singinglizard

Jordan – 2011

“….And the Nobel peace prize goes to, wow ladies and gentlemen, this is quite a surprise, our youngest winner yet, Jordan Sims.” The announcer smiled as the award music signaled me to walk up to the front and to receive my award.

I couldn’t breathe, my publicist had to push me up to my feet to accept my award. My next fear turned to tripping in my gown, which would have been even more of an embarrassment. As the youngest recipient of the Noble Peace Prize in the category of literature, all eyes were on me.

I walked up to the podium and leaned towards the microphone. “Wow.” I had practiced this speech a million times, just in case I’d ever need it. “I’m honored to be standing here and to receive this award. It’s still mind-boggling that a novel I wrote in the last semester of my high school year would attain such fame.

“Perhaps what is more important about the novel, is it’s meaning. This novel is a call for change. Humanity needs to realize that we are not etched into eternity. There is no constant for us. We are ever changing, evolving and destroying ourselves and there is a danger that accompanies the growth.

“Use this novel as an idea to change something. It is the call to change the world we live in so that our future will be there and it won’t be something that we regret. Thank you so much for the honor of this award. I
am truly blessed. Thank you.”

I walked off the stage to a thunderous applause. I couldn’t stop smiling and the cameras wouldn’t stop flashing.

The after party was amazing. Ice sculptures flanked the decorated dance floor and the melting ice caught the light just perfectly. The tables were made up with all of the cutlery, plates, and napkins laid out like a table out of a magazine.

A non-stop flow of people came by my table and shook my hand and wanted copies of my book autographed. The attention was great and everything, but it was the awareness for the bigger cause. The book was doing what it was supposed to do; it was supposed to make people aware of the dangerous dealings that were happening under our noses. All I could do now was wait.

The band started playing. It was an old-time jazz band that started to play a rendition of the Gershwin song “Someone to Watch Over Me”. This song made my heart melt. I closed my eyes and let the music sink in. I felt alone, even though I was seemingly at the top of the world.

Suddenly, a tap on my shoulder jolted me from my thoughts and back to the crowded party that I was attending. I turned around and looked into the eyes of a man. His eyes were alive but held the pain and the suffering from a tortured past.

“Yes, how can I help you?” I asked, assuming he was another autograph seeker.

He brushed the hair from my ear and quietly whispered. “It’s me Jordan, it’s John.”

I looked into John’s face and immediately recognized him. Five years had certainly changed him. He didn’t look so boyish anymore he was a man now. His once unruly hair was neatly combed to accompany his tux. His eyes, once were full of life and full of spirit, were now intensified and serious. No doubt forced to grow up by the unfortunate events that ensued in the future.

“How? Why? How did you get here...” I stuttered.

He held his finger to my lips, led me to the dance floor and held me close. We swayed back and forth to the music. I didn’t want to let go, I only wanted to soak in the time that I was spending with him.
The song came to an end and slowly the couples made their way off the dance floor. I looked around, conscious of the fact that we were the last ones on the dance floor. Nervous that people would start to ask questions, I dragged him off the floor back to my table.

“Jordan,” John finally begun to speak. “Since you left five years ago, I can not do anything but think about you.”

“What about the argument we had?” Those words still wounded my heart when I thought of them.

“Robberts explained the whole thing after he sent you back. He’s no longer in power anymore. The alliance
within the NEM fell apart. Because of you, Jordan, and your book.”

He reached into the pocket of his tux jacket and pulled out a small box. He opened it and inside laid the most beautiful diamond unlike any that were in 2011. My hand flew to my mouth, I couldn’t believe it.

“John, what is this? You couldn’t possibly…”

*

JORDAN SIMS-AARON (1989 - unknown) - Activist and author of "Our World's Future". Her book called for social and political changes and with her book, a terrorist cell was discovered and shut down. Won the Nobel peace prize for her book in 2011 at the age of 22, one of the youngest recipients. Disappeared mysteriously after the Noble Peace award ceremony, remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries to date.

Jordan – 2503

I gave up. I had no effort to fight back. As far as I knew it, it was over and I was heading to go out with a bang. They were going to let us live. Whoop-de-doo. There were too many casualties in that decision, me, my feelings, and most heartbreaking of all – John.

The guards took us out of the truck and placed us sitting in a room. This was it; they were preparing the device to send me home. They left us un-cuffed probably under the impression that we knew what the odds were if we tried to run off. The room was bare, rust stains covered the walls where the water had dripped from the ceiling. The echoing footsteps could be heard down the hall and the scaring of metal against the floor.

I had to tell him the truth again. In a way that he could understand the reasoning behind my
decision. This was the only thing that I could have done to save his life. I could imagine my life back in 2006 without knowing him, without his influences and the predicaments that we had been through.

“John,” I began quietly. “I know you’re hurt because of what I’ve done but just give me a moment to explain. I did this because we were both going to be slaughtered. Slaughtered like animals. I have to go back and write this book. For humanity, for the sake that this, knowing you, wasn’t in vain.”

John’s expression changed from one of understanding to anger. “Your bloody book? Is this what this is about? Selling me out for your 30 damn years of fame. You’re assassinated. How is this any bit different from right now? You betrayed me.”

I couldn’t let him think that. “No! We’d be more of prisoners than we’d ever be. Call me crazy but I never used to care about my future nevertheless the people in it. But seeing the, the destruction that the so-called terrorists have caused – I have reason, purpose and thanks to you – drive.”

