You don’t see me, Justin chanted to himself as if he had hypnotic powers. Through his limited view between the trees, he waited for the mini-horde to make up its mind. The lead Z snorted and raised its bony hand. They trooped up the mountain about a hundred yards from him. Way too close.
Once the mini-horde marched out of sight, he zoomed in below. The soldiers had made good time. But what Justin lacked in military training, he made up with agility and speed—and his desire to save Ella.
He bolted diagonally up the mountain. Something big blurred past the trees ahead. Big Foot? That’s Luther! “Hey,” he whisper-shouted. Luther disappeared deeper into the forest. He must be following the creek.
Justin made a beeline in Luther’s direction, which was thick with sticky bushes and annoying buzzy-like bees. He trampled on, ducking at every shadow, every bird, every freaking dragonfly.
A rifle shot shattered his nerves. Scarlett? He hit the ground. Groaning—behind that bush. He couldn’t shoot the Z. The gunshot would alert the horde and soldiers. Slowly, without a sound, Justin unsheathed the knife from his belt.
In a lethal move, he dove into the thick underbrush to de-activate the hidden Z. No! Unable to stop his momentum, Justin willed a microburst of energy, extending the knife’s trajectory—just enough—stabbing the dirt inches from Dean’s head.
What’s Dean doing here? Is he dead? No! He can’t be. Dean was like a father, well, more like a great-grandfather to him. Besides, Dean always said he was too ornery to die. He retrieved his blade before nudging Dean’s shoulder. And prayed he didn’t awaken with—bulging, unknowing eyes.
Dean groaned just as the forest went commando a hundred yards away. Justin placed a shaky hand over Dean’s mouth. Dean’s eyes popped open. “What the devil?”
“Shhh.” Justin hunched lower into the underbrush. The soldiers took off in the same direction as the mini-horde. That’s gonna get messy!
Dean pushed away his hand. “Am I ever glad to see you.” He stumbled to his feet.
“You’re supposed to be with Ella and Mindy,” Justin grated, darting at every twig snap.
“I went looking for the blasted creek. From out of the blue, those Ancient Ones tried to take over my mind. Left me discombobulated.”
“I think Luther found it. He went that way.” Justin pointed. “Where’s Ella?”
“I left them in a clearing not far from here,” Dean said, finally sounding normal. “Let me get my bearings straight.”
“Justin! Where are you?” Ella’s voice livestreamed into his mind.
“Well, I’m not waiting around here. Ella needs me.”
“Hold on.” Dean rubbed his chest. “I know where I am now. I passed that double-trunked tree.”
“Hurry!” Ella’s desperate plea pinched his heart.
“I’m coming, Ella!” Justin shouted back in his mind.
They half-hiked and half-sprinted through the dense forest.
Up ahead, two anxious horses twitched, swinging their heads from side to side. Dean let out a low “ca-caw” cry, the one he and Twila had been goofing around with lately. Unexpectedly, Zac, Luther, and Scarlett stealthily stepped out from behind the trees on the edge of the meadow like Red Dawn Wolverines.
Zac impatiently motioned them to hurry.
But where was Ella? The black stallion pranced out of the way. There she was, blowing him kisses as he rushed to her. Justin wanted to grab her and hold her and kiss her. And not let go. But, they had to get out of there.
“Gotta horde to the left and to the right of us,” Zac advised with a heavy frown.
Luther grabbed him and Dean by the shoulders. “Ya’ll decide to stop for brewskies without me?” he ribbed while Scarlett dished out hugs.
“So, where’s this creek?” Justin wondered why they just stood next to the dead tree in the meadow.
“The lighted path in my mind stops—here.” Zac tapped the ground with his foot. “An underground entrance?”
“The answer waits for us at the tree,” Twila said dreamily, gazing at the creepy Nightmare-Before-Christmas tree, complete with ornaments dangling down its tangled limbs.
He opened his mouth to tell Twila to get real, but Ella must have read his mind. She quickly clamped his mouth with her hand. With questioning frowns, they gathered around the tree.
Twila took his hand. “Kindred spirit, the answer lies within you.” For a nanosecond, her face seemed to morph into a witchy wise woman.
Justin shook off the freaky image. “Moi? I don’t even know the question,” he snarked back.
Twila crossed her eyes emphatically. “You know, the Entanglement in Time prophecy.”
Everyone seemed to pry his mind for answers.
“Don’t make it more complicated than it is,” Dean clipped as if insinuating he was the child there.
“This tree—I’ve seen it before,” Scarlett exclaimed with a baffled-eyed expression. “It has something to do with Time Entanglement, which has something to do with a time-fold in the matrix. But I don’t understand—”
“Justin!” Ella tapped her foot. “Tell us what you know!”
“No pressure, but preferably in the next twenty seconds.” Zac kept his eyes on the perimeter.
Uh, uh, Time Entanglement? It was a quantum theory. Not a prophecy. “So, like I wrote this paper in college—” Basically, he’d only chosen the convoluted topic to piss off his narrow-minded professor. He had made up most of it since he had found little on the subject back then.
“Wait!” Scarlett blurted. “The Silver Lady said, ‘Watch yourself!’ I assumed it was a figure of speech.”
Twila began handing out the ornaments from the tree. “Yes! We have to wear the watches. All of us. Even the horses!”
That’s when he realized the ornaments were actually steampunk-looking pocket watches that had been tied to the tree with golden ribbons. Like a bad acid-tripping dream, everyone ignored him and stared at their watches, bewitched.
Dean fiddled with his. “What’s the basic concept of this Time Entanglement theory?”
“Uh,
