Frank wiped his nose on his sleeve, then left.
“Now it’s just us,” Shackleton said. “We can be straight with each other. I know you’re not the Wes that was here before. You know I’m not the same handsome guy you first met. Tell me, what it’s like when you jump?”
“It’s nothing spectacular. Not much happens, but it’s never the same…”
“We saw you earlier in this room with your boyfriend. It looked like you were transparent– like a shadow. What does it feel like? What do you see? Do we look like shadows to you?”
“No.”
“Now, now Wes. Remember, I have your playmate tucked away. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to him? Be cooperative. I might even treat you nice.”
“Nice? I rather you weren’t.”
“Answer.”
I was silent. What choice did I have but to give him a taste?
“Most of the time I don’t realize it’s happening to me.”
“Most of the time? How many times has it been?”
“Three or four.”
“Which is it, three or four?”
“I haven’t been keeping track.”
“A man with a photographic memory can’t remember– enlighten me how that works…”
“It’s easy if you don’t recall who you are,” I reached.
“You are suggesting you have no memory?”
“More like I have many memories– so many that I can’t trust them.”
“You really shouldn’t lie. You don’t do it well. You know precisely where you’ve been, what you’ve seen. You’ve met me, Angela, that worm Deal. I see it in your eyes. Those eyes of yours don’t hide much. Then there’s Sidney. Ah, yes. You were awfully familiar a moment ago for a first encounter. Both of you fit together so well in such an awkward position. Not an act done well without practice. Very talented the both of you. I could sell that tape and make a profit, or better, I think I’ll keep it for my personal vault.”
He smiled and stepped closer. “No, you don’t fool me. You remember everything. How close am I to the truth? You jump through doors in time, planes of reality? What is it?”
“Both, neither. How the fuck should I know?”
“Explain. Now.”
I hesitated. The room was still, but there was a distinct vibration. I couldn’t tell if it was real or not.
“It’s not time travel,” I said. “So forget trying to make yourself some all powerful being by going back and altering an event. You can’t change history. You can’t go back. I don’t go through time. I guess I go through other planes of existence. That’s just a guess though. There’s no controlling what will happen. I can’t. It’s random. If you think that you can bend it for your own purposes, think again. It bends you.”
I felt the vibration in my legs. Shit.
“Ah, but the experience. The curiosity. All the little unknowns make it all the more irresistible doesn’t it Wes? But most of all, the experience has altered you more and more each time.”
“Of course it’s changed me. My life’s been turned upside down.”
“Still evading. You know exactly what I mean. You’re not the same being physically. You’re superior. Psychic.”
We both looked at the chrome table next to me. The objects shook– metal on metal rattled.
“If I’m so superior and psychic, what the hell am I doing here?”
“Look,” he said, pointing to the table. “You don’t understand. You don’t have the intelligence to comprehend the limitless possibilities…”
“But you do?”
“Yes and also you’re hindered in other respects…”
“How hindered?”
“You’re distracted. You aren’t alone.”
“What?”
“I said, you aren’t alone. You brought him with you. You’re familiar. I’ve seen it before today. I’ve seen you both. You have the power to take another. I know what you are, and you’re going to take me this time. I will learn. I will become like you.”
He laughed.
“No way,” I stepped back.
“I will be superior in all respects. Breaking lamps, moving objects? Nothing! You don’t understand the possibilities… What I could do with your powers.”
“There’s no way I can take you. It’s not possible.”
“Sex. Arousal. I didn’t need your sperm– I just needed to be alone with you, with this sand,” he pulled the bag from his pocket then a syringe from his lab coat. “It will happen. First I’ll make you beg, then I’ll make you come. You will take me.” He stepped toward me and I took another step back. I opened my mouth to speak when the door opened. I was never so relieved to see Deal.