“Stop pretending!” He yelled. The room echoed and I couldn’t move.

His sudden outburst scared me and I couldn’t help but respond to him with a frustrated catty question. “What do you mean by that?”

“YOU SOLD ME OUT FOR A RIDE HOME. That’s what I mean. You’re only thinking of yourself!”

How could he say such a thing? His anger was becoming frightening. I had no idea what words to say to calm him down. At this point, anything I said could turn bad.

Once again I felt the tears, “Why would you say something like that?”

“Because it’s true.”

“No! I can’t believe you think that. Can’t you see that my heart can’t see you tortured or killed before my eyes? This was the only deal that Evan gave me.”

John looked at me, with a cold look in his eyes he offered this one response, “That’s not what he said.”

“How can you believe a thing he says?” I was really frustrated now. “He’s putting us against each other. It’s manipulation.”

I moved to take his hand. He turned away and moved to the corner of the room, away from me. This was it, he had decided to not deal with me anymore. He believed that I had sold him out for a ride home. Evan had made it clear that if I didn’t cooperate John and Harrison died. This way, they lived. I wanted them to just live. I loved John too much, and as I told him, I’d rather us be apart and alive, then dead.

“John.” I sank to the ground. “Please?”

All I could do was scream. I screamed till I started crying, and then cried until I started screaming again. All he did was stay in the corner. I almost thought I saw a hand to wipe away invisible tears, but I could be wrong.

Then the guards entered.


John – 2503



I couldn’t take her confession. I just simply could not believe her. Some part of me wanted to run over to her and take her in my arms and never let her go, but the other part wanted me to leave her alone and watch her suffer.

She had brought me here, so she could go home. What a lousy bargain. I wouldn’t have taken her for a girl that could bear that kind of guilt without eating her up alive. I guess the part that I hated was that I loved this girl. At one point I wanted to be with her all the time and be the one that she was with for the rest of her life. It sicken me how much a person could change over the course of two days and an interrogation.

The guards entered. The rushed over to Jordan and I and cuffed our hands behind us. They took us out to a stage. Robberts stood beaming at the crowd that had formed. The stage was clear except for a glass box that I had seen many times on the legacy but never knew what it was, now I guess it was a time machine.

The crowd had become loud and noisy as we entered the stage. Robberts had his guards place me on a seat next to him and Evan while they placed Jordan lying down in front of the machine. Robberts stood and held his hands out to silence the crowd.

“Fellow men, I present you Jordan Sims.” The crowd hissed at the sound of her name. “As most of you know, our organization has suffered greatly because of this one girl. Our society wasn’t able to function, as it should have. We should have been great! Power should have been handed to us the minute we showed the world that we weren’t a part of them anymore. Except this girl’s silly bedtime story prevented that.”

The guards grabbed Jordan and placed her inside of the glass box. The crowd went crazy with the realization that their long time dream was about to become a reality. They were going to erase the cause of their troubles. Jordan was trying to pound on the glass to find a way out.

Robberts continued. “This girl, has graciously turned herself, with the promise of no book. But we all know how promises go right? No one is to be trusted. No one.”

I looked over and Evan and he smirked at me. No, I was reading too much into his gaze, he didn’t lie to me earlier. I looked over to Jordan who was frantically trying to get out. She pounded on the glass and I could see her mouth opening in a yell, but no sound.

“The plan was that I would send her back if she brought us her accomplice, John, the man sitting next to me.” Robberts leaned over and patted me on the back. I managed to spat on his shoes. That didn’t go over well, it actually went over with a slap to the face. He continued, “As I was saying. The deal was that we would send her back and save this man. I intend to let him go, with a message to the world, killing him isn’t worth it.”

Robberts continued, but I wasn’t listening. They weren’t going to kill me! Evan had said that to turn me against Jordan and to avoid me fighting for her. I was so stupid and I couldn’t believe that I had actually believed Evan over Jordan.

I looked over at the glass container and saw Jordan looking at me. She placed a hand on the glass, she had heard too. Was it a peace offering?

“Evan,” I turned to him. “I was an ass to even consider you a friend.”

Evan shrugged and gave me a little smile. “Hurts to be on the wrong side my friend. It’s my job.”

The power supply on the machine had begun to power up. The crowd silenced as the technicians worked behind the booth to ready the machine.

Robberts signaled the technicians and the lights out over the crowd dimmed. “Now, you wouldn’t think that I would leave her with all of these memories. These memories are the ones that are in the book. So I decided to take the liberty to administer her a dose of an amnesia-inducing drug. That way there will never be a book.”

My mind halted. There had to be a way to avoid that. She wasn’t going to be able to write her book with that.

“And I thought I would have her friend here, John, do it.”

Hands grabbed me and dragged me to the side with the glass. Jordan was looking at me with tears running down her face. “I’m sorry,” was all I could say. “I’m sorry.”

Evan came and shoved a syringe in my hand. Robberts kept rambling on and on while Evan gave me instructions. Jordan paced back and forth in the glass, all the while keeping eye contact with me. Was it a way of saying sorry, thank you, or I hate you?

“Evan,” I whispered. “I can’t do this.”

Evan pushed me closer to the box. “John, this man saved my life. He’s about to save yours too and all you have to do is enter the solution into the box. It’s gaseous and she’ll never knew what hit her.”

