Chapter 24: A Warning

March 17th, 2017

Cadi was curled up in a hospital armchair beside her brother’s bed, crying silently.

Please don’t die Rick…  she thought to herself. Don’t die.

The fact that she had accidentally forwarded them all through time a year and half only made it easier on Harry and Emille. The story of their kidnapping had died down a bit, and the searching for them had been discontinued for the time being. Everyone had given up on them… She knew this because she had overheard Harry and Emille talking.

Before they had taken Rick to the hospital, they had actually taken the devices from off their ankles. For a moment, Cadi thought about using her powers right away, but then remembered that it would only pause time for Rick too, and he needed help. Harry and Emille had given her a story to tell, and then threatened to hurt both of them if she tried to do anything stupid. Cadi was too scared to go against them.

The story was that she and her brother had been outside playing the snow, when he had suddenly had a seizure, and that Harry and Emille were their adoptive parents. She mousily told this to the doctors and investigators, who had immediately noticed the eight year old’s strange reclusive behavior. She had wanted so badly to tell them everything, but every time she felt like she was going to say something, she thought about her brother and what the scientists might do to him.

So she stayed quiet.

The doctors weren’t sure what was wrong with Rick. At times she heard them spout a lot of medicine doctor stuff that she didn’t understand, and at one point, the doctors went crazy and sent them all out of the room. At that point, Cadi was sure that her brother was going to die, and Mr. Johnston had to do everything he could to calm her down so she wouldn’t accidentally do anything with her powers again.

Luckily, he had survived.

She wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but it had already been five days, and he still wasn’t waking up. Whenever they would go back to the house, she sometimes overheard Harry and Emille wondering what to do and if they should just abandon Rick. West would always intervene and remind them that Rick calmed Cadi down and they didn’t want any more accidents with Cadi’s powers.

At the moment, Harry and Emille were doing something outside of the room, and Mr. Johnston was getting them all something to eat. She poked her head up out of the chair, sniffling, to look at her older brother, breathing softly in the hospital bed, the soft beeps of the machine showing his heart beat. He kind of looked like he was sleeping, but he had all sorts of tubes and stuff hooked up to him, and Cadi didn’t like it.

She burrowed her face into the chair again, trying not to cry.

She jumped when her brother coughed.

Had he done that before?

She hardly dared to breathe as she watched his face twitch, almost as if he was dreaming. His hand also twitched, and then slowly, he opened his eyes.

“C-Cadi?” he said hoarsely.

Cadi would have shouted with joy, but she couldn’t speak. Instead she put her arms around him the best she could with all the tubes and leaned her head on him.

“I-I thought you were going to die!” she told him, sniffing. Rick coughed again.

“Well-I couldn’t just leave you now could I?”

Cadi smiled and wiped her tears away as her older brother winced and looked around.

“Did-did we-get away?” he asked hopefully. Sadly, Cadi shook her head.

“Huh. Figures. How long was I asleep?”

At this, Cadi nervously picked at her fingernails.

“Um… Well, technically… five days… but…”

Rick regarded her curiously.

“Technically?”

“Well… uh… I may have accidentally… fast forwarded us through time…” she gulped. Rick stared at her.

“So… we’re in the future? How far in the future?”

“It’s March 17th, 2017. It’s been a year and a half.”

Rick had to take a moment to let this sink in.

“A year and a half?”

“Yeah…”

“Aw man-Cadi! You skipped my birthday!” he joked. The eight year old didn’t realize he was joking at first, but then smiled. At that point, Harry and Emille came back into the room with a doctor they had been talking to.

They were all very surprised to see that Rick was awake.

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The next several hours were very busy. The doctors wanted to perform all sorts of new tests to see what had happened, and then as soon as Harry and Emille had him alone, they filled him in on the story he was to tell anyone, and the threats that came with going against them. He thought of his sister, and begrudgingly agreed to stay quiet.

Finally, night fell, and he was able to be alone in his room, the lights dim. However, instead of falling asleep, he found himself staring at the ceiling in his room, thinking. If it had been a year and half, what did that mean for their parents? Did they think that he and Cadi were dead? He felt his chest tighten at the thought of it.

