“Rodion, time to come back. Take a deep breath.” The voice sounded like it came from another planet. I was in complete darkness. Am I dead? Was the first thought flashing through my mind. I felt no pain. I remembered the Ryder truck overtaking me, crushing me underneath. Ryder’s face, then nothing.
“You don’t have to open your eyes just yet. Gently move your fingers.” The voice continued. It was a woman’s voice, but I couldn’t place it. Disobeying the instructions, I opened my eyes.
I was lying on a bed in a near darkness. I shifted and my left arm slipped off the narrow bed. Jolting upright, I sat up and saw a woman sitting right across from me. Another twin bed was positioned parallel to mine, with a passage between them.
“How do you feel, Rodion?” The woman asked and I could just make the outlines of her face.
“Fine.” I responded, trying to understand what was happening. I tried to stand up, but the walls of the room collapsed on me and I fell back onto the bed.
“Easy, easy now.” I felt the woman’s surprisingly tough grip on my torso as she caught me. “You just had a very intense session. Very.” She said, as she propped my head up on a pillow. “Let’s be very careful now.” She put a blanket over me.
I wanted to protest, to get up, to ask her where I was and what was happening to me, but drifted into darkness.
“You might need some time to readjust.”
When I came to, it was because of hunger. My stomach was rumbling, and I was salivating. I opened my eyes and sat up. Light streamed into the room through the window.
I was on a narrow twin bed, and right next to it was another twin bed, but this time it was empty. I stretched. My limbs felt heavy, but I felt well and rested. A delicious smell came from outside the room and my stomach growled again. I rose from the bed and walked to the door, opening it just a crack, and heard voices.
“Are you sure he’ll be okay? He’s been asleep for so long!” It was April. April!
“Don’t worry, he’s just fine.” I heard the answer. “Rodion will be fine. More than fine, I am sure this will help him find his focus in life.”
“But you said it would be an hour. Maybe two, but it has been five whole hours. So long.”
“I know, sweetheart, but don’t forget, today is such a special day, the Lion’s Gate, plus the year. Triple eight! 08/08/08. So I suppose whatever we did with Rodion was just so intense. And, the world is changing, and our vibrations are getting higher and higher.” The voice trailed off and I couldn’t hear the rest.
080808? What? I had just turned 18?
“April!” I screamed and ran out of the room. I saw April sitting at the table, a large pot positioned right in front of her. Next to her was a woman wearing all black.
“Rodion!” April jumped up and hugged me. “I was so worried about you.”
“Oh yeah.” I mumbled, scanning her face for clues.
“I am so glad you finally woke up! What did you see? Tell me everything!” April prodded. “I wanna know every single detail.” Her eyes lit up.
Does she have any idea of what kinds of stuff I just saw? I’d just traveled decades into the future, created a digital double, planned a murder and nearly executed it, got killed by a truck, got married to her and then divorced.
“Umm, I dunno.” I stared back at her in confusion, mouth gaping open.
“April, please give Rodion some time to readjust. You have to understand, he just traveled in time.” The woman noted casually.
Stolen novel; please report.
“That’s so cool! Rodion, I can’t believe it, this was amazing. Aunt Molly said your past life regression was actually a time projection. So she said you were in the future and could predict the trajectory of your own life!” April gave me a look full of pride.
It was Aunt Molly, of course! The name of the woman came back to me. April had told me about her aunt, and we went to visit her and her husband. They lived in the mountains and the husband was a taxidermist. I looked up and saw the eyes of a stuffed deer staring at me from the wall.
“That is impressive.” Aunt Molly nodded. “You’re my first client with such abilities, Rodion. I’ve never seen anything like that. You have such a strong channel.”
“Channel?” I blinked fast. “Sorry, I don’t feel so good.” I felt noxious and gulped, trying to stop the wave of sickness. To stabilize myself, I leaned on the side table and nearly hit a stuffed prairie dog. It stood with its front paws raised, forever frozen in time. I bulked, hoping for an escape.
