Out of Time Page 9

  “You are the same age as when you first got here.” the man noted. Sasha looked down, only to find herself back in the school clothes she had worn the day she first entered the attic and opened the closet door. It was as if she had only been sleeping and this was all a bad dream.

  “So eight years from ‘now’?” Sasha asked.

  “You need to find your time.” Mankus told her. Sasha was still lost in time.

  “Why am I here though?”

  Mankus tried to explain. “I would assume the continuum was trying to set you back straight.” Sasha looked at him, obviously puzzled, and he explained further, “Space-time. I’ve heard it referred to on a show called Star Trek, although I obviously haven’t ever seen it. I haven’t a television in here. Even if I had one, I doubt it would work.”

  “Okay. So what is this ‘space-time’, then?” Sasha inquired.

  “It’s a little easier to explain how this house is here.” Mankus told her. She urged to him on. “There are four dimensions. Three are space and one is time. Space can move around time, but time doesn’t move. This house is like a portal, connecting space with time. You can move into different times, but only through space.”

  “So the space-time bends around the house?” Sasha wondered, trying to visually imagine the space-time house in her mind.

  “Essentially.”

  “That sounds like a tesseract.” Sasha said excitedly. Mankus only looked at her with a confused expression blanketing his youthful face. Sasha wondered how long he had been in the house. It didn’t seem like it could be decades, but he spoke differently. She knew from the age and degradation of the house it had to have been at least eighty years. “Oh, that wasn’t written yet.” she realized. “A Wrinkle in Time. It’s a story that was written in the 1960s. It’s about some kids that go into a haunted house and...I don’t suppose...” Sasha trailed off. Was this very house the one referenced in the book?

  “What?” Mankus wondered.

  “Ever met a Madeline here?” Sasha asked as Mankus eyes lit up.

  “Once.” he said. “I called her Maddie. She was on a camping trip with her family and stumbled in here. I suppose she found her way out.”

  “That is seriously nuts.” Sasha shook her head in disbelief. “You met the Madeline L’Engle.”

  “So she wrote another book then?” Mankus wondered, referencing the first book Madeline had published, The Small Rain.

  “Yes, and supposedly the ideas were inspired by that very trip. The tesseract is what she called the bend of space.” Sasha explained.

  “Interesting.” Mankus rubbed his chin, which, as Sasha noticed, was still just as stubby from the last time she had seen him. Minutes, indeed. “I knew she was a writer. She had talked to me about something she published a few years before.”

  “She wrote a lot more books after that.”

  “How is she doing?” Mankus wondered, as if Sasha knew her personally.

  “She’s...uh...” Sasha stammered, before blurting out, “She’s dead.”

  “How did she die?” he asked tentatively.

  “Just old age.” she smiled. Nothing traumatic. “She was in a nursing home. She had a good, long life.”

  “That’s nice.” he muttered.

  “Mankus, I hate to cut this short, but I need to get back home — to my own time. I need help. I need to find my door.”

  “The door to the attic?” Mankus asked her. Sasha was almost surprised that he remembered before realizing of course he would. It had only been minutes. This time travel adjustment took a while to get used to.

  “I have to stop my mother from killing herself.”

  “Why would she do that?” Mankus almost jumped back in surprise.

  “My dad died and I guess she thought — thinks — I’m dead. She was worried about it because of Betsy. Her disappearance was — is — pretty recent.” Sasha kept correcting herself, realizing the events were no longer in her past, but present.

  “Follow me.” Mankus told her, grasping her hand in the dim light.

  “I don’t even know where we are anyway.” Sasha conceded as he led her through the house. They walked through the rooms, the floors creaking with every step. Mankus led up her up a flight of stairs until he stopped at a landing. “Hey, that’s the door!”

  “Are you sure?” he asked her tentatively. She nodded. There weren’t any other doors where they were and she knew the look of the door. Crackled paint and all. “Hurry, before it closes.”

