Chapter 4
Aiden’s dreams were the same as almost every night. Something was chasing him, and all he could see were the fires in the background. He couldn’t see what it was and when he took control of his dreams and tried to stop himself running he could feel his skin crawl.
Whatever it was in his dream he didn’t want it to catch him. The few times he had slipped up and the nightmare got close he woke up in a cold sweat with Razz sitting at his feet whimpering. Tonight was no different, the stress of knowing he had tried everything he could think of to change the future was creeping into his dreams, and they were taking an even more sinister turn. Aiden woke again a few hours later, being no further ahead in a decision than when he had laid down his head.
"That was a waste." He mumbled as he unwrapped himself and stood up to stretch. "Well at least we should start moving towards the last skyscraper. I can try and think of something we haven’t done while we walk." Razz just fell into step beside him not answering and not looking for one either.
The tower broke on the horizon with the sun rising up behind it. The golden rays making its outline light up like a beacon. Aiden really wasn’t paying too close attention as he walked his mind filled full of formulas, and how to change them. The warning bark from Razz didn’t come soon enough. Aiden’s foot felt air as he stepped forward into a crack in the road. He threw up a defensive shield to catch himself as he fell, but his impact against the ground didn’t create the cracking sound. His ankle twisted as he pitched forward and the sudden pain caused him to black out as the ground rushed towards him.
Growling was all he could hear as he tried to fight through the pain in his leg. There were two tones to it. One sounded a lot like Razz. The other sounded deeper, more desperate, and aggressive.
Aiden pushed lightly against the ground and turned himself towards the sounds. His leg pain flared with the movement, but he managed to keep himself conscious. The scene in front of him seemed like one he had seen long ago on a nature program. A bear was facing off against Razz. Neither seemed to want to give any ground; the bear would lunge forward and Razz would leap out of the way. Even with his pain-muddled mind, Aiden knew the bear must have smelled him and was desperate enough to risk trying him as food.
It was evident that he hadn’t had a meal in some time. His skin hung loosely off him and his eyes were yellow, shot with red. Aiden knew the bear wouldn’t put up with this dog stopping him for long so he pulled himself to a sitting position as he extricated his foot from the crack in the road.
It took all he had to get himself back on his feet. The pain was intense and even the slightest pressure on his foot pushed him towards unconsciousness. The bear hadn’t even noticed him stand and perhaps it was a good thing, or it might have moved to take him down and forget the dog all together.
Aiden pulled his hand back and released the ball of magic at the bear. There was no whistle in the air and nothing to see, but the bear fell back from the blow. Aiden raised his hand ready to throw another shot, but the bear didn’t regain its feet.
Aiden hopped carefully over to a fallen wall; each bounce of his foot sent new lances of pain up his leg. The relief of sitting was minor, but it did take some of the pain off him. With shaking fingers, Aiden worked the old strings to remove his boot, and pulled up his pant leg to inspect the damage. With the clothing pulled back, he could see his ankle was swelling and the skin had turned a very odd mixture of purple and blue.
"NO! How am I supposed to climb over sixty stories with my ankle in this shape?" Aiden cursed his luck as he cried to himself, the pain mixing with the frustration of his situation. Razz crawled up to him whimpering with worry. "Sorry boy. I don’t mean to scare you. Thanks for protecting me back there. I guess if it wasn’t for you I might have been dinner for bears." Razz tilted his head not understanding the tone, but still worried for his master. Aiden sat with his head in his hands as the sun continued its gradual ascension. "What am I going to do? I can’t climb high enough like this unless I leave now, but I don’t even know what to do yet when I get back again."
Aiden looked up to see his friend still waiting for him to move. An idea came to his mind as he looked into his friend’s faithful eyes. "Razz, fetch!" Razz was off like a lightning bolt. He loved this game whenever Aiden had found enough time to play it with him. It didn’t take too long and Razz came back with a stick between his teeth. Luck was against him and it was long dead. There was no life left in it. Aiden tried again, "Razz fetch!"
With a shot he once again took off to search for another stick. The second time was the charm and he brought back a nice thick branch with leaves attached to one end – sparse but containing life. "Good Boy!" Aiden ruffled Razz’s ears as he pulled the branch from his mouth.
