Future Shock (23 page)

I glance around, looking for help or a way out. I have to keep her talking. “And you sent us thirty years into the future instead of ten, didn’t you?”

“I had to. Adam discovered the cure ten years from now, but it was still brand-new and untested and not available to the public yet. I wasn’t sure how many years it would take for it to be safe to use and widely available, so I secretly set the accelerator back to its previous setting. I figured in thirty years it should be easy for Adam—or his future self—to get the cure.”

“But why kill us?” I ask, inching closer to her. “You got your cure!”

She sighs, and I hear the first hint of emotion in her voice. “I never planned for any of this to happen, truly. Trent stole my doses of the cure, and when I went to talk to him, he said he didn’t have them. But then he attacked me and I shot him. It was an accident, I swear. After that…well, I had to deal with the others too.”

“You
killed
them,” I spit out. “They trusted you, and you killed them!”

“I just wanted the cure back! My daughter…she only has weeks left to live. Maybe
days
. Do you know what it’s like, watching your four-year-old child wither away in a hospital bed, and there’s nothing you can do? The cure was the
only
way to save her life!”

“But you have the cure now. I won’t tell anyone about this,” I lie as the wind twists my hair behind me. “You don’t need to do this!”

“I’m sorry, Elena. I like you. I really do. But once you came to me with the evidence, I had to stop you from going public with it. I don’t want to kill you, but this is the only way to tie up all the loose ends.”

My life is just a loose end to her. I want to shout at her that I’m a person, just like the others she killed, with goals and dreams and a future of my own. But something catches her gaze along the beach, and for a second the gun dips down. This is my chance.

I rush her, slamming against her with my weight. A sharp cry escapes me as the pain in my side spikes from the impact. We go down and struggle in the sand, wrestling for the gun. But then she hits me in the ribs and I scream, pain crashing through me like a tidal wave. She whips the gun against my face, and I’m knocked on my back, momentarily stunned.

She kneels over me, pressing the gun to my temple. I dig my fingers in the sand, but my head spins and everything hurts, and I know this is the end, this is how she’ll make it look like I killed myself.

“Lynne—” I start, but then I see someone behind her, a dark figure against the dark sky.

“Lynne!” Adam says. “What—”

“Adam?” Her head turns at the sound of his voice.

No! What is he doing here? He shouldn’t be here!

Adam smashes into Lynne, forcing the gun away from my head. And suddenly I can breathe again, my mind clearing. I scramble to my knees, fighting to move through the pain. I have to get up. I have to help Adam. I have to save him.

Lynne brings the gun up to point at Adam and icy dread freezes my heart. I launch myself at her in a red haze of pain and anger. I steal the gun from her hands and slam it against her face, like she did to me only minutes earlier. She falls and I move in close, gun gripped tightly in my hand.

I want to hit her again, over and over and over. I want to unleash my rage on her, to make her pay for all the deaths she’s caused—but I stop myself. I’m not that person anymore. Adam convinced me I don’t have to be like my father. I can control my anger and keep it from taking over.

I am
not
a killer.

I take a long breath, aiming the gun at Lynne. “Call the police,” I tell Adam.

“Already did.”

“No!” Lynne yells and knocks my arm away. She brings me down in the sand, a tangle of legs and arms and bodies as her hands reach for the trigger. I feel her grasp it, and I pull back just as an incredibly loud bang goes off.

The air smells of gunpowder, and I don’t think I’ll hear anything ever again. The gun went off—am I shot?

Lynne goes limp against me. I roll off her and quickly check myself, but I’m not hurt. She doesn’t move, her glassy eyes staring up at the sky. A dark stain creeps out of her shirt and spreads to the sand, black on white, like the rest of the beach.

I scramble back and kick the gun away. Lynne is dead, but this time, I don’t feel the same shock and grief as when I saw her die before. Only relief. It’s over.

“Elena, are you okay? Elena!” Adam’s hands travel over my body, inspecting me for injury.

“I’m okay.” I grab on to his shoulders to steady myself and he wraps me in his arms. I bury my face in his neck, breathing him in to reassure myself that he’s really here, that we’re both still alive. “You came for me.”

“I knew you’d be here. And I said I’d protect you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did.” I tilt my head up and he kisses me, his mouth gentle, sharing his warmth and strength until I can stand on my own again.

I pull back and check my mother’s watch. It’s 11:38 p.m., the time of my death. I stare at the watch, holding my breath, until the minute hand moves past, ticking over to 11:39.

We did it. We changed the future.

We’re free.

Tuesday

The last time I was in the hospital was after Mamá was killed. I don’t have fond memories of it, but this place is different. There are murals on the walls of dancing animals, and the floor is decorated with colorful stars. The elevator door is even bright purple.

