Fear floods my veins, momentarily causing me to freeze up. The kind of fear that a mother experiences when she thinks her child is lost or going to die. I know all too well the feeling.

               ***********************************************************************

            "Iknoyn! Where are you?! I told you not to wander off!" I shout, annoyed with my son. At nine years old, he is always getting into some kind of mischief or another.

            "Calm down, Vos, honey. He's a boy, I'm sure he's doing the same thing is father did at his age." Xuves says.

             "I wish I could blame it on his father." I say, spotting him in a tree near the bank of the river. "His father was actually a good kid, I'm the one that always went off exploring. Be careful, Iknoyn!"

            Xuves lets out a hearty laugh. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The way you chased after me, until I finally gave in and started dating you. So, unlike a female Copaie."

           "What?! Chased you? Please. I just let you know I was available and interested." I say, pretending to be annoyed.

           "You aggressively, let me know you were interested." He says, leaning in for a kiss.

           A loud splash pulls us apart. I scan the tree but no longer see my son. I jump to my feet and quickly check the water. At first, I don't see anything, but then I spot a head bobbing amongst the rapids. "Ikonyn!" I shout. An icy cold, numbing feeling grips my heart and travels through my body until I am unable to move. I know I should be trying to do something, but I can't. I feel as if I have grown roots, and these roots hold me prisoner. What do I do? What do I do? I have never in my life felt this kind of fear before. Not even the time the Furbos were toying with us, before attacking. Another loud splash pulls me from my thoughts, Xuves is swimming toward Ikonyn, his powerful arms cutting through the water and propelling him forwards.

           I watch helplessly from the bank as Ikonyn's head goes underwater. I'm going to lose him. I'm going to lose my baby boy. The only part of my first love is going to disappear from this world forever! How stupid! Why did I think picnicking by the river was a good idea?! Xuves arrives a few seconds later and disappears underwater as well. Soon he is pulling a limp Ikonyn back to the bank. He climbs out of the water and deposits the boy onto the shore. He quickly and gently pushes on his stomach, until Ikonyn opens his eyes and starts throwing up water.

***********************************************************************************************

           I knew the virus was coming but I secretly hoped that without me there, as a constant reminder, Malum wouldn't try to commit genocide. Guess I was wrong about that one. Silent tears run down my face as I watch young children, start to convulse, fall to the ground, and then stop moving. I pull myself away from the horror outside and turn to the equally horrified people in the house.

            "What?" Leita asks.

             "Why?" Faya asks.

             "Is that?" Ikonyn asks.

            What and why are certainly good questions, but with Malum they have no answer. "Masks on!" I bark, snapping into leader mode. I rush to Faya's cabinet, unceremoniously start pushing foods to the side until I reach the very back and start pulling respirator masks out. I toss one each to Faya and Leita. Iknoyn doesn't need one, I gave him a vaccine a while back, once I was sure it was safe. Faya and Leita are in the middle of putting their masks on when the convulsing starts.

           "No! No! No!" Ikonyn shouts, racing to his beloved's side.

           I stand there, helplessly staring, knowing there is nothing I can do for either one of them. Only takes moments for the virus to work it's course, and soon they are on the ground, dead.

           "Mother, do something!" Ikonyn shouts, holding Leita in his arms.

           "I...I....I..." I stammer.

             Suddenly Ikonyn is by my side, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. "You have to do something!"

             The shaking seems to loosen my voice and the words tumble out. "What do you want me to do about it? It's already too late for them."

            "There are rumors floating around. Rumors that you have one of the last remaining time travel jackets. Rumors that you came back in time to eliminate Malum, and when that failed you hid out here." He says. And while he stopped shaking me, his hands are still holding onto my shoulders.

               "Time travel jacket?" I ask, momentarily confused. And then it hits me. The death of mother, Malum's plan, Amlican and I trying repeatedly to stop it, Amlican's death, everything. "Oh, the Time Travel jacket! I haven't seen or thought about that thing in years. I don't know where it is or if I even still have it. I've moved a few times since you were born."

             "You have to try and find it! Leita was the love of my life. I can't go on without her." He mourns, dropping his hands to his side.

           "Give me a minute to think. I know I had it when I left the palace. I had it here, when we lived here for the first year of our marriage. I don't remember seeing it after that. So that means, it should still be in the back of the closet we used to stay in." I race through the house, alone, and into the bedroom Xuves and I shared. I fling the bedroom door open and race across the room to the closet door. I fling it open and find the closet heartlessly bear. I sink onto the floor and cry. This is all my fault. If we had found the cure to the virus, sooner, none of this would have happened. No, if I hadn't lost the jacket, this wouldn't have happened. I'm sure I left it here. But where did it go? Maybe Faya found it?

           I jump to my feet and race out of the bedroom and down the hall to Faya's room. Where would it have gone? Where would she put it if she found it? I search through her dresser drawers, leaving them open and their contents scattered everywhere. I run to the closet, pushing things aside and still not finding anything. And that's when I spot a small box, in the furthest deepest corner of the closet. Only a small corner pokes out from under a small pile of clothes. I pull the box out and open it to find my jacket folded up with a handwritten note laying on top of it. I recognize Faya's handwriting, immediately.

           Vos, 

           If you are reading this note, that means something terrible has happened and you felt desperate enough to dig through my belongings. I found this jacket, after you and Xuves moved out. I recognized it, immediately, because I created it, many years ago. Not wanting you to get into any trouble, I hid it away until such a time as you would need it. Do what you have to do to save us all.

          Much Love,

           Mala

             P.S. Don't feel bad for going through my things.

          I grab the jacket, put it on, and shove the note into one of the inner pockets. I double tap the sleeve to pull up the screen. How far back should I go? Wait! The lab! I close the screen back.

            An hour later, I find myself in an empty lab. I am officially numb to death. I had to step over or go around so many dead bodies, I had to turn off my emotions. I had to pretend that the bodies weren't real, or I would have had a breakdown. I don't know where the good doctor is, but it doesn't matter. I dig through the refrigeration unit I pull up a vial of the vaccine, I place it and an unopened needle into an inner pocket. Then I double tap on the jacket, pulling up the screen. This time I enter coordinates and I feel the old feeling of fire in my bones, before I black out.