November, 2007

I awoke groggily to some very bright lighting. It was pointing right into my eyes, and someone was saying something. I tried to move my head out of the way, but the lights pierced even what little shade I could find. Then the lights dimmed a bit, and I could open my eyes a bit more.

Charlotte was standing beside me, still dressed all in black. Her long hair was tickling my nose, and her right hand was rubbing my shoulder. To my right, was a long series of tools, used mainly for torture. I knew what had happened, but that didn’t make it easier to deal with. I had been betrayed, hurt by the one of the only people that I thought I could trust.

Charlotte dug her nails into my shoulder, and I turned my head back around straight. I was looking at something, but I wasn’t sure what yet. I heard a girl’s voice, probably Charlotte’s, and then a little light came on above the thing. It was a girl. It was Kim. Except that this Kim was different. Her head was lolling around, and she couldn’t seem to say anything, not that my hearing was that great right now anyway. Kim looked up at me and smiled, and then drooled a bit. A hand appeared beside her, and then a deep, baritone voice.

“I’m sorry that it had to come to this, Eric.”

I looked to the voice, but I couldn’t see anything. Charlotte let go of my shoulder, seeing that I was paying attention to whoever was speaking. I tried to talk back, but my mouth was gagged. I couldn’t even think straight enough to let out a Control.

“Yes, you see, we had to do that. It’s very harmless, although it was quite a big dose of a sedative. You were in and out of consciousness for a while there. So, now that the game is almost won, the players tired, and the prize still unknown, let this be the last round. I give you... the prize!”

He turned around, and the lights came up on all the girls, except Kim of course, sitting calmly and quietly in a room. It was like the blackout rooms that cops use on criminals all the time in the movies and the shows. Everyone was there; Heather, Jess, Kat, Lauren, Blair, Michelle, Megan, Pam and a wounded Denise. They just sat there, watching us. I looked back, tried to say that I was sorry, that I was wrong.

“They can’t hear us in here Eric. Just watch. But they know what they want, and all you have to do now, is figure it out.”

“Buh, but if they can’t hear, then what can I do?”

“Ah, a good point. I give you, the intercom!”

And then a button next to me, right next to Charlotte, appeared. Charlotte opened it up, and pressed it. A hiss sounded, and then Denise’s voice came over the intercom.

“Thanks for tackling me. My head hurts now you jerk. I hope that you get what’s coming to you, you son of a worthless, two-timing, bitch that isn’t enough –”

And Charlotte let go of the button, and it retreated to wherever it came from. The man laughed. “That’s what you get for hurting a woman, Eric. Now, we begin for real.”

Then the man was silent. Charlotte didn’t move, and Kim just drooled a bit and moved to some song in her head. This went on for a full minute before I got a very sharp pain in my neck.

I looked over to see Charlotte had donned a blue apron, and was slowly drawing a long needle from my neck. I could feel my senses clearing a bit; the room darkened a bit more, and the outline of the man became apparent.

“You, you said that this was a game? And the prize is the girls? Who are you?”

“Not now, my friend. Yes, the girls are the prize, but they are free to accept or decline your offers, so long as you decide what is right for them. Now, guess.”

“But that’s easy! I can’t think of anything that they’d want more than to be happy!”

“Wrong!” laughed the man.

And then Charlotte pushed me down. Someone, a guy, appeared on my right, grabbed a pair of pliers, and snapped my right knuckle of my index finger, until it was broken. And even though I couldn’t hear it, I saw the girls gasp. Only Denise smiled.

I was breathing heavily. Having never had to deal with this magnitude of pain before, I couldn’t quite get a grip on myself. I was in shock, but I tried to keep going.

“Is that how this...game works?”

“Yes. You get it right, you get a girl free. You get it wrong, and Charlotte here starts to hurt you.”

“Let...let me think...”

“By all means,” said a very glib monster in the shape of the man. “Take all the time you need. We’re in no rush here.”

