Rubik

Chapter 8: Silver Lining

     I had no idea where we were, but we were in a forest of some kind. Oliver tended to a fire that kept us warm and the silence dragged on. The two strangers, who Oliver introduced as some friends he met, Jeremy and Taylor if I remembered their names correctly, seemed to keep to themselves as the fire crackled, the silence starting to get to me.

     "So how is it you managed to get here?" I asked, breaking the agonizing silence as I looked at Oliver and his two newfound friends. He looked at me and sighed.

     "I don't think you're ready to hear that story," He responded and that just frustrated me more than I was from Dylan returning to try and kill me. "Don't worry, I'll tell you when it's time."

     "I think that time is now," I said as I stood up. "You've been incarcerated for 10 years for something you shouldn't be held accountable for--"

     "You and I both know I deserved to go there, after what I did..." He interrupted me as he looked up at me from his seat.

     "And now you're just gonna show up and not tell us anything??" I asked, frustrated beyond belief.

     "Ray, just calm down..." Rachel told me as she stood up.

     "No, I'm not going to calm down! Not until he tells us what happened?" I looked back at Oliver. "Did you also know Dylan is back from the dead?" I asked him, but he looked as shocked as I was when I found out.

     "Dylan's back?" He stood up. "Don't toy with my mind, Ray. You saw Dylan?" He asked me and I scoffed.

     "Of course I saw him, he just tried to kill me!" I shouted. "Oh by the way, you know how we all found out we had powers except for Dylan? Turns out, he did get powers. And his power is to escape death and use his stupid Dungeons and Dragons board game to create goons at will and slam me through my house walls!"

     "It seems like his DNA was affected like the rest of ours when we were exposed to certain objects near us," Rachel said as she thought for a moment. "Perhaps..."

     "Perhaps what?" I asked as I looked at her.

     "Perhaps if we could get him isolated and weakened, we could--"

     "Unbelievable," I said as I shook my head. "Someone from our childhood comes back to kill me, and all you care about is bringing him in for experiments. Is calling the police about this attempted murder so hard to do?" I asked them all.

     "Calm down, Ray," Oliver said to me. "We'll figure this out, what to do with Dylan and all. We all just need to stay together and think of a plan to take--"

     "Stay together???" I asked as I looked at him. "Hell no! I know what you're going to say, and I don't want to be a part of it!" I shouted. "After what happened 10 years ago, I wanted nothing to do with these stupid powers we got!" I pulled the Rubik's cube from my pocket and I threw it to the ground near the fire. "All these powers got us were grief and stress, something I want to be very far from!" I sighed and shook my head. "I've been working on a way to get rid of them ever since I graduated."

     "What?" Oscar asked me as he finally spoke up. "Why would you want to get rid of these powers? Yes, there's always gonna be difficulties, but that's just how it starts. Why don't you want to see them to their full potential?" He asked me.

     "Because all they do is cause more problems than they solve, Oscar! Why can't you see that? Why can't any of you see that?" I asked as I turned my back towards them. "I thought I'd at least have you at my side on this, Rachel. But you don't like the idea of getting rid of these powers? Do you?" I asked as I turned my head slightly. She didn't say a single word and that was answer enough. I sighed and said, "Figures." I shook my head and pulled the ring off my finger, dropping it on the ground and walking away.

     I must have spent at least an hour wandering around through the forest, trying to figure a way out, but I just got more lost than I already was. I found myself near a lake and I sat down to rest for a moment, looking at the running water. I heard a feint noise and I turned my head to see Oliver walk over and sit beside me.

     "You know, I can understand why you'd be upset," He said as he looked at me. "But remember, we're the ones on your side, and we're the only ones who have even the slightest clue what's happening."

     "Then why don't you accept that I want nothing to do with this?" I asked. "You push me to fight a battle I don't want to partake in, and then you all get mad when I decline, especially when that battle involves someone I thought was dead for a long time."

     Oliver sighed and nodded his head, then said, "I understand. But as long as Dylan is out there, you're not truly safe. Unless you help us, you're never going to be safe. And we're here to help you." He pulled my Rubik's cube out of his pocket and held it in front of me. "So are you with us or not?" He asked me and I had to think about my options. I let out a loud sigh and grabbed the cube in front of me.

     "The minute, the MINUTE, we get done with this, I'm throwing this thing away," I told him and Oliver just nodded. He led me back to the others and Rachel... she didn't even look at me after what I did. I couldn't blame her, I pretty much threw our marriage in the trash.

     After a few days of hiding, Oliver set out a plan he had explained to get Dylan out of hiding, using me as bait since he knew where I was. I sat at the cafe Rachel and I used to go to every day after work, but this time I sat alone. I had my usual and drank at the small table as I looked out the window. Oliver was perched above on one of the taller buildings, looking around for Dylan. Everyone else was placed around the cafe to look out for Dylan, but he slipped past them all as he walked into the cafe. He looked at me and he walked over calmly, like he didn't try to kill me a few days ago.

     "How's your body feeling, Ray?" He asked me as he sat across from me. "Still sore from our little fight the other day?" He chuckled as he looked at me. "Say, what are you drinking, I might try some of it."

     "What do you want, Dylan?" I asked him as I put my cup down. I could barely look at him without seeing the past, specifically the two nights our lives changed, when we got these powers and when Dylan was killed. 

     Dylan sighed and looked out the window, shaking his head, before he said, "I know your friends are outside, all waiting to strike if they see me. I'm just here to talk, without a fight." He place a folded piece of paper on the table and I looked at it. "Go ahead, open it." I took the paper and unfolded it, reading everything that was written crudely on it. It was an entire list of events that happened, with everyone's name on it. Everyone's name was organized in a list, with my name circled.

     "What the hell is this?" I asked as I looked up from the paper.

     "It's your only chance to get out of this fight, consider it a silver lining." Dylan looked out the window. "I can see you want nothing to do with this, so here's what I offer. Call Rachel from your cell, let me see where she is, and I'll find everyone else. If you show me where they are, I will let both you and Rachel go."

     "What makes you think I'd give them up so easily?" I asked as I drank the rest of my coffee.

     "I don't," He answered. "I'm just giving you a choice, whereas they'd force you into this crusade of theirs to get rid of me. I have spies, Ray, and I know about what's going down. So I'm giving you what they didn't. A choice." He looked back at me. "So what's it gonna be... Old friend?" I looked at him, then back at the paper. It both pockets, I had my cell, and I had my Rubik's cube. Either way, it would be over. I reached into my pocket and pulled the cell out, then punched in the numbers to Rachel's phone. Rachel looked at her phone from a distance away and Dylan grinned. "Glad you could see when to fold 'em Ray," Dylan said and he walked out of the cafe. I closed my eyes and wondered just what the hell I did.