R1 Friday

Before she could even see anything, she felt herself stumbling down and feeling nearly paralyzed. As the light began to dim, she became aware that she was on the ground rather than Victoria's floor. She began to see blurry figures move beside her, along with muffled voices, and she noticed her clothes were different; they were thick and warm, but the small area around her face that was still exposed told her it was much colder outside than she remembered. As the voices became more clear and sounded more concerned, she became aware of a backpack that felt like it was being removed, then she was shifted to her back, facing up as her eyes finally became clear enough to make out faces. Chloe, Rachel, Esha, and Victoria were all crouching around her.

She finally began to hear Chloe's voice. "Max, what's going on?"

She continued to repeat herself with more and more urgency as Max became aware of not only them but the area behind them that looked vast, rocky, and mountainous, which startled her and stirred her voice. "Where the hell are we?"

The words were barely audible, but everyone seemed to become uneasy by them as Chloe responded, "What do you mean? Max, just take a deep breath. Can you sit up?"

As weak as she felt, she did her best to sit up, and with their help, she managed to do it; her temporary paralysis seemed to be wearing off. Everyone sat in front of her except Chloe, who stayed by her side as she helped steady Max with a hand on her shoulder. Max looked around at their concerned faces as she began to feel more clear in her head, but not about where she was or what they were doing.

After a few moments, she heard Chloe's voice again. "What's wrong? Are you from the future? What happened?"

"This couldn't possibly be my past. The last thing I remember we were sitting on Victoria's couch, and Leana was trying to open a pendant. I tried to stop her, but it was too late." She suddenly became more aware of them. "Where's Kate and Leana?"

Everyone looked shocked and unable to speak for a few moments, then Esha responded, "Max, it's been a week since that happened in the other reality. Right now, you're with us in the Himalayan mountains in India. We're on our way to see Swami Shani, the guru I spoke of; we should be there by the end of the day. ... A lot's happened since then, as you can imagine."

Max didn't know what to say. She wasn't exactly surprised, but rather, she felt resentful that she missed out on so much. She began to look around again for some sort of sign that this was a dream or temporary trip, like when she went back in time, but she couldn't see walls of light or anything suspicious; it looked and felt completely normal.

As she was flooded with a sense of loss, she heard Victoria's voice. "Well, at least we know why the stones didn't do anything after that."

Chloe seemed to ignore Victoria. "Max, do you know if this is some kind of temporary jump?"

"It's not temporary, or at least it doesn't seem like it is. ... So, was I acting like my usual self after that? Did you at all suspect anything was ... different about me?"

Esha responded, "No, not at all; you were your usual self, and your aura was the same as far as I could tell. You even used your power on many occasions."

Victoria smirked. "Yeah, like getting my camera back after it was stolen a hundred times."

Max began to feel like an impostor in her own body, which Rachel seemed to sense. "No worries, Max, we'll have you up to date in no time; you still make daily audio recordings, or we can give you the highlights with a bit of dramatic flare if you want."

Max smiled a little. "The thought of listening to myself talk for hours about my unknown past sounds kind of ... eerie; maybe I'll settle for the highlights if you're up to it."

Rachel responded pleasantly, "We'd be happy to."

After Max got up and found her bearings, they continued slowly down the trail as Max started the ball rolling. "So, what happened when we got to LA? Obviously we found Rachel a new identity, but was it easy?"

Rachel responded, sounding playfully disappointed, "Honestly, Max, you should know better than to think that anything in our lives is ever easy; in fact, you may not even want to hear about that horror show."

Chloe rolled her eyes as she commented, "It wasn't a horror show; it was totally epic. Max basically took down an entire drug cartel and expanded her powers in ways she probably couldn't even imagine now."

Max was both terrified and intrigued. "What do you mean, 'took down'?"

Chloe went on, "Our first attempt to get her new identity ended up in a shady building in a bad part of LA. We were told we wouldn't have enough cash, but we went to check it out anyway. Me, you, and Rachel ended up in a room with some Hispanic dudes laced with tattoos. They gave us two offers for the ID: The first was fifty-thousand dollars, and the second was ... well, they wanted to ... have their manly way with the three of us, if you catch my drift." Max was startled, not liking where this was going, but she continued to listen. "They were totally caught off guard when we casually said we'd pay, but then one of the guys was like, 'Show us the money.' And I was like, 'Dude, do you actually think we're dumb enough to bring all that cash with us without checking first? We didn't even know how much to bring.' Then another guy laughed and was like, 'Sorry, girly, but you ain't leaving without paying one way or another.'"

