Jump Line (Book 1 - Jump Line Series)

Chapter Twenty

           

Chapter Twenty

A light flicked on, casting a soft yellow hue over his face. His pale skin almost glowed in the darkness.

"How did you know where to find me?" I asked, looking questioningly at Theo.

"Audrina told me she sent you away. I knew it was a bad idea. I think someone put some sort of tracker on you." Theo assessed me. "Are you okay? That was a close call back there."

The concerned look in his eyes stopped me cold. A small crease formed at the side of his lips as he continued to watch me.

"What was it?" I asked, not breaking our eye contact. "What caused that light and then the explosion?"

"I don't know, but I'd put money on it being something created by Paul or Troy." His fingers brushed against my arm sending a strong current of electricity between us. "I just can't figure out how it got to 2010, but I intend to go back and find out."

My senses were heightened. Anger, fear, hatred, sadness and disbelief rushed through my body, igniting my nerves and twisting my stomach into a big knot. It felt like I was radiating enough energy to light up a small city.

"Everything happened so fast. I was back at the bridge, watching the encounter between me and Samuel, and then there was a red flashing light. It wasn't a consistent blink, but then it changed, and suddenly it was blinking very quickly," I managed to get out.  "Theo, why do I keep going back to the bridge at the same date and time?"

"It's a time that is very present to you and probably a place you think of often. If you don't call out a time when you get on the line, then it doesn't know where you want to go, so it pulls something from your memories."

I nodded. It made sense, but it was scary to know that I might have to go through that scene more times during my life.
             "What if the next time I go through that place and time, I'm not able to make it out? What if you're not there to rescue me?"

"You will be fine. We always find a way."

"But there's a chance that, even though we've gone through that event before, the next time things might change. Right?"

"I've never really thought about that before. We tend to move forward in life, even though we travel backwards through time. Does that make sense? Things don't change unless we intentionally make them change.  History has been set."

"I guess."

"Esa, focus. There is something on you or inside of you that is allowing others to track you and mess with your head. Nothing showed up on the scan we did, so we need to get you to Samuel. He'll know what to look for and if there's a way to remove it," Theo said, getting to his feet in one fluid movement.

"Do you think Paul put the tracker on me the first time we met, when we jumped to Onyx Five?"

I thought back to the devices that had covered our hands. They had been some sort of energy force fields. There was something about that encounter that didn't sit well with me. I was missing something. Surely Paul would know that forcing additional energy into our bodies would only make us stronger, not weaker. He had to know what Samuel would be capable of doing to anyone he perceived as the enemy. Paul had also given me a shot in my stomach.  At the time, he had claimed it was a truth serum, but maybe it was something else.

"I'm not really sure what Paul did to you at that time." Theo pulled me up. For a brief moment, there were only inches between our noses as we stood face to face. The electricity between us was physically intense. Too intense. I knew my pale cheeks had probably flushed over the past few seconds, standing so close to Theo. Instinctively, I stepped away, trying to put some space between us to quell the growing feelings inside me.

I rubbed at the base of my neck. Paul had mentioned something when we were in the lab. Somewhere inside me was something that was allowing Paul, or someone else, to track my every move. The idea made me shudder. "This is your fault. You were the one who decided to use Samuel and me as sacrificial lambs while you went to find Luther. I wasn't ready to meet Paul. I wasn't prepared."

My face heated even more, and my powers accelerated as I remembered my first encounter with Paul. There were so many things I didn't understand about what had happened over the past few days. Something wasn't making sense.

"I already told you, it wasn't my idea for you to meet Paul. Samuel was pretty adamant about taking you back there," he mumbled.  "He kept saying he wanted to see the expression on Paul's face."

"How did we end up here?" I looked around at all of the clothes hanging from the large rack and realized we were inside my closet.

"Sometimes, when I'm distracted, it's harder to pick out the landing spot. Our jumps aren't always spot on. We've gotten better, but we are definitely not perfect."

"Do you think that's what could have happened to cause me to end up in 2007 without any memory?"

"Yes and No. We know you made a jump to 2007, but we don't know why.  At some point, there was a problem. I'm now certain it's not a 'what,' but a 'who' behind whatever it is that happened to you."

"Theo, Audrina told me about the letter. I didn't send it."

"I know that now, but at the time it really sucked getting that thing.  I'm still trying to process if you didn't have some part in writing it, maybe you wrote part of it before the mission."

"I can't answer that, but it doesn't sound like something I would do."

"It doesn't sound like the new version of Captain Esa James, but back then you were a hardened soldier.  If you were truly on a mission, then you would have done whatever was necessary to make it a success."

"Everyone keeps telling me I'm different, but I'm still me. I didn't send the letter. There's no way I could have sent the letter when I didn't even know you all existed."

"Fine, but if you didn't send the letter, someone else did, and I intend to find out why. Let's get you into Samuel's lab."

I grabbed Theo's shoulder and pulled him back. "Theo, I need to tell you something. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I've done and haven't done over the past three years."

He clicked his tongue. "Okay."

"Is that all you're going to say?" I crossed my arms over my chest. 

"I don't know what else to say," he looked over my head.

"Maybe you could say 'thank you.'"

"Maybe, but I'm not sure that's how I feel right now. Your return has caused me to feel things I hadn't thought I would ever feel again. You were everything to me. Then you left. It's been three years, and I've finally gotten over you. I've moved on. At least, I thought I had moved on."

His words stopped me.  It was the first time he had talked about our previous relationship. Hearing him say I was everything to him caused a deep pang in the pit of my stomach.  

"I'm so sorry."  A part of me wanted to move in closer, but the thought made me nervous and unsure of how Theo would react.

"Let's talk about this later. For now, let's get you to Samuel's lab."

"Do you promise me that at some point we will actually talk?"

"No. Now, let's go." Despite his statement, I found comfort in understanding why Theo's mood constantly changed. He had admitted it: at one point, he'd loved me. We left my room and headed down the stairs to Samuel's lab. The house was quiet.

"What year are we in?"

"I jumped back to our primary year, but four days before Samuel gets captured, so he can take a look at you. Plus, things are very different at our house. When I left to find you the situation was getting really bad. Robots had surrounded the entire compound."

"Is everyone okay?" I asked.

"They'll be fine, but, Esa, we've always known thisday would come. It's part of our existence. We knew the house would become atarget. We were never truly safe. Now, it's time to prepare for the future and our survival."