Out of Time (16 page)

“It was in memory of their son Mankus. They
left him alone to go to the market and when they came home he was
gone. It was such a sad story. I’m glad ours didn’t turn out like
that. You’re safe and home.”

“What happened to the house?”

“Well, actually it sat on a large hill. They
moved most of the house farther away because of its historical
value, but some portions were left and demolished. Then they
flattened out much of the hill and that’s what they set the school
on.” her mother explained, taking a few more gulps. Sasha leaned
against the counter.

“So, like, the attic in the top of the school
is their front door or something?” Sasha wondered.

“Where it used to be, I guess.” her mom said
as Sasha finished off the apple and threw the core in the trash
can.

“Weird.” Sasha said, shaking her head. It
might not be the
actual
door, but it could be some kind of
paranormal connection with what was there.

“Why do you say that?” her mother asked
her.

“Have you ever heard about the school being
haunted?” Sasha asked her mom.

“Occasionally.” her mother said with a nod.
“I hear rumors, but that’s all. It’s not as though they have sent
paranormal investigators out there. It’s still a school. There
would be security issues.”

“Do you know where I can find more about the
history?” Sasha wondered. Her mother being a real estate agent had
its perks. Perhaps she’d be able to help her uncover the secrets in
the school.

“I would assume the local library would have
the newspapers from back then on their Microfiche machine.” Mrs.
Midleton told her daughter.

“I’ll have to take a look at it.” Sasha said.
She knew what the microfiche was from seeing it on TV. There were a
couple shows she had watched on family histories and they always
seemed to scan through and find exactly what they were looking for
on such machines. Old newspapers and clippings mostly.

“Sounds like some research project.”

“You have
no
idea.” Sasha said with a
laugh.

A bolt of lightning flashed through the sky
and the resulting clap of thunder caused Sasha to jump up from her
slumber. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, her heart racing. She
looked over to the other side of the bed. Her husband had his back
to her, sleeping on his side. She noticed something blinking out of
the corner of her eye. It was her phone. She turned it on and
looked at it. One new message. She listened to the voicemail.

“Simon, are you awake?” she asked after
putting the phone down.

“We just got back from a fourteen-hour drive
and I’m exhausted. No, I’m not awake.” he said groggily, turning
over to look at her.

“Mandy called me. Remember when I had that
MRI back in high school?” she asked.

“Yea, and then you asked to date me. And that
kiss
.” he said, smiling, although Sasha could tell he was
tired.

“It was the same day I got the results back.”
Sasha told him.

Simon yawned and reached out to caress his
wife’s hand. “So what does that have to do with Mandy?”

“Her husband is a brain doctor. He deals with
memories. They sent him that MRI, going through unresolved cases,
and he was discussing it with Mandy. He recognized the name on it.
He probably shouldn’t have told her — privacy and all that.” Sasha
said, slouching back into the bed.

“Does that help solve your missing memories?”
he wondered.

“I’ve got an extra year or so of memories.”
she said to him, nervous energy pulsing through her.

“Why?”

“I’m going to tell you. First, though, I need
to get in touch with Rob.” she told him, referencing Mandy’s
husband.

“Why?” Simon asked again.

“If he realizes what happened to me and
correlates it with the police report, there is a good chance they
are going to find out about
me
.” Sasha said with a
shudder.

“Can you
stop
being so ambiguous?”
Simon said, getting up and looking at her straight on. She turned
to face him fully.

Her eyes were sad as she said, “I will tell
you. I have to tell you.” Her voice nearly broke as she continued.
“The attic took me to the Everidge house.”

“You mean the house they tore down to build
the school? How is that even possible?” Simon wondered, reaching
out to hold his wife’s hands. Sasha enjoyed the touch and support,
edging closer to him.

“It’s a lot to take in, but I was ported
through different points in time.”

“So what has that got to do with your brain?”
Simon asked. Sasha smiled awkwardly.

“You seem a bit too calm about all of this.”
Then again, he always seemed to believe her. Sasha wasn’t the lying
type of person. Lying served no purpose and only damaged
relationships.

“Seriously, it makes more sense than you just
‘forgetting’. Besides, I remember Mandy talking about how weird you
were in sixth grade the day you skipped class. It was the only day
you ever had.”

“I thought not telling the police about the
attic would be enough, but I don’t think it will be once Rob knows
the truth.” Sasha said, grasping for Simon to come closer to
her.

“Sasha, did you go into the future?” Simon
whispered, embracing her.

“Yes.” she breathed back.

“What
exactly
happened?” he asked
quietly and tentatively.

She retracted. “A radical group called The
New Illuminati tried to abduct me after they found out I
time-traveled and they wanted to find out how to harness it so they
could rewrite history.”

“Did they catch you?” Simon asked, placing a
hand against her cheek. She melted into it. She took his hand and
held it.

“I was about to be caught. Mandy had gone
upstairs in Newcombe’s and then yelled for us to run away. I don’t
know who could have tipped the guys off. I thought Newcombe’s was a
safe house.” Sasha told him, rambling through the details.

“How far into the future was it?” he asked
her calmly.

“Just about now.” she responded.

“We have time, don’t we? Fix it before it
happens?” Simon asked.

“That’s why I need to talk to Rob.” Sasha
said, grabbing the phone. She started to dial, but Simon took the
phone away.

“Shouldn’t you talk to Mandy? She’s your
friend and all. I really don’t know about trusting that Rob. We’ve
only ever met him once and that was at their wedding.” Simon
asked.

It was as if a light bulb went off and Sasha
was hit with a flood of anxiety. “You know what? Rob was the only
one I hadn’t seen at Newcombe’s.”

“So you can’t trust him.” Simon stated.

“No. For all I know, he was working with the
radicals!” she exclaimed, her heart racing. She covered her mouth
as fear overwhelmed her.
Of course, why hadn’t I thought of it
before?
“He knew about the brain and how it worked. They could
have hired him. I’ve got to call Mandy. She’s got to find the MRI
results and destroy them….before…”

“Before what?” Simon asked drawing her close
as she began to lose control of herself.

She whispered out to the room, her voice
almost echoing against the background noise the storm outside
provided. “Before we’re out of time.”

The End

April Sadowski was born and raised
in the Dayton, Ohio area. Books were always prevalent in her life
and so was the fondness for writing. At the age of thirteen, April
began her first novel,
Lady From
Day
. It took over ten years to write,
but since the completion of it in 2009, she has written several
additional novels and has participated in NaNoWriMo, Camp
NaNoWriMo, and Script Frenzy, “winning” at every
attempt.

April is also an award-winning
graphic and website designer and a hemp jewelry maker. She spends
her free time (apart from writing) with her husband and three
meowing fur-children.

My Website:
www.aprilsadowski.com

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/aprilsadowski

Discover other titles by April Sadowski at
Smashwords.com

This written work was inspired by a dream and was
written originally for Script Frenzy 2011 as an audio drama.

Listen at
www.nother.us/audio-dramas/out-of-time/