Caught In Time

Chapter 18

Cassedee suddenly woke up. It was dark in the sky and the moon was glowing against the tall grass. She whirled around looking for the evil man but all she saw was herself. 

She looked over to where James had been sleeping--a somewhat looking clump of clothes lay curled in itself. He was sound asleep. 

Ethan was sitting close by on a rock, staring into space. 

The slow burning fire glowed against his blonde hair--which was now matted too. 

They were turning into wild animals.

Cassedee felt the top of her head. Her hair was knotted in parts and mangled. She felt her hair--it was coarse and dirty. Clumps of dirt came out. 

She stared at her fingers which were a gray color--it looked like dried cement. 

She stared at it for several seconds before wiping it away on her pants.

They had been trapped in this place for two days but Cassedee was certain it had been years at this point.

She sat down next to Ethan on the giant rock. Cassedee looked up at the sky, which was a dark blue.

Bits of purple swirled around in it and the stars were giant white orbs floating.

"Ethan, I think something's wrong with James. He's not acting like himself." 

Ethan looked like he was in a trance. 

"Huh?"

Cassedee shot him a look. "Didn't you hear what I just said?" She nudged him a little with her shoulder.

"No, sorry. What were you saying about James?"

She sighed. "Yes, James. He's not acting like himself. I don't know what happened to him but he looks like he's under a--"

She suddenly remembered. Her dream. 

Ethan's attention was now on Cassedee. 

"Under a what, Cass?"

She said the words quietly. "Spell."

Ethan glanced over at James who was still soundly sleeping, curled in a ball.

"Cass, I think we're in some sort of parallel dimension. All these weird things happening. What we turn into. My headlight eyes, your wings."

Cassedee nodded. "I know, I just don't understand why we are here. Pressing the button on the camera lead us here. But the question is why."

Cassedee looked down, unsure of whether to tell Ethan. She sighed again.

"Then there's that man that was in my dream..."

Ethan's eyebrows furrowed. "Man?"

Cassedee nodded. "Yes, a man. A very evil looking man. His eyes were glowing green and--"

Cassedee could feel herself tense up. 

"I think he was you, Ethan."

Ethan turned to her now, starving for an answer. 

"Me? How is that possible? I'm me, not someone else." He looked worried.

Cassedee knotted her fingers together. 

"Right but I think this place, whatever this is--I think it transforms ordinary people into extortionary things. Evil or good things. I think we are in a parallel universe, like a time-loop. In my dream, James told me that we were lured here--that he was under a spell."

Ethan was fully turned towards Cassedee now.

"Time loop?"

"Yeah, he referred to this place as the never-ending world in my dream. And that we are trapped here--no way out. Forever."

Cassedee could tell that Ethan was scared. His eyes were wide and his posture was rigid.

"Great." He said sarcastically. "Do you think it has something to do with that Mr. T guy? The one in the case files?"

"I'm not sure but I think I know how all those people disappeared. It all makes sense now."

Ethan urged her to continue.

"I believe that we were zapped here because we broke a rule. We broke into the police station. Reading all those case files...everyone who disappeared did something bad."

Ethan had his full attention on her now.

"What do you mean, bad things?"

"Like crimes. They all broke the law. Even Emily. That thing that was on Nole was not good Emily. That was evil Emily." She paused. "We have to figure out how to save Nole. James has been corrupted."

Ethan nodded. "Yeah, her case file. But Emily didn't do anything. Her husband was a bad person, Cassedee not her."

Cassedee could feel her eyes flickering back and forth. Ethan never called her by her full name. She remembered her dream. James had called her Cassedee. When he was under that spell.

Was Ethan now under it too?

She gripped the sides of the rock. She felt like she was going to throw up. How could she not realize it sooner? She could feel her heart flutter. She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. Cassedee would act as normal as possible. She couldn't reveal anything now. Not yet.

"That's the thing, Ethan. Whatever this force is, it rescues you before really bad stuff happens. We could've gone to jail if we got caught. Emily--"

She trailed off. She remembered a small detail about the way Emily disappeared. 

She was lifted into a tunnel of light. That didn't happen to them. They were zapped by that stupid camera.

Her dream was right. They were chosen.

Someone had placed the camera there knowing Nole's idiotic curiosity would get the best of him.

Knowing that they would be lead here on purpose. 

"Cass, what is it? Why do you look so worried?"

She ignored Ethan. Now only focused on what was happening.

Cassedee suddenly realized that their group had a spy. Someone was reporting back to someone else.

She looked at Ethan warily, decided in that moment that she would pretend.

Now it was her who was supposed to rescue James, Nole, and the missing.

Not Ethan.

She froze, unable to move. How could it have taken her so long to realize it?

Ethan was Mr. T.