PART 1 by Merritt
Today turned out… Different.
We all got to the subway and Devon second-guessed the destination. “Are you sure about the address?”
Hannah nodded. “She texted it to me.”
Devon shook his head. “West Village? Bank Street?”
“She texted it to me.”
West Village is a historic part of Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan. Very ritzy.
Walking down the street toward the address led me to wonder if Devon was right. But, in the middle of the block, we saw Shay sitting on the steps to one of the townhouses, and she stood up and waved.
“This is it… So… Yeah… Come on in.”
There was something a little awkward about her ways, but she sincerely seemed glad to see us. “Is Kent with you?”
Devon answered. “Nah, he’s coming though. He lives in the Bronx. He said he'd come straight here.”
I looked back toward the subway and saw him, so we all waited and went in together. The place was unbelievable.
Devon shook his head. “Wow… nice place for someone working for a non-profit.”
Shay shrugged. “Uhh… Thanks…”
Devon went on. “Look, if you don’t want to say, don’t, but how much do they pay you?”
Shay seemed embarrassed as she looked down. “I don’t know, actually.”
Devon shook his head. “Sorry. None of my business. It’s just an amazing place.”
“It’s my dad’s. It goes back to 1880…”
“1880?” Emma’s words were barely audible as she locked eyes with me.
Addison interrupted. “I’m sorry, Shay… I know we just met, and all, but… Did you say you don’t know your salary?”
Shay’s mouth drooped open and she shook her head.
Kent answered for her. “Hey, if her old man bought this place for her, her salary doesn’t matter, now does it? She’s working for the good of others… That’s all that matters to her.”
Shay’s face lit up with a smile.
Emma looked at me again, her words were once more barely audible. “Working for the good of others…”
Emma’s observations were not lost on me at all. I replayed the meeting at the fast food restaurant, and it suddenly felt different. I thought maybe her stunning looks wasn't what drew my eye to her, and maybe a chance meeting in Miami was what drew hers to me. I took a shot at the odds of meeting her there and then again here. Slim, I decided.
Shay forced a smile. “My family owns Blue Water Express. My father is David Ryder.”
“Well… that explains it, then,” Devon said.
Blue Water Express is one of the world's foremost shipping companies.
After finally understanding that Shay Ryder was rich beyond our ability to comprehend, things settled down. Shay had snacks and promised dinner would be delivered later.
We relaxed and things started to feel pretty much like any group of strangers hanging out and mixing. Naturally, Devon, Hannah, Emma, and I—and slightly less so, Addison—knew each other well, but there was a lot to learn about everyone else.
Conversations were lively and fun. Kent was really friendly and knew a lot about NYC.
“Bank Street goes back to the 1840s. It was named for Bank of New York that Alexander Hamilton founded.”
Emma then reminded us of what Shay had said. “And this house goes back to 1880?”
Shay nodded and offered to show everyone all around. “I only use one bedroom. It’s… messy, but I’ll show you the others.”
After the tour, the caterers arrived and dinner was served. This is where things took… quite a turn.
It started when Jacob looked across the table. “Emma… you never did tell me what happened with your high school friend Kaitee… she always treated me nice… Do you know where she ended up?
Emma’s face fell and she looked over at Hannah. Hannah shook her head, but said nothing.
“What?” Jacob looked at me.
Addison spoke up. “So… this is where it gets… strange…”
Kent looked at her. “What? Kaitee… deceased or something…”
Addison shook her head. “Emma doesn’t know Kaitee.”
Jacob frowned. “Sure she does. They were good friends. Emma helped Kaitee an' me with math and Chemistry."
Addison looked at Hannah. “They need to know.”
“We just met them,” Hannah replied.
“It’s not like it’s a secret. It’s on Instagram.”
I nodded. “Good point.”
“What’s not a secret?” Shay asked. "What's on Instagram?"
Addison rolled her eyes. “Emma was born in 1861. This version of Emma didn’t go to school with Jacob.”
Kent shook his head. "Okay, this is gonna be good…"
~~
A LOT of discussion followed, then Kent said, “Look, this doesn’t mean it’s true. I could be that you only think it is.”
I started to try to make a rebuttal, but Jacob was pointing.
“Someone’s at the door,” Jacob said. “Couple men.”
