Time Spent (10 page)

"You deserve to be dead!"

Marcus became a beacon of light, so bright
that Tyler couldn't open his eyes for fear he'd be blinded
again.

"Okay, that's about enough of that, Sparky,"
Becca said. She took control of Marcus and kept him motionless.

A female voice spoke from behind her.
"Miller? What are you doing here, you bitch?"

Becca spun around to find the person on the
next table, a tall redhead, standing up. White lightning arced from
her eyes to her hands, and gathered there, until long flowing whips
of electricity extended from her hands. Nothing had changed about
her face, however, she looked the same arrogant cheerleader she
always had.

"Tiffany?"

______________________

When Tyler and Becca arrived at the club,
they were ushered into a small VIP room off the upper balcony.
Music bumped from the speakers and spotlights roamed here and there
in their pre-programmed sets.

"Tyler!" called the guy with the
blond-streaked hair Becca had seen earlier. He was sitting at a
small table with two women and one man. One of the women had
straight black hair and a nose ring, the other curly bottle blonde
hair and a tiny outfit that showed off an impressive amount of
cleavage. The other man had a Tony Stark goatee and wore a suit
much like his friend's.

Tyler spread his arms wide. "What is this?
Did you start the party without me, Blaine?"

TTHE GUY'S NAME IS BLAINE? YOU HAVE TO BE
JOKINGG

Shh.

"We had to, you never get anywhere on
time!"

They laughed. Blaine stood and stepped up
and he and Tyler exchanged a hug.

"Sit, sit," Blaine said.

"Thanks," Tyler said, motioning Becca to sit
next to him. "This is Becca," he added.

"Becca, lovely to meet you. I'm Blaine, this
is my club."

Becca smiled a smile that did not touch her
eyes.

Blaine continued. "This is Jonas, Candy, and
Gia."

"It's Candace," said the blonde girl.

"Whaaat?" Blaine said, laughing.

"My name. It's Candace, not Candy."

"Well, you look like a Candy to me!" Blaine
said, and Jonas reached up to high five him.

Becca turned to Tyler.
TTHIS FUCKING
GUYY

Becca, don't. Please, just don't.

"You want a line?" Blaine asked. He gestured
at the glass table. Behind a champagne bottle and several glasses
were several lines of white powder and a straw.

"I'm good, thanks," said Tyler.

"Becca?"

"No, I'm -" Tyler elbowed her in
anticipation of her snarky comment. "I'm fine."

"Yeah you are!" Jonas said, and high-fived
Blaine again.

Becca glanced at Tyler, who reached over to
touch her hand.
Just let it go.

"Ty! Come on, you gotta hit this! It's
Bolivian or something man, I'm talking good good shit."

"Ah, you know, why not?" Tyler stood.

In that moment, Blaine sucked in a giant
lungful of air and leaned forward, expelling it in a massive puff,
blowing cocaine all over the table and into Gia's face.

"The fuck?" Gia said.

"DUDE!" Jonas said. "What the hell,
man?"

Blaine looked as if waking from a dream.
"What? What just happened?"

Tyler turned to Becca, who was sitting back
with a satisfied look on her face.

"Guess Blaine's had a little too much huh?"
Becca said, and reached over to high five Jonas. Jonas reached out
to high five her, then looked at his hand like it was
possessed.

Tyler sat back down and glared at her.

"Now it's a party," Becca said.

______________________

Comets, asteroids, stars, all hurtled past
as Tyler's vision raced into the cosmos.

He could only stare as the shimmering portal
grew huge, dwarfing his tiny body and revealing to him millions of
stars, then galaxies, swirling through space, moving farther and
farther apart.

Galaxies collided with one another and gave
birth to even larger shapes. There was something in the distance.
The galaxies formed a pattern, the pattern coalesced into a shape,
the shape grew definition, and the image stood before Tyler. It was
so vast that it beggared the mind, destroyed imagination, and
defied understanding.

For the second time in his life, Tyler
beheld the face at the end of all things.

