Return to the Darkness - Ripley Proserpina Page 0,21

If his clients committed crimes, like say, selling a new designer drug that was pretty close to traditional LSD but re-labeled, that wasn’t really his problem. If they paid him to spy on their mistress, he didn’t care what they did in their free time.

And sometimes, less and less once I got involved with helping, he’d hide their shit while they went through legal battles where their exes might have their houses turned over. One time, I thought I’d found a piece of candy.

Yeah… it was pretty dumb. But I was eighteen, and despite my upbringing, really sheltered from drugs.

I ate it.

This felt pretty close to that.

It was like I floated through time, looking at things. Eventually, presumably because I was no expert, I’d land with Mr. Chee.

But for a second, I floated, staring at a scene in front of me. It was Aaron and Oliver with their mom and dad. Their sister, who I hadn’t seen since she was little, must have been about two. Oliver and Aaron were younger than I’d ever known them. They were wearing overalls that matched, except that Aaron’s had train cars on the sleeves of the white shirt he wore underneath, and Oliver had no shirt at all.

“We’re moving,” Mr. Chee announced, kissing his wife’s cheek. “To Vermont. There is a legitimate sighting of Champy in Lake Champlain. I need to see it for myself. You know how I love the lake monsters.”

Their mother turned to them. “Who can tell me what Champy is?”

Aaron looked down at his hands, and Oliver threw his head back on the chair. “I like it here.”

Their mother patted him gently on the shoulder. “I know. We’ve had a long stay in Maryland. It’s very pretty here. The people have been nice. But you know what our lives are like, sweetheart. Dad has a job to do and this is our life. The whole family is involved.”

Tears streamed down Aaron’s cheeks, but he stayed silent. Oliver, however, noticed them. His gaze flared with anger. Funny. I knew it well. It hadn’t changed at all into adulthood.

I floated away, this time hovering over Thorn and Colton. They sat on a beach, jeans rolled up above their ankles as they stared at the ocean.

“What do we do?” Thorn asked.

“We need jobs,” Colton replied. “Get some money, and then we try again.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’m going to call.”

Seagulls shrieked over their heads. The sun was starting to go down over the ocean. I wondered if this was while they were in California.

“It’ll make you sick,” Thorn said.

“Don’t care.” Colton’s thumb hovered over the keys. Sweat broke out along his forehead and upper lip. He swallowed hard and his hand shook. “Fuck.”

He took deep breaths that made his nostrils flare. I watched him struggle to move his hand, and finally, he gave up. Flinging the phone next to him, he buried his head in his hands. “She’s going to think we ran away from her.”

“We’ll explain,” Thorn replied. “She’ll understand.”

Around me, colors swirled and my head spun. I had to shut my eyes as dizziness overwhelmed me, but it didn’t stop the pitch and roll of my body through space.

All at once, it stopped and I hit the ground hard. The stones I’d clutched in my hands tumbled away, and I snatched them quickly and shoved them into my pocket.

“I’m ready.”

Mr. Chee knelt next to me. His hair, usually dark and smooth like his sons’, was messy and greasy. Dark circles ringed his eyes and he looked thinner. I’d just seen him today, but from his appearance, I had the sense he’d been alone much longer.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Ready to get home,” he replied, shaking his head. “I don’t know how you did it, Lacey. You lined up one timeline after another like it was nothing.”

“And you?” What had he done while I was gone?

“It’s done.” He sighed. “I don’t know if it worked, but it’s done.”

Fuck. I didn’t say it out loud, because there wasn’t anything I could do about it. Whatever he’d done with Erdirg, I’d have to deal with it when I got back. He reached his hand toward mine, so I took it.

And ripped it away again. There was something strange about his skin. It was paper-thin. Beneath it, his bones were fragile, like if I held too hard, I’d break them. “Mr. Chee?”

“You can do this,” he said. He took my hand and stood, pulling me up with him. The