  “I will.” Sasha said, running down to meet him. She grasped the knob and opened it up. It was dark on the other side. She probably should have waited, but she didn’t want to take the chance. This door felt right. She knew all too well how accurate her instincts could be. Sasha began to feel around as the door closed. She muttered to herself in the process as she hit a desk. “Phew! Back in the school. Man it’s dark in here. Only the dim light from the moon coming in. I’d better get home.”

  Suddenly Sasha heard noises. There was static on the air of the night. She could hear mutterings. “Hello? Is someone there?” she called out, instantly remembering that was what she first said when she entered Mankus’ house.

  “This is unit 219, I have a 10-48A.” a man said after she heard a beep and static.

  “Standby 219.” a voice replied back.

  “Hello? I can hear you.” Sasha called out louder.

  “Who are you?” the man said, entering the room. Sasha could make out a police officer’s uniform. He must have been on his radio before.

  “I’m Sasha Midleton. Who are you?” Sasha asked.

  “Sergeant Corvey.” the officer responded, flipping the switch to light the room. He paused briefly, his mind processing his thoughts. “You’re the girl who has been missing.”

  “Yea, but I need to go home right now.” Sasha demanded. She knew she didn’t have much time before her mom would kill herself.

  “We need to take you in for questioning.” Sergeant Corvey said apologetically.

  “What did I do?” Sasha asked, as if she was going to be interrogated for some crime he may have thought she committed.

  The officer chuckled. “You’ve been gone for two weeks. We just need to ask you some questions about where you’ve been. It’s a debriefing of sorts.”

  “I’ve been here the whole time.” Sasha said to him.

  “In the attic?” the officer wondered. Sasha gulped, realizing the chain of events that could occur should she ever tell them about her experiences.

  “Um...no. I mean the school. I must have bumped my head or something because I can’t remember much of anything. I didn’t want to leave because I felt safe. Amnesia. I remember everything now. I need to go home.” Sasha told him, trying to make her story sound believable.

  “Come with me, young lady.” the police officer told her, motioning her forward. Sasha’s gut wrenched. She felt like her heart was being pulled out of her chest with every step. This man was putting himself between her and the life of her mother. She stopped, halfway to the door.

  “I can’t. I need go home. Listen, let me just call my mother, all right? I need to tell her I’m safe.” Sasha told him. The police officer looked her over, probably gauging whether she was going to run out.

  “We’ll call her when we get to the station.” he told her, adding it was standard procedure.

  “I can’t wait that long.” she responded, breaking down into a puddle of soppy tears. “She’s got to know I’m okay. Seriously, sir. You have to let her know.”

  “Calm down.” he told her, reaching for his radio. Sasha didn’t notice.

  “I can’t calm down. Listen, my mom needs me right now.”

  “Dispatch, can you get Mrs. Midleton on the phone and let her know we found her daughter?” he asked into the radio after the sniffles of Sasha. Static sounded as he removed his finger from the transmit button.

  “Confirmed Unit 219. Standby.” a voice crackled back. Sasha’s face immediately smoothed and a wash of
relief flooded over her.

  “Better?” the officer asked, adjusting the squelch on the radio so it wasn’t as loud.

  “Thanks.” Sasha nodded back. “I’m sorry for yelling.”

  “I think I remember you.” Sergeant Corvey said, his forehead crinkling in thought. Sasha looked confused. “About five years ago. You skipped school.”

  “Oh yea, that.” Sasha said, remembering what happened only a few years ago in her newly planted memories.

  “Then you said you didn’t...” the officer paused, trying to recall her exact words. “You didn’t remember.”

  “Yea, that was me. Kids, you know...we do weird things.” Sasha chuckled, but the sergeant didn’t seem to think it was amusing.

  “Maybe you should get checked out in the hospital instead. Do you have blackouts frequently?” Corvey wondered, trying to think of any questions that would help figure out what could cause Sasha’s forgetfulness. Epilepsy was always a possibility and could easily be undiagnosed in youth.

  “Can you find out about my mom first?” Sasha asked tentatively. Corvey fumbled back to his radio and signaled out.