Shay went to the door and opened it to let in Will Roberston from my work and Tom Jenkins, the theater owner; Will explained. “We… each got obscure texts with this address… and we had a compelling feeling that we had to come. We… ran into each other getting off the subway. Where are we?”
“Shay’s house,” I said. “Compelled… I know the feeling.”
Tom nodded. “What’s going on?”
Just then… Well, let’s start with yellow and green sparkly clouds.
Things flickered for a second, then the room went back in time. Everything in the room, except us changed into what had to be the 19th Century.
Then, all the green and yellow coalesced and a figure stepped out. Black hoodie. Gray leggings. Black boots.
Kent jumped up, yanked up his pants leg and pulled out a 9mm automatic pistol from an ankle holster and pointed it at the figure.
The rest of us just stood and stared.
“You are the ten. Eight time travelers plus two. You have been called. Assembled. Assigned. Stay the course. Your destiny begins tomorrow. Be upstairs at the theater. Sunrise.”
Then, all of us were—you might say frozen in time—except Emma. She stepped toward the figure.
“Stay the course? We don’t e’en know what the course is! I’ve ‘bout had enough of you and all the hints and haunts. What are we supposed to be doing! Tell us!”
The figure retreated a pace. “You know what to do. You already do it. Tomorrow, you travel.”
“We have jobs!” Emma glared.
“That is for Tom and Will to work out.” Then he… it… retreated into the cloud, which shrank away to nothing leaving everything just as it was before.
Kent stood still, gun at low ready. “Okay, I didn’t know insanity was contagious.”
“Did we just go back in time?” Jacob asked. “What? What happened?”
Will shook his head. “My best guess is that it’s the same time, just a different timeline shifted forward or backward. It could be one timeline that is somehow twisted, and they… shift across it… somehow."
Kent looked at Will, “You know about all this? What's going on?"
A lot more explaining followed.
“This is insanity,” Kent shook his head. “We have jobs.”
“You own your own business,” Shay replied. “Any work lined up?”
Kent laughed. “Not until Friday. I had a client postpone all of a sudden."
Tom laughed. “I just got a call from City Works right before I got the text. Water problem. We have to be closed until Wednesday.”
“And we’re normally closed on Thursday.”
Hannah and I looked at Will, who shrugged. “I’ll figure it out. If you shift out, someone will shift in. Tom and I will handle it.”
“What? Is this for real?” Jacob shook his head.
“Better be there,” Devon replied.
PART 2 by Emma
Well, I s’pose you read all that Merritt wrote about out visit to Shay Ryder’s house. I tell you, it made me scared and mad at the same time.
After that figure disappeared back into the smoke, we all finally settled down. There was a lot o’ questions starting with the gun.
“Why do you have a gun?” I said.
“I have a carry permit,” Kent replied.
“Why?” I said.
“I work alone in vacant places…”
“Sensible,” Jacob replied. “But… that’s what’s on your mind? We’re supposed to go back in time or something, and you ask about the gun?”
Addison patted him on the leg pretending. “Now, now… once you are a seasoned time traveler like Emma, you’ll not worry about little things like going back in time.”
“Is this real?” Shay asked.
Will went through all his research and experiences. “I’d say you better be ready to shift. And for some reason, be at the theater.”
Merritt then said. “Probably so all the ones coming to 2024 will be in the same place and you and Tom can calm them down.”
Devon laughed. “I hope we go to 1880, just so Tom can tell me about that Devon’s reaction!”
“Hold on!” Addison looked around. “Do our bodies go or just our… being…”
Hannah looked at her. “What difference does it make? You saw the Instagram, That Hannah looks just like me. Same for Merritt and Emma…”
Addison flailed her arms. “That 1880 Addison is a man! And that 1880 Devon is black!”
Will looked around. “Valid point. I guess you’ll know in about 10 hours.”
We all looked at each other shaking our heads, then Addison spoke up. “If I am a man, I call dibs on Hannah!”
Everyone laughed, then she shrugged. “Or Shay… no offense, Emma, but someone’s got to make a choice.”
Kent looked around. “What is she talking about?”
There was a lot o’ talkin’ then, and looking at Instagram. Then we all decided to sleep over at me and Merritt’s ‘parments. We went to Halmart and got more air mattresses and blankets.
I guess we’ll have a lot to figure out t’morrow. An’ I guess I need to get to sleep.
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