Oddily followed their instructions and became increasingly uncomfortable with her two new friends bombarding her with advice, telling her what to say and how to react if Maxim and his sister spotted her and came over. Certainly, their intentions were good, but what they suggested was for her to become someone other than who she was.
Suddenly, Oddily pulled away from their grip and spoke with a quivering voice. “I’m sorry to sound so ungrateful, but you two will never be able to change me. What can I say? My birth is a life sentence.”
Pepper and Carrie had stared at each other in disbelief before Pepper spoke. “I’m so sorry, Oddily. We were just trying to help you, girl.”
Oddily glanced down at her feet, feeling uncomfortable for complaining and wanted to make amends. “I’m the one who should be sorry for my rudeness.”
“Hey, sometimes a girl has to stand up for herself. We’re cool with that!”
“Hey, do you guys want to ride the carousel?” Oddily was hopeful.
“Now you’re talking,” Carrie snickered.
“Yeah, you two go ahead. I’ll catch up in a minute.”
Pepper momentarily lost her perkiness while she kept an eye on the parking lot until Maxim and his sister pulled away in their expensive cars.
CHAPTER 30
At home, Maxim and Nexa lounged on white molded chairs, studying their next move while playing a holographic game of chess.
“Pawn G2 to G4,” the chess piece moved on Maxim’s command.
Nexa eyed the board. “Knight F6 to G4...Gotcha,” his pawn disappeared.
“Bishop C1 to A3,” the hologram moved Maxim’s piece into position.
“Knight E7 to D5,” after Nexa knocked out another one of her brother’s pawns, she got up and stomped out of the room.
What happened? Maxim followed her to her bedroom and was blindsided when she turned on him.
All evening your mind has been on some stupid car crash. Tonight is supposed to be my time, but all I get is your physical presence. This isn’t fair, Maxim!
I’m sorry, sis. Come here and give me a hug.
No, not until I get an explanation.
Maxim paused. I’m warning you. You’re not going to like what’s on my mind.
Try me. She folded her arms over her chest.
Okay…Earlier today, while you two shopped for clothes, I searched the Internet and found an article about the incident that left Oddily an orphan.
Nexa promptly rolled her eyes in exasperation.
Stop that and let me finish.
It’s fine with me, but make this quick.
The accident happened here, on our property, near the National Forest boundary line. No wall barriers were there yet, so the car skidded off onto our land, hitting a tree.
Nexa kept her promise by remaining quiet, so Maxim continued.
Whoever drove the car disappeared without leaving a trace.
And you’re wondering what happened. Nexa became intrigued, as well.
Later on, after I came home to change clothes, I located the place where the accident happened.
Nexa smirked. Now, I suppose you’re going to ask me to return to that moment in time.
Maxim paused with uncertainty. I was considering the possibility, and yet, I’m not comfortable with the idea. What if something goes wrong and you can’t find your way back?
Oh, how sweet, Nexa smiled and gave him a hug. You do care about me.
Of course, I do! He playfully growled in her ear while giving her a bear hug.
I can’t breathe! She laughed, struggling out of his hold.
Sis, I’ve made my decision. I can’t ask you to do that for me when there’s a risk involved.
Listen…if my travels were somewhere other than home, I would agree with you, but our property is where I do all my practicing.
Do you mean that you stay right here on our land while you go back in time? The notion left Maxim perplexed.
Yes, I have been enjoying visits with father, watching him interact with us throughout our youth.
Ha…have you sp…spoken to him? Maxim stuttered for perhaps the first time in his life.
No. I’ve been hiding until I understand what I can or can’t do safely. When did this calamity happen?
Maxim scanned his memory. It occurred on May 16, 1990, at approximately 10:30 pm.
Hmmm, its 10:05 right now, Nexa’s beautiful blue eyes squinted in contemplation.
Why are you shutting me out? Maxim nudged her arm when he couldn’t read her thoughts.
