Doubt (7 page)

IT WAS SEVEN HOURS AFTER the earthquake. Dr. Saeed, dressed in his white lab coat, over black casual slacks and a Ford dress shirt, and wearing his Boss glasses on top of his head, stood at the front of the classroom alongside Harry. His hair was combed back and his face was clean-shaven.

His real name was Dr. Saeed Nariman but students had such a hard time pronouncing his last name, so he asked everyone to call him Dr. Saeed instead. Out of all the professors, Cristal always thought Dr. Saeed was the most stylish prof at the university. Three video chat windows were opened on the projection screen. Cristal was sitting on a stool in the first row of lab tables. Gabriel sat beside her with Kerim on the other side. Joanna sat front and center of the tables, positioned in clear view of Harry, purposely blocking Cristal’s view.

Cristal entertained the thought of reaching over and smacking the back of her head. Kerim’s knee hit hers.

She turned to him and mouthed the words
“What?”

He tossed her a half grin.

Is he reading my mind?
She shivered at the thought, and then focused her attention on the screen.

Serena was speaking. Her dirty blonde hair was swept up with a clip. From what Cristal could tell, Serena was in what looked like her bedroom.

“I was at the location as requested for my mission. The news reports have confirmed that it was the precise epicenter of the earthquake. I also confirmed that there were no early warnings as reported on the HEWS Seismic webpage. For those of you who are not familiar, HEWS is the Humanitarian Early Warning System.”

Serena glanced down at her notes.

“I have further confirmation from seismologists around the world that no one expected these earthquakes.”

In the other video chat window, the Martinelli twins, Rinaldo and Angelica, codenames
Red Fox
and
Venus
, were agreeing.

Cristal was eager to hear what Rinaldo had to say. It was hard to resist liking him. His wavy brown hair, hazel brown eyes and Hollywood smile, not to mention his quaint Italian accent, made the other Truth Seekers, mainly those of the female persuasion, rush to his assistance when he needed help in the game. In real life, at only five-foot-nine, he had no trouble attracting high-fashion models who towered over him.

“Yeah, it was pretty crazy here in Roma,” he said, “Angelica and me were freakin’ out over here when the earth-a-quake hit us. You can imagine that. I’m-a-sure that the Pope fell off his throne and I’m not-a talkin’ about the one in the Vatican.”

He flashed his contagiously charming smile. Angelica gave him a dirty look in return. Cristal had to hold back a giggle.

“Yes, I have to agree,” Angelica said, turning to the camera. “It was a freaky experience. I cannot wait to-a-hear what Zero has to say about this. Please explain why and how you knew where we were supposed to be when it happened.”

Angelica flipped her long wavy brown hair away from her dark mocha eyes. Cristal envied how Angelica could look both upset and sexy at the same time. Her naturally thick pouty lips were what women would pay thousands for in Botox treatments. Cristal looked over at Kerim, trying to read his body language as he listened.

Kerim’s face was expressionless. He was listening but not reacting the way men usually do when they see Angelica for the first time. Gabriel, who was sitting on the other side of Cristal, was gazing at the screen. She could have sworn he was drooling as he smiled, drinking in Angelica’s every word.

Cristal looked back at the screen and caught Harry’s gaze. He was watching her closely. She took a deep breath and focused on what Angelica was saying.

“The room we were in was shaking so much. The floor beneath us, I swear, became like a jelly. Rinaldo and me were so frightened. He was holding onto me and crying like a bambina.”

Everyone in the room laughed. Rinaldo raised his hand and smacked her on the shoulder.

“Ayyyy…what’s a matter with you?” Angelica cried out, turning to him. “It’s the truth. You were crying like a little baby girl.”

She playfully hit him on the back of his head.

“Let’s-a-be serious,” Rinaldo said, turning back towards them. “Zero, we want to know what the hell is going on.”

He pointed his finger towards the camera.

Harry smiled and said, “Let’s let our rep from Haifa report first. Adel, please tell us what happened at the two locations I asked you and your team to meet.”

