Danger in Time Read online

  Rachel batted her lashes, glancing at the watch in her hand. It had started to tick and tell time again. She continued to study the girl who looked remarkably like her dead sister.

  She even sounded like Brooke, as Rachel recalled the voice that had replayed over and over in her head like a recording. The expressions she made with her eyes and pouty lips had also been etched in Rachel’s memory for a very long time.

  They belonged to Brooke.

  Or were Rachel’s eyes playing cruel tricks on her?

  “I didn’t break into any place,” she insisted. “Excuse me, but I live here. Maybe I should ask you what you’re doing in our house.” You can’t be who I think you are. “Did my dad or stepmom send you up here to scare me to death so I’d hurry up and go to my grandmother’s house?”

  Brooke studied the odd girl in more detail. She wore cutoffs and a tank top. She was attractive and actually, if honest about it, looked like her. Brooke imagined in another life they could have been sisters. But they were in this life and she already had a sister. And although Rachel was sometimes a little pain in the butt, she was still her only sister and Brooke certainly didn’t want or need another one.

  Obviously the girl standing before her was delusional. Maybe she had escaped from a psych ward. Or maybe she was high on drugs.

  Brooke noted the old-fashioned pocket watch the girl was holding, as though her very life depended on it. Probably stole it. She tried to make sense of what the girl had said.

  I live here. Maybe I should ask you what you’re doing in our house.

  It made no sense at all.

  Brooke frowned. “Look, I don’t know what your problem is and I don’t really care. I have no idea how you got in here, but this isn’t your house and I want you to leave now!”

  Rachel stood transfixed at what she was witnessing. It was as though she were in a time warp and reliving her childhood. Only she was no longer a child. And Brooke should not be here.

  Maybe I’ve lost my mind. That was one possibility Rachel considered. How else could she explain this weird feeling that she was having a conversation with her dead sister?

  But it simply wasn’t possible.

  Was it?

  Rachel was sure that whatever was going on here, she was definitely not insane. She wasn’t so sure the same could be said for the girl confronting her.

  “I think maybe you’re the one with a problem,” Rachel suggested. “I’ve lived here all my life. Just who are you anyway?”

  Brooke narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t sure what to make of the girl at this point, other than she was crazy. It was still a mystery as to how she’d gotten in the house in the first place. Brooke had been home all day, thanks to her parents, and would have heard if anyone had come in the front or side door. Since the windows squeaked when opened, that would have caught her attention, too.

  She considered that the girl might have been living in their attic for some time, but quickly ruled that out. Especially since Brooke had just been up there a couple of hours ago and hadn’t seen anyone or any sign someone was living or hiding there.

  So exactly what was going on here?

  * * *

  Rachel was just as confused about this bizarre situation. Why hadn’t her dad or Virginia come looking for her by now? And who was this Brooke look-a-like who did a pretty good job of making it seem like this was her house and that it was Rachel who didn’t belong?

  She looked again at the watch and remembered hearing the music and her head spinning before it cleared and the music stopped. That was when the girl walked into the attic.

  Against her better judgment, Rachel was almost convinced it was Brooke standing there vexed. Except dead people didn’t suddenly come back to life ten years later and look the exact same way they did before they died.

  Maybe I’m somehow dead, too, and this is a kind of sister reunion in the afterlife.

  Short of that, Rachel wondered if she was in some sort of dream state where she had traveled back in time just to see what it might be like to be with her sister at the same age. It was, after all, something she had often fantasized about since turning sixteen.

  But that would mean none of this was real.

  What if it was real, though, even if totally unexplainable?

  Rachel approached the girl and watched her take a tentative step backward, as though frightened she might attack her.

  “Brooke...is that really you?” Rachel asked tentatively.

  Brooke arched a thin brow. So they had met. But when and where? Were they actually friends? Even if that were somehow true, it hardly gave her an open invitation to take up refuge in their attic.

  “Yes, my name’s Brooke.” She decided to play along with this, hoping to satisfy her own curiosity. “Who are you?”

  Rachel’s eyes grew large. It really is her. My older sister. But how could that be?

  Whatever the reason, Rachel was ecstatic. Who wouldn’t be in her shoes? Not understanding why or how, she was just happy to be with Brooke again after so many years.

  Releasing the watch so it hung from the chain still around her neck, Rachel lunged forward and hugged Brooke for dear life. “I can’t believe this,” she declared.

  Moments seemed like hours as Rachel found herself six years old all over again, wanting only to be with the person she loved most in the whole world. Now she was, and didn’t want to let her go for fear she would wake up and the dream would be over forever.

  Rachel was suddenly jarred from her reverie when determined hands pushed her away.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Brooke gritted her teeth. “Stay away from me. I don’t know you. Or I can’t remember meeting you.”

  “It’s me... Rachel—” She smiled, teary-eyed.

  Brooke tilted her head, wondering why this should mean anything to her. “Rachel who?”

  Rachel met her eyes. “I’m Rachel, your sister...”

