Chapter Sixteen

Samuel placed several small objects over my body. Each hovered above me. "Hold still, Esa. This will take a few seconds," he said, looking back at his computer screen.

As the tiny objects floated over me, a hologram of my body appeared next to the bed. The team stood off to the side, studying the image.

"What are these things?" I motioned toward the small devices.

"They're called Oxspys. They allow me to quickly pull all your vital signs, as well as check bone density, and see if any foreign objects have been placed inside you."

"Are they going to touch me or just float above me?"

"They may touch you now and then, but you shouldn't really feel anything. Just stay still. Okay?"

"Fine." I flinched as the tiny objects approached my eyes. Each had a row of lights that hit my skin.

Samuel crossed to another table. "Come on up here, Audrina. I can scan both of you at the same time."

"Works for me," Audrina said, walking over and lying down. Samuel placed several Oxspys above her head.

"Very good. Both of you just lie there while I check my computer and get the information I need."

"Okay," we responded in unison.

Normally, that would have made me laugh, but the mood in the room was too serious. We knew what we needed to do and we knew there wasn't much time. Our bodies were changing and the clock was ticking on finding a way to get off the planet.

Samuel abruptly stopped typing and looked over at Gave. Gave nodded and stepped closer to our tables. Every muscle in his body had tightened.

"What's going on? Both of you have odd looks on your faces." I tried not to move too much as I spoke, but something was definitely up between them.

Neither of the boys responded, but Samuel came over to my table and put his hand on my shoulder. I felt a soft volt of electricity on my skin. "Shh, Esa," he said, holding a finger to his lips as he scanned the room.

"What's happening?" I demanded, lifting my head to look around. Suddenly, I knew. I couldn't feel its presence, but the Hunter was definitely here. It had found us.

"Where is it?" I whispered as panic overtook me.

Samuel didn't respond. Instead, he reached into the space off to his right. I saw the electricity that came out of his hand make contact with something. It formed the thin outline of a body. It definitely looked like it could be Luther; whoever it was had a stocky build. The figure stumbled back and then disappeared.

We all waited for its next move.

"He's still here," Samuel said through deep breaths. "I can feel him." Samuel took several steps forward and then leaped back as if dodging something.

"Luther! We know it's you," Gave said, posturing for a fight, both his arms up in front of him. "It would be better for all of us if you would just give yourself up."

No sound.

"Luther, we're going to find you and then kill you," Gave continued as he scanned the room.

Just as Gave was finishing his sentence, Audrina let out a guttural sound. "Help me!"

I bounded off the table. Audrina hadn't moved, but tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Audrina, what do you feel?" I screamed.

"It's squeezing me." Her arms began to flail, and she kicked up one of her legs. It came into contact with something.

I threw myself into the air over Audrina, hitting the Hunter hard. The blow caused me to land heavily, but I could tell I had done some damage. There was no way that hadn't hurt him.

Samuel raced over and extended his arm. Nothing this time.

Audrina coughed as she tried to catch her breath. Her tear-streaked cheeks burned with rage. "Samuel, find him. I want that thing to pay for what it just did to me." She got up off of the table, readying herself to fight.

"Esa and I can't feel him," Audrina said to the other two. "You guys need to tell us where he's at."

Gave suddenly spun, pulling two knives from his suit. He sent a bolt of electricity into the metal then threw the knives into the space near Samuel's computer. One of them must have hit its mark because the Hunter made a strange sound. The electrified knife looked like it was floating in the air, but it had obviously pierced Luther's flesh.

"Ha! You're mine now," Gave said, dashing toward Luther's position. But then he glanced back at us. "Samuel, do you feel it?"

"What?" I asked.

"Luther is gone. I can't sense his energy any longer," Gave said.

"Do you think you hurt him?" I asked, staring at the space where Gave had thrown his knives. One still lay on the ground, but the other was gone.

"I hope so," Gave said. Gave was the smallest of our group but had always proven lethal with his knife skills.

"All right. We've been compromised. Let's complete these scans and get out of here before we have any more company. I don't want this thing to attack our secondary or tertiary selves. They won't know what has happened. The fact that he attacked us now means that he was in Dr. James' lab and followed us back here."

"That's a good possibility," Gave said. "I'll be honest, I wasn't really thinking of much when we were back there, so I could easily have missed feeling his energy. I would have just assumed that it was Audrina and Esa, until they mentioned they didn't have their electricity."

Just as I was lying back down on the table, I caught a glimpse of Theo in the hallway outside Samuel's lab. "Theo!" I yelled. "You're here!" I almost ran out of the room, elated at the sight of him.

He glanced over at me and waved, but he didn't enter the room.

Samuel cleared his throat. "Esa, that's not Theo's primary. Remember, we jumped backward. We may see a few more of our other selves if we stay too long, and that always causes problems, because we will instinctively try to ask questions."

"Can the Hunter, I mean Luther, hurt our secondaries or tertiaries?" I asked. "Are they vulnerable right now?"

Our secondaries and tertiaries were older versions of our primaries. It was possible for us to come into contact with younger or older versions of ourselves as we jumped through time, but we had hard rules not to talk to one another. We knew we all existed, but we couldn't warn them of what might happen. It was too risky.

"Fine. Let's finish this," I said, still shaken from the sight of Theo. Hopefully, we would get to see the real Theo soon. Why was Dr. James keeping him, and how had she managed to let us escape?

"Hmm," Samuel mumbled.

"What is it?"

"Your bodies are definitely changing. What do you feel right now?"

"Samuel, I can see your computer screen. I see my body. There's definitely a lot of red inside."

"Yes, I'm not sure what that red is just yet. I'm waiting for the chemical breakdown."

"Esa, jump off. Gave, you go ahead and get up there. I want to compare your body with the girls'."

"Well, first off, my body is going to be much more fly then the girls'," he said nonchalantly as he climbed onto the table. "Don't be a hater, ladies. I just can't help myself. Besides, we all know that I am all lean muscle."

I rolled my eyes.

Samuel also let out a soft chuckle. "Don't worry; I have a feeling the girls would definitely not argue with you."

"That's because there is no argument," Gave shot back as he lay flat on his back.

Audrina pushed Gave's head down. "Oh please. Just lie there and shut up."

"Samuel, control your girlfriend. She's touching me," Gave said raising his head again.

"Gave, you're lucky I no longer have electricity, because I would definitely send a very strong voltage through you right now," Audrina said, crossing her arms.

"You mean like this?" Gave reached out and zapped her. Normally, the movement would have caused a slight jolt, but this time Audrina began to turn blue.

"Audrina, what's happening?" Samuel eyes widened.

"I don't know. I don't feel anything, but my hands are almost glowing."

Gave quickly pulled his hand back, and immediately, the blue disappeared.

We stared at one another silently, wondering what had happened.

"Are you sure you didn't feel anything different?" Samuel asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Promise. I didn't feel anything at all. I didn't even feel Gave touch me. I wouldn't have known anything was off except for your contorted expressions."

Samuel grew serious. "Gave, lie back down. Let's scan you. I need to have something to compare Audrina and Esa's results to, so I can figure out what's going on."