Without warning, the air started to change becoming thicker and harder to breathe. What’s happening, sis? Talk to me!
The atmosphere around Nexa began to illuminate. Maxim tried to back away from the strong current of energy, but she grabbed his hand and yelled, Hold on tight!
Had a shadow fallen across the room, or did the lights abruptly go out? He still heard the faint sound of Beethoven in the background, but the music became muffled by the loud noise of rushing wind. Then total darkness came and with it, the absence of all sound…gone in a flash.
The grip on his sister’s hand began to weaken, and when he tried to squeeze it tighter he had nothing left to grip. He screamed for her. Whether his outburst was to help him, or to support her—he wasn’t sure. Her name seemed to fling back down his throat, and he began to choke.
He was entirely alone, losing the protection of his sister’s hand. Nexa was nowhere, either to save or to turn to for comfort. He was alone in a fragment of nothingness— no light, or sound. Where was his body? He tried to move in his panic, but he had nothing to move. Light and sound had vanished, and so did he. The physical Maxim ceased to exist.
He was dead, or so he thought until he felt his limbs again. His legs and arms started to tingle, as though they had been asleep. He tried to blink, knowing that he had somehow remained alive and yet nothing else was.
The experience wasn’t as basic as darkness, or absence of sound. Darkness had a tangible quality where the world of things still existed around you. He, however, became lost in a horrifying void. It was the same way with silence. This was more than that. The deaf sensed vibrations. Here, there was nothing at all.
Suddenly he became aware of his heart beating rapidly in his chest. Had it stopped before? What had made it start again? The tingling in his arms and legs grew stronger, and he felt the beginnings of some movement. He hoped he was coming back into himself.
Maxim! He heard his sister’s voice as his surroundings grew brighter. Her body wavered in front of his eyes appearing as though she were under water. The brightness began to dim until Nexa appeared to be normal, bending over him with a towel wrapped around her.
Nexa! He gasped.
I’m right here. She spoke, but her words sounded strangely detached.
I made it! He moaned. His heart continued to leap wildly in his chest, and then anger engulfed him. Damn you, Nexa! You scared the crap out of me, grabbing me that way without any warning.
So, what do you think? She ignored his grievance. How did you like the experience?
Terrifying and horrible, he complained.
Nexa smiled. I swear it gets easier.
After we get back, there will be no next time. Maxim sat up and eyed their new surroundings.
His attention was first drawn to the walls, resembling the night sky filled with twinkling stars. Then, he eyed the brightly colored butterflies glowing in the dark like beautiful dancing nightlights. They fluttered above two small pods likened to futuristic beds. Maxim’s eyes grew wide with excitement at the remembrance of the butterflies. The dim lights were soothing before falling asleep each night.
I find it hard to believe that we’re here, sis. Eighteen years into the past and our young selves are sleeping in those beds!
Desiring a closer look, he tried to stand, but Nexa stayed him with her hand.
Calm down and don’t make any sudden moves. You’ll wake us up.
Maxim remained still while his mind co
ntinued to race. He had survived time travel! Nexa succeeded in creating a vacuum of space to open a rift. The wormhole enabled them to, particle-by-particle, slip into another timeline. He couldn’t comprehend the repercussions of what this meant and at that moment, he didn’t have to try. Nexa distracted him with a tap on his arm. She beckoned him to follow.
Maxim quietly got to his feet, and for the first time, he realized he was naked. He cupped his hands over his manhood as he joined his sister at the pods and stared down at the toddlers. They appeared to be no more than two years old, resting in a moderate temperature for optimum comfort.
What happened to our clothes, sis?
Good question, she handed him a towel while staring at her small self. I’ve never been here at night.
This is unbelievable. Maxim shook his head while covering himself. I can barely accept this is happening.
I know, and I wish we had time to let this sink in for you, but time is running out. If you want to know what happened to cause Oddily’s orphaned fate, we need to act now.