______________________

Tyler stumbled backward, rubbing his eyes
with his hands. Marcus stood and advanced on him. Behind them,
Tiffany lashed out, and one of her energy whips wrapped around
Becca's neck.

"Ahh!" Becca fell to her knees.

"Stop it!" Zachary cried.

"Marcus, this isn't you..."

"How would you know? I loved you, and you
didn't care about me at all." The light mounted again, and a solid
beam lanced out from his face, narrowly missing Tyler. It lanced
into the wall, cutting through it and causing the wall to
collapse.

The hangar had suffered too much structural
damage with two of the walls partially collapsed. The ceiling
buckled, and giant beams fell, followed by fragments of other
building materials. Tyler managed to open his eyes just in time to
see them. He couldn't freeze them all, so he ran to the side,
Marcus right behind him. The beams rained down behind them, cutting
them off from the others.

"You're not getting away," Marcus said.

Tyler's eyes dialed open, but the light
built up again quickly and he was forced to close them. "Marcus,
this is crazy!"

"Is it?"

Another beam lanced out.

______________________

"Why did you do that? You knew that those
were industry guys. They can get me work!" Tyler slammed the door
behind them.

Becca snorted. "Oh yeah, and you definitely
want more work like that, old men slapping you on the ass and such.
Can't lose a job like that!"

"Yeah, I DO. Becca. That's what you don't
seem to get. I do want more work like that. I like acting. I like
modeling. I like old men slapping me on the ass. I like coked up
executives inviting me to their VIP area in the club that they
partly own."

"You like attention, in other words. You're
an attention whore."

"Whatever, I know in your world everyone's
on their own, or something. I happen to like being with
people."

"You like being with people who fawn all
over how gorgeous you are all the time."

Tyler threw down his hat. "Oh my god! And
you don't? I seem to recall you were MAKING people do it with your
god damn MIND."

"Yes!" She balled her hands into fists and
shook them at him. "Yes, I fucking was. Yes. Don't you get it? I
know where you're going, because I've been there, and it's not
GOOD. It's not fucking good at all. It's terrible and it eats at
you until there's nothing left."

Tyler breathed in, his eyes searching the
ceiling. "I'm not going to end up like you, because I AM NOT YOU.
I'm not some spoiled little girl who can't deal with people because
her daddy walked out on her."

Becca's angry green eyes closed in from all
sides of his vision and slammed together in his mind. His throat
closed and his teeth chopped down on each other.

DDON'T YOU EVER FUCKING TALK TO ME LIKE THAT
MOTHER FUCKERR

Tyler's body walked itself over to a chair
and sat down hard, clamping his hands to the armrests.

YYOU DON'T TALK ABOUT MY FATHER, MY MOTHER,
OR ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT ME YOU GOT THAT? NOT EVER. YOU DON'T KNOW A
GOD DAMN THINGG

I know one thing,
Tyler sent.

His eyes dialed open and the chasm inside
Becca yawned open, revealing the worlds within her. Tyler
remembered the stone in the yard at the army base.

WWHAT THE FUCKK

Stone began at the center of Becca's
forehead and spread out, consuming her. Her entire body was
transformed in an instant. Tyler's muscles unclenched and he sagged
against the chair, weak.

"You're not the only dangerous one around
here," he said. He heard a distant, frightened bark. "It's okay,
Max. It's okay."

After a few moments, he looked into her
again, and rearranged the worlds to their original shape. The stone
shifted and melted away, revealing Becca's true self. She collapsed
on the bed, gasping for air.

"We need to stop fighting."

"How did you...how did you know...you could
change me back?" she asked, clutching at her throat as the breath
came in gulps.

"I didn't."

There was a long pause.

"We're dangerous, Becca. We are dangerous
people. Even without the whole end of the world thing."

She didn't reply.

"I killed someone. I killed Marcus...the
real Marcus, the one from this world. He was my friend...my
boyfriend, maybe? I think I loved him. I know he loved me. And I
killed him, with these eyes. He's gone, and I can't bring him
back."

She looked at him. "I'm sorry."