I tried to think of everything I knew about the girls. Nothing very obvious came to mind. So I tried a different tactic, one that was made to bend rather then break the rules of this ‘game’.

“Can I talk to them?”

“That wouldn’t be very fair now would it? No, you have to guess the answers. And only I know their answers. They themselves don’t even know it. Oh, and this is the best part: how are you going to make me give you the answers without your beloved Power?”

That was it then. I was to try and weasel it out of him, to try and find out what I could from his little rambles, and piece it together with what I knew about the girls.

I tried Pam first. I knew her third-best, after Heather and Kim.

“Pam...Pam wants to be free.”

“Wrong-o! Middle finger this time.”

And then the laying me down, the snap, and then the inaudible gasp. I screamed in pain. This was unbearable. I couldn’t do anything, either. This guy was in total control. And whoever this other person was, they didn’t seem to worry about me.

“P-P-Pam, she want’s to be different.”

“How?”

So she was trying to be different. Trying to stand out in a crowd? No, too easy. Look different? Seen it coming a mile away. Then it struck me, clear as day.

“Pam, she...she wants to look like whatever someone wants her to be.”

“Close but no cigar.”

The guy on my right held my right ring finger in his pliers, but didn’t squeeze them. I thought of it in a different way, and this time, I held my breath for the outcome.

“Pam, she wants to be whatever it is someone wants her to be.”

“We have a winner! Pamela, you are free to go. If you want to say anything to Eric, just nod.”

When she didn’t nod, a light above her head went out, and I couldn’t see her anymore. I was down 1; only nine more to go. I decided on Heather next.

“Heather, she wants to be with me.”

“NO!” the man laughed with delight.

SNAP! Then I fell unconscious.

I awoke to Charlotte slapping my face with a surgical glove. She just glared at me, then pointed to Kim’s free-standing form. She looked drugged, that was apparent. But whatever kind of drug it was, it wasn’t one like mine – she just looked stupified.

“Eric’s now awake, ladies, so please pay attention.”

I looked to the window, and the girls were sitting down again. Lauren looked like she was going to be sick. I tried to focus. My life was at stake; but more importantly, so were theirs.

“Heather...”

“Heather again! Ohohoho! This should be interesting!”

“Heather...” I tried to speak. It was getting harder to do that. I looked up to Kim, who just smiled.

“Ah, yes, the drug. You see, we can’t have you getting too healthy, so we are going to keep giving you the drug until the end.”

“End...?”

“Yes. The end is when the girls are all free, the game ends, and I kill you.”

I struggled to think. I had hoped that none of this would have ever happened. Then what it was that Heather wanted was obvious.

“Heather wants this to stop...”

“Aw, he got it right! Heather, any last words?”

The spotlight on Heather went out, and so did my love for her. That is, until the crackling of the intercom came upon my ears.

“Eric, I will always love you. See you in another lifetime.”

And then silence. I waited for the next person to come to mind. But all I could think of was what she had said. It was a clue – that had to be it. Someone wanted another life, but who? Who’d want something worse than what they already had?

“Eric? Clock’s ticking. Who’s it going to be?”

There were 8 left, including a deluded Kim.

“Katrina.”

“Kat! You’re next on ‘What Do You Want Most?’

Kat leaned forward a bit, never looking worse in my memory. She was so sad. I just wanted to make her happy, that was all. Was that a problem in today’s society, that everyone had to be miserable, except for those very few who actually liked their miserable lives?

“Katrina, she wants...wants to start over.”

“Half right. The finger, if you please.”

My pinky finger of my right hand bent outwards, but I didn’t even hear it this time. I had braced myself properlyl I just bit down on the gag. It was a useless finger, so I didn’t figure it would hurt that bad. And it didn’t not as bad as the other ones had.

What else did Kat want? To start over? No, she wanted something else.

“Kat wants to be free, to live and choose her own life.”

