Chapter Thirteen #2
Okay. Okay. What do I do? I could feel myself falling into space.
My chest tightened, and my breaths were coming in shallow and fast. But there was no time for this.
I had to pull myself together. I closed my eyes and focused on the energy in the air.
Not the people, but from nature. The wild serenity that somehow kept on going as everything spiraled around it.
I was all out of time, so I practiced a few seconds of meditation and looked up at the sky.
Okay, Derek. This one’s for you. I’ll relax in your honor.
As you always said to me: Panic when no one’s watching.
Well, right now, everyone was watching and there was no time to be weak.
Gosh darn it! I missed Derek. If ever I needed his wisdom, it was now.
I shook it off and nodded at everyone staring at me.
“You okay?” Anali asked.
“Yep. And I know you’re right. But now what? We can’t just jump without making sure it works. Kevin is busy and—”
“I’ll do it.”
“Jay, no.”
“Yes. I’ll do it right now. Just a five-minute jump.”
“No time like the present,” Antonio said, as his sister joined him.
“No, no, I don’t think—”
Anali, Antonio, and Jay held on to each other as Jay disappeared. The twins’ eyes came back from pitch black, and I’m pretty sure I hadn’t taken a single breath during those endless seconds.
“It will be fine.” Antonio placed one hand on my shoulder. “I saw it.”
I turned to see the others coming and going. It was pure torture until finally Kevin pointed at the backpacks on the deck. “This it?”
“Yes. That should be enough,” Annie said. “In case.”
He nodded as Antonio said, “Guys!”
Jay reappeared, looking disoriented. He smiled, gave us two thumbs up, and then proceeded to puke.
“Well, I guess we’ll need barf bags,” Kevin said.
Antonio laughed. “Facts.”
“I only feel bad that he’ll have to do it again immediately,” I said.
“Oh . . . that was . . . NOT fun, but I’m ready. Let’s go.” Jay took a sip of water from a bottle Anali handed to him. “I think I’ll go brush first, if you guys don’t mind.”
“Good idea, but first,” Kevin said, extending a fist.
Jay’s jaw dropped, still looking kinda green. “Really? Now?”
“Now or never, bro!” Kevin caught the fist bump from a nauseated Jay, who I’m sure was seconds away from puking again. “Thanks for taking the risk, Jay. Seriously. It was brave.”
“Yep.” Jay nodded, making his way to brush . . . or puke. Hopefully, not in that order.
We said goodbye to Beth and Andrew. They went back home as we prepared to make the jump. For us it would be instant; for them . . . it would be three years.
We made it to our designated area in a campground near Niagara Falls, New York. Nick hypnotized the baby to fall asleep before Annie infused him with a boost. She then created a blue bubble to encase him.
“That’s new,” I said.
“I’m not sure it will hold, but I’ve been practicing making a protective sphere that should absorb anything harmful.” She shrugged. “Just in case.”
Nick held Jack in the bubble and gave Annie a light kiss on the cheek. “We’re not sure if he has Luminary powers to keep him safe. It’s not that we believe you’re putting him in harm’s way, Ryan. We promise.”
“No, I get it. I’m glad you’re taking precautions. I’m most worried about him, so this is good.”
“Right,” Kevin said, eagerly rubbing his hands together. “Ready, everyone?”
We nodded, and he leaned in to give me a kiss on the forehead. Then, off we went.
Dr. Ryder’s nervous laughter served as our musical theme in the background as our powers took over, interacting with each other in a kaleidoscope of colors fading in, out, and through us.
I felt myself being pulled into my own body.
Like an internal vacuum sucking everything within me, but not in a painful way.
I could see and feel Anali’s and Antonio’s astral projections fuse as their eyes went dark.
Honestly, they looked like death. We seemed to have been stuck for longer than was planned, their ghostlike forms visibly distressed.
The baby started crying, and then whatever magical band held us together snapped, and we fell right where we started.
The trees around us, however, seemed less lively. The sky was setting up for a storm, and there was a silence across the forest that seemed to pierce through my eardrums with cold and hollow eeriness. Whatever it was my senses were attuning to, it was very disturbing.
“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay,” Annie said. She tried to calm Jack as panic set in across her face.
“You got him?” Nick waited for her to nod before walking away. “Where are our things, Kevin?”
Kevin was too busy throwing up next to Antonio to answer. I was holding Anali’s hair back as she also joined them. And Jay pulled out the couple of water bottles he had with him to hand them out. Because why wouldn’t he be?
“Guess I’m all puked out.” He took a sip and went to grab the baby as Annie joined the puking party. “I got him.”
I focused on my surroundings, trying to ground myself. Keeping steady was rough, as I felt the nausea rising. I noticed Dr. Ryder placing a hand over his chest. I mimicked him, trusting his judgment. He didn’t look sick, just a bit disoriented.
Slowly breathing, he leaned against a tree. Looking up, he pointed to an old, worn-out tent behind us. “Oh right. Oh my. What is that?”
Nick shrugged before going inside. After a few minutes of hearing things tumbling around, he yelled, “Fuck!”
“Nick?” Annie asked, wiping the side of her mouth. “Got everything?”
He walked out with a note and a cell phone in his hand. “Well, shit.”
“What?” a few of us asked in unison.
“We’re in the wrong time.”