In the third window on the screen, a man that Cristal did not recognize began to speak. He had dark black hair, cut short on the sides, longer and wavy at the top. His eyebrows were thick over large eyes that sank deep into his head. He had a wide bridge over a broad nose and his skin was a cinnamon color.

“Hi, everyone. Nice to meet you. At the Gaza location, our team member, Sami, experienced the ground shaking. He was outside and he saw in the sky, the light streaks, which he first reported as lightning. Then the sky turned blood red. He saw an image forming in the sky like an oil painting. He sent us this picture.”

A photo appeared on the screen. Harry moved the mouse and maximized the image. In the picture, the sky was as Adel had described. The sky appeared to be a burgundy red.

Cristal squinted and could see an image where the lightning streaks were crossing each other.

Gabriel was shifting his weight on the stool beside her.

He whispered, “It looks like a man.”

Cristal focused her eyes at the image again. It did look like a man. As Harry zoomed into the area, the shape was becoming clearer. It seemed as if the man was pointing in a direction to the east of him. As the picture sharpened, Cristal could see the man’s facial features.

She gasped.

“Cristal, are you okay?” Kerim whispered in her ear.

She could feel herself fading out. The room seemed to be spinning around her. This is how Dorothy must have felt when her house was being swept away by the tornado, she thought to herself.

She felt Kerim’s arms around her as she slipped off her stool.

“Someone get her a glass of water! Cristal, are you okay?”

She felt herself being lowered to the floor. She closed her eyes, as the thoughts in her head bounced back and forth like a shuffleboard disc she had seen her stepfather play years ago on the deck of a Disney cruise ship. He had proposed to her mother that same night, much to her disgust.

“Cristal, this is Dr. Saeed.”

She felt something cold pressed onto her forehead.

“We are just going to move you over to the couch, okay?”

She felt her body being lifted.
So this is what floating feels like.
Her body was lowered onto the couch, her head gently placed onto something soft.

“Cristal, is it something you saw?” Harry asked.

“Leave her alone,” she could hear Kerim snap. “Can’t you see she needs to rest?”

“Is she okay?” Gabriel asked.

“She’s just faking it,” Joanna said.

If she could have lifted herself up, Cristal would have gone over and slapped the witch in the face. But her arms felt like concrete blocks; her legs were stiff and she was unable to move them.

“Can you try to take a sip of water?” Dr. Saeed asked softly in her ear.

She felt someone lift her upright. Her body leaned back against someone as she took a deep breath.
Kerim?
His cologne enveloped her nostrils. She started gasping and her eyelids snapped open.

“She’s awake!” Gabriel cried out.

She looked up and saw Kerim on his knees. He was holding a small vial under her nose. The fumes overwhelmed her senses.

She raised her arm and pushed it away from her face.

“What is that?” she managed to say.

“Mr. Biker over here thought he could wake you up with his emergency backup bottle of cologne,” Joanna answered.

Gabriel knelt down beside Kerim. He looked up towards Joanna who was standing behind them.

“It worked, didn’t it?” Gabriel said.

He turned to Cristal.

“Kerim said that back in Istanbul, they always use cologne to revive people who faint.”

She took a deep breath. Her head was becoming clear again. She struggled to sit up by herself. She noticed that it was Harry whom she had been leaning against. He was staring at her, and his gaze was filled with deep concern.

“Are you okay now?” he asked.

“I’m better,” she replied, “but the room is still slightly spinning.”

She put her arm out and grabbed Kerim’s shoulder to steady herself. He reached out and held her.

She stood up, feeling lightheaded. Then she swooned, feeling her legs get weak. Harry, Kerim, and Gabriel jumped up. Each one of them held onto her to keep her from falling forward. Harry eased her back onto the couch.

“You need to rest,” Dr. Saeed said, as he kneeled down in front of her.

He flashed a light into her eyes.

“Your eyes are dilated. You need to lie down and put your feet up.”

