Chapter Fourteen #2
“They might have. I don’t remember with everything that’s happened.” He waved his hand. “Doesn’t matter, but it’s good. We can’t waste time with emotional outbursts.”
“Wow, way to treat my feelings,” I said, trying to lighten his mood.
The tone of his voice was sharp, but in truth, his eyes seemed to cut deeper than a blade. “There’s no time for feelings. The sooner you can all accept that, the better.”
“Chris, ease up. It’s literally only been a few hours for them.” Gabby touched his arm.
“And whose fault is that?” He zeroed in on the twins. “What happened? What went wrong? We could have used your help, all of you. We really needed you a couple of years back.”
“Nothing. Nothing went wrong. We jumped as planned and we ended up here. We felt a block or glitch for a few seconds and then we were here . . . We were now,” Antonio said.
“How is everyone?” I asked.
“Everyone is . . .” He made eye contact with Gabby.
“Chris, easy.”
“Where is everyone?” Annie asked.
“Gone.”
“Gone?” Annie collapsed onto the couch and stared at Chris as if he’d told her she’d grown two heads. “Wh— What happened?”
“They were captured, but they’re alive,” Gabby said, shifting her attention back to the garage. “I’ll be right back.”
“I don’t understand how anyone in our group could have been captured. We’re better than this.”
Chris looked at Nick. “We had little warning. We didn’t know they could track us . . . we— You have to know we would’ve stopped it if we could, Nick. They’re being kept as prisoners.”
“Do we . . .” Annie sniffed. “Do we know this f-for sure?”
“Robert keeps an eye out for news on them. They’re treated well enough, not punished or anything. They’re just not allowed to leave.” Chris rubbed his temples. “The most valuable Luminaries who refuse to work for the Org are just kept around. For experimentation, we presume.”
Gabby opened the kitchen door that connected to the garage. “It’s okay, come on in. Look, Daddy is right there next to Grandpa. Go say hi.”
Two kids barged in and ran straight to Chris. And a third, older, red-haired girl followed them shyly. I felt my heart stop. “Elisa?”
She found my eyes and looked quickly at Gabby. “Yes?”
Words failed me. I knew time had passed. I understood there were two young kids I’d never met, and my two friends were older now. But the gut punch I felt when I saw tiny Elisa standing as a pre-teen in front of me was the moment I truly felt the impact of our time jump.
“I . . . You probably don’t remember me.”
“I remember you, Aunty Ryan.” She came in for a hug and looked around the room. “I remember all of you.” She then left me and placed a hand on Annie’s shoulder. “Especially you, Aunty Annie. I’ve missed you a lot.”
Annie hugged Elisa tightly while she sobbed, struggling to hold herself together and failing miserably. “I’ve missed you, too, sweetie!”
“Don’t worry. They’re okay.”
“Of course they are, baby.” Annie gave Elisa a kiss on the forehead. “Of course they are!”
Gabby gently pushed the other two kids toward her dad. “Go on. It’s fine.”
Dr. Ryder beamed, staring at the other kids. “And these are my grandkids? Oh, my!”
Gabby smiled. “Yes, Chris and I have two kids.”
“Chris and you?” Kevin asked.
She nodded. “We’ve been married five years now. Gracie is four and a half and Robbie is two years old.”
“Who else is okay?” Annie asked, holding on to Elisa.
“David and, as we said, Robert,” Chris said. “They have no powers, so they’re safe. We only got away because of Gabby’s inhibiting powers.”
“All Luminary students who were under my protection are gone, along with Andrew, Beth, and Jenny.”
“You keep saying ‘gone,’ like they’re dead or something,” I snapped at Chris.
Kevin grabbed my hand and stopped me from walking up to Chris.
What was I going to do once I got up close and personal with Chris?
No clue. But he was really starting to get to me with all his doom and gloom.
I could swear I felt physical pain from all his negativity .
. . but of course, with my dampener, that was impossible. “Relax, Ryan,” Kevin said softly.
“They’re locked up, Chris. That’s all,” I said, pulling my hand away.
“Look, you don’t understand, Ryan. They might as well be dead.” Chris clenched his fists, then turned to Nick. “I let you down, Nick. I’m sorry.”
“Nothing you could’ve done about it. We’re here now, though. We’ll fix it together, brother.”
“I was having a sleepover with Aunty Gabby, so I wasn’t there when they came for Mom and Dad,” Elisa said.
“Oh, honey. They love you so much,” Annie said.
“I know. We didn’t have these yet.” She raised her wrist to show her bracelet. “But I knew you’d come. All of you. And Aunty Ryan is going to fix it.”
My body went rigid. That was a lot of pressure from a kid. “I will try.”
She smiled. “You’ll do it.”
Rash stood, unblinking, as the scene played before him. The images flickered, spinning like a slot machine reflecting in his eyes as all the pieces lined up perfectly. The smart TV feeding him the group’s every move from a beach house in the Hamptons.
So they had time-jumped. This explained his lack of progress in finding them, even after perfecting his powers through all communication devices. But nine years? This was unexpected. He shook it off. They were back now . . .
And he was ready.