“Oh, yes, this was a lot, of course. Let me help you.” Aunt Molly led me to the bathroom.
Closing the door behind me, I leaned on the sink, then splashed water on my face. None of this is real. There was no Lab, no Dawn, no Ben or Kate or their weird feud. I closed my eyes. And no Ryder. The image of my digital double appeared, menacing, approaching in the truck. Striking Phil, then me.
Phil!
The vision of my step-father being crushed by a truck. The feeling of half-relief, half-disappointment hit me. It had all been a dream.
I remembered practicing with the knife, and nearly jumped. Of course! The knife. I tapped my pocket, expecting to find it there, but there was nothing. I reached into the other pocket, turned both pockets inside out, but they were empty.
Where is the knife? Did I lose it? I was about to ask April, and opened the door, but stopped myself just in time. I didn’t bring the knife to Aunt Molly’s. Not this time. Not on my 18th birthday. Not on 08/08/08.
I stepped out of the bathroom, trying to appear normal. April was sitting at the kitchen table, an expectant look on her face.
“Rodion, have a seat.” Aunt Molly pointed to the couch. “Maybe we can take a moment to discuss your session? It’s good to do so while it’s still fresh in your mind.”
“Okay.” I nodded, and my stomach rumbled loudly enough for Aunt Molly to hear. She immediately gave me a concerned look. “Oh, of course, I’m so silly. I’ve never had this happen before. You had a very long session, Rodion. I’m sorry. Please, come to the table.” She pointed to the kitchen. “I’ll give you some fresh stew.” Without waiting for me to answer, she walked over to the kitchen and I followed.
“Have a seat, please, Rodion.” Aunt Molly placed a large bowl in front of me and I dove in. I felt ravenous and emptied it in what seemed like seconds. April watched in silence from the other end of the table.
“Could I have some more, please?” I asked when I was done, feeling as if a gaping hole had opened up in me and I could eat the whole pot.
“Of course, of course,” Aunt Molly gave me another heaping bowl of stew. I devoured it and was about to ask for more, when the front door opened and a large man came into the house. I remembered him right away. It was Mike, Aunt Molly’s husband.
“Ah, here you are. I prepared you a surprise.” He handed me a small package wrapped in cloth and looked over at April. “I made one for each one of you.”
April rose and walked over to him, and I stood up. Mike handed her a package just like mine.
“Thank you.” April and I said in unison. We were both holding packages wrapped in cloth.
“Go ahead, open them.” Mike urged, and we did. The packages contained two large claws, one for each one of us.
“These are real bear claws. Fresh from the brine. I just prepared them for you.” Michael smiled. “You can wear them for good luck. Native Americans used the claws to protect themselves from harm. It’s a symbol of bravery.”
“These are very special.” Aunt Molly added. “And for you, Rodion, the necklace will help you heal. Bears have incredible healing powers.”
“Heal from what?” I frowned.
“From the trauma.” Aunt Molly gave me a careful stare. I wanted to protest that I didn’t need any healing, but felt tears well up in my eyes and bit my lip to stop myself from crying.
“Aunt Molly, I think we better go,” April said, giving me a concerned look. “It’s getting late, and we still have to drive back to Pittsburgh.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to spend the night?” Aunt Molly raised her eyebrows.
“No, we better go. Thank you so much for everything.” April reached to give her aunt a hug. I stood back. “Rodion, are you going to wear your necklace?” April asked.
“Sure.” I nodded and pulled mine on. The bear claw hung over my hoodie and I wasn’t sure if I should tuck it in.
“I’ll wear mine, too!” April announced.
“Here, let me put it on for you.” I volunteered and, as I reached to put the bear claw necklace over her head, I nearly stumbled.
April was wearing a silver necklace with two hearts intertwined. One silver, one gold. I remembered it from my dream. Had she always had it?
“April, hey,” I asked, trying to sound casual. “Where did you get this necklace?” My heart thumped so hard I felt it would jump out of my chest.
“You got it for me, silly. For graduation.” April’s eyes sparkled. “Remember?”