Brink by Mikel Parry

CH-CLIFF NOTES

It wasn’t like Thomas to behave like such a stalker. He mostly had kept to himself in the past. But his acute sense of detail had recollected the directions clearly. Walking up the long, stony steps towards a gated door, he dwelled on what might happen next. Should he even be here? By coming had he damned the last real connection to the real world he so desperately wanted? This brought on some serious questions that had been growing in his mind. Why did he keep coming back?

Raising his hand up to knock on the door, he was shocked to see it swiftly open. Standing before him was Barb. She was draped in a nightgown, her sultry body tucked in tightly beneath it. She looked straight at him. Her eyes told the story.

“Thomas, what are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night and half the force is running around with their heads cut off. Thomas, there was an explosion down at the docks. I tried to call you but you never picked up! What’s going on with you?”

Thomas hadn’t realized it until now, but he had been ignoring his phone completely. It had been more of annoyance than anything to him. Pulling it out of his pocket, he looked to see a long list of missed calls; Barb, Vaun, Pete, and even a few unmarked numbers. All of which he had let go unnoticed.

“I’m sorry about missing your call and how late it is. Can I come in anyway?”

Barb frowned but opened the door. Thomas realized he had never been inside her house before. It was a beautiful blend of modern architecture dabbed with a hint of a subtle taste for the classic. Her perfume masked the air, chasing away all other scents.

“Thomas, you’ve got me worried. You stop by all enigmatic and problematic and promptly leave. Then you disappear, there’s an explosion, and I try to call, only to get no answer. Thomas, what is going on? Normally I try to keep things professional, but you have to see my angle here.”

Thomas felt himself sink. He felt like an emotional train wreck. Pieces of him seemed to keep burning away.

“Let’s sit down. I feel sick.”

Barb led him to her front room. He was met with the same comfort and warmth of her office. He also noticed a picture that had once lived in his memory somewhere else.

“Your fat dog. I’ve missed that photo.”

Barb sat a steaming cup of tea in front of him. The herbal essence lingered in his nostrils tantalizing his senses.

“Not everything has some deep meaning. I just wanted to bring it home for once, change things up.”

Thomas put the warm cup to his lips where he allowed the cozy steam to warm his face. It helped clear his mind. There was something he had always overlooked—human nature. To someone like him it was an illogical point of weakness. But it was true. Human’s changed all the time for little to no reason. Perhaps the bulldozer of change that many people secretly hoped for was driven by nothing more than boredom. Change for change’s sake. It was the overriding factor in the equation that proved that even the killer couldn’t succeed every time. There had to be more there to understand.

“Change . . . it’s something I struggle to deal with. It seems that it comes so fast, with no logical path or conclusion, and then leaves. A real party crasher.”

“Of course change is hard for you, Thomas. Look at you—you memorize dictionaries and miniscule details that boggle my mind. But those details don’t just suddenly change on you, or cease to exist entirely. It’s like you saying abyso . . . oh, whatever it was, now just doesn’t exist! Your brilliant mind struggles to understand why.”

“It’s page twenty six—abyssopelagic—of, like, or pertaining to the depths of the ocean. I’m impressed you remembered that.”

Barb shook her head as she sipped on her own cup of tea.

“I didn’t remember all the details, just the part that mattered; the meaning of the conversation; the purpose.”

Thomas froze. A part of him was suddenly dancing around inside, screaming like a small child.

“What did you say?”

Barb tucked a corner of her robe back around her body as she shifted in her seat.

“Normal people don’t remember every little detail, Thomas. We just do our best to remember the overall idea; the cliff notes, if you will.”

Thomas grinned. He had been so blind. His ability had driven him into a corner. He had spent so much time going over every aspect with a fine toothed comb, that he’d forgotten the bigger picture. Whoever the killer was, he was gifted. Gifted but also human; a fact that he was uncovering more and more with each passing day. His sinister prey still had a drop of humanity. Now he would need to rely on a part of himself he’d never cared for—his understanding of other people. The weakest weapon in his arsenal was his struggle to understand the motives of people; the motives of evil. To him it just didn’t matter. One dot connected to the next and would ultimately draw a picture. Maybe it was time for him to change.

“Barb, you’re a genius! I can’t believe how stupid I’ve been.”

Thomas sunk his head into his hands. He’d been played. The killer was merely showing him the pieces, one catastrophe at a time.

“Thomas, what are you talking about? Quit speaking in riddles. Just tell me the truth for once.”

