Zack and Jennifer hid their smiles as best they could, ultimately failing to contain their laughter. Frantically, I looked to each of them, hoping that one of them would speak up.
Thankfully, Jennifer did. “Once you’ve recovered, walk through the new kata until you can’t. Zack? Come with me. Time to show you some new footwork.”
“Seriously? Alright! It’s about time I graduate! See you, Jackson!”
The traitorous pair walked off, leaving me alone with Anna. She walked around me, pulling a chair up to sit directly in front of me. I found my mind being assaulted with the memory of last night’s kiss, and began to feel somewhat dizzy.
“Anna!” I squeaked, then cleared my throat. “Glad to see you. How, uh… how are you?” I cursed myself inwardly for being such a lame-ass. ‘How are you?’ As if this petite woman didn’t make every single neuron just stop with a kiss last night? Gaaahhhh.
She smiled sweetly. “So? Is it true?”
“Is-is-is what true?”
“The memory thing, silly!”
“Oh!” I nodded. “Yeah. It’s true. I have a truly photographic memory. It’s how I keep all the locations I’ve been to in my head. Everything. Every situation, every word that’s been said, every conversation, is all locked away in my head. The only way I’ll not remember something is if I’m drunk, and even then, I can recall more than most.”
She tapped a finger on her chin. “I wonder…”
I leaned forward, bracing my arms on my thighs, hands dangling between my knees. “What do you wonder?”
“What were you thinking about right before I left last night?”
I gazed out across the gym. Jennifer was leading Zack through some boxing drills. Someone was lifting a medicine ball in her outstretched arms. Four people were jogging laps. “You. You were going through my mind.”
She cocked her head to the side. “How so?”
I chuffed a laugh, sitting up. “You damn near short circuited my brain. I’d never been on a date before last night, and beyond that, I’ve never even been kissed.” I looked into her eyes, seeing a giddy smile. “I dunno if it’s normal to act like that, but I couldn’t keep that memory from replaying in my head. I don’t even know how long I stood there before William came by.”
“About fifteen minutes. I phoned him because you weren’t moving.”
I laughed, then. “Well, I thank you for that. I went home, the memory of you on my lips, and passed out.”
“Wanna do it again?”
“I’d love to! When were you thinking of going out?”
It was her turn to laugh. “No, silly!” She dropped her voice to little more than a whisper. “The kissing part. Do you… uhm… Wanna do that again?”
“Here?”
“You really have no clue, do you Jackson?”
Suddenly, I felt as if all the positivity that I’d accrued from last night had vanished. My heart crashed through the floor. “I’m sorry, Anna. I really am out of my depth here. You’re… I’m…” I sighed, scrubbing a hand through my hair. “I really don’t know what to do or say.”
She reached over and took my hand, a serene smile on her face. “It’s okay. Really. I don’t like you any less. It’s kind of cute, really. It’s also a big responsibility.” She straightened and hooked a stray bit of hair over an ear. “I’m the one who gets to teach you how a relationship can work. I have to make sure that if you and I don’t work, that I’ve not ruined you for someone else. I get to be the person who helps you grow. You get to experience this all with me. You get the benefit of having your first relationship be with someone who not only wants a relationship with you, but also wants to be your friend. Think you can handle that, Jack?” She smiled and cocked her head to the side slightly.
Jack? I’d never been called that before. Not even by my family. I caught her eyes with my own. “Jack, huh? Nobody’s ever called me that. I’ll let you be the only one.”
She leaned forward, letting her lips brush my ear. “I’ll hold you to that, Jack.” Abruptly, she stood, her face flushed. “I have to get my own workout and practice done. I’ll see you later, okay?” I watched absent-mindedly as she left, my mind taking in all the details laid before me as my heart hammered in my chest.
There were times that having my memory was a curse, such as my years in the government school. And then there were moments like these. Times when it seemed everything was good and right and true. I sat back, remembering the feel of her hands on my skin, the smell of her soap. An odd thing to recall, even for me, but it was just one of the many little things about her that tugged at me. Eventually, I stood up and headed to the small rack of stone staves that Jennifer kept, selecting a moderately heavy staff. It was time to utilize that memory of mine for another purpose.
