The sound of a screeching fire alarm jolted Sylvie awake.
“Sylvie!” Mom called from the kitchen downstairs.
Sylvie sat up, covering her ears from the noise. The morning sunlight poured through her bedroom window, blinding her.
Downstairs, pots and pans clattered in the kitchen sink. Sylvie heard the rush of the faucet as Mom turned it on. Bailey barked. The screeching alarm paused for a second, only to beep and start again.
“Sylvie, get down here! I need your help!” Mom called once more from the stairs.
Sylvie groaned. Every muscle in her body ached. It was a heavy feeling that pushed down on her body, making it feel impossible to get up. Sylvie thought about the bodybuilders she’d seen on television once. She wondered if this was how they’d felt after a workout of squats and bench presses. It wasn’t a sick ache, but a deep one that settled into the fibers of her muscles.
Sylvie rolled over. Her mind felt scrambled. She watched the dust particles dance through the light streaming through her bedroom window.
It calmed Sylvie until she remembered—Sebastian. She’d been running after Sebastian. Where was he?
Sylvie flung her feet onto the carpet, noticing she was still wearing her sneakers. She felt a rush of emotions as the memory surged over her all at once.
June. Sylvie. The past Sylvie. She heard the words spoken inside her brain once more. You’re just like me.
Sylvie stood up. She paused to catch her balance. What day was it?
In a state of confusion, she ran to her calendar to see where she had placed the last X.
She settled her eyes upon it. It was today, the day it should be if she hadn’t time jumped at all. It was the day after Jodi’s murder.
Jodi.
Sylvie’s heart smashed as she remembered her friend.
“Sylvie!” Mom called again.
“Coming!” Sylvie yelled to appease Mom.
She looked in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy, her hair matted. She brushed the dirt off her sleeves from the time jump before. Her mind spun, remembering.
She needed to find Sebastian to see if he was okay. They needed a new plan. She had so many questions. Why had the killer shown them the memory? Why had she been at the scene of June’s murder that first time?
The memory spilled back into her brain. She’d argued with June in the car before the dance. Until the last time jump, that was all she’d remembered. But now, the rest came rushing back.
She’d entered the school, hoping June would be right behind her. When she’d gotten inside, she’d walked past the dance in the cafeteria and headed straight to the bathroom instead. There, she’d overheard Beverly bragging about how she was seeing Bruce behind June’s back. He would pick her up at the dance and they would leave. Bruce had been planning to skip out on the homecoming king announcement. He’d wanted to hurt June and had thought it would embarrass her to enter the stage alone. Later, he’d tell everyone why he hadn’t been there, and that June was sleeping around with Rick.
“Serves her right,” Beverly had said. “She’s a fake. I don’t feel bad about seeing Bruce behind her back. Not like she’s ever been nice to me. Besides, she’s been secretly seeing Rick Greene. It’s been over between her and Bruce for a long time.”
Sylvie rubbed her temples. Of course, she knew the truth now. June had broken up with Bruce. She knew that from the message he’d left on her answering machine. Still, June had probably cheated on him before breaking up. But his ego had been more bruised than his heart.
Sylvie remembered the way Beverly and the other girls had called her sister names while they’d put on their lipstick. They’d laughed like screeching witches. Beverly hadn’t even made any sense. She was accusing June of cheating, just like she cheated with Bruce. But that was how mean girls were. They never say their own faults.
Sylvie had waited until they’d left and had then stormed out of the bathroom into the dance. She’d searched for June, but she hadn’t been there, so Sylvie had gone to the parking lot to find her.
She’d wanted to tell June she was sorry, and that high school was lame. She’d wanted them to leave the dance and call Bruce and everyone’s bluff when June wasn’t there to accept the crown either. They would’ve gone home. Sylvie would’ve helped June face Dad about Rick.
When Sylvie got to the parking lot, June hadn’t been in her car. Confused, Sylvie had wondered where her sister could have gone. She’d noticed the trail that led into the woods. Had June gone there? Maybe she’d been so upset that she’d gone to the woods to think? She used to do that sometimes at home—go into the woods behind their house to gather her thoughts.
Worried, Sylvie had headed down the trail to find her.
The rest was a blur—well, except for the new memory. The one the killer had shown her.
