In the Dark Page 9

  “You’re not going to lose your family. That’s why we left them because we had to in order to find another person that could help us save them. I have always wondered what I was meant for, why I was put here for my parents to throw me away and just bounce from household to household. I didn’t think I ever amounted to anything until I met you and we found our powers. This is it. This is what we were made for. I don’t know who did it; evolution, God, angels, some strange combination of it all, but I feel like there is something out there that is going to do everything to make sure we get to where we need to be to complete the task we were put here for; which was to save everyone.”

  “Has anyone ever told you how amazing your brain is?” Tanner asked Carlie as he looked over at her with a sad smile on his face. “I think that’s why you’re here to make me use my powers and do what I need to do even when I am sad.”

  Carlie reached out to hold his hand as the wind gusted a bit to cool her neck from the sticky heat that was permeating her being. It was the most natural thing in the world to sit there and look over the water with Tanner by her side in silence. The moment just needed that calm and peace; a calm before the storm.

  After some time, she knew they needed to get up, and she stood up, still holding his hand so they would come together. She didn’t need to say a word. They both knew where they were headed, and Carlie was feeling everything coming down on her like a lead weight; being tired and hungry.

  It took about ten minutes to get to the clock tower, but it was easy enough to find. “This is so surreal,” she finally said, breaking the silence as they found a bench to sit on. She pulled out the rest of her sandwich and began to eat as they waited for Alexandra to come. She silently hoped that she would have somewhere better for them to stay the night while they were there. Her time on the streets was coming into play, but she didn’t like the thought. The last place she had lived had spoiled her in an unexpected way, and she craved air conditioning and some kind for bed to sleep in, even if it wasn’t much. And she didn’t want Tanner to know the reality of what she went through. That girl was a disconnect from the bright and happy person she was with him, and she liked that he didn’t understand fully. It wasn’t something she would wish on her worst enemy.

  As the sun began to get lower in the sky, Tanner ate his own sandwich and turned to Carlie. “So, what does this girl look like again?” he asked.

  Carlie thought about it. “She’s taller than me, thin but curvier. She has this hair that’s not quite blonde but not quite red and all these freckles. She has like a soft face and this delicate looking skin.”

  He chuckled at her. “You sound jealous…or obsessed.”

  “Curious is more like it. I mean I have been dreaming about her for months now, right? There must be something pretty important about her, but I guess I find it interesting that the person who might have all the answers here looks a certain way so…. normal?” Carlie expressed, scrunching up her nose. “I just wonder if she is as nice as she looks or something, like I don’t know how to explain it. It seems cliché I guess, and I am afraid of how I fit into all of this. You’re this good guy that helped take care of his family, and she is this typical down-home girl, and I am …. Well, I am a crazy foster kid.”

  “You know that doesn’t define your whole life, right? Like you don’t have to go on dates at 30 and tell every guy that you were a foster kid growing up right off the bat. There is much more to you than that, though I think those experiences made you the awesome person you are now. I don’t think you can save the world without having seen it in every way. I mean, maybe that’s why there is more than one of us.”

  Carlie was going to make a quip when she caught something out of the corner of her eye; someone approaching that fit the description of Alexandra to a “T”.

  She slapped Tanner on the shoulder and pointed before getting up and taking off, leaving Tanner to rub his shoulder and try to catch up.

  “Alexandra?” Carlie said, stepping right in front of the girl’s path.

  Alexandra looked her up and down in annoyance. “Excuse me, do I know you?” she asked, looking behind her as if she was in a hurry to get onto something or someone else, and Carlie could only guess what that was.

  “Not exactly, but I know who you are, and I know you’re reliving the same day.” Alexandra looked like a deer in headlights all of a sudden. Carlie might have done that a little slower had she thought about it, but she was just so excited to finally see her. “Sorry, maybe that was a little too fast, but I don’t know how much time we have to figure this all out.”

  “We?” Alexandra asked, and Tanner came up, holding out his hand to shake, saving face.

  “I am Tanner. Excuse Carlie here, but she has actually been dreaming about you for months, so it feels a bit like we already know you. We both know about what’s been going on here in Kingsbridge, so we hitchhiked to come find you and tell you that you’re not alone. We’re here to help in any way we can.”

  “Help? So, you know how to fix time?” she asked the both of them, her face lighting up as she looked back and forth between the pair. Carlie looked over at Tanner, speechless for the first time.

  “I think maybe we should sit and talk first, figure out what we all know that the other doesn’t,” Tanner suggested. Carlie was proud of him for taking charge like that. She’d have to tell him later. She just couldn’t stop wondering if this was actually real, that the girl she had been dreaming about for so long was right in front of her and they were going to tell her they were there to help save the world. What kind of Hollywood shit was that?

  “Well, I actually have something important to do, but I guess you’re right. Sorry, I didn’t really know how to handle this. I have been alone in this for a bit now. I can’t exactly say how long since the date never changes now. I thought I was going to lose it. Actually, I had pretty much lost all hope. But maybe you guys can really help,” she said, more to herself than to anyone else.

