Chapter I

Two Years Later

Dusk had fallen over the quaint little town of Branford, Connecticut. The skies were gradually turning blacker and blacker as if some divine entity was pulling a dark blanket across the sky. A slight breeze blew through the air temporarily relieving the citizens from the dry august air that was the normality. The breeze caressed the trees throughout the town and made the small forest on the outskirts sway in tune with its whisperings. A crimson sunset was just finishing and casting its red and orange rays into a small clearing in the heart of the woods where two teenagers were lying in the center staring up at the sky.

James Jones was a fifteen-year old boy with copper colored hair. He was a tall and lanky boy of about six feet and was perfectly comfortable in his red hooded sweatshirt and white khaki pants. They were, after all, his signature get-up. The setting sun's rays reflected off his thin brown-rimmed glasses that complemented his hair. As he lay there in the grass, watching the sunset, his thoughts drifted to the very pretty red headed girl lying next to him with her head resting sideways on his chest.

Alexis Arnolds was also fifteen and her reputation of being the prettiest girl in Branford High School preceded her. Her long scarlet hair fell to just below her shoulder blades. Her face was without any flaws whatsoever and always seemed to give off some sort of luminescent glow. She had wrapped herself in James's arm so as to somewhat protect herself from the chilly air blowing overhead; the pink tee shirt and the old pair of jeans that clothed her were not sufficient to do the job alone.

James averted his eyes from the sunset to watch his girlfriend with pure pride. They had been best friends for as long as James could remember but it wasn't until recently that they had decided to become more. He felt it was the best decision he had ever made. James could think of nothing better than to spend his time with the one girl he had always had a crush on since their childhood. Now that they were together, his dream was finally coming true. Of all the guys in their school, she had chosen him and that's what made it the most special of all.

The pair of them continued to lie in the grass without any word to each other. No words needed to be spoken for they both knew that this was the best night so far they had ever spent together. They continued to just stare at the sky, as it steadily grew darker signifying the incoming night.

"Look," said Alexis, her arm pointing into the sky. Her voice was soft and had the sound of someone speaking to a child. "there's a star."

James followed her finger and he, too, saw the first star of the night. "Yeah, it's the perfect night for spotting them."

Alexis turned her head to look up at him with her caring brown eyes. She brought her hand over her head and reached for James's hair. He looked back at her and said nothing while she twisted it around her fingers. "I've always loved your red hair."

"And here all this time I thought you loved me for me," he replied, smiling. "Turns out your just dating me for my hair."

"You know that isn't true," Alexis answered. "Don't get sarcastic with me."

James laughed and hugged her close. He was starting to get a little chilly himself but he didn't say anything because he didn't want to leave. The sky had turned completely dark now and thousands of tiny stars twinkled through the blackness to smile at the pair of them on the forest floor.

James wished he could just lay here forever with Alexis, that they could forget about the world and just spend the rest of their lives in each other's embrace exactly like they were doing now. But he knew it wasn't possible for they had school in a few weeks, not to mention other chores and responsibilities to take care of. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but lose himself in this utopia he had created with Alexis at its center.

Another hour went by consisting of nothing but watching the night sky and holding each other in their arms.

"What time is it?" Alexis finally asked.

James looked down at the jet-black wristband on his left wrist. It was a real technological marvel. The wide blank screen on its front covered most of the top of the wristband. Next to the screen were two large square buttons, one red and one green. James pushed the green one and the screen came to life. It quickly flashed the date and time before it showed a menu screen that gave three options: sync, program, and transfer. In the bottom right corner of the screen was another choice. It read, "interface up". James pushed the red button and the screen lost its life once again.

"It's about a quarter to ten," James answered looking back at Alexis, but she didn't return his gaze. Instead, she stared at the now blank screen of the wristband that had just turned off.

