie asserted, dusting off her paws after having given Glen a kick in the ribs. “Why, by working together, there’s nothing we can’t do!”

“What’s more, Corry’s analysis also explains why these humans were able to dump so much of that stuff within a fairly limited area,” Frank remarked.

“Oh?  How do you figure?” Luci wondered.

Frank shrugged. “Isn’t it obvious? There’s always room for Jello.” He had no time whatsoever to parry before the hammer and the croquet mallet came crashing down on his head.

Hank Waterson leaned back in his chair, letting out a yawn and massaging a cramp in his wrist. How had he managed to get through all that in one sitting? A glance at the clock showed that it was after 2 am. What incredibly inspired writing!

Yet now that he was actively thinking about it, Hank realized that he had questions. For instance, where exactly had the idea for that Mindy person come from? Why had he made accusations against Carrie’s friend Julie? And why had he turned Carrie’s boyfriend into the traitor? Was his subconscious trying to tell him something? Maybe he should keep Carrie grounded, so that the two of them wouldn’t be able to spend time together…

“What am I saying?” Hank muttered aloud. “This is fiction. It has no basis in real life." Besides, Carrie was good at finding a way around rules she didn’t like, so it wouldn’t do to keep her away from Glen. Moreover, he would be changing the names of the characters anyway. He could even change the villain’s identity once he got into editing. The whole story was still in a rather indeterminate state.

Shaking his head, Hank Waterson carefully stacked the story’s character sheets, and placed them back into his ‘Woodland Creatures’ folder. He then reached out and turned off his desk light, blissfully unaware of that fact that everybody’s temporal reality had recently entered a very similar indeterminate state, courtesy of his own daughter.

-Next Episode: Do You Mind?

-I hope you enjoyed this little detour/omen. Had you figured out who the traitor was? Do you see how things might tie into the real plot? Feel free to comment or vote for T&T.

Previously: Hank Waterson writes a story about woodland creatures with magical powers who have the names of Carrie’s friends. … Roll with it.

PART 3.21a: WOODLANDS OMEN 1

Hank rubbed his chin. He wasn’t quite sure which one of them to use, and thus he decided to simply see where the narrative took him.

Slowly, the woodland creatures came out of hiding.

“So… what do you think about that?” Frank wondered.

“Mindy’s got a nice back end, for a human?” Lee offered.

“Okay, pretty sure Frank’s referring to the fact that there’s totally a TRAITOR among us!” Chartreuse wailed.

Lee shrugged. “Trying to lighten the mood.”

“Don’t. Now is the time to get serious," Corry growled. “Because if one of us is feeding these humans lies, and telling them things that will lead to us losing our powers within a week? That’s a MAJOR problem."

“It can’t be one of us. Whoever the traitor is, they already knew about this clearing having ties to the magical effects,” Julie noted. “Remember, that Shady guy implied it was their dumping here that caused a neutralizing effect."

“Hey, any of us could know more about this clearing than what we’ve said,” Luci said, glancing about suspiciously. “The question is, why would anyone want us forest creatures to go all mundane?”

Carrie suggested. “And they’re hoping to use their sentience to rule over the rest of us.”

Everyone’s eyes shifted towards the fox and bear. “Oh great, predators being persecuted again,” Julie grumped, twitching her tail.

“Hold on, everyone. Finger pointing doesn’t do us any good," Clarke said. “We need proof to make an accusation.”

Laurie raised her paw. “Why don’t we simply ask the humans which animal is working with them?”

Her brother sighed. “Laurie, approaching humans is not wise, they - oh, wait, they keep records. Maybe we could obtain some of their files? That could tell us something."

“We’d have to go into town for that though,” Frank pointed out, beginning to pace. “And the longer we’re out of the forest, the more the magic fades too. If we’re caught, we’d lose everything.”

“Someone could do it if they already had as idea as to the specific bases of operations used by these particular humans,” Lee noted.

“So Glen could do it," Carrie realized. “He’s spent some of his evenings skulking about in town. If anyone knows the layout, it’d be him.”

“But what if he’s the traitor?”

“Frank, stop accusing Glen of things already,” Carrie sighed, turning and slamming her mallet down on his head in exasperation.

“Um, but Carrie, I, like, said that,” Chartreuse noted, waving a wing as Frank fought to keep his balance.

“Yeah, Carrie, stop hitting on my boyfriend!” Luci declared, swinging her own hammer at Carrie. Carrie managed to block with her mallet… then both objects simply disappeared. Both Carrie and Luci blinked at each other in surprise.

“The magic problem is worse here,” Clarke decided. “We need to get going. Let’s at least see what Glen turns up, it could give us a starting point. Okay?”

Everyone present exchanged glances and nods. “And as a show of good faith, maybe Glen can grab me some of that aspirin stuff while he’s in town?” Frank mumbled.

“Crazy other animals,” Glen grumbled as he scampered down the alleyway. “As if I didn’t know it’s been four days - they didn’t expect me to know where Shady and Mindy were right away, did they?"

The raccoon peered out onto the darkened street and then headed down towards the part of town where the warehouses were located. “For a small town, it’s sure trying to work towards having more industry,” Glen observed. He soon found a hole in the fencing around the complex, and squeezed through. “Now, let’s see… that paper I found in Shady’s trash yesterday, it said Linquist was using Warehouse 3… hopefully I can find something in there to appease the masses.”

As it turned out, the warehouse was locked, but a few smashes on the padlock with a large rock allowed Glen to gain access. “Hmmmm,” Glen murmured as he scanned the interior - which was not much larger than your average sized human apartment. “If I know these humans, there’ll be a… yup, right over there.”

He hurried over to the corner that held the video surveillance equipment, and after giving it a look, he wound the tape back to erase his presence. He then pulled out his magical magnet and waved it over the devices for good measure. If it was strong enough to attract a garbage can, it was probably strong enough to mess with their electronics.

“At least the town’s still small enough to have lousy security,” Glen muttered. “Shady probably installed this in here himself. Still, it’s possible that there’s a silent alarm too, so I should work fast.”

The raccoon turned to start a quick search of the bins and filing cabinets, pausing as a file out in the open caught his attention. Sitting right next to the TV monitor, it was labelled ‘Security Breach 08/22/88’.

“Yesterday?” Glen mused. He flipped open the folder and his eyebrows went up. “Oho! Well then, it would seem we’ve found our traitor…”

“It’s, like, ridiculous, having to be up this early,” Chartreuse yawned as she looked out at the lake. “The sun’s barely up. Why can’t Glen stay up later, rather than, you know, waking us earlier?”

“Time is of the essence at this point,” Corry grunted. “Hell, last night I couldn’t get my yardstick to stay around long enough to take a precise measurement!”

“He’s trying to install new drapes in our cave,” Laurie explained brightly. “The old ones are so drab, even if they do compliment the existing decor so well. Soon we may even get a window to go with them too though looking at your faces I’m probably acting too perky for the hour so I should shut up now, should I?”

“It’s not THAT early,” Carrie insisted. “I’ve been up at this hour to meet with Glen before. We’ve watched sunrises together, it was romantic.”

“Hm, speaking of romantic, has anyone seen Luci?” Frank asked. “She seemed to disappear after yesterday morning’s meeting.”

“I’m sure she’ll be along,” Julie replied, filing her claws once again. “Unless she’s the traitor, that is.” Frank frowned.

“Well, hey, let’s just hope Glen has a stronger lead today, okay?” Lee put in. “What with infighting giving me a worse headache than the ones Frank gets from not reacting in time."

A silence fell upon the group. A few minutes later, Glen hurried out of the treeline and headed towards them. “Glen!” Carrie cried out happily, her bunny ears quivering. “Have you brought us good news at last?"

“Well, I have news,” Glen said, holding up a folder of papers. “It’ll be good for some, not so good for others.”

“Meaning what?” Clarke asked.

“Meaning, I think we’ve got our traitor," Glen explained. He flipped open the folder, and tossed a picture out onto the grass. Everyone leaned in for a closer look. There was a moment of silence. Then Corry made a lunge for Julie.

“Get her!” the bear snarled as Julie rolled away, firing her nail file at him. It grazed by Corry’s ear. Coming up on all fours, Julie then made a leap towards the trees, only to have the flickering forms of a broom and a tennis racquet crisscross in front of her. She hesitated only momentarily before making a move to dodge underneath them, but that moment was enough to allow her to be brought up short by a yank from behind.

“Ow ow ow ow!” Julie shrieked, falling onto the ground. “The tail is attached, you know!”

“Consider it retribution for all the times you’ve salivated over me and my kind,” Carrie shot back. “Now it’s time for a rabbit to put YOU on a hotplate!”

“Again with the persecution,” Julie said, turning her head, eyes flashing. “You have no evidence that I’m the traitor! So I’ve been in a human warehouse, so what??”

“So,” Glen said, clearing his throat, “you know more than what you’ve been telling. I also turned up THESE files–” He paused to toss some more pages on the ground. “–which show an agreement between Linquist and an unnamed co-conspirator to do the dumping in that clearing. Unless I’m very much mistaken, that top document has your paw print on it.”

“What??” Julie shrieked.

“I always knew you were a sly fox, Julie,” Corry said, glaring at her while rubbing his ear. “But I never realized how low you’d stoop to get your own way around here.”

“I should have guessed," Carrie said, bitterly. “I know she made friends with me only to secure the bunny vote in our part of the forest, so I should have KNOWN she’d betray us.” She took firmer hold of the tail in her paw and twisted it.

“Will you CUT THAT OUT?” Julie said, baring her teeth at the rabbit. “For the moment, I’m not going anywhere! And fine, I’ll admit that I’ve started doing a little covert work with that human Mindy, but it was only to discover what was really going on!”

“Then how do you, you know, explain this contract?” Chartreuse inquired, holding it out.

“I don’t know,” Julie said, peering at it. “Mindy did make me put my paw on something after I approached her, for her own protection. But that wasn’t it.”

“And what’s the reason for the security photo?” Frank asked.

“Mindy gave me the key to their warehouse the other evening. I went looking for files relating to the dumping. But Mindy said nothing about surveillance equipment… I think I’m being set up!”

-We’ve shifted from ‘Detour’ into ‘Omen’, as there will now be elements of foreshadowing for the end of this Book, and into Book 4. Any thoughts? Any desire to vote at WFG?

Previously: Hank Waterson writes a story about woodland creatures with magical powers who have the names of Carrie’s friends. … Roll with it.

PART 3.20b: WOODLANDS DETOUR 2

“Some things never change?” Clarke said, swimming closer to the bank.

“Ooh, yes, you always seem to do it, Carrie!” Laurie said, having come closer herself. “You’re so cool, with the hopping and the bouncing and the dashing and it’s hard to say whether a bunny can tap into the magic better than we can or if you’re just naturally so athletic but either way you’re an inspiration to us all and I really wish I had some of your coordination because I can never seem to stand on my ball for very long without falling off of it though you know that stuff could be completely different from magical ability so forget I said anything about it and oooh, what’s that new thing you’ve got hanging around your neck??”

By the time Carrie had explained to Laurie about the charm Glen had given her, Frank, Luci and Chartreuse had all made their way to the lake. “I found, you know, most of the early sentients,” Chartreuse hooted at Clarke. “I figured we didn’t need Jeeves or Megan or especially Azure or…”

“This is fine,” Clarke assured. “Now, the reason for calling you all here is because of what I found while felling some saplings to the north.”

“Near the human settlement?” Corry said, arcing an eyebrow.

“Right,” Clarke answered. “See, there’s this place that’s kinda glowy and tingly which does not feel good and… well, you have to see it for yourself. I ran into Lee up there and he’s keeping an eye on things.”

“Freaky,” Luci said at last. None of the others had spoken since arriving at the outskirts of the small clearing. “So,” the squirrel continued, “any ideas on what’s causing the weird green glow? Or any of the other effects, like the dying trees?”

“It must have freaked you out,” Corry observed. “You’ve let your quills do a shredding job on your jacket again.”

Lee shrugged. “Life of a porcupine is never easy.”

“Well, I could totally fly out to that tree,” Chartreuse offered.  “Except, you know, I’m more of a water bird and the thing looks like it’s dying so might not support my weight…”

“You see now why I thought we should check this out though, right?” Clarke noted.

“Yes,” Julie replied, frowning. “The question is what does this mean?”

“Ooh! Ooh, wait,” Laurie broke in. “I know this clearing! I used to play around here a couple years ago - in fact didn’t we all have that big forest glade party here? It was around the same time a number of us were getting that whole self awareness thing!” She began nodding vigorously. “Yeah, yeah, we were celebrating that, and I’m pretty sure the party was here, because it was shortly thereafter that I first conjured my clothes and my ball! Am I right or am I right??”

“I think you’re right,” Frank realized. “Except this clearing didn’t look the same, not back then. It wasn’t marshy, there was more grass, less of an odour…”

“And less general eerieness,” Corry agreed. “But we stopped coming here shortly thereafter. When the human settlement expanded.”

“Bah, you’re imagining things, I haven’t been here before,” Carrie countered. She had moved to a position a little ways around the perimeter. “Now c’mere and check this out, I’ve found some partially submerged human looking barrels!”

Everyone headed over to see what Carrie was looking at. “Um, hate to tell you this Carrie, but those barrels don’t look like humans at all,” Chartreuse noted.

“Thank you Miss Literal,” Carrie countered. “Sheesh, why couldn’t we have magically learned a language that was less ambiguous than English?”

“Barrels of human origin, I understood you,” Luci said. “Moreover, that has to be the source of the ground acting like some wacky bioengineered sports drink.”

“Say, I think that’s a label out there,” Lee said, pointing. “Fell off a barrel. Anyone want to get close enough to read it?”

“Allow me," Clarke offered, pulling out his magic lacrosse stick and extending it into the clearing. He used the mesh to snare the paper and pull it back in to the group.

“Okay, um, it says… ‘Linquist’s Dribs and Drabs’,” Frank mused, after smoothing out the sheet. He looked up. “What’s a Linquist?”

“Whatever it is, it sounds really evil,” Luci decided.

“Look, guys… I really don’t think we should hang around here any longer,” Julie decided. “And when someone as fearless as me is saying that, I’d pay attention!”

“Much as I hate to admit it, Julie has a point," Corry chimed in. “After all, what if we’re exposing ourselves to the very source of the recent magical drain? We could be getting dumber and less powerful without realizing it.”

“Hold on a minute,” Carrie said, having again moved a short distance away. Her ears twitched in the air. “I’ve found a wide path back here and… do you hear that? There’s some sort of engine approaching.”

There was a pause as everyone listened for the noise.  Then Lee’s eyes went wide. “Truck!” the porcupine announced.

“Humans?” Laurie gasped.

“Scatter!” Clarke shouted.

The 4x4 backed carefully down the trail, up to the edge of the clearing, after which both driver and passenger exited the vehicle. The red haired driver turned to regard her companion, who kept his hat pulled down low over his eyes. “Hey, Shady,” she ventured as he climbed into the rear of the truck. “You SURE we should be dumping this stuff so close to our town?”

The man in the hat gave an irritated grunt as he undid the rope that was holding two new barrels in place. “It has to be here, Mindy,” he affirmed. “It’s the only way to deal with our little sentient animal problem.”

“Right. I know. But what we’re doing, it won’t harm anyone, right?” Mindy pressed.

“You say that like we’re blowing up a hospital or something,” Shady grumbled. “Trust me, all this glop will do is shut down a crazy ecosystem that should never have existed in the first place.” He threw the rope aside. “In a couple months, this whole area will be clear for more development, more businesses, more jobs, and better living conditions.” He pulled the top off of one barrel of green slime, and then kicked it out the back hatch of the truck. It fell into the edge of the bog.

“Ah. Good points, I guess…”

“Besides. Even if what we’re doing here comes to light, and people object, I’m reworking things so that Linquist takes the fall,” Shady added, his grin visible beneath his hat. “We have a bright future ahead of us, Mindy, mark my words!”

“Yes, well, I want to believe that,” Mindy sighed. “But then there are other times when I get to thinking about the animals, and I wonder…”

Shady cut Mindy off with a growl as he rolled the second barrel out the back. “First concern for humans, now animals?” he rasped. “For gosh sakes, Mindy, pick a damn side!”

“Can’t I be on both sides?” Mindy protested.

Shady mumbled something under his breath. “Look, I can guarantee to you that what we’re doing here is perfectly fine for the animals. Okay?!”

“Oh? And how can you do that?”

“Because I’ve been in contact with one of them sentient beasts for weeks now,” Shady said with a grin. “In fact, that’s the thing that assured me any so-called magical effects around here will dry up after another week or so of dumping. So don’t cry for the animals, Mindy. Because they want to be rid of their mistakenly acquired human-like sentience as much as we want it too!”

That said, Shady closed up the back of the truck and returned to the passenger seat. He only looked back out when he realized Mindy wasn’t following him. “Aw, what is it NOW?” he sighed.

Mindy blinked and shook her head. “Oh, sorry. It was the weirdest thing… but when you spoke of the animals that way, I could have sworn I heard a collective gasp coming from all around us.”

Shaking her head, she returned to the cabin of the truck, started the ignition, and drove away.

-Shady’s back! Kind of. Not really. Are you enjoying this? Care to vote for T&T, or otherwise let me know?

-Incidentally, at less than 1500 words and only 9 kB in a text file, this marks the shortest entry in the series… ever! Even Part 47 (Respite) was over 1500, and having completed edits on Book 4 last weekend, I can say all future parts are longer than this.

Previously: The time group fractured. Mindy used mental powers to get Hank Waterson to write a letter, warning his daughter Carrie about Glen.

PART 3.20a: WOODLANDS DETOUR 1

Hank closed his current document and reached into his desk drawer to pull out a small folder labeled ‘Woodland Creatures’. “Now, let’s see… I was superficially basing these new characters on Carrie and some of her classmates… I must remember to change the names later.” Hank half smiled as he browsed back over his character outlines, then began to write.

It was a bright sunny day, and Carrie was hopping merrily down the woodlands path, her long bunny ears jutting out cutely behind her.

“Did you want some barley to go with your hops?" chattered a nearby voice. Carrie turned to see a chipmunk watching her from a nearby tree stump. She immediately produced a huge croquet mallet from out of nowhere, using it to bonk Frank on the head.

“No rabbit puns!" the bunny girl accused.

“And stop watching Carrie!” came another voice, a smaller hammer coming down next to the mallet. “Remember, you’re dating me, not her.” Luci adjusted her skirt and twitched her long squirrel tail, after which both her and Carrie’s magical objects were dispelled back to the nothing from whence they came.

“I… I just thought Carrie might need some cheering up…” Frank protested, his eyes spinning around in a swirly pattern. “After last night’s date with Glen…”

“Hm. How DID that go?” Luci asked, scampering closer to Carrie. “Did you learn any more about him?"

“I still don’t trust him,” Frank protested. “I mean, Glen’s always wearing that mask…”

“He’s a raccoon,” Carrie reminded. She pulled out her mallet again for an over the shoulder shot, but this time Frank managed to produce his magical tennis racquet in time to block her. “There you go, much better reflexes that time,” the bunny applauded him.

“Your pendant seems to be glowing though," Luci mused, scampering left, right, over Carrie’s head and then under her arms to try and get a better look. “Is that normal? Should we analyze it?”

“It does make me feel all tingly,” Carrie admitted. “But this is a magical forest. One expects to have such tingles.”

“Does one? Because we’ve been feeling less and less of those," Luci reminded her, whiskers twitching. “It must be that the magic is fading, and we don’t know why.”

“Right, good point," Carrie sighed. “Soon the humans in that nearby settlement are going to see through the illusions, and start wondering why we wear clothes and have opposable thumbs on our paws.”

“Actually,” Frank piped up again, “we English-speaking clothes-wearing animals are the exception in this forest, not the norm. It’s more likely that we’ll simply lose the ability for higher thought, reverting back to being much more typical forest creatures."

“Yes, thank you for that uplifting reminder, Frank,” Carrie grumbled.

“He does make a point though,” Luci chattered. “If this magic fade keeps up, we may lose the ability to conjure our items, which makes us more vulnerable to… FOX!"

Luci made a jump for a nearby tree as Carrie spun, already whipping out her mallet. It’s handle connected solidly with a long pool cue, and Carrie grimaced with the effort of holding the solid length of wood at bay. “Why don’t you give this up already?” the bunny said through gritted teeth. “You’re never going to get me, Julie.”

“Just keeping you on your toes, much like how you do with Frank,” the fox replied, flashing a smile from behind the cue. “You don’t really think I’d eat a friend, do you?”

“I’d be more convinced if you’d stop licking your lips at the sight of me,” Carrie retorted.

“Aw. You know I can’t control my biology,” Julie said innocently. “Come on Carrie, have faith. This is only a test. Because here’s the thing, it feels to me like your parrying skills are slipping, and if I really wanted to, I could probably–"

Julie stopped speaking as, with a little flash, Carrie’s croquet mallet completely vanished. With a shout of surprise, Carrie jumped to the side, even as Julie executed a quick flip over her pool cue to land on her feet instead of her face.

“Hey!” Frank shouted in surprise. “You shouldn’t be able to counter her conjured item like that! Not that I’m complaining or anything,” he added, as Julie turned her gaze upon him. “And I’d get stuck in your throat, we know I would.”

With a shake of her head and a swish of her long red tail, Julie flipped her long wooden pole back into the null space from whence it had come. “I’m so misunderstood,” she lamented. “I’ve never so much as nibbled on a fellow sentient creature. I eat berries, grasses and fruit.”

“And insects, and fish, and mice…” Luci muttered.

“None of whom talk back to me. What, a fox girl can’t vary her diet from time to time?”

“Don’t change the subject," Frank protested. “What was with your dispelling of Carrie’s mallet??”

“Julie didn’t do that,” Carrie admitted, her bunny nose twitching. “It’s weird, I just… couldn’t hold it any more. You were right, Luci. This magic fading stuff is accelerating.”

“Or you’ve been playing around with your magic abilities too much, Carrie,” Julie retorted. She produced a nail file from the fur behind her ear and began using it on her claws. “It’s like I’ve always said. Only strike when it’s to your advantage to do so.”

“Still, in the year since we got these powers, none of us have ever really questioned where the source magic came from,” Frank chattered. “That now feels like a major oversight on our part.”

“Yeah, you never know what you’ve got until you start losing it,” Luci agreed. “But at this point, where would we even start looking for the source of our sentience power?”

The four animals exchanged uncertain glances. The silence was broken by a familiar voice came from overhead. “News, news, I’ve totally got news, you know!” Chartreuse called. “Calling all sentients, I’ve totally got… oh hey, there you guys are!”

“Oh good, a visit from our resident loon,” Julie said dryly.

Chartreuse dipped down lower, circling above the others as she spoke. “There’s news over at the lake!” the loon wailed. “Clarke’s found something that could be important, we should all, you know, get together and get over there ASAP! I’ve already notified Corry and Laurie and they…”

“What?!” Julie interrupted, jerking her head up. “Nuts!”

“Hm? Nuts?” Luci said, perking her head up.

“Chartreuse! I asked you to STOP telling Corry stuff before you tell me!” the fox girl shouted. Quickly discarding her nail file, Julie dropped to all fours and dashed off in the direction of the lake.

“Well, Corry was totally closer,” the loon said to Julie’s retreating form. “Now, hey, has anyone seen Glen?”

“He’s doing his nocturnal thing,” Carrie replied. “It’s okay, I can fill him in later. Come on, I’ll race everyone to the water’s edge!”

“Race? Oh, sure,” Frank mumbled as Carrie bounded off without waiting for a reply. “Except since the rabbit is always the fastest, what’s the point…”

At the mouth of the lake, the only sound was that of the river water splashing down over the rocks. A bear sat quietly on the bank, looking into the rushing current, apparently scanning for fish. He adjusted his silk shirt, cocked his head to the side… then quickly spun, producing a reinforced yardstick. “Don’t even try it.”

“Try what?” Julie inquired, standing up from where she had been crouched the grass. She brushed off her jeans.

“You know what,” Corry grumped, still pointing the yardstick at her. “You and that pool cue, you’re always searching for some balls to smack around. There will be none of that happening here!”

“Ugh, well what ELSE am I supposed to do with my stupid cue?" the fox sniffed. “At least YOU got a handy measuring tool.”

“Hmph,” the bear grunted noncommittally. He dispelled his stick and turned back to the water. “I still can’t believe how we predatory animals were somehow reduced to conjuring up little more than makeshift clubs. I mean, who decided that any potentially useful weapon could only be generated by the prey?”

“Fate?” Julie guessed, moving closer to Corry while still keeping a respectful distance. “Or, see it as a challenge. If we don’t have an actual mallet, we’re forced to think, which keeps our minds fresh."

“Mmm. Yeah, I guess. Still, if I had a human crossbow, I could take over your part of the forest in no time.”

“And if I had a human rifle, you’d be ousted from your area so fast it would make your head spin,” Julie smirked. “But since that’s not the case, we have to make the best of our situation. Like how your sister does.” Julie pointed past Corry towards the treeline. Laurie was now visible there, amusing herself by trying to balance her beachball on her nose.

Corry’s face took on a pained look. “I say again, you and your pool cue leave my sister and her artistic interests out of this! She may be more teddy bear than brown bear right now, but eventually she’ll realize how she’s capable of so much more.”

“Right. Last I heard she was catching fish by talking them to death.”

“Julie…” Corry began dangerously, but he stopped upon hearing another animal approaching from the forest. At almost the same time, a beaver broke the surface of the water nearby.

“Hey!” Clarke called out from the lake, shaking water from his head. “Everyone assembled yet?"

-Yes, we will get a few parts of this. Are you enjoying it? Do you think it’s a colossal misstep? Does the animal mapping at least feel accurate? You can always vote or comment.

Previously: Clarke is talking to his sister Mary about conversations he had earlier that Sunday. Specifically, when Julie said the only way for her to fit in was to be alone.

PART 3.19b: SHATTERED 2

“NO, Clarke - it’s not like that now!” Julie interrupted. She sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead. “Look… I-I’ll give you this much. Consider, if Glen has the power to alter anyone’s will, then anything I say or show - to anyone! - is only one more avenue he can use to figure me out. And so, even if you DON’T know what I’ll be doing, the more you see, the more likely it is that you’ll be coerced into saying something. Glen might even use you to… I can’t risk that.” She shook her head. “Glen already has the upper hand, given his knowledge of the future. I refuse to give him anyone… anything else he can use against me.”

Clarke frowned. “So this is about Glen.”

“Not completely. It’s… well, no, I’ve said too much already,” Julie decided. “But Clarke - Phil - please know that whatever happens to me in the coming months… I have truly appreciated everything that you’ve done for me. In the past, I used you, abused you, and you… you responded by showing compassion, understanding, and then by crossing the boundaries of time in order to save my life. In doing so, you, more than anyone else, showed me what true caring was all about. Thank you. I… I will never forget that.”

Her voice caught then, and she reached out for him, her fingertips brushing away some of his hair from his ear. Then, almost before he realized it, she was up on her toes, pressing her lips up against his.

In all the time they’d spent together as a pseudo-couple, ever since it had become “official” that day he’d brought the eclairs to her on that October day back in Grade Ten… they had never kissed on the lips. And now…

“I’m sorry,” Julie whispered, pulling back even as his arms moved to embrace her. “I shouldn’t have… Jeeves can show you out.”

“Jewels, don’t do this… JULIE!”

Outside, a light rain began to fall.

“Ouch,” Mary said quietly.

“Ouch,” Clarke repeated. “So it’s as I said, the only issues are between me and a number of my friends.”

“But one friend in particular.”

Clarke forced his tone to remain level. “One in particular,” he admitted. “Thing is Mary, I made a real mess of everything today, and Julie was simply the icing on the cake. So I keep running through everything in my mind, trying to figure out exactly where I went wrong… like maybe if I’d gone to Julie’s house FIRST this morning… or maybe if I’d pursued her up to her room…”

“Phil, second guessing yourself does no one any good. What’s done is done, you can’t change it.”

“Oh, Mary, you have no idea how often that subject gets debated around here,” Clarke groaned.

“My point is you now have to look towards the future. I mean, maybe this was just some spur of the moment thing on Julie’s part! Do you think she’ll come around again by the end of the week?”

“Julie doesn’t do spur of the moment,” Clarke countered. “Nor does she do things in half measures, so I… I think I’m cut off for good. Yet I’m pretty sure her current state of mind is tied up in all the other events that are going on right now! So… so maybe, if I figure out how to get everyone to truly accept her and treat her decently again, that will make things all right! What do you think??”

Mary didn’t reply at first. “Phil,” she began slowly, “It sounds to me like Julie is in even worse shape than Carrie. If she has truly cut you off, and no one was closer to Julie than you, will platitudes by other classmates really have much of an effect?”

“Well she… or maybe Corry could… that is… for God sakes Mary, I can’t just sit here and do nothing, can I?!”

His sister sighed audibly. “Bro, I know you don’t want to hear this, but from what I’ve learned about Julie since the events of your school last November? She wasn’t the most stable person to be in a relationship with anyway,” Mary said. “As such, maybe a little time apart will help give you both a little perspective. You can always approach Julie again later, yeah? And in the meantime, check in with that butler she has, to make sure she’s still seeing that Doctor Golden fellow.”

“You think she’s crazy.”

“I didn’t say that, Phil. I just think that she’s having some issues right now that are beyond the scope of what you or your friends can do to help her.”

“You think she’s crazy and that she needs more psychological counselling! Well, it’s not that!” Clarke said, slamming his free hand down on his desk as he shouted at the phone. If only he could have explained the full truth to Mary about Glen’s mental powers! “The trouble is, none of us can talk about what’s at the core of all this!” he said, frustrated. “No adult would ever believe what we… would ever… wait, Mary, you said you’re coming to town, right?!”

A pause. “Yeesssss…” his sister said guardedly.

“And you’re already into fourth year university, so you know a lot about psychoanalyzing people, right?”

“Phil, I see where you’re going with this, and no.”

“But Mary, it’s perfect!” Clarke insisted. “If I can’t help Julie, I can at least provide her with a counsellor who might do her some actual good! One who can be told the whole truth and who won’t try to have us all certified insane!”

“Bro, the whole family shrink thing is just me putting on airs,” Mary countered firmly. “I’m angling for a PhD, so I still have a lot more schooling to do before I could even THINK of safely giving professional advice!”

“Mary… please,” Clarke pleaded. “Think of all the times in the past when we were moving from place to place, and you helped me out. You didn’t need a signed piece of paper to do that! Julie needs someone, and… and you’re all I’ve got. Besides, you know I’ve been dodging around things, this way I’d finally be able to tell you everything. In person.”

The silence on the other end of the phone extended for so long that Clarke wondered if they’d lost their connection. “Loverly,” his sister finally muttered. Then louder, “Phil, I will THINK about it, provided you do NOT endlessly bring this up with me between now and then.”

“Thank you,” Clarke replied, his mind already leaping ahead to her arrival. He’d explain about the time machine, and Glen, and Carrie, and then Mary would talk with Julie, learn what was bothering her, and then everything would be all right again. Yes, everything would be all right again…

Nothing would ever be all right, not any more. But, Julie wondered, did she really deserve any better? She wiped her cheeks dry with the palm of her hand and stood up, pulling the letter out of her pocket once more. The same letter that had been left in her mailbox that morning.

She scanned over the contents for what felt like the hundredth time. “She’s right,” Julie whispered, as she reached the bottom of the page. “I am the only one who can do this. But that knowledge doesn’t make it any easier.”

Julie clenched her fists, then ripped the paper in half, followed by the envelope, before crumpling them both in her hand. Letting out a long breath, she tossed the pieces into the fireplace. One match later, and they were both burned down into ash.

Julie then proceeded up to her room, removing the silver brooch she wore in the shape of a rose. She placed it into the small jewellery box on her vanity, then after a moment of hesitation, picked it back up and shoved it back into the depths of her lowermost drawer.

“All right,” Julie said calmly to herself. “Long term planning is your forte, and Carrie knew that. It’s time for a new plan.”

Carrie glowered at the black box sitting on her bedroom floor. “I WILL destroy you!” she stated. As if saying that out loud would somehow make that possible future into a reality. The trouble was, the time machine was the only failsafe she had. The only tool any of them had which could undo things if she lost control of her time powers.

She was sure that’s why Glen didn’t like it. But it was also the reason she’d insisted on keeping it with her, after regaining consciousness last night. Like a crutch.

What WAS it Glen was so worried about? Oh sure, he’d framed it as, if Carrie were always thinking about ways her friends might be able to save her from herself, she’d never properly develop into the temporal being she was supposed to be. Screwing up their wondrous timeline three. But was it only that? Did Glen think someone else could get their hands on it?

Then again, maybe they didn’t need the machine; if Carrie went golden-eyed nuts, they had that gun thing now.

“Keep quiet about that, or Glen’ll want you to destroy it too,” Carrie muttered. She pressed her palm into her forehead, then marched to the window. “Any future Carries want to come back to tell me what to do this time?” she called out into the darkness. “Send me a letter maybe? No?”

She stared down, and was reminded of the rocks Frank had been heaving up at her window from the backyard earlier that day. She’d called on her father to get rid of him. She probably shouldn’t have done that. She probably shouldn’t have done a lot of things. Like sending Chartreuse that message saying her mystical services would no longer be required. How many more bridges could she burn? Pretty soon, no one but Glen would even want to save her.

“Screw it,” Carrie sighed. She turned and knelt back down in front of the time machine. Yet as she reached out to open it, a thought occurred. Glen had been teaching her about pushing objects out of time, the foundation of banishment. She even remembered doing it with a glass that time in the hospital… somehow. “And what, you think you can push the time machine into the future, for later use?” she muttered aloud. “You can barely budge a thumbtack two seconds ahead.”

No, her mind reasoned back. But Frank or Luci might know of some way to rig the time machine for an automatic run, sending it forwards in time without a pilot. That way, if the apocalypse happened, derailing everything, the time machine would still reappear at some point in the future. Letting someone fix it. Besides, would waiting an extra few days, allowing herself to calm down, be such a bad thing?

Carrie stood back up. Okay then, she would at least explore that avenue. After all, what was the worst thing that could happen?

-Next Episode: Woodlands Detour

-How’re you doing out there? Thoughts on revelations? Still a vote button at the top of the page. New Commentary this Sunday.

Previously: Clarke is talking to his sister Mary about visiting people on Sunday. Luci blew up Tim’s bedroom mirror using the energy gun.

PART 3.19a: SHATTERED 1

Clarke pulled his gaze down from the ceiling. “Yeah, Mary, I was fine. I even reacted in time to shield Tim. Luci got nicked in the arm by a shard of glass but it was nothing serious.”

“Why in the world would Luci heave a latin dictionary at the mirror on Tim’s dresser? She had to know it would shatter!”

Clarke winced. “I didn’t exactly say it was a dictionary. I mean, that’s what we told Tim’s father but… it’s complicated.”

“You keep saying that,” Mary sighed. “Phil, sister or therapist, I can’t do you any good when you keep sidestepping the truth.”

“I know, I know, it’s just… look, I’m sorry sis. The full truth is something I don’t think you’d be able to buy into right now.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Mary responded. “But okay, putting that aside for the moment, I’m getting the distinct impression that everything to this point? Has been background events. It’s like you’re avoiding some major issue. What else happened today? Who else were you talking with?”

Clarke swallowed. “Uhm, well, actually I ran into Corry and Laurie after leaving Tim’s,” he ventured. “They were outside the Veniti household, heading off for the rest of the day with their parents. Chartreuse was there too, to see them off.”

“Hi Clarke!” Laurie said, beaming at him as she ran down the driveway. She paused when she was two steps away and tilted her head to the side. “Um… hey, I think you’ve got ice in your hair.”

Clarke blinked at Laurie and reached up to where she was peering.  “Er, thanks,” he replied, plucking the small shard off his head. “It’s glass actually.”

“Oh. So, what, did you come by to see me? Or you just taking the really long way around to Julie’s house?” Clarke flinched as he realized the accuracy of her statement.

“Glass? Like, why would you have glass in your hair, Clarke?” Chartreuse asked, coming up beside Laurie.

“Oh,” Laurie repeated. She glanced from Clarke to Chartreuse, then back. “Well… I’ve said ‘hi’, so I guess I should get back to helping my brother load bags in the car.”

“Ah, don’t bother,” Corry said, walking up to join the three of them. “Dad says he’ll take care of the last thing once Mom’s got her camera packed inside it. Which will be once they find it. Which will be once he stops berating her for not finding it last night.” He clapped a hand on Laurie’s shoulder. “Good to know your scatterbrained nature is hereditary, eh, little sis?”

Laurie flushed a bit in the cheeks, glancing at Clarke out of the corner of her eye. “I’m not THAT bad,” she protested to her brother. “I mean… at least I’m not the one who’s grounded all next week!”

Corry’s expression turned dark. “I’ll thank you not to mention that again. After all, I wouldn’t be in any trouble at all if I’d been allowed to time travel back, as planned!”

Clarke exchanged a quick glance with Chartreuse, who shrugged. “Corry, your parents didn’t buy our excuses as to your two day absence then?” the tall blonde inquired.

Corry looked over at Clarke. “Hm? Oh, well, they sort of bought it,” he yielded. “Only the idea of me staying over at Julie’s for two days is a stretch, even if you did somehow get Jeeves to vouch on my behalf. Now, for it to be after all the crazy stuff that happened at school…? Let’s just say I got the whole ‘family values’ speech, with this outing thrown in to boot. My dad in particular isn’t as easygoing as Frank’s parents are.”

“Plus Mom now thinks Julie and my brother are a romantic item,” Laurie put in. “So that’s awkward.”

“Yeah, there’s that too,” Corry sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“You get what Julie was, like, saying about why we couldn’t, you know, send you back though, right?” Chartreuse asked.

Corry waved off the pink haired girl. “Yeah, yeah, I understand the whole didn’t-happen-so-can’t-happen-and-don’t-piss-off-freaky-golden-eyed-weapon-girl reasoning. Doesn’t mean I have to LIKE it. For that matter, I’m surprised Julie was so willing to go along with placating Carrie. Reading between the lines of Laurie’s catchup story, I gather Carrie was treating Julie pretty rotten after me and Frank left.”

“They’ve both been under more strain than usual,” Clarke put in quickly. “With Mindy gone, I’m hoping we can smooth things over once again.”

“Mmmm. That’ll take effort,” Corry said slowly. “Assuming it’s even possible. But then again… I now have a gaping two day HOLE in my life, so what the hell do I know, right?!”

“Hey, one more day and you’ll be, you know, caught up from the extra few days you spent in the past last year,” Chartreuse offered up.

Corry fired Chartreuse a look. “NOT helping,” he said pointedly. “For that matter, I’m not getting suckered into any more time trips. Keep me apprised of your group’s situation, yes, inform me of any attempts by Glen to use - what was it, strange mental powers? – hell yes, but DON’T count on me for physical assistance in any further temporal shenanigans!”

Laurie pulled her gaze away from Clarke long enough to turn back towards her brother. “Shenanigans? Aren’t those like polygons?”

Corry opened his mouth to reply, then thought better of it and simply shook his head. “Nevermind. C’mon sis, let’s help the parental units get a move on.”

Laurie hesitated, then nodded. “Sure you don’t want to stick around for, uh, a glass of juice or anything, Clarke?” she asked, casting one final glance his way.

“No. Thanks though,” he replied.

“Oh, and hey, Clarke?” Corry called out over his shoulder, even as he began to walk back towards the house. “Keep an eye on Julie for me tonight, okay? She was looking kinda vulnerable and I think you’d be a better person to talk with her than me.”

“Aha! Now I know what you’re hiding!”

Clarke froze. “Hiding, Mary?”

“Julie,” his sister stated. “Our conversation is all about Julie.”

There was a moment of silence. “Why…”

“Your voice is catching every time you say her name,” Mary pointed out. “And you’ve been trying to avoid mentioning her, despite how your connection to her has been referenced in every single conversation so far.  Come on, Phil, you’re running out of other people to talk about. You must have seen Julie earlier today. So what’s the big mystery?”

Clarke rose from his bed and went to his window, staring out at the darkening sky. “No mystery,” he said at last. “Here’s how that conversation played out…”

Clarke was a little surprised to see Julie herself answer the front door. “I saw you heading up the driveway,” she began by way of explanation. “I knew you’d come today. We… we have to talk.”

“I agree,” Clarke said. He held up a small box. “And I brought some eclairs along, to try and help with the mood.”

Julie’s eyes slipped down to the box. She closed her eyes. “Damn. I wish you hadn’t done that,” she whispered. Reopening her eyes, she turned. “Come into the sitting room.”

Clarke hesitated for a moment, then shut the door behind and followed after her. “This… seems pretty serious,” Clarke observed as Julie sat down on the couch. He dropped the eclair box on the table. “But look, it’s important that you don’t think what happened last night was your fault, we never–”

“We’re through,” Julie interrupted.

Clarke nodded as he sat. “Carrie said the same thing,” he admitted. “But I don’t think–”

She spun to face him. “No, not ‘we’ as in the time group. We. Us. Whatever the two of us have. I’m sorry, but it’s over.”

Their eyes locked. He saw the determination in her gaze… and he didn’t understand it. Not at all. “Jewels,” he said softly, reaching out towards her. “You can’t mean…” His voice trailed off as she stood, slipping just beyond his reach.

“Ph– Clarke, please don’t make this harder than it has to be,” she replied, back now towards him, her hands tightening into fists.

Clarke paused, trying to figure out what he was supposed to say to that. It was like Grade Ten all over again. But why? “Jewels, I don’t understand,” he admitted. “I mean, you wanting to back out of the time traveling makes some sense to me but this…? I need an explanation!”

It took a moment for Julie to respond, and when she did, her voice sounded empty. “Where I’m going next, I can’t take you with me. If I did, at best you would slow me down, and at worst… you could be used against me. And I won’t have you hurt like that. Not like everyone else I’ve managed to harm in the past few days. Not that way.”

Clarke stood. “Jewels…”

“Julie!” the brunette snapped, her body shaking slightly. “Gods, Clarke, just… just call me Julie…! Please, Clarke… PLEASE…” Her voice nearly cracked.

He swallowed. “Julie then. You… you’re talking nonsense! What do you mean where you’re going? Are you leaving town? Or are you planning to leave this time period entirely? Because I don’t think that… wait, your parents aren’t doing something more to you, are they??”

Julie turned back to face him, her expression one of anger and disbelief - but her gaze swiftly softened and became one of quiet sadness. “Oh Clarke… simple, unaware Clarke… no, my parents aren’t a factor. And I didn’t mean going physically, or temporally. It’s about… about me fitting in. The only way I can.”

“Yes, right, we talked about that the other day,” Clarke said desperately, searching for meaning in the conversation. “And with teamwork…"

“No, Clarke.” Julie shook her head. “I don’t do teamwork, remember? If you don’t believe me, just ask Carrie, she’ll set you straight.”

“She’s sorry for slapping you. She told me. She said your idea was good.”

Julie smiled, but it was a sad smile, and her tone still sounded hollow. “That’s nice to know, but… it doesn’t matter. Not now that I know that the only way to fit in… is to cut myself off from the rest of you. Completely. The next choices I make, I must make them on my own.”

Clarke ran a hand back through his hair. “DAMN it, Julie… what you’re saying, it makes no sense!”

“I’m sorry you feel that way. But you can’t change my mind on this matter, Ph–” She swallowed. “Clarke. Please, for all our sakes, don’t try.”

It was at that moment, that Clarke knew she was lying. There was resolve in Julie’s face, but lurking behind that mask was something more. Some hope that he would see an alternative, and be able to try… something. But how could he do that when he didn’t even know what in the world she was talking about?

-BOOM. It can’t get worse than this, can it? (idle whistling) Incidentally, anyone spot the callback to Book 1, with the eclairs? Also the last time we saw Mary.

Previously: Clarke is talking to his sister Mary about visiting people on Sunday. Carrie asserted to Clarke that she’d only work now with Glen - who has a mental power of suggestion.

PART 3.18b: MAKING THE ROUNDS 2

An innocent enough topic. Clarke had wondered, given how he and Julie had brought Lee up to speed on the time machine last night, whether Lee had been trying to verify any of their story. The dark haired teen stood up then, turning and coming face to face with Clarke.

“Whoa, high guy, sneaking up on us?” Lee said, lifting an eyebrow. “It’s just one accidental occurrence after another today, isn’t it?”

“I… guess so?” was all Clarke could think to answer.

“Well, unless you need me for my library skills too, I need to be on my way,” Lee continued. “Say hi to Julie for me!”

Lee made as if to continue past Clarke, but he stumbled, reaching out for the taller boy’s shoulder to regain his balance. As he did so, he muttered near Clarke’s ear, “Red Barren there doesn’t know I helped bring him to Julie’s. Please don’t let on.”

“Oh… right. Of course,” Clarke said. Lee simply flashed him a smile and a thumbs up before heading out of the cafe.

“He’s an interesting character,” Glen remarked, pulling Clarke’s attention back to him. “Not part of your little ‘group’, is he?” The redhead gestured at the recently vacated seat across from him. Clarke hesitated, then joined Glen himself.