Sylvie remembered the way she’d seen the shadowed killer swoop in and around her sister. The way she’d seen herself, watching from a distance, paralyzed with fear, before disappearing in a flash of light.
Sebastian had said trauma brought the time jump gift on. Now Sylvie understood. It was June’s murder that triggered it for Sylvie. She’d been spinning in circles ever since, trying to correct it.
“Sylvie!” Mom yelled again, interrupting Sylvie’s thoughts.
Sylvie could tell Mom’s patience was running thin. “I’m coming!” Sylvie yelled once more as she swung her bedroom door open, then trampled down the stairs.
“There you are! It’s about time. I made breakfast. I might have burnt the eggs a little, though.” Mom pointed to the plate on the table.
Sylvie smelled the burnt grease that lingered in the kitchen’s smokey haze. The fire alarm screeched again.
“That darn alarm!” Mom said, swinging her kitchen towel beneath it. “Your father insisted on putting in extra fire alarms before, before he—” Mom paused. She wiped her eyes, then grabbed a chair from the kitchen table. She pulled it out, set it under the alarm, then stood up on it to remove the alarm battery. Despite the one last beep it gave as she pulled the battery out, the screeching stopped. “That’s better,” she said.
Sylvie stood, not sure what to say or do. Had anything changed since her last jump? “Where’s Sebastian?” she asked, ignoring the drama of the alarm and the burnt food on the table.
“He’s in the living room,” Mom said. “Watching cartoons.”
Sylvie spun around.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” Mom asked.
“In a minute,” Sylvie said as she walked away.
“Wait.” Mom grabbed her arm, holding her back. “Are you okay?”
“What?” Sylvie spun back around and locked eyes with Mom. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she snapped, though not meaning to. She was impatient. Between the memories flooding her head and Mom’s morning drama, she hadn’t seen Sebastian yet. Fear raced through her. The longer she didn’t see him, the more she worried something was wrong.
“I’m sorry,” Mom said. “About Jodi. About all of this. I don’t know why this is all happening, Sylvie. Your father, June, these murders. And Dr. Peterson… I still can’t believe it, any of it. And Sebastian, I—”
Sylvie stared at Mom. Nothing had changed. They were all still gone. Everything Sylvie had done had failed. To make matters worse, she still didn’t know who the killer was, aside from knowing it was some abused, orphaned boy. She didn’t know where Dad was either.
Sylvie felt her right eye twitch, agitated by the anxiety brewing throughout her body. Now that she was connected to the killer’s mind, would he chase her through each time jump and kill her, too?
Wait. Sylvie registered the last bit Mom said. Sebastian? Mom had mentioned him in the string of events she’d listed.
Sylvie turned away from Mom and shot into the living room, looking for her brother.
The television was loud. Sebastian sat on the couch, staring at it. Bailey, having given up on getting any bacon, sprawled next to Sebastian with his head on his lap. Scooby-Doo cartoons flashed on the screen. Thelma was pulling a mask off the zombie chasing the team, exposing the obvious.
Sylvie looked down at the coffee table, noticing an empty breakfast plate smudged with egg yolk, and a half-full glass of orange juice.
“Sebastian!” Sylvie rushed to her brother. “Are you all right?” She sat down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. She wanted to hug him, but knew it would look funny to Mom if she were to come in. Mom would ask what was wrong.
Sebastian didn’t flinch. He stared at the television as Bailey sighed, looking up at Sylvie with sad eyes.
“Sebastian,” Sylvie said once more, but, again, Sebastian didn’t respond.
He sat mesmerized by the television screen as a commercial for Transformer toys streamed across it.
“Sebastian!” Sylvie shook him, now, with both hands on his shoulders. “Answer me! Why aren’t you talking to me?”
Bailey jumped down, running to the corner to hide.
Sebastian gazed at his sister. Still, he didn’t answer. He just stared, as if he had a million things to say, but no words came out. Sylvie could almost see the words swarming in his eyes like tiny fireflies lighting up, then growing dark.
Overcome with emotion, tears swelled in Sylvie’s eyes, then gushed down her cheeks. “Sebastian!” she said, shaking him again. “Talk to me! This isn’t funny!” she added, though she knew her brother would never play such a game for fun.
“What are you doing?” Mom scolded as she came into the living room.