“Survey says...Hey, you got it right! Kat here hates this life that you’ve given her, and wants to be free to make her own decisions, from now and forever. Kat, anything to say to our beloved and bedevilled hero?”

Hiss. Hiss.

“Soccer.”

And the intercom went dead. I knew that Blair was next – that was the clue. Only what did Blair want? I had to try anything.

“Blair.”

“Beautiful Bubbly Blair, you’re up! So what does Blair want?”

“Just to play soccer, all day, every day.”

“Thumbs down. And speaking of thumbs...”

And my right thumb was bent back. Except that it didn’t break. I was double-jointed in my thumb. I could place it behind my hand as easy as most people can curl their tongues. But he didn’t know that, did he?

SNAP! POP!

Fuck, he did. That son of a bitch! He knows everything about me! Who is he...WHO IS HE? I was yelling at myself, trying to figure it out, all the while my hand was slowly being broken.

Then a pounding came from the glass, and Blair was up and hitting it. She looked like she was yelling to stop. That was the answer!

“Blair wants you to stop this.”

“Fuck, fine. Whatever. She does. Alright, we’re down 4! Only 6 left now!”

Blair’s light went out, and the pounding stopped. There was no intercom this time. I was on my own again. I picked at random one of the girls.

“Denise!”

“Denise, delightful devilish Denise! What does she want more than anything?”

“She wants me to die.”

“Nope! Left side please!”

And then my left pinky snapped right out. I wasn’t sure about this pain; it was more excruciating every time it happened. And I was only four fingers away from legs and feet and arms.

“She wants...she wants...something!”

“More explicit, please.”

“She wants something tangible!”

“This isn’t 20 Guesses, Eric. One more answer like that and it’s your next finger.”

“She wants to be free?”

“Oh, and I was so looking forward to having another finger broken! Ah, well, them’s the pits. Denise? Oh, wait, nevermind.”

Denise’s light was already out, almost as soon as I had said the right answer.

“I guess that the tackle really shook her up. Alright! We’re now halfway to the end folks! Stick around for the amazing and stupendous half-time show!”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Yeah, but it’s fun to do anyway. But the half-time show is real. Come, see for yourself.”

The man on the left signalled something to Charlotte, who pressed something because the bed started to rise and I ended up straightened up, watching a debasement of love.

There were 9 girls, all spread out on a large bed, completely naked, swarming over what looked like oil. They were covering themselves and each other in it, rubbing it between gloriously shaped breasts, in between thighs and arms, all in between their necks and heads and faces and feet. Their legs were just covered in the tan-brown substance, and I watched as Charlotte removed her clothes and joined in the fray. They girls all stopped rubbing each other, and started to basically oil-fuck Charlotte while she sat on the edge of the bed, looking right at me.

While her breasts weren’t as large as the other girls’ on the bed, they were large enough to be fondled, and licked, and played with mercilessly. She laughed, a gorgeous heart-splitting laugh, one that curdled my soul, and began to force a girl down in between her legs. The girl complied, and Charlotte wrapped her legs around the girl’s head, forcing her pussy onto the tongue that was extended. She grabbed a pair of boobs in each hand, and pulling the girls whose nipples were also being pulled, threw them down on top of her, arms wrapping around while Charlotte played with another’s pussy and a fifth’s ass.

I had to admit, it was sexy, if wrong. I was trying to get rid of the images, but seeing them there, in all their glory, having fun, sexy rotten fun, I couldn’t help but get aroused. Then Charlotte stopped rubbing, and the girls all got up simultaneously. The man in the dark flicked off the lights above the bed, and then when the lights came on, his face was covered by two girls who were letting him lick their pussies while the others rubbed their breasts on him or milked his cock with their tongues.

I felt my pants lowering, and saw Charlotte taking my member out. She rubbed and licked me, letting me feel her talented mouth, her wonderful hands, making me feel like this was just another night with the girls, while we watched and laughed along with a porno movie. That is, until just as my balls were getting ready to release the precious semen across Charlotte, she stopped and waited until the feeling had passed, then started again. She seemed bent on arousing me until the brink, but not letting me do anything about it.