“According to Carrie, there is no group,” he evaded.

“Ah! She’s spoken with you then? Good, good. You DO realize her decision was inevitable, yes?” Glen said apologetically. “She’s the one with the destiny, after all. The rest of you… yourself, Julie, Frank, Luci, Tim, Chartreuse… am I missing anyone?”

“And how would you know what role we might play?” Clarke replied, trying not to sound irritated.

Glen made a vague gesture in the air. “Didn’t Carrie say? I’m from the future, like Mindy was. I don’t mind telling you that, and I’m sure Julie’s figured it out by now - in fact I’ll have to make sure I don’t underestimate her, the way I did last night.”

“So you know the future, yet Julie was able to surprise you,” Clarke replied, shifting back to his manner of not quite asking a question.

“Mmmmm,” was Glen’s only reply as his fingers began drumming on the tabletop. “Fair point," he admitted. “The thing you have to understand about time is that, even though it resists universal change, individuals still have the free will to screw things up locally. I mean, let’s say Julie is slated to die in a month. Doesn’t mean I CAN’T save her then; time could compensate. But it wouldn’t be easy to accomplish. If we extend the analogy towards trying to prevent the outbreak of the temporal war and all the deaths that stemmed from that? It becomes downright impossible.”

Clarke clenched his jaw. “Glen, you speak of deaths as if you were talking about the weather.”

Glen paused. “You’re right, I’m sorry - that must seem incredibly callous. Forgive me, I’ve been a little… distracted these last couple days.”

“Worried about Mindy?”

“Carrie, actually,” the redhead countered. “More and more I’m discovering how she’s… different from the Carrie I expected. For instance, she actually fears the power that she has, rather than embraces it. I’m not sure how to change her attitude. Any ideas?”

“Can’t your powers change attitudes?” Clarke cut back before he could stop himself.

Glen ran a hand back through his hair. “Another point to you. But it’s not like I wander around using my mental abilities indiscriminately. Embracing one’s powers doesn’t mean abusing one’s powers.” He frowned. “As I suppose I did last night, so if an apology helps there, fine, you have it.”

Clarke nodded. “All right, I’m sorry too, for getting judgmental. But you know, cutting Carrie off from her friends isn’t going to help your cause.”

“I’m not trying to cut her off from her friends, merely your inexperienced time meddling!” Glen countered, slapping his palm on the table. “That’s the real danger here! Of course, the fact that Carrie apparently came close to banishing Frank from this time period last night probably isn’t helping her mood. I just… damn it, I just wish she was more like her future self!”

The tall blonde sat for a moment, gauging Glen’s sincerity. “You need to stop seeing her as Carrie, the girl destined to control time, and start seeing her as Carrie, the normal, everyday high school student,” he suggested at last. “Because right now, more than anything else, that’s how she wants to be seen.”

“Ridiculous! Others like Mindy may come, she can’t put her head in the sand and ignore that fact!”

Clarke didn’t reply. Throwing up his hands, Glen turned in his seat to regard the cafe itself. “Where’s my food, anyway?” he grumbled. “It’s been almost twenty minutes.”

As if on cue, Theresa came into view, dodging around a man in an overcoat. She set a cup of hot chocolate down in front of Clarke. “Here you go,” the waitress said to him with a smile. “I know you didn’t order it, but another customer changed their mind, and you seem to need it. It’s on me.”

“Oh, uh… thanks,” Clarke replied, blinking at the redhead in surprise.

She lifted an eyebrow back at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m still a perfectly normal waitress.” Theresa glanced at Glen. “As for you, I’m sure your club sandwich will be out shortly. Remember, patience is a virtue.”

She moved off again, leaving Glen to fume quietly in his seat. “How is it that I always get such lousy service in this place?” the redhead grumped, glancing from Clarke to the mug in front of him. “I mean, what do I have to do?!”

Clarke shrugged. “Dunno,” he answered, taking a quick sip. “Maybe you should tip more.”

Glen frowned. “Tip?”

“Oh, loverly. I’m getting the impression that this Glen is not a people person,” Mary remarked.

Clarke rolled over to lie on his front. “Not really,” her brother agreed. “I mean, he’s friendly enough, but he’s not above playing tricks in order to achieve his goals. And he sees this big picture, rather than the individuals involved in it.”

“Sounds a bit like how Julie used to be.”

Clarke fell silent for a moment. “Glen feels more dangerous,” he said at last. “But then again… maybe you’re right. Maybe Glen needs a friend like me to help him fit in a little better.”

“Well, I’d love to be right, but you’re still being cagey about these conversations,” Mary replied. “I mean, there’s a lot of reasons why Glen might have thought this ‘burden’ Carrie has is a good thing… including psychological problems on his part. Can’t you give me more detailed information?”

“It’s… complicated,” Clarke sighed. He couldn’t very well relay the parts of his conversations that were about time travel. “Besides, aren’t you just listening to me as a sister?”

“True enough. So, you were saying that you were on your way to Tim’s place?”

“Yeah,” Clarke affirmed. “And when I got there, I discovered Luci was with him.”

“C-Clarke! You’re here!” Tim said, looking up from a desk of notes and beaming at the tall boy as Clarke walked into the bedroom.

“Hi,” Clarke said, nodding at his friend. “I didn’t realize you already had company.”

“Well, after last night I decided we’d best figure out what the heck we shot Carrie with,” Luci noted. “And Tim’s the main translation man for Linquist’s notes.” The young girl gestured from the edge of the bed, where she sat with Linquist’s temporal gun, back towards the curly haired boy.

Clarke looked from Tim to Luci and back. “How much do you know about what’s going on then, Tim?”

Tim opened his mouth to reply, but again it was Luci who spoke first.  “I told Tim all the highlights,” she stated. “Time machine, Carrie’s funky powers, his memory loss from before the hospital… seemed only fair that he know at this point.”

Clarke frowned slightly. “I see. And… Tim, you’re okay with this?”

“Oh, sure, he’s managing fine,” Luci continued blithely. “Actually, we figure all this additional background info should help with the translating.”

“Luci, I asked Tim!” Clarke said sharply, turning again to look at her. She jerked her gaze up from the gun towards him, and inwardly he cursed himself for taking that tone. He didn’t seem to be having the best of luck with people today…

“It’s all right,” Tim said quickly, standing up and moving to place a hand on Clarke’s arm. “I am f-fine, her information really will help with the translating, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be any more involved than that.” He paused. “And knowing about this t-time group also explains why I hardly see you lately.”

Clarke flinched slightly, turning to look the shorter boy in the eyes. Had he not been hanging around Tim as much? He supposed that he HAD been paying more attention to Julie ever since the time machine factor had reappeared last month… and of course he’d wanted to speak with Carrie and Frank on occasion… but he had come by Tim’s house just last Monday. Or, no, had it been the previous Monday? For that matter, when was the last time he’d made a drugstore run for Tim’s medications?

“I… I’m sorry, Tim,” Clarke said as he realized the truth of the situation. “I never made a conscious decision to avoid you.”

“ANYway,” Luci cut back in pointedly, “you’re just in time. We’ve managed to recharge the gun, and were about to take a test shot. The thing’s non-lethal, by the way, that’s what Tim realized yesterday, hence shooting Carrie with everything we had. This time, we’re sure the safety’s engaged and the gun’s set back to level one, so we shouldn’t experience such massive kickback. Observe.”

She picked up the gun again and, bracing herself back against the wall behind the bed, took aim at a pillow sitting across the room on Tim’s dresser.

Clarke frowned. “Is it safe to be firing that thing off indoors?”

Tim nodded. “Oh, sure. Well, we’re p-pretty sure,” he amended. “I mean, near as I can figure, it’s now configured to be the equivalent of a sci fi phaser on low stun.”

“But if you’re not a hundred percent certain, perhaps we should–” Clarke never got a chance to complete his sentence. Luci had already pulled the trigger, and even before the sequence of lights on the gun was done flashing, a pulse of energy shot out of the barrel. The pillow on the dresser exploded in a cloud of feathers - and the glass in the mirror behind it shattered into a hundred pieces, all of them spiralling out into Tim’s bedroom.

-Next Episode: Shattered

-What do you think… Is Glen like Julie or not? Is Luci evading issues, like Frank was? Do you want to comment, or click the voting link?

Previously: Mindy was banished by Carrie, but left a warning message about Glen, via her father. Carrie was knocked out by an energy gun… in fact, most people were knocked out by something.

PART 3.18a: MAKING THE ROUNDS 1

“Yeah, right into the library,” Clarke admitted, lying back on his bed as he held the phone receiver up to his ear. “But we’re… we’re all fine here.”

“You don’t sound sure of that,” Mary remarked. “Look, sorry I didn’t make it back for Thanksgiving – Doug wanted me to meet his family - but I’ll be making it up to everyone by coming to your first basketball game of the season in a few weeks. Okay?”

Clarke found he was unable to hold back a smile. “That’s great news, Mary! Just… just great!”

“Uh huh. Okay Phil, even if I weren’t majoring in psychology? I’d know something was wrong. Out with it.”

“What? I… uh…” Clarke shook his head. “I swear I’ll manage to bluff you one of these days! Though seriously, the family’s fine. School’s fine. The only issues are, well, between me and a number of my friends.”

“Yeah? You want to talk about it? I’m speaking as your sister here, not as the family shrink.”

Clarke passed his hand in front of his eyes. “Actually,” he sighed. “It seems like I’ve already spent this whole Sunday talking…”

It had made sense for him to visit Carrie first. She had been the last to regain consciousness the previous night, and she hadn’t spoken to anyone at Julie’s place, except to ask Glen to take her home. Yet even though she had looked normal at the time, blue eyes and all, Clarke was worried. Not only about Carrie herself, but also at the rift that was again forming between her and Julie.

Mr. Waterson answered the door when Clarke knocked. “I’m afraid Carrie is unavailable to speak with friends today,” he said immediately. “She’s been acting too irresponsibly of late.”

“She’ll be at school tomorrow,” Mr. Waterson pointed out. “This can’t wait?”

“Not really. It’s sort of extra curricular. A lot of us are involved in it,” Clarke explained. He disliked skirting the truth like this, particularly around someone like Carrie’s father, but he really did want to speak with her. Though as it turned out, while Clarke’s reasoning was enough to get him an audience, Carrie wasn’t in much of a talking mood.

“Did Julie send you?” the blonde questioned. She marched across the living room, heading for the window, arms crossed. She didn’t even look his way.

“No. But that’s just it, I am a little concerned about the friction building up in our little temporal group…”

“Then you’ll be glad to hear it’s not a group any more,” Carrie cut back in. “There will be no more use of the time machine. If you’ll take that message back to the others, I think we’re done here."

Clarke winced. “Look, Carrie… I know having your powers released again must have been rough…”

“Rough? ROUGH?!” Carrie spun away from the window to face him now, her blue eyes blazing with anger - yet there was something else there too. Fear? “You have NO idea, Clarke, NONE at ALL, all right??” Carrie shot back. “Suffice to say, there’s going to be nothing more going on that’s even remotely temporally related until Glen and I can balance these forces inside me!”

Clarke waited until some of the tension had drained out of the air. “Then you didn’t change over willingly last night,” he stated, in a tone that invited comment.

“No, I… well, yes," Carrie said. Her gaze slipped away. “It was a plan me and Glen devised to deal with Mindy. I was to give myself up to that inner demon when I heard Glen say the words ‘swan song’. I chose those words myself, because I had this crystal swan three years ago that… oh, why am I even bothering to explain this to you?!”

“Because sometimes it helps to talk about stuff?” Clarke offered.

“Yeah, that worked out SO well on Thursday, when me and Julie were at cross purposes,” Carrie shot back. Clarke winced, recalling the slap. She jabbed a finger back in his direction. “I’m done. With the group, even with Chartreuse. Glen is the only person who can help me now."

“You’re sure we can trust him, then,” Clarke said, again not quite phrasing it like a question. “Even with his apparent mental abilities.”

“Yes!” Carrie said forcefully. She drew a shaky breath. “Yes, I have to trust him. Because he’s all I’ve got. It doesn’t matter what Mindy put in that letter she left with my father, I can’t simply…” She stopped. “Scratch that. You never heard that, there is no letter.”

“Er, okay…”

“In fact, I don’t ever want to hear Mindy’s name again,” Carrie went on. “I don’t know what time I sent her to, and I’d rather not think about it. You can tell that to the others too!”

“Then you’re sure none of us can–”

“Damn it Clarke, there’s no US! No group, not any more!” Carrie interrupted. She pursed her lips. “Except… okay, maybe answer me one question? What was it that pulled me out of doomsday-Carrie mentality last night? Because somehow, I know that wasn’t Glen.”

Clarke accepted the change of subject, explaining to Carrie about the gun that had been discovered in Linquist’s safe. “Great, I was a weapons guinea pig,” the blonde moaned, pressing a hand into her temples. “You probably should have killed me outright, who knows what long term effects will plague me now.”

“Well, if it looks like you’re growing a third arm, you let somebody know, all right?” Clarke responded, venturing a smile. Carrie was hard to read, but she seemed to be calming down. “I mean, time travel or not, we want to help you. That’s all we’ve ever been trying to do.”

Carrie moved her hand to rub the bridge of her nose. “I know,” she murmured. “I know. But here’s the sad thing. None of you can help me, at least not safely.” Her gaze fell upon Clarke once more, and this time he was pretty sure that she was trying not to cry. “Look. We’re still done, but tell Julie I’m sorry for slapping her the other day, all right? Her idea was actually a good one."

Clarke began to respond that it would be better for Carrie to tell Julie that herself, but the blonde cheerleader was already brushing past him. Before he could get out half a sentence, Carrie was out of the living room and running upstairs.

“So you say Carrie has major emotional issues owing to some burden that’s been placed on her?” Mary mused. “I hate to tell you this bro, but emotional issues are typical for teenagers."

“Yeah, but this is the sort of burden no one should ever have to carry alone,” Clarke countered, switching the phone to his other ear. “So given Carrie’s pushing people away because of it, that can’t be healthy.”

“Probably not,” Mary agreed. “But even so, I wager there’s one or two people who can still get through to her. If not you, any other candidates?”

“Well, Glen. Or the next best bet would be Frank… I actually ran into him in front of the house, after talking with Carrie.”

“You might have trouble getting past Carrie’s father,” Clarke cautioned. “I think she’s sort of grounded.”

“Oh.” Frank frowned. “I really think we need to talk about that whole temporal plan I authorized though, and she isn’t answering her phone.”

“Try saying it’s an extra curricular group project,” Clarke offered. “That got me past Mr. Waterson. Getting Carrie to talk at all though… that may be the real challenge. I didn’t exactly soften her up. If anything, I did the opposite. Sorry, Frank.”

“Well, historically speaking she’s had more experience through high school using people as tools versus being their friends,” Frank observed. “A bit like Julie. So it’s a matter of us working around that, right? I mean, would she be able to ignore me indefinitely if I was heaving rocks up at her window?”

“Depends on how good your aim is.”

Frank grimaced. “Well, there’s that oak tree, I can get reasonably close if I have to.”

“Maybe you and Luci could tag team on it?” Clarke suggested.

There was a pause in the conversation then, awkward enough for Clarke to realize that he’d accidentally hit a nerve. “Julie explained to me about the log book and the gun Luci found,” Frank said at last. “While we were waiting for her to regain consciousness. I think… that is, it feels like me and Luci have issues there. We barely talked when I was walking her home after. Maybe I’m trying to avoid that situation now, by coming to see Carrie instead. I don’t know.”

“Relationships do generate issues,” Clarke agreed. “If nothing else, it’s good that you’re acknowledging one.”

“I’m not sure I am. Girls are a mystery. I don’t know how you and Julie manage to keep it all together. Say, do you think Carrie would let me travel a week into the future, to see how I handle things with Luci?”

Clarke pursed his lips. “Frank, I’d strongly recommend avoiding any talk of time travel with Carrie today. Even jokingly.”

Frank let out a long breath. “That bad, huh? Guess my work is cut out for me then.” He shook his head. “I’m starting to feel like I should have gone to see Chartreuse this morning instead. As girls go, she at least feels approachable right now.”

“Well, whatever you decide, let me know if I can be of any help," Clarke said, clapping the other teen on the shoulder.

“I will,” Frank replied, reaching up to touch the bandage on the side of his head. “Thing is, the relationship stuff? I think I’ll have to work it out by myself."

“Do you think Frank was able to help Carrie then?” Mary asked.

“I really don’t know,” Clarke sighed. “It became the least of my worries. See, I wanted to check up on Tim today too, because of how he got involved in recent events. But before I got to his house, there was this other encounter. When I passed by the local cafe, I saw Glen. He was talking with Lee. So I went in to find out what that was about.”

-Who remembers Mary Clarke from Book 1, Part 11? Some main characters do have siblings. Thoughts on character reactions so far?

Previously: When Mindy reappears, Glen and Carrie plan to banish her, while Julie and the others plan to capture her. Luci has discovered a “temporal gun” in Linquist’s safe.

PART 3.17b: BANISHMENT 2

“I d-don’t know yet! I can’t t-translate under these conditions!” came the reply.

“Steady on Tim,” Clarke soothed. “Here, I’ll hold the flashlight.”

Glen moved to intercept the four individuals. “Clarke!” he called out amiably. “Luci, Julie, Tim! Fancy meeting all of you here.”

“Glen?” Julie said. “Uh, didn’t Carrie tell you that this is an incredibly unsafe place to be right now??”

“Is it?” Glen said, blinking. “You should all be on your way somewhere else then.”

“Can’t,” Luci retorted. “We have some presents for Mindy, when she arrives here.”

“They can wait,” Glen insisted. “I really, REALLY think we should convince ourselves that it would be safer somewhere else.”

The four teenagers looked at each other. “G-Good enough for me,” Tim said, turning around.

“It does make sense,” Clarke agreed. “We should head home.”

“I’m not so sure,” Luci said, frowning. “Yet I’m thinking of a lot of places where I’d rather be.”

“No. No way. There’s nowhere else I would rather be right now,” Julie murmured, her body starting to shake. “Not after what I’ve caused.”

“Julie should bring you back to her place and serve some hot chocolate,” Glen continued calmly. “It’s getting cold out here and you’re all thirsty.”

“It IS cold,” Luci agreed.

“And I am thirsty,” Clarke added.

“Aren’t you guys coming?” Tim wondered, already three steps away.

“Why… what… why…" And Julie’s gaze focused in on Glen. “My God. YOU’RE ONE OF THEM!"

“Nap time, mind warper!” the brunette cried out, slipping under Glen’s arm and slapping the rag against his face.

“No!” Glen protested, trying to keep from breathing in. “I have to wake…” His knees buckled, his vision blurred. “…goddamit… uhn, C-Carrie, SWAN SONG!” His last cry delivered in little more than a speaking voice, Glen then fell unconscious.

Julie stared down at her unconscious adversary. “Okay,” she decided. “Weird choice of last words…”

“Uh, guys? Whatever Glen meant by that, it was loud enough to get someone’s attention,” Clarke said, raising a finger to point over Julie’s shoulder. Julie turned, in time to see the figure rising up from the ground in the vicinity of the swingset. The figure had long blonde hair flowing out behind her, and when she turned, her eyes were glowing gold in the darkness.

“You will be banished,” Carrie said, raising her finger to point at the group of them.

“Ohhh HELL!” Julie swore, eyes going wide.

Luci immediately reached into her jacket, yanking out the gun she had been concealing. Originally in multiple parts within the safe, it’s six inch long barrel had now been screwed into the base, which itself was comprised of numerous of dials and lights. The main one showing four settings. Fortunately, while it seemed to be an energy weapon, it was at least partially charged, and included a standard trigger.

“Tim?” Luci said, trying to keep her hand from shaking. “We need the stats on this sucker like NOW.”

Electricity began to spark at the end of Carrie’s fingertips as she strode forwards. Clarke grabbed Tim, and both of them backed off to the right, as Luci and Julie began to circle around slowly to the left. Carrie paused as they split up.

“Okay, Carrie,” Julie began. “Stay calm here. We’re your friends.” She saw the movement in Carrie’s elbow a split second before her hand came out, and only just managed to dive out of the way of the crackling energies the blonde fired at her.

“Tim?” Luci called out again. “I can’t simply start firing this thing at random, I may only have the one shot! Is there a setting I can use to merely knock Carrie out?”

“D-Don’t rush me!” the small boy called back. “I need a minute, Linquist’s short form never makes sense!”

“I hope you have a minute,” Luci mumbled before dodging in a little closer to Carrie. “Hey, hey, ignore Julie, look at me!” She then backpedalled furiously, even as Julie became aware of the sound of more running footsteps approaching.

However, while Carrie did begin to focus on Luci, the bright flash of light and the appearance of three more individuals about a metre in front of the blonde quickly had everyone’s attention.

“Oh, GEEZ!” Frank choked out, stumbling to his feet. Next to him, Corry and Mindy remained on the ground, unconscious.

“Frank, get DOWN!” Luci screamed out. “You’re spoiling my shot!!”

“Oh look, more people here I can banish,” Carrie said with a smile.

Julie saw a tall figure spring out of the encroaching darkness, slamming into Frank even as electricity lanced out from Carrie’s fingertips. Frank was knocked back off his feet, his head hitting a partially concealed rock as he fell… but with that, the crackling energies passed harmlessly by both him and his rescuer.

“Ohmigod,” Chartreuse breathed from the edge of the park. “Lee tackled him in time.” She then joined Frank in the land of unconsciousness, the additional weight on Laurie’s shoulders almost pulling the redhead to the ground as well.

As Chartreuse collapsed, a certain redhead sprang to her feet. “Everyone back off!” Mindy shouted, whipping a knife out of her pocket. And Julie realized that Mindy had only been faking unconsciousness, to allow Carrie to get close enough for an attack. Oh no, she had to get in there with the chloroform!

“Mindy! Stop!” Julie cried out. Not even thinking about how she’d managed to completely ignore the redhead’s implicit command to ‘back off’, while everyone else had taken a few steps back, she launched herself forwards.

But Mindy saw Julie coming out of the corner of her eye. She checked her swing at Carrie in favour of leaping out of the way, so Julie’s dive only resulted in her ending up back down on the ground.

“Good! Everyone stay down, out of my line of sight!” Luci yelled. “Tim? Setting for Carrie OR Mindy? TIM?!”

“Calm down!” came Clarke’s voice out of the encroaching darkness. “Everyone just calm…”

Mindy jumped in towards Carrie again, her knife raised. The two of them were almost face to face now, Mindy’s knife held in the air, inches away from Carrie’s chest… and Julie saw Mindy hesitate. “Dammit Carrie,” Mindy whispered. “I never wanted to hurt…”

The electrical discharge hit the redhead at point blank range. She barely even got a chance to scream before she had disappeared in a crackling of energies and the sound of a thunderclap. “One down,” the golden eyed Carrie said calmly. She turned to face Julie, who had been readying herself for another attack on Mindy, and Julie abruptly discovered what it was like to be a deer caught in a car’s headlights. Oh lord. Did chloroform work on a temporal weapon?

“Luci!” Tim called out. “Setting four, on Carrie!”

Luci cranked the indicator over and immediately pulled the trigger.  For a second it seemed like her actions would have no effect at all, but then a sequence of lights on the gun lit up and a pulse of energy flew out of the end of the barrel, striking Carrie in the side. The effect was immediate. The building energies in Carrie’s palm fizzled out, and the blonde crumpled to the ground, Julie seeing her eyes flicker back to blue as they shut.

Luci, however, was unaware of this, as Julie then realized that the recoil on the gun had propelled the shorter girl back a good ten metres, right into the trunk of a tree. She now lay slumped at its base, out cold.

At last, all was silence.

The quiet stretched on for what felt like an eternity to Julie, however it was really under a minute before there came the sound of Laurie’s tentative voice from the treeline: “Is… is it all over?”

Julie looked up from where she had crawled over to check Carrie’s pulse - the blonde had one. Which meant either Carrie was only knocked out, or her heart rate could still be read through that gun’s ‘temporal freezing’.

“I think it’s over,” Julie agreed, her voice shaking.

There was another moment of silence. “So,” Lee said, clearing his throat as he pushed himself up. “Uh, will you guys still be needing my help? For moving all of these unconscious bodies?”

Not very far away, though completely unaware of recent events, Hank Waterson sat at his writing desk. He stared at the page in front of him in irritation. “This letter has nothing whatsoever to do with my novel,” he muttered. “It doesn’t even make sense. Where did it come from?” He scanned down the words on the sheet once again:

‘Waterson.

‘If you read this, it’s been over two days since my arrival. I assume either my mission is failing, or I neglected to turn off the equivalent of a post hypnotic suggestion. Either way, no more beating about the brush:  Glen ‘Glinephanis’ Oaks may not be a time criminal, but neither is he whom he appears. He is not merely a trainer. He represents a junction point for the entire temporal war. Please, DO NOT TRUST HIM. I retroactively apologize in advance for whatever methods I may use, or may have used, to convince you of this.

‘Yours, Mindylenopia.’

“It must be some game of Carrie’s,” her father concluded. Except, if that was true, how could it be in his handwriting? He shook his head. “I guess I’ll show it to her once she gets back from the movies with Glen… and she’s NOT going to put off our little talk about responsibility any longer.”

That decision made, Hank set the sheet aside and turned his attention back to his novel. Trying to figure out what he could do to fracture his character dynamics even more.

-Next Episode: Making the Rounds (aka the fallout from this)

-We’re maxing out on character tags in this post, even Hank’s involved. Was the resolution with Frank at all what you expected? Feel like casting a vote or comment?

Previously: Luci and Tim were busy translating Linquist’s notes. Carrie threatened everyone, and went for training with Glen. There’s a plan to capture Mindy when she reappears.

PART 3.17a: BANISHMENT 1

Julie didn’t reply. He waited a moment, then approached, touching her shoulder. She flinched slightly but otherwise didn’t react, continuing to lean on her arm, resting against the bars of the cage they’d set up down in Linquist’s secret basement lab. By placing the enclosure within the alcove at the base of the passage from the upstairs washroom, they’d only had to weld a grate with a door over the wall.

“We’ve got less than two hours left,” he continued softly. “When did you want to head out?”

“As soon as I hide the key to this makeshift cell,” Julie murmured after a moment. “You should leave the room first. No one but me can know where it is.”

Her tone was flat and tired, as it had been so often when none of the others were around. “Jewels, we’re doing the right thing,” Clarke insisted.

“Are we?” Julie challenged, turning her head to look at him. “Carrie doesn’t seem to agree. We haven’t seen her since that night. And she’s returned my one call with a terse ‘Leave me alone’.”

“Meaning she hasn’t objected outright,” Clarke noted.

“Or that what we do no longer matters.” Julie pushed herself back from the bars. “Phil, she summed things up pretty well with her ‘do whatever the hell you want, just hands off the time machine’ attitude on Thursday. Which we’d better take seriously. Unless you’ve got a mace and flail handy.”

“This Mindy business has been stressing her out,” Clarke soothed.  “She’s on edge, saying things she doesn’t mean…”

“Oh no! She meant every word of that tirade. In case you didn’t notice, it was made… painfully clear.” She reached up to trace a hand across her cheek. “No, trust me Phil, somewhere in her mind there were bounds, and I overstepped them. Several times in that single day, in fact.”

“You only did what you felt you had to do,” Clarke said after Julie fell silent once again. “Give it a little time, let Frank talk to Carrie once things have settled down… Carrie will realize your intentions were good.”

“Were they? WERE they? Because in case you didn’t notice, Luci was bang on during her little rant too. In my haste to act, I made a right mess of things. Not only for Corry, Frank and Carrie, but indirectly for Luci, Laurie, Lee, even Joe and Tommy… hell, it’s starting to look like the only person who’ll come out of recent events completely unscathed is me.” She kicked at the iron grate. “But hell, isn’t that the way all my plans are supposed to work? With me on top?”

Julie strode over to lean against one of the lab benches. “Well, at least there’s one good thing that’s come of this. It’s taught me that I can’t be anyone’s follower. Since trying to ‘help’ has only served to awaken in me the desire to take firmer action. And doing THAT has put me in a position where I only know how to do what’s best for myself! So what’s left after all that?”

“Teamwork?” Clarke ventured.

Although he could no longer see her face, Clarke suspected Julie was grimacing. “I’m not like you, Phil. I’m no good at passing the basketball. In grade school, I was always the girl people wanted on the other team. For years, all I had driving me were my own selfish goals. Which weren’t even mine, in a way! I didn’t care who else got hurt, as long as I emerged victorious in the end.”

“You’re different now. Besides, it’s not like you can work for Mindy’s team instead of ours.”

A pause. “I suppose not.”

Clarke frowned. He’d been trying to make a joke. But something about her tone there bothered him. He wanted to follow up, but that’s when there came the sound of someone falling down the access chute. Clarke and Julie both turned in time to see Luci land awkwardly in the caged off section of the room. She immediately jumped up and grabbed onto the metal bars.

“Great! You’re still here,” Luci panted. “Tim’s upstairs waiting for me… let me out of this cage, we have to get into that safe of Linquist’s!”

“The SAFE?” Julie crossed her arms. “Luci, I’m not sure if you’ve been keeping up, but we’re preparing to chloroform and imprison a rather dangerous girl for questioning. Now is hardly the time for safe cracking.”

“You don’t understand. It’s not safe cracking. I know the combination,” Luci said breathlessly. “We found it in the same passage that stated ‘I have placed within my safe the gun for temporal freezing'. Well, either that or ‘gun for cool tempos’, but Tim’s pretty sure it’s the former.”

“Tim? Wait, why is he here?” Clarke asked.

“Uhhh, he’s kinda been helping me translate,” Luci said. “In fact, he’s still at it now, trying to fill in some rather key details.”

“So you never gave up looking at the logbook, huh?” Julie said dryly.

Luci sighed. “No, Julie, I didn’t. And yes, it’s the reason I was unreachable two days ago. You happy now? But listen, when Linquist was… was poking at me, he discovered that my DNA was ‘in temporal flux’. Which WE know was because of the time machine, even though he interpreted it to mean I was an alien. Remember?”

“Sure, you’ve told us,” Clarke agreed. “But how does his logbook help us here?”

“Simply put, if Linquist could correctly identify my premature aging as ‘temporal flux’, I figured he might also have some technology we could use as a viable temporal weapon! And so his gun for ‘temporal freezing’ might be able to freeze Mindy before she hurts Frank or Corry! THAT’S why I doubled down, spending the last thirty six hours trying to translate this particular passage of his book! With Tim’s help. So, uh, kinda had to tell him some of the time stuff to do this. Don’t be too mad.”

“Hold on,” Julie protested. “Are you saying Linquist made a gun that actually freezes time in some way?”

“I don’t know, you haven’t let me out to have a look at it yet,” Luci said impatiently. “Plus there’s the fact that Tim’s still working on the translation. However, even if Linquist IS lying through his teeth about this thing - and I wouldn’t put it past him - it can’t hurt to check, can it? If this Mindy is half as bad as she sounds, we may need all the help we can get.”

Clarke and Julie exchanged a glance. “Fair point,” Julie admitted, pulling the key back out and approaching the iron door. “After all, if there is some weapon that keeps Mindy from getting away, I might be able to avoid more wrath from Carrie.” She half smiled. “Also, it’s not like we can keep Luci in the same cage where we’re dumping the redhead, right?”

“You’re gonna try tapping into a vision? Again? So soon?” Laurie began to fidget as Chartreuse moved into the circle of crystals on the bedroom floor. “Can’t I talk you out of this?”

“No. I have to do this,” Chartreuse sighed. “Something’s totally up surrounding the return of this Mindy girl and Carrie won’t tell me what it is. She’s blocking me off, too busy doing who knows what with Glen. However, the closer we get to Mindy’s return, the more things feel like they’re, you know, coming into focus… so I should have, like, better luck now than I did yesterday.”

“When you were sick in the bathroom for over half an hour! And that was after seeing only shadows! This Mindy stuff, it’s not good for you!”

“But it’s important. And you helped me out then,” Chartreuse said with a weak smile. “So if I see something even more unsettling this time, I’m counting on you to, you know, help me again.”

“Well, duh,” Laurie said. “Even if I don’t want you to do it, helping is the least I can do after you’ve helped me out so much the last couple days. Not to mention everyone else, running interference what with covering for my brother and for Frank… golly, if this goes on any longer my parents are gonna FREAK. And I told them Corry’s okay! S-So you DO think he’s okay right?”

“Laurie dear, please stay calm,” Chartreuse pleaded as she closed her eyes. “There’s barely an hour left and I need positive alpha waves.”

Ten minutes later, Laurie was helping a woozy Chartreuse stumble over towards her phone, where she began a frantic search for Lee’s number.

“I’m not ready for this, Glen.”

“Yes, you are,” Glen assured her. Carrie continued to pace back and forth in the middle of Willowdale Park. It was dusk now, the sun had set five minutes ago. “Remember, I was originally going to have you do this the day Mindy first arrived.”

“Which was before you found out that my time travel was occurring with the help of a time machine! Before two days of near constant training barely managed to push a thumbtack out of the present, let alone alter the flow of time or wipe out a memory! Before the only attempt to access my inner demon resulted in me knocking myself unconscious before I could fully let go!” Carrie spun to face him, placing her hands on her hips. “You REALLY think I’m ready to face Mindy?!”

Glen ran a hand back through his hair. “Well, um, the important thing is that you believe you’re ready.”

“My point exactly.”

“Look, you’re closer than you think,” Glen insisted. “And we’ll keep on with your training once we’ve gotten through this crisis.”

“If I’m still alive,” Carrie retorted. “Which reminds me, you’d better damn well kill me if it looks like I’m about to blow up all of time. If you don’t, I’ll haunt you to hell and back in the afterlife. Assuming there even IS an afterlife after I destroy our whole solar system.”

“Oh, Carrie,” Glen said, reaching out to touch her shoulder. “I am sorry it has to be you. I really am.”

She shrugged him off and stepped away. “Stop touching me. Look, we’ve got somewhere between ten and twenty minutes before Mindy reappears. I’m going into that trace thing. You know what to do to rouse me. Or rather, other me. Keep an eye out for Julie and her crew too, I’m sure they’ll be here any moment. You know what to do with them as well.”

That said, Carrie plunked herself down in the grass by the empty swing set and closed her eyes. A little over eight minutes later, Glen heard the sound of approaching voices.

-This is SURE to go well… hm, gun for cool tempos, any thoughts?

Previously: Luci and Carrie independently decided to resume contact with Julie and the others. Glen told Carrie that she would return to him, and that she should destroy the time machine.

PART 3.16b: BLAME GAME 2

The young girl listened with half an ear as Chartreuse launched into an explanation of Julie’s plan. Internally, she wondered why the wealthy brunette hadn’t returned home yet. This all made no sense. What did they mean the car crash was related to a supposed visitor from another time?

I mean, sure, car accident, lockdown, but that had only been one of a number of things which Corry and the other student factions had done to each other that day. Right? RIGHT? So… so why did the three of them look so serious?

“Ok, whatever,” Luci said as Chartreuse finished. “Julie’s theories aside, have any of YOU seen this Mindy character??”

“I have,” Laurie piped up. “I was in the library when she arrived.”

“And did she look like she was some time traveler with mental powers?” Luci challenged.

“I… I don’t know. She had a gun with her. She ran after Carrie. I was scared.”

“Well… well…” Well, why didn’t someone tell me this sooner? That was what Luci wanted to say. Unfortunately, she already knew the answer was ‘we tried’, a response which she knew would only further aggravate her.

She really had become too obsessed with that log book. To the point of putting the rest of her life not merely on vibrate, but on total silent mode. As a result, Frank - and Laurie’s brother - had become stuck two days in the future. How could she have let this happen?!

“I’m back. Oh, good, you found Luci,” came Julie’s voice from the sitting room entrance.

“She arrived on her own,” Clarke noted, which was all anyone had time to say before Luci launched herself towards the new arrival.

“They went of their own volition,” Julie replied quietly.

It was her tone that brought Luci up short. She’d expected Julie to snap back at her, perhaps engage her in a shouting match - not reply in that soft, sad tone. As such, she offered no resistance as Julie pulled her sweater free from the shorter girl’s clutches.

“Now," the brunette continued, “I suggest we modify our plans in order to incorporate a smokescreen with respect to Frank and Corry’s location over the next forty six hours. They’ll be back on Saturday night, that much is certain.”

There was the briefest of pauses before Laurie Veniti broke down in tears. “This is all my fault, oh God I never should have suggested that stupid idea to you, I didn’t know enough, I should have kept my stupid mouth shut, why didn’t I realize this would happen, oh God I’m so stupid, stupid, stupid, oh God, oh Corry, oh Frank, oh Corry…."

“Laurie! Laurie!” Chartreuse said, hurrying over to grab the redhead in a hug. “This isn’t your fault! You hear me? It’s not anyone’s fault!” She rubbed Laurie’s back as her friend buried her face in the crook of Chartreuse’s neck. “All this means is that something totally freaky happens in a couple days that will, you know, prevent Frank and Corry from time traveling back to us. That’s it! They’re not dead or anything! They’re only, you know, potential hostages, maybe.”

“At least Mindy is out of the way for now, right?” Clarke noted, after casting a worried glance at Laurie himself.

Julie nodded. “Yeah. We learned as much from Lee, who said Mindy vanished in a flash of light. I was going to explain more to him, but he decided I’d been right. If he doesn’t know, he won’t have to lie about it later."

“Well peachy as all THAT sounds,” Luci cut back in, hoping to reassert herself, “exactly what did you mean by ‘modify the plan’, Julie? Seems to me it’s been shot all to hell. You have no more knowledge of this Mindy than you did BEFORE your unauthorized use of the time machine stranded our friends in the future!”

“Frank authorized it. And two days hardly qualifies as a stranding," Julie countered. A measure of her own assertiveness was creeping back into her tone. “And as far as capturing Mindy goes, we can still do that, as per the plan. We know that she’ll be arriving along with the machine in the vicinity of the park, we even know roughly when, we simply need a way to ensure that redhead stays knocked out once she arrives!”

“Oh, sure, piece of cake,” Luci fired back.

“Look, we’re not debating this any more!” Julie said, throwing her hands up into the air. “Okay, fine, so my track record today has been lousy. So Megan’s running the school and we don’t have the time machine. So what?? I’ve always been better at the long term game! I can do a lot in two days! At least I’ve been actively involving myself here! Where the hell have you been since lunchtime, Miss Lucille Isabella Primrose??”

For a moment, Luci wasn’t sure if she wanted to get right up into Julie’s face again, or simply break down like Laurie. Neither option felt palatable. So with the simple response of “None of your business”, Luci quickly spun on her heel to stare over at the wall. She tried to ignore the lump in her throat.

“Fine,” Julie sighed. “So I propose we do phone tag with the Dijoras and the Venitis. Say that Frank and Corry are staying here tonight for whatever reason. Laurie can stay too, to add credibility. Luci too, maybe. That buys us twelve hours.”

“Perhaps more than that,” Clarke put in. “They said school would be cancelled tomorrow. Structural reassessment. We can drop by to visit our lockers if we need something, but otherwise school is out until Monday.”

“Fine, good,” Julie repeated. “So, does anyone else want to bitch at me here?”

The only sound was that of Laurie’s quiet sniffles. Until, from down the hall, there came the loud crash of someone slamming open the mansion’s double doors. It was followed by the loud scream of “JULIE!”, in a voice easily recognizable, even from within the sitting room. Then, “Julie, why the HELL can’t I sense Frank Dijora anywhere in the present?!?”

The time travellers in the room exchanged glances. “Well, on the bright side, she’s no longer Mindy’s hostage!” Chartreuse offered up.

Carrie stomped up to her house, clenching and unclenching her fists. The last words she’d spoken at Julie’s house still ringing in her ears.

“If any of you interfere with the time streams again, I’ll banish you all to the middle ages!”

Yeah, that had quietened down the lot of them. She wondered fleetingly if it was really an idle threat. After all, maybe a day or two stuck in history would convince the others that they shouldn’t muck about with time travel until AFTER consulting with time’s “ultimate weapon”!

Carrie froze, her hand a short distance from the doorknob. Oh no, what was she even thinking?! After all, the conclusions Julie and the others had drawn had been accurate. And the idea itself had been a pretty good one. Honestly, THAT was what irked Carrie the most. If only she’d been there, working with them… but she hadn’t been. She’d been working with Glen instead.

And because of that, they had no time machine, and Carrie would HAVE to return to Glen, not only to learn about banishing Mindy, but about how to keep Frank and Corry safe, while making sure Mindy didn’t get her hands on the portable time machine permanently, and of course Laurie and Lee were ALSO back in the mix, confusing things…

Carrie looked down at her hand. She swallowed. She wasn’t sorry about slapping Julie across the face. And yet, she realized now that she’d derived no satisfaction from it.

The blonde teenager reached out again open her front door, but this time before her hand could touch the doorknob, the door was opening from the inside. “Carrie!” her father shouted. “Where have you been?? I have been worried sick!”

“I… I was out with Glen,” Carrie said truthfully. “Something came up at school, and we had to have a talk about it.”

“I’ll say something came up at school! It’s all over the news!” Hank Waterson retorted. “Your friends Frank and Julie called, not knowing where you were, and some female police officer in plainclothes came by indicating to me that you were one of the people this escaped lunatic was shouting about… Carrie, I’d started calling the hospital every fifteen minutes, asking them if any unidentified girls had been brought in!”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Dad…”

“You watch your mouth young lady!” he interrupted. “Now, I realize you want to be free to live your own life, and I’ve been trying hard to accommodate you in that respect… but on a day when the school library gets demolished by some girl who refers to you by name, you should at least give me the courtesy of a phone call!”

Carrie paused. Her father was interpreting her momentary outburst as ‘let me live my own life’ rather than ‘as if I didn’t have enough to deal with’ - which was probably for the best.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” she replied, switching gears. She tried to bring a few tears to her eyes and found they came with alarming ease. “I was scared, and I didn’t know what to do.”

“Oh, Carrie,” Hank sighed, softening his tone. He reached out to pull his daughter into an embrace. “I know we’ve had our differences, but I thought we’d reached an understanding. I want to be here for you. I want you to feel like you can tell me anything. The thought that I’ll receive another phone call like the one I had last year, it scares me to death.”

“I know,” Carrie murmured, instinctively reaching out to hug her father back. “I really am sorry. SO sorry. But honestly, there’s nothing I can tell you. I don’t know why Mi– that girl was after me today, so I just got scared and Glen happened to be nearby and I lost track of time.”

Her father led her inside the house. He pulled back slightly from the embrace, closing the door, and looking to meet her gaze. After a moment, he nodded. “All right then,” he said. “For now, I’m just happy to see that you’re okay. But we will have another talk about responsibility, mark my words. Now, take off your shoes and come into the kitchen. I’ve kept dinner warm.”

Carrie nodded, wiping her cheeks dry. It occurred to her then how much in character this was for her father of late - Glen must have been overreacting when he had said Mindy would influence her father and friends in some way. Unless this was all such a carefully engineered plot that even Carrie couldn’t see through it, in which case Mindy probably deserved to win.

However, deep down Carrie knew Glen was still dead right about one thing… in the end, she was the only one who could deal with Mindy. And so, she was going to have to sneak out tonight, and go back for training. Because she had less than two days to figure out how to release her temporal self… safely or otherwise.

-Next Episode: Banishment.

-Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to fellow Canadians! You may recall these episodes take place mid-October, in the week following that holiday. So this time next week, we’ll be temporally in synch - and caught up to Frank! Care to Vote? Or speculate in comments?

Previously: Glen told Carrie he’d show her how to banish Mindy. Luci and Tim worked on Linquist’s notes. Julie and the others sent Mindy, Frank and Corry two days into the future.

PART 3.16a: BLAME GAME 1

“They would want to be sure not to overlap with themselves after dropping Mindy off,” Julie responded. “We should give them a little more time.”

“But what if Mindy’s, you know, turned the tables on them in the future? Maybe she has two more people on her list of hostages!”

“Then we have forty seven hours to ensure that’s NOT what ends up happening! In the meantime, you can go home if you like, but I’m staying here a little longer!”

Chartreuse opened her mouth to reply, but then seemed to think better of it, and simply resumed her pacing. Julie folded her arms and looked up at the night sky. ‘Damn it,’ she thought. ‘Why haven’t they time traveled back? What went wrong with my plan??’

“This is perfect! Oh, Tim, you’re wonderful!” Luci exclaimed, scanning down the page of translated material. It looked a bit like she wanted to hug the sheet. Or maybe hug him. Tim edged his chair backwards. “Though I see a few corrections I can help you with… let me use your pencil?”

“L-Luci… I mean, yeah, fascinating language and all, but this scientist guy is also using some kind of short form notation, and his verb tenses are insane. We’ve got a good start on this. It’s been hours. Isn’t it time for a break?”

Luci gestured airily. “I’m not tired. Though if you want, I can take what we’ve done back to my place to keep working. I’ll just need to call you if I get stuck, if that’s all right?”