Rachel interrupted mockingly, "I'm pretty sure he didn't say 'girly.'"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. So, it was pretty obvious at that point that they didn't have any IDs, or so it seemed, but then you suddenly spoke up and said, 'We were told you were a reputable source.' But another guy was like, 'Yeah, we got mucho fine ladies working to pay.' When he reached into a nearby drawer, we thought it was over, and I was expecting you to use your power and get us out of there, but his hand came back out with a large envelope, which he handed to you. Inside, surprisingly, were some examples of their IDs, which included birth certificates, social security cards, driver's licenses, and passports. Then he was like, 'Don't worry about my hombre; he likes to fuck with the ladies.' They all snickered at his perverted joke, of course.

"But at that point, I thought things were going to turn out, then you suddenly glared at him and said, 'Where are these "fine ladies" now?' So, luckily he thought we were too dumb, young, and pretty to be cops or informants, so he just ignored you and said we had an hour to come back with the cash. But on our way out, there was a door down the hallway at the end that opened up, and the sounds that came out were ... sexual in nature, and you sort of ... flipped out, to say the least. That's when you discovered a new power of yours, or maybe not exactly new, but like an old power but used in a different way. Later, after they were all dead and we freed the girls in the building, you told us that you expanded the fluid inside their hearts, causing them to have an instant heart attack. Honestly, I wasn't sure you'd ever be the same after that, and part of you wanted to go back and avoid it, but it always came back to those girls; you couldn't leave them to that fate."

As Max continued to walk along the trail with them, in awe of what she was hearing, Esha commented, "I think it's a blessing that you don't have to remember that experience, Max. You were right to avoid killing Jefferson, but unfortunately, this wasn't avoidable, so you had to live with that, and we all saw and felt how it changed you. Eventually, you got better with my help and meditation, but from time to time, you would always think about it, and when you did, we could all feel it too."

Rachel chimed in, "Yeah, Max, it's honestly good to have you back before that happened; now that I think about it, I can already feel something that was missing before."

Max didn't even want to think about it. "So, I guess I'm the first person to find a way to live my life without actually ... living it." Everyone smiled with amusement as they continued walking.

After taking a break from her story while enjoying the fresh mountain air and beautiful scenery, Max began to feel like she didn't care about her past anymore. This place felt so apart from everything she's ever known that it seemed to make her feel a peace she's never known. It began to become clear why Esha and her gurus lived out here. Eventually, though, she gave in to her curiosity. "So, did the next attempt to get an ID go better?"

Chloe responded hesitantly, "Well, it depends on what you mean by better. There wasn't any death involved ... right, Rache?"

Rachel sighed and stayed quiet, looking uncomfortable, which Max noticed. "It's OK, I don't have to know now; in fact, I was just thinking how I was beginning to not really care about-"

Rachel interrupted, "Max, it's OK, it's just ... a lot of shit went down after that. We continued sweeping the streets for dealers to no avail and were beginning to lose hope. Then, one morning, as I was changing clothes, I noticed something in my pants. It was an old cellphone my real mom gave me way back when we finally met; it was meant as a way for us to keep in touch so my dad wouldn't know, but it didn't work out. But there I was in LA with a way to contact my mom, so of course, I thought it was destiny. Then there's the fact that my mom knows shady people, people that could get me a new ID.

"So, we decided to call her; the phone was obviously useless, but it still had her number on it. Chloe made the call, but another woman answered. Chloe explained we were looking for her, but apparently, my mom gave the phone away a long time ago to a druggy friend, and that friend kept using the number. So, she didn't know where she was but did know where we could get ID papers. But after we took care of that without any incidents, we got a call from her asking if we could meet.

"So, you and Esha went to see her, and it turns out that she did know where my mom was after all. When she met the two of you, she apparently felt more comfortable about telling us thanks to Esha's soothing vibes, but ... it didn't end up working out; we went to her place, but ..." She seemed to struggle within herself to go on. "I saw her standing there ... playing with a little girl. ... She had hair just like hers, and they looked ... so happy together." As she began to sob, everyone stopped walking and stood around her sympathetically.

Max began to feel awful for bringing this up. "Rachel, I'm so sorry."

Rachel looked at her with teary eyes and a sniffle. "I guess meditation and all that 'healing' shit can't fix everything ... not that I'm not grateful for it."

Max tried to find a more positive note. "So, did you guys visit the other reality again?"

As Rachel continued to look miserable, Chloe responded unenthusiastically, "Actually, we both decided not to go back again; it was just ... too hard to let go."

When Rachel got a hold of herself, she went on, "So, after that, between what happened earlier with you and this, we kind of went into a collective state of depression. I wouldn't meditate, and I wouldn't let you go back and stop what happened, so we just hung out and ... kind of spiraled down for awhile."

Chloe smirked a little. "I don't know; that strip club was a high point in my life."