He helped her lie down while Kerim put a pillow under her feet.

“Everyone, give her some space. She needs air,” Kerim said.

Her eyelids felt like weights were forcing them shut.

“Come on, everyone. The meeting is over,” he added.

She could hear people moving away.

“Dr. Saeed, I need to talk to her,” Harry whispered, a few feet away from her.

“Kerim is right. She needs to rest. We can talk to her when she is better,” Dr. Saeed replied.

“I’ll stay with her. When she’s stronger, I’ll take her home,” Kerim said.

Was he beside her?

“I think I should stay with her and you should go,” Harry responded.

She heard shuffling and more whispering. Using what little energy she had left, she managed to speak.

“Kerim, don’t go.”

“She’s delusional,” she heard Harry say.

“You heard her,” Kerim said. “I’ll take her home. No need for both of you to stay here.”

“Harry, why don’t we move the meeting to my office? We can check on her in an hour or so,” Dr. Saeed said.

She heard more shuffling, and then there was silence.

She was in a white room. Around her there were walls made out of clouds. She noticed that in her hand was a paintbrush covered in red paint. She turned around and one wall was covered in red with streaks of white clouds in between each stroke. The clouds started to move, bending the lines, and forming a picture. She put the paintbrush down and moved towards it. Each step she took was as if she were floating. Weightless. Free.

“Cristal,”
a voice said.

Her eyes widened. The picture was coming to life.

“Don’t be afraid.”

It was changing shape and moving towards her.

“Dad?”

CRISTAL EYES SNAPPED OPEN and darkness surrounded her. The dream was still clear in her mind.
But was it a dream?
She sat up, looked around, and saw that she was alone.
How long have I been sleeping? Where is everyone?

She stood up
, adjusting her eyes to the darkness and walked towards the doorway, bumping into a stool. She picked up her backpack, which was still sitting on the table. She walked out of the classroom into the dark hallway. She reasoned that the building was running on power from the generator, due to the earthquake. It was creepy being alone in the dark.

She could see light coming from Dr. Saeed
’s office across from the classroom. As she walked closer to the doorway, there were voices involved in an intense conversation. Slowly, she approached the door. Kerim was standing in front of Harry and Dr. Saeed in front of a desk, and they were seated at the meeting table. There was no one else in the room.

“…and that’s what you really think happened? Time travel? C’mon Harry, I know there are strange things happening, but that?”

Harry was smiling, and his hands were animated as he spoke.

“Like I said earlier, it’s all in my father’s notes. Dr. Saeed was helping my father prove their theory that there are portals or black holes in locations around the world. My dad worked with Dr. Saeed to gather data from multiple sources that included satellite imagery, and a geographic information system.”

He turned to Dr. Saeed. “Tell him about the experiments with the kids.”

Dr. Saeed crossed his arms. “Aaron Doub theorized that gifted children’s extra sensory skills could help connect or bridge the present to the future.”

Harry’s grin grew wider, as he said, “Child prodigies have natural abilities that are remarkable for children their age. My father believed that the reason for this is because their brains are able to process data and information like computers. His tests proved that they use fifty times more brain cells than average children or adults. They theorized that if we placed a gifted person at a location where a black hole or portal exists, it would be the key to unleash the energy to open up the portals.”

The expression on Kerim’s face said loud and clear that he wasn’t buying anything they were saying to him. He sat down on the edge of the desk.

“So is that how the earthquakes happened?” Kerim inquired. “Gabriel’s apartment is one of the locations of a black hole?”

Kerim leaned towards Harry and pointed his finger at him.

“That’s why you wanted Cristal to go there. And you needed me to keep her safe. Is that it?” He paused. “When the earthquake happened, I saw a white light coming out of Cristal’s chest that shot up to the ceiling and it went right through to the ground.”

Cristal’s heart started beating faster.
I can’t believe Harry set me up
. She clenched her fists and felt her face turn red. She stepped closer to the door but kept herself from entering.

Kerim now had Harry and Dr. Saeed’s full attention.