She seemed surprised when he pushed himself away from the writing table in his bedroom. “No. No, it’s not all right, Luci. I see now that you’ve been obsessing way too much over this! You m-may not feel tired, but you look it. Now, why aren’t you telling m-me the whole story?”

“Story? What story?”

“The one that explains how you only recently got something from Linquist, a guy who left town three years ago. The one that explains why you think that the word which occurs so often is ‘aliens’, not ‘bacteria’. The one that explains why you selected this particular passage about some ‘safe’ as being important, despite it being halfway in!”

“Oh. That story.”

Tim nodded. “Sometimes I get short of breath, but I’m not blind, you know. Tell me, Luci, why is it so important that we keep working, not only through lunch, but after school at my place, and now into supper??”

The young girl pursed her lips. “It’s personal.”

“Maybe, but I seem to be involved now.”

Luci frowned, considering. “All right. Linquist and I have a bit of a history together, that’s all. He… did some things to me. Things that might relate to something that Frank and a few others are working on now. I also suspect the guy’s not really gone, so I want to be ready if and when he comes back.”

“Right. Well, I d-don’t think he’ll turn up tonight,” Tim countered. “So let’s both take five. More, even. Because I won’t help you any more until I know you’ve eaten something.”

A smile flickered across Luci’s face. “That’s sweet Tim, but…”

“No! No but!” Tim interrupted. “Now, my mom offered supper to the both of us. I’m going to tell her that we’re ready to eat!”

Luci seemed to size him up. “All right,” she conceded. “All right. I suppose I should check back in with my parents too, seeing as it’s… oh, wow, it’s past eight…” She went for her backpack, but paused and turned back to add, “You know Tim, that assertiveness bit works well for you. Your voice gets melodic and you hardly stutter.”

He blinked. “I d-d-d-don’t?”

Shaking her head, Luci presumably searched for her phone as Tim back-pedalled out of the room. When he returned after talking to his mom, Luci almost run into him full tilt as she exited, looking frantic.

“I can’t stay,” she apologized. “Both Frank and Julie have been trying to reach me for a while, something’s up, I have to go, I… uhm…” She hesitated. “Can I leave our translations with you? You’ll keep them safe?”

“Uh, of course, b-but what…”

“Thanks. No time to explain, even assuming I understood it myself, but I promise I’ll tell you more when I can. Okay?”

Faced with Luci’s concerned expression, Tim found he could only nod in reply. He followed her to the front door. “Is there anything I can do to help? Did something bad happen to one of them?” he wondered.

Luci slipped on her shoes. “I hope not. I really, really hope not.”

“Problem! If I do that, something bad will happen.”

“Carrie, you’re being paranoid,” Glen assured. “Nothing bad will happen.”

She shook her head. “You weren’t here when I was planning on channeling the power of a bomb through my body and into the time streams!Hell, it took me up until last month to accept that balancing my powers was even possible. Now you’re asking me to simply surrender myself to this… this ultimate weapon force I’ve got?!”

“Not surrender,” Glen explained patiently. “It’s more like a… a time share. You regain control once your temporal self has accomplished the thing that we’ll be asking of it.”

Carrie stood up and began pacing around the floor of the largely empty warehouse. A place that Glen had apparently acquired after arriving in town, for ‘training purposes’. Because he was her trainer. Not her boyfriend. Oh no, having a relationship, that was something only normal people got to do.

“I don’t like it,” she said. “I’ve stuck with your last hour of meditative hocus-focus techniques because they seemed to make some sort of sense. But switching that on… no, I can’t! It’s WAY beyond anything I’ve attempted with Chartreuse!!”

“I’m not Chartreuse,” Glen pointed out. “Carrie, if we want to deal with Mindy, this is the only way. We must send her to another year, and wipe her memories, ensuring that she can’t return. Doing that requires your temporal self.”

Carrie clenched and unclenched her fists, opening her mouth to make a retort - when she realized something. She turned towards the storage bay doors. “Something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, when you said Mindy, I checked my mind, and something is… right. Which is wrong!”

“Carrie, sorry, but you’re losing me.”

The blonde teenager shook her head, feeling her long hair brushing about her shoulders. “It’s… look, for the last year, I’ve been living with this dull ache in my head. It only gets bad when people talk serious temporal paradox, or unauthorized temporal incursions occur. Hence a bit of mental strain in the school library earlier, when my brain wanted to explode out of my skull.”

“Yes, that’s your temporal sense,” Glen affirmed. “The future you never talked much about it, except to request an acetaminophen equivalent.”

“Fine. So, Mindy’s incursion was bad at first, but it eventually ebbed back to a point where I could block the pain, using something Chartreuse taught me. Yet now that extra pain is… gone. Like, I’ve been blocking nothing.” She frowned. “Maybe Mindy time traveled somewhen else?”

Glen shook his head. “You’re the only one who can initiate time travel at will. The rest of us need you, or some form of technology.”

“Yes, fine, so what if she had a time machine?”

“Impossible,” Glen asserted. “She would have had to bring along a portable version, and very few of those were ever made. Besides, if Mindy COULD jump about in time at will that way, I believe even she would have been employing a more reserved approach.”

“Well, all right… but supposing she got her hands on my time machine then,” Carrie countered.

Glen’s body tensed up. He swallowed. “You… you mean you still have a time machine? As in, a portable one?”

Carrie nodded. “Left to me by the Mundane benefactor who awakened my powers. I assumed you knew. How else could I have been travelling in time?”

“Using your own power!” Glen started to look almost scared. “Wait, you mean you haven’t accessed your temporal self at ALL? Any time trips you take are only by scrying, or using technology?!”

“Obviously! Why else would I be so sure something bad will happen if I ‘time share’?!”

“But it’s been almost a year! What on Earth have you been doing?”

“Freaking the hell out! Like any normal person would!”

“Oh, Carrie. Oh no.” He walked up to her, and grabbed her by the arm. She wished he would stop doing that. “No wonder your head’s been aching! Promise me that you will destroy your time machine at once - it’s more dangerous to this timeline than Mindy ever was!”

“Moot point if Mindy’s got it,” Carrie retorted. She pulled her arm free again. “Enough is enough. I’m calling Frank. He can check on the status of our machine.”

He made a grab for her shoulder, and she dodged. “Carrie, you must NOT contact your friends,” the redhead insisted. “With both Mindy AND a time machine loose in this era it’s even more important that we train you to handle…”

“Glen,” Carrie interrupted, opting to shift from a loud rage to a quiet one. “I care for you. I do, and I’m glad of your help. But if you don’t let me talk to my friends RIGHT FRIGGING NOW, you are going to picking your teeth up off the floor.”

Glen let his outstretched arm fall back to his side. “I could stop you. Mental abilities, you know.”

Carrie shook her head, and called his bluff. “You won’t use them on me.”

In the staring contest that followed, Glen dropped his gaze to the floor. “You’re right,” he admitted. “You’re the one person we can’t risk altering directly, Carrie. Not now that your abilities are active. Mindy knows it too, I’m sure that’s why she wasn’t more ‘persuasive’ with you when she spoke.”

He turned away. “So, fine, call your friends. Check on your machine - and ideally, destroy it. Because no one in this era can be allowed to time travel, except you. I’ll wait here. You’ll be back, once you’ve realized that I’m your only chance against Mindy. All I ask is that you don’t reveal this location to anyone. Her spies could be everywhere.”

“Obviously,” Carrie responded. She stared at Glen for another minute, trying to figure out if there was some way she could offer up a form of stern apology, but ultimately left without saying another word. Best that she not phone from the place that they didn’t want to be found.

Yes, we’re catching up to Frank the “slow” way. There was a clip of “Coming Soon” pieces featured at the end of Sunday’s commentary. Do people read those? Alternatively, any further thoughts on ‘banishment’?

Previously: Mindy visited Mr. Waterson. The temporal teenager group are plotting to capture Mindy, using the time machine. Meanwhile, Carrie tries to understand timeline theory with Glen.

PART 3.15b: FRAGMENTED PLANS 2

Carrie dropped her head down onto the table. This was really bugging her. Not because it didn’t make sense, rather because it did, and yet she felt like it shouldn’t. “Okay, fine. You also said there’s a faction within the Temporals who disagree with our - their - policies, which is the reason the Mundane we call Shady was able to get a time machine and come back to activate my powers in the first place.”

“Starting our timeline three,” Glen agreed.

“Mindy is ALSO a part of this faction, and she came here to finish the job that ‘Shady’, her future blow-up-the-hospital friend started. Which potentially starts timeline FOUR. Which is what we now need to prevent.”

“There you go, you’ve got it!” Glen agreed.

Carrie sat for a moment. “It’s LUNACY," she decided. “Can’t I give Frank a call? He’s a lot better at following this time-space junk.”

Glen reached out to grab Carrie’s arm before she could retrieve her book bag. “No phone calls. I meant that, Carrie. Not to Frank, not to your father, not to anyone. We don’t know how many people Mindy has compromised.” He smiled. “Don’t worry. No one is better at wrestling with temporal mechanics than you."

Carrie pulled her arm free of his grasp. She tugged hard on a strand of her hair. “Come on, Glen, you really think my own FATHER is going to give me up to Mindy? I mean, he’s probably so worried, after what happened at school!” Glen said nothing, merely shifting his weight back and forth uneasily in his seat. “Fine then, I’m calling.” She reached for her bag again.

“Oh, of course,” Carrie sighed. “Everyone who wants me dead HAS to have THOSE.” But she felt too weary, too mentally drained to continue with an argument, so she gave up on her book bag in favour of looking expectantly at Glen.

“If she chooses, Mindy’s voice can make people do things they might otherwise be unwilling to do," Glen explained. “And being an actual Temporal, she’s damn good at it. Better than this Mundane you previously encountered. Granted, the power works best on adults, or on people who are emotionally vulnerable, but, given access, Mindy could eventually convince even the President of the United States that he was a rodeo clown.”

Carrie felt a chill run through her. “Glen? Your description feels very personal. Something in your tone tells me you’ve got an inside track on this mental ability too."

Glen smiled wryly. “Can’t put anything by you, hm? You’re right, Carrie. How else do you think I managed to set myself up here so quickly? Obtain all the required school documents? Deflect questions as to where my parents have been for over a month? I can do it too, if I choose.”

“Fine,” Carrie said. “Then you use your mental powers to go and deal with Mindy. I’ll be home, in my bedroom, drawing up a new cheerleading routine.” She moved to rise, only to have him reach out and take her arm again.

“I’m sorry, Carrie,” Glen said. “It doesn’t work like that. Even setting aside that I’ve only used my mental power very sparingly here in the past, me and Mindy, we’d be locked in a stalemate. The only one who can deal with the temporal threat right now is you.” His grip tightened. “Mindy needs to be banished from this time period. It’s okay, I’ll show you how to do it.”

“Why? Why ME!?” Carrie protested, banging her free hand down onto the table. “I’m just a girl! All right? A senior student trying to juggle her offbeat social life with her studies! I never asked for these temporal powers!”

“No,” Glen agreed. “You didn’t. You were born into them. But remember timeline one? Without these powers, you wouldn’t have been born at all.”

Carrie bit down hard on her lower lip. She felt like screaming. Or throwing something, hitting someone, lashing out at whatever future forces were conspiring to make her present a living hell.

But there was no one to attack. Even if fate were some sort of living entity, Carrie doubted it could be punched in the face. No, the truth was, Carrie had been born - when she never should have existed. With no powers, there was no Carrie. Simple logic.

As such, there was only one outlet currently available upon whom Carrie could vent her frustrations. The person who had smashed up their school library in an effort to start timeline four.

She sank back down into the booth. For a few moments, she remained with her elbows on the table, her blonde hair clenched in her fists, staring down at the pathetic looking strawberry chunks floating in what remained of her shake. Her decision, when she made it, was the only one that could make sense.

“What?” Glen asked. “I couldn’t hear you.”

“I said,” Carrie repeated, still barely above a whisper, “Tell me what I have to do to banish Mindy.”

She felt tired. So very, very tired.

“I must admit, I still don’t get why you two need me,” Lee said. Julie had sent Chartreuse to corner their classmate after his shift was up at the library, getting him to come to Willowdale Park. Where he was now standing, giving them a puzzled look.

“I swear, we’ll explain everything,” Julie assured. “But for right now? It might be better that you don’t understand. That way, if something goes wrong, you’ll have deniability.”

“You do understand the plan?” Chartreuse asked.

“Well, yeah. I lure this Mindy girl over to that place in the ravine where Corry and Frank are hiding. By pretending that Corry is Glen, given the similar hair. Pretty straightforward. You sure this Mindy will show?”

“Pretty sure,” Julie sighed. “I mean, I called Glen’s room at the Clayton and left a message on his answering service for her. It makes sense that she’d be monitoring. But remember, Lee… if Mindy pulls her gun on you, or does ANYTHING to make you think she’s dangerous - or even inexplicably friendly - we abort. Your safety is paramount.”

“Cut and run, yeah,” Lee agreed. “No problem there.”

Julie grimaced, starting to have second thoughts. After all, what if Mindy saw through the facade before Frank and Corry could link up with her and use the time machine? Was dusk enough to mask what was going on, or should they have waited longer? What if Mindy hurt somebody? Was using Lee even necessary, or just mere paranoia?

All objections voiced by the others, all objections Julie had countered in her drive to make sure they disposed of this Mindy girl. But, Julie wondered, was she truly acting out of concern for Glen, Carrie and everyone else? Or, as she had done earlier in the day, was she doing it more in the hopes of regaining some of her former glory? Or worse, of being the one who was in control, when faced with a person so similar to the man who had manipulated her in the past?

Julie hated when she started questioning her motivations. She no longer liked what she found. However, she had at least been up front with everyone this time. That is… almost everyone.

“Look, Lee, this really could be dangerous,” Julie said, speaking before she could think about it. “Mindy has these… okay, know what? Never mind. I’ll talk to Mindy instead of you. Sorry to bring you all the way out here for nothing. You should go.”

“Hey, if you went to the trouble of getting me involved, I’m sure you had a reason,” Lee countered. “Besides, I’m good at dodging. Plus I really do feel indebted to you and Carrie and everyone for finding Sing’s necklace. It meant a lot to her - just as this seems to mean a lot to you guys.”

“But…”

“Too late now anyway,” Lee said. “I wager that approaching shadow is your Mindy.”

Julie spun to see where Lee was looking, then with a curse, flattened herself down onto the ground and rolled under the evergreen shrub, next to where Chartreuse was already hiding.

Lee moved away from Julie’s position, towards the person that, Julie had to agree, looked like Mindy. It occurred to her now that they could be playing real havoc with the timeline - would Carrie double over in pain somewhere as soon as the time machine was activated? Why the hell wasn’t she answering their messages?!

Well, Clarke and Laurie were out looking for her. As well as looking for Luci, and even Glen. What more could they do? After all, it wasn’t Julie’s fault that time girl had gone AWOL. Or been kidnapped. Maybe tortured. Julie grit her teeth. She would fix this. She would.

She felt a hand reach out for her own, and she squeezed Chartreuse’s palm back in response. Not certain which of them was reassuring the other.

Frank resisted the urge to pop the top of the time machine open, to check the controls for the umpteenth time. He knew they had been set correctly. The coin was in, the only thing left to do was pull the handle. Which he would do as soon as Corry reached out and grabbed hold of Mindy.

Julie had made it all sound so terribly easy… as she had with her plan in the computer lab before lunch. Of course, that train of thought took him to Luci. Where HAD she disappeared to after that class? If she was upset with him, why hadn’t she at least called someone else?

“Hold tight, we’re up,” Corry muttered. Frank felt his heart rate increase as the sound of Lee’s voice reached their ears. He gripped Corry’s ankle even tighter.

“Yeah, well, as I say, Glen’s always bugged me,” their dark haired friend was saying. “So when I heard you wanted him, I decided to ambush him and tie him up in the woods for you. I’m getting decent pay for this, right?”

“I’m skeptical!” Mindy retorted. “He’s sneakier than you’re making him out to be.”

“Well, check it out, he’s gagged back there behind that tree,” Lee continued. “See the red hair?”

Frank heard Mindy take a step closer. Then another. Then… “Hey, that’s not–”

“NOW!” Corry shouted, making a dive for Mindy’s leg. Without even thinking about it, Frank yanked down on the time machine’s lever with his free hand.

He felt the usual effects of the time distortion, dimly aware of the fact that he’d kept hold of Corry’s foot. Then he was forty eight hours in the future. Back in the park. With Carrie Waterson standing no more than a metre away, her blonde hair trailing out behind her in waves, her eyes glowing a brilliant gold.

“Oh, GEEZ!” he choked out, letting go of the time machine and stumbling to his feet. Some sort of electricity sparked at Carrie’s fingertips. It helped him make out the forms of Corry and Mindy, unconscious on the ground - and that of Glen Oaks, who was also lying on the ground nearby.

“Frank, get DOWN!” Luci screamed from somewhere behind him in the dark. “You’re spoiling my shot!!”

“Oh look, more people here I can banish,” Carrie said with a smile. Electricity lanced out from her fingertips, Frank was knocked back off his feet, and everything faded to black…

Cliffhanger! Theories? New Commentary coming this Sunday, including a preview. Voting remains a weekly option.

Previously: Someone called “Mindy” appeared in the present. Carrie met with Glen, who revealed he’s also from the future. Julie called for a temporal meeting, and Laurie overheard.

PART 3.15a: FRAGMENTED PLANS 1

“But Carrie and Luci aren’t here…”

“Frank, for all we know they’ve fallen under the influence of this Mindy girl already.” Julie crossed her arms. “Look, we’ve sent messages, and spoken to their parents, and that’s all we can do until they decide to respond.”

After clearing out of the school, the group of temporal teenagers had sent a series of messages back and forth, to the effect of reconvening at the LaMille mansion as soon as possible.

Corry cleared his throat. “Before you start, I’d like to once AGAIN voice my objection to my sister being here."

“In which case I’ll totally overrule you again,” Chartreuse declared. “Laurie has as much right as the rest of us to know the truth! Remember, like me, she knew before. Prior to that memory wipe at the hospital affecting, you know, all non-time travellers."

“Too bad that didn’t stick on you,” Corry griped.

“Look, Corry,” Clarke offered. “Chartreuse once forgot, and now she knows, and it hasn’t traumatized her. Plus she’s Laurie’s best friend, so it must have been tough not being able to talk about it. What’s the harm?”

Laurie’s head bobbed. “Yeah, stuff makes more sense this way! I wondered why Chartreuse was doing, like, those weekly readings on Carrie. Actually, I was starting to think that maybe Chartreuse and Carrie were in some sort of roman–"

“Laurie! Ixnay!” Chartreuse gasped.

“Except,” Corry said to Clarke, ignoring the outburst, “the situation got pretty dangerous last year. And there’s no reason to believe it’ll be any less so now. THAT’S the harm. I notice no one’s called Tim or Lee to bring them back on board?”

“Corry has a point there,” Frank granted. “Maybe…”

“Chartreuse, you’re not running things!” Corry said. “Clarke, you understand this is a safety thing, right?”

“I suppose it is a consideration.”

“Um, shouldn’t I get to decide for myself?” Laurie ventured.

“See? She, like, wants to stay!”

“Corry did make a good point though, so…”

“Chartreuse, she didn’t say THAT.”

“Guys, let’s allow Frank to complete his thought?”

“Golly, I didn’t mean for this to be a fight.”

“HEEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!!!”

It was hard to say whether it was Julie’s scream that caught everyone’s attention, or the crash that came as a result of her smashing the jade figurine against the lemonade pitcher Jeeves had brought in earlier. Regardless, all eyes were now on the brunette as she stood, fists clenched, with broken glass and lemonade flooding the silver tray beside her. She took in a deep breath and threw the figurine on the ground.

“Much as we all might enjoy a good argument with Corry, we… don’t… have… the… TIME!” she shouted. “In case you hadn’t noticed, there is a homicidal redheaded girl from the future after Glen, Carrie and who knows who else… and what’s more, that girl seems to have the power to control people’s minds! I know first hand how that makes your argument here, and even our huge problems with Megan at school today, look so damn small that they’re barely even an afterthought!"

Corry was the first to break the ensuing silence. “Um, back up. Mind control? Julie, with all due respect… maybe you need to lie down.”

“I know what it sounds like,” she replied, jaw clenched. “But I also know I’m right. Don’t you remember? About that guy from the future who was held captive in this very room back when Carrie was in the hospital? He could do mind control too.”

Frank nodded slowly. “I wasn’t here, but I gather you mean Shady, the one who gave you the gun and turned you against Carrie. Who then told Luci that Carrie was a temporal weapon who would destroy the world. Who ultimately tried to kill everyone by blowing up the hospital.”

“No, the OTHER guy from the future,” Julie said, unable to hold back her sarcasm. “Obviously him!”

Chartreuse frowned. “Ooh, that does SOUND familiar… but I’m, like, a little sketchy, probably because of the memory wipe…"

Corry folded his arms. “Oh, please. You’re forgetting I saw this ‘Shady’ guy too, in the basement of the hospital. And while he did have some sort of power over us, if it was mind control, wouldn’t he have used that same power to talk his way out of jail?”

“Carrie might have done something to prevent that,” Frank put in.

“Okay guys, stop. Jewels, we’re all on board with the redheaded girl being our priority here,” Clarke said, moving to touch her arm. “What have you turned up so far?”

Julie flashed the tall blonde a grateful smile. “Right. So, after talking with the van driver and then going to visit the Clayton Hotel after school, I know this much about Mindy, our newest arrival.” She pulled out her small black book, to thumb through her notes.

“This Mindy was picked up somewhere out of town by Lars. According to the hotel desk clerk, Mindy stormed in this afternoon, asking about any long term guests, claiming shortly thereafter to be a relative of Glen Oaks and asking for his whereabouts. She was sent back to talk with the manager. Despite being seen entering his office, said manager told me he didn’t remember seeing anyone of Mindy’s description. I don’t think he was lying.”

Julie drew in a breath. “Mindy then went back out to Lars' van, and got him to drive not only TO the school, but INTO the library, with nary a second thought. Mindy proceeded to get the principal to talk about Glen, and give up the location of a student, namely Carrie, without even a single wave of her gun. That’s VERY unlike Hunt.” She looked up. “So call me crazy if you like, but this all implies mental powers. Worse, as Carrie ran out, she looked to be in some sort of temporal pain.”

“Plus Carrie knew this girl,” Corry admitted. “As Mindy arrived, Carrie said ‘It’s HER’. You think she was able to see this coming?"

“We could ask Carrie, if she were here,” Chartreuse murmured. She began to fidget. “I’m starting to think this Mindy has, like, taken her hostage and is even now writing up a ransom demand!”

“No, Carrie can defend herself,” Frank asserted. “I’m sure she put Mindy in her place.” Nevertheless, his fingers drummed nervously on the couch. Another silence settled on the group.

“Okay, Julie’s onto something,” Corry admitted. “New question, how do we corner this Mindy person and find out what her true intentions are with respect to our resident temporal weapon?”

“Yeah, uh, I was just trying to figure out how you corner someone who can control your mind,” Clarke said.

“Lee,” Chartreuse concluded. “Julie, the other day you said Lee never, like, seemed to be influenced by any attempts to control him?”

“Yes, that’s true,” Julie sighed. “And I guess Lee owes us one for finding Sing’s necklace. But even if he has some type of mental immunity, would he really be able to catch this Mindy? She seems to be a lot more in-your-face than Shady ever was.” She paused. “To be fair, we’d have to give Lee all the background information too. Tell him what he’s getting into.”

“I don’t think Carrie would go for that,” Frank said.

“Carrie’s not HERE,” Corry pointed out. “Damn it Dijora, you can’t play favourites, bringing Laurie in while hesitating on Lee!”

“Um, hello?”

Everyone turned, blinking at the person whose presence they’d all but forgotten. Laurie sat there, her hand raised in the air.

“Sorry, Laurie. Go ahead,” Clarke encouraged her.

She brought her hand down. “See, um, I was thinking that if you can do all this time travel stuff - which sounds totally cool and all by the way, despite the additional freakiness that seems to come with it - er, but anyway, if you can do it then why don’t you simply transport this Mindy girl to another time? Like days in the future? That would give us all longer to plan, maybe get a jail cell set up for her that traps her powers. Or something like that?”

“If Mindy’s a time traveler, she’d only time jump her way back out," Corry countered.

“No… no, no, hold on, Laurie’s onto something there,” Frank realized, leaning forward in his seat. “If Mindy really could time travel freely, wouldn’t she be acting with more finesse? She’s been as subtle as a brick - as if she’s on some sort of deadline. Maybe she’s due for a temporal pickup. And if our time machine yanks her out of time, maybe it thwarts that. After all, we now know she doesn’t have to be touching the handle of the time machine to be transported, only one of us does. Heck, if whatever her story is checks out later, we can return Mindy moments after she was taken.”

“Nice thought, but how would we manage Mindy reappearing in a cell?” Clarke asked.

“It would take some doing,” Julie said, frowning. “But, as was the case with us, an initial time trip might knock Mindy out. And assembling a cage in a day or two isn’t impossible, not with my resources. Meaning as long as Lee’s the one to guard her, we’re in the clear.”

“In that case, we should, you know, displace Mindy from time as soon as possible, right?” Chartreuse asserted. “Given how, the longer this Mindy’s in town, the more people’s lives are in danger. Notably Carrie’s and Glen’s.”

Julie thought back to the expression on Mindy’s face, when she had scanned the library and then squared off with principal Hunt. “Agreed,” Julie said. “We’ll act now. Tonight. I think I’ve got a plan…”

Carrie swirled her straw unenthusiastically in her strawberry shake as she contemplated what Glen had told her. She finally looked up, and after verifying that no one else was paying attention to them in the corner booth of the cafe, spoke to her companion once more.

“All right,” Carrie said quietly. “Let me try to work through this. Please help me out if I ask?” When Glen nodded back, she took in a deep breath. “You’re saying we both exist in timeline three. The first timeline being the one where I didn’t exist.”

“Right. A poor timeline, if you ask me.”

“Shut up, I didn’t ask for help there.” She couldn’t handle his efforts to be charming, not now. “That initial timeline was overwritten with timeline two, the one wherein someone brought my mother back in time, and then she met my father, creating me. But within that second timeline, my powers only awakened in the far future, for me to fight in a war. A war between us - the Temporals, for lack of a better word - and some others, which you call the Mundanes.” She rubbed her forehead. “You seriously use that term? It’s so cliche.”

“If the shoe fits.”

“Fine. Enter timeline three. Which is this one, the one where my powers have awakened as a teenager, due to that war spilling even more into the past. As such…” She paused to regroup her thoughts, taking the opportunity to sip at her shake again. “As such, I’ve kind of expected Carrie from timeline two to intercede at some point, steering me back on whatever path she originally took. Steering me back into alignment with the unpowered timeline. Why are you not from that one?”

“Versus me also being from timeline three, where you’ve had your powers for decades? Yeah, I see your issue,” Glen yielded. “Thing is, timeline two Carrie, what little I can gather about her, would have been little more than a pawn, being used by others. You, by contrast, with years to perfect your abilities, are a force of nature. Why would you force yourself back onto lousy timeline number two?”

His argument did make some sense. After all, if the present were to morph around a person, turning them into a millionaire, why would they fight it? “I guess I follow that,” she said. “But in that case, why would I send you back at all? It’s simply creating timeline four, where I’m getting early training. I’m sabotaging my own past… aren’t I?”

What do you think? Hurrah for timeline theory! You can comment, or click the vote above, or tell others about the serial, or know what, thanks for simply being here.

Previously: Luci discovered Linquist’s logbook was in another language. Someone named “Mindy” crashed a van into the school library and chased after Carrie, claiming Glen was a temporal fugitive.

PART 3.14b: THE CONSPIRACY UNFOLDS 2

“Frank ran to the office to keep tabs on things there,” Clarke continued doggedly, “And there was an announcement that all students are get into a classroom and remain there until further notice. We need to comply, to avoid calling attention to ourselves.”

Julie clenched her jaw, but based on the van driver’s expression, she realized that she had probably obtained as much information as she could from him. “Okay. But listen, we’ll need to convene a meeting of all time travellers ASAP,” she asserted, moving around the van. And coming face to face with Corry.

“A meeting which will include me, I presume?" the redhead said.

“Not today," Julie said, trying to dodge past him.

“Hold on!” Corry countered, moving to block her. “With something of this magnitude? I could cause even more damage by being out of the loop. Besides, if I’m not aware of whatever time travel stuff you and your friends have been unleashing, how can we be expected to effectively run the school together, partner?”

Invoking the partnership caught Julie off guard. She was tempted to point out how Megan was really the one in charge now, only to have a small voice interject, “T-Time travel?” from behind the adjacent reference shelving unit. Everyone spun as Laurie Veniti poked her head out.

“Laurie!” Julie said. “I told you to stay back, out of sight!”

“Hold on,” Clarke interrupted, raising his hand. He’d noticed the school librarian hang up his phone, and Mr. Price was now heading towards them. “We really need to table this discussion for later.”

The halls were deserted. Hunt had apparently managed to evacuate the school during the hour Carrie had spent in the auditorium. Good. At least, Carrie assumed the building had been evacuated – she supposed some people might still be managing a silent lockdown inside the classrooms. But there were no police officers roaming the halls like she might have otherwise expected, and the level of ache in her head implied the massive changes were done with - for now. She decided to risk visiting her locker.

She found the note inside. It was unsigned, but Carrie knew who it had come from, given the handwriting. ‘Suggest you don’t go home.’ it read. ‘Meet behind park, at ravine. Will explain.’

“Yes, I think you’d better explain,” Carrie murmured. “Who is this sister of yours, this Mindy-onomatopoeia? Are you really some fugitive from the future? Or are you merely from a time traveling family that you elected not to tell me about, GLEN??”

She crumpled the note in her hand before grabbing her coat and bookbag and slamming her locker door shut. She felt confused, frustrated, and even a little scared. “Goddamn time travel,” the blonde cheerleader concluded, striding to the nearest hallway door and kicking at the crash bar with her heel to open it. “Why can’t I have a normal life?”

Moments after Carrie’s departure, a nearby door clicked open and a young asian girl poked her head out. She glanced up and down the vacant hallway before closing the door again. “I think we’re in the clear, Tim,” Luci whispered. “That noise had to be the last people evacuating. My guess is that no one expected people to duck into the yearbook room. That’s why no one came to get us.”

The blonde boy shifted uncertainly from his position under the table. “You think?” he asked. “I mean, that lockdown can’t have been a drill, not with people sending messages about a car crash and a gun. Maybe we should stay a bit longer? After all, we’ve sent something to our parents to tell them we’re okay, and it’s not like we’ve got nothing to do…” He gestured at the notebook open on the floor.

Luci grinned. “I’m glad you find Linquist’s language as fascinating as I do. But you said you had some reference books at home - so if the coast IS clear? We could make better headway there. It would probably put your parents more at ease too.”

Tim considered, then nodded, gathering up the pages of notes he and Luci had been making since lunchtime that day. Shortly after, Linquist’s logbook in hand, the young girl followed Tim out of the room.

Carrie paced back and forth at the tree line of the park, glancing in mounting annoyance at her watch. “An hour,” she muttered. “On top of the time it took to get to the note, so where the hell…” She paused as she caught sight of someone motioning to her down in the ravine. Stomping a little closer, she was able to recognize Glen’s coat, so she hurried down to meet him. Finally.

“Don’t you shush me!” Carrie said, noticing that Glen had a finger pressed up to his lips. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, buddy!” Nevertheless, she did keep her voice down.

Glen simply sighed, leading Carrie back deeper amid the tree trunks before speaking. “Is it true then?” he asked. “Was the person who crashed the van into the school looking for me?”

“She wasn’t only looking for you,” Carrie shot back, “this ‘Mindy’ girl waved a gun around and went out of her way to tell me you were a fugitive from the future. What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

Glen looked genuinely shocked. “Mindy? It was Mindylenopia? Oh, I’m so sorry, Carrie. I had hoped to have a little more time before explaining the nature of my mission, but if she’s forcing my hand…”

“Mission?!” Carrie felt a cold hand grabbing at her heart. Somehow, she’d still held out hope that this was all some sort of cosmic misunderstanding. That Glen would be as confused as her about the situation. No such luck. “You mean you really ARE from the future?”

“If you are indeed the ultimate temporal weapon.”

Carrie took a step back, stumbled on a root, and fell to the ground. “Oh God. Oh God, y-you knew about… the whole time?! B-But… does this mean you’ve never cared about me as a p-person?!?” Insanely, that felt like the thing which mattered the most. “I mean, on that first date, when you said you’d be honest with me, and that you merely sensed some extraordinary ability - was it all lies to get close to this weapon that I’m supposed to become?!”

“Oh, Carrie, no,” Glen said, kneeling down beside her. “I do care about you. And that is how I felt about you at first… about future you. The reason I never said anything to you about your destiny was because, well, your friend Chartreuse seemed to be providing you with something of a power basis. And there was no reason for me to start your training right away.”

“You were… sent back to train me?” Within her spinning thoughts, something clicked. “Of course. The reason you didn’t trip my headache that day in the drama room, out of time - is because you were somehow already a time anomaly. That’s also why, whenever I centred on you in a vision, my senses inevitably pulled me forwards into the future… because that’s where you originated.”

Which was what had also led her to see Mindy, that time at the dance. Her jaw clenched at the memory. “But if you’ve come back for me, who’s this Mindy? Is your sister an agent for the other side??”

“Actually, if this is the Mindylenopia I know, she’s an agent from our side gone bad,” Glen explained ruefully. “And she’s not my sister. For the record, Temporals don’t use ‘last names’ - those imply a certain ancestry. I’m more properly known as Glinephanis. I selected the name Glen Oaks shortly after my arrival in your time. It was the name of some memorial gardens in a nearby town. She must have learned of my name at the hotel here, then given herself a similar last name, to play with your mind.”

Carrie wished the pounding in her temples would cease. It wasn’t a temporal headache any more, but it was almost as bad. “So… the Chronologic Patrol?”

Glen frowned. “Chrono what? Carrie, there is no such thing.”

“Oh gawwwwwwwwwd,” Carrie moaned, lowering her head down to between her legs. “I can’t take this. Not now. I was all set to have a nice, relaxing evening… instead, I’ve got a girl from the future trying to kill a trainer I didn’t even know I had, and possibly me as well! Assuming you’re not lying, being some fugitive yourself, out to kill me in my sleep!”

“I assure you, I’m here to help,” Glen said. “Is there anything you’d like me to do to prove my sincerity?”

“Yes! No… I don’t know!” Carrie said, grabbing two fistfuls of her hair. “How could you even… wait, yes! If you really came from the future, you must have a time machine! Tell me, where is it?”

Glen stood back up. “I didn’t come here via a time machine, Carrie.”

“No? If not, how in hell could you end up in my present?!”

He smiled. “Carrie… you sent me here. Your future self did. Using your abilities.”

Mindylenopia forced herself to stop and take in a few deep breaths before approaching the house. She had to stop rushing things - she’d made it back. The hard part was over. There was more time now, time to work carefully, time to be cunning. Time to control the people she was talking to with more finesse.

Time to come up with a better cover story.

She wasn’t used to having that time. In retrospect, her improvised crashing of the van had done little aside from paint a target on her back. But for all she’d known, “Glen Oaks” had already recruited past-Carrie as his personal temporal guardian! She’d had to gamble that while at school, they wouldn’t be together. Hadn’t she?

Well, they were probably together by now.

Mindy continued her advance towards the house. Having time or not, after a half hour of observation here, with no sign of either Glen or Carrie, she had to DO something. “This world better appreciate what I’m going through for them,” Mindy muttered as she adjusted the zipper on the jacket she’d ‘borrowed’.

She rang the bell. An older man answered the door and looked down at her. “Yes?” Hank Waterson said tentatively. Mindy simply smiled.

[caption id=“attachment_1164” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”] Drove past here almost every day on my way to work in 2001-02. While writing.[/caption]

Hopefully you’re enjoying this. Maybe even enough for the weekly vote? Or better yet, some sort of remark? Views are actually down since publishing twice per week. Bad form?

Previously: Last year, Julie was mentally influenced to shoot Carrie. Carrie recently had a future vision at the dance. Megan beat Corry for leadership at school, right before a van crashed into their library.

3.14a: THE CONSPIRACY UNFOLDS 1

Lee, along with a few other students, quickly moved to positions where they could look out the second floor window. “Holy geez,” Lee said after a moment. “It’s kinda hard to tell from this angle, but it looks like some crazy driver crashed right into the school library!”

“Whoa,” Chartreuse gasped. “That must be, like, why I got bad vibes from the place this morning.” A number of other students in the classroom exchanged glances. Frank and Clarke immediately registered Julie’s absence, and before the teacher could stop them, they dashed out of the room.

“Julie, get my sister to safety!” Corry called out.

Julie noticed that Corry had elected to pull Megan away, as the younger girl had apparently passed out from shock. Did Corry think keeping their new rival safe might reverse the junior’s coup? Julie shook her head - she could think about it later, right now they had more immediate concerns.

“On it,” Julie responded, taking hold of the arm of Corry’s wide-eyed sister. She deftly maneuvered the two of them back, further away from the crazy redhead with the gun.

Even as she did, the crazy redhead’s attention was drawn to the man who was now slowly advancing upon her. The school principal raised his hands and froze at her attention. “Stay calm,” Hunt said. “Put the gun down. We don’t want any trouble.”

“He… he’s a student here. He would be in class now,” the principal responded.

“What class? Where?” she pressed.

“I… I’m not sure…” Julie noticed that the principal’s eyes seemed to be glazing over, as they locked with those of the redheaded intruder. Julie’s own eyes narrowed. Something about this struck a chord inside her. An unpleasant chord.

But it was hard to get a bead on things, as she was still leading Laurie back into the book stacks, with other students shouting around them, either trying to hide, or run for the exit.

“WHERE?” the gun toting girl repeated.

“I… really… don’t… know,” Mr. Hunt replied, his voice shifting into a rather eerie monotone. “I can… look it up…”

The redhead let out a sigh of frustration. “Never mind. How about Carrie Waterson, where is she?”

“Right there.” Mr. Hunt lifted his finger to point. Julie snapped her gaze over in the direction the principal was indicating, in time to see her blonde classmate dashing out of the library doors, one hand pushing hard into her temple.

“Stop! Carrie!” the girl with the gun cried out. She began sprinting after her. “I have to warn you about Glen!”

Corry, who had been hauling Megan towards the same door, froze as the armed redhead ran right past. Julie registered that fact even as her gaze shifted back towards the principal. He seemed to be blinking in confusion at the latest development, only now turning to look towards the main library doors.

“Damn it,” Hunt cursed, moving back for the library office. “Did I just tell her…? Mr. Price!” he called out. “Tell the main office to announce that students are to remain in their classes when–”

The bell rang signifying the end of the school day. Frowning, Julie watched as Hunt disappeared into the small office with the librarian. She then swept her gaze back across the scene, ending at the shattered picture windows, which were now letting the wind blow in among the book stacks. Most of the students were gone. The van was simply sitting there with the driver behind the wheel. The driver.

Julie took a step forwards, only to have a hand clutch at her shoulder from behind. She twisted her neck around, seeing Laurie’s frightened face. “G-G-Golly, Julie,” Corry’s sister stammered. “W-What’s going on??”

“I don’t know,” Julie replied, clenching her jaw. “But I’m going to find out, okay?” She clasped Laurie’s hand. “Duck down, and stay quiet. Wait for me or Corry to come back here for you.”

She was going to get some answers.

‘Why is it time travellers enjoy pointing guns at me?’ Carrie wondered as she charged down the hallway. ‘I mean, don’t they have some better technology available to them yet? Something less lethal, maybe? That’d be nice…’

She heard the library doors get bashed open behind her. “Carrie, stop! Listen to me!”

“Pass,” Carrie mumbled under her breath.

It didn’t help that it was getting hard to think at all, what with the temporal pressure hammering at her temples. That van should not have crashed into the library. More to the point, this redheaded girl was not supposed to be in their time. Of that, Carrie was certain. Yet at the same time, she recognized her pursuer as the one who had been in her vision at the dance last month.

Carrie swallowed. That’s right. In her vision, this same girl had been standing in front of her, and the redhead with the hazel eyes had raised a hand, holding that knife… oh, hold on. Knife, not gun. So why the gun now? And what was her connection to Glen?

Before those thoughts could manage a foothold, the bell rang, signifying the end of classes. Students began to pour out of the classrooms. “Perfect,” Carrie moaned, feeling the vice around her temples tightening. She closed her eyes, squeezing out tears of pain.

No way could she think about whys. Not now. She had to lead that crazy girl in the red dress somewhere NOT IN THE HALLS, somewhere SAFE, somewhere she’d STOP damaging their timeline. And that place wasn’t out into the parking lot, with all the parents, no, that was liable to make things even worse. So where?

‘All right, track star,’ Carrie thought. ‘Time for some fancy action.’ With a quick look over her shoulder to make sure the gun toting maniac was still in pursuit, she summoned up a burst of speed, sprinting into the (thankfully) deserted school auditorium, down near the stage podium.

In one fluid movement, Carrie yanked open the loose door she knew about down on the lower right corner of the stage. She boosted herself through it feet first, landing between the rows of extra chairs stored there. She immediately reached up to slide the door shut behind her, then lay quietly, trying to keep herself from breathing too hard. The chair leg poking against her bottom really didn’t help matters.

The sound of running footsteps in the auditorium turned into walking footsteps, then there was nothing. “Carrie?” came the redhead’s voice.

A pause, and then Carrie heard her pursuer ascend the steps onto the stage itself. “Carrie, I’m fairly certain that you didn’t time jump, and thus are simply hiding in here. It’s not my intention to harm you. Come on out so that we can talk.”

Carrie remained where she was. She heard the sound of a brief search, interrupted only by some sort of muffled announcement over the public address system. Then more silence. Her headache was ebbing. That felt like a good sign.

Right when Carrie thought it might be safe to move though, she heard the girl’s voice again. “All right, Carrie, have it your way,” the redhead declared. “But in case you can hear me – I, Mindylenopia Oaks, member of the Chronologic Patrol, am here for Glen Oaks. My brother is a dangerous fugitive from the future. You must not trust him! I will be in touch.”

A pause, then running footsteps, then the auditorium door, and then silence. Still, Carrie waited twice as long as she had the last time before finally edging the stage door aside. When nothing happened, she pulled herself back into the auditorium.

There was no one there. What’s more, the throbbing in her head had regressed to a point where it was almost bearable. Letting out a sigh of relief, Carrie headed cautiously for the hallway, rubbing absently at the sore spot where the chair had been jabbing her. Wishing she had any idea as to her next move.

The van driver still seemed partially dazed as Julie pulled open his door. She noticed that while he had a bump on his head, his seat belt had managed to protect him from serious harm. “Vat’s goin’ on?” the driver murmured, turning his head to regard the brown haired student. “Vere am I?”

“I’ll ask the questions here,” Julie asserted. “Who are you, who was the redhead, and why is she after my friends?!”

“I… I be Lars,” the driver stated blearily. “Vat redhead you mean?”

“Your passenger,” Julie said, peering a little more closely at him. Did he have a concussion or something? “You know, the one with the gun.”

“Gun?!” Lars said. He turned to regard the empty seat next to him, then finally made an effort to sit up. “She’s gone! Mindy’s gone!”

“Mindy?” Julie said, jumping on the name. “Is that the person you were driving here?”

Lars reached up to press a hand to the bump on his head as he replied. “I tink… yes, she tell me to drive her into this town, and her name, it sounded like Mindy.”

“Sounded like? You’re not sure? You’d never met her before today?”

“No, I… oh my goodness! My van is in library?!?”

“Focus please, just a couple more questions,” Julie said, snapping her fingers to retain his attention. “Did Mindy say anything to you when you were driving? About what she was doing or why she came here?”

“No, I… we came to town, we stopped first at hotel, she go in, then come out and say Glen is at school. So we come to school. I mention school probably over soon, so she tell me to keep on driving towards window.”

Julie blinked. “So you did?”

“I… I did. Somehow it make sense at the time…”

Julie felt a chill run up her spine. It made sense at the time. She remembered thinking the exact same thing before shooting Carrie last year. After that man had spent time talking to her on the phone. Influencing her with his voice. There had to be a connection.

“Who introduced Mindy to you?" Julie pressed. “And did Mindy mention anyone else she was working with??”

“We meet by bridge… I… I don’t think she say,” Lars replied, throwing up his hands. “Who you be anyway? Student?” He only now seemed to realize Julie’s age.

“Irrelevant,” Julie said, trying to sound as authoritative as possible. “Tell me, was it Mindy herself who convinced you to listen to her? How did she do it?!” Lars simply opened and closed his mouth, a baffled expression on his face.

“Jewels,” came a quiet voice from behind her. “The police are on their way and teachers are trying to get everyone into lockdown. We need to get out of here.”

-Some of this makes sense, right? If not, please let me know.

