Chapter Five

"Why is he so angry with me?" I swallowed. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes and silently willed them to stop. I didn't want to cry in front of Samuel. I didn't want him to think I really was weak or soft. Whatever that meant. This was just one of the many reasons why I didn't like to talk to other people.

"Esa, I understand this doesn't make sense to you, but it also doesn't make sense to us. One day you just vanished. Gone. We had no clue what had happened. Fast forward three years, and suddenly you emit enough energy for me to finally be able to find you," Samuel said, his shoulders sagged forward. "The hardest part for me was that, when I found you, you didn't recognize me."

"I wish I had more answers for you," I responded through the soft sobs that had finally penetrated my tough exterior. I really wished there was something more I could add, but it was the truth. Besides, none of what he'd said made any sense. It was crazy. What did he mean by "emitting enough energy" for him to find me?

"How did you really find me?" I asked, hoping he would give me some sort of clue as to what was going on right now.

"Esa, I can feel your energy, but for some reason I only started to do so again a few weeks ago. For the past three years, none of us have felt anything from you," Samuel said. "Did something happen recently? Something that might make you emit more energy than normal? A large lightning storm, perhaps?"

"Lightening?"

"Yes, our bodies can feed off that electricity and it makes us stronger."

"No."

For several seconds I was stuck in time, thinking about his question. The answer was yes and no. I was the same person I had been for the past three years, but something had happened several days ago, and it didn't have anything to do with lightening. I had a vivid dream about a woman who'd told me it was time to come home. The dream had left an odd feeling inside of me.

Shortly after, I was confronted by a boy who I recognized from school. He had been standing in an alleyway I took every day to get to my latest home. I had always thought he was one of the good students. He'd seemed nice. But on that day he was angry with me and kept accusing me of following him. He had pushed me back toward a brick wall and then pulled out a large knife. It only took me a few seconds to show him who would be walking out of the alley and who would not.

I knew an evil smirk was probably visible on my face as I reflected on that encounter.

"Esa? What are you thinking about?" Samuel said, bringing me back to the present.

"Yes, things have changed recently. I have learned more about my special capabilities, and I've needed to use them at certain times."

"Like? Anything specific I should know about?"

"Like being able to use them to protect myself. Why? What do you really want to know? Why won't you explain more about my past?" I hoped he could hear the frustration in my voice.

"I want to know so I can try to figure out what happened, as well as how much clean-up we need to do."

"Then you might want to go back to a day before you found me. There is a boy lying in an alleyway."

"Is he dead or alive?"

"I'm pretty sure he's dead."

"Your work?"

"Possibly," I whispered, afraid of how he would respond to my truthful answer.

Samuel sighed. "I'm not surprised."

My head snapped upwards. How could this boy not be surprised about my admission to killing someone? It seemed so horrible and cruel, but at the time it happened I couldn't stop myself. I killed a person. At that moment, something inside of me had told me I needed to protect myself. I had tried to explain it to myself at the time, but the way my body moved in the alley was new, yet also familiar to me.

"Why are you not surprised?" I finally asked.

"Obviously, we have our work cut out trying to figure out what's going on inside your head, but I am glad to hear there is some of the old Esa still in there."

"How do you know so much about me?"

"Esa, I'm your brother. Your twin brother. Unfortunately, we've been together since we were conceived."

I stared back at him, unsure what sort of expression I had on my face. "My twin brother?" It was easy to see the resemblance, I thought as I scanned him from head to toe. We both had similar body types: he was tall and slender like me. I knew we looked similar, but I hadn't thought we could be related.

I ran my hand over my hair, looking for a distraction—anything to quiet the uneasy feeling inside of me. "And that lug who just walked out of here... is he also our brother?"

Samuel laughed. "No. Thank goodness. Theo is not our brother, but he is our team leader."

"He sure doesn't act like it."

"Give him some time, Esa. Your return is probably giving him mixed feelings."

"Okay. Sorry. This is a little overwhelming for me too. I've spent the past three years alone, always wondering why I was so different." I rubbed my hands together. "I wondered if maybe I had killed my family, or they left me because I was a freak."

"Hmm. Your family didn't leave you. You left your family. Now we just need to figure out why," Samuel said softly, pushing back his chair. The metal chair legs made a soft squeal as they slid across the floor.

I met his eyes. "Are you really my brother? How do I know you are telling the truth?"

I hoped he wasn't lying. It felt good being around someone who looked like me and understood my abilities.

"Why would I lie about being your brother?" He responded sarcastically, with a laugh. "Being related to you has not always been easy. Esa, you haven't been the best sister."

"Good point... I guess," I responded, unsure of what he was really saying, but also secretly enjoying our conversation.

"You are, or were, arrogant but extremely tough," he continued, his eyes now dancing with a mischievous look. "Esa, I'm not surprised you weren't injured in the car accident you mentioned. I'm not surprised you killed someone and left their body in an alley. What I am surprised about is you living in another century for three years."

"The irony is, my memory is perfect for the past three years. I just don't remember anything before that time."

It was good to finally have someone to talk to, even if I didn't entirely understand everything he was saying. It felt good to know that, maybe, I belonged somewhere. Despite the fact that I still wasn't entirely sure where I was.

"Did you do something to me while I was asleep? I remember briefly waking up and seeing a machine hovering over me."

"Yes, I had you scanned and cleaned. Since we traveled back to our primary year, 2105, I needed to make sure you hadn't brought anything from the past. Esa, you've been gone for a long time. We travel a lot, but never for that long period of time."