Aiden held the branch between his hands and concentrated hard on how he wanted it to grow. His magic filled him and the branch began to stretch between his hands growing down to the ground. Its base got thicker while the top end stayed straight and a few leaves popped out. Aiden let out the breath he had been holding and studied his handiwork - a perfectly straight staff was in his hands with a thick base that would prove strong, and supportive, yet not too heavy. The wood had changed while it grew into a pure black. Aiden didn’t know why it happened; only that it did every time he had made other plants grow. The color didn’t seem to affect them afterwards, so he didn’t let it affect him.
"Okay, I have to get to the top of the skyscraper one way or another. I guess I will have to think while I climb since I only have two days left to get up."
Razz didn’t answer as Aiden began his trek to the tower ahead. Using the staff as a crutch, and this time much more diligent as to his footing, he worked his way closer.
The walking proved much slower than he had hoped. It was nightfall when he managed to get to the front doors. Aiden knew it would take all his time to get to the top and he still had no idea what to change in the past, let alone how he could do it now with his foot broken.
The climb was excruciating. Every step sent shots of pain through his foot and brought tears to his eyes. Aiden didn’t stop for breaks. He ate and drank as he climbed. It took far longer than it should have, but he knew this was his only chance. The ruins of the skyscraper didn’t help speed him up either. The locked doors and ruined hallways proved Aiden’s luck had run out. He couldn’t slow down this was his last chance.
Every step he took he was shadowed by Razz. This too was different, usually his companion just waited for him at the bottom and he would appear from somewhere when he returned. Aiden had tried to shoo Razz away and tell him to stay, but every time he turned his back, the dog would just reappear behind him. Eventually he just gave up and worried about his climb instead of his companion.
Aiden’s food supply didn’t last as long as he would have liked. He normally prepared himself much better before a climb like this, at least when he had the time to get ready. It took two full days of pain, and struggling, to get the top.
When a ragged Aiden blasted off the last door, and stepped onto the open rooftop, a gust of wind was there to greet him. It almost knocked him back down the stairs. Aiden clutched his staff tight and pushed himself out. It was also two days since he made that staff and still it held the leaves that had grown on it. They even looked like they were getting brighter, more alive, instead of what one would had expected.
Aiden had thought about this on way up. He had no new plans on how to save the future; his mind had failed him. All he could think of now was just going back for one more trip to see his girlfriend and say goodbye. Aiden pushed himself to the edge while the wind buffeted him back and forth. Already unsteady on his feet the wind gusts caused him to stumble as he walked to the edge of the skyscraper. Without a second thought he pulled his magic into himself and leaned over the edge dropping to the ground below. The leaves on his staff whipped around as he fell to the earth.
Aiden landed with a hard thump amid screams and yelling. He had forgotten to concentr
ate on his arrival area and didn’t know where he was this time. The pain in his foot mixed with the temporary blindness overcame him as he lay still on the ground. It took all his concentration to just breathe.
It took a few moments each time he returned to get his bearings and this time was the worst he had ever felt. Wave after wave of pain cascaded through his body. By the sounds all around him it sounded like he had landed right inside the library, the worst place to stay hidden. It might have been the worst place to land on the entire campus.
He felt hands reach out and touch him, tugging at him, and trying to pull him to his feet. His voice hadn’t fully returned to him yet but he tried to talk anyway. "Jess…I…need to…find Jessica."
"Hey! Someone go and find Jessica, she needs to see this!" A disjointed voice broke through the confusion followed by the sounds of retreating feet mixed with murmured conversations and whispered questions. Whoever was helping him stand hauled him over to a seat and sat him in it.
"What happened to you Aiden? You look like shit! Did you go drinking last night or something?"
Pulses of pain from his ankle made Aiden wait a minute before he could respond.
"No, much…worse than that." Aiden’s sight was coming back to him and a sea of faces watched his every move, each pair of eyes trying to ask a thousand questions.
"How did you get here? You just seemed to drop into the library from nowhere."
Aiden pulled himself to his feet with the help of his pure black staff and the many hands of his friends.
"My staff? I still have it!"
Aiden looked at the staff still in his hand. The leaves were on it and looked to be alive, green and healthy, the same state as before his jump.