Adam leans against the nurse’s desk, smiling at the girl behind it as they chat. They all love him here, which somehow doesn’t surprise me. They give him two blue volunteer jackets, and he slips one on.

“This way,” he says once he’s back at my side.

He hands me the second volunteer jacket, and I put it on as he leads me down the hallway. Each door is painted a different color. We stop in front of an orange one, and Adam knocks twice. When there’s no response, he pushes it open.

A tiny girl lies in a hospital bed with a dozen tubes coming out of her. Her head is shiny and smooth. Her eyes are closed, her pink lips just slightly open. Her small hands grip the edge of the covers as she breathes slowly. My heart clenches; she’s so young, so tiny, so innocent. I’ll never forgive Lynne for what she’s done, but seeing her daughter like this helps me understand why she fought so hard to save her.

Adam moves beside the bed and opens the Doctor Who lunch box he brought. He pulls out one of the three doses of the cure we found on Lynne’s body and hooks it up to the girl’s IV.

“I’ll have to come back tomorrow night to do the second one,” he says as he steps back. “It has to be delivered over three days, one dose every twenty-four hours.”

“But it’ll work?” I ask. “She’ll be cured?”

“I think so. It seemed to work for my mom. We won’t know for sure till she goes back in for tests, but I can already tell she’s a lot better.”

“Good.” Lynne’s daughter shouldn’t have to pay for her mother’s mistakes. And once Adam figures out how to make the cure, he’ll be able to save even more lives. It took Adam ten years in that other future, but now he won’t be burdened by grief or trying to figure out who killed us. He can focus on his destiny.

“How much does your mom know about the cure?” I ask.

“Not much. I told her I got an experimental drug and she wasn’t allowed to ask how. I’m sure she thinks I did something illegal, but so far she hasn’t asked too many questions.”

The door opens and an older woman asks, “Who are you?” Her eyes are red, like she’s been crying, but she looks exactly like an older version of Lynne with darker hair. Her mother, I guess.

“We’re volunteers,” Adam says with a warm smile. “Just checking on her.”

The woman nods, and we slip past her and out the door. As it shuts, I see her take the girl’s hand, and I breathe a little easier knowing Lynne’s daughter won’t grow up alone. I hope she still becomes a pediatrician and a mom, like I saw in Lynne’s photos.

We take the elevator down a floor and find room D117. Chris opens his eyes when we enter, his face ashen. My heart lifts seeing him alive. Those pictures I saw of his body are only memories of a future that will never happen, not anymore.

“Hey,” he says, sitting up. The blanket slips down, revealing a large bandage on his side. “Didn’t think I’d see you two again.”

“Had to come see how you’re holding up,” Adam says. “How are you feeling?”

“Like hell, but I’ll live.”

“What happened?” I ask.

“Trent gave me the cure to hide, but Lynne threatened to go after Shawnda if I didn’t give it to her. I got your message right before meeting with her, but I had to hand the cure over. Barely got away in time. Still took a bullet to the chest, but I’m alive, thanks to you. I won’t forget that.”

My throat tightens up with emotion, knowing he trusted me enough in the end to listen to my warning. I manage to get out, “Glad you made it.”

“And the two of you took her down.” He whistles, which dissolves into a short round of coughing. He clutches his side and then takes a deep breath. “I just wish…Zoe and Trent…”

“Me too.” I bow my head, and Adam squeezes my hand.

“I’m sorry about before and everything I said. I was wrong about both of you.” Chris clasps my hand and then Adam’s. “Although you’re still the biggest nerd around.”

“I’m okay with that,” Adam says with a grin.

We chat for a few minutes about Chris’s plans for the future and promise to keep in touch. As we leave, we pass Shawnda in the hall, and I smile knowing her son will grow up with a father now. Hopefully he won’t end up in prison this time.

But Zoe’s sister isn’t so lucky. The only thing Adam and I could do was take the recording of Lynne’s final words to Aether. When they offered us more money to keep quiet about it, we convinced them to set up a trust fund for Zoe’s sister instead. Maybe that will be enough to give her a better future than the one we saw. And since Trent didn’t have any family, we had them donate money to a homeless shelter instead. He would appreciate that, I think.

Dr. Walters told us he plans to destroy the accelerator to prevent Aether from sending anyone else to the future. I hope he succeeds, but I’m not convinced it will stop them. They may not have been behind our deaths, but they weren’t exactly innocent either. I plan to keep a close eye on them.

And in thirty years, Adam and I will be ready for our younger selves. We’ll find a way to save Trent and Zoe—maybe in an alternate timeline, maybe in this one.

This time, we know we can change the future.

