Unstitched (17 page)

‘Time travel?’ he added.

I grinned. ‘Yeah. You’ll be able to scoot in and out of different times, go back a week and give yourself the winning lotto numbers.’

He reached over and took my hands in his. ‘What if I told you that I know there is green energy in the future; technology beyond your wildest imaginings; a strong, healthy, peaceful race of humans; buildings unlike anything you have ever seen and…time travel.’

I cocked my head to the side. ‘But you said you can’t see into the fut —’ I laughed. ‘Oh, come on, you can’t expect me to believe…’

His expression remained fixed, but his eyes were beckoning me.

I snatched my hands away and climbed onto my knees on the lounge. ‘Oh, my God! You’re serious!’

He nodded slowly.

‘You want me to believe that you’re here from the…the…future?’ I could barely get the words out, I was so breathless.

Again, he nodded

I shook my head hard. ‘I can’t believe it. I won’t believe it. You’re having a go at me, aren’t you?’

‘I’ve never been untruthful to you before. Why would I start now?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe you’re insane. Delusional!’

He frowned, his body rolling forward as though I’d punched him hard in his stomach. ‘Look at me, Anthea!’

I could hear him, but his words sounded foreign to my ears, far away, as they tried to punch through my swirling disbelief, the messy tangle of black cloud.

He raised his arms out wide. ‘Anthea, look at me!’

I slowly lifted my eyes from the lounge, back up to him.

‘Look at what makes me different from everyone else you’ve ever met.’

I scanned his body as he stood there in jeans and a t-shirt. He was tall, but a lot of guys were tall. His skin was healthy, smooth and almost translucent. He was built as though
he worked out hard and frequently, yet I’d never seen him go to the gym. He had an intense masculinity, sharply defined features, not too dissimilar from other men, but different enough to be noticeable. He smelled different, sweeter, and his eyes were so clear and green they almost glowed.

‘Yes, you’re different, but…’
His rationality. His calm, peaceful demeanour. How he knew where to find me. The message
—
that he knows more than I assume.
‘I want to believe you, but as soon as I open myself up to the possibility, I expect a bunch of doctors to run through here with a gurney and a strait jacket.’

His arms fell to his side. ‘I can’t force you to understand.’

‘I want to understand, but it’s so far-fetched. You’ve got to give me more.’

He shrugged. ‘What do you need to know?’

‘More. Just more. I don’t know!’ My voice was loud, high-pitched, unable to restrain the emotion, the confusion. ‘What time are you from? Why did you come here? How did you get here?’

‘Right. Of course,’ he said quickly. ‘I’m from the year 927.’

My jaw was scraping on the ground. I shook my head, squinting. ‘That doesn’t even make sense, Lucas.’

‘The record of time was reset to zero after… It is reset to zero.’

I sank back against the couch, wrapped my arms around my knees. ‘Reset after what?’

He hesitated, eyes darting over my face, and sighed. ‘A major historical event. That’s all I’m saying. Do you want me to go on?’

I reluctantly nodded.

‘In 927, there is only one race. We’re all the same colour and we all speak the same language — English — but, from what I’ve come to realise, we have an accent. The population is probably only that currently populating North America. There have been no wars for hundreds and hundreds of years. We have no need for police or gaols because there is no crime. The Earth is beautiful in 927 and the people are the same.’

‘If it’s so wonderful, why’re you here?’

He lowered his head, anguish spreading across his face. ‘For you.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘We’re not together in the future. We haven’t been together for nearly a thousand years.’

My eyes widened, lips parted. ‘Why not?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Why do we need to be together? Why is our love so strong?’

Lucas shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. I’ve asked some people from my time about you and me. They said there are stories of ancient souls who were made in pairs. And to be apart from one another is like the death of a star, each slowly fading away. I couldn’t live another moment without you, Anthy. It was killing me. And it was killing you.’

I was silent. My mind reeling. I didn’t doubt his conjecture. I could feel the pang of hurt behind each word that told of my future and his past containing a thousand years apart.

‘Can the future change?’ I asked.

He nodded slowly. ‘I’m changing the future by being here.’

‘Is that bad?’

‘It’s frowned upon.’

‘So you’re breaking the law to be here?’