I turned and looked from Jordan to Evan. “Evan,” I begged. “Please. I can’t help you get out of here. I know that you would never want to do something like this. It’s the wrong side, you should be with me.”

Evan gritted his teeth. “Stop John. You’re not going to get me with talking like that.”

I continued. “Evan, you would never do anything like this. Remember on the ship soon after we boarded, you promised that me and you would save the world? And that we would stop the horrible bombings and the world?”

“Stop…” He said quietly. I head the cock of a gun as it was placed against my back. “Do as
you’re told, empty the drug into the box.”

I knew that I was breaking him down. “Evan, please. She’s the same age as Coral. Same dreams and aspirations…”

“SHUT UP!” Evan yelled. He pushed me to the ground and grabbed the syringe from my hand. He placed it in the slot and pushed the contents into the box that Jordan was in.

I watched as Jordan tried frantically to do anything to get out. Robberts commanded the activation of the time machine. I grabbed Evan’s foot. “You bastard, you have no idea what you just did. You killed the chance for peace.”

I grabbed him and forced him down to the floor. I was blinded by anger. I knew that he always kept a knife on him around his ankle. I reached for it and held it against his throat. I pressed down, a line of blood appeared as Evan sputtered and gasped for breath.

“Why?” I asked pressing the knife deeper and deeper.

Evan thrashed around and didn’t answer. I heard the machine powering up and Robberts command to send her back. I looked up and saw Jordan looking at me with a look of horror and uncertainty.

Leaving Evan lying on the floor I worked my way up to the glass. I placed my hands trying to touch her hand. I looked into those eyes, which I would never see again. I wanted to hold her and say that I was sorry and explain how much of a fool that I had been. Those five seconds seemed like they were hours and our eyes were locked in a gaze. I loved this girl, and this was tearing me up inside.

Jordan just stood there, tears streaming down her face. I understood that she had done what she could to save me, and I wished that she knew that I forgave her. She mouthed the words “I love you” and kissed the glass. A final goodbye.

With a blinding light, the machine was gone.

I had failed. I couldn’t save the future. Hell, I couldn’t even have saved her.

I felt a hand pull on my leg. It was Evan, I assumed that he was trying to pull me away from the machine. As I turned my head I saw his eyes closing. I was cautious in approaching him and as I looked down, Evan’s eyes were closed and his blood had collected on the surface of the knife and all over his suit. He coughed and sputtered up blood. It was warm and I felt a feeling of contempt.

I leaned and listened to his heartbeat. Nothing. Silence. I had killed him. It was something that I had to do; he had tortured Jordan and betrayed the British crown and me. I got up to face Robberts and something fell out of his hand. I watched as the full syringe of the drug rolled to where the time machine used to be.

Robberts let me walk out without being touched knowing I killed one of his men, one of my best friends.



Jordan - 2006


I opened my eyes, water dripping on my hand. I sat up slowly and wiped the water off my hand. I felt dizzy and disoriented. All of a sudden the past three days hit me, I frantically looked around trying to find John and how to get out of the clutches of Robberts.


As a result of my frantic searching, my heart was wildly beating and I quickly sprung off of the bench and grabbed my backpack. I turned to run out of the place I was and I ran into someone. I
looked up, not into the face of John, Robberts or Evan but into Cody, my ex-boyfriend.

Then it hit me, I was back in 2006 and apparently no time had passed. I was wearing the clothes that I had gone to school in and my ipod lay on the bench that I had gotten off of.

Cody looked at me quizzically and picked up my iPod and handed it to me. “Jordan, are you okay?”

I ran my hands through my hair and tried to act normal. But I guess normal is overrated when you have just broken up with your boyfriend.

“Yeah, yeah.” I mumbled making my way to the inside hallway.

“Wait,” He grabbed my arm. “Just listen to me, please. Will you forgive me? One of the
cheerleaders came clear about starting the rumor. So I’m really sorry.”

“No, Cody.” I couldn’t believe that he was doing this to me now, especially after that big blowup we had in the hallway. “I’m sorry. You’ve made it evident that you can’t trust me. You had to find out for yourself whether or not I was lying or telling the truth. That just tells me that you’re not worth my time.”

He tried to protest but I walked right past him. Before my trip into the future I would have taken him back. But being with John and going through everything with him, which was pretty much hell, showed me that I could be okay by myself and that I didn’t need someone to be strong for myself.

I quickly moved through the hallways and on the way I passed by my English teacher’s
classroom. Strangely enough, I felt the urge to go inside and ask a simple question.

“Mrs. Palmer, do you know how I can publish a novel?”

I had the cutest dream last night.