James followed her gaze and his heart bounded into his throat. It was happening again. In a few seconds, Alexis was going to ask him about what she referred to as "the watch". She wasn't the only one who questioned it either. Ever since the thing had crash-landed in his back yard two years ago, every person James had ever talked to wanted to know about its real purpose. But what was James supposed to tell them? Certainly not that he was the protector of an entire alternate planet, that he was in contact with a whole other race of beings, that he was known as The Tamer. Sure enough-

"I wish you would tell me what that watch actually is."

"I've told you countless times," James replied. "I don't know what it is. Maybe it's some sort of government tech or an experiment."

Alexis narrowed her eyes and gave him a wry look. "You know as well as I do that that thing is not government technology. It does things that no one has ever seen! It can interact with anything that runs on electricity, it rearranges computer data, it downloads and transfers stuff and who knows what else!"

James looked down at the jet-black wristband. He hated lying to Alexis with all of his being, but there was no way he could tell her what it was really for. On the other hand, he wasn't really lying to her completely. Although he knew it had to do with him being the Tamer, he was not aware of any other purpose it served to him. For all he knew, this "watch" was a fashion statement that came with the job of protecting the other planet. Maybe it was a gift in exchange for his eternal loyalty to the planet's king? It certainly felt like a gift as it made his everyday life somewhat easier. But there was absolutely no way anyone could know of its origins. No one would believe him and James had been told that the entire race, known as the Cremagi, was to be kept under strict secrecy.

"Alexis," James said as he looked into her eyes. "I honestly don't know what it is or what it's for."

Alexis looked back at him. Her face seemed to light up the night around them as if she was a human nightlight. Her features were clearly visible in the velvet darkness that surrounded the pair of them. She sighed and then continued to stare at the stars in the sky a little longer before finally she sat up straight and asked the time again.

"It's now just about ten o'clock," James said after checking the watch again. Alexis started to get up.

"We need to get going then," she said. "My mom wanted me home by now."

James stood up too and wiped the loose grass from his pants. "I don't understand why she wants you home so early every time you go somewhere with me. She's known me for years but she acts like you're going somewhere with a complete stranger."

"I don't know," Alexis replied with a sigh. The pair of them started back towards town through the woods they had come through to get to the clearing. They each walked with an arm around the other's waist and all the while talking about miscellaneous topics of their lives. They talked about school and how it would be harder this year now that they were going to be sophomores at Branford High School. They talked about how the sky was getting darker faster now that fall was almost upon them and summer was finally ending. They even talked about how they were going to stretch out these last few weeks before school as much as they could.

As they reached the edge of the forest and the outskirts of town started to come into view, the two teenagers lessened their pace in a desperate effort to lengthen their time together. They walked huddled together as the air had become significantly colder than when they had been in the forest. No doubt the trees had been sheltering them from the full effects of the wind. The houses they now passed looked so warm and cozy that James and Alexis huddled even closer out of sheer jealousy for the inhabitants of the insulated boxes lining both sides of the street.

They turned down another street and Alexis's house came into view. It was a brown two floor home with a small one-car garage attached to its far left. There was a fairly sized red bike leaning up against its door. A stone pathway stretched its long gray arm from the French doorway that marked the house's entrance to the mailbox standing guard at the sidewalk. Golden brown leaves that decorated the lawn had fallen from the large oak tree in the neighbor's yard. The small hedges lining the front walls of the house were fairly short but provided shelter for the squirrels and chipmunks that commonly roamed the area. A large deck could be seen in the back yard.

"By the way," Alexis said as they approached the stone walkway. "What time are we meeting at Ashley's tomorrow?"

"I thought we were going to be there by ten thirty in the morning," James answered. The thought of the legendary parlor's ice cream melting in his mouth filled his senses. He subconsciously licked his lips and Alexis laughed.

Alexis's mother was standing in the doorway of their home. She very closely resembled her daughter for she had the same long scarlet hair and flawless face. It was like she was an older version of Alexis that had come from the future. Mrs. Arnolds looked very cold in her nightgown and her arms were folded tightly across her breast. A look of impatience was plastered on her face.

"Hurry up and get inside, Alexis. You were supposed to be home twenty minutes ago. Oh, hello, James," she added as she shivered on the front step. James waved a polite hello to her in response.