"Dude…you need a doctor. You're a mess."
Aiden looked at himself and realized what he really looked like. All his clothes were a mess of tears, and dirt, mixed in a few spots with some random bloodstains where he must have cut himself climbing. His face and hair must have been in the same state, but there were no mirrors in a library to show him. "Yeah, you might be right. Jess can take me when she gets here."
Almost on command, she appeared in the doorway to the library. Her face fell as she saw Aiden standing with the help of a tree branch. Tears came to her instantly and she rushed over. "Oh my God Aiden, what happened to you? I just saw you a couple hours ago and you were fine! Did a car hit you?" She began pulling Aiden towards the exit. "We have to get you to a hospital right now!"
Aiden pulled Jess in close and smelled the clean sweetness of her hair as he hugged her tight. "Yeah…I think that would be a really good idea. You drive ok?"
Jess nodded and helped Aiden walk slowly to the car. His arm over her shoulder and the staff supporting his other side, they hobbled towards the car.
After a painful entry into the car and another unwanted bump to his foot on the doorframe, the couple drove in strained silence for a few minutes. Jess had given a confused look when Aiden had insisted on keeping his staff with him, but didn’t argue the point for long. She could see he was in a lot of pain and decided that getting him to the hospital was more important to her than a stick with leaves. Once the pain had leveled a little, Aiden didn’t waste any more of the time before he started talking to Jess. "I’m sorry Jess…I didn’t want it to be like this."
"What are you talking about? Be like what? What really happened to you? You look like you've been hit by a bus!"
"I'd hoped to spend the next few hours with you and just have fun. I didn’t get to think this through properly. My ankle… its hurt pretty bad, and it’s not helping me concentrate. Everything is going wrong, everything is wrong…I don't…I don't know what to do…"
"We will have time to talk later, just relax, we'll be at the hospital soon, and they'll help you.
Aiden just nodded as another wave of pain shook his body. Tears broke their way through the smudges and dirt on his face to fall lost into the folds of his ruined shirt.
It took no time to get to the hospital. Someone must have called ahead from the college as a nurse was waiting outside with a wheelchair when Jess pulled up to the front doors. The nurse took one look at Aiden’s face and helped him into the chair. With a practiced skill she rushed him through the front doors.
In moments the doctors had him lying on a bed and were cutting the lower half of his pant leg off to reveal the swollen and purple bruising that covered his ankle. Jess sat at his side with a worried expression, not daring to speak for fear of her tears breaking through.
"How long ago did you do this son? It looks to be a couple days old." The doctor asked while working at inspecting the break.
Jessica’s eyes went wide as she stared at the doctor. "A couple of days…how can that be? I saw him just a few hours ago and he was fine. Now he looks like he got hit by a bus!"
"I don’t know young lady, but this bruising is a few days old at least. This young man is lucky he hasn’t got an infection, blood clot, or worse."The doctor went over the chart beside the bed and called for the nurse to come back. "Let’s get this boy on some sedatives before I try to do x-rays or set the bones, whatever he needs we need to get him to sleep so I can do it."
"No! You can’t put me out! I have to stay awake!" Aiden began to struggle to get off the bed.
"Whoa son! Ok have it your way." The doctor shrugged as he hung the chart back on the wall. "You will probably pass out when I try to set this bone anyway. You don’t want the drugs, than you don’t have to have them."
Jess was still staring at Aiden mumbling to herself. "I just saw you a few hours ago…you were fine."
Aiden looked at his girlfriend as the doctor set up a mobile x-ray machine to check out his break. "You didn’t see me Jess. I…I don’t know how to tell you this so that you can understand." Aiden glanced at the doctor to make sure he wasn’t listening. He continued on in more of a whisper. "Look at me…I mean, really look at me. Do I look the same to you? If you saw me just a few hours ago your memory will be fresh, am I the same person as before? Look hard, this is more important to the next few hours than you know."
Jess still had a look of confusion mixed with concern, but she did as asked. She had a logical mind and liked to think problems through. Aiden watched as she processed all that she saw in front of her. "You are different, your eyes…your skin, but you are still Aiden, how?"
