Entanglements (26 page)

“It is if you have the right wormhole.” Zen sloshed a scoop of chili into the bowl and handed it to me.

“Dude." Chase chuckled. "Show me to the wormhole. I could so use a better grade on my last math exam.”

“Dude you could take that exam a million times and not get a better grade,” Senji scoffed.

“Wormhole?” I took a bite of the chili and swallowed it without chewing. The heat felt good sliding against the back of my throat and the spiciness cleared my sinuses. “Like in space? Those kinda wormholes?”

“What good is a wormhole in space going to do?” Petra asked, accepting a bowl from Zen. “I mean you don’t have a spaceship.” She laughed and glanced around her. “Do you?”

“Not all the wormholes are in space.” Zen dug into his own bowl. He gulped down a spoonful of chili. “A wormhole is a bridge or shortcut through space and time within this dimension.”

“You have discovered such a bridge?” Rom pushed the chili around in his bowl.

Zen nodded and swallowed. “I have only used it a few times so I’m not certain it has not collapsed. But if it is still there it might be used.”

“Used how?” Senji asked.

“Used to stop the Dorcha from entering this dimension in the first place,” Zen answered.

“Yet is it not truth such bridges cannot be relied upon?” Rom piped in.

“What do you mean?” I asked Rom.

“The time of arrival could not be predicted," Rom replied. "Moreover, the time of our return would be even more mercurial.”

“He’s right,” Zen said. “The last time I used the passage I arrived six months in the past. When I returned twelve hours had passed, but I had only been gone for three.”

“So we couldn’t time our arrival to coincide with the opening of the vortex.”

“No,” Zen admitted.

“And what of the other dangers.” Rom's voice boomed. “If the travelers were to encounter themselves in the past is it not true that the possible effect would be catastrophic.”

“Yeah,” Senji said. “I saw that on Star Trek I think.”

“This is ridiculous.” Petra wiped at her mouth with a napkin. “We’re taking our research from an ancient television show, now.

Chase nodded. “I agree with Petra. Besides, If you can’t time it and you can’t run into yourselves without ending the world or something, then what good would it do?”

“Maybe there is something.” I said. “What if we could somehow plant a tracking device on Juliette. If we couldn’t actually stop the portal from opening, we could at least have a way of finding Juliette when I go to Dorcha.”

“If we go to Dorcha.” Rom's eyes met mine as he emphasized "we".

“When we go.” I said.

Chapter Seventeen

Within the hour Rom and I were on our way to the wormhole entrance, with Zen driving and Senji tagging along for what he described as research. After pulling the van to a stop at the curb, Zen threw the gear into park and switched off the engine.

Calhoun Square was laid out with a double row of sidewalks running north/south through the grass and a double row running east/west dotted by a few benches.

Once we reached the other side of the square and the street beyond, Zen halted.

“There it is.” Zen pointed to a derelict Italianate stucco mansion.

The place had been empty for years, certainly as long as I’d been alive.

“That house has a wormhole in it?” Senji huffed.

“You were expecting a neon sign reading: time travel enter here?” Zen asked.

“No. But isn’t this place supposed to be haunted?"

“Yes. And it is. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.” Zen walked up the front steps leading one story up to the entrance. “I’ll introduce you to the ghost another day. We don’t have time right now.”

The front door had to be at least ten feet in height, wood, and adorned with an ornate lion’s head knocker.

“How are we getting in?” I asked.

Zen took a tool from his pocket and went to work picking the antiquated lock.

“Oh that’s how.”

I surveyed the street and square. No one seemed to be observing our B&E. Zen had the lock clicking within seconds. I stepped on his heel in my hurry to get through the door and out of view.

Once we were shut in, I wished I were back in the square. The place had a creepy feel. I felt as if a million volts of electricity crackled in the air around me, playing up and down my nerve endings and forcing the hair on my arms to stand at attention.

“What now?” I was somewhat breathless as if I stood at high altitude.

“Upstairs,” Zen replied switching on his flashlight and placing his foot on the first tread. The bouncing beam of his flashlight along the walls and into the corners revealed a number of cracks and areas where plaster had completely fallen away. We were almost to the top of the stairs when Zen stopped.

“The wormhole begins in the hall at the top of the stairs.” Zen continued. “Walk down the hallway to the bedroom on the far end and then climb out the window of the bedroom. When you want to come back, climb into the bedroom and pass down the hall the opposite way.”

“A hallway is the wormhole.” Senji pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and arched an eyebrow.

“Again I say. What were you expecting?” Zen drawled.

“Go down the hallway and back the opposite direction. Got it.” I glanced at Rom and he nodded.

“Look at that,” Senji said. He took hold of Zen’s flashlight and directed it about midway down the hall. The beam illuminated a section of ceiling that had fallen away leaving exposed beams and jagged plaster. The remnants lay in a pile on the wood floor beneath. Cracks radiated around the hole. As we stood there examining the damage, the crack around a piece of ceiling widened. Another section of ceiling crashed to the ground. We all jumped.

