Denise and John

Chapter Thirty One

Racing in the direction of the gun fire, Michael stretched his thoughts. "Denise, where are you? What happened?"
"John."
He could hear the emotion in her voice even though he was connecting to her mind. Michael stopped, his heart sank at the possibility. Not really wanting the response he pressed on. "What happened to John? Is he OK?"
"John's.... dead. He was shot."
Michael hurried on. Moving as fast as he could with no light, he made his way through the trees before asking. "Denise where are you?"
"Down by the river."
Continuing on Michael changed his direction to the sound of the water fall. He would use that area and follow it up.
"Hang on Denise, I'm coming."
                        ***
Cradling her brother in her arms, Denise cried uncontrollably.
"John, why?" Holding him closer she continued, knowing he wouldn't respond. "Why didn't you listen to me?"
Before she could check the area of impact, shots rang out once again up by the trail. Looking in the direction, more shots fired hitting the water to the right of her. Then again. She could see there was two sets of fire which meant two more people.
"Fuck." She thought. "Not now."
Pulling her brother into the water Denise quickly allowed her mind to wander. With the last thought of the freezing wind, she placed her hand to John's back making a sheet of ice underneath him to help carry his body downstream. She would be damned if she was going to leave him there dead or not. More shots rang out hitting the water about a foot from her.
"Too close." She thought.
Taking her brothers body she raced down stream. Pulling him by his jacket she kept her right hand behind her so he would not float faster than she could run. She listened to the gun fire as it echoed through the night hitting the water to the left of her, and sometimes ricocheting off the rocks. Denise didn't look back. As the water raged in front of her it moved faster and faster forcing her to keep up with the current.
"Shit." She thought. As she came upon the waterfall. Halting herself she examined the area. Looking down she couldn't see where the water hit. It sounded like rocks at the bottom as the liquid splashed furiously.  She knew she was trapped, she looked back as the assailants closed the distance, their feet splashing noisily in the river. More shots, this time one of them managed to breeze dangerously close to her right arm. Feeling a rush of energy in her, and running out of time, Denise had no choice.  At the edge of the water fall she placed her left hand in front of her, and, with her right hand, she held tightly to Johns jacket and jumped.
Keeping the left hand braced underneath her, her thoughts went through the steps as fast as she fell. With the last thought of the cold wind, ice furiously transformed the waterfall into a frozen wall, pushing harder she took her left hand and placed it under her shoes transforming the liquid at the bottom into a slick ramp where she hit hard before being flung into the center of the lake. Away from the rocks the water was deeper as she dipped and quickly sprung back up due to the ice under her brother. Shots fired from the top of the waterfall as the men reached the edge and continued shooting blindly. With her free hand Denise paddled toward the left side of the river bank pulling her brother to safety.
Making her way out of the small open area, she hid herself behind some trees just as she heard a voice screaming towards her.
"Michael."
                          ***
Making his way toward the waterfall Michael reached it just in time to hear a loud splash, followed by Denise coughing and choking as she made her way out of the water.
"Denise!" He screamed.
The silence was deafening as her coughing stopped. Unable to see in the dark he listened for the sound of a voice to follow.
"Here. I'm here." She said quickly.
Following her vocal sound he made his way quickly to her side.
"Are you alright?" he asked, placing one hand on her shoulder.
"John." She cried, cradling the small boy in her arms.
Suddenly shots rang out from the top of the waterfall in the direction they were sitting. The bullets landed somewhere in the dirt as they hit with a muffled thud. Picking up the boy, he placed the small child over one shoulder. "We need to get out of here."
Complying she followed him as he made his way deeper in the forest, and away from the water. With no sound echoing in the night he figured the assailant had given up and would now pursue them on foot. It wouldn't take long for him to find a trail that would lead him down into their current position. Quickly Michael changed direction heading down stream back toward the water.
"What are you doing?" she asked, picking up on his sudden change of direction.
"From the sound, I think he may have given up firing realizing there is nothing to shoot at. Any minute though he's going to find the path leading him to our location. So, we need to head downstream and find a safe place to cross that way if he does approach we will hear him cross the water."
"What if they split up?"
"What do you mean?"
"There was two of them." She stated.
He realized she was talking about the same guys that had carried him off. "What happened to the attacker that shoved me?"
"I killed him."
Unsure how to feel about it, Michael quickly found the opening he was looking for. In a remote location there was no tree coverage, and the light of the moon shone brightly to a small path made of rocks that led toward the other side of the embankment. The other issues he would have to address later, for now he leapt into the water and made his way across before doubling back and up, making his way deeper into the forest once again. Listening closely, he could hear the girl mimicking his movements and keeping his pace.