**

I’m on like this yacht and it’s two stories. There are staircases only in the back but it has a wrap around balcony that you can see around. So we are sitting in the inside downstairs room and we are all talking. The captain is there and he explains that we are going to be able to start the boat up and drive around the lake. But it starts to rain. SO all the while I’m either holding hands with this light haired guy. We are all watching the flooding outside and we can see the cars washing away that are parked. One of the cars belongs to one of the people on the boat. So somehow I manage to find myself on the street next to the lake trying to find something. I slip and almost get washed away but my dad is there to catch me. I get back on the boat and go sit down and grab the light haired guy’s hand kind of behind my back. But I only think that this is his hand but it’s not. It’s this mysterious guy’s hand. But it feel so so so so right. So I kind of blow off the other guy and go off with him. We end up walking around the boat and onto the balcony. At this time it’s really dark and the lightning is all around. He brings me to the front of the boat and goes “look at the colors.” I look around at the horizon and all the colors seem to be switched. It’s like a negative. The sky is white and the ocean is black. The lightning is black. And we are finally moving along the lake/ocean. I turn to the guy and my hair is blowing in the wind. He wraps his arms around my waist and I do the same kind of on his arms/waist. I close my eyes and go into kiss him and he stops. I think I’m doing something wrong but he looks at me and says “Tell me what color you like.” And at this point I’m confused. I’m about to say something when one of the passengers come out of the bedroom that boarders the balcony. The guy immediately runs around the corner while I carry on a casual conversation with the girl that has come out. She doesn’t suspect anything, even with the guy still playing with my fingers from around the corner. Apparently he can’t stay hidden anymore and comes out from the shadow and the girl doesn’t seem scared. She goes back inside and the guy walkes me back to where I’m supposed to be. He kissed me more later in the dream, but i can't remember what happeend.

John – 2503

The men shoved us in the van with no intention of being any bit careful with us. We hit the ground hard and I only had time to stick out my arms to brace the fall. However that action didn’t save my knees from slamming down hard on the floor of the van. More hands grabbed us and tied us to the benches that ran the length of the van.

“Hello John.” I heard a voice say. “Care for a beer in the midshipman’s quarters?”

I turned around to look into the face of my best friend. My now former best friend. “What?” I
sputtered. “You did this?”

Evan’s stone expression didn’t change. “Yes,” he finally answered. “It’s me.”

“Why?”

“Why not? Robberts approached me soon after the ship took off from London. He’s perfected time travel! Him and the other New Earth Movement buddies are going to go back and change the future for the better. Just think. There no more suffering, no more war and starvation. The NEM will rule from the beginning.”

I couldn’t believe this. My former best friend had turned to the enemies’ side. He was a changed man, influenced by darkness. Yes, the plan had promised no evil in the world but it hindered the amount of growth that humanity would have. It’s the fact that the whole world would be controlled by this radical group with no chance of ever getting out from under it.

We were now tired facing each other. Evan took delight in continuing as the van pulled into the stream of traffic.

“…You see, my friend. You were drawn into this by accident but maybe it was always meant to be. Jordan was always destined to write the book but was she destined to be here? Was she destined to be summoned here so that she could change her own future? That is something we have been researching for a long time, but of course only she knows the answer.”

I glanced over and saw Jordan. She was looking at the ground upset at what Evan was saying. The guards walked over to her and released her hands from the explosives and deactivated the bracelet. I watched Jordan exhale and finally be able to relax.

I couldn’t hold my feelings in anymore. I had to tell Evan how much he disgusted me. “You are nothing to me. You have become something that I would never expect you to be. You betrayed your country, the royal air academy, me and Jordan, and most of all – yourself.”

That last bit had struck a chord with Evan and he got up and walked towards me yelling. “That’s not true! I joined the correct side, the one that would carry us through the next years. Soon the only ones able to function will be a part of the NEM. You are here because you betrayed us. You were going to be with until, this, this disease showed up.”

That was the final straw. I tried to get up to punch him, to hit him, to do something but I was restrained to the bench. That man just laughed at my struggle. It fueled my hatred for him more and more.

He went over to Jordan and bent down whispering into her ear. He carefully brushed back a piece of stray hair from her face. This was to make me angry, to get me to lash out again.

“Evan,” I shouted. “Leave her alone. She has nothing to do with it.”

Evan turned around to look at me, wrapping his hands around her shoulders. “Silly John, you have everything to do with it. Tell him Jordan.”

I looked to her for the answer. For the first time I noticed how nervous and uneasy she looked. I could sense her shaking and could see her recoil every time that Evan came close to her.

“It’s true. He’s right.” She finally managed to say. “You’re the reason that we both are here.”

I was surprised by this confession. “How? I only met you three or four days ago.”

“You were my inspiration, John. You are the reason I wrote the book that is causing all the problems. The dedication is written to my guardian angel, guarded by the mystery of the future. It’s you – and these evil men.” She turned looking Evan dead in the eyes, “don’t want me to write the book, the filthy…”

Evan raised his hand and struck Jordan with the back of her hand. She winced, gritting her teeth together to deal with the blow.

She quietly continued. “This was the only solution. It is my destiny. I have to do this John.”

I could tell she wasn’t sincere. She was reciting lines to make me stop caring. She was preparing herself for the separation. No, she was giving up and I couldn’t let her do that.

All of a sudden the truck came to a screeching halt. Wherever we had arrived the thought occurred to me that this could be the end.

“Jordan.” I called out. No reply. “Jordan. Listen to me.”

She still didn’t listen, she kept her eyes glued to the floor.

“Damn it! Jordan, listen to me.”

Evan stood in front of me. “Quiet. She doesn’t want to talk to you. You know, she’s full of passion. She doesn’t’ back down at the sight of a challenge. I actually quite think that she fancies me. Honestly, I can provide so much more than a boy who chose the wrong alliance.”

I did everything that I could to get out of those restraints and mutilate that little boy. He grinned and laughed as I struggled unsuccessfully.

Guards untied us and dragged us into what looked like an old warehouse. The air was clear, the birds were chirping. It looked just like an ordinary day, except there were two of us fighting for our lives, and the lives of the people in both the past and the future.

“Evan,” I asked once they had taken Jordan inside the warehouse. “Did she sell me out?”