"Hold on, Mom," Alexis answered, clearly annoyed at her mother's impatience. She turned back to James, gave him a hug and kiss good night, and then turned to walk inside. Mrs. Arnolds gave James a hurried wave good-bye and closed the door behind them. James stood there watching the now closed door for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and walked over to his red bike that was still in a deep slumber next to the garage door of the Arnolds residence.

He got on the seat and started to ride at a fairly slow pace down the road toward the direction of his own home. As he rode, James lost himself in his many and unrelenting thoughts. At first it was just the prospect of the events to come in the following morning when he was going to meet Alexis at the ice cream parlor in the center of town. James could already see himself sitting with Alexis and stuffing his face with a large cone of chocolate ice cream. The thought made him swell with joy.

As he turned a particularly tight corner, however, the teenager's thoughts drifted to the black wristband he was wearing. He hadn't meant to think about it. In fact, the wristband had been the last thing on his mind until he had inadvertently glanced at it while snaking his bike around the curve. His once jubilant thoughts had been rapidly replaced with ones of confusion, guilt, and loneliness. As James passed the many houses along the rural streets he pedaled down, he couldn't help but feel jealous of the families that lived inside them. They had normality in their lives. James hadn't had any normality for two full years. Nowadays he often dreamed of the past, the past that consisted of just him and his friends, family, and school. True, he still had all of these treasures, but most of the time they were neglected or pushed aside for matters of a more alien nature. The daunting prospect of his double life as the protector of an entire other planet might have been more bearable and much less depressing if there were someone he could talk to about it or even just to vent his feelings to. Instead, James was alone in his task and his thoughts. He couldn't even tell anyone about what was going on with him because who on Earth would listen? Everyone would believe him to have lost his sanity. Furthermore, it had been made crystal clear that he was forbidden to reveal his double life to anyone no matter how dire the circumstances may seem.

James didn't dwell on his depressing thoughts for long as they contrasted with his usually carefree attitude and he didn't like the feelings that they gave him. Instead, he focused on riding his bike through the now blackened streets of town. He started to pedal faster so as to feel the wind slap against his face. He got so caught up in the ride that he had almost gone completely past his own house and had to turn around in order to go up the driveway and around to the back door.

Getting off his bike, James leaned it up against the wall of the house and opened the screen door of the three-story condo that led in to the dark dining room.

The kitchen light was on. It cast an almost eerie glow on the rest of the dining room, which was raised up over the rectangular living area. The fireplace sat in the far corner looking as desolate and dried up as was the norm. Shadows cast by the kitchen light danced around the pair of rooms with their long velvet figures. As James went to climb the stairs leading off from the dining room to his bedroom above, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Something fairly large had stepped out of the kitchen and into the dining room. The redhead's initial fears were somewhat alleviated when his Father came into view.

"About time you got home. I was about ready to go to Alexis's house to make you come home," Mr. Jones was a decent sized man. His larger build was the total opposite of his son's somewhat wiry body. Although despite their appearances, both of them were pretty strong. His ebony hair and mustache were starting to give in to the graying signs of age; however, Mr. Jones never let his age keep him from doing the things he wanted to do. One could definitely say he had a temper and it was no secret that James and his Father never could see eye to eye.

"I'm glad you didn't," said James. He had to force himself to keep his tone in check.

"You're not an adult and you live under my house," his Dad retorted. "While both of those things stay true, you'll do as you're told. I said I wanted you home an hour ago. Next time, you be home when I tell you or you won't be going out at all."

James shot his Dad a glare before continuing to go upstairs. Years of living with the man had taught him that if he tried to argue then his point would be ignored and the latter would just yell louder and louder until he got his way. James trudged up the stairs and turned to the second door on the left at the first landing. He quietly opened the door, stepped into his room, and closed it behind him so as not to wake his already sleeping mother and sister. Within the course of 5 seconds, his shoes were kicked off, the light was on, and he was sitting on his futon.

