Brink by Mikel Parry

CH-GLIMPSE

“Thomas . . . Thomas . . . can you hear me?”

The world of light suddenly gave way to darkness. Everything hummed with a vibrant energy as things sped back up. The tornado of light and energy dissipated, leaving the normal world behind, and with it an extremely disoriented Thomas.

“What happened? Where am I?”

Thomas flung his arms wildly about while he staggered around, desperately trying to keep himself up. He felt beyond dizzy. It was as if his brain had been put through the spin-cycle a few thousand times. He found it incredibly difficult to even stand, let alone think clearly.

“Calm down, you’re back now.”

Thomas looked over to trace the source of the voice to see Banks’s worried expression. Banks watched attentively as Thomas continued to struggle to regain his composure.

“Why do I feel so sick? I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

Banks put on a slender smile before shoving a bucket Thomas’ way.

“Everyone’s first couple runs usually end this way. It doesn’t hurt to just get it all out. We get that a lot around here.”

Thomas hunched over the bucket and let it rip. The sensations he was experiencing were both incredible and terrifying at the same time. He felt as if he had just experienced an out-of-body moment.

“Your mind is just reconnecting to the present. It’s like slamming two worlds together for just a flash. It takes some getting used to.”

Thomas continued to wobble around, but his mind was finally beginning to return to its normal, freakish self. As it did the flood gates opened, spewing out all of the details he had witnessed in the past.

“I saw the change back there; or at least one of them. But it’s so insignificant I can’t possibly imagine how it would affect now.”

Banks walked slowly around Thomas, inspecting his every move. He looked very concerned.

“Well, what was it you found?”

Thomas looked down at the floor. The information streams were blinding him at the moment.

“Just some letters on the fridge—they were rearranged—it was just the day Tuesday, around three months ago. I have no idea what it means.”

Banks looked slightly disturbed by the result but nodded.

“Okay, well, there has to be more.”

“I have a name—David Schilling. He’s a plumber.”

“Anything else?”

Thomas cringed as his mind accelerated, relaying back to his brain the entirety of the room. Every detail it had found of interest was there. The only thing he had truly omitted was his distraction.

“Thomas, anything else?”

Thomas noticed the lack of professionalism that Banks was expressing. He had dropped the titles for the moment. Now he was treating him as more of an equal.

“That’s it; that’s really all I’ve got.”

“So, your time in the past only brought back two discerning pieces of information. You’ll excuse me if I’m slightly underwhelmed.”

“I was distracted. There was a woman in a bed who reminded me of someone, that’s all. It was nothing.”

Banks approached Thomas and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Thomas, it’s obviously not nothing if it’s effecting your work. We’re trying to save lives here! We can’t let our personal lives screw this up. We have to stay focused. We have to stay strong.”

Thomas flung Banks’s hand off his shoulder.

“And just what would you know about that? You have no idea what it’s like to have someone ripped right out of your hands; taken away! I was robbed on what was supposed to be the best day of my life!”

Thomas watched closely as Banks instinctively rambled off a date and time almost completely silently. But it meant nothing to him, did it? Quickly, Banks retorted in anger.

“I know a hell a lot more than you think! You’d be surprised what secrets we all have. Let’s just say I understand your sentiments. But just because I do, doesn’t make it right!”

Thomas started to lash out with a verbal retaliation but paused. Had Banks just expressed some truth? Was one of the unbreakable, inhuman agents actually expressing emotion? Now his curiosity was tying itself around him, binding him to the question. What had Banks lost? Letting out a long sigh, he let his fiery embers of frustration dampen. He suddenly remembered another acute detail that had bothered him greatly.

“When I was back there, I tried to fix the letters on the fridge but couldn’t. Why? I was able to slightly displace the door, and yet, no matter how hard I tried, was incapable of moving the letters.”

Banks shook his head and looked away. The complexities that he knew as common place kept rearing their ugly heads.

“It’s because it had already been altered. To alter it again would require even more energy. Once something finds its place and then is forcefully moved, it only adds to the energy keeping it in place. Time doesn’t like change. Whoever did this knew what they were doing. That’s why we have to get it right the first time.”

Thomas blinked then responded.

“I also believe I saw a flash of light. It came and went before I could see its source. It appeared that the change happened right after.”

Banks nodded his head.

“Well, then you were in the right place. The flash of light was the alteration adjusting itself into your instance. For a brief moment in time you were standing in the same room as the killer.”

Thomas let that sink in for a minute.

“That means he saw me! I would have been sitting wide out in the open!”

Banks shook his head.

“Look, I don’t understand how everything works, but I’m sure he didn’t see you. Your instance and his are dwelling in their own relative window. To you what seemed like minutes, in reality was at best a second or two to everyone else at that time. You’d be nothing more than a flash of light. If you two line up, then we’ve got a problem. We’ve never documented an occurrence of two instances in the same glimpse. And to be honest, we’ve never tried to.”

Thomas felt sick. Despite Banks’s reassurances, he still felt violated. He recalled the blank expression on the woman in the hall. How could he shake off the feeling that he was being watched?

“Fine, let’s say he didn’t see me. If this guy is as good as you say he is, how long before he comes for me?”

Banks let his head collapse onto his chest. His emotional state appeared ragged at best.

“Odds are he already is. That’s what makes this so incredibly difficult. He’s always a step ahead. Each time we get close, or think we are, we lose somebody. In essence, either one of us could be next.”

Thomas recalled the minor changes he had noticed since his involvement. Barb’s office, the hat store; had there been more? Had these changes been intentional or just coincidence? His fate was now hanging from wires of looming questions. If he was going to win, he’d have to outpace and outmaneuver the killer.

“Then we don’t have time to dig deeper. We need to find this David Schilling. Whatever was altered started with him. This only happened three months ago. Who knows what this has compounded into?”

Banks’s eyes seemed to tell the story. He was showing some deep remorse about failing thus far.

“I’ll call our intel and get him traced. In the meantime, we’ll need some transportation.”

Thomas kept repeating the man’s name and job title over and over in his mind. What was the link? How could a deviant mind use this man to create mayhem? There was a reason and he was going to find it.

“Call the other agents. Find out where they are right now! Tell them not to move a muscle until we can provide further details.”

Banks gave Thomas an odd look. He was taken aback by the brash tone in Thomas’ voice.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Thomas looked around the large, white room.

“And what am I supposed to do?”

“Well, you said you’re good. So figure it out. There must be more to this than you realized.”

Thomas didn’t like the idea of being locked up in some secret room in a building that didn’t exist. He felt like a caged tiger, pacing like mad. His mind needed a target. He wanted more information and he wanted it now. For him things were moving far too slow. If he had to wait every time for the others to finally catch up, he’d lose. Sooner or later he would have to make his move. But for now, he would play nice. The dictates mandated it so.

“Just hurry; if I’m right, somebody may already be dead.”

As he said the words his heart skipped a beat. That somebody could be him.