-Hello to new blog follower professorumbraum! If you were also the person reading the entire archive on the weekend, you made last week’s views look normal instead of rather sad, thank you.

Previously: A mystery girl appeared in front of a jogger. Julie got her friends to pit Joe and Tommy against each other, in order to focus on Megan’s plans.

PART 3.13b: UNDER ATTACK 2

She straightened her posture. “Ironically, Megan’s unpredictability means she probably has the best shot at Corry. So our first step HAD to be clearing the board of Joe and Tommy. To better get a bead on her. THAT’S why I sent you both on your missions this morning.”

Julie looked towards Frank. “It only occurs to me now that you were pretty reluctant about messing with Joe’s head. I guess all I can do at this point is ask for your forgiveness.”

“Yeah, well… in retrospect, the guy WAS taking things a bit far,” Frank admitted, thinking back to the image he’d seen. “So as long as you’re more forthcoming with us next time, sure, I can forgive you."

Julie then turned to Carrie, but the blonde was already waving her off. “Don’t sweat it. I was only miffed at your attitude. I rather enjoyed playing off Tommy’s paranoia, he’s kind of a jerk.”

“All right,” Julie said, letting out a sigh of relief. “Thing is, Megan’s too canny to be fooled like those two. In fact, I discovered that she’s been recorded as absent from school today. Given that, I asked Phil to scout around a bit at lunch, to see if he could find out where she really is.” She eyed the drama room door. “Since he hasn’t joined us yet, I can only assume that he’s had no luck so far.”

She looked at each of them in turn. “And while I grant that this may be partly my ego, if Megan takes charge of the balance of power in this school? Chaos is sure to follow! Do you understand now? And will you help me help Corry?”

Julie brushed some of her long hair off her shoulder as she moved to lean back against a nearby wall. “As a matter of fact,” she said, letting out a frustrated sigh, “as of this point in time, I’ve learned nothing at all about her plans.”

Lunch period ended. The image of Tommy, serving tea to the chess club while clad in a full length green dress, only appeared in printouts - given how the school’s server mysteriously went down. But, true or not, seeing how he could be manipulated was enough to discredit the boy in the eyes of many of his supporters.

Similarly, the sight of Joe walking through the halls with a bloody nose, wearing nothing but his boxers, was not seen by many either - he was quickly taken to the main office. However, as with the dress picture, word soon spread, and it became apparent that Joe had also lost leadership credibility in the eyes of the school.

The quick interventions of the faculty aside, Tommy and Joe had cancelled each other out - as Julie had engineered. She tapped her fingers against her desk. Yet here it was, last period, and she STILL wasn’t sure what Megan was up to!

Carrie, Frank, Chartreuse and Phil had all come up empty. Granted, they hadn’t actually tried to invoke Carrie’s powers again - but Julie was coming to understand Carrie’s argument for why it might not be in their best interests to do that. Not if it fixed the outcome, and it was one in Megan’s favour.

Julie left the mechanics of her physics lab in the hands of her partner, busy racking her brains for what it was she could have missed. It wasn’t until Laurie Veniti was paged to the library fifteen minutes before the end of the school day that Julie realized what a blind idiot she’d been. Whispering to her lab partner that she’d handle the writeup for them, and to please cover for her, Julie slipped out of the room. Only to bump into Corry, who was doing the exact same thing down the hallway.

“Fancy running into you like this,” Julie said as the two of them headed for the stairwell. “Is my ‘rampant paranoia’ catching?”

Corry opened his mouth to fire off some response, then simply grimaced. “Okay, I deserved that,” he admitted. “The more I’ve thought about what you said this morning, the more I’ve realized how good the timing was for a major attack. You were right. I was wrong. I have been overconfident. Were you the one who rerouted Joe and Tommy?”

“Damn right,” Julie responded. “Though… I had some help.”

“I see,” the redhead replied as they reached the stairs. “And I can only assume this last plan is the work of Megan Falls. Do you know what she’s been getting my sister mixed up with?”

“Afraid not,” Julie sighed. “I SHOULD have been tailing Laurie all day. I’m out of practice.”

“No more so than me,” Corry grumped. “You know, if we get through this intact, maybe I should start treating you as more of a equal again. You know my blind spots, and can help to keep me on my toes.” Julie blinked over at him in surprise, but said nothing.

The two teenagers arrived on the ground floor and approached the library. They quickly spotted Carrie, who was trying to peer covertly through the glass doors of the main entrance. She looked over at them as they approached.

“Oh! Uh. I… I was in drama class with Laurie when she was paged away,” Carrie explained. “It wasn’t until right after she left that I remembered what Chartreuse said this morning about evil library vibes, and given Julie’s talk at lunch, I… I thought Laurie might have been walking into a trap.” She gestured vaguely. “But, hey, maybe not? It doesn’t look like there’s anything nefarious going on in there.”

“Knowing Megan, it’s probably too devious to look nefarious,” Corry asserted. “Thanks, I’ll take it from here.”

Corry marched past his two classmates, shoving the library doors open and striding inside. He was able to pick out his twin sister almost immediately, standing over by the bookshelves. Next to Laurie was a shorter girl with shoulder length jet black hair. Megan.

“Okay, stop right there!” Corry said as he ran up to them. His run was brought up short as he noticed Principal Hunt, formerly hidden from view, standing amongst the bookshelves beside the two teenage girls. “Or, ah, not,” Corry amended, stumbling.

A trace of a smile flickered over Mr. Hunt’s face, as if some suspicion of his had been verified, before he turned back to regard Megan. “So see to it that there is no more of this unauthorized use of the public address system,” he concluded. “Whatever you had to tell Laurie, it could have waited until the end of the school day.”

“Yes, sir,” the junior girl replied meekly. “Never again.”

“Very well then,” the principal concluded. “One detention for you. As well as for Mr. Veniti, Ms. LaMille and Ms. Waterson for cutting class.” Corry flinched at the news, then glanced over his shoulder. He hadn’t even heard Julie and Carrie follow him in.

The smile tugged at the corner of the principal’s lips again as he turned to regard them all. “And, ladies and gentlemen? Let’s have no more of this tomfoolery for at LEAST the rest of the month, hmmm?” With that, Mr. Hunt walked off, apparently to talk with the head librarian.

“Well, that sucked,” Carrie mumbled. “Is it me, or is Hunt himself getting more devious lately too?”

Corry barely heard her, more concerned with whatever Megan had been up to with his sister. “Laurie?” he inquired, turning to meet her gaze for the first time. He braced himself, not certain what sort of expression he would see on her face.

The pure rapture that Laurie had on display still managed to catch him completely off guard.

“Corry?” his sister breathed. “Corry, I… I’ve been published! Megan got me published, isn’t that the most WONDERFUL news you’ve ever heard in your whole LIFE?”

Corry felt his throat seize up.

“H-How?” came Julie’s voice.

Laurie held up a small bound paperback. “A drawing I made for art class last year! Megan got a copy and wrote a short story based on it and submitted it to a regional contest put on by this short story publisher looking for best illustrated work and he liked it and all winners were basically being printed in this little book and oh golly it actually WON so I’ve had a picture published and my name is actually in print here right next to Megan’s!” She clasped the book back against her body.

“Yes, it’s thrilling isn’t it?” Megan put in, firing off a sweet smile in Corry’s direction. She brought her fist up to her heart. “Kind of gets you. Right. Here.”

Corry’s eyes linked with Megan’s. Her eyes narrowed, her smile widening. And she had him, and they both knew it. Owing to what Megan had done for Laurie here, Corry was not only indebted to her, but any move that he now made against the girl might well end up hurting Laurie emotionally. He had been outflanked by an act of pure generosity.

“Risky move, Megan," Julie piped up, her voice providing Corry with the excuse to look away. “After all, what if Corry had been dethroned earlier today? He’d have no social strings for you to pull on.”

Megan shrugged, her hand moving to idly finger the cross she wore on her necklace. “Well, no fun playing the game if you’re sure of the outcome each time,” she said. “But I had faith in you, Julie. After all, who do you think got Kim to tip you off in the first place?”

The brunette took a physical step back. “You– Damn you.”

“Okay, well, not to break up the happy fun times here,” Carrie broke in. “But maybe we should let the tension bleed out by heading back to class? I’d say the school’s had as much excitement as it can handle for today.”

Carrie was immediately proven wrong, as someone nearby let out a scream. The five students all turned, barely in time to see the van with the license plate reading ‘LARS 02’ jump the curb outside and crash through the library’s large picture windows, the vehicle coming to rest in the reference section. A girl with short red hair swiftly kicked open the passenger door, held up a gun, and hollered, “All right, where the hell is ‘Glen Oaks’ at?!?”

Owing to all the screaming and shouting that followed, only Corry heard Carrie’s horrified reaction: “Oh my God. That’s HER.”

[caption id=“attachment_1159” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”] My old school; library’s behind those windows. Hence how a van could do that.[/caption]

The first domino falls… do you see how the rest of them have been set up yet? A reminder, you can Vote for T&T.

Previously: Julie got Carrie and Chartreuse to identify threats against Corry. Luci discovered that Linquist’s book wasn’t coded, it was in another language.

PART 3.13a: UNDER ATTACK 1

Frank shifted his attention from his computer monitor over towards his girlfriend, trying to parse Luci’s rushed dialogue. The bell had only just rung, signifying the end of the seventy five minute period, along with morning classes. “Uhhhh, sure,” he agreed. Luci flashed him a smile, then grabbed her things and hurried out of the room.

Actually, he had noticed Luci becoming increasingly jittery as the period had dragged on. He would have followed up on it, were it not for the text messages Julie had been sporadically sending him. Completing the log off of his computer, Frank looked over in Julie’s direction. She met his gaze with a little shrug, as if to say ‘You know what’s needed now, it’s up to you whether you act.’

In other words, putting the ball in his court. He turned away from her, so she couldn’t read his expression. He didn’t want this ball. He’d rather not have become involved in the game. However, he had apparently been drafted, and if what Julie had said was true, backing out now would not only be hurtful to her, it could have repercussions throughout the school.

Fine. So he’d at least try. For the sake of the school. Stifling a sigh, Frank made his way over to Joe’s computer, even as all the other students filed out of the room. “So, you told Mr. Burke you’d be, um, doing some extra coding over lunch?” Frank asked his business club associate. He tried to keep his tone nonchalant.

“Yeah,” Joe replied. “Still have one whole module to code.”

“Right." Frank glanced towards Mr. Burke, but the teacher wasn’t paying any attention to them. Even so, he lowered his voice. “So this, uh, doesn’t have anything to do with striking out at Corry then?”

“Oh! Nothing… nothing really. That is, I heard that Tommy was planning a strike against Corry, so given what you were saying back at the dance, I was wondering if you were as well.” Inwardly, Frank cursed himself. Get a grip, Dijora, or he’s going to catch on. Channel your inner improv geek.

Fortunately, Joe didn’t seem to notice any lack of finesse, more concerned with the message itself. “Tommy is, eh?” he said, frowning. “Interesting. But I doubt his plan has any intelligence, not like–"

“Not like yours?” Frank pressed as Joe stopped short. “Come on, Joe, we’ve known each other for how long now? Coat check, business club, occasional chess games? If you really are going to do something, don’t I rate a little advanced preview of your infinite wisdom?”

Joe paused for an indeterminate amount of time before turning away and clicking through directories with his mouse. Frank thought he had been given the brush off, until Joe pulled up an image on the screen and looked back at him. “What do you think?” his friend inquired, watching closely for Frank’s reaction.

Frank had to do a double take. The picture showed Julie and Corry, in a hallway of their school… not only locked in an embrace, but kissing passionately. “Holy geez,” Frank choked out. “When did they ever…???”

“Make out? Beats me,” Joe retorted with a satisfied smirk. “Maybe never. I got into the school yearbook archives and stole some candid photo shots. Damn fine photo editing work, if I do say so myself. And once I broadcast Corry’s love for Julie across our whole school network, he’ll lose all respect among his peers! Her remaining support will likely blow up at them as well. Leaving me in a position to step in.”

Frank shook his head. “But if you faked that photo…“

“Fake, real, people don’t care about that,” Joe said dismissively. “They care about the sensation. All I need to do is send this out precisely at noon, claiming I got it from an anonymous source.”

“Huh. That’s brilliant," Frank yielded, only belatedly remembering Julie’s instructions. “You’re forgetting Tommy though,” he continued. “With both of you making moves to take out Corry today, you’ll end up in Tommy’s crosshairs. He won’t see you as an ally either, not with how you’ve included Julie in your vendetta. Going after the two most well known seniors at once? Tommy will see you as a potential threat to his own supremacy.”

There was an extended silence. “Cripes, you may be right,” Joe granted. “That said, I figured he might try something some day. I already have a doctored image that can be used to take Tommy down a peg as well!”

Frank shook his head. “Fool me twice, shame on you. You can’t use an image trick for Tommy if you once used it on Corry. People will become suspicious. All you’re doing here by going after Corry first is handing the school over to his main henchman.”

Joe looked from Frank to his computer and back. “You’re right. Damn it, you’re right!” He slammed his hand down on the computer table. Mr. Burke looked up from his desk in surprise.

“Frustrating bug,” Frank said, smiling apologetically at the teacher. Mr. Burke raised an eyebrow before returning to his grading.

“Okay, wait a minute,” Joe muttered. “If Tommy’s already in the process of taking out Corry - then all I need to do is to take out Tommy! Right? I’ll have one-upped the guy who one-upped Corry! That should give me enough support to do whatever I want! Except… damn, the image I have for him won’t let me get at Julie…”

“Well, you can deal with her any way you like once you’re on top of the social ladder,” Frank offered. Inwardly, he was relieved beyond belief that the very plan he’d been asked to feed to Joe had basically been proposed by Joe himself.

“Good point,” Joe responded grudgingly. “Yeah, I’m sure I can come up with something else there. All right, thanks buddy. I owe you one.”

“Uh, well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Frank said, smiling weakly. However Joe barely noticed, having already resumed typing on his keyboard. So, murmuring a good luck and a goodbye, Frank beat a hasty retreat out of the computer lab - and down to the drama room. Where he hoped Julie would be able to explain herself a little better.

“So he’s not going to broadcast that doctored image?"

“I don’t think so. Not yours, at least. He was focused on Tommy when I left,” Frank replied. So much for explanations, he thought ruefully. He’d been subjected to the third degree from Julie about Joe’s plans ever since his arrival.

“Okay then,” Julie said, rubbing her hands together. She finally turned away from him, to face Carrie again. “And you’re sure Tommy’s goons are going after Joe, not Corry?”

“Right,” the blonde said, frowning. “In fact, you seem to have done a damn good job of setting those two against each other. Since when was THAT the plan?”

“Irrelevant," the brunette asserted. “The point is, with them off the board, we can finally focus on the real threat.”

“Okay, no, stop, back up,” Frank protested. “What goons? What threat? Julie, what have you been doing here?”

“I think she’s been, like, working to save Corry’s butt from people plotting against him,” volunteered Chartreuse.

Frank glanced over at the fourth occupant of the room. Chartreuse had been silent since his arrival. “Julie’s been what?” he asked. “Why?”

Chartreuse simply shrugged. It was Julie who spoke up. “Because I’m concerned about Corry,” she asserted, crossing her arms. “Moreover, I bet that he will appreciate that I’m becoming able to handle myself again, without him always needing to butt in on my behalf.”

“Enough Julie. That is an outright lie," Carrie said, jabbing out her index finger.

Julie bristled. “I beg your pardon?!”

“Don’t give me that look!” Carrie countered. “Any fool can see you’re not concerned. You’re enjoying the hell out of this! I haven’t seen you this animated at school in months! If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were hoping that, by acting on Corry’s behalf, people will start to see you more as his equal again!”

The brunette flinched. “Carrie, stop, can’t you see? I’m trying to do the right thing here! Not for me, but for the school! How can you possibly have a problem with that??”

“Julie, I know you,” Carrie retorted. “Let’s review. Strike one was you making me tap into my abilities. Granted, when I saw Tommy down the hall from Corry, discussing a plan to sic some of his more disreputable friends on the guy at lunch, I was with you on stopping that. Acceding to your second request, going to Tommy before lunch to shift his attention away from Corry and onto Joe. Since he was not only going after Corry, but apparently you too.

“Now, in my mind, that closes the books on the entire situation. Instead, I discover that you’ve been talking to Frank! And have got this whole pit those people against each other plan! Being silent about that was strike two. And now, strike three - you’re not telling us everything about your real motivations!”

“No, Carrie, think! Chartreuse got an impression too,” Julie reminded them. “It’s Megan Falls who’s the REAL problem here!”

“But YOU never TOLD us that!" Carrie said, now almost shouting. “Besides, Chartreuse said that Megan was going after Corry. Corry, not you! You’re in the clear, Julie. Why does it matter if the cocky redhead gets knocked off his pedestal, by Megan or anyone else?”

“Uhm, yeah, hi again,” Frank interrupted, reaching out to wave his hand in between the two glaring females. “Still not totally following here… Megan who?”

“Megan Falls,” Chartreuse chirped. “Junior student, one grade back. Very musical, she, like, helped to do a lot of fundraising in the band last year. She’s the one I got a weird impression of, while trying to tap into Corry’s location via Carrie this morning.”

“Oh. That Megan,” Frank replied blankly.

Julie turned away from everybody and took in a deep breath. “Fine. Okay. Maybe I should have been more up front with you. But mark my words, we cannot underestimate Megan. While she began as simply one of my many followers, and a way to get the Catholics on my side within the school, her file in my archives kept growing. That girl is not only devious, she’s random and hard to predict! Win, lose, doesn’t seem to matter to her, she prefers to play the odds. Trust me, we cannot let her take Corry down!”

“But WHY, Julie?” Carrie asked, slamming her palm into the wall. “Why the hell not?!?”

“Because!” Julie said, turning back and slamming her own palm against the teacher’s desk. “Because in the battle between the devil we know and the devil we don’t, I choose the side of the devil we know! Because despite all his faults, Corry is at least orderly, and not really that bad of a guy in a pinch! And finally - you’re right! Okay? It DOES pain me to think that some young upstart might pull off the victory against Corry that everyone thinks I never managed to achieve! That’s why, Carrie! Are you happy now?!”

For a moment, no one spoke. “No,” Carrie said at last, in a more calm tone of voice. “I’m not happy. But I am a little more understanding, now that you’re acknowledging the truth."

Julie stared at the blonde. And then her other hand joined her first, the brunette leaning on the desk. “Oh my God,” she realized. “I’ve been manipulating you. All of you. For my own ends. Doc Golden told me to be careful of reverting to old habits.” She bit down hard on her lower lip. “I’m sorry. Truly. I knew I was being impulsive… but it… it felt so RIGHT!"

“Julie, we’re not simply your followers here,” Carrie said, her tone becoming more sympathetic. “We’re your friends. But we won’t be for long, not unless you give us the whole story and let us decide for ourselves whether your ideas are worth pursuing.”

“But I… she…” Julie stopped and reached up to press a hand against her temples. “All right,” she decided. “All right. So let me explain the rest of my thinking. Please?”

Frank exchanged a quick glance with the others. He shrugged along with Chartreuse, and Carrie gestured at Julie. “Go ahead,” the blonde yielded.

Previously: Chartreuse has a thing for Carrie since the school dance. Luci couldn’t crack Linquist’s code. The principal is worried about the school factions.

PART 3.12b: POWER STRUGGLE 2

Pursing her lips, Carrie reviewed what had been written so far.

‘C, think there is trouble. Can we use powers to help? J.’

To which she had scribbled, ‘Am not a magic wand! Define trouble. C.’

Response, ‘Person plotting. Need info on future. Please? J.’

‘Reservations. Anything I see seems unchangeable. C.’

‘Exception this once, maybe? J.’

‘DOES. NOT. WORK. THAT. WAY.’

‘Sorry, C. Maybe use machine instead? J.’

‘Discussion over.’

And then the last line: ‘PLEASE, C? Need a friend here. J.’

Carrie shifted her attention over towards Julie’s desk. To the casual observer, Julie appeared to be engrossed in her note taking - but Carrie noticed a certain rigidity in her posture. Then, even as she watched, Julie glanced her way and fired off a quick look of desperation. Carrie immediately turned away, back to her own english notes.

‘Need a friend here'. A friend. The words floated through her head, causing Carrie to hold her pencil a little tighter. WAS this a friendly request? Or was Julie trying to use Carrie for her abilities?

Julie should get the benefit of the doubt. Yes, once again, Julie wasn’t the issue. Carrie’s own temporal powers were the real hang up here, like always. She HAD to get over that.

Mrs. Haye started into the last set of examples. Carrie knew that if she was going to send a reply, she had to do it now, before the class started back into a discussion of that boring Shakespearean play. Letting out a quick breath of air, she dashed off one final line: ‘Help me corner Pinkie after class. We’ll talk. C.’ This way, if Julie couldn’t figure out that Pinkie referred to Chartreuse, well, that was her own damn fault.

Julie hustled both Chartreuse and Carrie into the nearby custodial supply closet right after English class. “Okay, uh, what’s this, like, about?" Chartreuse wondered.

“I’m not positive myself,” Carrie admitted. “But Julie seems to think she’s in some sort of trouble today.”

“No, not think, now I’m sure I am,” Julie told them. “Because the more I’ve considered it, the more the timing fits. Particularly given Corry’s overly complacent attitude since the dance. He’s become a target, and while I’m indirectly involved, I haven’t been keeping myself in the loop at school. So I need more information.”

“You know, I did sense some kind of destructive force when I was walking by the library this morning,” Chartreuse agreed. “But I thought it was, like, aftereffects of the bran muffin I ate this morning.”

“Look, Julie, if you’re hoping to stop the future - you don’t want my help,” Carrie said, placing her hands on her hips. “We haven’t done much experimenting that way yet, but thus far, anything I’ve seen? It’s happened. Cafe fire, Tim at the dance, and at a recent session, the grade on my history report. In fact, if we try to change things? We could end up causing the event ourselves."

Julie couldn’t hold back an exasperated sigh. “But Carrie, I can’t simply sit back and allow Corry–”

“Which is why I suggested Chartreuse here,” the blonde interrupted. “Her more ambiguous impressions would be of greater use.”

The pink haired girl blinked back at Carrie. “What? But those need meditation, or direct contact. Besides, you don’t need to look into the future here, you’ve been getting wicked accurate at, you know, pegging what people are doing in the present! You could simply centre yourself in the school and, like, see if anything looks out of whack.”

“Well gee Chartreuse, I could, but I neglected to memorize where every molecule of the building is supposed to be in the river of time.”

“You don’t need to be so specific. If we–”

“Okay, know what?” Julie broke in again. “We don’t have time for this. Classes resume soon. Carrie, Corry’s probably still at his locker - couldn’t you take ten seconds to see if there’s anything obvious around power trip boy that he’s missing? And Chartreuse, when she does that, is there some way you could interface to pick up your impressions second hand?”

The two girls exchanged a glance. “I have kinda wondered about interfacing with you,” Chartreuse whispered. “We came close to something back at the dance! It’s just, since then there never seemed to, you know, be a real good way to, um, suggest it?” She swallowed.

Carrie ran her fingers back through her hair. “Yeah, look, I don’t think a janitor’s closet is the best place for our first interface.”

Chartreuse’s hopeful look crashed into sadness. And there it was again, the same thing Julie had noticed on their time trip into the past. Something about Chartreuse’s reactions to Carrie’s indifference seemed… personal. Almost like unrequited… no, seriously? Julie made a mental note to see if anyone else had noticed.

“Carrie, please,” Julie insisted. “If… if my suspicions aren’t verified here and now, I swear I won’t bother either of you for the rest of the day! At least try, okay? For me, if not for Corry?”

Chartreuse canted her head to the side. “Wow Julie! Are you begging us to do this for you?”

Julie cast her a withering glance. “I’m requesting. Don’t exaggerate my case, Pinkie Pie.” She assumed Carrie’s nickname had been a reference to that show.

“All right,” Carrie cut in quickly. “All right, Julie. We’ll try. But whether it works or not, no more about this today! That’s the deal.”

Julie nodded. “You have my word.”

Chartreuse extended her hands, and after a nod, Carrie took them. Julie watched as both girls closed their eyes. She shifted her weight back and forth uneasily as ten seconds passed, then twenty, then forty. Finally, after just over a minute, Chartreuse snatched one hand away from Carrie’s with a gasp and looked down at it. A couple of seconds later, Carrie reopened her eyes.

“Wow,” Carrie murmured, frowning. “Julie, my apologies. You were right. Someone’s after Corry today.”

“What is it then?” Julie pressed. “What did you see Joe Drew doing?”

“I… wait, Joe?” Carrie protested. “The guy I got a bead on was Tommy Kvish.”

“No, no, the impressions I had were of Megan Falls!” Chartreuse protested, looking back up from her palm. The three girls stared at each other for another long moment in the supply closet, blinking in confusion.

“Well, damn,” Julie said to break the silence.

“M-M-Mr. Burke?” Tim stammered. “My computer won’t boot.”

The computer science teacher approached the blonde boy’s workstation and flipped the power switch himself a couple of times. “Yup, you’re right,” he affirmed. “I’ll notify the school tech. Paul’s away today, so use his computer, over by Luci.”

Luci glanced up briefly as her name was mentioned before returning her attention to the notebook in front of her. Her notebook, filled with the strings of Linquist’s letters that refused to make sense, no matter how she played with them. If only she could let go… but she couldn’t. At least she’d been able to reign her emotions back in last weekend, before everyone had returned from their time trip. Otherwise it would have been pretty embarrassing.

“Hey Luci, what’re you up to?” Frank asked.

As he sat down on her right, the young girl quickly slipped her notebook out of her lap and around to the far side of the computer. She couldn’t admit to her boyfriend that she had become as obsessed with Linquist’s book as he seemed to have become with Glen. “Nothing much,” she said, smiling. “Random coding thought.” It wasn’t a total lie.

The bell rang for class to begin. “Now remember,” Mr. Burke stated, “today is another work period, but the printouts of your assignments are due on my desk by end of day tomorrow. If you finish early, try the bonus question. I’ll continue to circulate for help as needed.”

Luci listened to the teacher with half an ear as she pulled up her coding folder on the desktop. She started doing a bit of debugging, but her heart wasn’t in it, and soon her eyes had wandered back to the open notebook on her left. As focused as she was on the contents, it took a minute or so before she realized that Tim was staring over at the notebook too. “What??” she demanded.

Tim flushed red and turned back to his computer. “N-N-Nothing,” he stammered in reply. “D-Didn’t know you were studying some derivative of l-latin."

“I’m not," Luci snapped back. “It’s… wait, this looks like latin?!”

Tim looked back up at her, then again down at the notebook. He frowned, then shrugged. “Okay, no… it did at first, a bit… but this is a language I don’t recognize.”

Luci barely heard him, eyes riveted back on the page. The characters began to swim before her eyes. A language. A language. It wasn’t shorthand. It wasn’t a cipher to be decoded. No, Linquist had gone and developed his own damn LANGUAGE! She didn’t need a better code breaker. She needed a linguistics expert.

“Tim,” Luci croaked, her mouth dry. “You’re taking a latin course, right?”

“Y-Yeah," he admitted. “Why?"

Luci tore her eyes away from her notebook long enough to meet his gaze. “Are you busy today at lunch?" she breathed. In fact, Luci was so shocked by this latest development that she didn’t even notice Julie’s messages to Frank on his computer.

This is the conclusion of the part from last Tuesday! Click PREVIOUS if you missed it. Click VOTE FOR T&T if you’re willing to, er, vote.

Previously: Sue attacked Corry at September’s dance, claiming she did it for Julie. A time trip to help Lee’s sister led to questions about what triggers Carrie’s temporal headaches.

3.12a: POWER STRUGGLE 1

Lars stopped as the girl stepped out from the shadows. She hadn’t been there a moment ago, surely. The red dress the teenager wore looked to be a pretty good match for her short red hair, so she would have been pretty hard to miss. But then where had she come from? The energy? He watched in confusion as the girl looked around, before affixing her gaze upon him. She approached.

“I require transportation,” the redhead stated, a hard edge to her voice. “You will drive me.” And somehow, there was more to her voice than an edge, the girl’s tone seemed so compelling that it removed any trace of resistance Lars felt to her request.

“Ah, vhere you vant to go?” the jogger replied. She merely smiled.

On that same Thursday morning, Principal Hunt arrived at his high school a full hour before classes started. He proceeded directly to his office, where he sat down, opened his lower drawer, and pulled out four files. His eyes scanned down the tabs as he set them on his desk: Corry Veniti. Julie LaMille. Tommy Kvish. Joseph Drew. All of them seniors, all of them polarizing forces within the school, directly or indirectly. Hence the reason for keeping his own separate records.

There was a knock on the open door. Hunt glanced at his clock. Right on time. “Come in and close the door behind you,” he said, turning back around.

Melanie Willis did so. “You wanted my opinion on something?”

Hunt gestured for the school’s music teacher to sit, then folded his hands on his desk. “Indeed. As you have expressed some interest in a more administrative position in the future, I’m curious to get your read on the school atmosphere over the past two weeks.”

“You mean ever since Sue Simmons’ outburst at the dance?” Melanie inquired, smoothing her dress. Hunt nodded. She seemed to consider before responding. “It’s made a target of Corry Veniti. Other senior students are realizing that he’s not untouchable. They’re thinking they have a shot at dethroning him in the social order, claiming his status, maybe even becoming valedictorian themselves.”

She was good. But then, he wouldn’t have brought her in here if he hadn’t already believed they were on similar wavelengths. “And when do you think the hammer will fall?”

“Hard to say, but I’m going to guess soon. Otherwise why would you talk to me now?”

Hunt smiled. “In fact, I think it will be today. Or perhaps tomorrow. Certainly this week, a week which was already shortened due to Thanksgiving Monday. People’s guards are down, and acting shortly before a weekend will prevent immediate retaliation.”

Melanie sat back in her chair. “Whereas the longer they wait, the greater the risk that a rival gains the coup first,” she mused. “All right. So what can I do to help?”

“Be a sounding board as I run through the likely suspects. Let me know if you’ve seen anything going on that I might have missed.”

The music teacher nodded. She then reached out to tap the folder belonging to Tommy Kvish. “I can tell you right away that he’s trouble. Corry always kept him honest, but the falling out over Sue getting into that band? It’s had Tommy pushing at the envelope for months, with students and faculty alike. I could see things getting physical with him.”

Hunt nodded. “What do you think has been holding him back?”

Melanie shrugged. “Educated guess, he’s not sure how much support he’ll be able to pull from within Corry’s ranks. I think he has more than he realizes.” She eyed the other folders. “I don’t know Joseph.”

Dell Hunt picked the folder up. “Never a problem until that flyer about Julie appeared last November. Since then, he’s been trying to amass support towards drumming Julie and/or Corry out of school. Most of his initial support was from Julie’s supporters in the school, likely people who were blackmailed in the same way he claims he was. His attempts stalled early on, but he’s recently gained more support from junior students in his clubs this term.” He set the folder back down. “Corry, I think we both have a handle on.”

Melanie nodded. She seemed to want to say something else, so Hunt gestured at her. “Please, speak your mind.”

“I can’t help but wonder - why did you allow the Corry and Julie feud to go on for as long as it did? I mean, if the flyer Corry engineered was true, and over the years Julie was scheming she got to the point of blackmail…" Her voice trailed off.

Hunt sighed. “I didn’t know the LaMille girl had sunk to that. I did know it was in my best interests to give those two certain latitude in their shenanigans. Consider, they were never violent, and they rarely disrupted daily school business. What’s more, as neither of them were smokers or drug users, they rarely tolerated such behaviour from the people who wanted to associate with them. In fact, the more the student body became polarized towards them, the more rule breaking incidents actually went DOWN.”

“Hm,” Melanie Willis mused. “Never thought about it that way.”

“That said, I may have erred in my analysis back then. Julie LaMille did suffer for it. I cannot afford to do make that mistake this time.” Dell looked down at Julie’s folder.

At least she was in counselling now. He could still remember how she had looked in this very office, nearly a year ago, practically begging him to sign the school over to her. All because of some internal struggle Julie had been having with her parents. Could he have anticipated that? Should the family domestic being the only point of contact have been a red flag to him?

“Do you think Julie’s still a threat then?” Melanie asked, breaking into his thoughts. “I mean, the other three make sense to me now, but why also have her folder out?”

Hunt looked back up. “It’s more due to people who might act on her behalf. As Susan Simmons did. For instance, there’s Philip Clarke, perhaps even Carrie Waterson who would advocate for her.” He separated out the folders. “Thus we have four factions… and at least one of them will act against Corry, or each other. Likely today. But who will act first, and what will they do?”

“What about Megan Falls?”

The principal kept his face neutral. “Who?”

“Megan Falls. Not a senior, a year behind them. But lots of the younger students who were once backing Julie have gravitated her way. As well as the new freshmen this year. After all, Megan is rather pretty, and personable. But she’s also devious, in that she’s good at deflecting attention and playing innocent. In fact…" Melanie paused.

“Go on,” Hunt insisted.

The music teacher sighed. “Far be it from me to spread rumours. But there has been some talk that Megan is the one who initially encouraged Sue to remove Corry from the social hierarchy. Claiming to Sue that it would be in Julie’s best interests.”

Dell Hunt raised an eyebrow. “Oh my.”

“Exactly. So our school doesn’t have four factions. By including Megan, it has five.”

Hunt steepled his fingers. “Very well then. I’ll open a new file on Megan. Meaning five groups of teenagers, all vying for final control. What do you think that I, a mere principal, can do to stabilize such a situation?”

She had to tap Corry on the shoulder a second time before he turned towards her. “Yes?” he sighed.

“We need to talk. Now. Before class starts,” Julie stated.

“I think not.” Corry looked back down at his homework.

Julie clenched her jaw. “Corry, we really have to speak. Away from everybody else in here. Right NOW,” she insisted.

His look this time was visibly irritated. “Julie, I don’t think–”

“Dammit Corry I saved your life at the last dance so you will listen to me now!” the brunette hissed. “We… need… to… talk!”

Corry froze, and for a moment Julie wondered if she hadn’t pushed him too far. But then he rose and headed back for the busy hallway, motioning to her over his shoulder. She hurried after him, glancing at the clock as she passed - still three minutes before the final bell. Once outside of the room Julie opened her mouth to speak, but this time Corry beat her to it.

“Don’t you ever, EVER speak to me like that again!” he said in cold fury. “Because in case you forgot, I spent four days in the past, trudging around Illinois for you. And I’ve been keeping a lot of nasty people off your case ever since you returned to school! Anything you’ve done for me since doesn’t even come CLOSE to settling the score!!”

With effort, Julie bit back the first response that came to her mind. Along with the second, and the third. “I’m sorry,” she yielded. “But PLEASE listen. Joe Drew is coming after you today, and according to a reliable source, he’s going to do it by implicating me too. We have to stop him.”

Corry snorted. “Please. Joe Drew, the business and chess club guy? He’s a dreamer, and the axe he grinds is rarely levelled anywhere specific. What ‘reliable sources’ are you yammering about?”

“Kim Carpenter.”

This time Corry outright laughed. “Kim? The chess nerd with the huge glasses?”

“Yes. She used to be a follower of mine,” Julie continued doggedly. “Apparently she’s since hooked up with Joe. But she had some qualms about what he was planning to do today, thus talked to me after I arrived at school.”

“Oh dearie me. What, is Joe going to make it look like you helped me cheat on a test or something?” Corry said.

Julie wasn’t sure if that was a jab at what she’d done to his sister Laurie or not. She decided it didn’t matter. “I don’t know exactly!” she admitted. “Kim was upset enough to speak to me, but she wouldn’t go into detail. I mean, monitoring threats is supposed to be your department. It’s not like I have the power to do that any more!”

“As it should be,” Corry countered. “Especially given these rampant attacks of paranoia you’re having! I’m going back into class now. Please don’t bother me again today.”

Julie clenched her fists as Corry turned his back on her. “Your overconfidence will be your downfall!” she called after him. Corry paused briefly, yet did not bother to turn as he passed back through the classroom doors.

“Jerk,” Julie whispered after him. The anger she felt towards Corry was quickly burning itself out though - because despite his current attitude, he had been right. He’d done SO much for her the past few months. More than she could have ever imagined from the guy a year ago.

So, the onus was on her now. To return the favour. To get Corry out of trouble. She couldn’t do that alone though, not if she’d correctly read Kim’s state of mind. So, who could she turn to for help?

If you missed Sunday’s Commentary, yes, we’ve gone Semi-Weekly.

3.11: SEE KINGS

The redhead raised an eyebrow at her. “Pretty fast rehearsal, given how you and Frank were in the cafeteria with Luci not five minutes ago. Besides Carrie, aren’t you the only other one here taking drama? And wasn’t Chartreuse absent this morning?”

“Yes, she’s quite ill,” Carrie agreed, swiftly changing tactics. “Yet apparently she still wanted to come in to try out this extra credit play for English class. We saw her in the room unconscious, so we’re leaving now to bring her to the nurse’s office.”

“I see,” Glen said. “Well, don’t let me hold you up then. Though moving through the hallway after the bell is liable to, well, be a major headache. Might I suggest you pop through the back door access to the stage? Where there’s less congestion?"

Carrie exchanged a quick glance with her time traveling classmates. “Makes sense,” Frank admitted grudgingly. He moved to grab the time machine, which he had fortunately decided to conceal under a blanket. He made sure Glen didn’t spot it.

“What major headache are you referring to there?” Julie demanded.

Glen shrugged. “Lots of people shouting and moving about as they get to class?”

Carrie saw Julie peer closer at the redhead, but his expression remained neutral. As Clarke had already retrieved Chartreuse and was heading for the back door access, along with Frank and the blanket, Julie fell into step behind them.

“Right then, thanks Glen!” Carrie called out as she brought up the rear. “And we’re still on for, ah, this Friday, right?”

“I don’t get it,” Frank said. “We’ve been sitting in this pizza parlour for almost an hour now, yet you haven’t sensed us being here as causing any sort of temporal change. Not even when other customers came in. Why in the school hallway, but not here?”

“Yeah, I’ve been wondering about that myself,” Carrie admitted as she toyed with her pop can. The two of them had taken up positions on the stools by the window of the establishment. It was only a block away from the middle school they’d once attended. A very light rain was falling; they both knew it wouldn’t last.

“I think it has to do with the fact that we’re now playing a very passive role in our own history,” she decided. “Not crossing our paths as we did at school, or planning to blow up buildings that we know still exist in our present, or anything like that. Of course, if my father chances to stop by here, that could all change. So don’t let your guard down.”

“I won’t,” Frank retorted. “Though I will remind you that it was your idea to be out in public this way.”

Carrie gestured vaguely. “I was thirsty. Besides, we’d likely attract more unwanted attention by hiding out in the bushes - in here, we blend in.” She took a sip of her drink. “We can head out when the rain stops. Supposedly Soh’s necklace was lost after school.”

“Thing is, had me and Clarke proposed coming in here to buy something, you would have shot down that plan,” Frank pointed out.

Carrie glared. “You making any kind of point there?”

“Merely that we should probably get a better idea of what sets off your headaches, and what doesn’t.”

With effort, Carrie quashed the snarky response that came to her head. Because he had a point, damn it. “Yeah, but no,” she said, looking back out the window. “We will not be playing guess and check with my head. Me staying sane, it’s kind of in all our best interests.”

“I didn’t mean provoking a headache. Not really,” he clarified. “Thing is, not every trip into the past has resulted in changes to time. Remember Luci’s trip last year, going back to when she started high school? That fulfilled a destiny instead. So is it equally possible that we were always destined to come back to this pizza place and order something?”

She reflected on that. “It’s possible,” Carrie granted. “It’s also possible that we weren’t always destined to do it, but that once we arrived in the past, and once I’d dealt with the initial headache… that’s when this event became inevitable. There’s really no way to know. All I can say for sure is that the me in this time frame never experienced a problem.”

“Which is it’s own issue,” Frank continued. “Since you carried on a conversation with Glen that you hadn’t been previously aware of. Why didn’t HE give either of you a headache?”

Carrie’s grip tightened on her soda can. “Glen was one person. Unlike the four students in the hall.”

“But he’s closer to you than those freshmen were.”

“Not really.”

“No? You even said you were going out with him again on Friday.”

She smacked the can on the counter, then turned back to face him. “Fine, yeah, on Friday we DID see each other. It’s when Glen told me about Lee’s focus problem. What, is the issue of me dating Glen the real point you’re making here?!”

Frank raised his palms up. “Whoa, what? No. Defensive much?”

“No! Yes. Shut up,” Carrie said, warring with her emotions. He’d touched a nerve there, and they both knew it.

Frank hesitated at her gaze, but pressed on. “Listen Carrie, people from the future are after you. And after a month, Glen is still living all alone in a hotel. We’ve seen no sign of his parents, we know so little about his past, and sometimes he makes those cryptic remarks, like about the headache. It seems at least plausible that he’s trying to–”

“Frank, if Glen were from the future, acting to change our present around us, I’d feel it,” Carrie fired back, pointing at her temples.

“Would you?”

Her hand fell back to her side. Her gaze drifted back towards the window. “I… I want to believe I would. But fine. You could be right. Maybe I have the blinders on because I want to experience a normal relationship. But worrying that I can potentially wipe us all out of existence, it takes a toll, okay?” She took in a deep breath. “Glen makes me happy. And I think I’m allowed to feel that way! Or was I absent the day you and Luci bought the monopoly on touchy feely goodness?”

From the corner of her eye, she saw Frank flinch. Then he turned away too. “No, you really weren’t,” he said. “Seeing as she’s spent more time in the past two weeks with that book of Linquist’s than she has with me. I’ve tried what I can to break through, which works for a time, but she always ends up back in her room, trying to break that infernal code. I think maybe I was too inattentive towards her over the summer. We’ve been drifting apart, and now I’m not sure what to do.”

“Oh. Uh, that’s… too bad.” Great, now she felt bad for bringing up relationships at all. Carrie downed the rest of her pop, to avoid having to speak. Outside, the rain stopped falling.

“Headaches aside,” she said at last. “Corry has the right idea. If Glen has a secret, I won’t learn it by distancing myself. Besides, if it’s my destiny to make my own past life miserable, so be it.” Before Frank could say anything back, Carrie jumped off her stool. “Come on then, let’s find a good place to scout out the school grounds before their classes get out.”

Clarke looked up as Julie entered the secret room beneath the LaMille mansion. “Anything happening upstairs?” he inquired.

“Random dusting. Neither Jeeves nor Mimi will notice the smelling salts are missing.” The brunette knelt down next to Clarke and the unconscious pink-haired girl on the floor. “Any change with her?”

“Nope,” the tall blonde admitted. “So let’s hope this will wake her up.” Taking the vial from Julie, he opened it and began to wave it back and forth in front of Chartreuse’s face. “Still nothing,” he murmured after a moment. “Baffling! She really doesn’t seem hurt. There’s nothing stronger than this around your place, is there Jewels?”

Clarke turned to look back at Julie, only to find that her attention had been diverted. “Jewels!” he repeated, clearing his throat purposefully for good measure.

The brunette slowly turned away from the black box on the floor. The one Frank had handed over to them when they’d parted ways. “I… I wasn’t going to do anything to it,” she said quietly. “I don’t even know how to program it yet, not really.”

“That’s good,” Clarke remarked. “Since that sort of betrayal would likely cut you off from the few friends you have left.”

Julie frowned. “You say friends, yet I got the sense that Carrie wouldn’t have left that thing with us today if you hadn’t been here to keep an eye on it.”

Clarke reached out to touch Julie’s shoulder. “Can you really blame her?” he responded softly.

Julie clenched her hands into fists for a moment. “No,” she granted. “I meant what I said to everyone though. I want to start helping, to try and get past my first memories of time travel.”

“And I’m sure the others will see that. You’re on this trip already, right?”

Julie nodded - even as her gaze drifted back towards the time machine. “Still… to think that we have the means right there to affect our own pasts… it’s incredible, isn’t it Phil? I mean, it would be so easy to just drop back a week or two… to stop Sue from acting the way she did at the dance…”

“Jewels!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t,” Julie said quickly. “Really I wouldn’t, not without consulting with Carrie. But I can’t help thinking it, can I? That’s the way my mind works! Devious as ever, right?” She finally turned her back on the machine, firing off a weak smile. “At least now, I’m trying to use my powers for good?”

Clarke frowned, about make a reply when there came a groan from the floor. Both teenagers turned quickly to regard their pink haired companion. She had apparently come to her senses enough to bring a hand to her forehead and begin mumbling to herself. Being the closer of the two, Clarke leaned in to try and hear what she was saying.

“What? What is it?” Julie inquired after a moment.

Clarke looked up at her in confusion. “Something about Carrie tracking ‘like, the wrong sister’.”

Faye grabbed her things and hurried out of the high school as fast as she could. It was partly to ensure that she wouldn’t have to talk to anyone, seeing as she’d only screw up any conversation she was in. But also because today, she was supposed to see that her younger sisters got home safely. A task which had been a lot easier last year, when their schools were closer together.