My hands broken, my mouth useless, and my brain drugged, I could only stare, pulse and try to cum. The man’s hands were on every girl it seemed. They were in pussies, all over asses, in some, and his feet were even joining in the game. One girl was riding him, while two more hand joined the two on his face. His cock was enormous, jutting out still under the girl while she tried to screw him. The other girls came over to me and rubbed their bodies right in front of me, sometimes letting Charlotte put their crotches right next to mine, and then they would whisper things to me, about how much they wanted me, how they wanted to fuck and screw me, but every time I tried to, they would move away and another girl, most time Charlotte, would resume sucking and licking and rubbing me to the brink.

After about 20 minutes of this, the fun seemed to stop all at once. The girls all melted back towards the bed, Charlotte let go of me, and the lights blacked out until once more the man was in the shadows. Except this time, Charlotte was kneeling by him, rubbing his crotch slowly, licking her hand now and then, and all the time showing me what I couldn’t have but wanted.

I was lowered back down, but only half-way, so I could still see the man and Charlotte. Charlotte looked up, smiled with adoring eyes, and whispered something. The man chuckled back, and then started round two.

“Swell half-time show folks, really swell! And here I thought that Eric was going to go crazy just watching!”

“What did Charlotte say to you?”

“Oh, just now? She said that she loved watching me torture someone, especially you. Especially since you can’t do anything about it. Now, who’s next? The lovely Lauren? Or mighty Michelle? Or how about Megan? I hear that she’s a real nympho!”

“Michelle!”

“Michelle, Michelle! Is there a Michelle here? No, well, then...oh wait, there she is! I couldn’t see her because she was busy underneath Lauren! Well, how ‘bout that?”

It was what I had been hoping for. A clue, at least a semi-clue, was revealed, and unbeknownst to the man, I knew Michelle quite well.

“Michelle wants to be loved by another, true love, and it can be either man or woman!”

The man stiffened, and Charlotte sulked.

“Well, how about that! On the first try too! Michelle, any last requests?”

Hiss. Hiss.

“Nothing? No clues or hints?”

Hiss Hiss.

“I always loved being with you Eric. Especially because you made me feel special. I’ll always wait for you, no matter how long it takes.”

And then a blackout on Michelle. The man was silent, until he laughed again. Charlotte looked over, and started to laugh with him.

“What’s so funny?”

“Apparently, Lauren wanted Michelle to finish the job! Ahahahaha!”

Charlotte also laughed, but was smacked on the back of her head by the man’s fist. She looked up in surprise, grinned like the devil, and climbed up onto his lap. She forced him into her, and let out a primal moan of lust.

“Ah, now that that’s done, Charlotte here is going to choose the next one. Charlotte?”

“The blond fat one.”

“Ah, Jessica! Good choice!”

What the hell did I know about Jess? I knew that she wasn’t fat, for one. And for another, she just wanted to heal people, to make the world a better place. So I said exactly that.

And I got the expected result. My ring finger snapped back, and then forward as well. The man beside me watched as Charlotte began to laugh and fuck the man in the shadows harder each time he snapped my finger.

“Next try Eric! And believe me, Charlotte just loves torturing someone! In fact, she gets so hot over it, she might even let you cum inside her!” The man laughed, long and deep. That laugh was so familiar, it hurt. I knew him, knew him very well.

“Jess...Jess wants to heal me! She wants to make me feel better!”

“Duh! God, are you really that dumb? Alright Jess, say your piece and be done with it.”

Hiss, crackle.

“Eric? I don’t know how to say this, but, I think it’s time we saw other people. You don’t need me around anymore, and like you said, I want to make you feel better. And you will, once you don’t have to worry about me anymore. See ya around.”

