ALEXIS DAVENPORT CHEWED on her nails while she waited for her best friend, Jennifer McDonald, to show up at the house. She tried to distract herself by checking her Facebook but her mind kept replaying her last trip through the mirror. She’d never experienced anything like it. Seeing herself and the girl whose body she would inhabit, floating in the void, being jerked rudely back into her own body.
What happened?
For the hundredth time, the question flashed through her mind. And for the hundredth time her mind drew a blank.
When the doorbell rang, she nearly tossed her computer on the floor in her haste. She ran to the front door and opened it so quickly Jennifer squealed in fright.
“Geez, Alex! Give me a heart attack why don’t ya.”
“Sorry,” Alex said as she grabbed Jenn by the arm and yanked her into the house.
“Leave my arm attached, please and thank you.”
Alex ignored Jenn as she ran back to her room. She slammed the door behind them, knowing her mother wouldn’t hear. She was at work and wouldn’t be home for hours yet.
“Okay, something has really got you spooked. Something happened didn’t it?”
Alex turned and faced her best friend in the whole world, the only person who knew her secret. She hadn’t planned on telling anyone about her ability to travel back in time. But when Jenn had walked in on her while her spirit was gone, Alex didn’t have any choice but to tell her. It had been a relief, really. She finally had someone she could confide in and someone who could help try to figure out the ins and outs of this special gift.
Through trial and error, Alex had figured out that she was a Traveler, someone who could travel back in time using mirrors or any reflective surface. The first time her reflection in the mirror had changed to that of a young woman from Ireland, she had been sure she was losing her mind. Or suffering from an inoperable brain tumor.
When she realized her gift meant that her life was in danger, she almost wished she did have a brain tumor. An evil Traveler was going back in time, trying to change history and it was up to Alex to stop him. She had no idea why he was going back or what his ultimate plan was. To her, it didn’t really matter. When the Traveler went back in time, she had no choice but to follow.
Only the last time she had traveled, something had happened before she could complete the transfer of her spirit to the Mongol girl she had seen in the mirror. She had been trapped in the void and had been pulled back into her own body before the transition could be completed.
“So are you going to tell me what happened or stare at me all day?”
Jenn’s question pulled Alex back to reality. She told Jenn what had happened, wincing as her friend yanked her journal out to write down every word of Alex’s account. Jenn swore she was going to write a book someday and make a million dollars when some big Hollywood producer asked for the movie rights. Alex was afraid someone would find the journal, have her committed to an asylum somewhere on a remote island or high atop a mountain and leave her in a white room for the rest of her life.
“Oh, man. Just when we thought we had everything figured out...” Jenn shook her head. “Did Sean or his Master say anything about this?” Jenn flipped through the journal, trying to find the spot where she had detailed Alex’s meeting another Traveler like herself, someone else working on the side of good.
Alex shook her head. “I’ve been over every detail of the trip to Scotland and I got nothing!” She flung herself face down on her bed, ignoring Jenn’s annoyed snort as the jostling caused her to muss the page.
“I can’t find anything either.”
“I am so tempted to tell mom or Aunt Karen or someone else about this. Things are getting out of control. I’m not sure I can deal with this by myself much longer.”
“By yourself? What am I, sliced bread?”
“You know what I mean. Seems like something an adult should be aware of, ya know?”
“I don’t know, Alex. The only reason I believed you was because I found you standing there in the bathroom like a corpse.” Jenn shivered. “Do you really think your mom would believe you?”
Alex groaned. “Probably not.”
“What about telling the boys?”
“Paul and Simon? I don’t know, Jenn. What good can they do?”
“I don’t know. Just seems like a better idea to tell them than an adult. At least they have imaginations and would probably buy it.”
“Maybe we should just keep this between the two of us.”
“Yeah, maybe that’s best.” Jenn cleared her throat. “So, what have you decided to do about Drake?”
Alex wanted to put her hands over her ears and pretend she hadn’t heard Jenn’s question. She didn’t want to get into another fight about her boyfriend. Or maybe soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend.
Am I really going to break up with him?
“I have been a little distracted by the mirror stuff.” Alex said, hoping Jenn bought the excuse.
When her reply was met with stony silence, Alex dared to look up at her best friend, hoping she hadn’t made her angry. Alex was tired of fighting about her changing feelings for Drake. When she saw Jenn staring at a page of the journal with her face pale as a sheet, Alex jumped to her knees and snapped her fingers in front of Jenn’s nose.
“Jenn, what is it?”
Jenn shook her head and squealed so loudly that Alex gasped in fright. “Alex, oh my gawd, I can’t believe that we never thought of this before. It’s been right there in front of us the whole time!” Jenn giggled and jumped up and down while seated cross-legged on Alex’s bed.
“Would you mind filling me in?”
“We are serious idiots for not thinking of this sooner. I mean it, Alex. Serious. Idiots.”
Alex grabbed the journal from Jenn’s clenched fists, forcing the girl to look up and into her face. “What are you talking about?”
“Sean and Gavin, Alex. What time do they live in?” Jenn stared at her smugly.
She sighed. “I really don’t think we have time for games. If you have something to tell me, just spill your guts already!”
Jenn merely blinked a few times and refused to say another word. Alex clenched her jaw.
“The 80s. Happy now?”
“And what century? The 80s can refer to 1580, 1280...”
“Nineteen eighty. And if you don’t tell me what the hell you are so excited about I swear, I’ll...” Alex gasped, her heart skipping a couple beats. She broke out in a cold sweat and her mind went completely blank, refusing to latch onto what she was certain had been Jenn’s point.
“So the super genius finally gets it!” Jenn grabbed Alex by her upper arms and shook her while she whooped and shouted so loudly Alex wanted to clamp her hands over her ears. Instead, both girls jumped up and down on their knees, screaming and laughing at the same time.
When she could breathe again, Alex grabbed her laptop while Jenn called her mom and asked if she could spend the day at Alex’s. Alex barely heard her as she opened a window in Google, fingers shaking so badly she could barely type the words.
Sean and Gavin could be alive in my time!