‘Not the law as you know it, because there are no regulating laws in 927, but I’m breaking the laws of the universe, changing what is and what is meant to be. I’m hoping that we’re insignificant enough to not make a dramatic effect.’

I rubbed at my eyes and groaned. ‘Wow, Lucas. This is fucking doing my mind in right now. You know, I was expecting you to say you were like an illegal immigrant or running from the police at the very worst, but not someone from the
future
.’

‘I know it’s difficult, Anthy. I don’t even know how I would’ve reacted being told this back in 2014.’

I shook my head, a crazy smile on my lips from my near delirium. ‘You’re absolutely serious about all this, aren’t you?’

‘Yes, I am.’

‘And you promise me you’re not being treated for some kind of insanity and that you’re not on any hallucinatory drugs?’

‘I solemnly promise that I’m saner than any other person on this planet right now and I’ve never even seen a drug, let alone taken one.’

I drew a deep breath in and blew it out, my body trembling. I quickly stood and ruffled my hands through my tangled hair. ‘I need some time to think about this. To try and understand it all.’

Lucas frowned so deep. ‘You want me to leave?’

I nodded, unable to trust myself if I spoke.

‘Fine,’ he said, throwing his hands up in front of him. ‘If you decide that I’m telling the truth then you know where to find me.’

‘Okay,’ I said, unable to look him in the eye.

He grabbed his wallet and keys and left.

I raced into my room. I needed to get out of here. Do something, anything. I grabbed my bag, rummaging through it to check that my apartment keys were in there. My hand brushed over my book. It was like hot wax on my fingers. I pulled it out.
The Time Traveler’s Wife.
I remembered the conversation I had with Lucas — he’d pinpointed the inaccuracies of the author’s explanation for time travel, as though he knew the right answer. My mind swung to the message he left me that first night I met him. How the hell did he know way back then that I was going to fall in love with him, and believe that our love was timeless and recurrent?

I shuddered and sat on my bed. Could he be telling the truth? Could he really be from the future? Was it any more far-fetched than my original explanation of countless lifetimes as lovers?

No. It wasn’t really. If anything, it explained everything perfectly.

I lurched to my feet and ran for my mobile that was out on the kitchen bench. I grabbed it and quickly pressed Lucas’s number. He answered immediately.

‘I believe you,’ I said, my heart thumping, my breaths shallow. ‘I believe you,’ I said again when I was met with silence.

‘Thank you,’ he said.

‘Where are you?’

‘I’m on my way back up to get you. There’s something I want to show you.’

Anthea

Lucas’s study was practically empty, aside from two walls lined with bare bookshelves and an imposing timber desk and leather chair that sat a little off-centre towards the back of the room. He gestured I take a seat while he pulled open the top desk drawer. He reached inside for a black box no bigger than the size of a die.

Lucas held it up between his thumb and forefinger.

‘What’s that?’

‘A book. Of sorts.’

My brows lowered. ‘Right. That’s clearly obvious.’

He laughed and sat the cube on the desk in front of us.

‘I’m going to show you some things. It’s not a good idea to show you too much of the future, but if it helps you understand this all a little more…’

I nodded.

‘If it gets too much, I’ll gladly turn it off.’

My eyes widened, but again I nodded.

‘Activate nine, nine, two, three, one,’ he said in a strong voice, his attention focusing on the innocuous looking contraption. A thin green light emanated from the centre of the cube.

‘Menu,’ said Lucas.

The beam of light materialised into a life-size, three-dimensional woman’s head, complete with full colour and clarity.

I pushed my chair back and gasped. She was so lifelike, as though I could run my finger down her soft skin, through her long black hair.

He bent down and kissed the top of my head. ‘It’s only a play of lights.’ He pushed his hands through the woman’s head and the lights swayed, warping her face.

‘It’s unbelievably realistic.’

He nodded. ‘Compared to anything out of this time period.’

‘Do all the women look like this in 927?’

‘Like what?’ he asked.

I peered at the woman’s sharp, symmetrical features, gorgeous glowing green eyes and sumptuous black hair. ‘So beautiful.’

He smiled and turned back to look at the head. ‘I’ve never really taken notice.’

