Chapter Twenty-Three

Paul stood quietly on the other side of the door, wearing a white jumpsuit similar to those of the rest of the team. The sight of him in this year caused my body to go rigid. He and Theo stared at one another as if daring the other to be the first to make a move. Their eyes stayed locked for what seemed like an eternity. Paul's hair was now the same white as ours, and his skin was pale.

He had been on the Jump Line.

"I came to talk with you. To explain something," Paul said in an almost pleading voice. "It's time you knew the truth, or at least some of what my recent research has uncovered."

"Maybe you should first tell us why you killed Mary." Theo crossed his arms, his body still stiff as if he was ready to pounce on Paul at any second. "I was obviously wrong a few minutes ago—you can travel through time."

"Mary? Who's Mary?" Paul asked, looking at us in confusion.

"What happened to Mary?" Samuel pushed past Paul and through the door. "Where is she?"

No one answered. None of us could seem to find the words.

He looked over at me. His light blue eyes pierced me to the core. "Esa, where is Mary? What's going on? Tell me now."

"She's in the back bedroom," I said softly, pointing in that direction. A part of me wanted to hide, but there was a stronger side of me that wanted to stand in front of the group and protect them from all of this evil. To protect them from Paul. If only we had jumped back sooner. We could have protected Mary. She would still be alive.

We remained quiet as Samuel disappear into the back room. His footsteps made a soft thud on the dirt floor. Seconds later he returned, an angry look on his face. "Who did this?"

It felt like the cottage walls were slowly closing in around the entire team. Who did this? That was a good question. Time seemed distorted as the idea that Mary had been murdered sank in for all of us. She was dead because of us, and she had been murdered by one of us.

"I'll be right back," he said as he disappeared on the Jump Line only to reappear almost a second later, shaking his head.

"We won't be able to fix this. Mary's time has expired. I checked. She died on time. It was always meant to be for it to happen this way."

"I don't believe it," I said. "She didn't deserve to die this way."

"I agree, now we just need to figure out which one of us did this to her."

Theo cleared his throat. "Funny you should say that, Samuel, considering her murderer was standing with you at the front door."

Paul put up his hands in protest. "No, you have that very wrong. I have killed people, many people, but this is the first time I've ever travelled back in time more than five years from my primary year. My body couldn't take a longer jump. Up until a few days ago, I had no knowledge of this location, and even if I had known about this house, I wouldn't have been able to travel here."

"Then how did you get here?" Theo demanded, creating a ball of electricity and throwing it against the wall. The impact left behind a charred black hole. "How were you magically able to make the jump this time? There's something you're not telling us. Like always."

Samuel moved to stand in front of Paul, "I've been working with him. It's a long story, but we have been wrong. Very wrong. I need you all to trust us now. We are being hunted. What has happened over the past few days is only the beginning. I saw something, and I knew I had to talk with Paul. We need him on our team. I'm sorry I couldn't tell any of you, but it was the only way to provide us with some protection."

"Hunted?" The word came out of my mouth unbidden. "That's impossible. The only person who would want us is standing in this room. I think you made the wrong decision. You should have talked with us before deciding to work with Paul."

Paul stepped forward and reached out his hand. In a soft voice, he said, "Esa, you are wrong. I hope we will have a chance to talk soon. There is so much I need, and want, to tell you, my daughter."

His last two words sent a chill up my spine. "Fine," I finally responded. There was a small part of me that secretly hoped I was wrong, but there was another part that knew there was a very strong possibility I was right. "We will talk at some point, but not now. I'm still not sure I can trust you. You will have to prove yourself to the entire team if you want our trust. If you deceive us, then we will kill you. You know that, right?"

Audrina came through the front door with Gave. Both were breathing heavily, as if they had been running. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Paul.

"Where have you guys been?" Theo looked over at the two of them.

"We were once again trying to find the idiot we call Luther," Audrina responded.

"Yeah, I turned around and he was gone," Gave said.

Audrina's gaze locked onto Paul. "What's he doing here?"

"We—"

Suddenly, something caused one of Mary's windows to shatter.

Panic set in as we dove for the floor. My elbow hit the ground hard, making me gasp. But there was no time to think about the pain as I lay flat on my stomach, waiting to see if anything else would happen.

"What in the—?" Theo yelled from somewhere nearby. "What was that? Does anyone have eyes on the exterior?"

"I think someone is shooting at us! Stay down everyone!" Samuel said as he tried to peer through one of the small windows.

"Theo!" Audrina yelled back. "Gave and I found something—"

Several more bullets flew into the cottage. Audrina, Gave and Samuel crawled over to me. We huddled anxiously behind the large couch.

"We've got to get out of here," Audrina said through deep breaths. "We're like sitting ducks. There's nowhere to hide, and I don't think this place can take many more bullets before it crumbles."

Paul and Theo inched their way over to us.

"Who knows we're here?" Theo asked. "Samuel, have you trained anyone else on the Jump Line that we should know about?"

Audrina looked toward Gave. "We need to tell you guys something."

Samuel peered around the couch. "We don't have much time. Jump out of the house, but stay in this year. We need to make sure the shooter doesn't get away. I want some answers, and revenge."

"Agree," Audrina said.

"I'm going to get Mary's body. Gave, you stay with Paul. Don't let him out of your sight," Theo said.

Gave tugged his medallion and instantly we were squatting behind several of the large trees that surrounded Mary's cottage.

"The shots are coming from the other side of the grove." Gave pointed to an area near the front door. I looked over, but I couldn't see anything that stood out.

"I'm going to get a better look," I said, pushing past the group and heading toward the area Gave had identified. I needed to put some distance between myself and the others before Theo arrived and tried to stop me, or sent me to a different year, like he had before. This was my time to prove I still had a little bit of the old Esa in me.

A soft breeze blew through my tight pony tail as I listened for any movement. I pushed the palms of my hands together to feel the electricity coursing through me. I was charged up. The energy felt good. I was ready to fight.

Another bullet suddenly whizzed past my head and hit a nearby tree.

Crap! That was close! I rubbed my hands together and thought about a ball of electricity. I looked down to see if forming and then threw it in the direction where the shooter had to be standing. I heard the ball hit something, but ducked down out of sight before I saw anything and continued making my way toward the target area. At a rustle in the bushes in front of me, I dove behind an area of thick green overgrowth. Looking out at the pathway, I watched as familiar boots came toward me. I knew those boots. As my eyes slowly scanned upward, it became instantly real who was shooting at us: Luther.

It seemed impossible that he was the one who'd betrayed us. He had always seemed so normal and funny. How could he be the one shooting at us?