Aiden lowered his voice even more while keeping his eyes on the doctor and nurse. "I am Aiden, but I’m not the Aiden you know, not really. I'm from the future. A future where everything you see around us is gone. Destroyed by us and the experiment you and I were set to do just a few hours from now."
Jessica’s face took on a look of confusion. "Travel to the past or future is impossible, everyone knows that."
Aiden smiled as he looked into Jess’s eyes. "We both said the exact same thing until about twelve o’clock tonight when we broke that rule. Our experiment destroyed the moon and then twisted everything left here on earth. Neither of us could have seen the outcome, but we changed everything. In my future science and magic work together now, they are fighting for dominance over the earth, that's how I came back to see you, I used magic to bring myself back through time."
Jessica had a look of disbelief on her face.
The Doctor pushed his way past Jessica and started strapping Aiden's upper leg down to the bed. "Ok son…if you don’t want any pain killers, or sedatives, than I will have to set this bone now. I won’t lie, this is going to hurt."
Aiden nodded then turned to Jess hiding behind the doctor. "Look I will prove it to you, but I have to ask something first."
Jess nodded while her fingers wrung together, and waited for Aiden to continue.
"If I do pass out don’t let them keep me asleep. They have to wake me up as soon as they are finished. It is vital they do it. Can you make sure for me? Please? You don't know how important it is."
Jess nodded her head as she moved farther out of the way for the doctor and nurses to step in. O
ne of the nurses reached out to take the staff from Aiden, but he pulled it closer to himself. "No, leave it here."
The nurse shrugged her shoulders while rolling her eyes as though to say, "Okay, have it your way."
The doctor took one last look at the x-ray as a nurse held down Aiden’s foot. With no warning the doctor pulled on Aiden’s foot, and the lights in the room went out in a flash of red mixed with agony.
The nurse reached over and took the staff from Aiden’s limp hand, placing it in the corner of the room. She had too much to do in the next few hours to care about a black tree branch held by some young kid. As she let go she couldn't help but notice the leaves seemed to be alive. "Odd" She thought as she marched out of the room and went on the rest of her duties.
Aiden blinked as the lights overhead slowly came into focus. "How…long was I out?"
Jess turned away, her eyes betraying her fear to answer Aiden's question. "The doctor’s refused to wake you up, and while you were out they set your foot in a cast for you. Your ankle was broken in two places they said. Before they left they told me it would be best if you slept it out. I didn't want to wake you, you look so tired, but it has only been a few hours now. Not long at all."
Realization struck Aiden as her words sunk in.
"A few hours! All my time is gone! I…I lost it all…"
Aiden swung his feet off the bed and sat up. Fresh pain shot up his leg from the weight of the fresh cast on his foot. He grabbed his staff from the corner of the room, the black in a distinct contrast to the white on the walls, and used it as a crutch to stand. "What time is it?"
Jen looked at her watch. "It's almost midnight…why?"
"NO! No, no, no! We have no time left at all. I will be still conduct the experiment without you right now. I've seen it too many times. We have to get to the school right… "
Aiden could feel the world flip around him as the familiar pulling started. His magic was pulling him back to his personal, ruined future. The return cord vibrated its magical note and his time in the past was over.
Out of desperation he grabbed onto Jessica and held her tight. One last desperate hug with the staff trapped between them. The familiar smell of her hair filled his nose again as he tried to hold on to the memory of her before she was gone for good, lost in his past.
Just like before, his eyes couldn’t keep up with the images of the world twisting and warping as he flew back through a tunnel made through space and time. With a bang he landed on the ground at the base of the skyscraper. He rolled to one side in an attempt to cushion his landing, but pain radiated up his foot. His magic protected him, but the shock of him putting pressure on his foot still hurt. Aiden felt the dry dust in the air burn his throat as the sun again beat against his skin.
"What happened?" Jessica’s voice struck his ears. The sound of another's voice in this world was completely unfamiliar to Aiden.
Aiden looked up to her and tears rolled down his face as the realization of what had happened came to him. Somehow, he had pulled her forward into his ruined future; she had lived and he wouldn’t be alone anymore. Now he finally had the time to explain everything he had ever wanted to tell her, but couldn't.
"Sit down. I will explain everything."