Charlotte and the man laughed harder. The fucking slowly stopped, until that is Megan’s voice came over the intercom.

“Eric? You’ll want to choose me next. I can’t bear to see you in pain. I love you. But I too, need to be by myself.”

The man signalled something, and then the light over Megan went out. It came back on, however, and this time Megan had a bleeding nose.

“Hmm, looks like he went overboard a bit. But that doesn’t bother you, does it, Charlotte?”

“No, it doesn’t. Uhn, if I could have done that, oooh, I think I would have had to cum there and then! But you know I only do that if you let me...”

“Eric! Make your decision for Megan! What does she want?”

I tried to think. It was harder and harder to think, now that we were down to the girls I knew almost nothing about. I mean, I had spent years with these girls, and knew almsot nothing about them. It was true too; I didn’t even try to lie to myself about it.

“Megan...Megan...She wants happiness. True, unfabricated happiness.”

“Damn it, right again. Alright, Megan’s gone. But no intercom! So, who’s left? We have Lauren, who’s looking content and even a bit horny, and... Kim! Why, we’re down to two! Look at that... Lauren, by default, you’re up! So Eric, what does Lauren want?”

“Lauren...wants... Lauren wants a boyfriend.”

“Interesting answer. Continue.”

“She wants a boyfriend who will meet and exceed her needs.”

“Every girl,” he stopped looked at Charlotte, and resumed, “Sorry, almost every girl wants that. What does she want specifically?”

“Some guy who will change.”

“Ah, there’s the rub, isn’t it! Alright, she’s done! Only Kim left, but, oh, you’re going to love this one! Kim can’t speak, she can’t think, she can’t even do anything! Her free will, or what’s left of it, is so shattered that to piece her together would take 40 years. And then another 40 just to keep her sane enough to live long enough to die! Ahahaha! So what now, Mr. Eric?”

The intercom came on.

“I want a boyfriend, yes. But right now, I think Michelle and I are going to become much better friends than you or I ever were Eric. I hope you die.”

“Wohohoho! Lauren, what cold words! Alright Eric, time’s up! The game’s almost over! How’s about an answer for Kim here!”

“Kim...Kim wants what’s best for everyone!”

“Nope!”

Charlotte gasped and moaned as my middle finger popped out.

“She wants love!”

“No!” Charlotte squealed and impaled herself forcefully onto the man.

My pointer finger was snapped.

“Kim...Kim...lovely Kim...what did you want?”

But Kim just stood there, looking at Charlotte with glee, happy that someone else was happy. She jumped up and down, her breasts almost hitting her in the face.

I thought back to what I thought was yesterday. At the dorm. And then I had it. I just needed to remember what it was she wanted from me, and then, oh, the answer was so obvious.

“Kim wants me to respect her, instead of treating her like an object!”

“Nope!”

I was too surprised to register that my left thumb was broken. The pain was there, but my mind wasn’t. She had said to me that she didn’t like being told what to do. But then, there was the fucking afterwards where I had used her, and she just looked like she loved it. Then if she loved being used, what did she want? Used, wanting something? That isn’t right...but if it is...I only have my legs to worry about, so, who the fuck cares. Kim’s more important.

Charlotte was having fun watching me internalize all of this, and finally came in a shrieking mass of gibbering slob on top of the man. She slid down and off of him, and he pulled himself back further into the shadows. And as Charlotte lay there, Kim slid down next to her, closed her eyes and looked like she was sleeping. Except that she didn’t breathe as heavily as Charlotte was. And that was the answer.

“Kim wants to die.”

I said it simply, without emotion, even though my heart tore in half as soon as the words left my mouth. Charlotte’s eyes flicked open and up at me. The smile on her face died. The chair the man was sitting on flew back as I heard him stand up. And the guy who was preparing to break my left leg backed away.

The man was breathing heavily. I could tell that the game was over; I had won, the girls were all done, and now, finally, I could have what I wanted, and that was also what Kim wanted. To die, and be rid of this painful existence right now.