The bedroom was generously large for the house's size and had to be one of the biggest rooms in the condo. It boasted enough room to hold a full-sized futon, a small red cushion chair, a very tall bookcase, a desk with chair, a lamp in one corner, and a double door closet which cleverly kept his dresser hidden from sight. The ceiling reached roughly 20 feet above and the walls were painted a homey shade of peach color. Various bowling trophies were scattered around the room and on the walls with no real thought towards organization and a dirty clothes hamper rested next to the futon on the maroon carpet that covered the floor.

James sat on his futon and stared at the watch absently. He wasn't really thinking about anything in particular. Recently, there would be times where he would just zone out completely, unsure of what was on his mind or what was going on around him. He would sometimes even get ludicrous thoughts that the world around him wasn't real and his real world was on the planet where he was The Tamer. The thoughts never lasted long, though, and he knew they weren't true. Alexis was proof of that, as were his other friends, Ben and Margaret. James shook his head to snap him out of the recesses of his mind and stripped off his clothes. He pulled on a pair of pajamas from his dresser and vainly attempted to take the wristband off his wrist. Despite his best efforts, the wristband remained no looser than before James had tugged at it and still appeared somehow glued to his flesh. The teenager shrugged his shoulders to himself unconcerned and dived onto the futon, not even bothering to unfold it, and almost immediately fell into a deep sleep.

He was standing in a courtyard, a gleaming red sword held tightly at his side. He could feel the presence of other people closely behind him but didn't bother to look to see who they were. Something told him he had to keep looking in front of himself no matter what. The sky seemed darker than usual even though there were no clouds to block the moonlight. But even the moon seemed to cast a glow that was different from its usually friendly light; it seemed eerie, almost foreboding.

James's eyes cautiously traced the room for what he was supposed to be looking for but was having trouble adjusting to the natural light that was shining onto the grassy room. After one last look around, he was about to turn to see who he was standing with when his gaze stopped dead on the marvelous red and gold throne at the other end of the courtyard. Something was materializing out of thin air into the throne's cushioned seat. James tightened the grip on the sword and watched with a mix of fear and curiosity as the silhouette grew larger and larger. Before he knew what he was doing, James was suddenly rushing the shadow with a fury he had no idea for the reason behind. He raised the crimson blade over his head, ready to strike, and just when he was about to swing, the shadow opened its eyes. They were pure white and completely devoid of pupils. James's own eyes widened with terror as he lost himself in the endless piercing stare of the thing sitting in the throne and began to fall. He couldn't control himself. There was nothing to stop him from falling backwards into the blackness. He watched as the shadow opened a mouth and started laughing a high, bone chilling laugh.

James opened his eyes. He was staring at his bedroom ceiling. His eyes twitched in their sockets as he tried to take in the familiar surroundings of his room. A few more seconds passed and the shock from his dream subsided and gave his body permission to move again. Circling his legs off the futon and onto the floor, James groggily rubbed the crust off his eyes and reached for his glasses on the futon's arm. It was only after putting them on that he became aware of the irritating buzzing noise that was filling the room. Looking around, he saw his clock flashing on one of the bookcase shelves. Stretching himself awake, he got up and walked over to see the screen more clearly. The digital numbers read ten fifteen.

With the realization that he was going to be late with his date with Alexis giving his body a jumpstart, James got dressed, combed his hair, brushed his teeth, and was out the door and on his bike in a matter of minutes. He pedaled fiercely through the morning streets of Branford while hoping that his oversleeping had not caused him to be too late. As the ice cream parlor finally came into view, James breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Alexis waiting patiently with her arms folded across her breast outside the parlor. She raised her eyes at his approach and watched him lock up his bike.

"Sorry," James choked through bouts of trying to catch his breath. "I overslept a bit."

Alexis shook her head. "I can't say I'm surprised. You must have rushed to get here though because you're out of breath and you're wearing the same clothes you were wearing last night."

James looked down at his appearance. Indeed, the same red hooded sweatshirt and khaki white pants shielded his body from the slightly windy day.

