The river.

Chapter Twenty Six

"Hello?"

"Anyone?"

They didn't let their guard down. Jim protected Jenny, standing in front of her. Mundas turned to see what would catch them by surprise, with the same sword he didn't know he had. He got destructed by his reflection on the silver long blade. His hand loosened its grip on the glass handle it had. Where did he get it? Can he use it? If so, how did he know? A dozen of such questions lingered his already tortured mind.

"Peter?" Mundas called out, "Where is Peter?" His voice echoed on the walls of the concrete tunnel they found themselves in. It had bulbs every 200 metres though the atmosphere was uncomfortably hot.

Everyone noticed that Peter wasn't amongst them.

"He'll find his way," Jim was cold at this point, "What? I needed to let that out since I can do that here," he justified himself.

"Where are we?" Jenny asked.

"There is some bright light at the end of this tunnel, right at the front, see it?" Mundas showed them. They all began running as fast as their exhausted feet could take them.

"I'm coming Johnny," Jim promised his son.

Suddenly, a thud was heard behind Jim and Mundas. Jenny dropped down on the floor, lifelessly, "I cannot do this," she began, struggling to speak in between her breaths. She was panting vigorously, her face drenched sweat. She could hardly speak. Her legs were shaking. Her heart rate was extremely high.

"Jenny!" They both called out in unison as they headed to hold her as she falls. Mundas grabbed her first and slowly placed her on the floor.

"Jenny, sweety, we can make it," Jim knelt down and held his wife's arm, "we can, we can do this. For me Jenny," he found it entremely hard not to cry, "Plea...Please Jenny."

Jenny suddenly closed her eyes and dropped her arms. Every single muscle in her body relaxed. She stopped breathing. The visible pulse rhythm on her chest disappeared. As she dropped her head to the floor, one last tear was shed, flowing down to above her ears.

"Jenny? No no Jenny! Jenny don't do this," Jim wasn't ready to let her go, he kept persuading her to wake up in a very saddening faithful way, "Jenny don't mess with me, wake up," he laughed.

Mundas helped him up, "Leave me alone, she has to get up!" Jim stopped Mundas.

"Jenny!!!!!" He let out a loud cry to the point the concrete walls of the tunnel cracked.

"Hey! Hey! Honey!" Jim woke up, gasping for air. Jenny was right beside him, holding his hand firmly yet delicately, "I'm okay," Jenny assured him.

"Oh Jenny," tears ran down Jim's face, "Jenny," he sank his head in her chest as they hugged in bed.

A moment of passionate silence fell in place. They both listened to their hearts beating in unison. They could feel each other's chest expanding and contracting as they breathed. Jim then wrapped his muscular arms round Jenny's waist, holding his wrist to lock his arms round her. Jenny rubbed his hair in a comforting way, like an old grandma pampering her cat on her lap, on a hot afternoon, sitting on her rocking chair. He loved her doing that, it made him feel at peace.

"Wait," Jim broke the silence. He slowly sat upright and looked around, "where the hell are we?"

"Amnesia? Again?" Jenny formed an amused kind of face and smiled, "how much did you have to drink?"

"Drink? We have a son to save! And," he looked around, "weren't we in Rhandis?"

Jenny let go of him, she had a concerned yet irritated look on her face, "Jim, we settled for this hotel on our honeymoon, and who's Johnny?"

Jim felt his heart drop down to his stomach. His throat shut. He stopped breathing. Every inch of his skin had goosebumps. His eyes were flooded with tears, ready to come out any minute. He looked away from Jenny, slowly uncovered the white duvet and bed sheets and put his legs down to get as far away as possible from Jenny at the moment. He felt dizzy as he sat, his feet on the ground.

"Wake me up from this, please," he whispered to himself. He tried with all his might not to shed a tear.

As he stared at his feet, he widened his eyes as if he noticed something. He bent down to his left big toe and gently touched it. It had a blue ink stain right below the nail, close to the joint. He then replayed a moment in the past when he found Jenny treating her toenails to some nail polish.

"Can I try too?" He walked in on her as she was busy dolling up herself for the trip after their wedding, on her spring bed.

"As for you mister, let me use this permanent marker," she said, "polish is for girls."

She then gently held up his left big toe and drew a heart on it.

Jim quickly got up and marched to the balcony. The first thing he saw out there was the turquoise waters of the Caribbean islands. He slowed his pace and walked slowly towards the rail.

"The Carib," was the hotel name he whispered to himself.

"Time travel? How on....." Jim was beyond confused.

He then saw a small boy with curly hair play alone with sand on the beach.

"Johnny!" He shouted his son's name. Turned out not to be him when he turned around to see who was shouting in such a peaceful place.

"Time travel? Seriously?"