The fight to keep his lionhearted promise to an organization he didn’t really trust was waning. Barb meant something to him that traversed those boundaries.

“I’m aiding a secret organization whose origins are still largely under question. They recruited me at the bridge where I was trying to kill myself. Since then, I have literally been jumping back in time to try and stop a madman who crafts his murders into the most elaborate chess game I’ve ever seen. And it should be noted, that I’m losing. He’s always a step ahead and now I don’t really trust anyone. Except you, of course. I feel like I’m losing my mind. Nothing is making sense anymore.”

Barb let her cup of tea drop from her hand. Her mouth gaped open, her brows furrowed. She was shocked by the utter insanity that he had just described so cavalierly.

“Thomas . . .”

Barb’s words trailed off as he put his own cup down and took a seat next to her. He gently took her dwindling, trembling hands into his own.

“It’s all true, Barb. You know I don’t lie. I suck at it. Trust me; I still don’t believe half of what I’ve been through myself. And yet it’s still there every time I open my eyes.”

Barb’s mouth slowly closed has she listened thoughtfully before speaking. “Okay, whoa. That’s a lot to take in. I’m not even sure what to say right now. Secret organization, time travel, and murder? Thomas, that’s some muddy stuff there. You honestly expect me to believe any of it?”

“No, not at all. But honestly I don’t know what else to say. All I know is people are dying out there. And I’m almost positive that I’m on the to-do list now as well. That means you could be at risk too.”

Barb shifted in her seat, putting a little distance between her and Thomas. She slowly brought the cup of tea to her lips and took a sip before responding.

“I don’t know what’s crazier. Everything you just said or the fact that a part of me wants to believe it. But it’s impossible.”

Thomas brought his watch into full view. He held his hand flat over its top. Instantly, a world of scientific imagination beamed out from it. Barb had never seen nor dreamt of anything like it. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. It was incredible.

“This is what they call a brink. But forget the name. It allows me to temporarily glimpse back in time. I’d tell you how it works, but honestly, I have no idea. All I know is I can access anywhere in time that I’ve existed. From there, I have a small window to figure things out and then, boom! I get blasted back here.”

“Thomas, that’s ridiculous. If someone could do that they could change the course of history.”

Thomas shook his head.

“It’s more complicated than that. I’ll spare you the torture, but there are limits. Only the smallest things can be changed, but they create the tidal waves we see today. Just like a snowball running down a hill can turn into an avalanche . . . or whatever. It’s hard to explain. But that’s why they dragged me into this—the details—there are so many details and possibilities that they needed a freak like me to chase after them.”

“Why would someone do that? Why would someone risk altering time? Assuming any of your crazy claims are true, many people would be at risk. It’s sadistic!”

“That’s exactly what I’m up against. At first it was much more refined, targeted; now it’s becoming a loose cannon. I’m pressuring whoever this is and they’re reacting. I think you should get out of town, Barb. I don’t want you anywhere near this.”

“And what? Go hide? I don’t hide, you know that. If this is as serious as you say it is, it wouldn’t matter anyway. If any of what you just said is real, Thomas, you need to stop it. This can’t go on for any reason.”

Barb put down her cup and slid closer to Thomas. She put a hand on his knee. Her small gesture sent a dizzying wave through Thomas.

“Are you going to be alright? Why not let someone else take this burden? You don’t have to do this.”

Before he could respond, Thomas felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Remembering the previous round of missed phone calls, he looked at it. There was just one message in the form of a text; unmarked, unregistered, and untraceable.

It’s time.

He put the phone back in his pocket. The killer was unrelenting. Not even giving him a moment’s rest. What passionate hatred could drive such a person?

“There is nobody else.”

Thomas smiled at Barb. For a moment he swore he saw the ghostly image of Jena smiling back at him. His heart ached. Had it really been so long now? Were the wounds dug in so deep? His eyes began to sting from the remorse of his lost commitment.

“Thomas?”

Barb gave him an endearing look he had never seen before. Their relationship had always been mingled with professionalism. But by allowing him to enter her home, a barrier had collapsed.

“I’ve got to go, Barb. But please do what I said. You’re all I have left.”

Thomas left Barb’s home feeling like he had just left a part of himself behind. He wanted to return to simpler days. He wanted to stretch out and continue with some witty banter. Because it was true. She was all he had left. His warped notion of family deemed it so. Perhaps in an alternate reality there could have been something more between them, but not in this one. Not with this calamity.