Jasper Faulks and the Passage of Time by Milan Obradovic

Author:Milan Obradovic
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Snowy Wings Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Never Back Down

Once Eva’s spasms started, every thought felt like wading through molasses (“thick, dark brown syrup that is separated from raw sugar during the refining process”) until the whole of her came to a complete standstill. It did not feel like sleep, but like the world around you went on and you rejoined it at a later point in time. Eva’s body didn’t collapse, just like tick-tocks didn’t collapse when she went into Accelerated Time.

She existed in a different time, one where she moved so much slower than Real Time she appeared frozen to everyone else. At least according to Father’s hypothesis. And also where the danger lay: What if she froze while she swallowed food, while swimming, or while taking a step over an abyss (“a deep or seemingly bottomless gulf or great space”)?

That’s why she never left her quarters, why Father was so protective. She had awoken (although “wake” didn’t quite describe the sensation correctly since her frozen state offered no sense of rest) in her bed more times than she could count. Usually, she last remembered reading, brushing her teeth, or looking out the window.

After freezing while taking a shower, her skin took days to recover from the soaking. Real Time marched on relentlessly. And sometimes, she rejoined the present right where she had frozen without Father finding her.

So when she rejoined the here and now, it relieved her that she still stood at the door at the bottom of the strange staircase.

Father hadn’t found her! He had to be looking for her. Was it still night or the next day? Or… Her longest freeze lasted two days and two nights. Surely, he would have found her by now in that case. Unless he never came down here.

She let go of the door handle and hurried up the stairs, passing the “-1” floor that she had skipped on the way down. No time to explore. At the top of the staircase, she cautiously opened the door to the garage.

Small windows let in some sunlight and the garage turned out to be more of a delivery area, with pallets stacked at the far end, a massively oversized garage door, even a moveable conveyor belt machine.

Please let it be early morning sunlight! Eva threw caution to the wind. She barged into the main residence, weaved through the corridors, then up the stairs to the fourth floor, her floor. She relaxed upon discovering the sun had come up, but it didn’t appear too late into the morning.

At 7:30:00, Father always brought herbal tea, yoghurt, a fruit cup, half a cheese sandwich, and a granola bar for mid-morning snacking. Every day. It was for the best.

It had to be before 7:30. It simply had to be! He couldn’t know what she had done. He’d be furious. Oh Robbie, what do we do if he’s found out? What will he do?

She turned the corner and knew it was 7:29:59, since she found herself looking at her father’s back while he carried the breakfast tray.

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