Too Much Information
For a long time, Ethan seemed to be lost in the fog. When it at last cleared, Ethan was very happy. No, he was overjoyed. Ethan was back in his own living room. In the real world. In the present day. Finally!
Benny and Rory were worried about him. That was clear. Benny was again swinging his great-grandfather's watch an inch away from Ethan's nose. Rory was off by the TV set desperately trying to adjust the picture.
"I think Ethan's coming out of it" said Benny, "His eyes have gone back to normal."
Ethan grabbed the watch from Benny and put it down on the coffee table.
"Ethan has come out of it, Benny" Ethan replied tersely.
Benny and Rory both gave a sigh of relief.
"The screen went blank a couple minutes ago" said Rory. "We weren't sure if the vision ended or if there was just a problem with the picture."
"The vision ended, guys" said Ethan, "And none too soon."
"Yeah" said Rory. "It was real gnarly to see our graves."
"It didn't make you change your mind . . . about anything?" Ethan asked.
"No, it didn't" said Benny, cheerfully answering for Rory. "Did it, man?"
"Look, Ethan" said Rory. "When you guys told me what I had been the past two years, everything went crystal clear. No bloodsucking for the Ror-ster. Besides, it's a sweet life I saw. How much of it could I have done if I were stuck as a fourteen year old member of Team V? Sure, I was bummed out not to reach triple digits. You know, the big one - double zero. But ninety years old, that's awesome."
"Fame . . . as engineers, fortune, long life, girls" asked Benny. "What more could we want?"
"You even cure Erica . . . again . . . before she dies" said Ethan. "You're right, Benny, what more could we want?"
Free will was what they could want! And each of the three fell into a brown study while they considered the implications of what they had seen.
Benny now realized his big mistake. It didn't matter how awesome the future was. In seeing the future, Benny had the significant decisions of his life chiselled in stone before his very eyes! Well, Benny could always dodge the future he saw in his vision. Yes, and wipe Jack and his other children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren out of existence? Not to mention wealth and a certain amount of fame?
Benny wondered if he just wasn't thinking "fourth-dimensionally." The fourth dimension, of course, being the one of time. Benny's descendants didn't exist yet; so if Benny fouled up Ethan's vision, it wouldn't hurt Jack and his other descendants because they didn't exist. But Benny, as good as he was in calculus, as much as he loved science fiction, found that this baffling "fourth dimensional" thinking hurt his head!
Benny was also sort of disappointed in the future. Benny liked the idea of exposing some of the evil stuff in Whitechapel on Youtube. But that didn't seem like it was going to happen. Did Future Benny think it was too risky? What, with Benny being a spell-master himself? Even though spell-masters were the good guys! Probably, for the same reason, Future Benny had ditched the idea of a full-time career in paranormal investigation. Again, it was confusing as Benny didn't feel the same way as Future Benny did on the subject.
Nor did Benny understand why Future Benny decided on structural engineering, other than he was great at math. Although Benny had to admit he liked the idea of designing major and awesome buildings and bridges. Not to mention having his name marked on all of them as the project's engineer. But why? Did Ethan, Rory or Sarah pull him into it?
Most importantly, there was the question of Mary. Benny had pictured a future where gorgeous girls fought over him. Just like that time he had used the love potion, but without the near-lethal after-effects. And without his grandmother punishing him. But no, Benny would marry a sort-of plain girl who he'd save from a vampire. Benny didn't love Mary. He didn't even know her! Benny thought she was, well, plain. But he was going to be married to her for sixty years!
With a start, Benny realized he could find her. Too many innocent girls died at that Dusk premier (and, of course, any was too many). But not that many, thanks to him, Ethan and Sarah. There couldn't be more than one or two with a little sister named Mary. Benny sat on the Morgan family sofa, slumped and deep in thought.
Rory had watched much of the "spoilers" with one hand on the part of his neck where Erica had once bit it. Man, the Ror-ster could no longer stand seeing vampire bites or near vampire bites! Nor did Rory like being reminded of having been along for the ride in Jesse's raid of the Westdale Cinema. What had he been thinking those first lousy days as a bloodsucker?
But the rest of Rory's life? It was great. Great job, great wife, great aeroplane, great house, great son and (at least one) great grandson. Too bad he now knew what was going to happen. And, more or less, when. The only thing that might have been useful Rory didn't know the when of; it would have been great to diagnose his wife's cancer the very second it began.
Then there was the fact Rory III would unwittingly also spend a day or two on sucky Team V. After Rory was dead. Maybe Rory could leave a message for his grandson warning him about that bloodsucking girl? Like Doc Brown left a message for Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part II? Or should Rory just leave it to the one hundred year old Benny? Rory didn't even know the vamp girl's name or when she'd strike!
