The Nibiru Effect

Memory 11

I saved the wrong person. Salt 'n' Pepper and Barbie aren't the bad guys. Scar Lady and Angry Dude are. And I just gave one of them my only weapon.

I eye the gun nervously.

"I'm conflicted," says Scar Lady. "Normally, I wouldn't hesitate to kill you, but you saved my life. Twice."

The next few seconds are the longest of my life.

"You get to live," she finally says.

I breathe a sigh of relief. Now that my life is no longer in immediate danger, I take a moment to study my surroundings.

Barbie and Angry Dude have stopped fighting. The man lies in the dirt, his arms pinned behind his back by his beautiful opponent. He struggles but remains incapacitated. That is until Scar Lady intervenes.

"Release him," she commands. Her voice is so cold it sends a chill down my spine.

Barbie hesitates for a moment before stepping away from Angry Dude and raising her arms in surrender.

"Get it over with," she says. It takes a moment before I understand what that means.

"You won't shoot her, will you?" I ask.

Scar Lady chuckles.

"No," she says. "I won't shoot her. At least, not yet. In time, perhaps, but not here, not now."

Barbie doesn't react. She just stands there, impassive.

"Watch her," says Scar Lady. She hands her gun to her partner and starts fidgeting with something on her finger. It looks like a ring, but I can't be sure. All I know is that she seems engrossed in whatever it is she's doing. But I forget all about that when something so shockingly impossible occurs that it puts all of my past impossibilities to shame.

The air before Scar Lady starts shimmering, then lights up with electricity. Arcs of white light crackle and pop, forming a small oval. The shape expands, the electricity now snapping with more intensity. Within seconds, it has reached maximum size. A two-metre tall oval of sizzling energy now hovers before Scar Lady. The centre of the portal is Stygian black but pales to a vibrant shade of purple at its perimeter. The entire thing seems impossible, yet there's no denying its presence.

Unmoved by the freaky occurrence, Scar Lady glances at me and smiles. She then steps into the portal and vanishes.

I wait for her to emerge from the other side, but she never does. Whatever that thing is, it just disintegrated her. At least that's the only explanation that makes sense. But then why isn't her partner freaking out? Why is he taking the time to retrieve his dropped gun before joining Scar Lady inside the portal?

Barbie doesn't seem surprised. She merely waits until the last of Angry Dude's body gets swallowed up by the mysterious portal, then hurries over to her downed partner.

"What happened?" she asks, acknowledging my presence for the first time since the appearance of the portal.

I suddenly feel guilty. I was the one who incapacitated her partner, the one responsible for tipping the balance of power in favour of Scar Lady and Angry Dude.

"I knocked him out," I say, and I immediately feel the urge to justify myself. "I thought he was the bad guy. He was choking her. I-I was just trying to do the right thing. I... I..."

"It's all right," says Barbie, her voice surprisingly steady for a girl who just survived a firefight. "You did nothing wrong."

Somehow, knowing she doesn't blame me makes me feel even worse.

"I'm sorry," I say. It's not much, but it's all I have to offer.

Barbie is about to respond when she notices something that drains every last drop of blood from her beautiful face.

"Where's his bracelet?"

Another wave of guilt washes over me.

"The woman threw it onto the tracks," I say as I notice the bracelet that encircles the girl's wrist. It's identical to the one Scar Lady disposed of.

Barbie jumps up and rushes to the edge of the boarding platform. She scans the tracks but fails to locate the object of her desires.

"What's the big deal?" I ask. "It's just a bracelet."

Barbie ignores me and glances at the portal.

It's starting to weaken.

Terror spreads across the young woman's face like wildfire.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

Barbie doesn't respond. She rushes back to her unconscious partner and slaps him.

No reaction.

Barbie grabs Salt 'n' Pepper's arms and starts dragging him toward the portal. She may be strong, but her partner is heavy, and the portal is far. She gives up after less than a metre and glances at the gateway.

It's flickering, like an old light bulb reaching the end of its life.

"Drowned!" snaps Barbie, speaking the word as though it were a curse. She yanks the bracelet off her wrist and chucks it aside.

She glances at the portal.It flickers one last time then goes out with a final crackle of electricity.