Forty-five minutes and what seemed like ten gallons of sweat later, I was on my knees, having finished a fourth repetition of the new kata. I levered myself up with the staff, then dragged it back to the weapon rack. As I headed back to the offices, I found Jennifer standing over Zack in the boxing ring, having had his own workout culminate in a beatdown. Curious, I climbed up the steps.
“And what have we learned, hm?”
Zack panted hoarsely. “That I’m not ready to graduate yet.”
“True, but I was thinking a little more Immediate, Zack.”
He sat up with a groan. “I dunno, Jennifer. I’m not the thinker that Jackson over here is.” He reached up with a gloved hand. “A little help, dude?”
I climbed in and took his hand in mine, letting him use me to lever himself up off the floor. He dusted himself off, then removed the gloves. “Seriously, Jennifer. I have no clue what lesson you’re trying to beat into me.”
She sighed and crossed her arms. “Jackson? What do you think I’m trying to teach him?”
“Uhh… That experience wins out over blind enthusiasm ninety percent of the time? I saw you tag his face a lot.”
“Hmm. I suppose it could be seen that way. Zack? Make sense to you?”
I saw him purse his lips in thought. “Huh. Yeah. It kinda does, actually. I kept trying to rush in and hit you in the gut, figuring I’d be able to tank at least a couple shots. Seems I was wrong.” He shrugged and attempted to hand her the gloves.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
“Nuh-uh. I don’t want those. Put ‘em where they belong. You’re both done for the day. Go on.”
We both watched her lithe form saunter over to the corner, and begin a slow Tai Chi routine. Just how many martial arts did this woman know?
Zack gently smacked my shoulder with the back of his hand. “So. What did you and little Anna talk about, huh?” I heard the smirk in his tone.
I gave him a funny look. “‘Little’ Anna? Look, man, I know she’s short and all, but seriously?”
Zack raised his hands defensively. “It’s what almost everyone calls her. Only folks that don’t are William and Jen. She’s been called that to her face by nearly everyone, and has yet to say anything about it. I thought you knew.”
“Well, I didn’t. And we just talked about… things.”
He nodded sagely. “I see, I see. Talking about things would indeed be important, Jackson.”
I fixed him with an unamused stare and he sputtered with laughter. “Nah, man. I’m just messing with you. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t wanna. I’m just curious, is all.”
I nodded and grunted an agreement. “I suppose. Maybe later, okay? I need to find William, and you need to put those gloves away.” I started heading off toward the offices.
He sighed. “Yeah. Man she whipped my ass. Hey! Some of us are going out for drinks tomorrow night. Wanna come?” he called out after me.
I turned around, walking backwards. “Sure! It’d do me good to get to know some of the others. Send me a message, okay?”
“Yep! See ya!”
I turned back around and headed up to the offices, eventually making my way back to the lobby, where I saw Bethany. “Hey. You seen William anywhere?”
She started and turned around, a needle in her hand. “Jackson! Uhm… no. Let me see if he’s in his office.” She pushed a button on her desk phone, and we heard William’s voice.
“Bethany? Is everything okay?”
“Yes sir! Jackson was wanting to speak to you, is all.”
“Send him in. We need to talk anyway.” The intercom went silent.
“Two doors to your left, Jackson. You’ll see it.”
I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Thanks, Bethany. I appreciate you. See you in a bit.” She nodded and patted my hand before I walked off.
William’s door was plain and unadorned with a plaque beside it that read “William Gould - Owner” I knocked twice.
“Come in, Jackson.”
Stepping into his office was like walking into a time machine. Due to the room’s dimmer than usual lighting, it had an otherworldly, ancient feel. His desk was a massive chunk of rich, dark wood; worn slightly on the edges, but pristine otherwise. Along the walls were row upon row of books. Several were titles I recognized, but others were simple leather covers, with no obvious markings. Farther back were some glass cases, housing things I couldn’t see within. Directly over the desk hung a curious, leaf-shaped bronze sword. He was standing when I walked in, a book in his hand. He motioned to a chair in front of the desk.
“Please, have a seat. I was just brushing up on some history regarding Supers.” He closed the book with a snap and took a seat on the other side of his desk. “So what did you want to speak to me about?”
I cleared my throat. “Well, it’s about that flower, and the dream I had.”
He nodded. “Go on.”
“What’s the probability that I didn’t dream it?”
