Chapter Eighteen

We landed in Samuel and Audrina's place in the middle of snowy nowhere. The cold air smacked me hard in the face as the Jump Line closed.

"Why did we come back here?" I looked at Samuel, frustrated to once again see this frozen place. It was honestly the last place I wanted to be right now, since it was so close to Dr. James.

"It's the only place we have in our primary year that is safe. Where else did you want to go?" Audrina asked. "Besides, this place has the technology and tools we need if we are going to put together any sort of plan."

"I get it—we have this place and its safe—but Dr. James knows we're here. I bet she's tracking us right now."

Samuel chuckled. "Oh please, Esa, she's been tracking us since day one. Nothing has changed, except now we know she's alive and watching our every move."

I took a deep breath as his words sunk in. It was true. The one thing that had changed was our knowledge about her. She was alive, and apparently very much aware of our situation.

Gave finally interjected, "Besides, this site places us closer to Theo."

"Theo," I repeated, trying to think clearly. We definitely needed to get Theo back. He was one of our strongest soldiers and would know what to do next.

Samuel tilted his chin. "Esa, did Theo fall into the water or did it seem like something grabbed him and pulled him in?"

"I don't know." I thought back to the moment everything had happened. "Theo slipped on some ice, but it seemed like something he could recover from. Instead, he kept falling until he hit the water."

"Think about his facial expression. Do you think he knew what was happening? After all, he is the one who wanted to go exploring," Samuel said, rubbing his chin. His eyes had glossed over, as if he were thinking back to the last time he had seen Theo.

I didn't like where Samuel was going with this line of questioning. There was no way Theo had willingly gone into that water. "He definitely seemed surprised when he slipped. He tried to grab onto something, but it seemed like his arms weren't long enough. It was almost as if something was blocking him from taking my hand."

Audrina looked over at Samuel and nodded. "I just saw Esa's thoughts. She's telling the truth, Samuel. Theo looked surprised and tried to grab for something, but he couldn't seem to connect with anything."

Samuel looked at both of us. "Can you really read each other's minds? That seems unreal."

"Yes!" we both blurted out. Our joint response made us giggle. It felt good to have some laughter to cut through the tension.

"I don't understand what happened, but suddenly I know what Audrina is thinking and, apparently, vice versa."

"That's right," Audrina said with a wicked smile. "I know all of Esa's deep dark secrets."

"You don't know all of my secrets," I quickly responded. It would be impossible for her to know everything when I couldn't even remember what my life had been like before three years ago.

Samuel glanced at Gave and then finally spoke. "This might actually be a good thing. Esa, try to think back to the car accident when you first landed in the year 2007. Maybe Audrina can watch and see if she spots anything from your viewpoint. We saw it from our viewpoints, but we know there's something there we've missed."

"It's definitely worth a try," I responded, not really sure what Audrina might be able to see. I had thought back to the day of the accident many times. It seemed like it had just happened yesterday, even though it was three years ago.

The familiar sound of metal scrapping against metal filled my head. My thoughts were back at the accident scene. There was the burning smell that filled the air and suddenly a bright light. I was walking around in a daze. It felt like my eyes were having a hard time adjusting. There was smoke everywhere. Two cars were in front of me. Their mangled metal exteriors were wrapped oddly around each other. There were no other sounds, only the smell of something burning. I hadn't noticed it before, but I felt something on my lower back, like a hand. It pushed me forward slightly, as if to stop me from walking away from the accident scene.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. "I felt something, but I'm not sure what."

"I could tell," Audrina whispered. "Esa, you definitely weren't alone at that crash site." Audrina sounded so sure of herself that it made me uneasy, but also very curious...and mad.

"Who was there?" I asked. I wanted to know so badly.

Audrina closed her eyes. "I don't know. I didn't see anything either, but I definitely felt the presence of someone in the area. It was odd, but whoever it was, they touched you."

"Do you think it was Luther?" I asked; although, it seemed impossible. Luther had only recently become invisible, but maybe he had been able to do this all along.

"It's possible," Audrina responded without hesitation as she thought about Luther. I could clearly see his face in her thoughts. "I guess anything is possible."

"What about that flash of light?" I asked. "Did you see anything?"

Audrina was still lost in thought. I saw the accident play over and over in her mind. After several seconds, she let out a snort. "Oh, I can tell you who was there, and what that bright flash was all about."

"What?" I almost yelled, eager to know more about what had happened on that day. "Tell me. Please."

"It was the prestigious Dr. James. I saw her look at you, and then the bright light was her disappearing."

I raised my hands to cover my ears. "The bright light," I echoed. "The bright light."

There was something about that light. That wasn't the only time I'd seen it.

My hand flew to my mouth. "Oh my God. The light. That's the key. She doesn't travel on the Jump Line. She's created a new mode of transportation, and it includes a very white, bright light."

The room grew quiet. No one said anything in response until, finally, Audrina looked up. "I saw the bright light during the shooting in the hallway. Esa and I dropped to the ground. The light was all around us."

"What happened next for you?" I pressed.

She stared straight ahead, but there was only darkness in her thoughts.

In my mind, I saw images of the beautiful white tiger stalking toward me.

Audrina met my gaze. "I didn't see a tiger. It was dark, and then I woke in Paul's lab."

She bit down on her lower lip as she thought about the lab. I could see everything so clearly. Audrina was remembering the dimly lit laboratory that all of them had been in on a few occasions.

Audrina whipped her head around to look at Samuel. "Did you guys not see the bright light? I remember it being so bright that it caused my eyes to water."

Samuel paused for a second and then responded. "I remember seeing a quick flash of light, but before anything else happened, Theo had grabbed his medallion and the Jump Line opened. We were gone before anyone else could follow. I thought the two of you were with us, but I quickly discovered I was wrong."

"Samuel's right," Gave said. "Everything happened so fast. It wasn't until we landed that we realized it was just the three of us. We searched for you both, but we couldn't find you for several weeks."

I shook my head "We're being played. It's time for us to pay a visit to someone we all know. Trust me, that person is waiting for us."