Broken

Chapter Twenty-Seven: FYI

I walked through the town that evening. My heart pounded. I needed a space to play with the device. I knew that if anyone else got their hands on it, something bad could happen. I was the only person who could handle it properly (and even I didn't know what to do with it). I decided to return the same alley from before. (Funny how I was so attracted to that horrible place, really.) Instantly, I pulled it out. The black screen was glassy and rimmed in silver. I looked at myself. I looked different. My tan skin was paler, my hair lighter. I looked more like Johnny than myself. The only thing I truly recognized were my eyes. They were the anchor to my sanity.

I pressed the small rectangle on the edge. The screen lit up. My hands quickly moved, dropping the...Thing. The white faded to blue and gray rectangles. Each one had a word to it. Time. Year. Location. Go. Search. Enter. I clicked on the search bar. More rectangles popped up, except this time they were smaller and could only fit single characters. My pointer finger poked on. The letter K magically appeared in the gray rectangle. I smiled as I pressed more letters like a kid with a new toy. My mind wasn't registering what I was writing at first. I pressed the Enter button. Searches for a Katrina Michaels loaded.

I looked at the dates. 2095. 2114. 2115. The headlines were praising Katrina for her work. "Katrina Michael's Time-Traveler", "Katrina Michaels and Jordan Daniels Make History", "Katrina Michaels Raises Money for Orphanage", "Katrina Michaels and Jordan Daniels Open SMISSO". I clicked on the second one.

This article had a picture of the two of us.

We were in business formal attire, and our ensemble matched. She was in a deep, maroon pencil dress and black high heels. Her long, straight hair was neat and combed. She was definitely lighter than from when I last saw her, more of a creamy coffee than a rich brew. Her face was all smiles as she wrapped an arm around me. I barely recognized who the man was if it weren't for the headline. My skin was deeply tan and my hair like pitch instead of being pale and a very dirty blonde. I was more muscular (bummer) and perky. The eyes were my surefire way of identification. Clad in a regular, but an expensive looking suit and tie we looked like the poster kids of relationships. We stood in front of a building made of glass, but I couldn't see a sign.

Katrina Michaels and Jordan Daniels Make History

By Kasey Kasik

Scientist and soon-to-be scientist Jordan Daniels and Katrina Michaels have recently proved they are the first time travelers in human history. Their two slips of paper, each from a different millennium, says it all.

The new celebrities were not always in the spotlight. It an older timeline, according to Dr. Jordan Daniels, they were put in the same orphanage on the same day. This is where the two toddlers met and their legacy began. Too poor to go to school, Katrina taught herself to read out of her then-deceased biological mother's diary. After sharing her lessons with Jordan, the two both won scholarships to high school and later earned internships at the old Santa Monica Institute of Scientific Study and Observation, which was already a major company created a British immigrant.

With the new timeline they created, Daniels and Michaels are now the creators and co-presidents of SMISSO after the death of the original president twenty years ago. Katrina's mother is alive and well. However, they still grew up together in the orphanage as of her mother's doing.

Now the power couple is working on a secret project that is to be released sometime next week. The world is on hold until then.

I'm a scientist. Science? Me? Her? We're orphans? No. I can't be an orphan. I have a family. I'm sure of it. Out in California. Yeah. I have a family just like she does. The more I thought about it the clearer it became. It was on the tip of my tongue and I could almost taste it. I should find her. I just need answers.

Ok, Jordan. Remember. Remember. Remember...

She was sitting across from me at a diner. Karen was to my left and smiling. Katrina looked annoyed, almost angry as she looked at her coffee. Behind her was an exit sign that read: Come visit us again! with a Danny's Donuts logo underneath.

The manager. It was almost in the front of my mind. Something went down with the manager. At least this is progress. Now I only have a headache.

It was getting late. The sun simmered in orange juice as it lowered. I pulled my jacket tighter and ran a hand through my hair. I scowled. It was supposed to be black. What happened? I snuck onto a bus with an older lady until we left town completely. I was the last person on the bus after a while. Finally, the bus stopped.

"Where you off to, son?" The bus driver called in his Southern drawl.

"Danny's Donuts."

"I'll just pull up there."

"Thank you, sir."

"What's so special about Danny's? Never been."

"It has answers."

"You got a case?"

"You can say that."

"Am I going to be in trouble? Am I assisting a criminal?"

"No, sir. You'll be fine." I smiled to him as he drove halfway into the parking lot.

"Here you are. Hope you find what you're looking for."

"I hope I find her, too." I slipped him a few coins. The door chimed as I entered. The warmth from the coffee kissed my cheeks. The jukebox still boomed. The waitresses still smiled. The lady who I remembered as the manager came up to me. She was still in the same uniform as before: blue shirt and jeans.

"There he is! This is Karen's boy!" She sang. "Can I get your handsome little face some coffee?"

"No thank you. I just want to ask you something."

"Well of course! I'll meet you outside."

I went back out to the benches by the parking lot. She returned without her apron and a pack of cigarettes.

"You want a smoke?"

I tried my best to keep from scowling. This lady can help you, be nice. "No, thank you. I just need to ask you something about the girl I was with before."

"Karen?"

"No the other girl. The black girl."

"The Negro you tried to dance with?" It was her turn to scowl. "I don't know nothin'."

"You must have noticed something. I doubt it's every day you have a customer like her."

"And that's the way I like it!" she snapped. Her red hair lit up the edges of her face and made her look devilish.

"Do you know where she is?"

"I don't care. She left with you and that was that." She came in closer and exhaled in my face. "If I were you I'd stop. If Johnny found out--"

"Johnny is the least of my problems," I growled. I pushed past her and started walking.

If the article was right, and I was from 2115, I didn't have time to worry about Johnny.

The glass shattered, voices screeched and cars lit up. I went back into the main part of town and it was like I entered a completely different world. But I did recognize one or two people.

There was Renee-Leah's friend from the shop running down the street towards me with the police on his tail. She was screaming after him. After a closer look, I realized she was crying. Black rivers of gunk broke her face in a million sections.

"Please don't kill him! I love him! Please! God, no!" Her tears soaked into her dress. She tried keeping up with the sprinting men, but her tall shoes made her stumble and look drunk.

I looked at the boy. His eyes were larger than before with fear as he sprinted. I nearly thought he would run me over.

But then I remembered. He was there with Katrina. Before I was in the hospital, he was there. He was standing right by the door and he saw everything.

Which meant he knew where she was.