Jump Line (Book 1 - Jump Line Series)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Paul stood quietly on the other side of the door, wearing a white jumpsuit similar to those of the rest of the team. The sight of him in this year caused my body to go rigid. He and Theo stared at one another as if daring the other to be the first to make a move. Their eyes stayed locked for what seemed like an eternity. Paul's hair was now the same white as ours, and his skin was pale.

He had been on the Jump Line.

"I came to talk with you. To explain something," Paul said in an almost pleading voice. "It's time you knew the truth, or at least some of what my recent research has uncovered."

"Maybe you should first tell us why you killed Mary." Theo crossed his arms, his body still stiff as if he was ready to pounce on Paul at any second. "I was obviously wrong a few minutes ago—you can travel through time."

"Mary? Who's Mary?" Paul asked, looking at us in confusion.

"What happened to Mary?" Samuel pushed past Paul and through the door. "Where is she?"

No one answered. None of us could seem to find the words.

He looked over at me. His light blue eyes pierced me to the core. "Esa, where is Mary? What's going on? Tell me now."

"She's in the back bedroom," I said softly, pointing in that direction. A part of me wanted to hide, but there was a stronger side of me that wanted to stand in front of the group and protect them from all of this evil. To protect them from Paul. If only we had jumped back sooner. We could have protected Mary. She would still be alive.

We remained quiet as Samuel disappear into the back room. His footsteps made a soft thud on the dirt floor. Seconds later he returned, an angry look on his face. "Who did this?"

It felt like the cottage walls were slowly closing in around the entire team. Who did this? That was a good question. Time seemed distorted as the idea that Mary had been murdered sank in for all of us. She was dead because of us, and she had been murdered by one of us.

"I'll be right back," he said as he disappeared on the Jump Line only to reappear almost a second later, shaking his head.

"We won't be able to fix this. Mary's time has expired. I checked. She died on time. It was always meant to be for it to happen this way."

"I don't believe it," I said. "She didn't deserve to die this way."

"I agree, now we just need to figure out which one of us did this to her."

Theo cleared his throat. "Funny you should say that, Samuel, considering her murderer was standing with you at the front door."

Paul put up his hands in protest. "No, you have that very wrong. I have killed people, many people, but this is the first time I've ever travelled back in time more than five years from my primary year. My body couldn't take a longer jump. Up until a few days ago, I had no knowledge of this location, and even if I had known about this house, I wouldn't have been able to travel here."

"Then how did you get here?" Theo demanded, creating a ball of electricity and throwing it against the wall. The impact left behind a charred black hole. "How were you magically able to make the jump this time? There's something you're not telling us. Like always."

Samuel moved to stand in front of Paul, "I've been working with him. It's a long story, but we have been wrong. Very wrong. I need you all to trust us now. We are being hunted. What has happened over the past few days is only the beginning. I saw something, and I knew I had to talk with Paul. We need him on our team. I'm sorry I couldn't tell any of you, but it was the only way to provide us with some protection."