I knew that I couldn’t trust him. I probably shouldn’t have asked him that question. It was giving him too much power, too much control over me. There was no answer. I was desperate for a response.

“Evan.” I asked again. “As a friend, did she sell me out?”

Evan smiled and walked into the warehouse the guards pulling me in after him.

Oh.

God.

No.

Jordan – 2503

Central Park. I never got a chance to visit there when I went to New York City a couple of years ago. The trees allowed splotches of lights to scatter on the walkway. And it was just one of those calm, iconic places. But, since the decline of New York City I wasn’t expecting much and this wasn’t exactly the circumstance that I wanted to visit the park under.

Evan wrapped his arm around m waist and whispered into my ear. “Go get him, love. Don’t worry. We’ll be watching. You have to lead him back here and there is to be no scene, no arguing. Just remember what is around your wrist. I control it with this little button.”

I looked down and a remote was on the floor ready to be pressed at any moment. I didn’t, and couldn’t say a word as I sat there or as I was pushed out of the car into the hours of the early morning. My clothes had been ripped and the beating that Robberts had given me successfully made me black and blue.

I wandered around the park, half looking for John, half trying to look as pitiful as possible so maybe someone would ask questions. If they asked the right questions they could help me escape. Unfortunately, the only ones that I could see were homeless men sleeping on the park benches covered with newspapers.
Wandering around I spotted John on the bench. The only thing I could think to do was scream. I saw him look around and then spot me. He got up and came towards me. I continued screaming and the screaming eventually turned into crying and the crying turned into choking and sputtering.

My legs gave out and I feel to the ground. The ground was cool and the grass was dewy. I curled up and pulled my knees to my chest. I couldn’t believe that this was happening – now.
A hand wrapped around my waist and I was pulled into John’s lap. “Are you alright Jordan? God, I don’t know what I would do without you.”

I took a piece of his shirt in my hands and pulled it in close.

I looked up into his eyes and saw the glimmer of hope. He’d found me after being separated at Harrison’s destroyed apartment. But it was so sad, he had no idea the implications of me being here.

His expression slowly turned to disbelief. I knew at that moment he had gazed upon all of the bruises that I had. My arms and legs were black and blue and Robberts hadn’t spared my face.

“What happened? Who hurt you? Tell me.” The concerned expression covered his face.

I sighed and buried my head into his shoulder. “It’s not important.” I mumbled almost half believing it myself.

I knew that I had to get back to the van before they got too angry. “Come on,” I held his hand and begun to lead him back to the van. I tried to keep my composure but my tears were too overwhelming.

The stream started and I couldn’t stop. There was no way that I could save us both, it was either me or him. Walking towards the van the feeling of guilt and dread ate me from the inside out.

Jordan - 2503


The door opened again and let the light flood in causing my eyes to squint shut and my hands to involuntarily cover them. After a couple of seconds the door closed and the room went dark again.

It remained dark until the person who entered turned on a small lamp sitting on a desk. Evan placed a tray of steaming food onto the table, and the steam dissipated into the air emitting the
most wonderful aroma of food. Mashed potatoes, steak and green beans covered the tray.

I reminded myself not to give in; he was using the food as a ploy in order to get me to agree to turning in John. My stomach growled.

Evan absentmindedly pushed the food around on the plate. “Now Jordan. You only get this if you cooperate.”

“No.” I answered quickly. I was stronger that this to resist this temptation.

“Fine,” Evan flipped the plate over and let the food fall to the floor. “Let’s see how you hold
up later.”

He stormed out of the room, slamming the door. I was now alone. Alone with my thoughts and my final decision that I had to make. I couldn’t just agree to do anything with this man; I had no way of knowing how or why to trust him. He could easily promise me something and then take it away with no concern for honor for the agreement.

All of a sudden a high-pitched ear shattering noise filled the confined space. It created pressure of my head and made it feel as if it was going to explode. I cried out. It suddenly stopped. I sighed, praying it was over. No one was listening, it started again.

And so the torture began. They played that high-pitched noise in five second intervals it slowly becoming more and more intense and more and more frequent. My head began to reel, and I could no longer tell which direction was up and which direction was down.

After two hours of the sound torture, two burly men came in and carried me out of the cell and into a cold metal room with a container of water. They wasted no time, they grabbed my hair and pushed my head under the cold water and held it there. I struggled to breathe and the more I struggled the longer they held me under it. I could do nothing to fight back.

The series of dunking torture stopped and the men strapped me into a chair with leather restraints. It was like what the prison system uses to execute their prisoners. Electrodes were attached to my temples and to my chest.

The two men left the room as Evan re-entered. “Must we go some more? I can do this dance for as long as you are up for it.”

I hung my head. I didn’t want to give in to him, but I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I felt myself slowly changing my mind. John had done so much for me and he has saved me from so much, but I wasn’t able to deal with it anymore. I was cracking under the pressure. I didn’t want to deal with a book that changes the future. I wanted to go home and worry about being in college. I didn’t want to think about NEM, the prophecy, or any airships.

With every moment that passed my heart sank with the realization that this was the only solution. I knew that John would not want me to suffer and that he would do anything for me. I decided that I had to give into Evan to save myself.

“No,” I said reluctantly while my mind was reeling about my betrayal. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Finally.” Evan moved closer and removed the electrodes from my temples and chest. “We have an agreement. This will do nicely.”

