PART 6
Jack the Ripper came back home near sunset. He closed the front door and saw Ms. Reed correcting papers on the dining room table. It occurred to Jack that tonight was Sunday, a school night. Before getting to his homework, he approached Ms. Reed. She looked up, flashing him a tired smile.
“Hey Jack, how are you doing?”
“I’m doing well, Ms. Reed, thank you for asking. I did have a question for you, if it’s not too much trouble.”
She set her red pen on her desk carefully. “What is it?”
“Do you know the Lacy family?”
“The ones that own the construction company?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
“Sort of, actually. I have their son, Tyler, in my class right now. I just had parent teacher conferences last week, and oh dear…” Ms. Reed’s voice trailed off as she lightly shook her head.
Generally, Jack would have allowed this subtlety to pass by. That was just the sort of detached, but cordial relationship the two shared. Today, however, Jack chose to venture deeper.
“What happened? Is that family a lot of trouble, or something?”
Ms. Reed wearily replied. “Oh, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors about Mr. and Mrs. Lacy. Mrs. Lacy owns the company, and I can see why she’s so successful. She just has this way about her, she gets things done. The trouble is, it’s often at other people’s expense. People like me, for example.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s no problem, really. Parents try to boss me around all the time. It’s not my fault their son’s a little on the slow side,” Ms. Reed said, chuckling a bit. “You know, the funny part was Mr. Reed. He’s just like what people say about him. A tall, broad shouldered man who’s nothing more than a scarecrow. From the time he came into my classroom to the time the two left, he didn’t say even one word. Kind of creepy, actually.”
“Hey, we’ve got that partner… buddy, tutor, whatever it is, that thing where the 1st and 8th grade classes partner up, right?”
“Yes, it starts tomorrow, as a matter of fact.”
“Would you do me a favor and partner me and Tyler up?”
“I suppose. But if I may ask, why does it matter to you?”
“I think… I think this is one of those things we… I mean maybe I should keep this to myself.”
Tanya nodded, getting the message. She shuffled through some papers, and found the partner list. She picked up her pen, crossed off a couple names, and pursed her lips.
“Alright, you’ve got it.”
“Thank you, I really appreciate that.”
“No problem, Jack. And, hey, I know you’re not the type to ask for help very often, but I’m here when you need me, alright?”
“Thanks Ms. Reed, I’ll remember that.”
Jack walked toward his bedroom. He rested his skateboard against the wall, and jumped into his bed. Down the hallway, he heard Ms. Reed open the back door. Then, a scratching sound. Clawing. A furry, crazed mass sprinting straight to Jack’s room. He braced himself, and smiled. After three years, maybe this place was beginning to feel the smallest bit like home.
*****
“Save the world?” Toby asked incredulously.
“He’s being a bit dramatic,” Ponytail said.
“Am I? You’d really consider it to be dramatic? We know the risks involved far too well.”
“All I’m saying is that…” Ponytail’s voice grew faint. “No, Toby, he’s right. Or rather, we’re trying to save our world.”
“Slow it down for me, I’m a bit lost,” Toby said. This notion was becoming far too common a thought for him.
“Two weeks ago, in my world, my parents disappeared,” Buzzcut said. “I’ve come to you to give myself the very best chance at time travel, so I can save them.”
Toby noticed Buzzcut’s eyes redden, and his voice began to falter.
“So, you need to figure out time travel, and we’re going to do everything we can to help you. If anyone can do it, it’s us, specifically you.”
“I…” Toby started, “what do you mean, they ‘disappear’?”
“I mean they vanish, and don’t return. When I dissociated from my reality, I tried to come to a place where the same had not yet happened to you. But I can’t guarantee that it won’t.”
Buzzcut stood up from the chessboard, and started pacing.
“I had some dark thoughts, for a time. Maybe I’d get rid of the two of you, take my place in this world. But that’s not right. At least, it would weigh on my conscience far too much. The solution is simple: invent time travel. And to be clear, it’s my only option.”
“Simple…” Toby said, staring at the ground. “Well, I’m willing to give it a try. But…” Toby trailed off. “From here on out, the two of you will have to follow my instructions. I won’t guess as to the level of each of our individual intellects, but what I do know is that neither of you are as deep down this rabbit hole as me, and it would slow us down to catch you up. So, will you be my assistants, at least while you’re in this reality?”
The two didn’t even need to check with the other. “Yes,” they said simultaneously.
“Alright. Ground rules are as follows: first, stay out of sight. Especially from my parents. Second, the majority of our study will take place right here, in this room. I’ll bring you food, water, and my notes, and will provide you with directions as to what information to fetch me. Still with me?”
Nods.
“Good. Third involves you,” Toby said, pointing to Ponytail. “I’ll need you to do a bit of your own work on a new chemical compound. We need to disassociate not from reality, but from time. Tell me what you need, and I’ll provide it.”
Ponytail shook his head. “I understand the reasoning, but it just doesn’t check out. If time travel is truly a possibility, it doesn’t involve literally drugging someone out of their mind to achieve. Except for… no, I would never do something like that.”
Buzzcut looked to Ponytail’s downturned gaze. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s worthless, a dead end.”
“No, please share with us,” Toby said.
Ponytail looked to Toby, then to Buzzcut. He sighed.
