“I have to tell you,” Max interrupted her, “Kane’s coming.”
“Kane?” said Deanna, as she stopped pacing and her deep brown eyes scrutinized Max with an intense stare.
“You remember him, right? From the lab? He worked with Kovac.”
“I’m not sure,” said Deanna, frowning. “Wait a minute. Yes, at the lab, he probed my mind. I haven’t thought about him in years. But what do you mean he’s coming? Coming here?”
“You have to believe me,” Max told her. “At my house, he tried to kill me.”
“What?”
“He tried to kill me,” Max replied. “Before I got away.”
Deanna simply shook her head in disbelief.
“But how does he know who you are, or where you live, for that matter? That’s impossible. And how does he know who I am and what my connection is to all this?”
“I know it sounds crazy,” said Max, “but he said he’s coming for you. I’m not sure if he knows where you live.”
“He found you easily enough,” Deanna pointed out. “We can assume he’ll find me too.”
“He mentioned getting David too,” Max added. “We have to warn him.”
“David Dexter? But he’s never going to believe such a bizarre story.”
“You’re right,” said Max. “What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know. Give me time to think. Come on, let’s get to the car.”
As he climbed into Deanna’s car, Max’s mind was racing, trying to fathom just how Deanna and Kane could even know who he was, since the timeline had utterly changed. Strictly speaking, the sequence of events that had first taken him to Deanna’s house had never occurred. He’d also previously met Kane in this time period at the police station and at the coffee shop. But all that had never happened now either, had it?
“So where are we going?” he asked, as he fastened the seatbelt.
“To see David,” replied Deanna.
“He was at the cemetery with his family an hour or so ago,” Max told her, as the car pulled away. “I met him.”
“You actually met him?” said Deanna. “Bet that was weird.”
“No kidding,” Max agreed. “I mean, I was him, wasn’t I, for a while anyway? When I shook his hand, all these images from his life flashed across my mind. His dad’s
funeral was just the other day and he and his mother were there, paying their respects in private. If they went home, he’ll be there by now. Where does he live?”
“His parents moved into a smaller place when Jonathan Dexter became ill,” said Deanna. “David and his wife moved into the family home.”
“How do you know that?” Max asked her.
“No magic powers, Max,” replied Deanna, with a smile. “It was actually in the paper a while ago, when David’s dad first became sick and the story caught my eye.”
“Is it far from here?”
“No, not far.”
“So,” Max asked, when they turned onto the main road, “how can you or I
remember, if everything’s changed?”
“I honestly don’t know,” said Deanna. “In your case, maybe it’s all to do with the sheer strength of your experience. In my case, it might be because of my abilities.”
“And that’s why Kane can remember everything too?”
“Not sure,” Deanna replied, shaking her head. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before, but I guess it’s possible.”
“So do you remember me at the park and at your apartment?”
“Yes,” said Deanna, “I remember what happened. How you, or rather, David, saved me then I found out that he was possessed by someone else.”
“Did he remember anything, once I was gone from his body?”
“No, not really. He was pretty confused,” Deanna replied. “My roommate had left me her car when she went out. I took David home, he was still feeling pretty out of it. That’s how I know where he lives.”
“Have you seen anything of David since then?”
“No,” said Deanna. “I never heard from him again. I also forgot about most of what happened over the years, or it felt like a dream.”
“Until now.”
“That’s right,” said Deanna, “until you showed up.”
“I read a little about David’s dad in today’s paper,” said Max. “He left politics, I would imagine because of what happened at the waterfront.”
“Yes, they probably covered it up somehow,” agreed Deanna.
“What about Kovac? Before I went back and changed things, he just retired after a successful career at the university.”
“I’m not sure what would have happened to him,” admitted Deanna. “He most likely wouldn’t have worked for the university for long after what happened, if at all.”
“So nobody went to jail back then?”
“No,” Deanna replied, “I think it all got conveniently forgotten about.”
“Maybe Kovac even went to another country? Maybe he’s still been doing his experiments somewhere else, all this time. Carrington suggested something like that, I think.”
“Not sure, Max,” Deanna replied, “but either way, Kane’s not been working with him, it seems.”
“True. When he turned up my house, he was angry that his life had been ruined. Didn’t sound like he’d been on an official project all these years.”
As they entered the Dexters’ neighbourhood, Max started to recognize his surroundings.
“I think it’s down here,” said Deanna, as she cautiously drove along the residential streets. “I’ve got a good memory for places usually. I’m sure I’ll recognize the house when I see it. Ah, that’s it, I think.”
“Yes, it is,” Max added. “The house looks pretty much the same.”
“Look, Max,” she said, as she slowed down. “I’m not sure what we’re going to be up against here. I never saw David again and I’m not even sure if he’ll remember me. We also shouldn’t mention your role in this, okay?”
“So what do we do?” Max asked, as they both got out of the car and walked up the path to the front door.
“If he asks, I’ll say you’re my nephew and I’m looking after you today. How does that sound?”
“Okay, I guess,” Max replied, with a shrug.
“Good, just let me do all the talking.”
Deanna rang the doorbell.
“Mr. Dexter?” she said as the door opened.
Max instantly recognized David from the cemetery.
“Yes, who are you?”
“My name is Deanna Hastings. May we come in?”
“What’s this about? Wait a minute,” said David, his eyes narrowing as he examined Max’s face. “You were at the cemetery weren’t you?”
“It’ll be easier to explain this inside, Mr. Dexter,” Deanna continued.
“I don’t think so,” said David, shaking his head.