Then let’s go. Maxim headed for the doorway, but stopped when he overheard a noise. Someone’s coming!
Come with me! Maxim grabbed Nexa by the arm and found a hiding place in the hygiene room. They waited until the humming sound of their former nursemaid, Mollee came into the bedroom.
The monitors must have given us away, sis.
Relax, there’s no monitor’s yet. This timeline happened only three years after father arrived. At this point, everything is still under construction.
Damn, this is strange!
I sympathize with you. Nexa placed her arm around him. The first time was weird for me too.
Maxim and Nexa were relieved when Mollee left after checking on their young selves. Running out of time, they stumbled with their bare feet over to the crash site. They hardly had a moment to spare, scampering to hide behind a boulder, when the screeching of breaks and the loud, ear shattering sound of the crash echoed through the night.
Besides the frantic cry of an infant, the car horn blared along with the smell of rubber and gas. After Maxim had jumped out from behind the boulder, he froze in place when he viewed the tangled mess of metal. “No…no way!”
Shush! Nexa stepped out and grabbed his arm while she eyed the disaster for herself. You’re right. That is nasty!
Maxim had rushed over to the wreckage before Nexa thought to stop him.
Don’t touch anything, she warned, refusing to follow. The thought of witnessing any blood or gore made her stomach churn.
Maxim stared into the smashed window at the driver; a young female no older than him was slumped over the steering wheel. The girl resembling Oddily appeared to be seriously hurt. She was moaning inaudibly, so he leaned closer.
“My baby…my baby,” she repeated over and over again.
Tears filled Maxim’s eyes, and he started to cry. It was the most helpless, hopeless feeling he had ever experienced while his attention rested upon Oddily, the hysterical infant, in the back seat. He desperately wanted to pick her up and save her from the future she was about to endure, but he stayed strong and continued to do nothing. “Your baby is going to be all right,” he whispered to the mother. “I’ll take good care of her, I promise.”
All of a sudden, the sound of foliage started to rustle in the distance. Maxim bolted back to where his sister waited, and once again hid behind the boulder.
Nexa grabbed his shoulders. Listen to me, Maxim. Quiet your mind until I speak again.
Maxim nodded because he also suspected what Nexa feared and focused on quieting his mind with a method their father taught them as children.
The sound came closer while the two huddled together in complete silence. The dreaded visitors, whom they suspected, came out into the clearing. The first one to appear was the humanoid, Tinley, closely followed by its creator, Nero.
Maxim struggled to keep his mind activity under control while he gazed upon his father. Nero still looked like a twenty year old, except for his bald head. This ageless man was a human tree in height, and his impressive body had flawless skin appearing to be thin and translucent with a bluish tinge. Maxim’s feelings screamed with a mixture of yearning and anger towards him, but he managed to keep his thoughts immobile while he spied on them.
Tinley removed Oddily’s mother from the car and took off running in the same direction they had come. Nero stayed, gathering Oddily up in his arms and rocked her gently back and forth until the headlights of another car stopped and someone climbed out.
“I’m calling for help,” the stranger called out.
Nero paused for a moment as if deciding something, then placed Oddily back into the wreckage. After gathering up the woman’s purse, a diaper bag, and the contents from the glove compartment, he backed off into the night.
Maxim didn’t need his sister to poke him this time to follow. His instincts became razor-sharp while they managed to pursue from afar, finding themselves headed back to Stafford Manor. When Nero disappeared inside the residence, they continued to watch him through the windows to find out in what direction he went. He headed for Maxim’s workshop, the garage on the west side of the structure.
Maxim led Nexa to the backside of the house and quietly entered the kitchen area adjacent to where Nero had disappeared. Fortunately, the doorway leading to what someday would become one of his workshops had been left wide open. The two were astounded by what they saw. It looked more like a futuristic, ‘high tech’ lab with equipment that neither Maxim nor his sister had ever seen before.
