Hellions of Arcadia

Chapter 24: Downhill

Heh heh. O̸f̢ ̷̛c̸̢̨o͞u҉r͟s̕͠é҉͞ I͢'͏̷̛m ̡s̨̀͞eń҉t͞í͏̨en̛͟t ͟.

"Hey, Max. You there?"

White walls, rows of tables. I'm in Warren's lab. Chloe is beside me. When did I get here?

"Yeah, I'm here." I say, "just a little distracted." Chloe gives my shoulder a gentle rub, then nods. She is in a more careless mood today. No overactive worrying, or frowning.

Chloe brings her attention back up to Warren. "So is everything ready? Let's do this shit!" Chloe is pumped as hell. Between the spry in her step, and the carefree mood. I haven't seen her like this in so long. I remember she was wary about her vision. But afterwards, her and I laid around on the couch with pizza and whatever terrible movies were on TV.

I don't blame her if that's what's making her happy. I had a lot of fun, too.

"Max, did you hear me?" Warren this time. I let myself get away again, how do I always manage to completely block out everything around me at critical moments?

"Uh... no, sorry. Can you repeat it?" I ask. Warren nods, his lips twitch when he thinks I can't see. But I can see.

I̴̡͢ ̶s̢͟͞èe̡ ̧͜e̷ve͢͞r͟y͘͟͞ţ͡h̢͡i̧̧҉n̡͡g̷͞.̸͟

As if magically, I see Nathan in the corner of the lab. I had no idea he was there before. He is just messing with random trinkets throughout the lab. I don't remember seeing him come here, but all I know that he's probably been here all day.

"You had medicinal marijuana, right?" Warren asks, "did it, um, do anything for you?"

I frown. "No, not really. It helped for a little. but then it just stopped. I never liked doing it anyway." Chloe makes a noise, no one comments on it.

"Great, good to know." Warren says, rubbing his hands together. In the corner, I can see Nathan pretending to not hear what we are saying. I really don't care if he hears or not. He is not the same man he used to be. From the small amount of t͝i͝m͡e̴ I've seen Nathan since the storm 4 years ago, I can tell that something is different in him. Something is different in us all after that day.

"No t͝i͝m͡e̴ like the present, Maxie." Chloe says, "let's get this done." I couldn't agree more. The sooner we finish this, the sooner I can take an Advil, then a nap.

Luckily, I don't have to take any weird tests today. I just have to harness my rewind power while touching this thingie so it can read the inside of my body, or whatever. It's not like I'm alone or anything, Chloe will have her hand on a science device too. To truly test if Chloe is connected to me, she has to participate.

When Chloe and I sit at the table, the device we must use is sitting in front of us. It's a smooth rectangular box. But when I touch it, my fingers sink in like jello, or foam. It startles me, I've never seen anything like this stuff.

"It... um, I made it myself." Warren says, after he sees my spook. "I made it just for you and your Rewind powers. That's why I haven't shown anyone yet."

Makes sense, why would anyone want something to measure t͝i͝m͡e̴ travel? It doesn't exist according to the public.

B̴ų͡t̕͘ ̷I̵ ̷d̡̀o̕ ̵͘e̷x̡͘͝i̴̛şt͘.̧

"Any time you're ready, we can go, Max." Warren says, his clipboard and items all prepared. I look over at Chloe, who nods in reassurance. It's time to do this.

I do what I've done thousands of t͝i͝m͡e̴s before. I collect the feeling of t͝i͝m͡e̴ that wanders on my skin, in my bones. Every ounce of all my power is brought right to my fingertips. Then I release it. A tight band of pain presses down on my head, everything hurts. I try to bring the power out, but not to reverse t͝i͝m͡e̴, only to display it. But-

My vision goes black, then returns. A sickening vertigo swirls my vision and my throat feels so dry it's impossible. Voices echo around me, but their so distant I can't hear them.

"Max? Max? Hey!"

"Hold her down!" Warren shouts, and I feel hands holding down my arms.

"No, no that could hurt her!" Another male voice, Nathan? I can't see anything, white, black, red.

I ͘͢͟a̧m̷̢ ̶͞t̡̕i̶̛ḿ̀͞e҉̨.͡ I ͘͢͟a̧m̷̢ ̶͞t̡̕i̶̛ḿ̀͞e҉̨.͡ I ͘͢͟a̧m̷̢ ̶͞t̡̕i̶̛ḿ̀͞e҉̨.͡ I ͘͢͟a̧m̷̢ ̶͞t̡̕i̶̛ḿ̀͞e҉̨.͡ I ͘͢͟a̧m̷̢ ̶͞t̡̕i̶̛ḿ̀͞e҉̨.͡

Before I know it, I'm sitting in a chair. Chloe, Warren, and Nathan all sit around me. Worried faces. Why? I'm fine.

"Max? Are you okay?" Chloe asks, her hand on my hand, the only feeling I can feel anymore. Everything else is so cold, so numb. I can't even respond to Chloe, my vocal chords are frozen like ice.

"Can you hear us?" Nathan approaches, looking intently at my eyes. I use all my willpower to force a nod. I don't know if it worked.

"Oh thank God, at least she can hear." Nathan says, grabbing a glass of water from one of the tables. So at least I could move my head. But nothing else, I was frozen. "Try to get some water in you, okay? You went from seizing to completely frozen." Nathan moves the cup to my face. There is a plastic straw for me to drink from, I try to snag it in between my barely moving lips.

I hear a shuffle of movement, and Chloe is no longer at my side. She is over by Warren, her fingers jabbing into his chest. I can barely make out words.

"What the hell was that, huh? Well, what did the scanner say?" Chloe is really mad, I can't help but feel a little guilty. After all, it is my power that's causing this, right? I look back at Nathan, who grabs the straw and gently guides it into my mouth for me. Much to my displeasure, but he doesn't like it either.

"Sorry, sorry!" Nathan apologizes, "this isn't fun for me either. But it's the only way. Drink." His tone is soothing, more kind than I've ever seen him. His tone convinces me to drink more than his words.

Wow, that feels great. Cold skin, hot throat, warm water. Red creeps up on my cheeks as I sip the water from Nathan like a baby. Nathan is taking care of me like a small child, it makes me feel so embarrassed, but I don't really have a choice now.

As my body begins to regain feeling, I take the glass myself, and chug the water faster. Nathan chuckles and puts his hand on my shoulder, I can actually feel it. "Much better, huh?" I nod.

Nathan smiles, and I can't help but reciprocate it, despite the situation. I let myself breathe deep breaths, whatever just happened is over, and I can just relax.

"Warren, a moment, in silence?" Chloe says, through gritted teeth. Whatever it is, Warren is in for a bad time. I watch quietly as Chloe drags Warren into the corner of the lab.