  Carlie felt kind of bad for her. She couldn’t imagine having discovered her power all alone and then not being able to tell anyone or share it with anyone. She probably would have landed herself in a mental hospital by now if that were the case.

  “Where should we go?” Carlie asked, looking around. She honestly did not want to be out in the heat any longer, and she hoped that Alexandra would get that without her having to say anything.

  “There’s this coffee place we can go to. We’ll sit in the back corner by the bathroom or something and talk.” Carlie noticed that Alexandra took a last glance up at the clock tower before turning on her heal and leading them to this coffee shop. She was relieved to be going inside, but she also was anticipating the possibility of meeting this angel for herself later. Hopefully, Tanner wouldn’t have a heart attack or something.

  Carlie noted how Alexandra carried herself, so sure and with a purpose. Yes, if anyone was going to be spearheading the effort to save the world, it was this girl. She had it in her probably from birth and didn’t even know it. She was the only one who would have handled this all alone. Carlie trusted her without even knowing her.

  She looked to Tanner to give him the silent nod that let him know she was at ease and he should be too.

  They took a seat at the back of the coffee shop while Tanner went up to get the both of them something to share with the money they had left over from the girl at the mall the other day. Carlie had hung onto it for this occasion. They sat down with an iced mocha, and Carlie noted that Alexandra had a hot drink instead. It made her sweat just thinking about it.

  There was a fan right above them, and the AC was on blast. It was so nice for a change. “We’ve been out in the heat all day,” she said with a sigh, relaxing into her seat. “We actually slept outside this morning at the rest stop outside of town.”

  Alexandra looked shocked, and it was actually pretty amusing, making Carlie giggle. It looked like an expression out of a cheesy cartoon, but it was so real. Whoever had made this girl had
broken the bank.

  “We’ll have to fix that if you guys are going to be hanging around. I’ll see what I can do. Maybe I will ask if you guys can spend the night or something. It’s not like my parents will remember you in another day anyway, and then you can just get in and out through the window or something,” she offered, swatting her hand in the air as if it was all so simple.

  “That would be awesome actually, but will we all fit in your room?” Tanner asked with concern.

  “It’ll be tight, but we will figure it out. So, now, you are Carlie, and you are Tanner. What do you know about what’s going on with time?” Alexandra asked, and Carlie frowned.

  “It’s not just about time. I am sorry if we seemed disappointed, but we were hoping you would know more than us, that that’s why we were prompted to come here and find you. Time where we are from, a few hours from here, it isn’t completely stuck. We have relived a couple of days, but then it starts moving again. It seems liked you have the worst of it here.”

  Alexandra nodded much like the boss at some important brainstorming meeting. It was intimidating watching and waiting for her to say something. “That makes a little bit of sense considering the angel of time is here in Kingsbridge.”

  Tanner almost choked to death on his coffee, and Carlie reached over to pat him on the back as she choked up some of the liquid and swallowed again. People were looking at them, and Carlie turned to frown in their direction, her eyes piercing through them. It worked. It always did. She knew just how to freak people out enough for them to leave her alone.

  “Holy shit!” she leaned in and exclaimed. “That’s who that guy you have been seeing in the clock tower is?” she asked, tripping off all of this crazy information. “So first we find out we have powers, find out that time is screwy, and now there is an angel of time involved?”

  Alexandra pursed her lips. “I am glad you’re amused. Wait…what do you mean by powers?”

  Carlie looked to Tanner wondering if she had let the cat out of the bag too soon. She was all out in the open with hers, but she didn’t know how much he was ready to share with this technical stranger.

  “Well, I mean obviously I have a power if I could see what was going on with you. I figured you would have a power too,” Carlie offered, broaching the subject. “What I have is called astral projection. My mind or soul or whatever can travel when I am asleep.”

  Alexandra gave a slow nod as if she might not believe it. “I guess I shouldn’t be caught off guard by anything anymore, but this all sounds so insane still. Amon…. the angel, he is the only one I have been able to talk to, and I keep feeling like someone or something is trying to throw me off track here. It’s been really tough, I am glad you guys are here. Is that weird? I just don’t want to face this alone anymore, not after….”

  She looked down, and Carlie could tell something else was bugging her. “Sorry guys, you continue. I don’t know about any power, but I know about the angel, so we’ll talk about him after you finish your side, how you ended up here. What about you, Tanner, what can you do?”

  As Alexandra swallowed a lump in her throat, Carlie sensed there was something eating away at her, some sadness or heavy news that was on the same level as what Tanner had seen when he discovered he could see the future…well sort of.

  Tanner cleared his throat. “Well, I am a clairvoyant, I guess,” he said, his eyes getting shifty with his nerves. He was still so unsure of what he could do. “You might be able to explain it in laymen’s terms, Carlie,” he said, giving the floor back to her.

  Carlie scoffed and rolled her eyes. “He’s just shy. He will come around,” she reassured their new friend. “So, he can like read minds on demand and talk into them like telepathy, but I think he might be able to talk to the dead too. Just a theory of mine.” She shrugged, trying to not freak Alexandra out. “But he can also see part of the future. More like he gets a vision based on choices to make. He can see what could happen. Like he saw if we never came here and got with you that the world would end.”