She HAD pointed this out to their mother. For all the good it did – mom never listened to her. Faye considered dragging her feet to prove the point, but she cared too much about her siblings. Plus Lee had offered to do it in her stead, and her brother had enough on his plate already. She had said she would do it, so she would do it right.

Faye headed for the middle school to get Sing first. After all, Soh would have better adult supervision until she got there, not to mention more awareness of her surroundings. “If Sing’s reading in the library again instead of waiting outside, I’m gonna smack her upside the head,” Faye muttered.

However, as she approached, Faye saw her sister waiting in the proper place. Still reading, mind. Then to her chagrin, she saw a boy come out of the school and grab Sing’s book away from her. Faye broke into a run.

“G-Gary? Give that back!” Sing cried out in protest.

“Nyah, make me,” Gary taunted. Sing made a grab for her book, but he held it just out of her reach and laughed. “Poor Singsong, can’t read no more now! Whatcha gonna do?”

Sing glared, then bent her knees slightly and jumped, managing to grab hold of her book with both hands. She yanked it back down towards herself.

Caught off guard, Gary wasn’t able to pull the volume away from Sing again until she had almost managed to clasp it to her chest. As a result, his subsequent jerk refused to dislodge the tome, and instead completely pulled her off balance. The two of them stumbled back, falling into the dirt, which was wet from the recent rain. They began to roll around, wrestling for control of Sing’s precious book. A teacher standing in the area hurried to break things up; Faye got there first.

“All right dumbass, what the hell are you doing to my sister?!” Faye shouted, grabbing Gary by the scruff of his jacket and yanking him up.

The grade schooler’s eyes opened wide at the sight of Faye’s angry gaze. “N-N-Nothin',” he stammered. “J-J-Jes playin'.” He realized belatedly that he was still holding Sing’s book, and he quickly tossed it back into the lap of the long haired girl, who was now lying in the mud. Sing didn’t even notice at first; she was trying to wipe off her glasses.

Faye’s eyes narrowed. “If I hear my sister complaining about you again, the only game you’ll be playing will be find the missing teeth, capiche?”

Gary nodded wordlessly, beating a hasty retreat as soon as Faye released her hold on him. The older sibling then turned to look at her sister. “You okay, Sing?”

“I think so. I… ohhh, my book’s all dirty now!” Sing said sadly, holding it up by one corner.

Faye rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you’re fine. And I got that detective story you wanted from Azure today, you can read that instead.” She reached down to help her sister back to her feet.

“Ooh, really? The one Lee couldn’t find in the library??”

“The same. Now come on, let’s report this incident to Mr. Inactivity over there.” With Sing on her feet, Faye motioned at the teacher who had stopped his approach in favour of eyeing the situation warily.

“Walkie-talkies, we should equip ourselves with walkie-talkies,” Julie muttered. She peered out her bedroom window - it was nearing the time when Carrie and Frank were due to return. “It worked in ‘Back to the Future’, and that way we won’t have this whole don’t-call-me-we’ll-call-you mess with cell phone duplicates on the communication grid.”

Chartreuse had finally come completely to her senses about fifteen minutes ago. Yet by the time she’d explained to Julie and Clarke about how she’d been experiencing a vision of Lee comforting a brunette called ‘Sing’ not a blonde called ‘Soh’, it had really been too late to do anything about Carrie’s mistake. On the bright side, Chartreuse had been able to provide them with the reason she’d been knocked out for so long.

“It was, like, my brain couldn’t quite cope with the time strain,” Chartreuse had explained. “It’s normally attuned to the future, so when our past became this future instead, my mind had to, you know, completely reorient myself. It was real weird! I was kind of aware of you guys, but couldn’t physically do anything. But hey, at least I’ve been able to, like, independently verify Glen’s story about Lee’s inattentiveness?”

Julie wondered whether Carrie would want to time jump again, to earlier in the day, to track the proper King sister. Part of her hoped that would be the case, yet Julie wasn’t sure if that desire was due to humanitarian reasons, merely to make another time jump, or if there was some thirst for information gathering reasserting itself.

A hand waved up at her from the sidewalk. Julie recognized it as belonging to Carrie and waved back. She then crept back downstairs and to the back door, quietly letting both Carrie and Frank into the mansion. “Jeeves is still reading in the sitting room,” she whispered. “And Mimi left. We can use the pantry access rather than the bathroom chute.”

The others nodded, and Julie led them back through the kitchen, towards the third access point for Linquist’s hidden laboratory. She’d discovered it while exploring the opposite end of the darkened passage, the direction that didn’t lead to the china cabinet.

Kneeling down on the floor of the pantry, Julie reached around behind the cans of tuna to press the knothole that opened the piece of wall paneling. It swung out, and the three teenagers crawled down into the corridor, following the sloped passage down until they reached the secret room where Clarke and Chartreuse were waiting for them.

“So?” Clarke asked, standing up as they entered.

“So, success,” Frank said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a small necklace with a couple of charms dangling off of it.

“Wait, what?” Julie asked.

“But, that’s, like, totally impossible!” Chartreuse gasped. “I mean, I was sure that from what I half heard you say in the school, you’d be following the wrong person!”

“Wrong person, right school,” Carrie affirmed. “Hey, glad to see that you’re up and about again!”

Chartreuse smiled sadly. “Yeah, but I doubt I’ll be able to time travel with you any more. It seems to mess with my head.”

“Oh?” Carrie frowned. “That’s a problem. Unless I can interrupt your present self while I’m out of my time - which, no, is it’s own problem. Why, how long until you regained consciousness?”

“Less than an hour ago,” Clarke offered. “And even then only with smelling salts.” Carrie’s frown became a grimace.

“But seriously, how did you two manage to get the necklace if it wasn’t Soh’s?" Julie demanded, looking to Frank.

“Lucky break,” he answered, placing the piece of jewellery onto the lab table. “Even though we were looking for a blonde at the school, our attention was drawn to a fight – broken up by Faye. It clicked for me that she was Lee’s oldest sister, and we put the pieces together that she had been defending another sibling. It then occurred to Carrie that the fight could have caused the brunette girl’s necklace to fall apart.”

“So me and Frank did a quick search, and managed to turn it up in the mud before it could get buried or cut down by a lawnmower or anything,” Carrie concluded. She pointed at the object. “Looks like the catch is loose and it simply slipped off. Bad luck and poor workmanship more than anything deliberate.”

“Well, good! I’m glad we could do something for Lee,” Clarke said. “We should return it to him and his family as soon as we’re back in the present - does anyone have his address?”

Everyone exchanged glances. Then shrugs. “This is embarrassing for me,” Julie admitted. “Former Information Queen of the school, and yet I don’t know the address of someone on student council.”

“Wait, Lee’s on the council?!” Frank asked.

Julie nodded. “Yeah. Heading the committees who do publicity stuff for assemblies and dances. They also put up the posters to keep people recycling. Not a high profile job, but he prefers it that way. We can phone him though, I’ve got his number.”

“The more I think about it, the more I’m realizing how much Lee distances himself from people, even while staying in plain sight,” Clarke observed. “He has nicknames for everybody, doesn’t he?”

“Truth,” Julie affirmed, folding her arms across her chest. “Maybe we should reach out to him? Pull him into our group? He was immune to future guy’s mental control, after all. Could be useful.”

“No!” Everyone turned to look at Carrie. She swallowed. “That is, he obviously has other things to worry about, like his family and Corry’s band. And we don’t him to think we’re using him, on account of that mental thing. For now, let’s keep our group the size it is, okay?” She attempted a smile, before picking up the necklace and pocketing it.

Julie saw Chartreuse reach out to touch Carrie, then think better of it, and simply lean in instead. “Carrie, it’s not like Lee’s gonna hate you for what happened last year, you know,” the pink haired girl murmured. “I mean, you told me about it, and I don’t hate you. In fact, I… I think maybe I REALLY don’t hate you? If you know what I mean?”

Carrie barely looked at the other girl. “Not now Chartreuse, please.”

Chartreuse shrank back. “Right.” And Julie found her gaze flicking back and forth between Chartreuse and Carrie, spotting the signs of an issue there. An issue of… no. She had to be misinterpreting that.

“Carrie, want to help me reset this thing for the trip back?” Frank offered, having popped open the time machine. The blonde nodded, crouching down next to him.

Chartreuse turned to face Julie instead, and managing to sound as chipper as ever, remarked, “Well, go figure on how something as simple as a necklace can, you know, affect an entire family’s emotional well being so drastically, huh?”

Julie smiled back wryly. “Yeah. But know what? You’d be surprised what the simple tearing of a piece of paper can do to a family under the right circumstances.”

“Let’s not think about such things,” Clarke said quickly. “After all, it’s not like anyone in our group is facing that sort of tenuous situation right now. Okay?”

Their trip back to the present was uneventful, although once again, Chartreuse ended up unconscious for a couple of hours afterwards. Yet there was one event that the time travellers never became aware of.

Ten minutes before their arrival, the young asian girl down in the basement of the LaMille mansion had realized her coding plans were coming up empty. Prompting the teenager to let out a scream of frustration, hurl the red book she was holding into a corner of the room, and collapse onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

• The site is now 2 years old! And starting next week, posts will be half as long and twice as frequent. See the Commentary this Sunday for the reasoning.
• That was the end of ARC 2 in Book 3. Unrelated, I got another 2016 nickel today. Coin total is now 8.
• Consider the usual Vote for T&T; four votes usually keeps us on the bottom of the TWF Fantasy Page, and I still get the occasional referral from there.

3.10: HELP WANTED

Lee jerked his gaze over towards Ms. Readman. “And I heard every word,” he assured her. “Unfortunately, my brain interpreted it as Spanish. Could you run it by me again?” A student sitting nearby let out a quiet laugh.

“Perspective drawing, Lee,” the art teacher said patiently, moving closer and indicating his empty page. “Are you having trouble understanding the assignment?”

“No, no, not at all,” Lee replied quickly. “Just spaced out for a moment, some things on my mind. I’ll get right to this.”

“Thank you, Lee, that would be appreciated,” Ms. Readman said wryly.  “Though do let me know if you’re having problems with your perspective?”

Lee nodded and watched his teacher continue her walk around the room. Letting out an almost inaudible sigh, he retrieved his ruler and began to mark down the requisite lines. A short distance away, Glen Oaks observed his classmate, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“Like, ohmigod!” Chartreuse breathed. “This is, you know, so totally cool! And Jeeves doesn’t even know about this place??”

“Obviously not,” Carrie said.

“Chartreuse, could you keep moving? We’re stuck in the passage,” Frank remarked.

“I’m still trying to tidy up and catalog the last of the stuff left in here," Julie remarked. “But I haven’t been able to open that safe.”

“Maybe we should blast the thing open,” Luci suggested. She dropped her bag onto the lab table and then attempted to boost herself up as well, succeeding with a hand from Frank. “After all,” she continued, “it could contain information about this infernal code Linquist’s set up.”

Frank watched as Luci pulled out the scientist’s red logbook, along with her laptop and a number of notes she’d been accumulating. “I really wish you hadn’t brought that,” he admitted. “You’re becoming more than obsessed. Even your cat is starting to give you weird looks.”

“It’s all right, I know I’m close to a breakthrough now,” Luci assured him. “I’ve coded up a program to run an entire substitution cipher on what seem to be the key passages. In fact, by the time you return from your time trip, I bet I’ll have it all worked out.”

“That could be in as little as five minutes,” Frank objected.

“Or as much as an hour if we don’t get going soon,” Carrie countered. “Now, shall we go back over the plan?” She looked around the room expectantly.

“Seemed pretty clear to me,” Julie spoke up. “We go back into last week, watch for where Lee’s younger sister lost her necklace, and retrieve it for her. Thereby fixing up the King family situation in time for Thanksgiving dinner tonight, which will help restore Lee’s focus in class next week.”

“Oh, and I know Lee will appreciate it!” Chartreuse chimed in, clasping her hands together. “After all, if we don’t fix it soon, I think he’ll be spacing out for WEEKS, right through until American Thanksgiving!”

“How did you figure out that his sister’s necklace was the problem anyway, Carrie?” Clarke wondered.

“Glen told me,” the blonde admitted. “Apparently he overheard Lee telling Tim about it after one of Corry’s band rehearsals.”

Frank crossed his arms. “Yeah, hey, anyone else suspicious about how fast Corry let Glen take over as Sue’s replacement there?” he wondered.

Julie shook her head. “Not really. Corry’s been looking for an angle on the guy for a while,” she reminded. “By keeping Glen close, he can start to observe that much better.”

“Back to the plan, please,” Carrie objected. “I’m already concerned about multiple people time tripping with me, so I’d appreciate our heading out before I lose my nerve.”

“Carrie, it isn’t too late to change your mind,” Frank offered. “You could try doing one of your – what do you call them? – mental time searches into the past instead.”

Carrie waved him off. “No, I really can’t. Even setting aside the fact that I haven’t had time to get comfortable with that aspect of my power, I’ve never met Lee’s younger sisters. So I wouldn’t know how to centre on them in the first place.”

“Even so, you don’t have to actually participate in the trip. You could leave it up to the rest of us,” Clarke offered.

Again Carrie shook her head. “If we’re dedicated to the trip, I’m coming along. That way, if anything goes wrong, any headaches will hopefully centre first on the me who is out of time synch.”

“It’s all right Carrie, I’ll, you know, be there to monitor your condition,” Chartreuse assured her. She reached out towards Carrie’s hand, second guessed her own intentions, then entwined the fingers of both hands together instead.

“Meanwhile, I’ll stay cooped up here at the mansion with you both, coordinating things and keeping Jeeves from seeing us,” Julie said, a mite wistfully.

“As I assist Frank with the locket search,” Clarke agreed.

“Meanwhile, I keep the home fires burning in the present,” Luci muttered quietly as she started scrawling a new set of notes. “Are you going or not?"

“Yes," Frank said. He bent down next to the time machine - which Carrie had placed on the floor - in order to complete final adjustments.  “Someone suggest to me the best time of day for arrival?”

“Lunch. Say noon," Carrie stated. “Since while it’s true that Chartreuse was sick last Tuesday, which should displace us away from the school, Julie had also left the school grounds to eat that day. And I’d prefer having that extra insurance.” She looked around. “Remember, once we appear somewhere south of the school, we make for the ravine. Don’t talk to anyone!"

“Right.” Frank finished up, then closed the lid of the machine. “Is everyone ready?”

“We don’t all have to grab that thing’s handle, do we?” Chartreuse asked, stopping herself before leaning in next to Carrie. “It’ll be, like, awkward. Can’t I hold someone else’s hand instead?”

“Chartreuse, we’ve always made sure everyone traveling was in contact with the handle,” Frank countered. “Even when we had bicycles and all our gear coming back from Illinois last November. After all, you may not get transported otherwise.”

“May not? Meaning I might. You’ve never, you know, tried it?”

“Why screw up a perfectly good system?”

“Because some day you may need to transport, like, twenty people or something?” Chartreuse hypothesized. “I mean, we’re already up to five.  Six if Luci needs to come along some day.”

There was a pause. “Chartreuse has a point,” Clarke admitted. “The previous maximum was four, and it WAS kinda awkward with the bikes and everything.”

“But in the end, all the inanimate items got transported, right?” Julie mused. Clarke nodded in reply.

“Physical items, such as the clothes on our backs, may be treated differently from actual organic matter,” Frank protested.

“Well, I offer to be your guinea pig then,” Chartreuse decided. “I mean, the worst that can happen is I won’t be, you know, transported, right?”

“Unless you get lost somewhere in history,” Luci said idly, continuing her work atop the lab table.

Another glance was exchanged between the students sitting on the floor. “Look, this is ridiculous,” Frank decided. “We’ll test next time. Maybe with a small animal, or insects or something. For now, everyone make sure to hold onto the handle. Right Carrie?” He turned to look at the blonde, who had been silent ever since her initial objection.

“No,” Carrie replied. Then she looked up, and blinked as she realized everyone was staring at her. “Sorry, I mean no, I don’t think that Chartreuse would be lost in time," she clarified. “Don’t ask me why I think that but I do. Though as to her ‘piggybacking’ on one of us… that, I don’t know. And she’s right, it would be helpful to know if that’s possible.”

Frank pressed a hand to his forehead. “Yes, but not NOW, correct?”

Carrie pursed her lips. “Perhaps not,” she conceded.

“But what if, on our return trip, I end up being chased by a horde of guys?” Chartreuse objected. “And I end up trapped in a dead end in front of a wooden barrier, and the only way for me to get away is to, like, reach through a knothole and grab Carr– touch one of you as you pull this handle??” Everyone turned to stare at her.

“I don’t think that’s likely,” Julie observed.

“It’s not impossible,” Chartreuse retorted defiantly.

Frank sighed. “Fine Chartreuse, if Carrie thinks it’s safe enough, and it will make you happy, you don’t have to touch the handle. But don’t complain if you get left behind!”

“Check,” Chartreuse said, giving Frank a thumbs up. Everyone reached out for the handle of the time machine, Chartreuse grasping Carrie by the shoulder instead. Frank dropped in a coin for their current year.

“We pull on three,” Frank said. “All right? One…. two…. three!”

Despite the fact that it had been almost a year since he had last used the device, the feeling of being sucked into a void still felt familiar to Frank. In the wink of an eye, the basement lab was gone, replaced by a new scene… that of a hallway in the high school. “Damn!” Frank cursed, as he shook off the aftereffects of the time displacement. “How did we end up here?!”

“Someone screwed up the geometry?” Carrie replied. As the only other seasoned time traveler of the five, she was the only other person still conscious - Julie, Clarke and Chartreuse lay on the floor, out cold.

“Impossible!” Frank countered. “According to everything we know, the device should have brought us to a point an equal distance away from the positions of our past selves! And as two of us were a fair distance from the school, there’s no way–”

“There is, if it–” Carrie began, before freezing and raising a hand to her temples, wincing in pain. “Oh no,” she muttered. “Oh no, no, not good…”

“Temporal change?” Frank questioned.

“What do you think?” Carrie snapped.

“Quick,” Frank said. “Let’s get everyone into that classroom!” They had apparently lucked out in terms of their arrival - the art wing didn’t see much traffic during lunch. But it wasn’t always deserted, the four students who turned the nearby corner testifying to that.

“We’re practicing for a play,” Carrie called out to them as the freshmen arrivals exchanged a confused glance. “Death of three salesmen.” The head cheerleader quickly dragged Chartreuse back into the drama room, Frank doing the same with Clarke, and both of them returning for Julie and the time machine respectively.

“Hey, Faye! I have that book you wanted!” came the voice of Azure Vermilion. Faye turned from where she was leaning back against the tree by the football field.

“And you bring it to me now, when I’m nowhere near my locker?”

“Oh. I wasn’t really thinking about that,” Azure admitted. “Should I bring it back later?”

“No, I’ll take it,” Faye sighed. “Lunch is close to being over, and once I have it, my sister will get off my back.”

“Okay. Hey, which of your younger sisters wanted this again?” Azure continued as she handed over the book.

Faye stared. “Sing,” she said, accepting the tome. “Soh’s barely in grade school, you really think she’s old enough to get into a detective story like this?”

“I guess not,” Azure admitted. She grinned. “Not that I’ve met either of them in person, Lee’s your only sibling I’ve seen. Heck, I’m not even sure where you all live, considering how you didn’t want me to bring the book around directly, but maybe some time later this month we could–”

“Are you trying to indulge me in conversation for a reason?” Faye snapped.

“Um, not really,” the blue haired girl admitted. “I only thought–”

“Don’t think so much,” Faye interrupted again. “I admit, I feel a bit of a bond between the two of us, because our parents share a bizarre sense of humour when it comes to naming their children. So hanging with you is more tolerable than it would be with any other Grade Nine student. But right now, I want to be alone. Understand?”

Azure opened her mouth to respond, but seeing the look on Faye’s face, apparently decided instead to nod and head back towards the school instead. It wasn’t until Azure was out of sight that the tall girl let out a sigh, and smacked the book soundly against her forehead a couple of times. ‘Way to make friends and influence people, genius,’ she reflected.

“It’s because Chartreuse wasn’t touching the handle!” Frank asserted. “We never should have let her experiment!”

Frank, Carrie, Julie and Clarke now stood staring down at the prone form of the pink haired girl, who was laid out on the floor of the otherwise empty drama classroom. Unlike Clarke and Julie, who had regained consciousness fairly rapidly, their resident mystic was still out cold.

Julie raised her hand. “I don’t think Chartreuse is still unconscious because of that.”

“Oh? Why not?” Carrie asked. Frank noticed that her mood had improved slightly. Getting away from the other students had seemingly eliminated her headache.

“Because I wasn’t touching that handle for the trip either,” Julie admitted. “When everyone else was pulling at once, I hesitated, and lost my grip. But I’d been holding Phil’s other hand. And I’m here, and I’m awake.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Frank protested, throwing his hands up in the air. “Is it because Chartreuse was sick on this day in the… wait a moment. Julie, neither you nor her were touching the handle?”

“Seems so,” Phil affirmed.

Frank leaned back against the teacher’s desk. “Huh. That could at least explain why we’re at the school. If neither girl was in direct contact with the time machine, perhaps they weren’t factored into the device’s spatial algorithm? We’d need to do more testing to be sure, but…”

“But maybe you have to be physically touching the handle in order to be used in the geographic triangulation!” Carrie finished. She smiled. “If it’s true, it will certainly solve a lot of mathematical mapping headaches! We’ll simply have to figure out where ONE person was, and then get everyone else to latch onto them.”

“Still doesn’t explain Chartreuse’s condition though,” Clarke reminded them.

“Well, she doesn’t have a fever,” Carrie observed, having bent down to feel the forehead of the other girl. “And she’s breathing fine, she’s just… out.”

“Change of plan then,” Frank decided. “We obviously can’t leave Chartreuse in the school, in case she’s discovered. But Clarke, you may be the only one strong enough to carry her. Can you and Julie get her back to the mansion, while me and Carrie get a bead on Lee’s sister instead?”

“I can do a piggyback,” Clarke agreed. “And Julie can get us in without tipping off Jeeves. But what about the two of you?”

“Yeah, I’m not thrilled with the idea of strolling the streets of the past with you, Frank,” Carrie said. “No offence, but if I end up doubled over in temporal pain, you’ll be less useful to me than Chartreuse.”

“Then I could go it alone," Frank allowed. “But didn’t we figure it was better NOT to have anyone by themselves?”

Carrie sighed. She slapped lightly at Chartreuse’s cheeks. There was no reaction. “Fine, fine, okay. Clarke, give me that burner phone that you were going to use to communicate with us. I’ll go with Frank instead.”

Clarke fished in his pocket and handed it over. “Should we phone you if Chartreuse’s condition improves?”

Carrie grimaced. “No. We stick to the original plan of minimal communication. These phones are essentially double versions of themselves in this past timeline, even if the originals ARE stowed away in the lab and turned off. That worries me. Emergencies only.”

“Right,” Clarke agreed.

“New problem,” Julie observed. “Chartreuse is the one who was going to elaborate on what Lee’s sister looked like. Given how it was her own sister Azure who knew Faye, and thus the rest of Lee’s family.”

Their eyes drifted back to the unconscious girl. “Well, damn. Uh, I don’t suppose you’d have any information, Julie?” Frank said hopefully. “Rumour was, last year you had a file folder for everyone in the school.”

Julie shook her head. “Honestly? I never paid close attention to Lee, since he never ended up being a direct factor in any of my plans. Nor did I ever feel a need to blackmail him. He has more than one younger sister, of that I’m sure, but beyond that…” She shrugged.

“Lee does tend to keep to himself,” Clarke agreed. “Sometimes I’ve wondered why.”

“Well, his sister was ‘Soh’, right?” Carrie asked. “How many blonde girls who go to the middle school down the road would answer to a name like that?”

Frank winced. “Setting aside how walking up and asking young girls for their names could be misinterpreted,” he countered, “Don’t you think Lee would have spoken to our past selves already if he heard we were poking around? Which didn’t originally happen in our timeline. This was meant to be spy and retrieve, not some sort of inquisition.”

“Well, what DO you suggest?” Carrie said in exasperation.

“And was Lee’s sister with the necklace even named Soh?” Julie protested. “I thought Chartreuse had said something about Soh being in grade school, not middle school.”

“Grade school? The sister who lost the necklace was definitely in middle school,” Carrie countered.

“Looks like our plan has fallen apart,” Clarke decided. “Maybe we should simply abort, return to the present, and try this again, going to some other time.”

Frank made a face. “But that’s a waste of two coins!”

“Plus I’m not sure we want to leave now, pulling Chartreuse through time again until we learn what’s wrong with her,” Carrie said. She ran her fingers back through her hair. “Damn it! Okay, look. Me and Frank can still stake out the middle school. If we spot Soh, awesome, if not… we’ll re-evaluate at that point. We did build in a time buffer here. Chartreuse has around three hours to come to her senses. Still, don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

“That works,” Frank agreed. “Right now, it’s only…” His eyes widened, and he pointed over at the clock on the wall. “Oh no, look at the time, it’s–"

The school bell rang, signifying the end of lunch. And almost immediately, the door to the drama room opened and Glen Oaks walked into the room.

“Hey, Singsong, whatcha doin'?”

Lee’s second youngest sister jumped at the sound of the voice, accidentally tugging on a strand of her own hair. “Ow! Oh, um, not much, Gary,” Sing said, untangling her fingers from her long brown hair while simultaneously trying to hide the book she held in her other hand.

Her grade six classmate smirked at her. “Readin' again, huh?  Didn’t hear the bell go?”

“Oh n-no, of course I heard it,” Sing lied. When HAD all these people started entering the school? She cast a glance towards the clock in the hallway.

Gary snorted. “Yeah, right,” he said, continuing past her down the hall. “Bet a bookworm like you don’t care about nothing ‘cept your books.”

Sing watched him go, the hand that had been twirling her hair now reaching up to finger the charm dangling off of her necklace. The one she’d received from her father for her birthday. “You’re wrong there,” the member of the King family murmured quietly. “You’re so wrong.”

The brunette girl put her book away and followed Gary towards their classroom, squeezing the charm between her fingers. Not knowing that before the day was done, she would be devastated by it’s loss.

Yes, time travel resumes in a time travel serial! Shocked? … No? … I know you’re out there, I can hear you breathing. Well okay, I can’t, but I might notice your click if you were to Vote for T&T on TWF.

3.09: TONE DOWN

She began to turn at the sound of her name, yet was not fast enough to avoid being blindsided by the fast moving splash of colour that was Chartreuse.

“Carrie!” the pink haired girl repeated desperately, grabbing onto Carrie’s arm to keep her from falling over. “Thank goodness I spotted you! Listen, Corry doesn’t, like, believe me when I say someone’s out to kill him. We’ve got to use your powers so we can, you know, stop this terrible thing from happening.”

Carrie coughed. “Ahem. My what? What are you saying, Chartreuse?” she asked, inclining her head towards the person standing next to her.

Chartreuse turned to look at Carrie’s red-headed companion. “Oh, hi Glen. Uhmmmm, I need to use Carrie’s powers of persuasion. Mind if I borrow your date for a little while?”

“Chartreuuuuuuse…”

Glen laughed. “It’s okay Carrie, I don’t mind. I could use a dance break, and was planning on watching Corry’s performance anyway. You go tend to the serious matters your friend is referring to.”

“I’m sure they’re not that serious,” Carrie protested. It didn’t matter - Chartreuse had already muttered a quick thanks and was pushing her towards the hallway.

Sighing, Carrie allowed herself to be led into the nearest unlocked classroom before confronting the pink haired girl.

“REALLY, Chartreuse?” Carrie said irritably. “What is so important that you felt it necessary to pull me away from the first truly enjoyable date I’ve had in months?”

“It’s like I said. I sensed something when I was with Laurie earlier, but it didn’t, like, hit me until I touched Corry’s hand,” Chartreuse explained in a rush. “It was one of my, you know, wham bang powerful impressions that told me he’d be dead before the night was out. And I bet it’s somehow related to the musical sets he’s gonna do!”

She leaned in. “But I can’t see more than that without meditating, and I never know how long it’ll take to pick up something, whereas Corry’s starting in less than five minutes. So since you’re so much more powerful than me, you could look ahead–”

“Whoa, STOP,” Carrie interrupted. “Dial that back. I’m at a dance here. With Glen. This is NOT temporal session time. And even if it WERE, we’d started to work on mental shielding, not running up and down my timeline. Think about it, I still have no idea whether something from the future will become fixed as soon as I see it. What if I see something horrible, and then we can’t change it?”

“But we have to do something,” Chartreuse insisted. “Please, Carrie, can’t you at least help me work out the cause? Or get a list of suspects? Or a time frame? Something?? I swear, I’m not overdramatizing here. Well, okay, so Corry may not DIE, but I know Laurie’s brother will get badly hurt - unless we do something.”

Carrie groaned and pressed a couple fingers to her forehead. She contemplated Chartreuse’s request, the pleading look on her friend’s face, and in particular, how the two of them would feel should something disastrous actually happen to Corry now.

“Okay. Okay! I’ll try a few tiny image jumps forward,” Carrie yielded. “But you leave me and Glen alone for the rest of the night after this, understood?”

“Of course. Unless your help is needed again,” Chartreuse said brightly. Carrie opened her mouth to protest, but then decided it probably wouldn’t do any good. She simply sighed as she sat, cross legged on the floor of the classroom, and closed her eyes.

‘Thank goodness,’ Chartreuse thought, going down on her knees in front of the seated blonde. ‘We can fix this, I know we can! Still, I gotta take it easy on her…’

“All right, Carrie,” Chartreuse began, grasping the blonde by the hands. “I realize we’re not at my place with the crystals, but try to relax and–”

“I’m there,” Carrie murmured, eyes closed. “In the time stream.”

Chartreuse resisted the urge to flinch. ‘Damn, that was fast. I can see why it worries her.' “Er, okay,” she continued. “See if you can centre in on Corry? Visualize that he’s standing there in front of you.”

Carrie nodded. “It’s not difficult, I’ve mentioned former time travellers are always a bit out of synch. He’s… yes, I’ve got it. He’s out in the cafeteria. They’re making preparations for their first number.”

“Do you sense any danger?”

“I don’t think so?” Carrie muttered. “The crowd is chattering, talking about his chances. I don’t know if I want to wade into it, my astral self has ended up back by the coat check. Oh, wait, Joe Drew is scowling at me! No, wait, it’s through me - towards the stage. Towards Corry.”

“Don’t forget, spirit body. Totally insubstantial, no one can see or do anything to you.”

“I know, I know. It troubles me, that’s all. Do you think I ended up back here because Joe’s planned something?”

“Maybe. Or maybe it was a subconscious attempt to avoid the crowd.” Chartreuse tightened her grip slightly. She had rather hoped to be able to sense something through Carrie, but so far, there was nothing.

Was that because there was nothing to sense? Or because it didn’t work that way? How else could they interface? Her gaze started to wander, and she pulled it back to Carrie’s face.

“Okay, Corry’s announcing the first song. Now what?”

Chartreuse sighed. They needed more. “Are you up to trying a skip into the future? To establish a time frame? Please be honest. My prior attitude aside, I don’t want to push you beyond what you can, you know, handle.”

Carrie bit down on her lower lip. “I don’t know,” she admitted after a moment’s thought. “After all, I don’t want to physically time travel. Only project. But maybe if I simply imagine that I’m stretching forwards, moving faster than the water currents?”

Julie allowed Clarke to lead her towards the cafeteria. “No deafening, pulsating beat,” the tall boy said to her, as he tugged at his necktie. “My guess is we’ve arrived just in time for Corry’s bit.”

“Um,” was all Julie could think to reply. After numerous wardrobe changes, she had finally selected a low key shirt and sweater ensemble with a long skirt. As they entered the cafeteria, only a couple of people picked up on her presence; Corry’s imminent performance was helping to divert attention.

‘Interesting,’ Julie mused. ‘A year ago, this sort of neglect would have infuriated me. Now I’m simply relieved.’

As the quartet of students started to play up by the stage, Clarke guided her back against the wall. “They’re quite good,” he reflected. “Tim’s looking a little out of sorts though. I hope Corry’s been treating him decently.”

“Clarke!” came a hushed cry. Both Clarke and Julie turned as the younger Veniti twin ran up, dressed like a red candle. “Clarke, we need your help! Chartreuse thinks Corry’s life is in danger!”

Clarke blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“Chartreuse got this feeling that Corry was going to die or get hurt,” Laurie explained. “And she thought Carrie could help and so went to find her but now they’ve both disappeared and so you’re tall maybe you can see them since I’m not sure what’s going to happen any more and I’m so worried for my brother and by the way that’s a lovely tie you’re wearing and golly it’s such a pity that I’m not seeing it under better circumstances…”

The redhead was obviously distressed, Julie realized. She normally did a better job of controlling her run-on sentences these days, particularly in front of Clarke. The guy she’d once liked. Or still liked? Julie didn’t like to reflect on that too much.

“Whoa, okay Laurie, calm down,” Clarke was saying. “You’re saying you need to find Chartreuse and Carrie?” Laurie nodded wordlessly, eyes wide and full of concern. Clarke turned his attention to Julie. “Jewels, will you be okay here for a couple minutes while I try to track down Laurie’s companions?”

Julie nodded. “It’s fine, Phil, no one’s paying attention to me. And if someone tries to start something, I’ll simply go back outside.”

Clarke looked at her for another moment before returning her nod.  “Okay. Now, Laurie, given Chartreuse’s preference for coloured outfits, I’m pretty sure I could spot her if she were in here,” he said. “Maybe she went to the washroom, or out for a breath of air? What was she wearing?”

Julie watched the two of them depart the cafeteria, then shrank back against the wall.

“Breathe, Carrie, breathe!” Chartreuse shouted desperately. “You’re not really drowning! Focus back in on Corry! Focus!!”

Carrie sucked in a great, heaving breath, her fingernails digging into Chartreuse’s palms. The pink haired girl ignored the pain, all of her attention on the blonde cheerleader who was now twitching in front of her.

“Okay Carrie, never mind Corry,” Chartreuse decided. “Come back to me, all right? Focus on me. On the present.” The fear that she was losing her friend was starting to tug at her heart.

Carrie didn’t reply, the twitching ceasing as her eyes snapped wide open. At least those eyes were blue, Chartreuse noted, and not golden. But they were focussed on nothing.

“Okay, bad idea, I’m sorry for pushing you into it,” the mystic continued, trying to suppress her rising panic. “I wasn’t, like, thinking straight. We can simply look into the usual suspects here, yeah? So come on, come back to me now, PLEASE Carrie…!”

“Char… treuse…?”

Chartreuse felt the tightness in her chest release. “Carrie! Carrie, are you all right?”

“Am… fine,” Carrie murmured. “It’s… whoa, headrush.”

Carrie’s grip relaxed enough to allow Chartreuse to pull one of her hands away. She waved it in front of Carrie’s eyes. There was no reaction. “Carrie, what’s going on? Where are you?”

“Am… in future,” Carrie murmured. “Astral me. About ten… no, five minutes. Had to resist the pull to bring all of me. Th-Thank you for anchoring me in the present, Chartreuse.”

“No prob - are you SURE you’re okay?” Chartreuse knew her own heartbeat was still racing.

“Well, I’m… reorienting.” Carrie’s vacant eyes drifted closed once more. “Okay, Corry’s still performing. New song. I’m closer to him this time, near the front. Tommy is elbowing his way up here through the crowd, he’s… he’s going to throw something! But… it’s a tomato. That’s not life threatening… maybe there’s… something else. Oh, Joe!”

Carrie’s head whipped to the side. “Yes, Joe has left the coat check and he’s heading towards Corry! Or, no… it’s towards Julie. She’s edging away from him, so they’re both headed towards Corry. Damn!” Carrie mouth twitched. “Too many people. Too many, I don’t know so many of them, I’m not in the present, everything’s a jumble…”

“Stay calm,” Chartreuse soothed. Should they abort? “You’re only there for Corry. What’s, like, happening to him?”

“Corry,” Carrie murmured. “He’s singing. He’s… wait, Tim’s jumping up. He’s shoved his keyboard at Corry! Ow, audio feedback… something sparked… the crowd is reacting… Corry’s on the floor? Someone’s on top of him, everyone’s staring… now Glen is up here too.” Carrie shivered. “It’s like that time I saw him in the cafe, he’s staring at me. Are we sure I’m– OH!!!”

“What?” Chartreuse asked, gripping both of Carrie’s hands again as the blonde cried out.

“Where the hell am I? Who’s this girl in red?!” Carrie choked out. “Chartreuse, I’m… I’m in the wrong time again!!”

“Okay, Carrie, come back, time to come back,” Chartreuse declared. “Session over, we know enough, you have to return to the present!”

“Such piercing hazel eyes… she’s raising her hand… she’s…”

“Carrie, ohmigod, don’t let the forces take you. CARRIE!”

“I’m out!” Carrie screamed, flinching backwards.

However, as Chartreuse was still grasping onto the blonde’s hands, the sudden movement served only to jerk her off balance. With a little yelp of astonishment, she fell forwards into Carrie, both girls collapsing back onto the floor of the classroom. Chartreuse faceplanting into the blonde cheerleader’s body.

And Chartreuse found that her first instinct wasn’t to roll away. Rather, it was to grab harder for Carrie, to press her ear against Carrie’s front, to better hear her friend’s heartbeat. Still there. So fast. Mirroring her own, beating away, racing, because of this shared experience. Between the two girls with powers.

She had only felt this sort of close connection with someone once before.

Last time, the feeling had been instantaneous. This time, it had crept up on her. Because the blonde did look so pretty, in that dress with it’s plunging neckline. More to the point, Carrie wasn’t as shallow as Tope had been, the cheerleader did care about people. In fact, even after learning about Chartreuse being bisexual, Carrie had kept it quiet, and hadn’t called off any of their sessions.

Both of their hearts were racing now. Almost in synch. So maybe it was time to accept what that meant, it was time to take their relationship to the next level…

“Unhh,” Carrie groaned.

Chartreuse knew she couldn’t have pushed herself up and away any faster, not even if she’d been lying on a bed of hot coals.

“C-Carrie?” she choked out. What the hell was she thinking? She’d almost nuzzled in against Carrie’s neck. Carrie was her friend. That was it. Only her very close friend…

“Chartreuse?”

“C-Carrie?” Chartreuse repeated. She swallowed, trying to bury the flood of emotions welling up inside. “Ah, so, are you, like, you know, okay?”

“I’ll manage,” Carrie said. Her chest was heaving - don’t look there, idiot! - as she sat back up. Thankfully, as their eyes met again, Carrie didn’t seem to notice Chartreuse’s discomfort.

“I just saw…” Carrie looped some hair around her finger and tugged. “I don’t know what I saw. Either way, I’ve had enough of this for tonight, okay?”

Chartreuse nodded vigorously. “Yes, um, we’ve certainly discovered enough here.”

“Hello? Someone in here?” came a new voice.

The two girls on the floor turned as the classroom door opened and Clarke poked his head inside. “Ah! I thought I heard voices. Laurie thought she’d lost you.” Clarke turned to look back into the hallway. “They’re in here.”

There was the sound of running feet, and then the freckled girl poked her head in next to Clarke. “Chartreuse, thank goodness,” Laurie said, not trying to disguise her relief. “Are you two okay? What happened? Have you figured out what’s wrong with my brother?”

“With your bro… right!” Chartreuse jumped to her feet. “It’s Tim. Tim’s going to snap and throw his keyboard at the guy, that starts a chain reaction in their equipment. We’ve got to get in there, fast!”

“Tim?” Clarke said, shocked. “What are you talking about?”

“No time, hurry,” Chartreuse said, charging past the two of them and out into the hall. As much to get away from Carrie’s perfume as to get back to the cafeteria.

Julie took another step closer to the student quartet. Since they really were quite good, and she wanted to hear them better – okay, no. She knew the primary reason for her approach was to distance herself from Joe Drew. He’d been giving her irritated looks ever since Clarke had moved off with Laurie. Hoping to ignore the scrutiny, Julie soon found that more difficult once Joe left the vicinity of the coat check in order to move closer to her position. Causing her to move further away.

So why was she moving towards the band? Why not outside? Heck, why react at all? Was it because Corry Veniti was one of the few people (aside from Clarke) who bothered to stand up for her on those occasions when she was being mistreated? If so, Julie knew this was a poor decision - Corry was busy right now. Besides, Joe wasn’t much of a threat on his own.

She made the decision to stand her ground. It was at that moment that Julie happened to glance beyond Corry - catching sight of the look in Sue’s eye.

And Julie knew Sue from when they had been allies. She knew that look, knew it meant trouble. Her suspicions were confirmed a moment later, during a drum solo, when Sue used the opportunity to let go of her guitar and reach for something back in the shadows, next to the stage.

Tim apparently noticed her action as well, and when he saw what she was grabbing, he stood up, reaching out towards her. But his leg buckled, sending him crashing into his own keyboard, palms first. The keyboard stand gave out, pitching forwards, sending the equipment towards Corry.

That’s when Chartreuse charged through Julie’s field of vision, reaching out in vain for the toppling instrument. Feedback erupted from the nearby speakers as it hit the floor at Corry’s feet. Then Clarke was there, catching Tim, and everyone’s attention was on what was happening with them - so it seemed like no one but Julie saw what Sue was about to do.

“Watch out!” Julie shouted, sprinting forwards. She threw herself at Corry, catching him around the waist, using her momentum to jerk him off his feet. The microphone Corry had been holding in his hands jarred loose and fell to the floor. An exposed wire created a small spark in the fresh pool of water. Water that had been thrown by Sue, who had not been able to check her swing. A few more sparks were seen, but Lee quickly reached his foot out to kick the power bar near the drums, killing all the electronics.

Julie breathed a sigh of relief. The brunette then discovered that, somehow, she had managed to land largely on top of Corry. One arm was caught underneath him, the other encircling his waist, and her sweater was pressed up tightly against his silk shirt. She quickly pulled back with an apology on her lips, but her voice got caught in her throat when she saw the bemused look on the redhead’s face.

“Julie… what the hell?” he questioned.

“Noooo!” came a cry of frustration from above them. Freeing her arm, Julie rolled away from Corry, looking up to see the brown haired guitarist. Sue was now being restrained by both Lee and Clarke. Carrie and Chartreuse had replaced Clarke at Tim’s side. Glen was there too.

“No, no, don’t you see?” Sue wailed. “I attacked him for you, Julie! Corry’s never been as good as you were. He never should have beaten you out the way he did! So I pretended to go along with him until I had this chance, this opportunity to shake him up a bit, to let him feel once again the wrath of Julie LaMille! So… so why did you save him, Julie? Aren’t you proud of me?!”

Julie blinked up at her former ally. “I… am going to be sick,” she realized, lurching to her feet and clapping a hand against her mouth. With a burning sensation at the back of her throat, she dashed for the nearest exit.

By departing, Julie didn’t hear the increasing chatter of the student body. Or how it was soon dispelled by the sound of an irate chemistry teacher, clearing his throat at the DJ’s independent electronics setup. “This dance,” Larry Fisk stated authoritatively, “is…”

“Going to continue shortly with more great songs from DJ Tuneup,” Mrs. Willis, the music teacher interrupted, grabbing the mike away from her colleague. “So please calm down and return to enjoying yourselves! I’m sure we all agree that it would be a shame to see this event come to an early end.”

Frank let out a low whistle. “I can’t believe it. Sue, out to get Corry. Who could have guessed?”

He and Luci had pulled back from the crowd of teenagers, to stand by the wall. With the DJ back in control, the dance was gradually getting back up to full swing. Carrie and Clarke had run out of the room after Julie, Chartreuse had gone over to talk with Laurie, and all the members of Corry’s band had been taken to the office to talk with Principal Hunt.

“I could have worked it out,” Luci decided, looking towards the stage. “If my mind hadn’t been wandering so much this week. After all, Sue’s looked distracted lately. Possible family troubles. And she lost her grandmother back around the same time as she ‘lost’ Julie… so it could be a case of displaced emotion? Not to excuse her actions, but that might be why she went a bit nuts.”

“Your whole school’s a bit nuts,” Glen remarked, approaching the both of them. “From what I’ve heard, some people are siding with Sue and her assault on your friend!”

“For real?” Frank raised his eyebrow. “I guess Corry doesn’t have the same support in his ranks that he once did.”

“On the bright side though,” Glen continued, “If Sue is out, there will be a vacancy in my fellow redhead’s band. So I can offer up my own guitar playing skills instead.”

Frank’s eyebrow twitched. “Uh, Glen? That’s not exactly a bright side.”

“No?” Glen shrugged. “It’s just, I’d hate to see Corry’s band dissolve on account of this. Wouldn’t you?”

“Hey, Carrie!” Luci shouted, waving. Frank turned, seeing that Carrie had entered the cafeteria again. Luci lowered her voice again once the blonde girl had paced over to join them. “How’s Julie faring?”

“She’ll be all right,” Carrie sighed. “Her stomach’s settled anyway. Clarke’s gone with her to the office, to give a statement to Mr. Hunt along with the band, though I think that’s mostly a formality. It’s pretty clear that she had no direct involvement in tonight’s activities.”

