Something is
digging into my spine. A pebble? No. A piece of glass? Maybe, but it’s round
and dull. And I’m wet. Just underneath my head, although I can feel water
slowly making its way down my neck and onto my back, saturating my clothing.
Shadows move in between rays of fading evening sun from a window just above my
head. Someone is talking. It’s a man. Again, a voice I recognize. I must have
passed out and I can feel Ben’s hands on my shoulders, gently shaking me. As
soon as I hear his name in my head I’m relaxed and the cold wetness beneath me
no longer matters. Nor does the object piercing my lower back. I’m lying on a
wood floor, moving the tips of my fingers in and out of the deep grooves in the
planks. My ring finger stops on a nail sticking out of one of the floorboards.
The head of the nail is round, like the object making an indent in my skin.
“Elizabeth, can
you hear me?” shouts a dark figure hovering over me.
I find myself in
the same precarious situation in this black hole of time travel. I can’t speak,
though I know in a few moments I will be able to sit up and assess the
situation. I assume I went deeply into Cape May again, but oddly don’t remember
a bit of it. Is it me they are calling? It can't be. I'm Caroline, not
Elizabeth.
Everything looks
different as I blink my eyes open and catch glimpses of the scenery around me. Sweat
and a smell like the dark corners of a musty basement invade my nostrils,
leaving the ocean air I expected to breath in absent from my senses. It’s dark
and cigarette smoke has filled the room, creating a fog as the crowd around me
assembles. Their clothing brushes against my face and tickles my bare arms.
These faces aren’t
familiar. Where is Rebecca? Does she have Grace? I can feel my heart beat
faster and faster, sending me into a shudder of anxiety. I keep my eyes open
for a few more seconds, longer than I’ve been able to so far. Everything looks
strange.
When am I?