                          ***
Heading into the small camp Alex kicked the sleeping bag, disgruntled. This should have been easier but, as luck would have it, he picked up the two biggest imbeciles in Portland. Listening to the shots being fired, Alex could already tell that none of them made contact with their intended target. Once the firing stopped he headed back out of the trail and toward the water where he was sure he would find thing 1, and thing 2.
"Idiots."
Making his way down the path, he was able to keep his footing even though there proved too many obstacles in his wake. He had outstanding night vision. Studying the surrounding area he found that the camp site itself was perfect for an ambush. The trails themselves left no room for someone to jump and grab an intended target considering the ferns in the area were over grown, it's difficult to go by undetected. The more Alex thought about it, the more it seemed as though this area was planned for an event such as this.
"Well Played." He thought.
Reaching the water he picked up the sound of his two morons.
"Why didn't you ask for more bullets?" from the sound he could tell it was Chris. "Fuck you're a terrible shot."
Josh intervened. "I didn't see you hit anything either."
"What are you talking about, my bullets at least ricocheted off the rocks I was aiming."
"How could you tell those were your bullets, dip shit we were firing at the same time."
"Well at least I didn't empty my clip."
"That's because you have a .38. You handed me a .22 it only has six bullets."
As they came upstream they both hushed noticing Alex standing there unimpressed.
"I'm guessing you didn't take the girl out."
"No." Chris stated. "But I didn't expect her to freeze a whole damn waterfall and jump down it."
Curious Alex said. "She froze a waterfall?"
"Yea." Josh said, continuing. "But we didn't realize it until we got to the edge. She jumped down the waterfall and froze it."
"Then why didn't you guys follow her if the water was frozen?"
"Nah." Chris interrupted. "It wasn't like that. You could tell it was already melting by the time we got there. If we would've jumped we would've ended up breaking our legs on the rocks."
"Interesting." Alex said. "Let's head back to the car and get you two restocked on bullets."
"What about the girl?" Joshua asked.
"What about her?" Alex said, he continued. "It's not like she is going to wander off. We are at her camp so she won't head here either. She will stay close and we will find her. I'm not worried."
He had no reason to fear the girl especially now that he knew what she could do. The beastman, on the other hand, was still a complete mystery. Alex figured they could wait it out at their small camp, and when there was more daylight they would continue the search. There was no reason for him to jeopardize his safety unknowing the terrain, especially since there was another person out there that he had no idea what their ability was. In the early dawn hours they would head out, Alex could find the girls location using his own ability. Besides there were three of him and only two of them, shouldn't be that hard.
Smiling and feeling more confident about the situation, Alex led his companions to his car.
                         ***
Making their way deeper into the forest, Denise watched as Michael found a tree to rest John's body. Flipping him back and forth, he continued searching the small child.
"What are you looking for?" she asked.
"Well if you must know." He said, continuing to shuffle John around like a rag doll. "Some point of impact."
Feeling her heart sink she said. "I know one hit him in the head. I saw it as he went down."
She eyed him as he started checking Johnny's head. From front to back he washed his hands through her brother's hair.
After a brief pause, he said. "Huh! Curious."
"What?" she asked.
"Well there's no blood."
"No blood are you sure?"
"Yea, Oh wait a minute."
Kneeling to his side she observed as Michael pulled something that was matted in John's hair.
"Holy shit." Michael smiled at her.
"What is it?" she asked puzzled.
Feeling the area one more time, he quickly placed a small metallic object in Denise's hand.
Turning it in her fingers she was confused. "What is this?"
"I believe that's the bullet."
The metal shard was flat and warm to her touch. Flipping it through her fingers she could see that it was dry and there was no residue to suggest that it impacted inside his skull.
Excitement washed through her as she explored the possibilities. "Does that mean?"
"Yea." Michael quickly cut her off. "He was so hot the bullet melted but the impact itself knocked him out."
She laughed with relief.
"John." Michael said, shaking the boy gently. "Hey wake up buddy."
Pocketing the bullet she rubbed her brother's face only to realize he was still warm. "Lil John." She began tapping his cheek lightly. "Hey, get up."
Within a few minutes John started muttering. Her excitement grew as she began tapping harder. "Lil brother, hey, wake up!"
Grabbing her hand, Michael stopped her as John opened his eyes.
                           ***
Confused John sat up. A shooting pain made its way through his right shoulder blade.
"Ow." He began turning his arm in a circular motion remembering that a bullet had hit him there. "Oh my god, that fucking hurt." He said.
Switching his gaze between Michael and Denise, they remained silent eyeing him suspiciously.
"What?" he asked.