Carrie linked arms with Glen, leaning some of her weight onto him. “Still,” she admitted. “Now I feel guilty for insisting to Julie that she come. It’s not like she’ll have had a very good time.”

“It is a good thing she was here though,” Frank pointed out. “Or Corry could have been hurt.”

“That’s right,” Glen agreed. “Of course, one must still take care when using one’s powers of… persuasion. I imagine the results can be misleading, until the user has sufficient experience.”

Carrie turned to look into Glen’s face, and Frank wasn’t sure if it was her expression, or something in Glen’s tone that he found troubling. The redhead simply looked back at his date with a quiet smile. “Oh, whatever,” Carrie said aloud. “Come on, Glen. Let’s dance again?”

“I would be honoured,” he replied.

Frank and Luci exchanged a quick glance themselves as the new transfer student took the head cheerleader out for a spin around the dance floor. Meanwhile, a short distance away, Chartreuse turned away from Laurie, watching the pair herself while biting down on her lower lip.

(So, how much of that did you anticipate? If any? I suppose you’d at least anticipate another click request to vote for T&T at ‘Top Web Fiction’…)

3.08: TUNE UP

Tim smiled back from where he sat behind the keyboard. Lee hit the cymbals and gave Corry a thumbs up. Sue adjusted the strap of her bass guitar.

“What was the significance of that song anyway?" Sue inquired. “Flying to the moon, it’s a little sappier than our normal fare."

“Request from my sister,” Corry shrugged. “Reminds her of some animated TV show she likes. Actually, maybe we should wrap up today with something different?”

“Which one?" Lee inquired, spinning a drumstick in his hand.

“That one which is also a popular theme song," Corry said. “Remember? It goes like this…”

Glen smiled as Carrie’s father opened the door. “Hello, Mr. Waterson. I’m here to pick up Carrie.”

Hank Waterson stepped aside. “She’s still getting ready, but do come in. I’ve been hoping to get the chance to meet you.”

“I figured.” Glen entered the house, knotting his tie a little tighter. Inwardly, he cursed whatever human had invented the things, and wondered who had made this school dance a semi-formal affair. At least a nice shirt sufficed, no need for him to have a jacket. “I hope to make a favourable impression,” the redhead continued. “As my intentions are completely honourable, and I’ll try to have your daughter home by whatever time you specify."

“I’m glad to hear it.” Carrie’s father closed the front door again. “I gathered as much from her, but there were a few things that she was unable to tell me. For instance, you seem to have no family in town. What is the story with your parents?”

“Oh, they’ve now purchased a house over in that new development to the north,” Glen replied, gesturing vaguely. “But mom’s still wrapping up with business out east, and as such they’ve arranged to have me stay at the Clayton Hotel for a few more weeks.”

Hank Waterson’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re staying at the hotel?”

“Ah, yes.” Glen supposed that Carrie hadn’t mentioned that detail. Made sense, in retrospect. “It’s not a big deal, really. The room has a small fridge and hotplate, and the maid service tidies daily. My parents wanted me to be here for the full semester, you see, and this was the best way to do that.”

“I see,” Mr. Waterson said slowly. “And what business is it that your parents are involved in?”

“My mother is a scientist - that’s what’s keeping her out of town, at the lab - while my father is a pilot, so he’s all over the place,” Glen said easily. “I’m hoping to go into the field of sciences myself someday. It certainly seems profitable enough.”

Mr. Waterson seemed to size him up. “Yet Carrie tells me you’re a long distance runner.”

“Yeah, well, I run, I act, I skate, I paint… everyone needs hobbies,” Glen said. Time to spin a question back, perhaps. “A person should be well rounded, don’t you think?”

Before Hank Waterson could answer, Carrie’s voice came from upstairs. “Is that Glen down there? Don’t you dare give him the third degree, Dad! Tell him I’ll be down in another few seconds!"

Glen half smiled. “You heard her - so, any final rules I should know about, before your daughter comes charging down and admonishes you for giving them to me?"

Hank eyed Glen again, then shook his head. “Nothing that isn’t common sense,” he decided. “And you seem to be the sort of boy who knows what I mean by that. In fact, I’ll level with you, a part of me is glad to see Carrie making new friends like this. She’s seemed a bit more withdrawn from her peers ever since she was hospitalized last year.”

“Ah, when she was shot?” Glen said. “I heard about that. Nasty business.”

“It was,” Mr. Waterson affirmed. He then leaned in closer to Glen’s face to speak more quietly. “An incident which has helped me to realize that, should you or anyone else lay an inappropriate finger on my daughter’s body, I will be forced into drastic action. Understood?”

“Naturally,” Glen affirmed, maintaining his composure. “Indeed, I would have been disappointed not to hear such concern from her only surviving parent.”

A frown tugged at Hank Waterson’s features, but before he could say anything more, Carrie appeared at the top of the stairs. “Glen! Glad to see you.” She lifted the skirt of her long purple dress slightly in order to avoid tripping during her descent. “I trust my father hasn’t been bothering you?”

“Oh, no, not at all,” Glen said, turning to face her. “And may I say, you look radiant in that outfit.”

“Why thank you,” Carrie said, pinkening mildly in the cheeks.

Her father cleared his throat. “Carrie, remember our deal. You’re home by eleven thirty.”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “Yes, Dad.” She grabbed her jacket out of the closet. “Come on, Glen, we don’t want to arrive at the dance TOO fashionably late.”

Glen nodded in reply and the two teenagers left the house, Carrie’s father watching them from the front door until they reached the sidewalk. Glen glanced back as the front door closed. “So, you made a deal with your Dad?”

“Yeah, he’s letting me wear the dress with the plunging neckline on condition that I come home right after the dance ends at eleven,” Carrie admitted. “Probably realized that I was going to wear this thing no matter what, and tricked me into that compromise.”

“Ah. Clever man. Something that runs in the family, I see.”

“Ha! He wasn’t so devious back before my brush with death. I swear, last year, he didn’t care at all! It’s only been during the last several months that he’s taken an interest.”

“Must be a real pain then, huh?”

Carrie pursed her lips. “No,” she murmured. “It’s nice. We need to be home on time.” She reached out to take Glen’s arm. “But never mind about my Dad, let’s get to this dance! I want to make sure Julie has someone to talk to when she turns up.”

“Uh oh.” Chartreuse looked down. “It’s, like, that bad, huh?”

“Oh, I didn’t say anything!” Laurie protested.

“That’s the thing, normally you have so much to say,” Chartreuse pointed out. She fanned out her skirt, staring down at the multiple splashes of colour that adorned it. “I, you know, thought it would compliment the sparkly sequins I added to my blouse. No such luck?”

“It… kinda works? It must be the lighting in the room. Don’t worry Chartreuse, I’m sure lots of people will ask you to dance!” Laurie Veniti adjusted the big, puffy shoulders of her own long, red dress. “Now me, I probably shouldn’t have gone with this choice of colour which is so similar to my hair because I probably look exactly like a tomato or a big red candle or something and the dress is too formal anyway plus so many people here are already in couples so I doubt I’ll be asked to dance by anyone!” She sighed.

“Laurie, stay calm. You look fine,” Chartreuse countered. “Anyway, worst comes to worst, we can always dance with each other.” Which didn’t mean she fancied her friend in that way, but Laurie was probably the only girl she could dance with and not spark gossip.

Chartreuse looked out across the dance floor. The music had started under half an hour ago, yet there were only a few people out there. Semi-formal dances seemed to be less popular these days - student council should have picked her suggestion of a Hawaiian theme. “So, when is your brother’s band going to be, you know, performing?”

Laurie’s brow furrowed in thought. “Golly, it’ll be at least another half hour, because I remember Corry saying something about Lee not being able to make it until after eight. But I know they’re doing two sets, whenever the DJ wants a break!”

Chartreuse’s gaze settled on where Corry and his group had set up their equipment, near the stage. It looked like Sue was double checking the electronics. Which is when Chartreuse realized she was getting a vibe. Why was she getting a vibe? “Remind me how the four of them, like, hooked up? It was second semester of last year, right?”

“Yeah. Partly on account of me,” Laurie agreed. “See, Corry had practically given up on the band idea after the mess with Julie. But last March I pushed for him to give it another go, particularly after Clarke talked to me, saying that Tim was trying to come out of his shell, and that he was a pianist. Knowing how hard it can be to put yourself out there, I had my brother hear Tim play, then Corry finally held guitarist auditions. Sue had the best one. And Lee got personally invited in, after Corry heard him drumming after school at around the same time.”

“Sweet. Nice that they’ve come such a long way in, like, a relatively short amount of time.”

“Corry really wanted to do this performance too,” Laurie continued. “In fact, he’s pushed for more and more rehearsals since school resumed… to the point where it kinda worries me that the other members resent him for that.” She followed Chartreuse’s gaze over to the band setup, then back again. “You’ve got that look. Why?”

“A feeling.” Chartreuse shook her head. No point causing her friend to worry. “Probably nothing. Yeah, it’s nothing Laurie, never mind. Come on, let’s head closer to the door. I think the guy there is, you know, trying to get your attention!”

It wasn’t a standard code, since rearranging the words - if you called them words - hadn’t helped. Luci hadn’t had any success reading the first letter of every word either. Or with ROT13. But perhaps if she… the young girl’s thoughts were interrupted by a pinch in her side. “Yipe! Hey, what was that for?”

“Well, I only asked you twice if I could take your jacket for you,” Frank pointed out with a grin.

“Oh. Sorry.” Luci felt her cheeks warm as she shrugged it off. “Guess I got lost in thought.” She looked down at her outfit. “Gods, I hate that this is a semi-formal affair! I don’t have any clothes like that, and even though Carrie offered to help me shop, I didn’t want to do that either.”

“Luci, don’t worry, those are nice pants and you look just fine in that blouse. It’s a nice shade of blue. Anyway, it’s not like I’m wearing a tie.”

“But you have a proper jacket. Which you can simply toss on a chair. Why can men can get away with that stuff, while we’re supposed to be all dressy?” Luci grumbled. “High heels should be against the law.”

Frank adjusted his glasses. “Well, I see some other girls around who aren’t in heels either. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Luci sighed. “Says the guy who won’t get laughed at behind his back for his outfit. Girls are the worst.”

Frank stared, then reached out to take Luci’s hand, gently squeezing it. “Okay, what’s bothering you? It’s not simply the dress code here, you’ve been in a bit of a mood all week. Are you still upset with me? Is this a test to see if I’m actually paying enough attention to you?”

“What? Oh, no, it’s not that,” Luci assured.

“Then what’s the problem?”

Luci shifted her weight back and forth. “It’s that logbook of Linquist’s,” she admitted. “The one Julie found. I’ve been working on cracking the code, to figure out exactly what sort of stuff that nutcase was doing, but I’ve had no luck! It vexes me. And because I was working on that, I didn’t go shopping, and so now I’m going to look like an social idiot, and it’s all that Linquist’s fault again!”

“Ah. Um, that last is a bit of a stretch - are you sure you’re not simply looking for more reasons to hate the guy?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know. I wish they’d picked Chartreuse’s suggestion of a Hawaiian theme,” Luci groused.

Frank lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, so you’d prefer to be wearing a grass skirt? I mean, not that I’d be complaining, but…”

“But, ugh, point made,” Luci realized, looking back down at her legs. “Fine, point to you, it could be worse, let’s enjoy what we have.” She attempted a smile.

Frank grinned back. “Okay then. I’ll just check our coats, be right back.” He moved off towards the coat check area.

Luci spent a couple of seconds admiring the decorations, but she couldn’t help it, her mind was soon spinning with more ideas, more possibilities for that book. Perhaps a Caesar cipher…

“How’s business, Joe?” Frank inquired as he set the jackets down on the table. The late September dance was usually better for snacks, as compared to the coat check part, which was better in February. Regardless, their booth was a way for the business club to make a bit of money, splitting the proceeds with Students’ Council.

“Slow but steady,” Joe Drew replied. “Actually, we haven’t missed your expertise back here at all. I’d be worried for your job.”

“I’ll bear that in mind,” Frank said dryly. His fellow senior tore off a couple of numbered ticket stubs, exchanging them for his quarters. “But I have to say, I prefer Luci’s company to yours.”

“I can understand that,” Joe granted. The blonde boy leaned in a little closer. “By the way, I’ve heard Julie might turn up later tonight. Can you believe that girl? I bet a brawl will break out, and Mr. Fisk will cancel all future dances forever!”

“Oh, come on Joe… I think she’s learned how to behave herself,” Frank said, hoping he sounded reassuring.

“Hrmph,” Joe retorted, drawing back. His eyes shifted to the stage. “I suppose that, deep down, it’s all that idiot Corry’s fault. Guy should have dealt with her last year. I mean, he exposed what Julie did! How she manipulated folks like me! So why did he turn around and start acting all nicey nice to her?!”

“Yeah, uh, I suppose there’s stuff we don’t know about the situation,” Frank offered. He began to wonder how to best extract himself from the conversation.

Joe shook his head. “I know as much as I need to. Julie probably paid him off, so Corry’s even worse than she is!”

Before Frank could think of a good reply, a couple came up behind him to place a coat on the table. “Service, please,” the boy stated.

“Coming right up,” Joe said, finally handing off Frank and Luci’s coats to his co-worker before moving to deal with the newcomers. Frank took the opportunity to escape back to Luci’s side.

Carrie tried to decipher the noise Glen made upon their arrival. Failing that, she spoke up. “What? Is this so different from dances at your last school?”

Glen shook his head, still eyeing the decorations. “The faculty there didn’t believe in dances. So you’ll have to forgive me if I tread on your toes, dancing’s a skill I never really developed.”

“Ooh, amazing, something you’re not good at,” Carrie teased. She smiled. “We’ll manage, just don’t make a habit of toe crunching.”

“Scuze me, comin' through!”

Carrie recognized Lee’s voice, and she turned to see him dashing though the front doors, dodging nimbly around the nearest couple. “Whoop, sorry ‘bout that, gotta hook up with the power cad, pardon me, scuze me…”

“Glory be, now his gang’s all here.”

This time, it was the sheer bitterness in the tone that made Carrie look for the source. Which turned out to be a light haired boy leaning against the wall. He was glowering at the crowd in general, but when he saw that Carrie was observing him in particular, he turned and shuffled towards the cafeteria/dance floor.

“Wonder what that guy’s problem is,” Glen mused aloud.

“That’s Tommy,” Carrie explained. “Looks like he’s still upset that Corry picked Sue to play bass guitar in the band, over him.” She tugged idly on a strand of her hair. “See, Sue was a side switcher - with Corry in Grade Nine, but then she joined me and Julie. Only to return to Corry last November, after Julie’s secrets got exposed. Meanwhile, Tommy’s been on Corry’s side since grade school.”

Glen grimaced. “So this is some kinda loyalty thing?”

Carrie nodded. “Yeah. I mean, Corry wasn’t wrong to choose Sue for his band, in that she IS the better guitarist. But it might have been the last straw for Tommy. It was the people who were closest to Corry who were blindsided the most, you see. When he cracked down on any attacks against Julie. Speaking of, you WILL look out for her here, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Glen rolled his eyes. “School politics. How irritating. Stop me if I ask again.”

“Why? Is that another thing that you didn’t see much of at your last school?”

“Not over such petty issues,” Glen countered, shaking his head. “Where I come from, it’s all about world domination.”

Carrie blinked. “Pardon me?”

He winked at her. “Kidding. So, shall we go and have a dance or two?”

Kidding? Or were they back to him keeping her off balance? Carrie pursed her lips. Every so often, he said something to make her wonder if she should be more suspicious. Except, she’d recently realized that Glen didn’t trigger any temporal headaches. Implying that no changes were occurring to her timeline. No, this was on her, not him - she had to stop overthinking this.

“Yes, dancing. Watch the feet,” she warned, hooking her arm around his as they headed for the doorway.

“I d-d-don’t know if I can d-do this,” Tim said, peering around the door frame at all the people out on the dance floor. “I d-d-didn’t think there would be so many p-people here. N-Not given the theme, and what happened last year!”

“Tim, first of all, breathe. Second, you can’t cut out on me now!” Corry crossed his arms. “Not after all the hard work we’ve put in.”

“W-W-W-Well…”

“Yo, dudes and dudette,” Lee said, breezing past Tim at the door to emerge into the far hallway. For once, his worn suit jacket was actually appropriate to the occasion, even if the T-Shirt he wore underneath it was not. “Have I missed anything?”

“No, but you are five minutes late,” Corry said, irritably. “What’s more, that’s becoming a habit for you this month.”

“Hey, cut me some slack, jack,” Lee protested. “I told you when I came on board that family matters and schoolwork would have to take precedence over this band.”

“All right, come on, everybody calm down,” Sue put in. “There’s still plenty of time to tune up and decide on the songs for our first set. We’ll knock ‘em dead, no worries.”

“Right, good, I like that philosophy,” Corry said, pointing at her. “Now, I’ve already seen to the drums, the keyboard and the electronics… so Sue, let’s go get the guitars and do one final check. The DJ told me we’re on after another couple songs.” The two of them hurried off to the music room, leaving Tim and Lee behind.

“I’m n-not so sure about this,” Tim murmured to Lee, after checking to see that Corry was out of earshot. “What if I mess up notes? What if we g-get heckled off the stage?”

“Don’t even think about it, tiny T,” Lee soothed. “Mrs. Willis said we sounded great, and the school crowd ain’t that hostile.” He glanced towards the cafeteria. “Well, okay, some of ‘em are, but it’s only towards the power cad. We’re clear.”

“I g-guess,” Tim said uncertainly. He took a few slow breaths. “I’ll feel SO much better after tonight. When Corry isn’t so obsessive.”

Lee rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, uh, I wouldn’t totally count on that though?” he warned. “I figure the better this goes, the more the guy will want to perform. If you can’t handle his scheduling, you’re gonna have to learn to stand up to him. Like I do sometimes.”

“Oh,” Tim said sullenly. He shuffled his feet. “How about you stand up for me too?”

Lee shook his head. “Sorry, T. I would, but I don’t really want the guy on my case any more than he is already. Besides, you’ll eventually have to learn to do it yourself.”

“I g-guess.” Tim sighed. “Know what? It’s gotten to the point where I wish Corry would disappear. Only for a little while.”

Lee frowned. It looked to Tim as if he wanted to say something further, but before he could, Laurie Veniti peered out of the cafeteria. “Corry?” she said, timidly.

“Hey, double V. He’s on his way,” Lee offered, turning towards Corry’s twin. As if on cue, Corry and Sue appeared at the far end of the hallway with their guitars, walking towards them.

“Great!” Chartreuse said brightly, stepping out from behind Laurie. “Because the two of us wanted to, like, wish the whole group the best of luck on your little, you know, debut.” She offered an encouraging smile to all the members, before reaching out a hand towards Corry as he strode up.

“Sure, thanks,” Corry said absentmindedly, reaching out to shake Chartreuse’s outstretched palm as he passed. He was brought up short, however, when Chartreuse didn’t release him. Instead, she grabbed hold with both of her hands. He turned to fire an irritated look at her, only to flinch back upon seeing Chartreuse’s horrified gaze.

“Ohmigod,” the pink haired mystic gasped out. She shifted her attention from Corry’s hand up to his face. “You, like, totally can’t go out there!” Chartreuse declared. “If you do… you’ll die!”

(Return for Corry’s fate next week. A reminder that a vote at TWF is appreciated.)

3.07: THE MANSION

“Where could she be then?” Clarke said, a tinge of panic creeping into his voice. He cupped his hand to his mouth. “Julie? JULIE??”

“Calm down,” Luci soothed. “We’ll find her. Whatever happened, she can’t have gone far.”

“Maybe Jeeves or Mimi saw something?” Frank hypothesized.

Clarke shook his head. “They’re not here. Jeeves is out servicing the car, and Mimi doesn’t spend much time around the house any more, outside of meal times. She’s not keen on the whole fractured family situation.”

“Then let’s check the external security system,” Luci reasoned. “That will tell us whether Julie left, and whether anyone else came.”

Clarke brought them to the security room, where a quick verification confirmed that there had been no activity outside of the mansion. “So where could Julie be?” Clarke said desperately. “And why did we hear her scream?!”

“Is she afraid of spiders, maybe?” Carrie mused.

“Unless…”

“Unless?” Frank said, turning to Luci.

“You think she was timenapped?” Clarke asked, eyes widening.

“We were here to set a fixed date for starting travel,” Frank agreed. “Yet for someone to take Julie, the time machine would need at least a few minutes to recharge, right?”

“Okay, so it stands to reason that if someone’s trying that, Julie’s still around, but maybe knocked out,” Carrie decided. “We need to split up and search the house, fast.”

“Whoa! Split up?” Frank protested. “But what if someone’s trying to pick us off one by one?”

Carrie rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll check upstairs with Clarke while you two horror movie maniacs scour the basement. Good enough?”

Frank seemed about to reply to her when Luci broke in. “Sounds good,” she agreed, grabbing Frank’s arm. “Let’s do that.”

Carrie nodded and headed for the back stairs with Clarke, even as Frank turned to look at Luci in surprise. “We’re going to take orders from her?”

“Come on, Frank,” Luci said. “Let’s have a talk in the basement.”

Luci tried to figure out exactly how to say what she wanted to say as they descended the stairs. She finally decided to go the direct route, as usual. “Frank,” she began as they reached the lower landing. “Why are you still freaking out about Carrie’s powers?”

He blinked. “Pardon?”

“The earlier comment about things flying through the air?” Luci said pointedly, even as she walked down the hall, opening the nearest door. “The flinching when Carrie talked about losing her mind? I thought we’d agreed that the remark to her father last weekend would be the last reference you’d make to Stephen King’s character.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” Frank apologized. “Still, the fact that we discovered that the fire at the cafe occurred when Carrie was there… well, it’s kind of a freaky coincidence, don’t you think? Like, maybe, subconsciously–”

“No!” Luci countered. “Don’t go there! Our Carrie is not some fictional character with mental issues and telekinesis, Frank. She’s our friend.”

“I know.” Frank peered inside a room where a file cabinet had been tipped over. “But we all saw what Carrie was capable of last year. And you know I’m not keen on the horror genre. So if you didn’t want me to act this way around her, why did you show me that movie in the first place?”

For a moment, Luci found herself at loss for words. Because she realized that Frank wasn’t wrong - some part of her had wanted him to act this way. What she ultimately said was, “Well, geez, Frank, why do you think I showed it to you?!”

“Luci, I’m not a mind reader.”

“Who says you have to be a mind reader??”

He gave her a look of confusion. So Luci clasped her hands in front of her chest and fluttered her eyelashes. “Oh, Carrie,” the young girl swooned. “Don’t go out with Glen, he might be bad news! Don’t worry, I’ll tail him for you, I’ll keep an eye on him, I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything inappropriate!”

Frank’s eyebrows rose. “This is about me shadowing Glen?”

“Oh for goodness sakes, Frank, don’t you remember ANYTHING about our previous conversations?” Luci said in exasperation. Honestly, Frank was a wonderful guy, but how could anyone that smart also be so dense and unaware?!

Their basement searching ceased completely as Luci’s boyfriend peered more closely at her. “You mean… you really are jealous?”

“Oh, then you were listening. Amazing.”

“And so… you showed me the movie so that I’d be scared of Carrie, and run to you for support?”

So he’d been listening, but not understanding. “I showed you the movie so that you’d remember that someone like Carrie is capable of taking care of herself! So that you’d come to me, not for support, but because… because I’m important too. Even if I’m not the one with powers or a destiny.”

“What? But, of course you’re important, Luci! Why would you think otherwise?”

“Because, I don’t know, it’s like our relationship was stuck in second gear all summer,” Luci said. She found she couldn’t look at Frank directly any more. Was she perhaps in the wrong? “I thought coming back to school would reignite things, but instead you’re more interested in Carrie’s life than you are in mine.”

There was a pause. “I’m sorry, Luci, I never meant to give you that impression,” he said softly. “If you thought I was ignoring you, why didn’t you say something?”

“Oh, what the hell was I supposed to say?” Luci felt tears shimmering behind her eyelids. “A girl can’t simply tell a guy to dote on her, otherwise she’ll know he’s doing it because she told him to, not because she’s actually worth it.”

“You are worth it.”

“See? Now you’re only saying it because I told you to.”

“I’m not.” Frank reached out to tilt Luci’s head back in his direction. “I’m really not. I’m sorry, Luci. I guess it’s just, you’ve always seemed so independent. Heck, ever since you stopped holding back at school, your marks have been in the top five percent for our grade level, even above mine. So it never occurred to me that you might be feeling insecure.”

“Don’t say that! I’m not insecure!” Luci swallowed. “But okay, I guess for your birthday at the start of the month, I still had to go up on tiptoe in order to kiss you, and I… I’m two years too young for our grade, and wonder if maybe you’re getting tired of that age difference. I know I am."

“Oh Luci, Luci, dear sweet Luci, no!”

“No? You’ve never found yourself holding back because of my age? Hell, would you even still be going out with me, if you hadn’t seen how good I’d look at twenty one?” She knew he couldn’t have forgotten about the time when she had been artificially aged, prompting Professor Linquist to grab her off the street for experimentation. After all, it had been that Luci who had first made her feelings clear to Frank.

“Oh, Luci," Frank said, brushing a tear from her cheek. “I would still go out with you even if you broke out with a terrible case of acne. This isn’t about physical appearance. It’s not even about intellect. I love you, Luci, because of who you are. You know I do.”

Luci looked up into his eyes, and she saw the sincerity in them, and she felt like a total idiot. She leaned in towards him, her arms moving around him and her cheek resting on his chest as she let out a small sigh. “I… I know,” she admitted. “So maybe I need to hear it more often? Is that okay?”

His arms encircled her back. “Of course it is,” he said softly, hugging her close. “Of course it is, my lovely Luci. I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel at all neglected. I’ll make it up to you somehow… in fact, guess what! I got Joe to handle the business club’s snack table for the upcoming school dance. And rather than simply assume, I should ask - Luci, will you be my date for the evening?”

“Oh, Frank!” Luci said happily, looking up, then hugging him tightly. “Of course! Thank you!” They remained that way for a short time, before she finally pulled back.

“Actually Frank, you know what else didn’t help with this whole mess?” Luci admitted. “Carrie complaining to me at the start of the school year about how much her chest was interfering with her cheerleading, and her other athletic pursuits. I mean, really? All I could think about during her WHOLE rant was ‘So when am I due for a boost in MY cup size?’. Damn it, I’ve seen Grade Nines who are more developed than me!”

Frank swallowed. “Oh. Um. Well, you know, I’ve never meant to imply you were devoid of physical attributes…?"

Luci eyed his expression. “Never mind. Maybe that’s a topic I should be discussing with Chartreuse instead. We should get back to looking for Julie.”

“Yes, please,” Frank said, visibly relieved. “Lead the way."

Julie moaned as consciousness returned. She blinked her eyes open, saw nothing but darkness, and felt a jolt of panic. It subsided as her eyes began to adjust, identifying a partially furnished, albeit windowless room. She sat up, reaching her hands out to confirm that she was in a small alcove in the wall.

She suppressed the urge to sneeze at the dust tickling at her nose. “Mimi’s really let this room go,” Julie murmured. Was she even still in the mansion?

She thought back. She had been in the washroom, getting the aspirin bottle from the cabinet behind the mirror - and had slipped on a wet patch on the floor. Left behind when she’d splashed water onto her face after bandaging her hand.

Julie held her palm up to her face, peering at the bandage. Her hand still hurt. Right. Because to try and stay upright, she had seized the metal ring on the wall where they hung hand towels. And twisted it. And then, inexplicably, the floor had given out, and she’d fallen… which meant she was… where?

Julie struggled to her feet, trying to peer through the darkness. She stepped outside of the wall alcove. A cobweb or string dangled against her face, and she pulled at it, to get it out of the way. An overhead bulb clicked on. Julie blinked the spots out of her eyes, then let out a low whistle as her location became more clear.

This was a laboratory. Abandoned, to be sure, but it contained cabinets, counters, a sink - and fluorescent lighting overhead, which was still switched off. Julie fumbled her way across the room, towards the only door, where she found the main light switch.

“Where in heck did all this come from?" Julie murmured, once she was in a position to do a full scan of the room. “How is this room inside my house?" She had thoroughly explored the mansion after moving in. True, the basement floor plan allowed for a room of this size, but the only place it could have been was behind a completely walled off area. Walled off…

Julie walked back over to the alcove, and looked up. It seemed that she had landed at the bottom of some sort of overhead chute. Pursing her lips, Julie did some mental calculations, and realized this laboratory could indeed be part of her basement. With access from above.

She made a quick circuit of the room, noting that there were still a handful of instruments in the drawers as well as chemicals in the cabinets. If it weren’t for the dust, implying the room hadn’t been used in years, she might have thought that someone was in the mansion spying on her.

A flash of red caught her attention as she looked more closely at a large safe. Something had been shoved into the narrow space in between said safe, and the adjoining counter. Grabbing a nearby metre stick and fishing in the opening produced a spiral notebook. Julie blew the dust off of it, scanning over the cover.

“Observations and experiments,” she read. “As recorded by Professor Linquist… Professor Linquist?!” Julie looked up. “Of course. He owned this place before we moved in! This lab must have been some secret work area of his!"

The brunette began to riffle through the book, but it seemed to be written in some sort of scientific code. “The others need to see this,” Julie decided. “Heck, they’re probably wondering what’s happened to me. So how do I get out of here?”

She tried the door, finding it to be unlocked. It opened inwards, revealing a wall of concrete blocks - except there was a narrow passage there, which could fit a single person. The passage extended in both directions. “Left or right?” Julie whispered. She peered into the darkness. No way to know. “Right. Let’s see where this goes."

“Okay, well, I don’t think she’s up here,” Carrie concluded. “Unless she’s in that locked records room, or Jeeves’ room, or is actively being moved to avoid us or something.”

“We can still try those rooms before giving up,” Clarke insisted.

Carrie shook her head. “At this point, if people were stealing Julie through time, I think they’d be gone. There has to be another reason for…“ She froze. “Damn. Oh, DAMN!”

“What?”

Carrie took off towards the stairway. “We’re up here. Frank and Luci are in the basement. I left the time machine on the main level, UNGUARDED. What if that was the plan? What if it was JULIE’S plan? To hide, and throw us off long enough to take a time trip!”

Clarke frowned. “Carrie, she’s not that reckless, and surely Frank still has the coins…”

However, the blonde girl was already out of earshot. So, with a resigned sigh, Clarke followed her down. He reentered the sitting room to see her staring down at the time machine, on the floor, exactly where they had left it. “See? You need to give Julie more credit.”

“Okay. But it’s SO stupid of me to keep leaving the damn thing where others can get it,” she said, grimacing. “I mean, this is twice in two days. Um, kinda. Look, I think I’d better take it back to my place. I’ll sleep better knowing that it’s still under my bed."

“Fine,” Clarke granted. “Now can we get back to searching? Because I swear, Julie wouldn’t have run off like this voluntarily!"

“Scratch the basement," Frank offered, as he and Luci reentered the room behind him. “But there were a couple of locked areas. Storage, maybe?”

“I also wonder if we missed a section - there seemed to be less floor space than I would have expected,” Luci observed.

“No, it’s fine, there’s a section around the back of the stairs which is all foundation,” Clarke assured. “There’s no rooms in that area.”

As he spoke, there came a click and a series of creaks. Then the tall china cabinet against one wall of the room began to rattle as it slid sideways across the carpet. Clarke lifted his eyebrows, as Carrie grabbed for the time machine and Frank stepped slightly in front of Luci.

Everyone watched as Julie emerged from a dark passage, her clothes dusty, with cobwebs caught in her hair. “Actually,” Julie said, letting out a cough. “It would seem that there is a room down there after all.”

“Jewels!” Clarke gasped, running towards her, stopping short from actually grasping her by the shoulders. “What happened to you??”

Julie turned to look at the tunnel behind her. “My best guess,” she ventured, “is that I triggered something by twisting the towel ring in the bathroom while the medicine cabinet was open. It sent me down to this lab where… well, Phil, why don’t you go grab a flashlight so that we can all see for ourselves?”

“Careful, there’s some stairs here,” Julie warned. There was only enough space for them to move single file, so she led the way. Clarke brought up the rear, shining his light forwards.

“I’ll be damned,” Carrie muttered, inching along behind Julie. It was extra awkward, because she hadn’t wanted to leave the time machine behind again - but now she had to walk sideways, with it at her hip. “Like everyone else, I’d heard the rumours about there being secret passages in this place. But I thought you’d discounted that possibility.”

“Seems I wasn’t thorough enough,” Julie admitted. “In the end, most of my searching was done downstairs, around that closed off section. So while I’m sure that there’s no way into it from down there, it didn’t occur to me to check for access from places on the main landing.”

“A china cabinet isn’t the most obvious choice for a passage anyway,” Frank commented. “I’d have gone for a bookshelf.”

“Well, we keep china in it, I’m not sure what Linquist used it for.”

“Linquist?!” came Luci’s voice. “You think that quack was doing illegal experiments down here??”

“I don’t know… maybe you can tell me. He left some logbook of experiments behind.” Less than a minute later, they had all filed into the hidden basement room.

“You know what?” Carrie said, looking around. “This would be an excellent place for us to use for storage, time travel meetings, that kind of thing. It’s in the mansion, out of the way - even Jeeves doesn’t know about it, right?”

“Right,” Julie confirmed. “And I can tidy it up a little for us, and catalog the stuff Linquist left behind.”

“Hold it!” Luci objected. “Have you forgotten how crazy that guy was?! What if he left booby traps behind?”

“He wasn’t always crazy,” Carrie countered. “And I doubt he would have sold this place to a wealthy family like the LaMilles if he’d left anything in here that would take their heads off. That would mean a major lawsuit.”

“Even when he wasn’t crazy, he still wasn’t normal,” Luci shot back. “Remember, Linquist believed that aliens left their children at orphanages in the hopes that they would some day be brought inconspicuously into society. A familiar story for you, right Carrie?"

“My mother was an unwitting time traveler, not an alien,” Carrie said dismissively. “And Linquist had nothing to do with her appearance or disappearance, they happened years before he went off on this tangent.”

“Yet people in the future must have associated with Linquist at SOME point,” Luci countered. “Remember, this guy also also owned equipment for sensing the temporal flux in my DNA. He couldn’t have picked that up at the corner drugstore!"

“Ugh. Point,” Carrie finally yielded. “We should be careful.”

“On the topic of using this place though,” Frank broke in. “It’s not a bad idea."

“And I’ve decided to clean the lab up no matter what," Julie put in.

“In which case, I can make sure to be around whenever Julie’s investigating," Clarke offered.

Luci let out a sigh. “Oh, very well. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She held up Linquist’s red notebook. “Can I keep this, at least? To see if I can figure out what this guy spent his time experimenting on down here? I’m sure there’s some connection between that guy and time travel that we’ve missed.”

“No problem,” Julie agreed. “It’s in code though.”

“I can help you work on it, if you want,” Frank offered. Luci smiled back at him.

“Then it’s settled,” Clarke concluded. “Me and Julie will fix this place up over the week, so you could bring coins and technical drawings or whatever down here by, say, this Friday evening.”

“Except that’s the night of the school dance,” Frank reminded the taller boy. “Aren’t you going to be there with Julie?”

Clarke looked sidelong at the brunette. “Well, no. Unless she changes her mind…”

“Oh, Julie, you should come!” Carrie said. “The first dance of the school year? It’s a good opportunity to get you back into social circles!”

Julie shook her head. “On the contrary, my presence would only serve to remind people of what happened between me and Corry at the first dance LAST year. When I not only screwed you and him over, but Laurie Veniti too.”

“No way - or if it does remind them, it’ll only serve to show them how much better of a person you are now,” Carrie insisted. “Come on, you really have been keeping a lot to yourself lately. A dance will do you good. The four of us will stand up for you. I’ll make sure Glen does as well!”

“Glen? You think he’ll be there?” Frank asked.

Carrie pursed her lips. “Yeah. Since he, uh, kinda asked me out - more specifically, to honour him by being his date - and after our cafe meeting became something of a fiasco the other week, I didn’t really want to say no, sooo…” She shrugged.

“Carrie’s right, Julie, you might as well come along,” Luci chimed in. “If you feel uncomfortable, you can always leave early.”

Julie looked around at them. “But…” Her eyes landed on Clarke. “Oh, all right. Phil, we’ll go. If nothing else, we can see Corry’s music group in their first major performance. They’re supposed to be performing when the DJ goes on break.”

“That’s great!” Clarke said, smiling back. “See Jewels? I told you that some people would want you there! You’re simply blowing things out of proportion. After all, since you and Corry aren’t actively fighting any more, what’s the worst thing that could possibly happen?"

As it turned out, Clarke was surprised.

• Another Commentary post is coming this Sunday.
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3.06: MENTAL STRAIN

How sane was she?

The regular counselling sessions with Dr. Golden had helped her to deal with emotional issues like love and trust, it was true. But she couldn’t explain to a regular psychologist about the attempt to kill their unborn self, by time traveling back to the week of their birth. Speaking of that to anyone, aside from the other time travellers, was liable to get her locked up. Or worse, put Carrie in additional danger. No, Julie would have to keep it to herself.

Maybe forever.

“They’re all here now,” Clarke said from the doorway.

Julie sat up. “All right then. Let’s talk time trips.” She swung her legs off the bed, stood, and headed past him, out the door.

“Jewels, are you sure you’re up for it?” Clarke asked, falling into step behind her. “They only called us this morning about the meeting. If it’s too fast–”

“Don’t worry,” Julie said, cutting him off. “I’m not about to wrestle the machine away from Carrie in order to finish what I started last year.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Yeah. Still…”

“More to the point - I need this,” Julie continued. “It’s been ten months since those events, and a part of me is starting to doubt whether it all truly happened.” Her lips pursed. “And I… well, I’d rather not simply dismiss the sacrifices you all made to save me.”

Clarke looked at her for a long moment before smiling back. “Okay then,” he replied. “Let’s see what’s up.”

Her visitors, Carrie, Frank and Luci, all rose from their chairs as she entered the LaMille sitting room. “Julie,” Carrie began. “Hi… look, I want you to know right up front that if you feel at all uncomfortable with what we’re talking about, you have only to tell us and we’ll head out of here with no bad feelings.”

“Noted. Let’s get to it,” she countered.

Carrie nodded, glancing over to Frank and Luci. Frank shrugged. Even Luci looked hesitant. Julie set her jaw. “Look, guys, I may be a little frayed around the edges, but I’m still Julie LaMille. If you’re going to walk on eggshells around me, I’m going to damn well throw you out. Did you interrupt my Sunday morning to talk time travel, or didn’t you?”

“We’re thinking of using your house here as a base of operations,” Luci spoke up. “For storing the coins, and as a jumping off point for time trips, rather than Frank’s home. Or Carrie’s.”

“My parents and Carrie’s father already think something’s up after last year,” Frank added. “So that’s not ideal, particularly if I reappear in my kitchen. But your place isn’t that far from Willowdale Park, and so with either that park or the point of departure being some sort of geographic failsafe, your home is pretty convenient.”

“The mansion is big, mostly empty, and me accidentally turning up in here at any point in the last couple years wouldn’t really be remarked on,” Carrie added.

Julie shifted her gaze to the small black box, currently lying on the floor beside a chair. “You ARE thinking of making more trips then.”

“We have a few present day coins,” Frank admitted. “And if we don’t start soon, that is before January, we’ll be stuck in the present again. So yeah.”

“Carrie thinks that actually doing some time travel might help her to understand more about what she is and isn’t capable of doing on her own too,” Luci added.

“In fact, I took my first trip of the year yesterday,” Carrie stated. “Back to my birthday.” She rubbed her temples. “It was… educational. I think the time has finally come for me to put up or shut up as far as these temporal powers go.”

“Your powers,” Julie remarked, leaning back against the wall. “Then you’re thinking of invoking them too?”

Carrie began to pace. “I have to,” she sighed. “Chartreuse has convinced me that the only real way to ensure that what happened last year at the hospital never happens again, is to achieve some sort of balance with whatever’s inside me. To get a sense of what that even looks like, I’m gonna need to take more time trips. With and without the machine.”

“Incidentally, Carrie’s powers are another reason to bring the two of you in on this now,” Luci said, nodding towards Clarke, who had thus far remained silent. “We’re the five originals. The only ones - aside from Corry - who remember what Carrie is capable of. Thus the only ones who might notice, should things start to run off the rails.”

“Chartreuse would notice too,” Carrie murmured.

“Except she doesn’t REALLY remember last November,” Frank countered. “You had to tell her.”

“She would notice.”

“Look, my point was that Lee, Tim and Laurie wouldn’t, despite also once knowing about the machine,” Luci said.

“I think you’re straying from the point,” Clarke broke in at last. “You’re saying you want to use Julie’s house as a base of operations? What about the surveillance cameras on the property? What about Jeeves, who lives here too?”

“As Carrie said, the place is big, we should be able to avoid Jeeves,” Frank countered. “And the surveillance on the property will work in our favour. We merely need to learn enough to circumvent it, after which it will pick up on any outsider who’s trying to get at the time machine.”

“Like I did, when it was unguarded at your place,” Julie observed.

Frank winced. “Um. Kinda, sorta.”

Julie crossed her arms over her chest. “So, does this mean I’ll get to do more time travel?”

“Not at all,” Frank assured. “We’ll only need your permission to come and go from the house, from this point going forwards. Along with information about the surveillance and such, in case we arrive in some room with an active camera.”

“Because the time machine centres on the DNA of those taking the trip, remember?” Carrie agreed. “So, if we happen to arrive before we leave, we could potentially be here without coming through the front door. Don’t be freaked out by our comings and goings, that’s all.”

“Well, what about your point of arrival in another time period?” Julie challenged. “I’ve spent so much time in the mansion these last three years that any time trip I take is likely to keep me here. I could be an asset to you that way.”

Carrie exchanged a glance with Frank and Luci. “Julie… are you saying you WANT to go on another time trip?”

“I do,” Julie said, without hesitation. “I won’t make it a condition of using the place, but what’s wrong with me coming along?”

Julie surveyed the expressions of the others. Carrie looked surprised, Frank confused, Luci remained inscrutable and Clarke… he simply looked worried. “Jewels… I’m not sure you realize what you’re asking.”

“Oh, come on Phil,” Julie countered, giving him a playful punch in the arm. “All summer you were telling me I needed to get out more. A trip in space, a trip in time, what’s the difference?” She looked at the others. “Besides, I swear, I’m not going to use the opportunity to try anything self-destructive!”

“I don’t know, Julie,” Carrie said, her expression starting to mirror Clarke’s. “Time travel can be dangerous. And we might not limit ourselves to the past, we could also travel as far forwards as December.”

“Though last time we tried a future trip, we almost got run over,” Luci recalled.

“I don’t care,” Julie asserted. “I want to time travel.”

“But why?” Frank protested. “What’s your motivation?”

Julie clenched and unclenched her hands. “Seriously? Don’t you guys get it? I’ve only been on two time trips. And the second one doesn’t count, since it was only Clarke taking me into the cafe to establish an alibi for the shooting. No, whenever I think of time travel, it always brings to mind that first trip, with the gun, and the h-homeless woman and… and m-my p-parents…”

Damn it. Julie forced herself to draw in a long breath, digging her fingernails into her palms. She had to keep control here, or they’d never let her go anywhere. “So, yeah. I hate that. I hate it, I hate it, and yet I can’t stop thinking about it! What’s more, something which has really been starting to eat away at me through my counselling sessions is the realization that, had our situations been reversed, I… I probably wouldn’t have lifted a finger to help any of you!”

She stood straighter, shifting her gaze around the room, to each of them in turn. “So, know what? I vowed that if the opportunity presented itself where I could help you time trippers in return for what you did, I’d take it! More, that I’d go on another trip through time, one I could potentially look back on with pride, not distaste or horror! So, yes, obviously you can use the mansion, but I want - I’d LIKE more than that. Everybody, I want to time travel again!”

“Jewels, careful!” Clarke shouted out, reaching out to grab her arm. She looked down. One of her nails had broken through the skin of her palm, releasing a small trickle of blood. She swallowed.

“Whoopsie. Ah, I’ll just get a bandaid. Talk amongst yourselves,” Julie said, before hurrying out of the room.

Clarke watched her go before turning back to look at the others.  “You know, I wish you’d talked this over with me first,” he sighed.

“I guess we should have,” Carrie admitted, her eyes still on the doorway. “Julie’s never quite seemed that… passionate about anything though. Not recently anyway. She’s been quite subdued at school.”

“Her former followers, which is to say half the school, are out to get her when Corry’s back is turned,” Clarke countered. “The other half, Corry’s original camp, give her the silent treatment - wouldn’t you be subdued? Don’t forget, her family situation has been kept out of the public eye. Heck, even though WE have the information, well… have you ever truly forgiven Julie yourself, Carrie?”

“Of course! She pulled that trigger only because she was being influenced by a crazy man from the future.”