Well, Rory figured he might do something about another vamp girl. Rory would remember not to invite Erica into his house. But suppose Erica just waited and bit Rory when he flying about in his biplane? Or when Rory was doing architectural stuff? Maybe Rory should ask the rest of Team Sabre to break their promise to Erica? But then what would happen to Rory's future? Which he now mostly knew, start to end. No real big surprises left in life. These thoughts depressed Rory. Rory slumped on the Morgan family sofa, miserable.
Ethan had almost actually been in the future. But now Ethan was back, like the others he was looking at the rest of his life already set out before him. And his gravestone to boot! Did Ethan ever hate that! Was Ethan now going to work on fulfilling the future so plainly set before him? No detours? Should Ethan try to improve it? Was it worth the risk of fracking everything up? Ethan also slumped on the sofa.
But with a start, Ethan realized something else.
"Guys!" Ethan cried out. "You know each of us is already engaged? And we're only sixteen!"
"Fifteen" groaned Benny and Rory. Their birthdays were later in the year.
It wasn't yet the end of June. Not one of them had so much as finished Grade 10.
The three friends were so depressed, they didn't realize when Benny's grandmother let herself into the house. Not until she picked up Benny's great-grandfather's pocket watch from the coffee table.
"How many times, Benny" the old lady told her suddenly nervous grandson, "do I need to tell you not to touch things that don't belong to you?"
"It's not even magical, Grandma" Benny replied.
"Just because it's not magical doesn't mean it's not of any value" replied the old lady, using the watch to box Benny's ear. "Just like the fact that because something magical can be done, doesn't mean it would be valuable to do it!"
While Benny rubbed his ear, Ethan asked "Did Sarah tell you?"
"Jane spilled the beans" Benny's grandmother replied, as she sat in a nearby chair. "Do you three realize you've risked spoiling your entire lives? Do you know how you've nearly reduced your lives . . . so wonderful, unpredictable and full of possibility . . . into something so troubled, boring and full of being second guessed?"
"We know now" sighed Ethan.
"Ror-ster, my man" Benny's grandmother went on, "how can you think of junking something you've only just had returned to you?"
Rory slumped all the more.
"I talked them into it, Grandma" Benny admitted. "I wanted to see how cool our futures would be. Besides, Ethan already saw it in a vision. I figured there was no harm."
"There is harm in seeing too much of the future" said his grandmother. "You know that now. The seer's gift, especially a very strong gift like Ethan's, is used to disclose the future for the good of everybody involved. Have you three considered why Ethan's vision disappeared so quickly from his mind?
"We though it may have been because I was supposed to forget" Ethan admitted. "All but the part about Benny, me, Sarah and Rory never being bloodsuckers; or never being bloodsuckers again."
"Right you were" said the old lady. "From what I've heard, you read Erica's future at a time when you were deeply troubled by the desperate promise you made to that poor, stupid girl. You're still young, Ethan. Your hold over your gift can be very little better than Benny's hold over his."
It was Benny's turn to slump all the more. Benny felt about an inch tall. If Benny's face wasn't beet red, he felt it should be.
"It was your mind's defence from being overpowered by your seer ability, Ethan" explained Benny's grandmother kindly. "A rescue from a vision brought on by emotional desperation. You forgot your vision because it was bad for you to see so much of your future before you."
"You know, I think I get it" said Ethan. "And in my best friend's defence, Benny planned to use his memory spell on the three of us. I mean, if it turned out we did make a mistake in looking at that vision. And that's where we are now."
"I know" said Benny's grandmother. "The fact Benny had a plan to undo his damage prevents me from giving Benny the punishment he deserves . . . for misusing his spell-master abilities yet again. And potentially ruining your lives. That, and the fact I don't really have the heart to be too tough on Benny . . . this time."
"Why's that?" asked Benny hopefully.
"It was all I could do to stay home and avoid seeing how awesome the future of my beloved grandson and his best friends would turn out to be" said the old lady with a pleasant smile. "It's very tempting, it wouldn't have been so harmful for me to see your future. But I couldn't be such a hypocrite and go myself and see what shouldn't yet be seen."
"Then I guess I'll work my memory spell" said Benny.
"No, you won't" Benny's grandmother replied earnestly. "Benny, your memory spell needs work. From what I hear, the one time you operated it you used it as a blunt instrument! When you cast a memory spell, you don't use it like a butcher knife creating a day or two of instant amnesia. You use it like a surgeon's scalpel, carefully removing the memory in question! And casting a memory spell on yourself? That's a very different, and difficult, skill. I won't have you three boys blundering about with cases of magical amnesia. And me having to spend a week setting your brains to right!
"Okay" said Benny meekly.
"Now, are you three ready?" asked the old lady.
"Am I!" asked Ethan rhetorically.
"Yeah" said Benny, while Rory just nodded.
"Now, watch the watch!" said the old lady.
The three friends watched the watch.