He looked over to the door and snapped his fingers. The same two burly men carried a tray of food. They placed it right in front of me, but kept my arms strapped to the chair. Evan smiled and lifted a fork of the mashed potatoes up to my lips. I took a bite and was instantly satisfied. This was one hundred times better than the provisions that I was carrying around with me before I lost my pack at Harrison’s.

“You agree to do anything?” Evan asked spooning another fork full of mashed potatoes to my mouth.

“Yes. Anything.”

“We need John.”

I choked. “John? Why?”

Evan smirked. “He’s your partner in crime. I don’t know if you know this but your puny book is standard curriculum for all high school students. That’s over a million free thinkers reading about the horrors of your so-called faction, which directly represents us, the NEM. We would have been so much more successful if you hadn’t written your feel good book. Plus it's simple, it's leverage for you to cooperate.

“We’ve studied your life. Your work and it’s meaning. The clue to the origin of the book is in the dedication. ‘To my guardian angel, clouded in the mystery of the future.’ It’s John, he’s the reason you wrote the book. You were transported to the future to change the past. John was the driving force. But you know what? No John, no story, no peace, no organized humanity.”

At this point Evan had moved inches from my face. He was disgusting and had no sense of loyalty, common sense, or decency. He smirked and kissed me on my cheek. “I have just the plan.”


John – 2503


Leaving the library, I ended up walking along the deserted streets to the only place that I may have found a bit of peace – Central Park. A sanctuary that hadn’t been permanently scarred by the horrific changes the rebellion had caused.

The green grass hid the crickets that were content with buzzing away. The lamppost was just strong enough to keep the whole pathway lit with circular puddles of lights. It illuminated a near by park bench that was unoccupied and I took advantage of it. At that moment I realized just how bad my feet were hurting.

Finally being forced to sit and relax, I could look myself over and that’s when I realized how beat up I must look. My pants were dirty, covered in soot and torn around the ankle. My shirt, which once on the hanger was pressed and clean, now contained traces of my brother’s blood among other things. I decided not to worry about, at this point I had bigger and more important things to worry about.

I shuffled the content of my bag to find the provisions that I had packed in it before leaving the escape pod. All I managed to find was a bottle of water and a bag of potato chips. Nevertheless the water was smooth and it quenched my thirst. The potato chips, thought stale and tasteless, filled my growling stomach for the time being.

Just three days ago I was minding my own business on the Legacy suffering through my airship service wanting nothing to do with the world. It was a way of passing the time away from my family and getting to know myself.

Thinking about how the world was today made me realize that Joranding really had to write this book. There had to be a way to change the way humanity would end up and maybe it would be less of a hellhole if we owned up to our problems and worked together. I had no idea how much her book would change things, but it was worth a shot.

I glanced at my watch in my supply pack and it blinked 2:47am. I pulled my feet on the bench and used my pack as a pillow. I felt venerable sleeping in such a public place. I was constantly scanning the darkness for someone that was going to jump out at me or steal my pack. Eventually, my eyes focused on the stars.

I saw the beauty that Jordan had seen and talked about on the deck of the Legacy. They were splashed across the sky and they continually sparkled. They were gentle, but above all they were reassuring. Inside of the Legacy’s cabin there was a quotation that has long since been forgotten. It read, “I have come to love the stars so much, I am no longer afraid of the darkness of the night.”

My mind was finally able to settle down and I could just breathe and relax. I dozed off, my body desperate for the precious hours of sleep. With working on an airship I was accustomed to sleeping in odd places.

I was sure that I was dreaming because the screaming was close but it sounded inhuman. It didn’t sound as if it could come from a real human being. It sounded like an animal being slaughtered in the most horrible way that man could manage. My eyes sprung open and once awake I realized that the sound was real. My mind raced from burglary to murder to rape. I had to investigate and make sure no one was hurt. I’m glad that I did because if I hadn’t I would have never been able to forgive myself for as long as I live.


Jordan – 2503


I hated the plan. There was nothing that I could do to avoid it. I wanted to go home and Evan had made it clear that if I didn’t work with him there was no way to go back. Evan made is way over to me and removed the restraints and lead me to another room. It was there that I came face to face once again with Kent Robberts.

“Ah, you’ve escaped once but this time you have no way, no choice.” He placed his hand on my shoulder causing me to shudder. “Evan told me that you were prepared to do anything to get back home and that for you to get home we need John.”

“Yes.” I answered coldly all the while my heart-screaming no. I was alone and I just wanted to get out of this time in the future. I could sense a doomed feeling coming over me

“Good,” Robberts chuckled to himself. He fully knew well that I had been tricked into this and he gloated knowing that.

He explained his plan. His team and his scientists had been transporting a time machine on the Legacy where some one had neglected to secure the dials. Encountering some less than common atmospheric pressures the machine had become operational and due to my crappy day back on Earth year 2006 I had been randomly selected.

After the explanation it occurred to me why the crew had been so nervous and unsettled the night that I was in the jail cell. I had been transported due to pure extremely dumb luck. It worked out that I ended up to be some value to the future and that Robberts could change the way his terrorist group ruled the world. But, here I was dealing with a boy who is about 500 years older than me and worse of all; I was about to betray him.

All of a sudden Robberts stepped forward and hit me hard. I shrunk back to the floor surprised and startled. Robberts had this grin on his face and his eyes revealed his pure hatred and his criminal mastermind. I raised my arms up over my face to shield myself from future blows.