"2105. I still don't see how it's possible we are in the year 2105."

"It is possible." Samuel looked tired from our question and answer session. "I told you, I was telling you the truth. You can trust me. Now I just need to figure out if we can trust you."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Yes and no. I have a feeling it's really you, Esa. You are just acting different. The old Esa would not be responding the way you are right now."

"I don't get it," I muttered.

He patted my arm. "We'll get this figured out. I promise. One day you will understand what I'm saying –"

"Thank you."

"Do you have any more questions for me?"

"Hmm. Who dressed me in this weird outfit?" I pulled at the stretchy fabric.

He laughed. "LUX. She takes care of many things for us."

Just then the robotic voice said, "You're welcome." I couldn't see her, but obviously she was listening to our conversation.

Samuel continued. "Esa, for some reason you tried to make a jump, and something went very wrong. You ended up stuck in a year decades before our primary. Quite frankly, I'm surprised you're still alive. We've never had anyone on the team leave our primary year for more than a few hours. I wasn't sure how our bodies would handle the change, but now we know it's possible."

So many questions raced through my thoughts, my head was becoming a jumbled mess.

"Esa, in 2090...."

It still felt odd to hear him say a date in what I had always known to be the future. I had never really thought of what the world would be like past the few years of my previous life.

"What happened in 2090?"

"A massive war broke out. It was initiated by a billionaire named Troy Hahn. He decided he wanted to take over the world, and he had the money to do it. Our parents led a team of rebel soldiers who fought against Hahn, but after several years, there was virtually nothing left of our planet. Bombs and fires destroyed almost everything. We had known the war would be destructive, and we took precautions. Our parents and their followers built a place called OnyxFive. It was hidden far below the surface and it became the home to hundreds of survivors."

"Where is this Troy person now?"

"Oh, he's still around. He has a massive complex called NorthStar up in the northern quadrant."

"Where are we right now?"

"Good question, but the answer is complicated. I'll tell you once you get a little more settled in —"

"Because you don't trust me. Right?"

"In time, you will learn more about our home. It's very different from where you've been for the past few years. You won't be able to go walking down a street or run over to a restaurant. Those things no longer exist," Samuel said.

"Really? Why not?"

"The devastation done to our planet has been extensive, we won't be able to survive much longer. The clock is ticking, and if we can't find a solution, more people will die."

"Samuel, I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"There's something familiar about the name OnyxFive."

Samuel nodded. "That's good. Maybe this is just temporary and your memory will come back now that you are home."

I hoped he was right. Maybe my memory would start coming back now that I was here, wherever that was. It was almost laughable that he kept saying we were in a different century.

"Can you back up just a minute and please explain to me how in the world we are in the year 2105, as you claim, and not in 2010?" My brain was on information overload, but I wanted to know more about this place and about him.

"As I mentioned a little bit ago, we are able to travel through time." He lowered his head and rubbed his temples.

"How is that possible?"

"Yes." He paused. "Esa, the idea of being able to travel through time had been researched for hundreds of years, but shortly after the war began, a scientist at OnyxFive finally figured it out. Don't get me wrong, she had had been studying it for years. Prior to her experiments, her father had also studied time travel. They both knew that it was possible and one day she finally came up with the right equation. By the way, maybe her name will jog something in your memory. Dr. Marie James."

"James? Is that correct? Didn't you say my name is Esa James?" I asked, wondering if everyone had the same last name. Maybe that's what happened in the future; we all have the same names.

"Yes, your name is Esa James. Marie was our mother. While our father trained the rebel soldiers, she worked on her research. Part of that research included time travel. She saw it as a way to save our world. She knew if she could figure out how to travel through time, then there might be a way for the human race to survive. She was successful and created the Jump Line." He broke off again.

"Why do you say her name in the past tense? Did she die?"

"I'll get to that shortly." He looked at me with a soft little smile. "Dr. James quickly discovered that machines and computers ended up getting scrambled from the force of the line. She knew it would have to be a human who traveled. There were six soldiers who became test subjects for her research. The soldiers were young, strong and had all been childhood friends. They were also eager to survive. Unfortunately, she sent one test subject on the line and he came back very sick."

"What happened to him?"

"His body wasn't capable of handling the energy from time travel."

"Then how can we travel through time?"

Samuel paused. It was almost as if he was pondering just how much more he should tell me. "We can discuss that later."

Theo marched back into the room and shook his head. "You still think she's telling the truth about losing her memory?"

Samuel didn't hesitate. "Theo, she doesn't remember. Something happened. Trust me. We would have seen some sort of indication by now."

"Fine," Theo said as he turned and thrust his index finger at me, hitting me squarely on the chest. The force caused me to take a step back. His look was piercing. "The rest of the team is currently cleaning up your mess in the years 2007 thru 2010."

"Hey Theo, she let me know that we probably also need to check the alley near the school on the day before I grabbed her. There is a body. I'm assuming it should be taken care of once we fix what happened with the accident, but please confirm. I have a feeling it's a normal who should still be alive."

Theo looked confused. "What happened in the alley?"

Samuel sighed. "He tried to attack Esa and she took care of him."

Theo laughed. "Well, that was stupid on his part. He obviously had no clue who he was trying to attack."

I turned back to Samuel. "This team you're talking about. Am I a part of it?" All of the puzzle pieces were slowly starting to come together in my head.