"John I thought you were dead." Denise replied.
"What? Dead? How?"
Interrupting Michael looked at him. "John you were shot in the head."
"Really?" his eyes got wide as Denise fished something small from her pocket and handed it to him. "What is this?" he asked sifting it through his fingers.
"That's the bullet." She replied.
"Brutal." John said handing the small coin shaped object back to her. Remembering his pain he finished. "Shit I thought I was shot in the shoulder."
He continued turning his arm trying to work out the pain. Michael reached over feeling his shoulder blade.
"Oh my god."
"What is it?" he asked.
"John, you were shot in the shoulder too."
John felt the stinging abate as Michael peeled something from his skin. Instantly the pain was gone.
"Ah, much better." He chuckled.
Examining the small shard he watched as Michael handed it to his sister.
Looking back in his direction Michael asked. "Do you know how hot you had to be, melting those bullets on impact?"
"I'm guessing really fucking hot." He replied.
"Yea." Michael laughed. "Really fucking hot."
Standing up, Michael offered him his hand. Accepting it John quickly got to his feet and began brushing off the dirt. Looking toward his sister she continued to eye him.
"You ok?" he asked.
Quickly Denise rushed him, placing her arms around him and squeezing tight.
"Denise." He said. "You're choking me. I'm okay, Jesus."
Letting him go, he could feel her excitement as she said. "I know, I know. This is all just too much." She chuckled.
"Yea I know I'm brutal I get it." He laughed.
She laughed with him as Michael interrupted. "Ok guys now's not the time to lose focus. We're not out of the woods yet."
"Yea, literally." John finished. They both laughed again.
"Guys." Michael said smacking his hands together. "Remember we still have people trying to kill us."
"Umm… good luck." John smirked.
Looking at him sternly Michael said. "John, seriously?"
Continuing to laugh, Denise intervened. "Ok, no really what's your plan?"
"What?" Michael said. "Right now I don't have one. We are well away from the camp and more than likely they are just waiting there, I mean… I can't see them trying to follow us in this darkness not knowing the terrain." Placing his hands on his side he continued. "More than likely they are waiting back at our camp hoping we are stupid enough to show up. They will probably start searching at first light, but for now they have a camp fire and food which is more than what we have."
"Well." John said fishing the MP3 player from his pocket. "I have the fire covered."
"Wait is that such a good idea?" Denise asked.
"You heard what Beastman said. Hell they're probably back at camp which means they won't see our fire."
"We're not building a fire here John." Michael stated. "If anything make a small flame to light our path until we find somewhere reasonable."
"Ok." John answered, taking the ear buds out he noticed they were wet. "Oh crap."
"What is it?" Michael inquired.
"My ear buds are wet."
"Well do they still work?" Denise asked taking the small ear pieces from his hands she proceeded to dry them off.
Snatching them back he said. "I don't know yet, give me a minute."
Placing the small buds in his ears, John quickly found a song. The static muffled both sides of his face but he could still hear the music.
"That'll work." He said as he proceeded to go through his steps. Within minutes the small flame ignited in the center of his palm. Waving the flame around, he smiled at Michael, seeing that he was clearly impressed at how fast he was able to pull out the fire.
"Which way?" he asked, as Michael stepped around him taking the lead.
                           ***
Finding an area half a mile from where they stopped, Michael quickly ushered the kids close. He was relieved to see that the night's events didn't hinder their spirits. Looking toward Denise he finally had a chance to catch up with what had happened in his absence.
After Denise explained about the guy John went after, his back draft, the muscular one shooting John, how she managed to take him out with her ice, the two shooting at her, the freezing of the waterfall and meeting up with him, Michael felt over whelmed, there were so many questions racing through his mind he knew he currently didn't have time to ask all of them. Instead he made a makeshift area with leaves that they could rest keeping the kids close. Immediately Michael felt the exhaustion consume him. He managed to fall instantly asleep.
Back in the area of the water fall the day was bright, Michael squinted. He knew full well he was dreaming, as the cherry blossoms fell around him as though it were raining the flowers, though there were no cherry blossom trees in the area.
Quickly realizing what was happening he screamed out. "Brianna?"
Coming up from behind the small child made her way to his side. "Darn it Beastman, I like my dramatic entrance." She smiled up at him. "Thanks for ruining it."
"So this is you?" He nodded at her approvingly. "Good job."
"Yea I like it. But I didn't call you here so you can ogle my handy work." She chuckled.
"Ok then why did you call me here?"
"You didn't notice Beastman?" She pointed to the waterfall.