"I tried to kill myself. I held the soldiers
until Kevin and the others could get away, and then I blinked. I
wanted to die, but I didn't."

"Because we saved you."

"Yes."

She stared up at the ceiling, just
breathing.

"I moved here for a fresh start. I'm not
trying to kill myself...I'm just...I'm trying to make a life for
myself. Okay?"

She shook her head. "I'm afraid you're
making the same mistakes all over again."

He walked over and lay down on the bed next
to her, taking her in his arms. "You're just gonna have to trust
me."

She sighed. "Okay."

"I'm sorry about what I said."

"Me too."

______________________

The gravity of the massive galactic shapes
held Tyler motionless, tearing him in different directions. The
face moved, coming closer, and as it approached, Tyler realized
there was a body attached. This was not some disembodied face, this
was a being, and as it approached, as all the endless galaxies and
stars that made her form grew closer, Tyler felt more and more
trapped.

The shape became that of a woman, and as
Tyler watched, she stepped through the portal.

______________________

Tyler ran blindly, Marcus chasing behind
him. Every time he dared to open his eyes, the blinding light
radiating from Marcus made him snap them shut. He heard more beams
lancing out, destroying more of the hangar.

"Marcus, stop this!"

"Why, so you can go back to being some big
star and forget about everyone you know? Everyone who LOVES
you?"

Tyler stopped. "I won't do that."

"Yes you will. It's what you do. It's who
you are."

Even through his eyelids, Tyler could see
the glow of the light that surrounded Marcus as he crossed in front
of him.

Tyler opened his eyes. "I won't." The light
died away, and Marcus was himself again, trembling in front of him.
Tyler reached out and took Marcus' hands in his. "I promise."

______________________

When Tyler got home from work the next
night, Becca was waiting for him. She had put out some candles, and
made dinner.

"Heyyy, what's all this?"

She smiled. "I thought we'd have a quiet
night, just the two of us. See, told you I'm not that bad, once you
get to know me."

"Aw, that's sweet, but I can't stay. Have to
get ready."

"Ready for what?"

"I'm meeting Blaine and some others for
dinner, may go out to the club after." He kicked off his shoes and
tossed his shirt over a chair. "You're welcome to come too, if you
want." He walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

"If I want," she repeated.

"Yeah, hey sorry I didn't know you'd have
anything planned. You can stay here if you don't want to go. I'll
be back later."

"Well thanks, that's really gracious of
you," she said flatly.

"No problem, be out in a sec," he said
blandly, and shut the bathroom door in her face.

______________________

The woman stepped down as if walking down a
flight of stairs, only there were no stairs. Her legs moved
gracefully downward until she stood on the roof.

Her dress was a cascade of red galaxies. Her
hair was the tail of a red comet, flowing behind her as if she were
flying through space. Her eyes were red stars, exploding in the
night.

She approached Tyler, and gazed at him for a
moment, as if considering what to do about him. Then she reached
out a hand, and touched his forehead.

Red light exploded in Tyler's mind, and he
lost consciousness.

______________________

When Tyler emerged from the shower, twenty
minutes later, Becca had gone. The candles were blown out. Tyler
got dressed, checked himself in the mirror, made sure he looked
just right. A bottle of wine had been left out on the table,
opened. He poured himself a small glass and drank it, then turned
out the lights and left.

He locked the door behind him.

CHAPTER FOUR

The little blonde girl picked up the tiny
teapot and held it out to her redheaded friend. "More?"

"Yes, please," said the redhead girl.

The blonde girl tipped the teapot over her
little cup and held it tilted while nothing poured out.

They sat at a small blue plastic table, with
the toy tea service set out in front of them, tiny plates and cups
and teapot, with dolls sitting at the other chairs. The dolls had
cups in front of them, and the blonde girl took great care to
refill their cups with nothing too. After a few moments, she set
the teapot down and they picked up their cups and gingerly sipped
nothing from them.

"Mmm." The redhead girl seemed to like the
taste of her nothing.

"Tiffany," a woman's voice called.

"What?" the redhead called back.

"Becca's dad is here to pick her up."