He had to find a way to let them know that they were ok…

With a wince, he forced himself to sit up, even though it felt like there was syrup in his brain and a truck on his chest. He pulled the covers off of himself and grabbed onto the pole holding the saline solution that he was hooked up to. He almost toppled over, but then was able to stand using it. Step by step, he slowly made it out of his room and into the dark hospital hallway. He looked around, worried that someone was going to catch him or something. Then, it caught his eye.

On the counter at a hallway conjunction, was a phone.

Rick grunted and made his way to it, his heart pumping madly away in his weighted chest. Shakily, he leaned on the counter and picked up the phone. Then after hearing the dial tone, he punched in his Mom’s phone number.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Rick could hardly bear the anticipation of possibly talking with his parents.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

“Hi, sorry you missed me. This is Carlene Wille, and if you have any information of the whereabouts of my children Rick and Cadi, please leave your name and number and I will get back with you as soon as possible. Thank you.”

“At the tone, please record your message.”

Beep.

Rick felt tears fill his eyes.

“H-hey Mom.” he said hoarsely. “Um… I guess it’s-been a while for you huh? Uh-Cadi accidentally sent us a year and a half into the future, so… yeah… I’m not-I’m not entirely sure where we are, but- I wanted to let you know that-that we’re ok. We-we both miss you guys and love you-and-and don’t worry-I’m taking care of Cadi the best I can. We’ll figure out how to get away I promise-.”

Beep.

Rick stood there listening to the dial tone for a moment, and then slowly, he set the phone down, feeling even more of a weight on his shoulders than he had before. He stood there crying softly, wishing so badly that one of his parents had picked up the phone. He couldn’t believe how wonderful it was just to hear his Mother’s voice.

“Hi Rick.”

Rick whirled around in shock, clutching onto the pole on wheels that he was hooked up to.

Standing a few feet away, in the darkness of the hallway, was Mary, standing there eerily, her face obscured by shadow. Rick stood there stiffly, feeling petrified.

“So I guess it all wasn’t a dream?” he asked half heartedly. Mary came towards him into a little of the light.

“You know it wasn’t.”

Rick continued to grip the pole tightly, trying to stop himself from shaking. He recalled what the older version of himself had told him in his coma, but he couldn’t help but feel that maybe it was all some sort of elaborate trick to get him on her side.

“So why are you here?” he asked, keeping his voice steady. Mary looked at him gravely.

“I came to warn you about April 9th.” she told him. Rick felt himself swallow.

“What happens on April 9th?”

“If you don’t take action, Cadi will die.”

Rick suddenly felt as if someone had punched him in the gut.

“On-on April 9th? But- I thought-what about all of that stuff about telling me too much about my future and-.”

“Rick-if I had told you that when we were in your head, what would you have done?” she exasperated. Rick paused.

“I guess… well… good point…” There was a slight pause as Rick tried to figure out what to say next. A million things were going through his head now, and he didn’t know what to do with all of it. What was going to happen to Cadi? How could he save her? And who the freak was Mary?

“Are you planning to kill Harry?” he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer. Mary stared at him, and then took in a deep breath.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Rick, if you could stop a mass murderer before he killed anyone-would you?”

The teenager started to feel sick to his stomach.

“Mass… murderer? Like-what do-?”

“I’m talking millions of people Rick.” Mary said seriously. “It’s hard to explain, but, I know that is the future if I let him live.”

“Then why are you waiting? Why don’t you just kill him now then?” Rick asked bitterly. Mary gave a sigh of frustration and pinched her nose.

“Because-this is all very complicated. A lot of this is connected in a weird way, and certain things need to happen in order for… Nevermind. I’ve said too much.”

Rick wasn’t sure if he should feel angry or scared. This had to be the woman that Harry and Emille were searching for within the time stream. And Emille was right that she wanted to kill Harry. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

“Who are you?” he finally asked, staring her down. Mary hesitated.

“I think… you’ll find out soon enough… I’ll see you on April 9th. Good luck.”

Rick blinked, and Mary suddenly vanished.

“Wait!” he called out in a whisper.

But he was too late.

Mary was gone.