Rachel unexpectedly smiled again, which seemed to lighten everyone's mood. "Well, besides that ... and don't forget after that, when I supposedly lost you and had a relapse. I still can't believe I did that."

Chloe interjected, "You did have a relapse. If it wasn't for Max going back and warning us, it would have happened."

Victoria commented, "The only reason it happened is because we knew Max could go back and warn us if shit happened, which made us kind of ... lose vigilance, to say the least."

Rachel continued, "Well, it didn't happen, and we all got drunk with a bunch of strippers ... to say the least. I don't know, Max, maybe going back to experience that would be worth it."

Chloe chimed in, "She can't go back without a memory of it, remember?"

"Oh ... right."

Victoria looked intrigued. "Wait, if the white stone threw you into the future permanently, wouldn't it make sense that the black one would throw you back?"

They all thought for a moment with interest, then Esha spoke up. "It may not necessarily work like that."

Max commented, "Actually, before I even knew that these stones had power when I was in the attic looking around, I saw the pendant with the black stone and remember it making me feel ... off or uneasy in some way. ... I just want to forget about these stones and move on."

Esha looked positive as Chloe chimed in, "Yeah, we can always give you more juicy details about the strip club; you'll feel like you've actually been there by the time we're done."

Victoria looked amused. "I think everyone has a different version of that story; who the hell knows what happened. I just can't believe you talked me into it."

Rachel commented wryly, "Lately, that sounds like the story of your life: I can't believe this, I can't believe this."

Victoria rolled her eyes submissively. "I know, I know; a lot of it has just been the culture shock from India, but honestly, ever since I met you guys, my culture and perception of things has been drastically changing, so you can't really blame me for freaking out ... on a constant basis."

Esha looked amused and sympathetic. "You're doing just fine, Victoria; everyone has their own way of dealing with stress and change."

After Victoria smiled fondly at Esha, she glanced at Max. "Consider yourself lucky you missed out on last week."

After walking up the trail and into the mountains a bit more, the trees became more dense, and they decided to take a break at about midday. They sat on a pile of rocks after taking their packs off, facing each other and enjoying the nature around them. More curiosity began to stir within Max. "So, did anything particularly interesting happen in the other reality? Or did we just go to Portland as planned and went back to school on Monday?"

Chloe responded casually, "The only noteworthy thing was that you hung out with Stephanie, which I thought was cool. It's nice to know she's still gay and proud in that reality. Makes me regret more that she left here so suddenly; she was a cool friend."

It took a few moments for Max to remember her. "Yeah, she was cool, but Victoria made it seem like they were reluctant to hang out with her since she was single."

"In this reality, Stephanie had a crush on Rachel, so it might have been that."

"Did we just run into her randomly, or what?"

"Yeah, pretty much; you were at a mall in Portland buying clothes for Esha and saw her sitting alone in the food court, looking sad and pathetic. She went there to meet an online date, but she never showed, so you asked her to hang out and hit it off. In fact, both she and Leana are in on your secret now, and apparently, Esha and Steph are kinda into each other."

"Kinda?"

"Well, Esha is still on the shy side when she's not drinking, but things are progressing as much as you'd expect in a week. Yesterday, you even had the privilege of playing d&d with Steph as the GM."

Max was mildly amused. "You mean dungeons and dragons? What's a GM?"

"A game master. Don't worry; it's a lot more fun than the nerd party it sounds like."

Rachel chimed in flippantly, "Yes, please do tell us how awesome it is to play d&d, Chloe."

Everyone chuckled as Chloe glared back at her. "Eat me."

As Max sat and enjoyed some water from her canteen, she began to absorb her surroundings more thoroughly. She started feeling a deep appreciation for being out in the mountains in the middle of seemingly nowhere. At first, she felt insecure about being launched into an unknown place in the future, but that feeling was quickly replaced with the peace and quiet that resonated here.

Suddenly, Max's vision became bright white again as all her senses phased out like before. As she began to feel startled, everything faded back but differently. The first thing she noticed was the change in temperature, as it was a lot warmer now, and she wasn't wearing a coat anymore. She was still sitting but on something softer, and as her vision came back into focus, the view changed into a lush landscape with pine trees fading into a distant mountain and sunset. She then noticed she was behind a window and sitting in a comfy chair.

Before she could begin to panic, she heard a voice from another room in the house she was in. "Come on, Max, Esha just finished another one of her glorious creations; don't hold up the best part." It took her a moment to register the voice as Rachel, but she couldn't seem to react to it or move at the moment. After a minute passed, she began to feel more and regain her motor functions, managing to stand up and slowly make her way toward the sound she heard. She immediately noticed a blazing fireplace in the middle of an open and large beautiful house. As she walked across the solid oak flooring, she heard Rachel again. "Max, are you with us? Or have you decided to leave early today?"