Looking in the direction Michael noticed the water was frozen and upon closer examination he saw that the water was shaped like steps protruding from the water. All of them centered out sporadically as though they were made like a climbers obstacle course. Walking to the falls Michael placed his hands on one of the steps pulling his weight, they seemed firm.
Coming from behind, the girl stated. "You can use this tomorrow to get back up to base camp."
He stopped, turned towards her, as she continued. Pointing further in the direction they were actually at, she said. "Head up about fifteen feet north from where you are now, from there you will find a path that's going to circle you around and lead you back here. By that time Alex will be on the move towards your current area and because Johnny started a fire he will be able to track you fast. So don't forget to put out the fire right when you wake up ok?"
Nodding confusingly he asked. "Who is Alex?"
"Alex is the one that's been trying to find you."
Michael went pale and he could see the girl noticed the difference as she asked. "You ok Beastman?"
"Um yeah…. Yeah…." Trying to regain his composure he asked. "Exactly how do you know his name?"
"Well Graham told me." She chuckled.
"Of course he did."
"Graham isn't from here either."
"Where is Graham from?"
"Well that's where it gets confusing." As the girl began pacing, Michael continued to follow her movements. "See technically he was conceived where you're from, Colorado Springs. But because of Alex he was born 18 years ago in the past in Oregon."
Scratching his head he stated sarcastically. "That doesn't sound too confusing."
Stopping, she chuckled. "Yes, but I'm not done."
"Well then." Michael sat down folding his hands up to his knees. "Please continue."
"Now because of his mom Alice creating the contradiction, he started losing pieces of himself through time. Hence why you found the six year old him before the 18 year old him."
Thinking about it, Michael interrupted. "Wait a minute, if he was born 18 years ago how could there be a six year old him in the first place."
"Careful Beastman, you're getting ahead of me. I was getting there." Standing in front of him now, she continued. "You see in time older Graham began losing himself, once again because of his mother. Feeling the change he created a smaller version of himself borrowing different traits from his subjects to sustain his own life. This smaller version would not have any emotion, that's in the older one, it was just meant to be a sustainable life force until he could draw himself and the other one together, which can't happen until Graham's father dies."
"Ok and who is Graham's father?"
"Alex."
"Why does his father have to die?"
"So Graham can take his energy or actually his DNA and sustain his own life considering in this time line his mother never met his father. But in the alternate timeline that Alice erased she and Alex created Graham."
"Wait, how is that possible?"
"Don't you get it? Alice and Alex both have abilities. Neither one are very good at using them. Alice is a time traveler."
As she paused, Michael intervened. "And what is Alex?"
"He's a time stopper. With a time traveler conceiving with a time stopper they created a life giver or…. Graham."
Trying to put the pieces together Michael stated. "I don't get it. I don't understand."
"Ok." Brianna said pacing back and forth once again. "Both Graham's parents work with time. What is time?"
Looking to him for an answer, he remained silent as she continued. "Life. Time is life. Therefore when the two time abilities conceived, they made a giver of life. Get it?"
"Kinda." He said, remembering what she said about subjects he said. "You said something about his subjects. Who are they?"
"John and JC of course." She chuckled. "That's why you couldn't allow for JC or John to touch Graham, they would've drawn out what he borrowed and Graham would cease to exist."
Thinking about the older Graham he said. "When I saw the older Graham he didn't give any inclination he knew anything out of the ordinary. He actually looked pretty normal. Does the older Graham know any of this? If so why isn't he trying to find his younger self?"
"Well, he's not trying to find his younger self because he doesn't know anything now."
"Wait, what do you mean he doesn't know anything now?"
"Well, he did when he first diverged himself, but," Raising her hand toward her face she said. "I think because it was his first try, and he wasn't quite sure what he was doing he accidentally took that piece of his memory and placed it in the younger him, so when he awoke, or whatever, there was no recollection of what happened."
Putting it together before she could finish he said. "And because he did that the younger one has that memory which he shared with you."
"Exactly."
So much information he was unsure where to start. "So then, John is missing some of himself and so is JC, correct?"
She nodded.
"Ok what about Denise?"
"Actually Denise and John are connected. They are one unit, they feed each other's abilities. So you could say Denise is here to help keep Johnny safe. When John connected with Alex, Denise being as close to him as she is, connected as well."
"Ah. Therefore that's the reason she only sees little John Correct?"
Brianna nodded.
Still wanting to ask so many more questions he hesitated, as Brianna made her way down stream.
"Wait where are you going?"
"Time's up Beastman, dawns approaching. See ya soon."
Jumping, Michael woke to the real world. The light barely started making its way up through the trees. Still under the cover of darkness he wasted no time to get John and Denise up so they could make their way to the area Brianna showed him.