Page 33 of Just in Time
Swallowing thickly, I came to the sudden, yet obvious realization that this was the real deal and the reason we came here. I bounced my leg nervously when we took our seats, my eyes flitting around in search of the rips I’d have to repair. There weren’t any when we arrived, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t show up during the movie.
And I didn’t want to miss it and have to turn back time and come back again.
One and done, that was the aim here.
The seat I’d chosen was rickety, and with every bounce of my leg, it squeaked. To the chagrin of the guy who’d unfortunately chosen to sit in front of me.
“Do you mind?” He grumbled, shooting a look back at me that was met with the glares from my two companions. His next words seemingly died in his throat as he softly apologized and turned back around.
I sighed, glancing at Indy and Brody. “Was that necessary?” I asked.
Indy shrugged. “Just trying to keep you calm. That’s my job, right?”
“And I’m keeping you safe…” Brody interjected. “That’s my job.”
“Yes, yes, and you’re both very good at your jobs,” I acquiesced. They looked delighted at my praise and I had to check off another marked similarity between Brody and Indy.
They both liked being told they’d done good.
More than the average person, at any rate.
But I couldn’t really focus on that now.
We’d positioned ourselves in a row between the ones where Brody’s parents sat.
Gabrielle was seated up near the front and Jesse was back near the back. If the story she had told her son was to be believed, Jesse got her attention by throwing popcorn into her hair.
Kind of immature and ridiculous to be an origin of a romance, but whatever, I guess.
The lights dimmed and the projector started up, the telltale clicking as the film was fed through the machine. There were a few whoops from around the audience. Even a couple of howls from the back. Brody tensed up when he heard that and I reached over to squeeze his hand.
As the previews began to play, the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up. To tingle unpleasantly. I sat up a little straighter and tried to look around and remain inconspicuous.
It was difficult to look all over a theater and not draw attention to yourself. Especially when you were as short as I was and had to stand up a little to see everywhere.
I saw nothing in the aisles. Nothing in the seats.
But still my spine tingled and I felt off. Weird. Strange.
And that’s when I thought to look up.
Directly up.
And that’s when I saw it. Directly above us. Dark energy swirling around the rips.
It was sucking up the popcorn that Jesse was throwing up to the front of the theater. None of it was making it to Gabrielle’s hair.
I swatted both of the shifters on either side of me, motioning upwards. They both glanced up and while they didn’t see what I was talking about, they nodded.
I closed my eyes and reached out for the rip. This one was bigger than the one back at Indy’s house, but I could grasp the edges just the same. It was also stronger than the previous one, harder to pull closed.
Especially when something kept hitting me in the head. I frowned as something wet, cold, and hard kept hitting me in the back of the head.
It fucking hurt. And it was keeping me from being able to concentrate on the task at hand, only pulling the edges of the tear together infinitesimally.
I grunted softly, shaking my head and trying to force myself to focus.
It wasn’t helping, though. Because the popcorn from the back was fewer and far between.