Thank you for reading this work, and I hope you liked this short story. Please remember it is only stage one of a much greater tale. In fact there are four more stories all set up and ready for you to read, each one a different, but important, piece to the puzzle of the Future Jumper Series. The fifth of the series is finished and brings all of these four short stories together for a final ending to the puzzle.
I had to bill this as a Sci-Fi Fantasy due to the fact I have mixed too many elements of each for it to be comfortable in only one genre. Where science alone couldn't explain, one must instead to turn to magic, and when you have magic in your life you need for little else.
If you liked this story please remember to leave a star rating and a review on Amazon.com. Many people underestimate the value of a review to a writer. They are in fact, priceless. It is the most important way for a reader, like yourself, to spread your take on our work.
If you didn't like the story, I am truly sorry to hear it. I understand that some authors work just doesn't fall into some peoples taste. Perhaps something else of mine might interest you, but I am happy you took the time to read any of my creations at all.
While I have done my best to make sure this work is as error free as I could make it. I am afraid that some typo's, or grammar issues, might still be present.
If you should cross one of them, you may point them out to me. And please feel free to. I can be found on twitter @Scorpedo or on my blog, JamieHeppner.Blogspot.com
Again…thank you for your time.
Jamie
Now, please enjoy a small snippet of the next in line. Present Jumper!
Chapter 1
Jane was getting another one of those headaches.
She knew the sensation by heart. The pain built up behind her temples, and spread like a fire though the back of her skull. She could feel the unwanted sensation growing worse as Jane sunk back into her faded, green couch.
Pressing her palms to the sides of her head, she tried to counter the pressure that had built up. The intense burning feeling from inside her mind was not a terribly new feeling for her. Her MS was a constant struggle and continually frustrated her daily. The condition always left Jane guessing what would happen next.
One day her legs wouldn’t work right, another day her hands would just drop things. It was always a gamble if she could even get out of bed in the morning. It became so hard for her to maintain her own existence she didn’t even bother to care how she looked anymore." Just what I need. Some new symptom from MS to make my days even more interesting."
Jane waited for the pressure to pass, and with time, it began to submit in small degrees. Her hands fell back to her sides as Jane opened her eyes. Everything seemed blurry, "Ohh I hope it isn’t my vision going again."
Her mood soured as Jane wondered what new punishment her immune system was trying to inflict on her. "Great! I wonder what new fun I get to experience this time." Jane spoke aloud to her empty apartment.
Of course, no one ever answered. She lived alone. Her few friends would call her occasionally to see how she was doing, but the worse her condition got, the less she would get calls from them. She lived in a bubble of solitude, and no one in her family saw fit to see what was inside it.
It took a toll on her attitude towards life. She constantly attempted to keep a stiff upper lip as her doctor told her. However, the last time he had told her that she almost gave him a stiff upper lip. He was lucky her arms were so weak she could barely drive.
On top of her physical problems, she had her drivers' license to worry about too. Now they were trying to take that away from her. Her doctor had recommended that she be given a personal exam to check her vision, and cognitive skills, but she knew better. It was just an excuse to pull her license. She couldn’t believe it; she was only twenty-six, and was going to lose her license. When that happened, she had no choice, public transport, or her own feet. She couldn’t rely on either of them.
Jane grabbed the remote only to flick the TV on, then off. She couldn’t stomach any of the daytime junk that played, and her dark mood wouldn’t help her attitude towards it.
Glancing around her tiny apartment, Jane waited for her eyes to come back into focus. As her vision came back, she focused on the letter that still lay on the coffee table where she had thrown it only moments after reading it. The blue envelope it had come in was a direct contrast to the browns of all the bills that lay underneath. Just one more nail in the coffin that was becoming her life. At least it had been a short nail.
Dear Ms Aaron.
We have reviewed your case and concluded that you do not qualify for a payout on your insurance. According to our records, there is no correlation between incandescent bulbs and your condition. We regret th
at we are unable to help you at this time. Should your condition change you are encouraged to re-file.
Document number X43239
Bill Johnson
Case Agent
Jane’s eyes burned again while re-reading the letter, this time from her tears. That letter had left her in a particularly distressing spot. Her finances were all but gone, and she couldn’t hold a job in her current state.
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