The man was angry. Charlotte almost bellowed at me.

“Kim doesn’t want to die! How can you even say that about your own sister?”

The silence in the place was complete. I couldn’t hear a pin drop, but I did hear a muffled exclimation from behind the glass where the girls had been kept.

“Sister?” I mumbled.

I tried to wrap my head around it. Is that why we were so close? Is that why we seemed to know each other so well? It did make a sick kind of sense. I had been fucking my sister for the past 2 years. And neither of us had known.

“Oh, she knew. She knew very well. She knew the moment you met her. You can’t fake something like that.”

“Kim’s...sister?”

“Yes, you idiot. Now, for the real bombshell. I’m her father. And yours too.”

And Officer Darke stepped out from the shadows.

My brain, or what was left of it, shut down. I was in protect mode, my body all but dead. Kim was my sister? No...it couldn’t be! It wasn’t true! My parents were at home right now, probably worried sick about whatever it was that I was doing, not knowing that I was trapped in a warehouse in Oakville, only 20 minutes away. Kim wasn’t my sister. And this Darke was definitely NOT my father.

“Oh, you think so, huh? Well let me tell you something, you no good excuse for a son. I am your father. Kim is your sister. You think that this Aura thing is just evolution? Well, it is, but why do you think you have it and your ‘parents’ don’t? Why is it that you just happened to meet Kim, and myself, both who have Auras as well? Why do you think you keep coming into contact with others with Auras? We’re drawn towards each other. Like magnets, only very hard to detect and impossible to hide magnets.”

I kept expecting to wake up. This had to be a dream. It had to be. This wasn’t real. My hands weren’t broken. My lover Kim was not my sister.

“It’s no dream, son. And to prove it, I’ll show you. Charlotte, stand up.”

Charlotte stood up, and smirking, stood right in front of me. Her pussy was wet, and she looked so horny that she would snap and break into a creature of just pure lust right there and then.

And then the smile was burned into her face as a bullet struck her from the side of the head, and blood splattered all over me. She crumpled to the floor, and lay there, dead, blood starting to pool around her head.

And then, something weird. A small little thing, like a jellybean, popped out of her knee.

“Yes, you’ve seen one of those, haven’t you. The day you killed your half-brother, Jordan.”

My already burst brain shrouded over into a red haze. I almost passed out.

“Jordan was your half-brother. Except that he was raised like me; no parents, no love, only hardship. He came to me, as a young boy, and I told him everything about you. He made you watch him take control over you. But he underestimated you. And her...”

He pointed at Kim with the gun.

“She killed him, and took his Power away from him in the form of that little grey thing. I had Charlotte, a girl from your College, take and eat his and Drew’s, and she became like that. She wasn’t always such a sadist; she in fact abhorred violence. But you, and Kim, and the other girls...well, I couldn’t have you 5 running around here, telling and showing everyone around you that you’re different and can actually change the world.

“So I set this all up, right from the moment you met Charlotte the first time in Toronto. I made sure that she tested you, so that she too could know your limits. And then, a few days ago, when she infiltrated and forced Kim out here, I was behind the scene the whole time. And I did know you, as I said I did. Well, the old you anyway. You grew up way too quickly. You experienced sex, one of the few real joys of life, too early and had way too much of it. I’m surprised that you even kept 10 others. And as for the other girl? I’ll find her too, and kill her, just to make sure that she doesn’t help in any way.

“So what’s left to do? Well, son, it’s time you met the real family of yours. Come, let’s take a walk. Just to Kim. You can do that, right?”

The straps were undone, and I fell to the floor. I sat in Charlotte’s blood, and the first thing I did was pull up my pants, do them up, and walk over to where Kim was standing, trying to catch the light from the lamps with her hands. I caught her hands instead, and even though my fingers were broken, I clasped her fingers with mine as best I could. She just smiled at me, like a little kid would. I wrapped my arms around her, and gave her a hug. And it was just like Darke said; this was too real, too true, to not be my sister. She hugged back, and sighed like I knew she would, and when she let go, she stood away from us, trying to catch the light again.