  “Dispatch, were you able to locate Ms. Midleton?”

  The voice on the other end responded with, “She’s been notified and will be at the station.”

  “Affirmative.” the office said, removing his finger once again from transmitting. He confronted Sasha. “See? It’s fine.”

  “Thanks. I didn’t want to be a pain.” she told him, and the officer shook his head.

  “You really should get checked out.” he told her. Her moodiness and odd behavior could be due to head trauma.

  “Can’t you like, tell my mom or something?” Sasha asked. She didn’t want to go to the hospital with the officer.

  “Should be fine.” Corvey muttered. “Come on, I’ll take you over to her.”

  “Thanks I guess.” Sasha told him as he led her out of the room. He followed her closely as they made their way through the darkened hallways and stairwells of the school, but he had his flashlight turned on to light up the way a bit.

  CHAPTER 21

  The police station was alight with chatter as Sasha entered. As she did so, she scouted the room. There was an area that was secured, with guards checking people before they were let farther in. On the other side of the guards, there were benches with people sitting on them. One of those benches contained a woman who Sasha recognized. Sasha was led through the security checkpoint, and after going through she approached the woman.

  “Mom?” Sasha asked tentatively. She could only see the back of the woman’s head and her outfit and purse.

  “Sasha?” The woman turned. She got up to run to her daughter, embracing her firmly and cradling her. “Oh thank goodness they found you!”

  “I missed you.” Sasha said tearily.

  “What happened to you?” her mother asked, breaking away slightly to look at Sasha and smooth lose strands of hair away from her face. “Are you all right? Where have you been?”

  “We’ve got to take her in for questioning, ma’am.” Corvey said, trying to separate the two. “If you wouldn’t mind waiting here.”

  “I can’t go with her?”

  “No, ma’am.” the officer answered Sasha’s mom. It was due, in part, by the fact they wanted to make sure Sasha didn’t feed off of her mother in the room. She might be less likely to talk.

  “I’ll be all right Mom.” Sasha whispered. “Don’t worry about me. I’m safe.”

  Her mother hesitated briefly before yielding. “Well, all right then.”

  “Come along Miss Midleton. I think you’ve got some explaining to do.” Corvey said, leading her down through a narrow hallway, painted in a depressing grey.

  “Beyond what I already told you?” Sasha asked, trying to get the officer to stop and dismiss the interrogation.

  “Yes.” the officer stated. “This way please.”

  “Okay.”

  They walked further down the hall, passing several doors. Some had the words “occupied” above the knobs, as if the notice was triggered if the door was locked. Sasha gulped, wondering what kind of people were in those rooms. They entered a simple room with a table and two chairs and the officer turned on a camera in one corner and took a notepad from the corner of the table. He kept a pen in his uniform, expertly hidden. He retrieved the pen and began writing after they had both sat down.

  “I’m sure you didn’t bump your head.” the officer said.

  “How did you know?” Sasha asked, then bit her lip as she realized she should have said “do” instead. She didn’t want to appear guilty of lying, especially if she was being recorded.

  “Because of the incident earlier. You didn’t say you bumped your head then.” he told her, then laid the pen down and crossed his arms over the pad, staring at her straight-on. “Either you have some type of undiagnosed medical condition or you’ve been lying to me. Being in the school for weeks and having no contact with staff or students? I’m having a hard time buying that Miss Midleton.” The officer leaned back, resting his still-crossed arms over his chest.

  “You did say I should get checked out at the hospital, didn’t you?” Sasha asked, and though she didn’t mean for it to sound sarcastic, the officer didn’t know.

  “Don’t get smart with me young lady.”

  “I’m not trying to.” Sasha said, pleading. “I’m just saying. Really, I don’t have another way to explain it to you.”

  “Were you abducted by someone?” Corvey asked, reacquiring his pen for taking notes.

  “No, I wasn’t.” Sasha stated, watching him scribble.

  “Truthfully? Did they say anything — threaten you against going to the authorities about it?”