I scoffed. ‘So you walk around day in day out with sexy goddess-like creatures and you expect me to believe you don’t notice?’

Lucas laughed. ‘The complete obsession with bodies the present population contends with is long gone, well before my time. It might be hard for you to understand that because it’s so ingrained into your current culture, but how a person appears is in no way a priority in the future.’

I scowled at him. ‘You tell me all the time that I’m beautiful.’

He laughed again. ‘I still know when someone’s aesthetically pleasing.’

‘So, do you think she,’ I nodded towards the head, ‘is aesthetically pleasing?’

‘No,’ he said emphatically. He spun my chair until I was facing him and crouched between my legs so we were at eye level. ‘Because she’s not you. You’re the only one that
pleases me. Otherwise I wouldn’t have had to come a thousand years into the past to be with you.’

Good point.
I smiled and lowered my eyes bashfully. ‘Hard to argue with logic.’

He grinned and kissed me. ‘Now, let’s get on with this, shall we?’

He stood and faced me forwards again. ‘Search subject, Anthea Lewis,’ he said to the woman.

I flinched when the head spoke in the same smooth accent as Lucas’s — voice low and sexy.

‘Subject, Anthea Lewis, found. Seven entries,’ the head said.

‘Show earliest entry.’

The head silently disappeared and was replaced with an image of me and my first-ever boyfriend, Marcus, in complete colour and 3D.

I threw my hand over my mouth to cover my raspy breath. ‘That’s me at my high school formal.’

He nodded, smiling smugly. ‘Information.’

The woman’s voice narrated, ‘Anthea Lewis and Marcus Manwell attend high school formal. First published in
Daily News
, 16 December, 2008.’

I was gaping, my eyes round.

‘This HDC contains images of every published article from every source since around 1985.’

‘HDC?’

‘Historical Data Collection.’

I pointed to the image. ‘I remember getting that photo taken. I have that picture at home somewhere. This is amazing.’

He smiled. ‘I wanted to show you this, so you could see how I found you.’ He looked at the photo and said, ‘Cross reference Marcus Manwell,
Synergy.
’

The woman’s head appeared again. ‘Subject, Marcus Manwell,
Synergy
, found nine hundred and twenty-four thousand entries.’

‘Why does Marcus have so many entries?’

‘I’ll show you. Biographical article,
Rolling Stones
magazine.’

The head morphed into rotating pictures of Marcus. Marcus playing his guitar on a stage at Wembley Stadium, Marcus draped between two sexy groupies on a red leather couch, Marcus bowing to Prince William.

‘What is this?’

‘Marcus becomes a famous artist in the future, Anthy.’

‘Oh, my God. What? In a band?’

‘Yes. A band called
Synergy
.’

I couldn’t control my laughter. He was really kind of geeky in high school. ‘Wow. He
was
always into his music.’

The images kept flashing — Marcus on his wedding day; Marcus holding a newborn baby in his arms; and then another picture of me and Marcus, our arms around each other, smiling at the camera.

‘That photo was taken the day he left for university,’ I said.

‘Information — current image,’ said Lucas to the cube.

The woman’s voice narrated, ‘Marcus Manwell, lead singer of popular rock group
Synergy
with high school sweetheart, Anthea Lewis. First published,
Rolling Stones Magazine
, 19 February 2017.’

I clapped my hands and shrieked with laughter. ‘Holy shit! This is freakin’ amazing.’

‘I thought you’d like it,’ he said.

‘But how does this explain how you found me?’

‘I’ve studied music history quite extensively and was researching
Synergy
when I came across this image by sheer chance. As soon as I saw you, I knew who you were.’

I shook my head and giggled. ‘So you find a picture of me from 2008 while you’re in the year 927 and this made you want to travel back through time to be with me?’

‘Yes.’

‘This is incredible. How did it all happen?’

‘I ran further searches on you and I was able to pinpoint where you lived, where you worked, and what time period you were living in. After locating you, I travelled here to see that I was right about you.’

‘You did?’

He nodded. ‘My first trip here was New Year’s Eve nearly three years ago.’ He turned to the HDC and said, ‘Anthea Lewis, 31 December, 2011, New Year’s Eve ball.’ The image in front of us changed instantly to me dressed in a blue chiffon ball gown.