The Golden Scarab (Chasing Chaos Book One)

Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE

The two stared at each other for a long time. "You're... older," Alyxx said to finally break the silence.

     "Well, yes, Alyxx, people typically get older... Except for you, apparently," he replied.

     "How do I know this isn't a trick?"

     "I could ask you the same!"

     Alyxx decided there was no way this old man could be her brother. She turned back to the car.

      As she was about to get inside the car, he whispered, "Once or twice..."

     Alyxx turned toward him and whispered, "Here or there..."

     "Rolled the dice..."

     "At the fair..."

     "It's awfully nice..."

     "To know you care." Alyxx nearly began weeping as she flung her arms around her brother's neck. "It is you! Oh, Tommy! I wasn't going to come looking for you because I was afraid I'd totally disrupt your life. Julian said you were his co-worker. You, working! I still see you as a six-year-old!"

     "You know Julian? He might have mentioned this to me."

     "I asked him not to."

     "Alyxx, what happened to you? Where did you go? And how are you still so young?"

     "It's sort of a long story, Tommy..."

     "Alyxx," Mark cautioned. "Are you sure you want to tell him this?"

     "He's my little brother, Mark. I have to explain what happened. He has a right to know."

     "Right. Well, I'm Mark. I'm Alyxx's friend and I run an auction house, so I'll go to the car and handle some business while you two catch up." He guided Panya into the vehicle and sat down in the driver's seat.

     "What happened?" Tommy asked again. "Everyone told me you ran away."

     "Well, I didn't, not really. I didn't do it on purpose, anyway," Alyxx said.

     "What do you mean?"

     "I was coming home from Jo's house and this car sped up when it saw me. It was about to slam into me when-"

     "Oh my God! Were you hurt?"

     "Actually, no. All of a sudden, I was here."

     "What do you mean?"

     "I was in New York, Tommy. In the year 2017."

     "Are you telling me you traveled to the future?"

     "Yes. I'm still not sure how it happened."

     "I thought you ran away... You promised to come home that night and you never did... I knew you either had to be dead or in New York, because you'd never broken a promise to me before."

     "I'm sorry, Tommy. I really am. And I know this all sounds crazy, but there's no other explanation for why I'm still seventeen, right?"

     "No, there isn't. I just... This is so unbelievable."

     "I know."

     "All this time has gone by with me wondering what happened to you... I came to New York for you, you know."

     "What do you mean?"

     "It was your dream. I assumed I'd either find you here or I could at least fulfill your dream. I opened up a gallery." He pulled out a cell phone and showed her a picture of the front of a gallery. The name was Alyxx's Gallery of the Arts."