Running From Time

Chapter 16

I emerged from the water, sending the liquid everywhere, including all over Thalia. She laughed and I hugged her. We stayed there for a while until I noticed that the sun was much lower in the sky and the sky was a darker shade of blue. Looking back at the beach, I saw that most of the people had left, and only a few were still swimming.

"Hey, wanna swim over to that island? I'll race you." Thalia exclaimed, already starting to swim in that direction.

"Uh, I don't think we should go over there. It's a bit far and it could be dangerous." I heard Thalia snort from a little way in front of me.

"You're just afraid because you think I'll beat you." She taunted and I rolled my eyes. Maybe I was just being paranoid. But still, something about this place was giving me the shivers.

The island was fairly flat, apart from a single cliff on the left side. The setting sun shone on the exposed white rock, causing it to glow a faint orange colour. Small waves caressed my neck as I swam a little faster, catching up with Thalia. She made a noise of irritation as I passed her and I grinned. There was no way she was going to beat me.

Finally, we reached the shore of the island. A small sign on the beach read 'Breezy Isle'. I frowned.

"Hey, Tia. Look at the name of the island." I called to her and she jogged up to me, wet hair sticking to her back and shoulders. She snorted when she saw the sign and looked at me.

"Maybe it's named after you." She joked and I shrugged. The island did seem awfully familiar. The waves lapped gently at my feet and I wiggled my toes. That action started to bring back a memory and I closed my eyes in frustration, trying to remember it. The memory disappeared and I sighed in annoyance, opening my eyes again.

"Chris, what's wrong?" Thalia asked me, concern lacing her voice. I smiled wryly at her.

"Just trying to remember something, that's all. I bet that Sam's involved." She looked at me in confusion.

"Sam? Who's Sam?" Crap. I clenched my jaw and looked around me before turning to face her again.

"He's...the guy that was in my memory before. You remember?" She nodded slowly, but I knew that she knew I was hiding something.

"Yeah, but wasn't that a one off?" I shook my head and looked at my feet.

"No. I've been telepathically talking to him for a while now." Thalia's eyes widened and a look of betrayal crossed her face.

"What?! And you didn't tell me?" She exclaimed angrily, eyes narrowed. I nodded shamefully.

"I just didn't want you to force me to stop contacting him, that's all. I knew you'd see him as a threat." She groaned in disgust and stomped away from me, down the beach. I pursed my lips and looked up at the cliff. Straining my eyes, I saw that there was some sort of small, wooden building up there. Looking over my shoulder to check that Thalia was out of sight, I started to levitate upwards, towards the small settlement.

**********

"But Serpius, there's no way this is going to kill him!" Ms. X exclaimed. She sat on one of the wooden chairs in the small, dimly lit room and looked up at her master. His cloak was pulled down so she could only see the glint of his red eyes. The rest of his face was in the shadows.

"No, you're right. It won't." He said nonchalantly, and she knew that this wasn't new information to him. Then why did he still want to go ahead with this plan?

"But -"

"Shush, my child. This liquid will only take away his powers, that's all. Then I can have the pleasure of killing him myself. Of watching his body burn within the flames that I will create, the smouldering aroma of freshly cooked flesh caressing my nostrils..." He seemed to go into a trance for a split second but immediately snapped out of it and turned to X, who started to speak.

"We should probably get out of here before he arrives. I'm very pleased that Thalia brought him here, too. She's one of your best employees, Serpius."

**********

As I saw the small cabin, a memory hit me like a truck filled with amnesia pills. I gasped and my eyes grew wide as it replayed in my head.

"Sam, wait up!" I shouted out to the boy running in front of me. He was running parallel to the cliff face, and I feared that he would fall off. He couldn't have been any older than eight years old, and that would make me four.

"You've gotta catch me!" He giggled in front of me and I rolled my eyes, laughing. His steps suddenly faultered and he gasped in shock as he tumbled over the edge of the cliff. I screamed and ran to the edge as fast as I could, looking over in horror. But my expression turned to confusion in the blink of an eye as I saw Sam hovering just a few feet below the edge of the cliff. His eyes were tightly shut, and I knew he was waiting for the impact.

"Sam?" I asked nervously and his eyes flew open. He looked up at me in confusion and I grinned. He hadn't been hurt.

"What's going on? Why am I...how am I...?" He exclaimed, admiring the fact that he was floating. I shrugged and leaned over the cliff edge, holding out my hand.

"Here." I said and he grabbed it. He rose up and I realised that he didn't need me to pull himself up. I jumped up as he levitated down so that he was standing next to me on the cliff.

"I didn't know I could do that!" He exclaimed, wide eyed and grinning. I smiled with him but frowned. How come he got to have magical powers? But before jealousy got the better of me, he linked arms with me and we ran together. His laughter made me smile and we headed back to the small cabin which was our first home.

I almost choked on my own spit when the memory ended. This place used to be my home?! How could I not have remembered something like this sooner? I felt as if I was going to collapse at any moment.

I made my way into the cabin and looked around. It was dimly lit, with two small chairs in the far corner and a dining table. Another chair sat in a different corner of the room, obviously a spare. A sofa filled up half of the space and it faced a dated television set over the other side of the room. I carefully made my way through the room to a door at the far end. My hand slowly turned the knob and I looked inside the room. A double bed and an oversized cot filled the small room, with a tiny window on the right hand wall. This room was pitch black and I fumbled for a light switch. My hand flicked the switch eventually and I looked in disgust at all of the cobwebs. No one had been here in a long time. But then why -

I suddenly bolted from the bedroom and back into the main room. The lights were on but yet no one could've been here in years. I frowned and looked around carefully, scanning the room. There! A small bottle sat on the window sill to the left, in a space where all of the cobwebs had been cleared away. I picked it up and looked at the label.

To Christopher,
Just a little something. This used to be your favourite childhood drink.
Love, Sam x

I frowned and, after a moment of hesitation, unscrewed the cap. A creamy liquid resided within the bottle and I looked at it suspiciously. Maybe it would bring back more of my memories of Sam. And I could trust him. He was my friend. I gulped down the strange liquid in one go and put the bottle back down on the windowsill. Wow, Sam was right. That drink tasted amazing!

I exited the little cabin and started to walk to the edge of the cliff. It would be much quicker to levitate down. I closed my eyes and channeled my power into floating above where I was standing. Nothing happened. Frowning, I cocked my head in confusion and tried again. Still nothing. Hurriedly, I held out my hands and tried to create a fire. Not even a single flame erupted from the grass below me. Panic flowed through my entire body and I felt like I was about to pass out. My powers were gone!

And then I did pass out.

Do you think Thalia is really one of Serpius' employees? And has Chris lost his powers for good? Please vote if you liked it and leave comments :)