I take Adam’s hand as we leave the hospital, as we take our first steps into our new, unknown future. Together.

Adam pulls into the restaurant’s parking lot, and my stomach twists when I see where we are. Seriously, of all the places to eat in LA, he had to pick this one?

“We’re eating here?” I ask as he shuts off the car.

“Is that okay? I know it’s not fancy, but they have great burgers…” He studies my face with a frown. “We can go somewhere else if you want.”

I’m tempted to suggest another place, somewhere that won’t bring back bad memories, but no, I’m being silly. I smile at him. “This is great.”

He opens the door to the restaurant for me, and I take a deep breath to steel myself before walking in. Everything is exactly as I remember it. The
NOW HIRING
sign in the window. The smell of fried food. The waitress in a red skirt the size of a belt. Oh God, it’s even the same waitress.

Her eyes pass over us and I wonder if she’ll recognize me as the weird girl with the freaky memory. But then it hits me—I don’t care if she does. I’m not ashamed of my eidetic memory anymore. My gift helped me stop Lynne and save Chris and myself. I’ll never forget the terrible things I’ve seen, but I’ll always remember the good things too. Zoe’s smile and Trent’s laugh. That first kiss with Adam in the rain. My mother’s voice.

We sit at one of the tables with the hard, wooden seats and checkered tablecloth. It was Adam’s idea to go on a real date like a normal couple. I’m not sure we can ever be normal, not after what we’ve been through together, but I’d like to try.

“I interviewed here for a job last week,” I say after we look through our menus. “Didn’t get it, obviously.”

“Really? No wonder you wanted to eat somewhere else.” He adjusts his glasses, looking worried. “We can still go…”

“No, it’s fine. And it’s not like I need the job anymore.” Thanks to Aether, I don’t need to worry about that. A few days ago I didn’t even think I had a future. Now the possibilities seem almost endless.

Adam begins folding one of the paper napkins in front of him. “So what will you do now?”

I watch his long fingers work, the movements almost hypnotic. “I’m going to get my own place after I turn eighteen. I’m going to start college in the fall to become a social worker. And”—I look up to meet his gaze—“I’m going to help you develop the cure.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “You are?”

“If you want my help, that is. I’m not a genius like you and don’t know all that chemistry stuff, but I thought I might be able to help with the business side of things or something…”

“I would love your help, Elena.” He gives a little laugh. “No, I
need
your help. I’m supposed to do all these great things in the future, but I have no idea where to even begin.”

“You’ll figure it out.”

“Maybe. I’m just glad I won’t have to do it alone this time.” He slides an origami rose across to me and I smile, gently touching the soft edges.

“I was also thinking about getting another tattoo,” I say.

“Oh yeah? Of what?”

“An origami unicorn.”

A wide grin spreads across his face. “I can’t wait to see it.”

The air-conditioning kicks on overhead with a loud rumble, blasting cold air down on us. A dusty, round clock ticks overhead. 7:44 p.m. Two minutes faster than the watch on my wrist. But I don’t need to count minutes or hours or days—not anymore. Adam and I have plenty of time.

The future is no longer a threat but a promise of things to come. For once, I look forward to it.

Acknowledgments

This book would not exist without the help of so many people, to whom I owe my endless thanks.

To my husband, Gary Briggs, for being my inspiration, my best friend, and my number-one fan. The future seems bright as long as you’re at my side.

To the Adams and Briggs families for always believing in me and supporting my dreams, and especially my parents, Gaylene and Peter Adams, for raising me as a reader and a geek.

To my awesome agent, Kate Testerman, who never gave up on this book or on me, along with everyone else at KT Literary.

To Wendy McClure and everyone at Albert Whitman for giving this story a home, making it even better, and then sharing it with the world.

To Rachel Searles, who helped me figure out this book’s plot at Panera and over many emails; Cortney Pearson, who read each chapter the second I finished it and cheered for me to keep writing; and Stephanie Garber, who helped me figure out a tricky plot point and always made me smile.

To the other author friends who kept me going and helped me in various ways through the years: Susan Adrian, Karen Akins, Riley Edgewood, Dana Elmendorf, Amaris Glass, Jessica Love, Kathryn Rose, and Krista Van Dolzer.

To my Latina readers for helping with the Spanish and making Elena more authentic: Nancy Unruh Berumen and Aline Strickler; with additional thanks to Zoraida Córdova and Mónica Bustamante Wagner, who answered some of my questions.

To everyone who has followed me on my path to publication and offered me a kind word, a smile, or a congrats along the way—I truly appreciate all of you.

And finally to all of the readers and bloggers who take the time to read my books and help spread the word about them. You make being an author the best job in the entire world.