  If Brooke had her doubts the intruder was a basket case, she didn’t any longer. The girl was either certifiably mad or got some perverse thrill out of trying to get a reaction from Brooke—maybe both. Well, she would get her wish.

  “My sister is only six!” Brooke’s nostrils flared. “And you are definitely not her, unless she suddenly grew up overnight and decided to come back from my grandmother’s house where she’s staying for the summer.”

  Contemplating the creepiness of her words, Rachel realized that Brooke didn’t recognize her as she was at sixteen. And probably for good reason. It was her Twilight Zone episode and apparently did not include the instant ability for Brooke to know her when she was ten years older.

  Rachel suddenly remembered that summer ten years ago when she visited Nana by herself. How could she ever forget? She was there when Brooke was killed in the car accident. She had never even gotten to say goodbye to her big sister.

  Now she could.

  Was that the purpose of this surreal experience?

  Or was there much more to it than that?

  * * *

  Brooke saw the girl claiming to be her sister Rachel react, as though she hadn’t expected her to dismiss the silly idea that they were sisters. In fact, it was almost as if this imposter hadn’t even been aware that her real sister was just six years old and not sixteen or so.

  In Brooke’s mind, this proved she was dealing with a mentally unstable person. Or one who had been put up to this by someone else for whatever reason. Either way, she wasn’t amused in the slightest. Especially when she still had no idea how the fake Rachel girl had gotten into the house and made her way up to the attic without Brooke being the wiser.

  For Rachel’s part, she decided to lay all her cards out on the table—at least most of them—and hope for the best. “Look, I know my being here—this whole thing—must be freaking you out. I know I’m freaked, totally. But strange as it sounds, I really am Rachel, your sister. Only instead of being six, I’m sixteen now...the same age you were when the accid—”

  She ch
ecked herself, not wanting to spoil this once-in-a-lifetime meeting by saying something that could only make Brooke sad. Not to mention more unnerved than she already was.

  “When the what?” Brooke was sure she was about to say accident. Her curiosity was piqued as to what the girl was insinuating.

  “Never mind,” Rachel said, though certain Brooke wouldn’t let it go. Right now there were other things on her mind as Rachel tried to make sense of time and place in this strange scenario. “Can you just tell me what year this is?” She looked at the clockwatch, which still showed 2001. Had she actually gone back in time somehow? Or had Brooke come to the future?

  Brooke curled her lip into a sneer. “What other year would it be? It’s 2001.”

  Rachel digested this. So she had traveled through time, either in her head, body, or both. “Is it June 26th?” she dared to ask.

  “Yeah.” Brooke almost believed the girl truly was lost in more ways than one. “I suppose now you’re going to tell me that you’ve been locked away somewhere for a long time. Why else would you be pretending like we’re sisters when we aren’t and asking about the date?”

  Rachel didn’t know how to answer without sounding even crazier. She supposed if their situations were reversed, she would also be more than a bit leery about her behavior and questions. She had to say something to try and explain before this whole thing ended and she never saw Brooke again.

  “Okay, here goes...” she began, trying to search for the right words. “I don’t know if I’m imagining this or it’s some kind of weird time travel experience I can’t explain. What I do know is just a few minutes ago I was standing in this very attic in the year 2011, expecting my dad and stepmother to accuse me of delaying the inevitable in going to spend the summer with our Nana. Then I found this antique watch”—Rachel lifted it as though Brooke couldn’t plainly see—“and music started to play when I pushed this button. I got dizzy, and the next thing I knew, I was standing here. Then you came in and we started talking. I swear that’s the truth.”

  If the tale weren’t so wacky, Brooke would have laughed out loud. Dreams and time travel episodes? A magical pocket watch?

  My little sister’s now the same age as me visiting from 2011? Please!

  Did she honestly expect Brooke to believe that stupid old watch had some sort of mystical powers that brought her back in time?

  Not even the obvious physical resemblance between us or between her and Rachel can make me believe it’s possible. No way!

  Things like this just didn’t happen in the real world. Certainly not in Brooke’s world!

  She also weighed in on the stepmother bit. If this were her future sister, was she saying their parents were divorced or what? Not that it made any difference, since absolutely none of it was true.

  Brooke could only imagine what her friends would say when she told them about this. They’d probably want to cart her off to the funny farm instead of the one who clearly belonged there.

  Right now, Brooke had to get rid of this girl before her mom got home. Something told her it would be easier said than done.

  CHAPTER THREE

  So much for Brooke being bored. This unexpected encounter with the girl pretending to be the future version of her little sister Rachel sure beat reading a Harry Potter novel any day of the week as far as something way out of the ordinary. Even Gabrielle and Natalie would be hard pressed to provide such thrills and chills, though they often tried with comical results.

  While Brooke gave the girl—or whoever was behind it—credit for originality and imagination, she certainly wasn’t buying the time traveler bit, especially with the real Rachel conveniently out of town. Though Brooke had to admit if Rachel had been home that would have made things even more interesting and bizarre.