"How late was I?" he asked.

"About fifteen minutes," She grabbed his hand and the two of them walked into Ashley's Ice Cream.

The parlor was surprisingly warm for an ice cream shop. The black and white tiled floor neatly held up small tables and wicker chairs that were variously placed around the room. All the drawings and sketches of the parlor's younger customers decorated the walls to the point where it was impossible to tell what color the walls were originally. Frisbees lined the tops of the walls circling the entire room. The whole place gave off a distinctly comforting and friendly aura. The parlor was clearly decorated with a family atmosphere in mind.

"I'm gonna get us a table by one of the windows," Alexis said.

"Alright," James responded. "What kind of ice cream do you want?"

He glanced over at her and saw her shrug her shoulders as she answered "Surprise me." and went to sit at one of the tables. James couldn't help but smile to himself. After all this time, Alexis still felt the need to throw him random tests whenever they went out together. It was one of the things James always liked about her. She never ceased to keep him on his toes even for the little things like getting an ice cream. With the answer to her test that he knew all too well pulsing through his mind, he went up to the counter and ordered their ice creams. He paid, grabbed the cup and cone, and went to sit with his girlfriend.

"Ohhhhhh, Gummy Bears!" Alexis exclaimed as she happily took her spoon and started digging into her ice cream with the same excitement of someone who had just stumbled upon a massive cave of gold. James sat down across from her and cheerfully observed her for a few seconds before starting on his own cone of chocolate ice cream.

The pair of them ate their ice cream in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company and the tasty treats James had bought for them. It was hard to imagine that days like this were going to be cut short, yet again, by school in two weeks. It was the same cycle every year. 180 days, give or take a few, of school and then roughly 3 months of summer vacation. The endless circle was enough to drive anyone into wishing school would just be over permanently. But for James, this cycle was never old or dull. There was always something new to do in that other world, always something new that had to be taken care of. However, despite his constant praise from the Cremagi and his status as the Tamer, James couldn't help but feel like he wasn't getting the whole story…

His thoughts were interrupted by another pair of people, the same age, walking into the parlor and pulling up chairs to sit with him and Alexis. They were a boy and girl, the other two people in James's close circle of friends. Alexis abandoned her ice cream just long enough to say hi to the two newcomers before allowing her face to disappear once more into the remaining chilly vanilla hills still left in her cup.

"We saw you two in the window as we passed by and decided to join you. Hope that's ok," the girl said. Margaret Chase was the third and last redhead in their group. She was a year younger than everyone else but more than made up for it with her seemingly endless wisdom. She was known to be able to read emotions so well that it had become nearly impossible to hide anything from her. James and Margaret always had a strong bond with each other. The latter looked up to James as a brother and James always treated Margaret in the same way. As a result, Margaret knew James better than anyone else and was his trusted confident whenever something plagued his mind.

"Clearly we aren't interrupting a date or anything. I was worried that might be the case," Ben Barringham chimed in, making no attempt to hide the sarcasm in his voice. He was the oddball of the group as far as hair color went. His dirty blonde head clashed violently with the sea of redheads he was constantly seen with. His rosy cheeks always gave him the appearance that he had just been through some strenuous physical labor. However, what made Ben stand out from the rest was his mind. Ben was quite literally a genius, to say the least. Boasting an IQ of over 170, there wasn't a problem he couldn't work out given enough time and his vast knowledge of just about everything made him a very valuable asset in any situation. The only flaw in his brainpower was his lack of awareness of human emotions which Margaret clearly had him beat in.

"No, you two are fine," James answered. "You know you're welcome anytime." Alexis nodded in agreement.