“Will...will she always be like that?”

“No, son. I’m going to make sure that you two are put to rest, just as surely as I’ve seen to it that Charlotte is going to be framed, buried, and eventually convicted of kidnap, murder and ultimately suicide, leaving me scott-free to do whatever I want, after getting both your’s, Kim’s and Charlotte’s Powers. And then I’ll do what you never could – I’ll have fun.”

He pointed the gun at Kim.

“Say goodbye to your brother, Kim.”

“’Kay! Bye brother!”

“I love you Kim.” I whispered. I knew what I had to do. I just hoped that it would work this time.

“Love you too!”

And the gun sounded. I thought as hard, and as loud as I could. My head was bursting, the pain excruciating. But I didn’t hear Kim crumple, the gun reload, the second shot. I saw that everything was still. Stopped; my plan had worked.

It had been the most excruiatingly long plan, painful because I had to be tortured and play his little game. But overall, it had been worth it. Footsteps sounded in the warehouse. A figure, dressed in a casual business suit, stepped into the light, and pulled Kim away from the bullet, that would miss and hit a wall on the far side.

“Right on time, Julie. Thanks.”

Julie didn’t say a word; in fact, she didn’t do anything. She was one of the UA – the Unkown Assailants who could stop time. She had found Darke’s plan, and when she had received a call from me, she came to help. But when she would show up, that was all up to her. I told Heather to make me forget it, at least from my recent memories, so Darke couldn’t see my plan, if it really was Darke. I had guessed correctly.

The girls were all safe, of that I knew. When their lights had gone out, the way it was supposed to have happened was that they would be led outside, shot, and dumped into the lake via sailboat. But Julie was on my side, and just let the girls stay. She told them not to give good clues; I had to do this one myself.

All this was explained to me again as I watched Julie move with complete and utter perfection. She took the gun from Darke’s hand, shot him right in front of his eyes, and handed the gun back, making sure his prints were on them. Then, when she had finished moving and shaping everything, she came and took my shoulder.

“You sure you want to go through with this? I can’t do this again. I can only go back, not forwards again.”

“I’m sure, as sure as I was when I told you what I wanted. I don’t know what it is I asked for, but I’m sure that I made the right choice.”

“Alright. Now remember. Disorientation is common; you won’t remember the last few seconds, but wait until some time has elapsed, and you can remember all of this, if you want to. But then, once you’re back, you’ll have to re-do everything. Every girl, every time, every place needs to be redone. And, since you and I can’t meet again in the same way, I ask you to try not to mess it up again. This was a well-formed plan, but even this one was shaky for a while. Oh and here are your Journals, and Heather’s as well.

“Are you ready to go?”

I took one last look at Kim, and remembered the way she was smiling, the way she looked so happy, and I knew that I wanted to make sure she was always like that. I held onto the Journals for dear life.

“Do it.”

A blinding flash took over, and I don’t know what happened, until I heard someone very familiar ask, “Eric? Are you alright?”

I glanced around. I was back at the high school. I was in the hallway. No, that wasn’t right. I had to be in the warehouse. But no, this was definitely high school. Heather was waiting, looking at me... HEATHER!

“Yes. Sorry.”

“You were asking me something?”

I glanced around, trying to remember the date. And there on one of the doors was a poster for the dance coming up in a week. It had worked! I was back! But there were more important things at hand right now. Especially, because she was right here.

“Heather? Do ya wanna go to the dance with me?”

“I’d love to,” she smiled.

I smiled back. She gestured to my left arm.

“What’re those?”

“Oh, these are Journals that I write. I hope that one day you’ll read them too.”

“Make a good story out of them?” she laughed.

“You have no idea.”