After ducking behind the large center island of the kitchen, they had a perfect view of Oddily’s semi-conscious mother laid out on the table. Nero busily entered a code on the keypad to scan her body.
The results were instantaneous, because Nero gave his diagnosis. “The frontal lobe to her brain is hemorrhaging. Hurry, download her memory before we run out of time.”
The humanoid, a.k.a. Tinley, retrieved a metal object with blinking lights and pressed the small device to the right temple of the woman. As soon as he did, her eyes began to flutter rapidly.
“Stay with us,” Nero tapped her cheek gently. “Come on…stay with us for a few more minutes.”
“Almost done,” Tinley reported.
“We’re losing blood pressure!” Nero hurried to another control panel and prepared himself.
“It is finished!” Tinley removed the device and stepped back.
Nero’s fingers flew across the keyboard as an electrical dome shaped shield appeared over the dying body. Then, a laser beam of light started to scan the girl from her head, down to her feet.
“We’ve got her!” Nero looked pleased as the humming noise quieted and the shield disappeared.
“And just in time,” the humanoid added, handing him the small device. “We have lost her.”
“Thank you Tinley, you have done well as usual. Go ahead and preserve her body.”
Maxim’s heart sank in his chest. Oddily’s mother was dead. She died right before his eyes and at the hands of his own father. The disbelief and anger welling up in him became palpable. He struggled to keep his mind from lashing out at the man he used to admire. Now he knew what those cyber tanks in his workshop were used for because Oddily’s mother was now submerged in one. It was an eerie sight to see the naked body floating around in an unidentified fluid, and Maxim needed to turn his head before he lost the contents of his stomach. He couldn’t allow this heartless fiend to know that he and his sister watched.
Instead, he kept his eye on Nero who nonchalantly walked over to the purse and diaper bag and spied on him rummaging through it. His father appeared to have no adverse reaction regarding what had just occurred while he found what he searched for, the woman’s driver’s license. This seemed to satisfy him as he returned to the control panel of the scanning table and removed a disk.
Nexa put her arm around Maxim to try and comfort him as the two continued to view the horror unfolding before them. Nero w
ent to another sophisticated computer placing the disk and the device Tinley had given him into the machine, and downloaded its data. After removing just the blinking device, he went to stand in front of two inoperative androids, one in which they knew well. It was to become their future nanny, Willa.
Maxim wished he understood what his father was thinking or doing, but Nero’s thoughts were in a dialect that he had never heard before. All he could do was to stay hidden while Nero chose Willa and plugged the device into the back of its head.
The android slowly started to move its wrist while coming to artificial life. The head moved slightly as if waking from a long slumber. The left arm rose, and it seemed to stare at its fingers just before the metal body started to thrash about with its limbs. If it weren’t for the iron restraints, the machine would have gone berserk.
“Calm down, Willa.” Nero ordered.
“What has happened to me?” the computer-generated voice spoke. “I can’t breathe! I have no heartbeat!”
“You’re alive,” Nero assured her. “I was able to save you.”
“My baby,” the machine pleaded in a human way. “Where’s my baby?”
“She’ll be fine,” Nero declared. “Your daughter has been rescued.”
Nero’s head snapped towards the kitchen when someone’s voice cried out. “Who’s there?” he demanded, lunging through the open doorway, but the room was empty except for two bath towels and two pairs of shoes that belonged to him. Nero smiled to himself while Tinley joined him to view the remains.
“Your children will someday follow in your footsteps, master.”
“Yes, apparently you’re right.”
CHAPTER 31
Maxim and Nexa landed in a heap on the kitchen floor of the Stafford Manor and coughed from the dust threatening to choke them.
“We’re back!” Maxim cried out when he realized he returned in one piece and swore never to travel though time again. He would rather spend a normal unparalleled life, in Oddily’s chaotic world.
What’s wrong? Nexa noticed Maxim behaving strangely.
What do you think, he got to his feet. My girlfriend’s dead mother is our former nanny, Willa!
I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged you along with me.