“What do you mean a white light?” Dr. Saeed asked, crossing his arms and tilting his head.

“Can you describe what it looked like?” Harry interrupted.

Kerim took a deep breath. “The light came from the ceiling down into her chest and then it went into the ground. I saw images above her head like a movie playing on a screen.”

He paused, as if trying to recollect what he had seen.

“Go on,” Harry said.

“Well, I saw you, Cristal, Dr. Saeed, Gabriel, Rinaldo, and Adel. I was there, too. There was another guy, dark-skinned, brown hair. I couldn’t see him very well.”

Dr. Saeed glanced at Harry and then looked back at Kerim. “Could be Sami?”

Kerim continued, “We were standing outside somewhere, and it was hot. The sun was hitting the grey wall behind us. Cristal moved to the center, and all of a sudden there was a white light coming out from her chest. It was weird, because it looked almost like a mirror of what was happening in front of me.”

He sat back down on the edge of the desk and fell silent.

“Don’t stop now,” Harry said.

Kerim looked at Harry. His eyes narrowed as he spoke. “Harry, it was all about you, all this time! Right?”

Harry arched his eyebrow and stole a glance at Dr. Saeed, who was intently listening to Kerim.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Harry said.

Cristal heard the sincerity in his voice.

“You and Dr. Saeed over here are in on this, right?” Kerim demanded, pounding his fist onto the table.

Dr. Saee
d showed no facial expressions. “Kerim, tell us what you saw,” he said calmly.

Kerim stood up and turned towards Harry, his grey eyes piercing into his.

“You walked into the light,” he said in a low voice.

Cristal had to step closer to hear him.

“Then the light disappeared.”

Harry’s eyebrows arched up. “And that’s it?” he asked.

Kerim replied, “No, that isn’t it.”

Harry stood up, his gaze never leaving Kerim’s. “Okay, so tell us.”

“It wasn’t just the light that disappeared.
You
disappeared with it.”

Harry had a shocked look on his face, and his eyebrows were arching even higher. Dr. Saeed’s eyes widened slightly. He leaned over and whispered something into Harry’s ear. Harry smirked in agreement.

Kerim had turned around, seemingly oblivious to what was around him. He ran his hands through his hair in exasperation.

“And that’s when the earthquake stopped. The light and the images vanished,” he said.

A smile crept onto Harry’s face. “In your vision, I must have traveled into the future!”

Cristal could feel her face burn red. She could not contain her fury any longer. She marched into the room. Everyone turned to look at her with stunned looks on their faces.

“That explains a lot, Harry,” she said, her voice shaking with anger.

Cristal looked straight into his eyes. “But guess what? This prodigy wants nothing to do with your time traveling theory.”

She whirled around, poking her finger onto Kerim’s shoulder. “And you,” she said, her voice rising higher.

She looked at her hands briefly realizing that they were beginning to shake. “I was beginning to trust you. Now I know better. I can’t believe you told them about the light.”

She turned around with full intentions of running out the door, but she stopped. On the shelf, among stacks of books was an 8x10 photo in a silver frame. In the photo, Dr. Saeed was standing on the far right. She recognized the man in the middle as Harry’s father. She had seen his YouTube videos on the Truth Seekers’ discussion forums. But it wasn’t Aaron Doub that caught her eye. It was the woman on the other side of him.

She stepped closer, wondering where she had seen this person that appeared in the picture. Harry and Kerim walked up and stood beside her.

“That’s her,” Cristal managed to say, pointing to the picture.

“Who?” Kerim asked.

“After the earthquake, I looked up into the sky and saw a face. It was her.” She could feel her heart pounding harder and faster.

“Are you sure?” Dr. Saeed asked.

“I’m positive,” she answered. Her words seemed to stick in her throat like chalk dust.

Harry grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her towards him. His blue eyes were wide with excitement.

“That’s Bina Schwartz. My mother.”

“Are you serious?” Kerim asked.

“Yes!” he said. “She went missing last year.”