  “What?” Alexandra sat up in her seat, her feet hitting the ground hard.

  Carlie got quiet, barely audible as she whispered. “I thought you would know about that part. It’s not just time. Like the world is going to end or something if we don’t fix it.”

  Alexandra sat back in her seat and looked up the ceiling as if working it all out. When she looked back down at the other two, he eyes were clouded with tears he hadn’t give yet. “I knew something was broken,” she said softly. “I felt it the whole time. It’s him. It has to do with the angel of time, but maybe more than just him then if it’s the whole world. Amon is dying. I found out last night after I…after I…”

  She didn’t seem to be able to finish that thought, but Carlie got a pang in her stomach. She thought back to the way she had seen the two of them together and realized he must mean something to her, maybe she loved him. That would be devastating to find out that this angel existed and befriend him or maybe more only to find out he was dying.

  “But maybe that you’re here and know you’re supposed to save the world…. that we are… maybe that means there is a way to save him too.”

  “Maybe,” Carlie added for her benefit, not knowing what else to do. She got the feeling she would be the one holding the emotions together in this group. But at least he could be useful. “So, what’s the plan? Are we going to go with you to meet this angel guy?” She squirmed in her seat at the possibility, but Tanner shot her a look. It might have been insensitive, but she couldn’t help herself.

  “I don’t know if you’ll be able to see him or not, but it’s worth a shot. But maybe we should get your stuff settled at my house and let my parents know you’re hanging for the night? I don’t know how late we will be out. And you’ll want to change. It rains every night now.”

  Carlie looked up at the sky and saw no signs of such a thing, but it was Alexandra who had relived this say for so long. She would know.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  Chapter 12

  The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react. ~ George Bernard Shaw

  “ARE you sure you can stand sleeping in the closet?” Alexandra asked, looking at Carlie strangely. It was odd enough that she was taking two strangers into her life, into her home, after them telling her they knew who she was through dreams one of them had, and now one of them would indefinitely be sleeping in the closet.

  “I told you, I am a foster kid; I have slept in worse, and actually, I love this closet. Besides, I would rather be here than get stepped on while someone is on the way to the bathroom,” she commented, laying out some pillows and blankets that Alexandra had found in a hall closet for her.

  It took some hard convincing of her parents to allow them to come and stay in the house especially since one of them was a boy. But he was gay, that became clear rather fast. She wished she could introduce him to Wesley, but it was pointless, he would just forget him the next day. It would just be cruel. On top of that, how would she explain who he was?

  She couldn’t. That was why she had become so isolated. She did little any more than contemplate memories and talk with Amon. Well, she did until he told her that he was dying. Right after she kissed him, no less.

  She knew she was outing too much pressure on the new people in her life, but she had to look at them and hope that they would help her figure out the answers. She hoped the answers would directly lead to saving Amon and time along with it. She had never felt this way about another being on the planet, and she didn’t know how she could give that up so easily.

  She looked to Tanner who had been laid out on his sleeping bag and playing games at the foot of her bed while Carlie fussed over making the perfect space in the closet and chowed down on food. She was quite the girl. Very different from anyone that Alexandra had ever met. But that somehow made her trust it more, that this was all happening for a reason. ordinary people didn’t get sucked into saving time or the world, or any oth
er comic book nonsense like what her life had turned into.

  “You guys ready to head out yet?” she asked nervously, eyeballing the darkness outside as the rain started to come down. No way were her parents going to let her walk out the front door in that. They would be climbing out the window in a torrential downpour if they didn’t leave pretty soon. She really wasn’t ready to take them to see Amon. She wasn’t actually ready to see Amon at all after what she had learned. She was afraid of many things; his reaction to her running away, what he would say about the kiss, or how he would look. It wasn’t like she knew anything about angels what it looked like when they died. Would he get weaker? The worst part is she would be awkwardly facing this encounter with two complete strangers. And yet, there was a comfort in the idea that she wouldn’t be alone.

  “Isn’t it a little weird that were just accepting this and getting along so well?” she asked them as they came to her window, waiting for her to open it so they could get out.

  Tanner shrugged and looked at Carlie who spoke up. “Nothing is as weird as having visions of someone and reading people’s minds, Alex,” she said, making them all crack up. “Let’s get out of here,” she said between titters as Alex opened the window, happily, silently, and they all crept out into the rainy night wrapped up in the best possible items to keep them dry.

  Alex closed the window most of the way, leaving a tiny crack open so they wouldn’t get locked out and waited for the two to gather under the large umbrella she had opened to cover them all up.

  Despite the rain, it was warm as usual, and everything was soon washed out, making visibility tough. At least no one would wonder what three teenagers were doing out together on the streets so late.

  They got to the clock tower, stopping in front of the door and taking down the umbrella. Alex turned back to look at Tanner and Carlie, her heart racing. “This is hard to share with you guys,” she admitted with her hand on the door. “Just don’t run or scream.”