“Not merely the shooting. Julie did some other cruel things to you.”

He saw Carrie shift her weight back and forth uncomfortably. She had to be recalling the betrayal which had involved drugs in her locker and two weeks of detention. “Yeah. I know she was under some personal pressures then too,” Carrie yielded. “I do TRY not to hold such things against her.”

“So, if you’ve forgiven her, why don’t you spend more time with her?" Clarke asked pointedly.

Carrie shrugged. “I… I guess I never thought about it. I’ve had more than a few issues of my own to deal with these last few months, you know!”

“Okay Clarke, let’s get your input now,” Luci broke in. Having resumed her seat, she leaned forwards in her chair. “Quickly, before Julie returns. Do you think she can handle a time trip?”

“I… maybe?” Clarke said. “I must admit, I didn’t know she felt this strongly about the subject myself. But I see where she’s coming from - a part of her wants to forget about that trip. However, if she does that, she’ll lose this connection she has to all of you. And I don’t think Julie wants to do that, not now that she’s finally beginning to understand concepts like love, friendship and self sacrifice.”

“We’ve made a bit of a mess of things today then,” Frank realized, also resuming his seat. “Perhaps we should call the whole thing off.”

Clarke reached back to rub the back of his neck. “Perhaps? But you don’t want to do that permanently, or you could break Julie’s heart. Outward appearances aside, she is in a fragile state. You can’t set her up this way, and then drop her. Her feelings, when she expresses them these days, they tend to go all out.”

“What would you suggest then?” Carrie asked.

“Continue to involve her,” Clarke decided, after a moment’s thought. “In that respect, using this place as a base isn’t a bad idea. Even a time trip has possibilities. But not solo. And not now. You have to make sure not to bring her along too fast, and don’t take her condition for granted. Julie isn’t the same person she was last year.”

“Who am I supposed to be then?” Julie asked as she reentered the room.

Clarke flinched, not having heard her approach. “I was telling them how far you’ve come in terms of your therapy,” he said quickly. “Since the last time you time traveled.”

“Oh!” Julie nodded. “Is it okay for me to go on the next trip then?”

“Actually,” Luci said. “We’ll need to hold off on trips for a while yet. We don’t have that many present day coins. The issue today was more having a fixed point in time when we all knew what was going on. Right?”

“Right,” Frank agreed. “We’ll need to keep an eye out for more coins minted in our current year before taking any trips.”

Clarke took a half step back, firing off a quick smile to them from behind Julie.

Julie pursed her lips. “Why wait? If this is now a fixed point in time, someone could simply time travel back TO now, from some point later, once there are already more coins in our possession. At which point our future selves can simply hand the money over to our present day selves.”

“Huh,” Frank mused. He glanced to Carrie.

The blonde shook her head. “Sorry, we can’t, because we won’t,” she rejected. “It’s not that it’s a bad idea, and it’s hard for me to explain exactly, but since we apparently haven’t done that, we’re not going to. It’s like… our present is their past. Puts the onus on us. Who knows what will happen in two months time? Maybe we’ll forget, maybe the machine will break down…”

“Couldn’t you foresee those sorts of events though?” Clarke wondered.

Carrie began to look uneasy. “Maybe. Chartreuse thinks so. But I’m reluctant to test it.”

“You know what though? We might be able to generate more coins via causal loops,” Frank realized. “Carrie has done it before with information. Telling herself something, then going back in time and saying it again, when she was the only source. She even generated an apple out of nowhere last September. Couldn’t we do the same thing with coins?”

Carrie began to rub her temples again. “Yeah, that’s… not the best plan. For one, I’m still not clear about how I managed the apple. For another, the very act of using the machine would burn up the coin we get, meaning it can’t be used elsewhere anyway.”

“So use two coins,” Luci countered. “We’ll put them onto a table in the morning. That evening, someone can use one one coin to travel back in time five minutes, picking up both coins. Then use one of THOSE to travel back a further five minutes, again picking up both coins. We keep repeating the process, getting an extra coin each time until finally–”

“My head explodes,” Carrie interrupted, shifting from having her fingers on her temples to pressing her palms there. “Gods, entertaining that thought physically HURTS! Much more than the usual background static! Damn it Luci, that’s not how time travel works… if it’s my destiny to pick up the coins thirty minutes ago, I won’t be able to pick them up five minutes ago. They’ll be gone! Besides, I think temporal random variance would have a thing or two to say about the attempt.”

“It IS an interesting new paradox though,” Frank reflected. “If we use a coin to time travel, and then on that trip we take the coin away before it’s used, could we actually go on the trip?”

“Frank… not helping with the headache,” Carrie said, gritting her teeth.

Frank frowned. “You’re not about to make things fly through the air, are you?"

“Shall I get an aspirin?” Julie asked.

“I doubt aspirin would do much,” Carrie sighed, after shooting Frank a look. “I have had pains like this before. I think when my powers awoke, they imbued me with some sort of temporal conscience. That’s part of the reason I’ve avoided discussing time travel philosophy with people this year.”

“Really?” Luci asked. “I thought the issue was that you had trouble making sense out of it.”

“That too,” Carrie yielded. “Though I have tried to do more research. Being tied to a destiny and all.”

“Well, if time trickery is out, you could simply get more money,” Julie decided. “Given that some percentage of all money out there has current year coins, more money leads to more useful coins. In fact, by knowing the future, you can win money at anything from lottery numbers to betting on sporting events.”

Carrie began to rock back and forth. “Wait.”

Frank snapped his fingers. “Or there’s the stock market! With the time machine we could invest today in something that we know will rise substantially over the next week and–”

“SHUT UP!” Carrie shrieked, collapsing back onto the couch.

Everyone turned to stare. The blonde took a few slow breaths, her eyes closed and her palms against her head. It took at least ten seconds, but finally one blue eye reopened. “For crying out loud people, were you SERIOUSLY trying to make my head explode there?!?”

“Carrie, a lottery wouldn’t need to involve you at all,” Luci pointed out. “We’d make the trip ourselv–”

“STOP!” Carrie drew in her next breath through clenched teeth. “Look. News flash. Apparently it doesn’t matter whether you do it, whether I do it, or whether the neighbour’s cat does it. Playing with the normal flow of time that way? It’s like an ice pick right here!” She jabbed her finger at the side of her head. “Though, Gods, TALK has never done this to me before… why now, all of a sudden?!"

“We’ve never talked about it seriously before,” Frank speculated. “This is the first time we’ve brought it up with an intent to actually follow through.”

“Lovely,” Carrie said, dropping her head between her knees. “You know what? I’d better have some damn good mental shields in place before these time machine devices actually get invented! If not, idle chatter like that is liable to make me lose my friggin’ mind and go on a homicidal rampage as a preemptive strike.”

Frank visibly flinched, but only Clarke and Luci noticed.

“You know,” Clarke offered. “You’re all missing the obvious. If it’s merely more money you need… Julie already has money. Quite a bit. She can withdraw a bunch of rolled coins and search for more of the type you need.”

Luci frowned. “Seriously? I figured Julie’s parents would have cut her off.”

Julie nodded slowly. “True, they did, but I have my own account,” she admitted. “I’m not stupid, I made sure there was one they couldn’t touch. Plus there’s still a few electronic tidbits lying around, which I bought to help with taking over the school, and they have value. Even without access to my parents' funds, I’m probably better off than ninety percent of this town’s population.”

“Plus you could always travel back a year or two and sneak out extra funds then,” Frank mused. His gaze jerked back to Carrie. “Or would that be another temporal violation?”

“It’s hard to tell, I’m still throbbing from the lottery remarks,” Carrie grumbled without looking up.

“There may have been a couple of times when funds went missing,” Julie granted. “Though I’d have to think about it. In the meantime, I can withdraw $100 in coins… but sifting through them will take time.”

“We are in no rush,” Clarke assured.

“That’s actually a really good plan,” Frank agreed. “It wouldn’t involve wasting what few coins we have now on any attempts to get more.”

“Great,” Carrie said. “Because I think my head has had more than enough of talking about time travel for today.”

“You sure you don’t want some aspirin?” Julie asked. Carrie gestured vaguely in response. “I’ll get some,” the brunette decided, hurrying from the room.

Clarke watched her go before turning back to the others. “Thanks guys,” he said sincerely. “Helping this way, it will mean a lot to Julie. While keeping her safely in the present.”

“Least we can do, after neglecting her this long,” Frank reflected. “Somehow I never thought we’d be of much help during Julie’s therapy.”

“A person always needs friends,” Clarke countered. “And it’s not like she can spill our whole story to her psychologist.”

“Here’s the last big question then,” Luci stated. “Is it truly safe for us to leave the time machine here? Where Julie can access it?”

Clarke furrowed his brow. “Um. That is a good question,” he acknowledged. He thought about it. “Maybe not, but if we–”

He was interrupted by the sound of a loud scream from down the hall. Julie’s scream.

• In case you missed it, I posted up some statistics for the month last Sunday. It got more response than anticipated.
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3.05: TOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

“Yeah, who knew?” Chartreuse replied. “She was heir to the Diamond diamond fortune. Of course, her mother Mother Diamond’s diamonds weren’t from the Dullsville Diamond Mine. They were mining coal instead.”

Carrie stared blankly at her house guest.

“Never mind,” Chartreuse decided. “Here’s the thing. Some people wanted to kidnap Tope and ransom her back for Diamond diamonds. Hence we Vermilions were, you know, asked to help in taking Tope someplace safe.”

“All right,” Carrie said slowly. “Assuming I followed that, when did this turn into a love story?”

Chartreuse blushed. “Right after my eyes locked with Tope’s.”

“Right after your eyes locked with Tope’s,” Carrie repeated back. “Chartreuse, this IS a girl we’re talking about here, right?”

“Yes. But when I was fourteen, I was, like, bisexual. In fact, I’m pretty sure I still am.” Chartreuse swallowed. “I guess that’s never come up. I don’t advertise. Does it bother you? Do you want me to go?”

“Yeah. My sister’s remarked on that,” Chartreuse admitted. “Which is partly why she’s teasing me lately, what with you coming over. But of course, Tope’s hair was, like, longer, her skin was paler and she, you know, smiled more.”

“Ah,” Carrie said. “Just so long as this Tope doesn’t have odd temporal powers too. Because if you were writing me in, I’d have to stop listening.”

“No, no, Tope only had power over my heart,” the pink haired girl said, following the comment with another dreamy sigh.

Carrie’s eyebrow twitched. “Chartreuse, is this Tope about to convince you to use your powers and save the day?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Chartreuse accused. “I’ll have you know that I did NOT, like, use my powers during the trip. What happened next was Mom rode with the agents up front, Dad and Azure followed in our car, and I, you know, went with Tope in the camper unit itself.”

"So you can, like, see the future, and stuff?" Tope said, wide eyed.  “Ohmigod, that is so cool, you know?”

Chartreuse shrugged as she finished dying the last few locks of her hair. "I can, but I'm not doing it any more," she said. “It's what I said, and I'm sticking by it. My Mom can consult her spiritual advisors to help in choosing a route for us instead." She put her bottle of 'Quik-Dye' back in her backpack. "Now, I have to ask... has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful blue eyes in the world?"

Tope blushed. "Usually just, like, guys who, you know, want my money or my virginity or stuff. So I just tell them, 'yeah, right, as if!' and they, you know, totally get the picture." She paused. "When you say it though, it feels different. Did you totally, like, mean that?"

“Of course I did," the taupe haired girl said softly. "There's something about you, your look, your voice, your perfume - it's making my senses go crazy! I... I can't believe I'm about to say this, Tope, but I've wanted to be close to you ever since the moment I saw you. Would you allow me to kiss you?"

“What? Me, kissed by a girl??” Tope squeaked. "Ewww! That's like... like... well, okay, I guess I don't know what that's like. Hmmm. Gee, now you've got me totally curious. Very well, Chartreuse. You may kiss me!"

Chartreuse could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she moved in closer to that long flowing hair, those blue eyes, those luscious red lips... instinctively, she moved her arms out to encircle Tope's waist. Tope Diamond looked up at her then with another shy smile, draping her own arms over Chartreuse's shoulders, her perfume intoxicating her lover's senses as their eyes closed and...

“Um, but you, like, totally don’t need to hear that part of the story,” Chartreuse realized, cutting herself off with a cough.

“Chartreuse, were you two about to make out??” Carrie said, wide-eyed.

“We just, like, became distracted. Now, outside…”

“Oh my God, you did! You made out!”

“We got distracted!”

“When you were fourteen, you made out with a girl you’d just met? That’s… that’s… what the hell is that about?!”

The pink haired girl flushed. “Carrie, don’t fixate. Youth is for experimentation. Besides, must I, like, get into some the guys you’ve, you know, made out with? On a first date, no less?”

The blonde paused. She supposed she had gone to some questionable lengths in her first few years of high school, to get favours done for herself or for Julie. “Ugh. Fine.”

“So we got distracted,” Chartreuse repeated stubbornly. “As such we, you know, totally didn’t realize the battle was going on until the door kinda blew in.”

"Ohmigod! What was that?" Chartreuse gasped, poking her head out from around the drapes surrounding the camper bed.

"Oh, that was, like, sooooo good...! Do it again...!"

"No, shhhhhh, something's happened! The camper’s not moving and the door is gone!" hissed the taupe haired girl.

Tope's head appeared next to Chartreuse's, a hand raking her long blonde hair back out of her eyes. "Whoa," she murmured. "The Peeping Toms in this area totally don't fool around, yeah?”

"Stay here.” Chartreuse ducked back behind the drapes for a couple of seconds, then jumped out, finishing buttoning up her blouse. "I'll check it out." She reached back into her backpack, pulling out a medium sized relaxation crystal.

The taupe haired mystic crept cautiously towards the door. Moments before reaching it, a man in a grey pinstripe suit stepped in, wielding a tommy gun and smoking a cigar. "All right, me and my boys, we're taking over now, see?" the man said with a thick Brooklyn accent. "So if youse want to just toss that crystal aside and get your hands up, we can be through here nice and peaceful-like."

Chartreuse blinked at the man, glanced down at the crystal in her hand, then proceeded to toss it at him with all the strength she could muster. Caught by surprise, it smacked him in the middle of his forehead and he went down like a sack of wet rocks. The taupe haired girl quickly grabbed the gangster's gun and scrambled past him to glance out the camper's doorway.

The stretch of road they were on was currently deserted - with some notable exceptions. To the right, Chartreuse saw an attack squad of ninjas surrounding her father. Straight ahead, a number of old west gunslingers were facing off against her mother. And to the left, a bunch of Scotsmen with bagpipes were advancing on her sister. Agents Queue and Eh were on the ground unconscious.

"Are you ready to die?" one of the ninjas was saying, his words not quite syncing up with his lips.

"I'm sorry to say that I'm not ready just yet," Hugh Vermilion replied. Then with a yell of 'Aiiiiiiieeeee!' he leapt up into the air and took out a handful of his assailants with a seemingly impossible horizontal spin kick.

"Draw!" one of the cowboys shouted out.

"No!" Amber Vermilion retorted defiantly.

"Fine," the gunslinger said, whipping out his own gun.  Yet even as he did so, a beam of light rose from the small hilt Amber had in her hand. The amber beam neatly deflected the incoming bullet away, and she continued to deftly manipulate her light sword in order to avoid the other bullets which followed.

"About time you decided to help!" Azure shouted accusingly at her sister, drawing Chartreuse's attention to her.

"Ach, there be none who can help ye now, young 'un!" said one of the kilted men. "We'll deafen ye an' take our prize!"

"Oh brother," Azure sighed. She pulled out the small pendant she wore around her neck and shouted out, "Release!" The small key expanded to form a long staff, which Azure then spun about in her hands while she simultaneously withdrew a card from her pocket, tossing it in front of her. "Fight Card!" Azure called out. The magic circle of Clow Reed appeared around her as she tapped the staff on the card. "Release and--"

“Oh, no, wait a minute,” Chartreuse said, furrowing her brow. “I’m getting Azure’s card powers mixed up with one of those classic Japanese anime shows Laurie likes to watch.”

“Chartreuse, I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of other wires crossing here too.”

“Maybe I should, you know, skip the fight scene, it was all a little hazy,” Chartreuse decided. “Is that okay, Carrie?”

“Fine by me,” the blonde said, rolling her eyes. “In fact, I never thought I’d say this, but I preferred the love story.”

“Yeah… Tope totally catches one’s eye, doesn’t she?” Chartreuse sighed, clasping her hands.

“That’s not what I… look, never mind. Are we nearly done here?” Carrie inquired. “Because I feel another massive headache coming on.”

“Actually, yes, almost,” Chartreuse said. “Because, see, this is where things get particularly poignant. For it was while we were defeating our many enemies on the one side of the camper, that a group of midgets in trenchcoats broke in through the other side and successfully kidnapped Tope Diamond! My one true love had been taken from me! So I resolved to use my powers again, in order to locate Tope and get her back.”

"Are you sure you can do this? After all, an accurate read of her near future will require particular knowledge of Tope," Hugh Vermilion reminded his daughter. "Did you get some in the time you were together?"

“Yeah. More than you think," Chartreuse muttered, trying to dispel the afterimages of Tope's gentle caresses. She set the last stone in front of her and closed her eyes.

“Remember not to push yourself too hard dear,” Amber reminded. "The forces have a way of drawing you in, if you let your guard down."

"Yes, mom," Chartreuse sighed, already sinking into the deep meditative state required as she focused on Tope and where the beautiful blonde was going to be taken. "Ohm, ohm, oh my... spirits from beyond, show me what is to come!"

Almost immediately her eyes snapped open, unseeing, as her spirit form left her and centred in on Tope's immediate future. She saw a warehouse. Chartreuse flickered through the wall to verify, and sure enough, there was Tope, being tied up to a chair.

"You total idiots!" Tope was saying, her voice somewhat distorted due to the vision. "You were, like, only supposed to threaten to take me, not, you know, actually do it! I mean, do you have any clue what you interrupted?! There was, like, this really hot girl and we were totally working our way towards a..."

Sixty-nine, that was the number listed on the warehouse. Dullsville Warehouse No. 69. Chartreuse had the information she needed, and a part of her warned that it was time to return to the present. Yet what was Tope saying, had she been a part of the original conspiracy? Surely not! Still, the idea made Chartreuse hesitate long enough for the vision to pull her onwards, further into the future.

"Okay, I, like, admit it, I totally screwed up," Tope said, her head bowed. "I'm sorry, Mom. I just wanted, well, a little adventure in my life. It was so totally dull here in Dullsville! I never, like, thought things would go so, you know, wacky."

'No, Tope, say it isn't so!' Chartreuse thought. 'You set this whole life threatening affair in motion?!' She tried to get a clearer read on where she was now, but the light reflections from the diamonds Mother Diamond was wearing were interfering with her sight. She couldn't tune into the conversation properly while trying to orient herself either, so she strained her ears to hear what was being said instead.

"...totally learned my lesson," came Tope's voice again. "I won't, you know, bother the government any more. Anyway, people out in the world are so, like, weird! It's a good thing I didn't, you know, get attached to any of them. Well, except the one."

Chartreuse felt her heart jump. 'Which one? Me?' she wondered. The vision began to melt away. 'No, no, I have to know more!' Chartreuse thought desperately. And there was more. The lure was there, the path to the final outcome of this sequence of events... and since Tope was apparently going to be rescued, what was the harm in looking?

She was in a church. Chartreuse's breath caught in her throat. A twentysomething Tope Diamond stood before her, absolutely radiant in her white wedding dress. "I, like, do," Tope said quietly before turning to smile happily at the person standing beside her. Chartreuse shifted her gaze in that direction as well. Knowing full well that this information would be too much for her, yet she was unable to stop herself.

The man wearing the black tuxedo and dark sunglasses looked back at Tope. "Eh?" he said.

Chartreuse fell over the cliff.

 

"SNAP OUT OF IT ALREADY!" Azure's voice screamed.

Chartreuse felt like she'd been pulled back into her body by an elastic band. She blinked her eyes a few times, only to realize she couldn't see. "Ohmigod, I'm, like, blind!" Chartreuse gasped out.

"Chartreuse?!?" Azure yanked the two jokers off of her sister's eyes.

"Ow! Oh, that's, you know, totally better," Chartreuse said. She glanced around only to find that she was seated in the middle of the coffee table back at their home, surrounded by several houses made of cards, arranged in a pentagram shape.

A lock of her hair was swinging in front of her face. Chartreuse reached out to grab it. "Say, when did I, like, dye my hair orange-violet-silver-fushia-green-taupe-candycane-cyan?"

"I did it! Oh thank goodness, I did it and it worked!" Azure said, reaching out to grab Chartreuse in a bear hug.

Chartreuse patted her sister uncertainly. "Um, yeah!" she agreed. "Though I think, I've, you know, missed something. What happened with, like, Tope Diamond?"

Azure pulled back. “Oh, that? I was able to get a reading of the past from the fedora that one gangster was wearing," she explained. "It was left behind in the camper. Seems he'd been recruited for the mission exactly one week ago by this con, Venient Plotwist. Mom got the location of Venient's warehouse from one of his recent victims, then Dad organized a strike force to retrieve Tope."

"Oh," Chartreuse said, nonplussed. "Then I was, like, no help at all. I totally messed up."

"Ayup," Azure affirmed. "That's what you get for mixing business with pleasure."

Chartreuse coughed. "Um, pleasure? Like, what pleasure?"

Azure rolled her eyes. "Sis, please. It’s taken me five days to restore your consciousness to the state it was in back in the past, before you zonked out. And the vibes between you and Tope were so strong that at first, I couldn't even isolate the two of you! Even now, I think there’s been some leakage... I mean, have you noticed you're talking like some valley girl here?”

"Like, what?" Chartreuse said in surprise. "Oh, that's, you know, totally ridiculous." She paused, reaching up to hold her throat. "Like, no way. I mean, like, no way. No, I said, like... ohmigod, I totally can't stop!"

"I am genuinely sorry," Azure said sadly. "But it was either that, or have my sister become a table centrepiece for the rest of her life."

Chartreuse tapped her throat again gently before letting out a sigh. "It's, like, okay. It wasn't, you know, your fault," she murmured. "Though, wait, did you say it's been five days?!"

Azure nodded. "We've explained your disappearance by saying you're off with Mom at Aunt Fluffy's funeral. It's kinda tragic, she died saving this kid. Seems a tree was going to fall on him, but she pushed him out of the way."

"My vision," Chartreuse realized. "Oh, wow. You mean, if I'd tried to stop it, some innocent child would be, you know, dead instead? I never saw that part!"

"I guess. All I care about is that you're back!” Azure said, giving Chartreuse another quick hug before moving to retrieve some of the playing cards on the table. "I mean, without you, who would I have to annoy?"

"I'm, like, touched," the orange-violet-silver-fushia-green-taupe-candycane-cyan haired girl said. She paused to pull at a lock of her hair again. "Though seriously, what is it with all these shades??"

"Oh, I wasn't sure if your frequent hair colour changes would impair my abilities to home in on your past self," Azure said. “So I redyed it. I mean, if you WERE going to be a centrepiece, this way we'd at least have a colourful one."

Chartreuse frowned. "You know, I'd totally have a good retort for that, if it weren't for one thing."

“Oh? What?"

“The fact that this experience has, you know, turned my stomach inside out," Chartreuse said, lurching off the coffee table and sprinting for the nearest bathroom.

Carrie stared at her companion in silence for a short while.

“So, that’s it?” Carrie said at last.

“Yup,” Chartreuse confirmed back. “Understand now?”

Carrie passed a hand in front of her eyes. “Chartreuse,” she began. “Couldn’t you have summed up that WHOLE STORY by simply telling me, ‘I once had a vision of my aunt’s death, but it turned out that she was saving someone else in the process, so it’s good that I didn’t try to prevent it’??”

“Of course not! You, like, miss all the nuances that way!”

Carrie threw herself back onto her bed with a groan. “Chartreuse,” she repeated with exaggerated patience. “I have been lying here all weekend, unable to keep down any food, with my insides feeling like they’re stuck in a vice, all because there is some part of me that now feels like it can twist free and display home movies of death and destruction in my mind. Movies that I can’t control, and that I can’t shut off.

“The ONE HOPE I’ve been trying to hold onto, is that if I experience another vision, I can FORCE myself into doing something to change the outcome. And yet now you’re telling me that, by making such a change, I could cause events to be even worse than they otherwise would be?!”

There was another protracted silence.

“You didn’t understand then,” Chartreuse concluded.

“I understand that you have a weird family.”

“No, listen,” Chartreuse insisted. “You experienced an unsettling vision of the future. I get that. But now that you’ve, you know, worked through any physical discomfort, it’s time for us to deal with the mental side of things. Because even though you can’t always control your powers, you can’t let them control you either. If you do, you won’t see something you could have seen, like me with Tope’s kidnappers. Or you’ll, like, push yourself until you see something you’re not meant to see, as I did with Tope’s wedding.”

“Gee, thanks Chartreuse. What other option IS there, aside from me being in control, or my powers being in control?!”

“Isn’t that obvious?” the mystic replied. “Find the balance. Life goes on, Carrie. You can’t obsess over everything these weird forces throw at you, or you’ll never be able to enjoy yourself. Trust me, I know. All too well.”

The pink haired girl smiled sadly, then began to back away, towards the bedroom door. “Anyway, I’ve probably overstayed my welcome. So I’m gonna, you know, head back home. But I hope you feel a bit better? I am looking forward to our next session! See you in school tomorrow, okay?”

With that, Chartreuse slipped back out of Carrie’s bedroom.

Carrie listened as her guest headed downstairs, said goodbye to her father, and then left the house. She continued to lie quietly on her bed for several long minutes before finally standing and moving to look at herself in the mirror.

“Find the balance?”

Carrie dragged her hair back off her forehead and pursed her lips. “Because I have been letting my fears of the future get the best of me,” she realized. “Worse, I’ve been doing it for months. No wonder it feels like my head is trapped in a washing machine stuck on spin. Thank you, Chartreuse.”

She turned away from her reflection. It was very clear what she had to do now. Namely get Frank to explain to her about setting the time machine, so that she could travel back to her last birthday. To have that talk with herself about Chartreuse. If nothing else, it would be one less future event for her to be concerned about.

Wait, hadn’t Frank already been by this weekend? Carrie marched out onto the upstairs landing. “Hey, Dad?” she called out.

“Yes, Carrie?” she heard him call from the bottom of the stairs. “Are you feeling better?”

“I think so. What’s been happening this weekend, anyone leaving messages for me?”

“Someone named Glen called for you twice,” her father said. “And Frank and Luci dropped by. Actually, Frank seemed more nervous than usual, and when he heard you were ill, he asked me if any knives had been flying through the air. I’m not sure what he meant by that.”

Carrie’s eyebrow twitched. “It means my first call today will be to Luci instead,” she decided, before spinning on her heel and heading back into her room. It was time to get their time travel group back together.

• End Arc 3.1 - next Arc begins next week!
• Consider voting for Time & Tied at WebFictionGuide. Eternal optimism; I've had a couple clicks in from their "Fantasy" page.

3.04: THE VISIONARIES

“The popcorn?” the young asian guessed, entering the Dijora house and looking at him in amusement. “I mean, that was our arrangement, you get the popcorn, I get the movie…”

“Yes, yes, but look what I received in the way of change,” Frank said, fumbling in his pocket for the money. He held six coins out for inspection.

Luci stared. “They… overcharged you?"

“The dates,” Frank said patiently. “Look at the dates.”

Comprehension dawned. “Oh! Two more from the current year."

“Yup,” Frank affirmed as he pocketed them. “It’s weird, for whatever reason, we haven’t had as many recently minted coins in circulation this year. I don’t know why, but it could be a problem for when we resume time trips.”

“When? Not if? But Carrie hasn’t authorized more time trips.”

“Well, no,” Frank admitted. “But she can’t hold out indefinitely, can she? In particular, now that she’s gone out with Glen, we may want to use the time machine to investigate…”

“Yes, right,” Frank agreed. “What did you find?” Luci smirked as she held up the casing. Frank’s eyebrow went up as he read it. “Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’?,” he questioned. Luci nodded.

Sunday afternoon found Chartreuse ringing the doorbell at the Waterson residence. Carrie’s father answered it for her moments later. “Um, hi!” she began. “Is Carrie in? I think we, like, have something that we need to talk about.”

Hank Waterson shook his head. “She is here, but she’s not feeling very well. Could you come back another day?”

Chartreuse pursed her lips. “I could. Except I think I know what her problem is, why she’s been so, you know, withdrawn all weekend. And I think I can help.”

“Really?” Hank said. “What’s wrong? I know she doesn’t have a fever, but it seems to be more than an upset stomach…”

“It’s related to our weekly sessions,” Chartreuse hedged. “Can I please talk to her?”

“She refuses to speak with anyone. Insisting only aggravates her - I had to turn away both Frank and Luci when they came by. In fact, it’s all I can do to get her to say anything to me.”

“Carrie doesn’t have to speak to me, only listen,” Chartreuse pleaded. “Please, Mr. Waterson? I know what I’m talking about.”

“Well… all right. Come in,” Hank Waterson decided, moving aside. “I do hate to see my daughter like this and I’m at a bit of a loss as to a solution. You sure she won’t mind seeing you?”

“Go away!” Carrie shouted through her bedroom door.

“Carrie, hear me out!” Chartreuse protested. “You’re upset because of the fire at the cafe, right?”

No reply. Chartreuse knew she was right. The pink haired girl motioned with her hands for Carrie’s father to depart.

He looked at his daughter’s door, then back at her. “Call me if she starts throwing things,” Mr. Waterson said at last, before heading back downstairs.

“Look, I understand some of what you’re going through,” Chartreuse continued, once she was alone. “I’d like to tell you a story about the time my abilities caused trouble in my life too. Can’t I, like, say it to your face?”

Nothing.

“Fine, I’ll talk through the door,” Chartreuse continued stubbornly. “It all started three years ago, when I was fourteen. I’d received a disturbing vision. It was a vision of death…”

"There has to be something we can do!" Chartreuse said desperately, nibbling on a lock of her violet coloured hair. "I don't want Fluffy to die! Not like that!!"

Her mother sat down on the bed next to her. "I'm sorry, Chartreuse," she said softly. "We can warn her, but I'm not sure she'd understand us. Fluffy's always enjoyed playing in traffic, it was just a matter of time."

"But... but it's not right!" Chartreuse objected. "Can't she be kept in her house? Can't we prevent things that way?"

"She'd find a way out," Mrs. Vermilion sighed. "You know her, she's sneaky that way. There are some things you can stop, Chartreuse, and other things that are inevitable. You have to let this one go, dear. Fluffy's death is meant to happen."

"But Mom, she's your own sister-in-law!" the violet haired girl sobbed. "If this is what it means to see the future, I don't want to see it any more!"

"Chartreuse, she may have married your uncle, but me and Fluffy weren't that close," her mother insisted. "Now, please, try to work through this. You can take all the time you need."

“Hold it!” Carrie interrupted. The lock clicked, and the door of her bedroom opened a crack. “Are you telling me Fluffy was your aunt?!”

“Yes,” Chartreuse sighed. “It was so horrible. She died when a tree fell on her.”

Carrie glared at Chartreuse with one eye. “You’re making this up.”

“I am not!” Chartreuse said indignantly. “Our other aunt, Emerald, was quite broken up about it! I think maybe my Mom was too, but of course since she can see, like, astral projections, she could still talk to Fluffy after her sister-in-law’s death.”

“But… if a tree fell on Fluffy, what did playing in traffic have to do with anything?”

“If Fluffy hadn’t been in the road, the tree would have, you know, missed her,” Chartreuse said patiently. “Now, are you going to keep asking questions, or can I continue my story?”

Carrie hesitated, which Chartreuse took to be a yes.

"All right, Chartreuse," Mr. Vermilion said, entering the room. "I'm sorry, but we can't afford to give you any more time to grieve."

"But Dad, it's been less than an hour!” the orange haired girl wailed. "Can't I at least--"

“Stop! You said your hair was violet a minute ago,” Carrie interrupted again.

“Did I?”

“You did! How can it be orange less than an hour later?”

“Maybe you, like, misheard me through the door. Can I come into your bedroom already?”

Carrie glared at Chartreuse again before finally opening the door wide enough to allow the other girl inside. “Thank you,” Chartreuse said. “Ooh, you have a nice room here, Carrie. Nice pyjamas too.”

“Don’t try and change the subject,” Carrie said, closing the door and moving to lie back down on her bed. “Now, skip to the part where your story has something to do with the fire I was in.”

“Oh… were you actually in the cafe when your vision occurred?” Chartreuse said. “I didn’t realize. Maybe this isn’t the most appropriate story after all.”

Carrie sat back up. “I knew it! You’ve been making it up.”

“No way!!” Chartreuse objected. “You want to know what, like, happened next?”

“Okay,” Carrie retorted. “What happened next?”

"Honey, I'm sorry," Mr. Vermilion said. "But we may need you to use your abilities--"

"I'm not ever using them again!" Chartreuse countered. "I'm renouncing my powers! I don't wanna know anything more about what might be happening around me!"

"But the Prime Minister of Canada has a very important job for us to do," her father insisted. "Won't you at least listen to what he has to say?"

The orange haired girl eyed him. “Well... all right, I'll listen. But I won't do anything I don’t want to!”

"That's my girl," Mr. Vermilion said with a smile. He reached out to twist the bedknob on his daughter's bed, which caused the mirror on the vanity to rotate 90 degrees. The two of them jumped into the tunnel now visible behind the mirror, sliding down a chute and falling into the couch at the bottom. Mrs. Vermilion looked over and smiled at them as she reached out and clicked on a small remote. A large wall screen lit up with an image of Jean Chretien.

"'Allos!" the Prime Minister said. "As I was saying, I am having a very important jobs for you Vermoothians!"

“CHARTREUSE!!!”

“Oh, what now?”

Carrie pressed a hand to her forehead. “You expect me to believe ANY of that actually took place?!?”

Chartreuse sighed. “Fine, I didn’t give in quite that easily, but I’m, like, embellishing a bit in the interests of time. Do you really want me to go into every little detail?”

“That’s… not my problem! What about all that other stuff? With the bedknob, the chute and Chretien?!”

“Oh, that! See, I was going through this secret agent phase, which is partly why I kept re-dying my hair. My parents were nice enough to humour me by doing some, you know, remodelling. As to Chretien, we, like, have a filter set up so that all communications coming in from the Houses of Parliament look and sound like Chretien, no matter who the Prime Minister actually is. Jean was my dad’s favourite prime minister, you know, even if the guy could never pronounce our family name properly.”

Carrie stared. “Chartreuse. This is a stretch. Even for you.”

“Well, whether you believe it or not, that doesn’t change what, like, happened!” Chartreuse said petulantly. “Now, are you going to listen to me, or are you going to interrupt every five seconds?”

“Fine, fine.  Continue the story,” Carrie sighed.

The image of Jean Chretien cleared his throat. "So's if you Verminions could handles dat little problem for me, da government would be grateful. Until da next times!" His image clicked off the monitor.

"I can't believe that guy won even one election," eleven year old Azure muttered from her own seat on the couch. Her father shot her a look of annoyance.

“That's beside the point,” Mrs. Vermilion stated. “Now then Hugh, how do you figure we should handle things?"

Mr. Vermilion stood. "Well Amber, the best way to protect this Tope Diamond while it's en route would be to choose what seems to be the safest path, and then have Chartreuse tell us if she foresees any impending danger. If she does, we can change our plans and try another reading."

"Good!" Azure said, standing up. "Then you don't need MY ability!"

"Wait, I'm not helping out here!" Chartreuse protested, also rising. "Have you forgotten that I was only here to listen? My powers are still renounced!"

Azure blinked over at her sister. "Really? You finally came to your senses? What caused the sudden turnaround?"

"It's personal," Chartreuse said, crossing her arms.

“Don't be an idiot," Azure countered. "If you don't tell me, I'll simply go scrying into your past and find out for myself!"

Chartreuse turned her back on the blue haired girl.

Rolling her eyes, Azure pulled a deck of cards out of a pocket of her jeans. She closed her eyes, murmuring a quick incantation as she shuffled, before dealing eight cards out onto the coffee table. She then flipped over the next card, the ace of spades. "A vision and a death," Azure mumbled, after a cursory examination.

She proceeded to cut the deck and turn over the top card, which listed upon it the rules for playing draw poker. Her eyes went wide. "Oh no, Auntie Em! Uncle Henry! And their little dog too!"

"Emerald and her family will be fine, Azure," her mother soothed. "The imminent death Chartreuse foresaw was Aunt Fluffy's."

"Oh, right. I knew that," Azure said, gathering her cards back up.

Chartreuse stamped her foot on the floor. "How can you all take that news so casually?!" she said angrily. "This is a human life we're talking about! And you haven't even given me an hour to deal with that yet!"

"Chartreuse, people die every day," her mother soothed. "I know, because I've seen a lot of them after it happened. We're not being cruel, dear, it's simply that we accept death as being a part of life."

"Besides," her father chimed in. "Even if you don't actively use your abilities, you'll still get flashes and pick up random impressions from people. Isn't that right, dear?"

"It is," Amber Vermilion confirmed.

"I don't care!" the orange haired girl said. “I’ll be a hermit if I have to! I don't care about my powers, I don't care about this Tope Diamond, and I will not be bribed with a peach sundae, so Mom, put that money back in your purse!"

Amber replaced the bills, abashed.

"You go, girl!" Azure said. "Don't be fooled by the old 'just this one time, it's so important to the general population' trick either. I cannot BELIEVE we keep falling for that..."

"This IS important to the general population though," Hugh Vermilion pointed out. "After all, most people have never heard of the Tope Diamond's existence. But they will, unless we can get it safely to the required destination!"

"Would it be so bad if they did find out?" Chartreuse challenged.

"We can't know that until we see this Diamond for ourselves," her father replied. "There's no school tomorrow, so how about we all travel to Dullsville to check it out? A day trip. A family outing!"

"Oh no, this is how it starts," Azure moaned.

"It will also give you more time to come to grips with what you've seen, dear," Chartreuse's mother added. "I mean, you don't want to make any hasty decisions tonight.”

"Don't listen to them, sis, don't listen!"

"We can always have peach sundaes for dinner tonight too," Hugh finished. "Though if we spend much more time arguing, I won't have a chance to get to the stores before they close."

The orange haired girl shifted her weight back and forth uncertainly. "Well... all right, I'll go, but I still won't use my powers," she decided.

"You traitor!" Azure shouted. "You know I can't stay here all by myself!"

"Oh come on, sweetie, it'll be fun," Amber said, reaching out to hug her youngest daughter. "We'll have some blueberry ice cream tonight as well, how about that?"

Azure made a face. “FINE,” she decided. "I'll be bribed, but I won't like it."

“I can skip ahead now, right? I mean, you’re not, like, interested in the dinner itself are you?”

“Chartreuse, I’m not really interested in any of this,” Carrie mumbled. “You’ve gone from the ludicrous to the bizarre, and none of it has any bearing on what’s happened to me.”

“Not that you can see, but wait for it. There is totally a point here,” Chartreuse insisted.

“What, that peach ice cream heals all wounds?”

Chartreuse winced. “Peach sundaes, and can I help that I like them so much? Anyway, they’re, like, not important to the story. Let’s pick up again as we were waiting outside the Diamond Mine in Dullsville the following afternoon. Or that’s what I’m calling the town, anyway. National security, you know how it is.”

Chartreuse fidgeted absently with the ribbons in her fushia hair as she looked around. "Maybe no one'll show," she said.

"We should be so lucky," Azure mumbled.

"Oh, look, here comes someone now!" Amber said brightly.

The Vermilions watched as a camper pulled into the mine site and parked in front of them. Two men wearing dark sunglasses got out, trying to look inconspicuous despite the overcast day. One of them glanced casually about the area as the other stepped forwards. "The strawberries are not yet in season," he remarked.

"Oh, was there a recognition code?" Hugh said, looking troubled.

"No, but this is a good place to pick them in July. My name is Agent Queue."

"Cue as in pool?"

"I don't swim. Queue, for Vowels."

“Ah, four vowels,” Hugh realized.

"Yes, Vowels couldn't make it. Here's my associate Eh, part of the vowel movement."

“Then it's a Queue & Eh session?" Hugh verified.

"How's it going, Eh?" Amber inquired.

"Eh?" the second agent said, turning to them.

"Hearing problem, he takes my cues," Queue noted.

"I thank Queue," Eh said.

"Now, you?" asked Queue.

"Me? Hugh."

"Hugh, with who?"

"My wife Amber."

"Amber's a nice hue," Queue remarked.

“Say what? Amber is Hugh?"

"We are not Hugh, Eh," Amber assured him. "He is Hugh, and these are my daughters Chartreuse and Azure."

"Missed Queue's cue, eh, Eh?" Hugh said.

"Eh," Eh shrugged.

Queue pulled out a sheet. "I'll denote your party the Hue Continuum," he decided. "For simplicity."

"What??"

"Azure, as you're aware, we receive code names," Amber reminded her daughter.

"But why Queue's Hue, I like when you and Hugh pick too!"

"Two won't do, blue," Queue remarked. "Too bad for you."

“Well, sofa Queue!” the blue haired girl retorted.

"Eh?”

"Never mind,” Queue said, waving off his partner. "That language was too colourful. Chartreuse, do you have anything to add?"

"She's beautiful," the fushia haired girl breathed.

Everyone turned to see who it was Chartreuse was referring to. By the door of the camper, there now stood a girl of about fifteen years of age. She wore a small frilly pink dress, white stockings, white shoes, and in her blonde hair there was a violet hairband. Chartreuse's breath caught in her throat as she pictured how that long hair might shimmer in the sun, were there any sun around. However, Chartreuse’s eyes were soon drawn to the enigmatic blonde's blue eyes and shy smile.

"Hello," the strange girl said with a little wave. "I'm, like, Tope Diamond."

Chartreuse sighed happily at the memory.  “And, you know what? It was right then that I knew I wanted this girl to be my wife,” she said dreamily.

Carrie fell off her bed.

• I did a Commentary Post last Sunday, if you missed it. Story continues next week!
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3.03: CARRIE ON

“I don’t care. I know what I saw, Chartreuse!” Carrie finished off her glass of water. “There was smoke billowing out of the back and flames spreading into the dining area. I didn’t simply imagine it!”

“I’m not suggesting you did,” Chartreuse assured. “But is it possible you were no longer seeing the present, but some other time period?”

Carrie shook her head. “I don’t see how. It’s not like I made an effort to leave the present.” She frowned. “Though now that you mention it, I didn’t notice Frank and Luci any more…”

“Cosmic forces can be kinda unpredictable," Chartreuse admitted. “I mean, I know your abilities are fundamentally different from mine, but there’s probably similar rules that apply. I remember one time I wanted to learn the outcome of a football game at school, but when I tried to do a vision quest forwards I saw–”

“Chartreuse, I’m here so that I can gain control over my powers,” Carrie snapped, cutting her off. “I’d rather not have you tell me they can’t be controlled, all right?!”

Chartreuse stopped. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I’m just telling you what I, you know, have discovered though my own experiences.”

“If you think that’s best?”

“I’m not sure what I think. All I know is I’m no longer in the mood to deal with this right now!” Carrie rose and marched for the bedroom door, only to stop and turn back. “Chartreuse, you were watching me the whole time I was in that vision, right? My eyes, they… they didn’t turn golden at any point, did they?”

“Not that I saw, no.”

The blonde let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Good. Good, okay. So, see you in school tomorrow then?”

Chartreuse nodded. “Of course. Here, let me at least come with you to the front door.”

The next few days passed without incident – unless you counted Glen’s continuing attempts at getting closer to Carrie. She discovered that even Phil Clarke had started taking notice of it, when he asked her about it over lunch that Friday. Carrie had decided to spend the time with him and Julie, to give Frank and Luci some time for themselves.

“Then you’re sure it was Glen who left those flowers on your desk this morning?” the tall blonde inquired.

“Only origami flowers," Carrie clarified. “But yes, who else?”

“The origami looked pretty,” Julie acknowledged, fingering the flower brooch she was wearing. “And it takes time to do something like that. Glen must really like you."

“I’ve been getting those vibes, believe me,” Carrie sighed.

“But you don’t like him?” Clarke wondered.

Carrie paused. “It’s not that,” she admitted. “I mean, I don’t dislike him, he’s courteous and everything. There’s just something about him…"

“I bet he’s trying too hard," Julie offered. “You never did like guys who came on too strong.”

“Maybe,” Carrie acknowledged. “But then, he backs off on request, and it’s not like he’s ever invaded my personal space or anything. More to the point, it’s not like I’m seeing anyone else."

“So you don’t want to reject him, but you don’t want to go out with him either?” Clarke said, looking confused.

Carrie grimaced. “I guess? Sounds stupid, doesn’t it. Glen’s been pretty quiet about his past and about his family though, I think that’s part of the problem. I’ll be talking with Corry later today, hopefully he’ll have come up with some data.”

“Maybe Glen simply has family issues,” Julie murmured, looking back down at her salad.