The four of them sat gathered around the small table for what seemed like hours. Alexis and Margaret had long been deeply absorbed in a conversation about summer homework and Ben was just as engrossed in a cone of ice cream he had eventually got for himself. James made occasional conversation with Ben through the latter's mouthfuls of ice cream and chimed in the odd opinion for the two girls. Eventually, he turned his attention towards the world on the other side of the window. He absently watched the cars and people passing by and remembered the weird dream he had had the night before. Trying to piece together what had happened, he had remembered the courtyard like room he and whoever else had been there were in as well as the beautiful red sword he had been holding. He had never seen that sword in his life yet felt a strange familiarity with it. But it couldn't be something he'd known about. It must have just been created by his mind like the rest of the dream. Although, he had to admit to himself that it had seemed very real.

"James, are you alright?"

He didn't quite register Margaret's voice at first and took a few moments before turning his face towards his friends. All three were watching him with the same curious look.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he answered. "Just had a weird dream last night." Margaret raised her eyebrows, a sign that she trying to read him.

"About what?" Alexis asked.

James told them all he could remember about the dream he had experienced the night before. He told them about the courtyard, the magnificent sword, the feeling of others being there with him, and of the shadowy person that had been sitting in the throne at the other end of the courtyard. His three friends listened intently throughout the tale and waited patiently until James was finished.

"I know it was just a dream but it still felt so real," James finished. He looked at each of his friends in turn. Ben looked pleasantly bemused, Alexis was grinning, and Margaret still had her eyebrows raised.

Ben was the first to speak. "Well, it's widely believed that dreams more often than not have hidden meanings behind them. It could be something you've always wanted to do, or a reflection of how you're feeling, or even just a repeat of a daydream you've had in the past."

"Oh, he daydreams all the time," Alexis laughed as she reached around the table to hug James. "It's hard to keep him focused on anything for longer than a minute."

"Hey," said James. "totally uncalled for!"

"Love you too!" Alexis retorted and the four of them laughed.

Just then, James's wristband starting making an obnoxious beeping noise and the screen began flashing red. James quickly glanced down at it and then excused himself from the table much to the curious and confused looks from his friends. He rushed out of the parlor and into a nearby alley. After checking that the coast was clear and no one was coming, he touched the flashing screen and the beeping stopped immediately. A few seconds later, a holographic screen rose up from the wristband and what appeared to be some sort of rabbit-like creature suddenly came into view. The rabbit began to speak.

"We've got an issue. Something important has come up."

"What's wrong?" James spoke to the screen.

"I can't say now," the rabbit answered. He looked serious. "I just need you here as soon as-"

James heard movement behind him. His heart leapt into his throat as his stomach did a somersault. He didn't want to turn around. He didn't want for his secret to have finally been revealed. Any second now, he would hear someone call out to him. Maybe there was a chance he could talk his way out of it. He always was a decent liar, though he hated admitting it. He waited. He couldn't hear anything. Perhaps he had imagined it? But then-

"Who's that? Another human?" said the Rabbit. "Well then, you know what to do. Take care of the wipe and then come here immediately. Klanoa, out." With that, the picture of the rabbit disappeared and the holographic screen vanished.

James waited a few more seconds. Someone was definitely there; Klanoa had confirmed it. He had been hoping he could be careful enough to never have to perform a memory wipe with the wristband but it looked like that wouldn't be the case. However, when he turned around to see who had caught him, he couldn't bring himself to ready the wristband.

Alexis was standing not ten feet from where he was, her mouth gaping and her eyes wide. James couldn't tell if she was scared or in pure shock. Not that it really mattered because either way he had been caught.

"Alexis…I-I can explain," he started. She didn't respond. She just stood there. James took a step towards her. He took the fact that she didn't move as a good sign.

"Lex?"

"What…the hell…did I just…" Her voice trailed off. James saw her eyes travel from him to the wristband.

"Lex, go get Margaret and Ben. I need to tell you all something," James sighed. He watched her slowly turn around but never leave her gaze. It was as if she was afraid he was going to try and run off or suddenly vanish from sight altogether. He watched her slowly walk out of the alley and waited no longer than a minute for her to return with Margaret and Ben in tow.