“One fact is immutable: we can’t physically send our bodies back in time without moving faster than the speed of light, or traveling through a black hole, or something similar. All of which are, unfortunately, beyond our reach, and there’s no dissociative compound that will accomplish it. And third Toby, your research is merely how to alter one’s perception of time, not how to travel, am I right?”
“You’re right.”
“Then, only one option remains. I don’t know if it’s possible, but there’s physically no other way. We’ll have to figure out exactly what consciousness is, discern the chemical makeup that binds it to reality, and find a way to launch it backward, to our previous self.”
“I don’t see the sense in that on a scientific or theoretical level,” Toby said.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Really, I am,” Ponytail started, his voice reaching a deadly calm, “you see, my voice isn’t very loud, since I’m just a boy, and it lacks anything authoritative about it. As a result, it can be easy to miss things. So, I’ll say it again.”
Ponytail lightly chuckled. Then, his expression turning to stone, he locked eyes with Toby.
“This is our only choice.”
*****
Ace knocked on the gnarled wood door of the town psychic. She waited a minute and knocked again. The wood was slightly warped, and jutted out in certain sections. It was as though it was carved directly out of a tree, attached to hinges, and drilled into the door frame.
Ace thought she heard two muffled voices battle back and forth. After a while, the door flew open, turning inward. Ace was greeted by the sight of disheveled hair barely contained within a velvet purple hood, all connected to a face somewhere between a zombie and a librarian. Crooked spectacles adorned a crooked nose, and cracked lips were covered with cracked purple lipstick, like old paint chipping away. Psychic Susan Miller fit Chief Rawlings’ description exactly.
“Ah, you’re the Rawlings girl then?”
“Yes Ma’am.”
“No need for such… formalities! Yes, that’s the word. Now come in then.” The woman’s voice was equally pompous and theatrical, a voice one may otherwise find hidden within a medieval aristocrat.
“Thank you, Ms. Miller,” Ace said as she stepped into the psychic’s office.
The place was shrouded in darkness, by design, Ace surmised. Purple velvet curtains hung on each and every wall, and tapestries with various hieroglyphs were pinned by their corners to the ceiling. In the center of the room sat a thick wooden coffee table and a crystal ball.
“Child! I’ve just told you,” Psychic Susan said as she rounded the coffee table and took a seat cross-legged, “No need for such formalities! Please call me Susan.”
Ace took a seat across from her. “Alright Susan, then let’s get to it. What did my dad tell you about why I came here today?”
Susan placed a hand near the crystal ball, staring into it intently.
“Your father… ah, yes, of course. A simple, hardworking soul. A soul which once weightlessly floated. A soul which floats no longer.”
Ace frowned. “Hey, uh, Susan? I’m going to need you to focus here. I’ve got a job to do, and lives may be at stake.”
Susan locked eyes with Ace for a few moments.
“I understand completely. However, when you ask me for answers, you are consulting the void. And the void may not present you with answers to such questions so easily.”
Ace fought back the urge to incredulously exclaim something… negative. I just told her lives were at stake, did I not?
“Fine. I’ll cut to the chase then. I need to know of the most popular occult activity here in Sleepy Grove. All I need is the names, but if you’ve got background information for me before I start digging, that would be appreciated.”
“The… occult. That’s rather humorous. What we’ve given the label of occult and have chosen to intellectually marginalize is the same that other cultures have called the sacred. I’ll tell you, but I ask you to give these beliefs their own degree of respect.”
“Sure.”
Susan placed her hands flat on the table, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath in. She began humming, the sound deepening from something topical to something far deeper. Before long, Ace was certain it had begun to resonate within her own psyche.
“I am ready. I am one with knowledge, both mine and that of the world. Ask your questions, child.”
Ace shook her head, resigning herself to playing Susan’s game.
“Which are the most prevalent… alternative belief systems amongst the residents of Sleepy Grove?”
“Hmm… I wonder who asks… the child, the detective, the curiosity which binds them…” Susan uttered, her words bordering on sing-song.
“All of them, if that’s what floats your boat.”
“Ah… I can see the answer, of course, as the answer is me, and I am it. Knowledge flows through me, and there is no resistance. But child… this knowledge is not mine to give.”
Annoyance crept into Ace’s voice.
“Excuse me?”
“You are excused, my child.”
Ace stood up with a start, watching to see if her movement would earn any reaction from Susan. Ace had long since had enough.
“All of you are frauds anyways, I was an idiot to waste my time here. Whatever. Thanks for fitting me into your schedule, I guess. It’s probably plenty busy.”
Susan’s eyes remained closed as she said, “I detect anger, yet it bears no quarter here in this place. And, to answer that question… you may be surprised to learn that my services are not oft requested in this place. In fact, I’ve been able to break even largely due to the patronage of just one customer…”
Ace stopped abruptly.
“Ah,” Susan began, “that got your attention, didn’t it.” She released a deep giggle. “Alright, I suppose it would be within both of your best interests to connect the two of you. I’ll give you a name, and after this I’m quite sure I have nothing else of interest to you.”
Ace opened her mouth, but her questions piled on top of one another in an attempt to escape her lips. Before she could ask anything, Susan continued.
“Gloria Perez.”
Then, the psychic slowly leaned back, adjusted her legs, and started to snore.
Odds and Ends 
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