The Hands Of Time

Chapter 7: November 14, 2011

8:32pm

Linden, NJ

Parking in the guest parking lot of JP's loft complex, Jace could feel that something was very different. Everything looked the same on the outside, but there was a gnawing sensation in Jace's gut which told him that something was definitely amiss.

Before heading upstairs, on a hunch he went and looked in JP's parking spot and saw that the brand new Land Rover that he'd purchased was still there which meant that they were still filthy rich, so why was his intuition going bat-shit?

Maybe it's just the events that occurred with Candy, Jace thought as he made his way up to JP's loft. Before Jace could even knock, JP opened the door and the look on his face was something of sadness mixed with disbelief.

"What's wrong J?" Jace asked. "I thought that you'd be happy to see me after my successful journey. You will not BELIEVE what happened with Candy after...."

"Come inside bruh," JP interrupted solemnly. "Somethin' went wrong."

"What?!" Jace inquired. "Nothing went wrong. I stopped Candy from being murdered and afterward she confessed that she was cheating on me for seven months. Can you believe that?"

JP shook his head as Jace followed him inside of the loft. As Jace rounded the corner to the living room, he saw that all of the newspapers that they were using prior to him going back were still spread haphazardly across the floor.

"They just started changin' man," JP said while pointing down to the floor. "After you left I was sittin' here and the newspaper articles just started changin'."

JP picked up the front page section of the Star-Ledger dated November 6, 2010 and handed it to Jace.

"You rememba what that date was donchu?" He asked Jace while pointing at it, tears building up in his eyes.

"Yeah," Jace answered somberly. "That was the date of Candy's funeral last year."

"Not no more bruh," JP responded with sadness heavily shading his voice while continuing to point at the article on the paper. "Not no more."

Jace looked at the boldfaced headline that JP was pointing to and it felt like his heart was going to stop. The heading of the article read:

Casper Strikes Again! County morgue worker the 52nd Victim In 6-year Killing Spree! Newark Police Baffled!

His legs felt weaker than cooked pasta as he continued to re-read the headline. Jace was actually afraid to read the article because it would only confirm what he already knew, but he realized that he had to read it.

Being that JP never cried, even when his closest associates had met their gruesome end, it was a tell-tale sign that this was Jace's worse dream come true.

Belinda Harris, 56, an Essex County morgue worker has become the latest victim of the heinous serious killer "Casper". Harris was found by a neighbor in the backyard of her home on the 900 block of South 7th Street with her face unrecognizable and severely mutilated along with her torso while clutching a Jack of Spades playing card.

She makes the 52nd victim of "Casper" in a 6-year span and this latest murder has Newark Police baffled as to the identity of this heinous killer. Neither The Mayor nor Police Commissioner had any comment regarding this incident, only to convey that detectives are working around the clock to apprehend the suspect involved. Belinda Harris is survived by her only son Jason.

The newspaper fell from Jace's hand as he let out a blood curdling scream reminiscent of Al Pacino at the end of Godfather III. JP then sat next to him and put an arm around his shoulders in an effort to console his longtime friend. As Jace sobbed heavily, his head began to hurt with some of the most excruciating pain he had ever felt.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Jace screamed out while collapsing to the carpeted floor of JP's loft.

"Whas' wrong man?!" JP asked as Jace writhed on the floor in pain, unsure of what to do.

"My head," Jace answered weakly while holding his head in both hands. "My head..."

It was then that the pictures began to form in Jace's mind: the flashing lights of dozens of police vehicles at his mother's house, giving a statement at the police station, meeting with the funeral director at Cotton's, meeting with his mother's insurance company, his mother's closed casket funeral. All of these new memories of the past year were being poured into his brain like water into a glass.

"Oh my God," Jace said while breathing heavily as the pain started to subside. "I remember it all now."

"Rememba' what?" JP inquired as he knelt down on the floor next to Jace.

"Everything that's occurred in the past year." Jace returned while getting back up to his feet and wiping a stream of blood from his nose. "Saving Candy's life in the past has somehow resulted in my mother being murdered last year instead, and since I was a part of it all, those memories had to be, for lack of a better word, downloaded into my brain."

JP blinked heavily and shook his head a few times like he was trying to shake something loose.

"What the hell are you talkin' 'bout bruh?" JP challenged. "Savin' Candy from what?"

It was then that JP's living room began to shimmer and change. All of the expensive toys he'd purchased with the Powerball winnings started disappearing and the room returned to how it was before. Jace then realized that JP was also a part of the past that was reshaped so he had no memory of the watch, winning Powerball or anything that happened in the reality when Candy was dead.

"Nothing man," Jace answered. "I was just bugging a little bit."

JP chuckled as he got up from the floor, "If thas' how you gon' be when you blazin', then you need to spark up by yaself."

Jace feigned laughter in return, "My bad, you know I don't smoke like that."

JP nodded his head in agreement. "You most definitely don't. Come on homie, let's see if we can't build ya tolerance up a bit."

Jace spent the rest of the night smoking weed with JP, completely aware of the fact that he was now alone in all of this and knowing that he had to somehow find a way to correct this tremendous mistake.