“Sebastian won’t answer me. What’s going on? Why won’t he talk to me?” She shook her brother harder. “Sebastian! Sebastian! Talk!”
Mom dropped the kitchen towel in her hands onto the coffee table, then pulled Sylvie off her brother.
“Stop it, Sylvie. Stop it,” she said. “You know Sebastian hasn’t spoken since your father disappeared and June was killed. Why are you making it worse? You know what the doctor said. We can’t force him to talk. We need to let him talk in his own time.”
“What?” Sylvie said, backing away. “What are you talking about? That’s not true.” Sylvie cried. “Sebastian, come on, stop this. Tell Mom that’s a lie. Talk to me! Talk to us!”
Bailey whined in the corner.
Mom tried to hug her, but Sylvie wriggled herself away.
“Please,” Mom said. “Just calm down, Sylvie. Please. I can’t lose you, too.” Tears fell down Mom’s cheeks. “I can’t lose you, too.”
Sylvie stood paralyzed as she realized the truth. It was her fault Sebastian had gone mute. She’d time jumped with him. It must have affected him this way. She racked her brain for the rules. She reached into her pocket. They were gone. But then she remembered she’d given her list to Sebastian.
“Sebastian, the rules!” she said. “The rules!”
“Sylvie, just stop it!” Mom said. “Leave him alone!”
The fire alarm screeched again.
Bailey howled.
“Dang it!” Mom said, heading back to the kitchen. “I thought I pulled that battery out! Is it the other one?” She turned around, realizing it was now the fire alarm in the hallway.
Sylvie turned back to Sebastian as Mom went to the other alarm.
“Sebastian—the rules. Did you write the rest down? What happened to you? Tell me how to fix this. How do I fix this?”
Sebastian’s eyes lit up as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled paper, then grabbed a black marker from the coffee table. He unfolded the paper, uncapped the marker, then scribbled something down in all caps, before handing the note to Sylvie.
Sylvie snatched it, wanting to read it, but couldn’t stop staring at her brother’s face. She had done this. She made him this way. Sylvie didn’t need to read what he’d written to figure that out.
Sylvie felt her watch grow warmer with each passing second. Oh, no. Not now. The last thing she needed was to disappear now. Hadn’t she done enough damage?
But she felt the ground shift and sway. Stay, stay. Sylvie shut her eyes to clear her mind. She took a deep breath, remembering what Sebastian had said when she’d brought him on the jump. She was stronger now. She repeated it in her brain, reminding herself that she was in control of her emotions.
“What’s that?” Mom asked as she came back into the room. She nodded at the piece of paper in Sylvie’s hands.
“Nothing,” Sylvie said, stuffing the rules in her pocket.
“Well, if you’re done attacking your brother, it’s time to eat breakfast. What’s edible of it, anyway.”
Sylvie felt her watch cool. She stared at Mom, noticing her bloodshot eyes and dark circles sagging beneath. It had been an eternity since she’d last seen Mom smile, centuries since she’d heard her laugh. If only they could go back to the way things used to be when June was alive, Dad was there, and Sebastian was only quiet when his nose was in a book. She remembered her family, together, laughing, happy. Mom had lost everything—her daughter, her husband, and now, her son.
And it’s all my fault. If I’d only let June be. Let her live her life. If only I hadn’t told Dad about Rick. Then June never would have gone into the woods and would still be alive. All the time mess-ups wouldn’t have happened.
Still, a feeling crept up her spine, reminding her that wasn’t true. What about Dad? Would he still have disappeared if June hadn’t died? Something inside Sylvie knew she was being ridiculous. She couldn’t have predicted or known any of these things were going to happen. She couldn’t let grief and guilt for things she had no control over destroy her.
She needed a plan.
Sylvie remembered the missing journal pages Sebastian had told her about. She realized now that she needed to find them. Maybe they held the last bits of information she needed.
Sylvie stared into Mom’s eyes. She wanted to hug her and tell her she loved her, but she didn’t have time. She had to go. “I’m sorry,” Sylvie said, pausing for a brief second, trying to convey to Mom in one look all that she felt. Then she whirled around, ran into the kitchen, and out the back door.
She headed to the only place she could think of that might still hold answers. Where she might find the missing pages.
It was her last hope.