  “No. There wasn’t anybody. It was just me by myself. I got lost. That’s the truth.” Sasha said, keeping to her original story.

  “Got lost in a school you’ve been going to for three years?” the officer asked, and Sasha was tempted to reference Betsy, but held herself.

  “Yes, it’s that simple.” Sasha told him.

  “Okay.” the officer said with a sigh. “If you want to be quiet about it, that’s fine. I’m going to review the school security video one last time. I reviewed it earlier and I saw you go in, but never come out. Perhaps I missed something.”

  “I doubt it.” Sasha breathed out. He didn’t hear her, luckily, because that was a very sarcastic response.

  “I’ll take you back to your mother now.” Corvey said, putting the pen back in his pocket and ripping off a couple pages from the pad.

  “Thanks.”

  “Come along then.” the officer told her, unlocking the door and opening it up so they could both spill into the hallway and walk back. Sasha followed silently as Corvey lead up towards to her mother, although he kept looking behind him to make sure she was still there. As he approached the waiting area, he addressed Mrs. Midleton. “Here is your daughter, ma’am. I have suggested in the police report that she be checked out at the hospital since she doesn’t seem to remember anything. Perhaps they might find some head trauma responsible for her memory loss.”

  “Head trauma?” Sasha’s mom flashed a worried glance over at her daughter, and then stood up. “Oh my. Yes, sir, we’ll go there right away.”

  “You are free to go, Sasha.” the officer said, then left.

  “Thanks I guess.” Sasha muttered. Her mother took her by the hand, which Sasha didn’t really like...ever. She conceded given the circumstances as she was led out of the police station and to the car.

  “Let’s go to the hospital then.” her mother said to her, opening the car door and slipping inside their mid-size SUV that was probably way more than they actually needed. Sasha’s mom bought it mainly for the AWD aspect, an overpriced option. She just didn’t want a truck and the winters could sometimes be dreadful.

  As Sasha entered the vehicle, she paused. “Hmm.”

  “What was that?” her mother asked.

  “Nothi
ng really. I would just rather be home.” Sasha told her mother.

  “I would ‘just rather’ you were perfectly healthy. We need to get you checked out.”

  “Yea, fine.” Sasha muttered as she closed the door. Her mother started up the engine and they were soon off. Sasha’s stomach churned, as if something wasn’t right. As if what they were doing could only lead to trouble. She wanted to trust her instincts, but it wasn’t as though she could just hop out and run away. Not after all she’d been through.

  CHAPTER 22

  “Can I help you?” the receptionist asked as Sasha and her mother approached the counter in the hospital.

  “I’m here to have my daughter checked out.” Mrs. Midleton said, glancing over at Sasha. “She’d been missing for a few weeks and doesn’t remember anything. The police told me to take her here.”

  The receptionist just processed with a blank expression, gathering a clipboard. “Okay. I’m going to need you to fill out some paperwork and I’ll also need your insurance card.” She laid the clipboard on the counter as Sasha’s mom rummaged through her purse to find the insurance card. She found it and handed it over for the receptionist to make a note of and scan. “Thank you. The first two sheets on there need to be filled out and one is a HIPAA form that you need to sign. If she needs an MRI, we’ll need that last sheet for authorization.”

  “Thanks.” Mrs. Midleton said as she took the clipboard and walked towards some chairs as Sasha followed right behind her. After they sat down, Sasha’s mom began to fill out the papers.

  “MRI? Isn’t that the thing you have to lay down in and not move?” Sasha said with a long gulp. Her mother stopped writing.

  “Yes, dear.”

  “That sounds scary.” Sasha continued. She had an idea.

  “You’ll be fine.”

  “Do I have to go?” Sasha wondered. Maybe her fake fear could get her out of having one.

  “Yes.” her mother commanded.

  “Hmm.” Sasha said with a sigh. Her mother continued writing, ignoring the mutterings of her daughter. After finishing, she put the pen under the clip and stood up, heading toward the receptionist.