The Time Hopper

Empty

My mind felt so busy I couldn't focus on anything properly. Dimly, I knew I was walking through the stupid mansion, advancing the age of it as I went until it was crumbling and decrepit, turning anyone who tried to attack me into a child, and yet it was like I was dissociated. It was like I was just a passenger in my body, trying to figure out what the hell was going on and get on top of all this new power I had. All I was currently capable of doing was holding one goal in my mind; find and free my parents. Everything else was just noise, and I could figure out how to deal with what I had just done after everyone was safe at the sanctuary.

I walked back to the kitchen and held my hand out, the solid metal door wearing and rusting down to a crumpled ball of debris in a few seconds. Whenever I used my new powers, the noise increased, and I could make out what had to be a hundred voices speaking, so muffled I couldn't make out what was being said. It felt like what I wanted to do was being pulled in a dozen different ways, but I was used to that; that was just how my damn brain worked. It was a little harder to stay on task right now, but I managed it alright. Down into that dingy, stinking basement I went, going straight to my parent's cells. 

"Sadie, is that you?" I heard my father's hoarse voice ask, and it took me a moment to find my own in return. 

"Yeah- yeah. Come on, we're leaving." I told them, my words sounding strange, a fight to even get them out. I reached the door and destroyed it, doing the same to the manacles around their wrists. My mother stood up first, racing over to me and pulling me into a fierce hug. Her arms wrapped around me, familiar in an achingly distant way. I felt my eyes filled with tears as I leaned into her, and a second later my father's arms encircled us both, and I wept. For a moment, the voices fell silent, and I was just with my family again. And then I pulled away, wiped my eyes, and nodded at them both. 

"Stay close to me. We're going to find Kat, and then we're going to leave, okay?" I said, pushing back the others in my head as they slowly quieted down, turning and leaving the cell as they followed slowly behind me. "Do you know where she might be?" I asked, partly hoping some weird power would manifest to help me. 

"No- Sadie, what's happening with you? Something seems wrong." My father said, gently catching my wrist and turning me around. I could feel my eyes glowing again, and when my mother saw she let out a shaky gasp. 

"Oh Sadie, my brave girl." She said, choked up and pulling me into another hug. My father looked rather alarmed, and just reached out and lightly stroked my head. 

"It's okay, I'm alright. I had to, otherwise everyone would have- I would have-. Look, I don't know how much time I've bought us, we really need to go." I managed to saw around the lump in my throat, though I kept a tight grip on my mother's hand anyway as I led them out of the dungeons. They winced in the sudden bright light, but there was a warmth in their eyes that made me want to cry. 

"Alright then, Sades. How about we split up, go around the house and try to find your friend?" My father suggested, looking around the empty kitchen. There had been staff here when I came through and they were gone now. I hoped that they had fled, and hadn't gone to regroup and attack us. I wondered where Kat was, and tried to bring some magic to the surface to figure it out. I felt it bubble up, and then dissipate, and I realised that it probably wasn't anything I could do. The thought of splitting up, even though I knew it was the best idea, made me feel sick with panic. For the first time in over a decade, I had them and they were here with me and I could keep them safe and the thought of loosing them again-

"No, no, I want to stay together. Stick close and I'll be able to keep us safe." I decided, trying not to get breathless as I hurried out of the kitchen, practically jogging while having to stay somewhat slow to let my parents keep up, tired as they were. I raced through the now suspiciously empty house, throwing doors open, always ready to launch into a fight should the need arise. But it was like everyone had vanished, and I doubted that I had made that happen.