Page 26 of Just in Time
Brody nodded, and I did as well. Even though I didn’t really like beer all that much, but I supposed it didn’t matter, a drink of something was in order after the evening we’d had.
I followed Brody into the house and we all piled into the kitchen, which was freshly cleaned and scrubbed following dinner.
Indy was swigging out of a can of Miller lite, and he pulled one out for each of us. I popped the top and took a sip, realizing belatedly that this wasn’t really a sipping beer. I swallowed down bigger gulps, unable to keep from making a face when I stopped.
He was kind of smiling in my direction, but his eyes kept cutting back to Brody, who’d already drained his can in the time it took me to down a few sips. I didn’t think I’d be able to finish it, so I set the can down on the table.
We all sat there staring at it as a bead of condensation dripped down the side and onto the scarred tabletop.
“So… elephant in the room, I apparently smell good?” I said softly, the corner of my mouth quirking upwards as I tried not to grin openly.
I could feel Brody tense up, not entirely in a bad way, I couldn’t feel the waves of tension coming off him like I could for pretty much the entire trip. If anything, it was relief.
Indy hadn’t said a word, he was still staring at the can on the table.
“What do I smell like?” I asked, unsure if that was really the can of worms I wanted to open, but I couldn’t take the silence.
I watched Brody’s throat bob as he swallowed, his eyes were dark and narrow as he glanced over at Indy, who was trying not to look at me. Trying not to look into my eyes, so he looked up at Brody instead, catching his gaze and holding it.
I watched as his eyes went super dark.
But the tone in the room wasn’t anywhere near the way it had been out in the yard. There was something else here. Something more.
I turned around, ready to walk into the living room, but I stopped dead in my tracks at what I saw. A sharp line in the air, wavering with some kind of energy. Like a rip. A tear. It had jagged edges jutting out into the room, and it was sucking stuff into it. Nothing important. Just dust and other stuff. A scrap of paper from the counter. The grocery list on the fridge fluttered. Not a huge displacement of stuff or anything, but it wasn’t right, whatever it was.
A hole. Vacant and black, yawned in the center, there was a deep blackness there. So deep black it was nothing at all.
My mouth went dry as I peered at the thing in the doorway.
“What?” Brody asked, slowly turning around. “What is it, Lil?”
“Don’t you… don’t you see that?” I asked, extending my hand and pointing in front of me. I could feel the suction from the thing, tugging at me. Only just, though. I frowned. “Don’t you see it?”
“No…” Brody said, starting to move towards me, but I put an arm out, stopping him.
“Back up,” I said sharply, putting out my other arm to keep Indy from coming forward too.
“What is it? What do you see?” Indy asked, leaning over my arm to peer at the doorway. “Because there ain’t anything there.”
I felt the tone shift in the room once more. From pure, raw, lust to something akin to fear.
“It’s a rip or a tear… a hole…” I said slowly, peering more closely at it. I wondered if this was what I’d read about back home. The only way they could be made was by another time witch. And I certainly hadn’t made it.
I held my hand out in front of me, attempting to close the thing to no avail.
I frowned deeply, trying to think.
Of course.Theycouldn’t see it because it was a tear in time. I was the only one who could sense this stuff. So the way to fix it would be the same way I messed with time.
I closed my eyes, concentrating on the rip. On the time and date. On the right now of now. I pulled as hard as I could, feeling the rip start to pull together. It came together slowly and by the time I got it close enough together to start fusing the pieces, there was sweat dripping down my forehead.
I could feel my knees starting to buckle, but two pairs of strong arms slipped around me to hold me up. I couldn’t really focus on that right now, though. Not with literal rips in time trying to suck up people.
I finally made the sides meet, it felt like me trying to button and zip skinny jeans while bloated. The sides just didn’t want to meet.
Once they did meet, though, they fused back together just fine and I held my breath, trying to get the rest of it closed. Once it had, there was a sense of ‘rightness’ in the room and I could finally exhale.
I opened my eyes, my vision swimming a little as I surveyed my handiwork.