As she came around the corner of a large archway, she stopped as she noticed a large kitchen with five girls sitting around an island counter in the middle. There was Esha, Chloe, Rachel, Victoria, and another Asian-looking girl that Max didn't recognize at all. As they noticed her standing there, everyone almost all at once began to look concerned. The Asian girl seemed most affected, commenting, "Max, what's wrong?"

Max continued to stare at them, still not feeling fully with herself. After a silent moment went by, she finally spoke. "Where am I?"

As Everyone looked confused, Esha came over and guided Max to a chair beside the Asian girl. "What's going on, Max? What do you mean?"

As Max fell silent again, not able to grasp the right words, Esha looked at the Asian girl imploringly. After the Asian girl seemed to focus on her intently for a moment, she spoke uncertainly. "She's hard to read; she seems confused about where and ... when she is."

Chloe blurted, "What do you mean, when? Max, just try to focus and tell us what's happening."

Max finally began to feel the natural grasp of words. "The last thing I remember, we were in the forest in the Himalayas. How much time did I skip over this time? Are we still in India?"

Everyone looked shocked and was speechless for a few moments, then Esha responded, "Max, that was about five years ago. ... We're in Alaska now."

As everyone continued to look in a state of disbelief, Max noticed a small girl standing beside her, looking up at her with a pleasantly curious smile. She looked about four years old and had a striking similarity in appearance to Esha. Max immediately reacted to her as she began to feel better. "Hi there ... what's your name?" The little girl looked amused by the question but didn't respond.

Esha intervened, "Max, this is Asha ... our daughter; ... she doesn't speak."

Max felt like she was jolted awake with an electric shock. "Our daughter?"

"A lot has happened, Max, as you can imagine. After we met Swami Shani in the Himalayas, she revealed to me that I was pregnant." Max was suddenly bewildered, which Esha noticed. "But not by another man; we're not exactly sure how it happened, but we assumed it somehow happened from the meld we went through together. ... As for the reason we went to Swami Shani, she couldn't give us the answers we wanted, but she did help with giving us a purpose."

"What was that?"

Suddenly, Victoria interrupted, looking flabbergasted, "Wait, hold on people, let's not rush into an info bomb; shouldn't we just focus on getting Max back now? I mean, the last time she just lost a week, and she was better for it, but this is ... unacceptable. Max, you have to stop this; can't you go back and warn yourself not to mess with that white stone?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "That wouldn't even matter because she'd just come back here afterward; she can't permanently anchor herself in a particular time; only the stone can do that."

The Asian girl shook her head skeptically. "But she wasn't in contact with that stone the second time, which means that the stone somehow imprinted its power onto her, so maybe she can; she just needs to learn how to control it."

Everyone looked enlightened and more optimistic now, and Esha suddenly looked more awake. "She's right, Max, and we shouldn't delay even for a moment; we should practice meditation now to prevent any more spontaneous uses, and-"

Victoria interrupted, "Wait, that's a good theory, but what if it doesn't work like that; what if the white stone is for only going forward in time, and she needs to use the black stone to go back."

Esha thought for a moment. "This is also a possibility, but since she won't be able to use it until after she shifts tonight, we should set our priority to maintaining control of the white stone power and trying to use it to go back. If that doesn't work, then she can try using the black stone as a last resort."

As they began to all stand and head out of the kitchen, Max turned her attention to the Asian girl for a moment but decided not to let her curiosity get the best of her. If she did get back to her time, it would probably be better not to know too much about her possible future. After walking out of the kitchen, through the living room area, and down the stairs, they went into a room with many plants and soft pillows on the floor.

When Everyone sat down on a pillow facing Esha, she noticed the little girl sitting next to her. When Max smiled at her, she smiled back and held Max's hand affectionately. Max's heart seemed to suddenly explode with love as she fully began to realize that this was her daughter somehow. The way the girl looked at her as a tear rolled down Max's cheek, it was hard to believe she wasn't much older. She was suddenly overwhelmed with a desire to know everything about her and hold her tightly in her arms, but Esha gently interrupted, "Max, I understand the way you're feeling now, but we really should focus on this."

After a lengthy guided meditation, they concluded that Max wasn't able to go back in time, but they would have continued if it wasn't for Max suddenly feeling sleepy. Without ceremony, they led her to the bedroom where she lied down, and everyone sat around her. As Max looked around at them, she focused on the Asian girl again. "I suppose I shouldn't know anything about you or how we meet."

"If you get back, it won't be long, and it's pretty much unavoidable. My name's Alex, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Alex. I'll look forward to meeting you again soon." As Max thought twice about asking more about her, she began to feel more tired and faded away.