“Step one,” he continued hitting my arms, my legs, my back with punishing blows. “You are beaten up.”

He grabbed my arm and pulled me into a chair in one of the corners. He looked into my eyes
as if trying to show me that he was the boss and that he was the one with the complete power. “Step two, you lead him to us. Oh and don’t worry, there will be no escaping this time, not with explosives strapped to your wrist.”
“Don’t worry you’re pretty little primitive head, Jordan. You need not worry about the rest of the plan because you will be safe in your 2006 home.” Robberts watched as Evan pulled a blindfold over my head and loaded me into the back of a vehicle.

Libraries hadn’t been required to censor their titles, at least not yet. So maybe, just maybe I would be able to scrounge up a copy of the book to do some research.

I got up and walked out the door. I just couldn’t sit by and do nothing while my brother lay in the able hands of the doctor and Jordan was somewhere out there by herself, alone. I cleared my thoughts after I said goodbye to my brother and planned my next move.

The library was located on the 2nd floor, directly underneath the room that I was in right now. I located the staircase and found my way into the library.

The shelves were packed with all sorts of books. Leather bound classics and the colorfully bound ever popular “romance novels” littered the shelves. I made my way over to the historical fiction section to find Jordan’s book.

So many people were gathered here and were pouring over the history of the recorded word. These were books filled with wisdom by millions and millions of authors, each with something different to say and in a different way. It contained the most important thoughts of authors, poets, philosophers, philantrophists and people who just wanted to change the world.

I located Jordan’s book. It was a simply bound one, not boasting or bragging about its greatness. The slim binding all but blended into the sea of historical manuscripts found on the same shelves. I plucked it off the bookcase and opened it on the table.

(this is the book he's reading, should be in italics, but can't figure out how to do it FYI)

Introduction

I know, you probably think that someone as young as twenty can’t possibly write something that is considered ‘life altering’. It’s true, I can only write. Nothing that I say or do can cause you to do anything at all. It’s all up to you – and you alone.
There was a poster that was in my old history classroom way back in high school. It inspired me and got me thinking about how to change the world. It’s a simple quote by Gandhi saying that to change the world one “must be the change they wish to see in the world”.

That simple message is the message that drives the themes that are central to this novel. Learn. Dream. Protect our future by changing our present. These characters have allowed me to test them, to put them in the most impossible predicaments to ensure that we as humanity will have a life beyond today and that it will be one of safety and prosperity.

Jordan Sims
Jordan Sims, Author, 2009

After finishing the introduction, I could see how something like this could have caused an uproar. After flipping through the first couple of chapters I recognized the descriptions of the airships, Harrison’s apartment, and the newly demolished area that Harrison’s house once stood.

My eyes were glued to the page as I read about the heroine that was trapped in an awful predicament. I glanced down the page and caught my name buried in the intense paragraph.

(More of the book)
John had saved me once again from the clutches of my future. I knew that this would be the last time. The transport was waiting to take me back and the hands that gripped my shoulders began to pull us apart. It was something that just had to happen; nothing I did or said could have prevented this moment. I closed my eyes and..

I closed the book not wanting to read anymore. It was just a little too bit unnerving. Reading about my life as it was intertwined with a stranger’s. I didn’t understand how I was to marry this stranger but then leave her for death, by the hand of a kiler. I just couldn’t resist opening the pages again.

Jordan - 2503

The pain was overwhelming; I could barely open my eyes because of the bright light that was in my face. When I did manage to open them I was staring straight into the eyes of Evan.

“You know Jordan, sweetie. This could be so much better if you just told me why you are here and what you plan to do.” He grinned and taunted me in a singsong tone.

I tried to look away to find out how I was trapped. My legs, arms and head were strapped onto a table. I involuntarily shivered. I was so close to his face, all I saw were his lifeless eyes, cold and empty. He was simply following orders, nothing more than a body.

“Evan, I’ve already told you that I don’t know why I’m here. I was asleep on a bench after breaking up with my jerk ex-boyfriend.” I calmly explained for a multiple time.

Evan looked down and sighed. “You know, my employer cannot afford to let you back to your present. It is not the technology that you came to seek. It’s the change, the eye-opening experiences.”

It hit me – the book. They didn’t want me to write the book. “Who is it Evan?” Your boss? So, he’s the leader of the New Earth Movement. If I so much as imply anything about you and the movement in my book you’ll do what?”

Evan didn’t flinch, “You’ll die and all traces of you will be annihilated.”

“I don’t believe you”

“You, missy are the reason for our failure today. You and your stupid book have hindered the ability for us to rule the world.”

I was so angry. He had no idea what life was for those gripped by his rule. New York was a captive to the power. They were demolished and lived in fear every day of impending doom.

I couldn’t sit quietly anymore. “You think your group is any good? You’re a bunch of creeps and you’ve hurt the world more than you can imagine. Harrison’s whole block was flattened by your weaponry. His house is no more, and you’re doing the same to America. What’s to say that after America you move onto Europe. You’re like a plague infesting humanity with your hatred and lies. There is no way in hell that you should be allowed to have any sliver of power…”

I was cut off by a hard slap on the face. It stung and I tired so hard not to cry, to not give satisfaction to Evan for hitting me. I had made him lose his cool, this could prove to be handy in the future.

“I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to resort to this but here you go.” Evan brought up a video on a screen that was somewhere in front of me. “You must know the implications of writing your book.”