  Does she really expect me to believe her? Do I look that lame?

  Admittedly, Brooke had occasionally given some thought to how nice it would be if she could travel in time, backward or forward, and see what existed before and after her present life. Who wouldn’t want to experience that amazing adventure? In fact, she and Rachel had sometimes pretended to live in different times as different people.

  But it was a big stretch to go from that to the real thing. The reality was time travel just wasn’t possible in any time—surely not a mere ten years from now. And it was silly to even consider the remote possibility of such from what had to be someone’s idea of a practical joke.

  That would make the girl before her a prankster. If not totally mad. Brooke was still trying to decide which.

  “Who are you really?” Brooke asked, deciding she seemed sane enough, though very peculiar. “And why are you hiding in the attic—I assume that’s what you were doing? Did one of my friends put you up to this?”

  Rachel was still trying to come to grips with the fact that she was standing right next to her big sister and best friend, no matter how implausible it seemed. Only they were the same age now. How was this possible? Were dreams supposed to be this realistic?

  Or was it actually happening on some level?

  If only Brooke would recognize me for who I am, it would be the perfect situation.

  “I’m your sister Rachel,” she responded sharply. “Rachel Lola Crane. Lola is my—our—grandmother’s name, in case you don’t know, but I think you do. And I wasn’t hiding in the attic. I already told you why I’m in this house. It’s the truth, whether you want to believe it or not. And I don’t know any of your friends. Or at least I can’t remember them.”

  She knows Nana’s first name! Brooke could not recall ever telling her friends that Lola was her grandmother’s name. But what did that prove? The girl could have discovered it some other way. Maybe from her mom or dad, even though for the life of her, Brooke couldn’t imagine why they would have shared the information with the girl. For all Brooke knew, she could have even stalked Rachel and gotten it from her.

  Brooke pursed her lips. “That’s enough. I’m through playing your games! I don’t care who you are or what you think you’re doing, I want you out of this attic and house! You either leave on your own, or I’ll throw you out.”

  Rachel sighed. She loved her sister more than she could say and could not believe they were having the very conversation Rachel had dreamed about numerous times. But it was real for now.

  As was Brooke’s annoyance with her. Yet even that could not take away from the moment, which was unlike any Rachel had ever experienced.

  Rachel felt her own patience being strained, even while she considered the implications of being thrust ten years into the past with no idea how she had gotten there.

  Or if she could go back.

  Maybe I can persuade Brooke to accept this as at least a possibility, no matter how ridiculous it seems. “Can’t you try to keep an open mind?” Rachel begged her. “As I recall, you used to when we were growing up, especially where it concerned time travel. This is as weird for me as it is for you, but it has happened just as I told you. And even if this whole thing is just in my head, we’re still communicating and can apparently think independently, as though we really are in the same time and place. So maybe we can just pretend to get along—like real sisters.”

  When Brooke had attempted to keep an open mind in the recent past—such as dating a nineteen-year-old or shoplifting with her friends just to see if they could get away with it—she had only gotten into trouble. So why should she let down her guard to a total stranger whose story just didn’t fly no matter how much of an open mind she had? Particularly when she didn’t have a clue as to what this girl’s true agenda was.

  Brooke suddenly had an idea. Once she’s exposed as a fraud, she’ll have no other choice but to leave before mom thinks I put her up to this. She lifted the antique pocket watch without removing the chain from the girl’s neck and studied it. Brooke had never seen one like it before. That hardly meant it was a portal through time. She took note of the date, which was today.

  Not exactly the future. Why should sh
e be surprised?

  Brooke locked eyes with her unwanted houseguest. “Okay, you say this watch gave you the power to travel back in time. Since we both know that’s a lie, why don’t you use it to make yourself go back to the future or anywhere other than this house? Poof. Go!”

  Rachel shuddered. The last thing she wanted was to leave Brooke now that they were together again. But Rachel doubted she could ever convince Brooke of her true identity unless she did as asked. Could she get the antique watch to return her to 2011?

  The thought gave her mixed feelings. What if I wake up and can never come back? I’d have proven my point while possibly missing the chance to say, “I told you so.” Not to mention tell her how much I love her and want her back in my life.

  “Well, what are you waiting for? Go!” Brooke dared her, certainly not expecting anything to happen other than to finally hear the truth that this whole thing was probably nothing more than an excuse to freeload and hope she would keep her little secret.

  Rachel didn’t know how she had gotten there. Was this really 2001 all over again? Or the result of a bump on the head that put her in a surreal place that seemed like where she lived when her sister was still alive?

  Whatever the case, Rachel decided she had to try, if only to pacify Brooke. If it worked, hopefully she would be able to come back to say goodbye. And possibly accomplish a lot more in reliving part of her past.

  Rachel gazed at the girl she was sure was her sister and hugged her, knowing Brooke would object. Pulling back quickly, Rachel’s eyes had welled with tears. She smiled awkwardly. “In case I don’t get another chance to do that. Also, just so you know, I’ve missed you terribly and never, ever stopped loving—”