Carrie flinched. “Oh, gods! I’m sorry Julie, I was speaking without thinking. H-How has your family situation been?”

Julie offered up a wan smile. “No worries, Carrie. Jeeves has been like a father, and he’s great at handling all the legal stuff. My parents have backed off, and my counselling sessions are down to once a month now.” She sighed. “And while it’s hard, reinventing my very understanding of myself and my goals, let’s face it, life’s never been easy for me.”

She continued on before Carrie could speak. “I’d rather talk about something else, okay? For instance, aside from Glen, what else have you been up to? We didn’t get to speak much over the summer, I was trying to make up those couple credits I lost due to - you know.”

Talk then shifted to a trip which Carrie’s father had arranged for both Watersons during the previous month.

Carrie tried not to give Glen any more thought until she encountered Corry at the end of the school day. “So?” Carrie said pointedly, when he didn’t look up. “What’s the story, do I rate a few facts?”

“You mean with respect to Glen Oaks?” Corry inquired, finally turning away from his locker.

“No, the Easter Bunny. Of course Glen!”

Corry made a face. “Funny you should ask that," he said. “Because as much as it pains me to admit this, you may well know more about the guy than I do.”

That brought Carrie up short. “What?”

“The information I get is all conflicting," Corry explained. “He’s from Calgary, or Halifax. His parents are both doctors, or they’re artists. He’s allergic to strawberries, or they’re his favourite food. About the only thing my sources can agree on is that Glen has the hots for you. He hasn’t even tried to hit on anyone else. Which indicates to me that this is one seriously disturbed individual!”

“I see. That’s it?” Carrie said dryly, allowing Corry’s last remark to slide for the moment.

“Aside from the standard stuff, yeah. He’s seventeen, a good runner, he’s got a permanent room in the Clayton Hotel until such a time as his parents finalize their house deal and get here – though again goodness knows exactly when or where that is – am I telling you anything you don’t already know?”

“No, you’re being utterly useless, thank you.”

“Anytime for you, Carrie. Though hey, if you ever do take this guy up on an offer and learn something useful, I might reward you for it. Okay?”

“Right. Whatever,” Carrie said, waving at Corry over her shoulder as she continued on her way down the hall. She wasn’t about to start dating the guy simply to get some future favour from Corry! Hell, she’d never entertained thoughts of being in a serious relationship in her life!

Carrie froze mid-step. That wasn’t the problem here… was it? ‘Oh no. Is my problem with Glen?’ she wondered. ‘Or is it with… me?'

“Okay Frank, this is the point when I start getting jealous.”

“Shhhhh, Luci, he’ll hear you!” Frank whispered. He poked his head out from behind the bushes to glance down the sidewalk.

“Frank, this is the third day in a row that you’ve followed Glen home from school,” Luci continued in a quieter tone, toying with her phone, not bothering to look herself. “Do you really think you’ll learn anything about him that Corry Veniti can’t?”

“I don’t know. But you’ve seen how interested he is in Carrie! We can’t simply ignore that!”

“Can’t we?” Luci muttered.

“No, think about it, Luci!” Frank insisted. He moved ahead a few paces to another hiding spot before continuing. “We have here a transfer student with a clouded past who shows up out of nowhere and starts hitting on a girl who holds within her the temporal power to destroy a solar system. Why, they even have the same course schedules! How is that mere coincidence?? The whole world could be in danger again!”

“Or, how about this? The guy is a normal teenage male with an eye for female beauty who appreciates Carrie’s various ‘assets’,” Luci quipped, adding air quotes. “I mean, it’s not like Glen’s done anything shifty. We should be cautious, sure, but we can’t make a preemptive strike against everyone new in town."

“But…”

“Plus schedules are schedules. Laurie’s classes are identical to Carrie’s too. And she also admires Carrie,” Luci continued. “Do you think Laurie Veniti poses a threat?”

“Well, no, but…”

“No, because we’ve had time to get to know her. AND Carrie told me over the weekend that her hesitation might not be about Glen. It might be a mix of fear over who she really is, coupled with an inability to put old commitment issues behind her. You DO remember why Lee refers to Carrie as the ‘track tease’, yes? It’s not merely for the running.”

“Okay, valid points, all of them,” Frank yielded. “Still, if Carrie eventually DOES go out with Glen, we should know more about him, right?”

“IF. This gets back to my jealousy. You’re not Carrie’s father, Frank. Not unless there’s been some severe temporal warping going on! So until Carrie asks for help, let’s let the girl live her life.”

Frank sighed, then glanced out towards the redhead once more. “Okay, look, he’s going into the cafe today. Nowhere near his hotel. Let’s at least see what he’s up to there! Okay?”

“Fine,” Luci said, rolling her eyes. “But this weekend, I’ll pick the movie. No more James Bond for you.”

“So. I heard you’re finally going out with him,” Frank said. “Carrie, is that wise?”

“We’re going to the central cafe after school today,” Carrie answered, twirling the cafeteria’s spaghetti around her fork. “Barely a date. Why? It’s not like you’ve seen him do anything suspicious during your little investigations this past week, have you?”

“Well, not as such…”

“Fine. Then this encounter will give me the chance to finally make up my mind about him,” Carrie concluded. She brought the noodles to her mouth.

“But what’s the rush? If he really likes you, he can wait,” Frank insisted.

At first, Carrie could only lift an eyebrow, her mouth full of pasta. “The RUSH?” she said after swallowing. “Frank, it’s the cafe. We’re not making out behind the bleachers.”

“Frank, sweetie, I love you to pieces, but give it a rest already,” Luci sighed, having swallowed her own bite of sandwich. “There is NO evidence that Glen is anything more than what he claims to be, yeah?” She turned to Carrie. “So go. Enjoy yourself. And if Glen does anything uncomfortable, walk away!”

The young girl smiled, then pursed her lips. “Though, okay, maybe fish for more information from him too. Because… yeah. Just in case?”

“Um, okay,” Carrie agreed. “Will do.”

Glen swung the door of the cafe open and held it there for Carrie as she entered. “We can sit at the counter, if you like,” he offered. “This is meant to be informal, after all.”

“Right,” Carrie agreed, moving to take a seat on one of the stools. Glen sat next to her as a waitress approached. Her nametag read ‘Lita’; Carrie supposed Theresa had the day off.

“Can I take your orders?” the server asked brightly.

“Um, strawberry shake for me,” Carrie replied.

“That’s it? Whatever you want, it’s on me,” Glen assured her.

“Yeah, a shake’s fine. I’m not really hungry yet.”

“Make it two then,” Glen concluded. Lita nodded and headed off.

There was a momentary silence. “So, a strawberry shake. You’re not allergic to strawberries?”

Glen fired off a smile. “Of course not. Where did you hear that?”

“Oh, well, you know, around,” Carrie said, reaching up to twist a few strands of hair about her finger.

“You shouldn’t listen to rumours,” Glen admonished. “Particularly with respect to me, since I’ve been spreading disinformation around the school.”

Carrie blinked. “What? Why?”

Glen leaned his elbow on the counter. “Because I figure to really know a person, you should come out and speak with them, one on one. Word of mouth is not to be trusted! Heck, if I went by the rumours, I would have to believe that you’re a self-centred individual who enjoys using guys and tossing them aside like last week’s laundry. But that’s not the case, is it?”

Carrie felt her cheeks growing warm. “No!” She turned her interest to the nearby napkin holder. “Not lately, anyway.”

“There you are then. Too often, rumours get way out of hand - for instance, I find it hard to believe that ANY girl could have slept with the entire football team.”

“WHAT?! I’ve never even… who said THAT?!”

“Nobody. I didn’t say that was a rumour about you. Could you please let go of my shirt?”

“Oh, uh… yeah, sorry,” Carrie said, releasing her grip on Glen and sinking back into her stool. He was doing this deliberately, right? Was he trying to be funny, or was it to keep her off balance? She studied the countertop.

Glen smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re beautiful when you’re indignant?”

Having no idea how to reply to that at ALL, Carrie was thankful that Lita chose that moment to deliver their shakes. After thanking the waitress, she sipped in silence, trying to figure out how to turn the conversation around. “I think I see a problem with your philosophy.”

“Oh? What might that be?”

“If you assume that everyone you speak to is merely passing on rumours, you’ll never tell anyone the truth. Which means you get a legit reputation for being a liar.”

“Aha, but one can be honest about certain things, and it’s the people who’d trust the liar reputation that I’d want to keep off balance,” Glen countered. “Still, I see your point. So how about this? I’ll answer any ONE question you have completely, utterly, one hundred percent honestly. Fire away.”

Carrie blinked at Glen in surprise before regarding her shake again. Only one question? Okay – then should she ask about where he came from? About his relatives? His most important memory? “All right,” she said, turning back. “Why me? Why have you set your sights on me?”

“Oh.” For the first time since Carrie had met him, Glen finally seemed unsettled. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to know about my favourite sports celebrity or something instead?”

“No,” Carrie said. “Me. Why me, Glen? The truth!”

Glen shifted his attention to behind the counter. “Fine. Here it is. The first time I saw you, I sensed something. Not love at first sight or anything so trite, but I sensed that you possessed some sort of… extraordinary ability. That was enough to get my attention.”

He turned to regard her again, leaning his cheek against his palm. “From there, I realized you’re a bit of a… paradox. Athletic but still studious. Reserved yet outspoken. Atypical, yet not someone who stands out. Rumours and history aside, I can’t believe you don’t have a steady boyfriend here. So I thought, what the heck, I’ll try my luck.” He raised an eyebrow. “Plus, I can’t deny it, you have a sizeable chest. Which also counts in your favour.”

“You were doing so well.”

“Hey, I said I’d be one hundred percent honest. Feel free to smack me for– okay then. Feel better now?”

“Much,” Carrie said, shaking out her hand. He was still trying to keep her off balance. She took another sip from her shake, contemplating the first part of his answer. “You say you sensed an ability in me,” she said. “What ability, exactly?”

“Aha, well, that’s a second question, isn’t it?” Glen remarked.  “Though I must confess, I’m still trying to figure things out here. And it’ll probably take me more than one date to do it accurately.”

“So you’re hoping that I let you…” Carrie’s voice trailed off. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Something wasn’t right here. It was like deja vu. Something was… Carrie leapt out of her seat. “Out! Everyone, get out of here!!” she shouted.

As heads turned towards her, there was an explosion in the kitchen. Smoke began billowing out from the back room, along with a few licks of flame. People screamed as customers began to run for the doors.

“Okay, everyone stay calm, let’s exit in an orderly fashion!” Glen called out, standing up next to Carrie. A cook stumbled out of the back, coughing, his face streaked with soot.

It was in the middle of the chaos that Carrie went numb. As she looked around her, all she could think was how she’d seen this before. In that vision she’d had with Chartreuse over a week ago. Except now, it was actually happening. What she’d seen was actually coming true! No, no, how could it possibly be so REAL?!

“Carrie, come on!” Glen called out. The curtains near the kitchen had caught fire. Yet still, Carrie couldn’t move. Was she going to start seeing these sorts of things regularly? How could she possibly deal with that?!

Glen marched back toward her. “Carrie, if you don’t move right now, I’m going to carry your ass out myself!” he shouted.

His words finally broke through. Carrie began to run for the door. She and Glen were the last two to exit, the sound of approaching fire engines reaching their ears as they collapsed onto the ground outside. Carrie knew she hadn’t inhaled that much smoke, yet she felt sick to her stomach. Because she’d had a vision of the future. A terrible vision - that had come true.

“Well, ten out of ten for foresight, minus a few points on reflexes,” Glen said, coughing next to her. “Are you all right, Carrie?”

“I need to go home now.”

Glen blinked. “Hey, I know this hasn’t been the best way to end our first informal date, but…”

“It’s not you,” Carrie interrupted, fighting to keep the sensations of nausea and panic in check. “But I have to go home now! I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” She stumbled to her feet and began to run away, back to the safety of her house, as fast as she could go.

“Can we take another stab at this sometime in the future??” she heard Glen call out after her. Carrie didn’t reply.

She managed to make it home before she threw up. She told her father she didn’t want dinner, and went to bed early.

She then stayed in her room all day Saturday. Ignoring attempts at communication. Fearing that another vision would happen. And worrying about what to do if it did.

On Sunday, she had a more persistent visitor.

• GOLLY - got my first 2016 coin today, a quarter as change at a Canadian Tire. The time frame is about right.
• Consider voting for Time & Tied at WebFictionGuide. I tend not to bother when it's only me.
• More next week, with some of my favourite bits of writing ever, featuring said "persistent visitor"!

3.02: NEW ARRIVAL

Carrie Waterson tuned out the glorified roll call, choosing instead to look around the room. She noted that everybody who knew of the existence of the time machine remained in her homeroom, which was kind of nice. Though none of them had made any time trips since last year. Well, as long as Carrie ignored whatever the hell had happened - would be happening? - back on her birthday.

When the first present day minted coins had started to appear in late June, allowing for a round trip return to their present, Carrie had shut down the idea of time travel. She’d been keeping the machine under her bed since last December, wanting to be able to escape with it, if anyone came after her. Like, someone from the future, wanting to tap into her lurking demonic temporal powers.

The very thought of those powers caused Carrie to shudder involuntarily. This despite her mounting familiarity, due to the sessions she’d ended up doing with Chartreuse over the summer.

Mrs. Haye finally reached ‘W’, so Carrie gave her name, remarking on her athletic skills. She started to zone out again, only to have a knock at the classroom door pull her back. “Oh yes!” Mrs. Haye said. “And I would like you all to welcome Glen Oaks. He is a new student from out of town who will be joining our homeroom.” She gestured for the boy with the short red hair to enter. He did, smiling amiably at everyone in the room, though Carrie fancied his gaze rested a little longer on her.

“Glen, there are still a few desks free, so if you’ll take a seat I can pass around the course syllabus,” Mrs. Haye said.

Glen nodded, then headed straight for the empty desk next to Carrie. He turned and smiled at her again as he sat. She offered him a quick smile back, even as something about him struck her as being a bit unsettling. Why? What was it? She resisted the temptation to stare, lest he get the wrong idea.

‘I’m overreacting. Can’t blame him for taking an interest in me, after all. Merely shows I’ve still got it,’ Carrie mused to herself. Mrs. Haye began to talk about senior level English.

“You know Luci, it’s not too late for you to switch into Physics,” Frank Dijora remarked, as he joined both Carrie and Luci at the lunch table. “That would give us an afternoon class together.”

“Hey, I like Drama,” Luci Primrose protested. “Besides, you could always switch out of Business and into Biology with me.”

“Touche,” Frank observed. “I guess we’ll have to live with mornings.”

“If you ask me, the both of you could stand to have some time apart at school,” Carrie Waterson interjected, resting her chin on her hand. “After all, didn’t Frank’s marks slip last year, after you two started going out?”

“They did not!” Frank objected. “That is… I should have studied a little harder for June exams, I misjudged the difficulty level.”

“Uh huh, suuuure. And what were you two doing instead of studying? I bet I can guess…”

“Carrie!” Luci hissed, glancing to see if they were being overheard.

“You were inventing some new thingamajig, right? What did you think I was going to say?” Carrie finished innocently.

“Carrie, enough,” Frank sighed.

“All right, all right,” the blonde laughed, raising her hands in surrender. “Apologies. But you’ve been dating since, what, last December? It’s not like your relationship is some big secret here.”

“That’s still no reason to turn it into a newspaper headline,” Luci grumbled.

Frank leaned in a little closer to the young girl. “Carrie can’t help it, she’s jealous I picked you over her,” he whispered. At that, Luci smothered a laugh.

Carrie reached out to flick her fingers at the back of Frank’s head. “My hearing is still excellent, you know. So let’s not pretend that I ever asked for our friendship to turn into anything more, okay?”

“Fine, fine,” Frank remarked, still grinning.

“Anyway, I’m happy for the two of you,” Carrie finished, reaching out to pick up the apple from her cafeteria tray. “Plus, I could still get any guy I wanted. Were I to actually try.” She took a bite.

“Like that new guy in our English class, for example,” Luci noted. “Glen. He seemed to be taking an interest in you.”

Carrie nearly choked before managing to swallow. “So that wasn’t my imagination?”

“He tried to hide it, but I noticed,” Luci remarked.

Carrie frowned. “You would, you see everything. He’s in my history class too… I’m not quite sure what to make of him."

“Well, here’s your chance to find out,” Frank said. “He’s coming this way.”

Carrie turned as Glen approached. The redhead waved in greeting. “Hello! Is this seat taken?” he inquired, indicating the one next to Luci and opposite Carrie. When Carrie shook her head no, he sat down.

“I hope I’m not intruding,” Glen continued. “Still trying to find my way around. You’re all in my homeroom, right?”

“Right,” Frank confirmed. “I’m Frank, that’s Luci and that’s Carrie.”

Glen smiled. “Of course. Actually, I’m a little surprised to find Carrie here with the two of you."

Luci arced an eyebrow. “Oh? Why?”

“Because - forgive me for being blunt - Carrie, you strike me as being more a athletic type. Less intellectually inclined.”

“Are you saying I’m a dumb blonde?!” Carrie said, narrowing her eyes.

“And I’m not athletic?” Luci chimed in, equally annoyed.

“Oh, no, I don’t mean that!” Glen corrected. “Just that Carrie’s athletic talents appeared superior, compared to Luci’s. Was that incorrect?”

“Well, no,” the blonde admitted guardedly. “But that doesn’t mean I can only hang around with jocks, does it?”

“Certainly not. I’m sorry, I’m getting off on the wrong foot here, aren’t I,” Glen sighed. “I fear my higher reasoning has left me, it does that on occasion when I am confronted with such overwhelming feminine beauty.”

“Oh brother,” Luci mumbled under her breath.

“I’m not excluding you from that remark, Luci," Glen assured. “For while you seem to have skipped a grade or two, and present as more cute than beautiful, you also strike me as a most captivating young woman. You are bound to make someone very happy some day.”

Luci opened her mouth to respond, only to look over towards Frank, seeming flustered. “Ahem,” Frank offered. “Not to be rude myself here, Glen, but is it your intention to hit on every girl in the cafeteria?”

“No, merely the most beautiful and intellectually stimulating ones,” Glen assured him with a grin. “Which is why I chose to sit with Carrie, who I now realize is the best of both worlds. But if I am intruding on your group, you have only to say the word, and I will go.”

“You’re not intruding,” Carrie said quickly, before Frank could speak up. “But when we know so little about you, can you blame us for being skeptical as to your motives?”

“Understood,” Glen said. “I shall more formally introduce myself. My name is Glen Oaks, I’m seventeen, and I’m here now because my parents are planning on taking up residence in the area. I enjoy skating, acting and I am an excellent long distance runner.”

“You run?" Carrie asked.

“Indeed. Perhaps we should have a race sometime.”

“Perhaps,” Carrie agreed, her curiosity spiking again. “You say you like acting too, are you taking Drama?”

“Last period,” Glen confirmed. “Right after Art.”

Carrie blinked. “We have identical schedules then."

“Is that so? Well, what a happy coincidence. I suppose we’ll be seeing a lot of each other this term.”

“Yes, it does seem that way,” Carrie agreed, not quite sure how she felt about that.

She still wasn’t sure at the end of the lunch period forty five minutes later. Glen had managed to sidestep a lot of the questions asked of him, while learning more about the rest of them in the process. It reminded Carrie a lot of the way Julie LaMille and Corry Veniti interacted with people.

Which gave her an idea.

“Corry! Hey, Corry!”

The redhead turned towards Carrie, arcing an eyebrow. “Something I can do for you, Waterson?” he asked.

“Actually, yes,” Carrie said, as she reached his locker. “I’d like information on the new student in our homeroom, Glen Oaks.”

“Okay then. He’s a new student in our homeroom,” Corry said. “Oh, and he also has red hair. You really should pay better attention.”

“Corry, come on. You know what I mean.”

Corry crossed his arms. “Sure I do. Just like YOU know I’m not inclined to help out all of Julie’s old associates, simply because she’s no longer the active force around the school.”

“Hah! I’m a little more than THAT to you,” Carrie countered. “Not to mention how you’ve spent months helping out Julie herself!"

“Julie actually NEEDS the help,” Corry said pointedly. “Heck, it’s partly my fault she does, after I turned so many against her.” His gaze turned wistful. “There’s a part of me that misses the rivalry too… but that’s neither here nor there.”

He lowered his voice. “You know how I feel about you, Waterson. That doesn’t change simply because of what you may or may not become in the future. So why should I do anything for you? For that matter, what help can I possibly be to someone who has the power within her to destroy the world?”

Carrie winced. “Corry, please. I’m trying to put that behind me. Moreover, I haven’t asked you for any special treatment since those events – and all I want here is a bit of information! Is that so hard?”

Corry paused, sizing her up. “I’ll think about it,” he yielded. “After all, I was going to look into Glen myself. Come back in a few days, and I’ll decide then whether what I have will cost you."

Carrie nodded, deciding that was probably the best she was going to get from the male Veniti twin. She proceeded down the hall towards her own locker.

That evening found Carrie Waterson knocking on the door of the Vermilion residence. She and Chartreuse had decided to continue their temporal sessions despite the end of the summer. After all, despite how much Carrie wanted to simply banish the strange forces raging inside her, she knew they weren’t going anywhere. And keeping those powers in check was the only way to avoid another incident like the one last November, which had nearly cost the lives of… well, everyone on the planet.

Actually, Chartreuse had accepted Carrie’s explanation of those events with remarkable poise, despite the later memory wipe. Maybe the pink haired mystic would have put the pieces together herself, given enough time? Carrie sighed. It was more likely she wanted to rationalize getting Chartreuse involved, after that conversation with herself last March.

Carrie reached up to knock again, but before she could, a young girl with short blue hair opened the door. Carrie offered up a tentative smile. “Hello Azure, is your sister here?” she inquired.

Azure peered at Carrie, then turned and shouted, “Chartreuse, your girlfriend is here to see you!” She stepped back, allowing Carrie to enter the house. “Go easy on her tonight, okay? She was all dizzy the morning after you two bunnies had your session last week.”

Carrie frowned. “I beg your pardon?”

“Oh, like I don’t know what you two do in my sister’s bedroom for hours at a time. I’m fourteen, I read about these things.”

“Azure, I know it’s a strain for you, but pull your head out of the gutter when you’re, you know, talking with my friends, okay?” Chartreuse sighed, coming down the stairs. “Sorry Carrie, I was just in the washroom.”

“She’s all pretty for you now,” Azure noted. “Be sure to compliment her new perfume.”

“Azure…”

“I’m going, I’m going,” the blue haired girl said. “Just don’t be too loud, I have homework to complete. On the first day! Seriously, what’s the deal with high school anyway?!”

Chartreuse sighed and shook her head as her sister went upstairs. “Really sorry about that,” she said, closing the front door. “Honestly, just when I think she can’t get any more annoying, her hormones explode all over the place.”

“Sounds messy,” Carrie remarked.

“I’m hoping it’s just a phase,” Chartreuse said. “Anyway, my sister’s not the reason you, like, came here. Let’s get upstairs. I have everything we’ll need laid out on my bed.” She paused. “Which, come to think, is not at all as dirty as it sounds.”

Carrie seated herself across from Chartreuse. “Okay,” the pink haired girl said, passing a cleansing crystal around Carrie’s head. “Remember what we’ve been talking about. Relax, and let the sensations, like, come to you.”

“They already have,” Carrie murmured, as all of time coalesced around her. The best description Carrie could give for the phenomenon was that it was like she was standing in the middle of a swiftly flowing river, being gradually pulled along by the current as the seconds ticked by. The separate drops of water, they represented the millions of people and other objects moving through time. By looking upstream, Carrie could see the events of the past. By looking downstream, Carrie could see different branching paths of the future. The metaphor wasn’t perfect, but it was serviceable.

Carrie now knew that she had the ability within her to travel this time stream under her own power, not to mention affect it in other ways, but usually she was more than content to simply let the current pull her along.

“Oh,” came Chartreuse’s voice, reminding Carrie of where she really was. “You know, it never ceases to amaze me how easily you do that lately.”

“Yeah, I find it quite unsettling myself,” Carrie murmured. “What now, Chartreuse?”

“Well, as I recall, we were working on finding individuals who aren’t in physical proximity to you. Want to, like, try for anything in the past or the future yet?”

“No, let’s stick with the present for now. I’m going to see if I can locate Frank again. It’s easier to pick up former time travellers, they feel a little out of synch with the rest of the world.”

“All right,” Chartreuse agreed. She reached out to take Carrie’s hands. “Visualize him then. Imagine that he’s standing right in front of you. Then, once you have that image, see where it takes you.”

Carrie nodded, taking in a deep breath, concentrating on Frank and on where he might be in the torrent of water rushing around her. “He’s… he’s with Luci,” Carrie realized as a picture of the girl swam up before her eyes. “That will make it easier. They’re not at his house though… or her’s… it’s… the cafe. They’re at the central cafe.”

The scene practically leapt out of the water at her then, and it was like she was standing in the cafe herself - except her body had no substance. A spirit body, as Chartreuse called it. Able to see things, but invisible to them, and incapable of interaction.

“Carrie, what’s happening?” Chartreuse’s voice inquired, sounding like it was coming from the bottom of a well.

“I’m now here too,” Carrie replied, forcing down a feeling of panic. “In the cafe. There’s a lot of people around. It’s so much more chaotic than any of my previous experiences!”

“Stay calm,” Chartreuse said. “Just centre in on Frank and Luci, you’re not there for anyone else.”

“Right… right, okay,” Carrie said, taking in a few deep breaths. “They’re in a corner booth together. They’re… aw, they’re sharing a basket of fries. That’s so sweet.” She paused. “Luci would kill me if she knew I was eavesdropping like this.”

“You’re not really eavesdropping, it’s a public place.”

“I guess. But they can’t see me. And last week when I centred on Frank, he was inventing stuff in his basement.”

“Look, Carrie, if you’re this concerned about spying on them, just don’t, like, centre in on them in future.”

“Well how the heck am I supposed to know when they’re together?” Carrie grumbled. “But whatever. Now that I’m here, do you have any recommendations?”

“How about this – pick out someone else there that you could, you know, shift your attention to instead,” Chartreuse proposed. “You don’t have to take it in all at once, just scan the room.”

“Okay,” Carrie called back, turning her spirit form to do a slow pan.  “It’s mostly kids from school. Looks like Theresa’s the one waiting tables, like usual. Oh, wait a minute…” She hesitated.

“What?” Chartreuse asked.

“It’s him,” Carrie said at last. “Glen Oaks, that new boy in our homeroom. It… it’s weird, it feels like he’s looking directly at me. He can’t see me, can he?”

“I doubt it, my mom’s the only one I know of who can see spirit forms,” Chartreuse replied. “Maybe he’s looking at something behind you.”

“There’s a wall behind me. I don’t think that… OH!!!” Carrie shrieked. “NO, NO, GET ME OUT, GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!”

All at once, Chartreuse was kneeling in front of her, shaking her shoulders. She was back in the bedroom. “Carrie! Carrie, calm down, it’s all right!!” the pink haired girl was saying. “You’re all right, you’re safe now, you understand?” Carrie nodded wordlessly, struggling to regain her breath. “Thank goodness,” Chartreuse breathed. “What, like, happened?”

Carrie felt a shiver run down her spine. “I… I saw… oh god, I was in the cafe, and suddenly I saw… fire. The place has caught on fire, Chartreuse!”

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3.01: TALKING TO HERSELF

Here she was, a high school teenager, being hunted by people from the future. Yielding them the initiative? Not a good idea! On the bright side, the other Carrie over there - no, Elizabeth, Carrie quickly corrected herself, I’m the right one, I’m in my proper time, I get to be Carrie, she gets our middle name - looked to be about the same age as she was. But was that a trick?

Even as Carrie stared, Elizabeth beckoned her over. Present day Carrie took a step, then another - and by the time she reached the front door, she was almost charging through after her blonde double.

“Hey.”

That was all Elizabeth had time to say, before Carrie had pulled back her fist and punched herself in the gut. “I’m not going to be you!” she asserted, as Elizabeth doubled over. She brought her hands up to slam down on Elizabeth’s back, but Elizabeth rammed forwards into her before Carrie could complete the manoeuvre, knocking them both down onto the pavement in front of the restaurant.

Elizabeth also raised her arms, managing to block one palm, so Carrie only had the satisfaction of smacking her other self, an act which slightly dislodged her adversary’s hairband. And now Elizabeth was holding onto the arm that she had blocked, and so Carrie was left pounding her lone fist into Elizabeth’s shoulder.

“I’m not going to be you!” she repeated, a tear stinging at her eye.

“That might be for the best,” Elizabeth wheezed, as she caught her breath. “I’m getting a little beat up.”

“Don’t you even joke about it!”

Elizabeth finally managed to catch hold of Carrie’s other arm. “I know. I shouldn’t. I’m sorry.”

“My birthday,” Carrie said, feeling the fight go out of her as all her limbs were restrained. “You had to come back to ruin my BIRTHDAY?”

“Not ruin. I hope not ruin. I only wanted to point something out.”

“You couldn’t have left a NOTE?”

“No,” Elizabeth said, having the decency to look apologetic. “I couldn’t. We would ignore a note. Or second guess it. I had to tell myself - you - this thing in person.”

Carrie blinked her tear away. “Fine. What?”

“You mind if we discuss this somewhere other than laid out on the ground in front of a public restaurant? All it takes is one guy with a camera phone, and next thing we know, our picture is up on some selfcest website.”

Carrie flinched. “Self WHAT?”

Elizabeth released her arms, and when no attack was immediately forthcoming, pushed herself back off Carrie’s legs too. “I’d say be careful about the time travel research you’ll do this summer,” she sighed. “But sometimes I’m way too curious for my own good.”

The air on this particular evening in late March was cool and crisp, more so than usual. Though most of the snow had already melted, there was still a pile of it off in the corner of the parking lot, where it had been shoved by snowplows throughout the winter. The two Carries walked in that direction, moving far enough so as to be in the shadows. They didn’t need to go too far, as the only light in the area came from the street lamps and the restaurant windows.

Carrie rubbed her arms with her palms. Not only was she in a dress, she didn’t have her jacket. She also still needed to use the washroom. “So?”

“So,” Elizabeth repeated back. “Low key affair this year, no big party at Julie’s - instead, who’s in there, celebrating your seventeenth birthday with you?”

Carrie looked back towards the building. “Frank and Luci. Julie and Clarke. And Chartreuse.”

“And Chartreuse.”

Carrie turned to her double. “Is this meant to be an echo fest?!”

“Chartreuse is the only friend in there who doesn’t know about the time machine,” Elizabeth pointed out.

“Yeah? So?” Carrie countered. “Are you telling me I should be swapping Chartreuse out for Corry, who does know? Because even though he helped me out with what happened last semester, and continues to stand up for Julie, he’s still a jerk.”

“No. I’m telling you maybe you should talk to Chartreuse.”

Carrie rubbed her arms again. “I can’t bring her back into this,” she murmured. “Not her, not anyone. You know that.”

“All I know is that Chartreuse, Laurie, Tim and Lee had never been temporally displaced, unlike the others currently eating with you in there,” Elizabeth countered. “But you - we - shouldn’t feel guilty about our time travel memory wipe having messed with those memories. We weren’t exactly in our right mind at the time.”

“It’s not only guilt!” Carrie countered. “If you’re really me, you MUST know that!”

Elizabeth slumped a little. “I guess I do. But are Chartreuse and the others really better off this way? Thinking that all those meetings were merely for helping Frank with a science project, researching the LaMilles, or taking down the man with funny mental powers who wanted to kill us?”

“Am I even having this conversation?! Elizabeth, if - no WHEN more people come back from the future, everyone who knows about my hidden powers is going to be in danger! I can’t help that for Frank and the rest, but those four you named? They’re free and clear. Why do I even have to explain this to you??”

Elizabeth pursed her lips. “Okay, yeah. But Chartreuse is different.”

“Because she wanted to come to my little party, after finding out about it from Luci? We’re not that close!”

“Maybe you should be.”

“Seriously?! You still haven’t told me WHY!”

“Think, Carrie! Chartreuse has powers too!”

Carrie found she was forced to think about that. Her toes curled inside her shoes, and she blew on her hands to warm them up. “What, you think Chartreuse already suspects?”

“I think you should to talk to her.”

“WHY? Her powers aren’t like my powers. Chartreuse gets impressions from people, and sees the future. I destroy solar systems.”

“We don’t destroy–"

“I destroy solar systems!” Carrie interrupted, louder. “You know this!”

“Fine, if we’re not trained properly, yeah we do!” Elizabeth retorted, raising her voice to match. “All the more reason to get our head out of the sand in the coming year, and start doing something about it!”

“And do WHAT about it?!”

“Talk to Chartreuse!”

“Why, because you did and it’s worked out OH so well for you??”

“Or maybe because I didn’t, and I regret it, since talking to her might have set me on a much better path!”

The two girls were nearly nose to nose at this point, glaring at each other, postures rigid and fists clenched. Neither version of Carrie was willing to give ground. Meaning it was perhaps fortunate that their argument was interrupted by a scream from behind the restaurant.

Both Carries turned their heads. “Oh hell,” Elizabeth said, wincing. “I forgot about this part.”

“Part? What part??” Carrie demanded.

“Someone just tried to run off with my time machine.”

“You left our time machine out in the open?” Carrie accused her.

Elizabeth shook her head, cursing her own stupidity. “No. I shoved it behind some cardboard boxes out back of the restaurant. Dealing with you while having that damn black box shoved under my arm felt stupid.”

“Yeah, this has really demonstrated your intelligence.”

“Oh, shut up.” Elizabeth hated that her past self had a point, when she was supposed to be the (marginally) older, more mature one. It’s not like the time machine would have screamed ‘time machine’ at anyone either, it looked more like a portable slot machine.

She met Carrie’s expectant gaze with silence. Carrie put her hands on her hips. “So, are you going to STOP this theft?”

“I already have.” The scream had reminded Elizabeth of how the next few minutes would play out. Sure enough, she’d barely finished speaking when her other self came around the corner of the building. One time machine under each arm.

Carrie didn’t look too pleased by this development.

“Hi Carrie. Elizabeth,” their third incarnation said with a hesitant smile, nodding at each of them as she reached their position. She was dressed identically to Elizabeth, which only made sense.

“Hi Buffy,” Carrie said dryly.

Buffy’s nose crinkled. She eyed Elizabeth. “I think I’m funny, but really, I’m not.”

“Would you prefer Betty?” Carrie snarked.

“Hell no,” Buffy and Elizabeth retorted as one. Elizabeth hadn’t read much in the way of the Archie comics, but she knew enough to not want to be linked to a nice blonde girl-next-door persona by name. Besides, if they were going to pick another name derived from “Elizabeth”, Buffy had better pop culture connections.

Carrie’s smirk became a frown. She pointed at what Buffy was carrying. “I take it one of those is mine, the other is Elizabeth’s?”

“Logical, yeah?” Buffy remarked, looking thoughtful. She thrust her hip out to the side, motioning for Elizabeth to retrieve that particular time machine. Elizabeth obliged her future self.

“So,” Elizabeth sighed. “Now I have to take this machine, Carrie’s, back to our home, leaving it under the bed. After which I take the older device which is there now, back in time to about three minutes ago. Whereby I can retrieve my own machine - that being the one Buffy has here - becoming Buffy and returning this present day machine back to Carrie’s room, using myself, now.”

“That’s making my head hurt,” Carrie groused. “Literally.”

She wasn’t kidding. The permanent dull ache in Elizabeth’s own head, the one which had become a sort of ‘background noise’ ever since the awakening of her temporal powers? It had increased over the last few moments to a level that was… not more painful exactly, but impossible for her to ignore. But then, hadn’t that been part of the point behind this trip? Seeing what she could accomplish with time travel?

“Just go,” Buffy suggested. “Close out the loop.”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth agreed, after pressing the heel of her hand briefly to her temples. “You two keep talking here.”

She began to jog off, her athletic strides quickly taking her away from her doubles. She only heard Buffy ask, “So where were we in our talk?” and Carrie’s retort of “I was wondering if you were here trying to change my past” before she was out of earshot.

It occurred to Elizabeth after a few minutes of running that getting home in five minutes versus forty-five minutes really wouldn’t make much of a difference in terms of the eventual outcome. Except in terms of how tired and sweaty she’d be. So she slowed to a walk, muttering “Where’s a convenient skateboard and automobile tow when you need one?”

Elizabeth hefted the time machine at her side. Hopefully she’d be able to set Carrie’s version of the thing properly. Frank had been more focussed on demonstrating how the machine could be set to return back to their present, versus a second trip here to her birthday. Actually, it was a pity she had to use Carrie’s machine at all; the one she currently held had to be set for the right day and time already!

Her walk stopped altogether.

Why couldn’t she simply take this machine?

Her headache flared up larger, making her grimace. “ASIDE from you,” she addressed it, bringing her hand back to her head. “I mean, come on, it wouldn’t be my first paradox.”

Way back before her power “awakening”, she had dropped off an apple at Frank’s place, then later picked it up, only to time travel back, and then drop it off. Bootstrap paradox. And this was no different. She had now given herself a time machine - which she could use to time travel back, and then hand it off to herself.

In fact, this sequence was actually more sensible than the apple had been, seeing as it had the potential to be perfectly temporally consistent - an identical time machine existed in this present, under Carrie’s bed.

So what if she didn’t swap them?

Her headache was becoming an incessant pounding, but now that she had this idea, her curiosity wouldn’t let her drop it. The point behind this trip hadn’t really been to talk about Chartreuse - it had been more to see what she could do with time travel. And she remembered the conversation on her birthday, more or less, so that wasn’t changing anything - it had to be this subtle paradox which had been poking at her subconscious through the summer. Right?

So could she do it?

Elizabeth fished her spare coin out of her pocket. When time travelling, you always carried a spare coin from the present - there was random variance to the time machine, meaning that you could land a day, or even a month off of your intended target. It was rare, but annoying.

She looked up and down the street, then retreated back into the shadows of a nearby house that had no lights on. Once there, she fell to her knees, set the time machine down onto the ground in front of her… and dropped the coin in.

NOW she had a migraine.

But at this point, it would either work, or it wouldn’t, right? Before she could stop herself, she’d reached out and yanked down on the lever.

The sensation of the temporal void sucking at her was familiar.

The sensation of the ice pick sliding into the side of her head was new, and hurt like nothing she’d ever felt before. It was even worse than the time she’d been shot.

She screamed. Loudly.

But then the headache was gone, reduced to the normal dull ache, and as her scream died out, Elizabeth realized that she was no longer where she had been. She was still kneeling, but out in back of the restaurant. There was a man a very short distance away, holding onto her own time machine, the one she hadn’t just used. He was looking in her direction, his eyes wide. A cigarette fell from between his lips.

As soon as he realized that she was looking back at him, he dropped the device back down onto the cardboard boxes where she’d formerly concealed it, and sprinted for the back door of the restaurant. Obviously eager to get away from the screaming blonde girl who had appeared from out of nowhere. Had he been rooting through the trash while on a smoke break? Elizabeth (Buffy?) supposed it didn’t matter.

She shakily pushed herself back to her feet, then picked up the now ‘impossible’ time machine sitting before her. With it braced at one hip, she went to get her own machine back, managing to pick it up too. Once she had them both in hand, she marched back around the corner of the building, heading towards the shadowy figures of her prior selves.

Carrie didn’t look too pleased by this development.

“Hi Carrie. Elizabeth,” their third incarnation said with a hesitant smile, nodding at each of them as she reached their position. She was able to distinguish them because she was dressed the same as Elizabeth.

“Hi Buffy,” Carrie said dryly.

She crinkled her nose, and eyed Elizabeth. “I think I’m funny, but really, I’m not.”

“I was wondering if you were here trying to change my past,” Carrie retorted.

Buffy didn’t immediately respond to her. In fact, Carrie briefly wondered if “Buffy” was back to being “Elizabeth” now, but decided that way madness lay. Her body double ultimately sighed. “You know I can’t answer that. If I say I did talk to Chartreuse, you won’t. If I say I didn’t talk to Chartreuse, you will.”

“Who says?”

“The whole ‘I’m not going to be you’ rant as you beat me up earlier?”

“Oh.” Carrie rubbed her arms again, trying to stay warm. “Meaning you’re going to leave me with the illusion of free will, even as I do what is presumably written in stone for you?”

“Effectively,” Buffy admitted. “Sorry about that.” She glanced down at the time machine she was holding. “Though, here’s the thing. Some stuff that SEEMS to be written in stone? Can be reinterpreted.”

“How in hell do you reinterpret being a temporal weapon?” Carrie shot back.

A pained look settled on Buffy’s face. “Yeah. That is our question, isn’t it?”

Carrie slumped. “Yeah,” she agreed. “More to the point, I guess we both know that there’s a future ‘us’ out there, who is part of some upcoming war… and who is not liking that, from her perspective, we’re the ones disrupting her past. Possibly her very reason for existing.”

“And she’s gonna come for us,” Buffy continued, voicing the thoughts they’d been having for months. “She has to. The question is, will we be ready for her?”

“HOW? How does one even prepare for a battle with oneself?!”

“I don’t know,” Buffy admitted. “Just… talk to Chartreuse.”

Carrie stared. “You really think she can help? Or could have helped?”

“I think… we need all the friends you can get.”

Carrie sighed. “This is so messed up.” She let out a long breath, then bowed her legs in a bit. “Worse, I still REALLY need to use the washroom.”

Buffy smiled, gesturing back at the restaurant. “Go then.”

Carrie frowned. “For serious?”

“I’ve said my bit, we’re done here.”

Carrie hesitated, feeling like there was something more she should say - but nothing came to mind. “Fine. Time travel safely,” she concluded, before running back to the warmth and relief of the nearby building.

The time travelling Carrie, aka Elizabeth, aka Buffy, walked around the side of the building and sat down. She knew she couldn’t leave yet. Because Carrie now knew why she’d had those residual effects after talking to herself on this day. And while she had no idea if remaining in this time period would help to spread the effect out a little more, she had decided that leaving too fast would be irresponsible.

Her headache flared up a couple minutes later. She swallowed. She tried to remember what had happened back then, on her birthday. Her birthday. Yeah, she couldn’t have picked the day after? It had to have been the day itself, the night she’d been out with friends? “I can be such a jerk,” Carrie whispered. Hell, she might very well be her own worst enemy - literally.

The headache became an incessant pounding.

One of the problems with time was how it tended to mute one’s memories. On her birthday, she hadn’t remembered it getting any worse than this. She now recalled collapsing to the floor at the sink in the restaurant bathroom. She also recalled twisting her palms into her temples, choking back sobs until the feeling subsided. But it had only been a severe headache.

Except it hadn’t been - she knew now it would get worse. Ice pick worse.

NOW she had a migraine. Carrie braced herself.

Yet whether it was the knowing that it would happen, or the fact that she was spatially removed from the trigger event… for whatever reason, it didn’t feel like an ice pick to the skull, and so she managed to keep from screaming. Still hurt like the devil though.

Then, nothing. Background noise. Life as normal.

With a shaky hand, Carrie reached into the pocket of her jacket for the tools that would allow her to reset the time machine. “Shielding,” she murmured aloud. “My next session with Chartreuse, we’ve gotta talk mental shielding.”

Less than five minutes later, only one Carrie remained in the present. She would not use the time machine again for several months, not until her senior year of high school.

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TIME & TIED

TT (Time & Tied) presents…

STORY 3: DESTRUCTION

**CAUTION: No graphic language or violence per se, but some issues involving people being psychologically abusive to minors.

(Listed in Web Fiction Guide. Check out more serials there.)

(For main characters: See T&T CAST LIST.)

(Option: Return to Book 2 or to Book 1.)

INDEX: DESTRUCTION

3.01: Talking to Herself

3.02: New Arrival

3.03: Carrie On

3.04: The Visionaries

3.05: Tope Springs Eternal

ARC 2: WITH THE GROUP

3.06: Mental Strain

3.07: The Mansion

3.08: Tune Up

3.09: Tone Down

3.10: Help Wanted

3.11: See Kings

ARC 3: WITH GLEN

3.12a: Power Struggle 1                 3.12b: Power Struggle 2

3.13a: Under Attack 1                    3.13b: Under Attack 2

3.14a: The Conspiracy Unfolds 1   3.14b: The Conspiracy Unfolds 2

3.15a: Fragmented Plans 1           3.15b: Fragmented Plans 2

3.16a: Blame Game 1                     3.16b: Blame Game 2

3.17a: Banishment 1                      3.17b: Banishment 2

ARC 4: WITHOUT

3.18a: Making the Rounds 1     3.18b: Making the Rounds 2

3.19a: Shattered 1                       3.19b: Shattered 2

3.20a: Woodlands Detour 1     3.20b: Woodlands Detour 2

3.21a: Woodlands Omen 1       3.21b: Woodlands Omen 2

3.22a: Do You Mind? 1             3.22b: Do You Mind? 2

3.23a: Timeline Four 1             3.23b: Timeline Four 2

(BOOK 4 Online - December 2016)