Page 34 of Shifting Years
It was the same heart-racing terror now. Something deep in my bones screamed. Going to the light would be my last idea, ever.
What would happen if I flew somewhere else while my body stayed hundreds of miles away? I turned toward New York. A silver cord attached to my chest pulled tight. Glowing flakes dropped, making it thinner in places like a rope about to snap. More shadows streaked at the edges of my vision, and I dared not look closer.
Back I flew, knowing with absolute certainty an oily blob of black shapes was behind. Miles passed in a blur, and my body lay under me.How do I get back?
In and out through unconscious flesh I went as the swarm closed in. A thought came.Don't try.My father for all his faults, at least taught me how to fight. You don'tthinkabout punching, you just do. You don't debate a block but go with muscle memory.
There was no sense of slipping back, but my eyes opened to a bright glaring sun with trees overhead. "Augh!" It felt like someone had stabbed them with a knife. My bones ached and my stomach twisted as if I hadn't eaten in a day or two.
The hunting shadows were gone or maybe I just couldn't see them anymore. Leaving sounded great.
After struggling to my feet and swallowing the foul taste in my mouth, I faced the highway. I listened to my father and Mike, but it was time to trust myself and plan.
I'd grab a hamburger and go down to the flickering dot from my vision. Whatever I'd been missing in my life waited where Texas and Louisiana met. Like Bill the truck driver, I had to take the fork, because as much as I needed him, something screamed to go save Mike.
***
Kim nodded. "I get it. You took a chance, did what your mate was into, and learned a valuable lesson about listening to the other. Matesreallylove each other and listen. If you didn't take the acid tab, you wouldn't have opened your mind to magic. You came here and tada!"
God… was I ever that young?
"There was no 'tada.' The closer I got to the Texas-Louisiana border, the stronger the pull and yes, I found Whispering Hills." I took a deep breath. "And Mike with another man. His—"
"—mate. I was taken."
***
Chapter Fourteen
January 10th, 1970
(Far earlier)
Mike
"You got here fast," said Penny with a slight Southern accent. She held her hand up against the morning sun lighting up her blonde hair. Today, she had a yellow top and bell-bottom jeans. Her pink lipstick smile stayed, but she positioned herself between Mary and me.
Mary had a black top with jeans. Her outfit wasn't butch, though Penny was clearly the more feminine of the two.
"I wish you wouldn't keep changing outfits," said Penny. "Makes it hard to spot you in a crowd." Her eyes widened. "What about a blue dress with pearls? You would look so cute! Well, cuter."
Mary mouthed no. "I wore enough at the studio. The day you see me in a dress again is the day I date Westley."
I shook my head in confusion.
Penny put two downward fingers over her mouth as if they were long teeth.
"I don't get it."
"You will," said Mary. "Come on, let's chat."
We sat at a rickety outdoor table beside a run-down burger joint, where the smell of burnt grease clung to the air. This placeneeded better restaurants, but at least the company made up for it.
I never dated women, and besides Bobby, I never really had friends. Sitting here with them, just talking, felt… nice. Even Penny was friendly, although she sat between me and her girlfriend, if not wife. The explanation came from Mary. "It's an Omega thing."
"Like Alphas don't get jealous," she said while looking up into the taller lady's light-blue eyes.
Mary told her story. She looked familiar—an actress and model—but whispers of lesbianism made enemies. A government summons forced her to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the fifties, accused of being a communist.