"James, what's going on? Alexis is pretty shaken up. Did the two of you have a fight or-"

"No," James interrupted Margaret. "we didn't have a fight but I have something I need to tell the three of you." Ben nodded and Margaret raised her eyebrows. Alexis just stared at him blankly.

He told them everything. He told them how two years ago, the wristband had crash landed in his backyard. When he went to inspect the crater, the wristband had latched onto his wrist of its own accord and, despite his best efforts, he had been unable to free his arm of its grasp ever since. He told them how he had been whisked away to some sort of alternate planet, about how he had encountered the race of Cremagi and become their guardian. He told them how he had been partnered with a rabbit-like Cremage called Klanoa. He told them how it had become his duty to watch over the planet as its sole human protector. After finishing his explanation, James searched his friends' faces for some hint of understanding, some glimmer that they didn't think he was crazy. Alexis had sunk to the ground in disbelief while Ben had slowly gone from interested to completely blown away. Margaret on the other hand, had not changed her patented raised-eyebrow look throughout the entire story.

James waited for one of them to react first. He felt that if he said anymore, he would jeopardize any chance he had of them accepting his story. Finally, Margaret walked up to him and placed the back of her hand on his forehead, checking to see if he had a fever.

"What's wrong with you?" she whispered to him so the other two couldn't hear. "You aren't relapsing are you?" She was referring to a part of James's past that only she knew. James had once lost himself completely to depression and created an alternate reality in his mind as an escape from the real world. He lived in that fake reality for years, finally believing it was his life until Margaret finally caught on and snapped him out of it. It was her who had kept him from sinking back into his depressive state and allowed him to return to his old self.

"No, I'm not relapsing," James whispered back. "I'm being totally serious and I can prove it to you." He knew taking them to the other planet was not going to end well but it was the only way he could see that would keep him from losing his best friend, his "sister", and his girlfriend who he loved most of all. He took a glance at Alexis from over Margaret's head. She seemed to have regained a bit of her composure. He wanted to just walk over and hold her but knew that Margaret wasn't going to let him go anywhere without being totally sure of him.

"I'm not relapsing," he repeated to her. She took her hand off his head.

"Alright, James," she said louder so everyone could hear her. "Let's say we believe you for one second. How are you willing to back yourself up?"

"I, for one, don't see how the entire thing is even plausible, let alone possible," said Ben. "I mean, come on. An entire race of beings on an alternate planet who knows how far away that you can just zap to at any point in time? That's completely ridiculous."

"Give me a second and I'll prove you wrong for probably the first and last time," James retorted. He slowly walked over to Alexis and crouched down to her level for the latter decided that she needed to sit on the ground to regain herself. She cautiously looked up at him with her caring brown eyes. James wrapped his arms around her and hugged her as tight as he could muster. He wanted to put all his feelings for her into that one hug and hoped that they would somehow reach her. After a few seconds, she brought her arms up and hugged him back just as hard. It was then that James knew she understood just how much he cared about her. He gave her a kiss and helped her back onto her feet, never letting go of her hand. Then, he turned to Margaret and Ben.

"If you're really willing to let me prove to you that I'm not making this up, then I'll take you there right now," he said.

Margaret folded her arms. "Won't someone know we're missing after we don't come back for who knows how long?"

"This wristband has the capability to transcend Time as well as Space. We can return to the exact moment in Time that we left."

Ben laughed. "Oh, I've heard it all now! Well then, go ahead and do it! Let's see this all-powerful watch of yours!" But his laugher was soon replaced with a look of complete and utter disbelief as James turned on the wristband and hit the Transfer button. A great cerulean portal tore itself silently into the space in front of them and remained spinning, waiting patiently for its maker to step through. Margaret and Ben mirrored each other's looks of shock but Alexis remained calmly clinging to James's arm, her scarlet hair flowing in the wind from the portal. James turned towards Margaret and Ben and then slowly walked with Alexis into the swirling space created by the hole. A quick glance backward told him that the other two had followed him and Alexis inside. The portal closed itself up and the four teenagers were swallowed by the darkness. Nothing remained in the alley to tell that they had ever been there at all.