He steepled his hands in front of his chin, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. “Nearly certain.”
“How?”
He shrugged. “No idea, Jackson. That’s what I was doing all night and just now. Trying to figure out if any ability to move the way you do has ever happened before. The closest I can find is my own, but that isn’t quite the same. I move through and between shadows. Like you, I have to know my destination. Moving through the Shadow Realm is no different than walking from one place to another; it just takes far less time. You, on the other hand, make a tear in the fabric of space itself.”
“Do what, now?”
He handed me the book he was reading. “Page seventy-three. Paragraph two, lines four through seven.”
I picked up the book and found the relevant page. It appeared to be a treatise on Supers and the abilities we held. Scanning down the page, I found the line he referenced. “...[tied] to movement. To date, there are only four known Supers with any sort of movement-based abilities. The reason for this distinct gap is unknown. More research must be done.”
I looked up at him, my brows knitted together. “I’m assuming it references you and The Loco Motive here. Who are the other two? How old is this?”
William nodded. “True. The others are a long-dead super who could ride the wind, and one from the 1800’s who, like our Celeste, was able to remote view. They classed that as a movement based power until things were reexamined back in the fifties. This book was written in 1931, and is likely the only copy in existence.”
I stared at him in shock. “What do you mean the only copy?”
“I mean that the rest of them were likely burned by the Wehrmacht.”
“Then… how?”
“That isn’t your concern. What is your concern -and mine, now- is how similar your dream is to the reports from the remote viewer I mentioned. The Celestial Sparrow was his name, I think. Let me grab that for you.” He stood and walked to the back of his office, sliding a thin tome from a shelf, then handed it to me. “Roughly in the middle of the report, you’ll see what I mean.”
I quickly scanned the entirety of the report, committing it to memory. As I read over the sections William was talking about, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. This man was describing exactly what I had seen. From the stone room to the path down to the river, to the trees. What was missing, however, was any mention of the flowers. Instead, he mentioned a fruit that littered the ground, and how the little critters ate them. I looked up at William, my eyes wide. “Where’s the flower?”
“It’s missing from the report, but- oh. You mean the one you brought back. It’s in my personal garden. Already begun to grow the rest of a tree. It’s slow going, but it’s growing all the same. I’ll show you later.”
My breath came in rapid gulps. “Where… where did I go, William? What is happening?”
He shook his head. “Don’t know, Jackson. But you may want to calm down before you pass out. Tell me. How hard was it to open a door from Japan to here?”
I gulped air for a few more breaths, trying to settle my nerves. “Uh… it gave me a headache. Felt like… like a spike was being driven through my skull. It didn’t last long. Just a few minutes at best, but it was unpleasant all the same. Also, I only kept the door open long enough to get us through. And it was a standard size door. Why?”
William sat back, his hands steepled in front of him. “If all you got was a slight headache, I want to see how we can train that. How are you doing with Jennifer’s training?”
“I thought we were going to train my body before we attempted to train my abilities any further?”
“We are. Make no mistake. However, if you and Miss Anna continue to date -and there is no reason not to, Jackson- you’ll likely go there a few times. If we can kill two birds with one stone, then why shouldn’t we?”
I sighed and picked at my lower lip, staring into space. He was right. No reason not to date Anna, and if we would go there a few times, I might as well do what I could to increase my stamina. “How about making a small door, say on the side of a building or something? Lead it to the top of the Mirleson Building?”
He leaned forward. “Why haven’t you done something like that to begin with?”
I shrugged. “I dunno. Never really seemed important enough?”
“Try it. Open one to one of the letters on the building you went into last night. Doesn’t have to be big. Just enough to see clearly through it.”
I nodded and did as he asked. Once more, there was a tugging sensation, but once the door was open, it was no more difficult to hold than any other. “It pulled at me, but it’s gone now. I should be able to hold this like any other, I guess.”
William came around the desk and peered through the door. “I wonder…” He tapped his chin. “Can you see the area that the two of you used to come home?”
“Not from here. Let me…” I opened doors in rapid succession, feeling like I was a passenger in a car accelerating swiftly. “Here we are. That alleyway is where we made our exit.” The vantage point was a light pole that I had seen while there. The street was dark and nearly deserted, save for a smattering of people heading home from a bar.
“Let’s go to Japan.”