“The place is falling apart,” I cried.

“I told you the wormhole was unstable,” Zen said. “But it's deteriorated a lot since I was here last.”

“How often do you come here?” Senji asked.

“About once every couple months,” Zen answered. “Living well when you want to live off grid costs a lot of money. I’ve been working my stock portfolio.”

Another chunk of ceiling broke away and smashed down below.

“If the ceiling keeps falling at this rate, given the square footage of the hall, the whole thing will be completely collapsed in about twenty-four hours,” Senji commented.

“Yeah,” Zen agreed. “ But you two have to be back well before that. There’s only twenty-nine hours until the portal seals up for the next twenty-nine plus years.” He glanced at his watch. “You should stay there for four hours max. Time is wonky with these things. No telling how long will have passed when you get back.”

“Great,” I groaned. “So it’s going to be a leisurely trip.”

Zen reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of notepaper. “Here.” He handed it to me. ”I wrote myself a note.” His smile was wry. “You might need me and I’m such a suspicious bastard I might not help you without a letter of introduction.”

“Thanks.”

He turned to Rom. “You have the tracker?”

“Accord.” Rom patted the knapsack hanging over one shoulder. “Much gratitude for your many services.”

Zen flushed a deep red and coughed. “See you in a few hours.”

I almost said something to Zen about calling my mom. She'd be frantic when I missed curfew, but even more frantic if some strange man called her. I had to push down my worry. The only choice at this point was to go forward now and explain later.

With Rom in the lead, we trudged up the remaining steps until we stood on the threshold of the hallway. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Senji give a little wave as he and Zen stood on staggered steps next to each other. Rom reached back and took my hand before stepping forward.

The further we went in, the more the hall resembled a funhouse. The wall on the right side of us seemed to grow in height whereas the wall on the left side shrunk. Gradually, the effect reversed and the left side grew tall while the right, shortened. The floor under our feet began to pitch, roll and undulate. The hall groaned and moaned with each violent movement.

Rom and I listed to the side as if we were on the deck of a boat. I hoped I wouldn’t barf. I’d never been seasick before. Rom’s hand tightened on mine as he staggered drunkenly faster toward the door ajar ahead of us. I glanced back but could no longer see Senji or Zen. Facing forward again, a hunk of plaster from the ceiling dropped and struck me on the crown of my head.

Seasick and now concussed. Fantastic.

Finally we reached the door of the bedroom. Rom pushed through as if crossing a finish line and dragged me after him. Happily, the bedroom, bare but for a moldy old mattress on the floor, didn't move. The most interesting thing about the bedroom however wasn’t anything inside the room, but the sunshine streaming through the window. We’d started down the hallway a little before midnight but if the position of the sun was anything to go by, we emerged from the hallway around 7 a.m. But on what date?

* * * * *

A veranda ran along one side of the second floor and at the back of the house a spiral metal staircase afforded us easy access to street level. We made our way into the square and I glanced at the clear blue sky above us. I judged the temperature to be about 80 degrees. Savannah being so temperate made it difficult to nail down a month just from the weather. But a block away we ran across a newspaper box.

“May 17th,” I said rising after reading the face through the glass door of the box. “At least it’s the same year. But we’re way too early to stop the vortex from opening.”

“Is the location of your stepsister on this date known to you?” Rom asked.

Recalling where I’d been five days ago was impossible let alone where Juliette was four months ago.

“Let me think.” I tried to ignore the delicious smells coming from the nearby restaurant. My stomach wasn’t as cooperative as it gurgled loudly. “It’s Tuesday so she’s probably at school. But so am I.”

“We must take the chance. The sooner we return to the present the easier I rest.”

“Accord,” I said with a smile, deliberately adopting his word. My stomach gurgled again this time more loudly. “But maybe we should go to my house first depending on the time." I glanced in through the plate glass window of the restaurant and observed a clock, which told me 8 a.m.

A flash of white blond hair caught my eye reflected in the window as a figure moved in a flash along the sidewalk opposite the restaurant.

“Did you see that?” I whirled, my eyes darting to where the figure had streaked, but I saw nothing. Running, I headed in the direction I’d seen the figure go.

“Kizzy. What do you do?”

“The ghoul,” I yelled over my shoulder as I ran. “The one the prince called Namia. I just saw her.”

“How is this possible?” Rom came along side me, his face colored with a dull red flush.

“I don’t know. It just is.” I stopped at the corner to scan both directions. Still nothing. It was like the ghoul had just vanished at this very spot. Did she dart into a hiding place I wasn’t seeing?

Rom leaned over and placed his hands on his knees, breathing heavily out and sucking strongly in.