He started to close the door, but Deanna used her foot to prevent it from closing.
“It really would be best if we talk inside, David,” said Deanna, firmly. “It’s about Aleksander Kovac and his connection to your father.”
David looked a little unnerved but soon regained his composure.
“Come in,” he said, calmly.
David glanced quickly at the street to check that no one had noticed his visitors’ arrival, before closing the door.
“This way please.”
Max noted that the interior of the house hadn’t changed much. David ushered Deanna and Max into an elegant sitting room, where two tall bookcases flanked an ornate fireplace. Large French doors overlooked a beautiful garden. David went over to the drinks cabinet, on top of which stood a collection of bottles, some glasses, and an ice bucket, as well as a phone. He then poured himself a glass of what looked like whisky.
“So what’s this all about?” David asked, taking a sip from his drink.
“You don’t remember me, do you, David?” Deanna asked him.
“No, don’t think so. Should I?”
“Well, it was twenty years ago,” Deanna admitted. “You woke up on my couch and I brought you home.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t recall.”
“I had green hair back then.”
David suddenly looked very alarmed.
“What is this?” he demanded, slamming his glass down on top of the drinks cabinet. “What the hell’s going on here?”
“When your father was working for the government,” Deanna began, “he was involved in an operation at the waterfront. Aleksander Kovac used to experiment on psychics and other people with highly developed mental abilities.”
“I don’t know what you’re taking about,” said David.
“Look,” said Deanna, “I understand you’re concerned about protecting your father’s reputation and—”
“I’m calling the police,” David interrupted her, reaching for the phone.
“You were there at the waterfront, weren’t you?” said Max, knowing they had to convince him. “You saw what your dad was involved in.”
“No, I . . .”
“Max, no!” said Deanna.
“It’s the only way we’re going to get through to him!” Max exclaimed. “David, you saw the lab where they hurt people, didn’t you? Remember that?”
“No, I . . . I don’t know,” David stammered, “I mean . . . how do you know all this?”
Max looked over at Deanna. He knew he couldn’t tell David the truth.
“It’s not important right now,” said Deanna, “but someone’s coming here to kill you.”
“Who?” David demanded. “Who’s coming here?”
“His name’s Kane,” Max replied. “He wants revenge.”
“Revenge for what?” said David. “This is ridiculous. I don’t know what you two are trying to pull here, but I’m definitely calling the police.”
He reached for the phone again, but suddenly the French window shattered.
“What the–”
“Kane!” Max exclaimed.
Kane stepped through the shattered door into the room. David first staggered backwards then fell to his knees, knocking the ice bucket and several bottles onto the carpet. David clutched at his temples and his nose started to bleed as Kane stared intently at him.
“Leave him alone!” Max shouted.
He grabbed one of the full liquor bottles from the floor. He rushed toward Kane, who lashed out with his fist. The heavy blow caught Max firmly on the side of the head and he was sent reeling over to the bookcase, which fell on top of him. Max was groggy but remained conscious as Kane turned back toward David, whose face was streaked with blood. Max wasn’t even sure if David was still breathing.
“You’ll have to get past me first, before you hurt either of them!” yelled Deanna.
“You?” Kane scoffed. “I remember you from back at the lab. You’re no match for me.”
He turned his attention away from David and focused firmly on Deanna. Unlike David, she didn’t collapse under Kane’s onslaught. She defiantly stood her ground on the opposite side of the room, as she and Kane stared intently at each other. Kane grinned, his facial scar becoming more gruesome, while Deanna’s brow began to furrow and she looked to be in pain. A trickle of blood appeared first beneath her nose, then another began running from her left ear. Max desperately wanted to help her, but he was pinned under the bookcase and couldn’t move.
Suddenly, Max’s mind was flooded with images. He saw a young girl, who he recognized from the images at the lab as the young Deanna, running through a field then cradling a puppy in her arms. He watched Deanna playing with the same dog when it was older, before glimpses of Deanna’s teenage and college years quickly flashed by.
Then Max was viewing scenes from someone else’s life. The boy couldn’t have been more than five or six years old, but even at that age, Kane’s features were unmistakable. Max witnessed the incident when Kane had killed a boy when he’d been testing his powers, followed by other snapshots from Kane’s childhood and adolescence. There were even images from the lab when Kane was working with Kovac and the others.
Random scenes from both Deanna’s and Kane’s lives over the previous years flashed across Max’s mind at ever increasing speed. Then abruptly, the images ceased and Max was once again witnessing the battle in the sitting room.
“No!” Kane exclaimed. “It’s not possible! It’s . . .”
Now it was Kane’s turn to drop to his knees. With what appeared to be a final effort from Deanna, he fell sideways onto the carpet and lay still. Max watched as Deanna rushed over to David. She quickly checked his neck for a pulse, before heading over to where Max lay under the bookcase.
“Max! Max, are you okay?”
She managed to lift the bookcase just enough to be able to ease Max out onto the carpet. Deanna’s nose was bloodstained and there was a trail of blood running down her cheek. Her hair was drenched in sweat as well as a little blood.
“Yeah, I think so,” said Max. “What did you do to him?”
“I beat him, that’s about the best way I can describe it,” Deanna replied.
“Is he dead?” Max asked her, as he sat up.
“No, but he could be out for a while.”
“So what happened?”
“We were kind of locked together,” said Deanna. “Canceling each other out, I think, to be honest. I’m not sure why I was able to beat him. He was so much more advanced than I was when we were younger. Maybe his powers got weaker over the years, while I was always enhancing mine. Plus, he was probably still half focused on you and David.”