The video was grainy and the sound quality was bad. “Commencement Ceremony University of Texas” scrolled across the bottom of the screen. I saw a lady dressed in graduation robes announce the speaker for the graduates. The graduates donned black robes and talked with the excitement of starting a new life and starting a new chapter of their life. I really only knew about UT when they beat USC in the rose bowl back in 2006. Other than that, I breathe Arizona State. I was lucky enough to get accepted into the University but due to my current situation, I was doubtful I would be able to get back.

She introduced me to the impatient crowd. I was speaking at one of the UT ceremonies, one of the largest, most energy packed graduation ceremonies in the country. It was me alright, I looked as if I was in my late thirties. I began my speech with that familiar little quote that was plastered onto the wall of my history class from Gandhi. The speech was going fine until all of a sudden a shout was heard from the crowd.

A quick shot was fired and all of a sudden I disappeared from the camera. The cameraman was quick to reposition his camera and refocus on the event that was unfolding before me.

I saw my lifeless body lay behind the podium while people frantically called for help on their cell phones. One of the graduates ran over and began to perform CPR in hopes of saving me. The crowd had burst into hysterics.

I couldn’t stand to watch anymore. The assassination wasn’t a lie in the encyclopedia. It was real. This wasn’t a game about a book; this was the decision between life and death. I understood that this book was to cause great changes in the history of the world but was I ready to accept that fact that I would have to sacrifice myself in order to do that.

Not wanting to watch anymore I hung my head and realized that I was doomed. I wasn’t going to get off easy and I had no idea what I could do to get out of the enemies hand. Evan turned off the lights and left the room.

John – 2503

(this is the book again)

Chapter 1 – The Beginning

Sarah looked upon the horizon, and back at her transport. It was amazing! The time machine really had worked. Those scientists that spent no time outside in the sun had done it and had created something that was going to be worth millions someday. The way the world was headed this day it was all out for monetary value.

She stepped out into the future. She had traveled over five hundred years, strictly on a research basis. The scientists had made sure to equip her with all the technology to keep her safe and to make sure that she was protected from any unknown elements in the atmosphere.

Looking at the GPS system, Sarah located herself on the map. Five miles outside of the New York City limits. The infected area was just located two miles from here.

“Well,” she thought to herself. “It’s time to start walking.”

The scene was a grim one. All of the plants, trees, and flowers that were located along the roadway were gone. They were flattened and dried out. Even the roadway seemed desolate and chunks were missing here and there. The road seemed to go on forever, and the horizon never changed.

The scouts had been here before her, and they had told her what had happened. An evil dictator in South America had finally gotten sick of yielding power to his enemies in the north and finally dropped a dirty bomb in New York City. One of the scouts was able to survive the dropped bomb and come back with the information. The other scout, whose body was brought back, was unrecognizable and the damage was mind blowing. Dirty bombs in the future had become one hundred times more deadly and devastating then they were right now.

After about two hours of walking the city came into view. It was a chilling sight. Sarah was used to the constant motion of New York City, as a resident, she thrived on the constant motion and the lack for a need of sleep.

What lay in front of her was a ghost town. A steel frame of a city that was once the most busy and important post to the world’s economy. The steel frames loomed ominously over head. That’s not all that loomed over her head. Bodies were hung. They were everywhere off every steel beam. They had been picked over by the birds and someone were missing their flesh.

Some had blood trailing from their gouged out eye sockets and others had limbs that just hung there. Blood trickled from some, mixed with other bodily fluids. They collected in festering pools of stench overflowing into the sewers and collecting in the cracks of the sidewalk.

Sarah went to sit down on the sidewalk but stopped as her hand touched flesh. Looking down she saw a young girl. Her hair was braided and her face was twisted into a grotesque expression. An expression of turmoil and pain. The horror was reflected in her eyes that were glued open, fixated on a wall of fury that ended her life. Her clear blue eyes that would no longer look upon the children’s programs on television or would color a birthday card for her mother or father.

Her limbs were broken and twisted at all of the wrong angles. Her feet bent backwards while donning her white buckled shoes. There were traces of grass on them from running in the playground and sliding in the field. Her broken wrists clutched a small teddy bear, one that every little child owned. It was a grim reminder of the idea that nothing escaped youth.

She threw up. The body was a sick and twisted reminder of the horrors that lay ahead of her throughout the city. It was a sickness of humanity that filled her body and a hatred for the ones who did this.

After wiping the corners of her mouth and rinsing with the bottle of her water that was located in her provision pack she looked up to see a gang of approaching men. They were wild-eyed and looked at her as if she was something to eat. The came for her and grabbed her bags and dumped them out into the street looking for food.

One of them held her arms behind her back while another held a knife to her throat. “Don’t move.” One of them commanded.

“Please, I don’t have anything.” She pleaded.

The leader got more and more angry because her pack contained no more than a couple of granola bars and bottles of water. Sarah panicked as she thought she heard the order to finish her off.

All of a sudden, a young man fired a gun from behind her and hit one of the muggers. The rest of them slunk off like beat dogs and let Sarah sink to the ground. Sarah looked up right before she passed out and saw a man wearing a police uniform with the name badge John.

She felt safe as he gathered her things, picked her up and carried her to safety


“Excuse me, Sir.” The librarian touched me on my shoulder. I looked up and closed the book. “The library is now closed, and we have to lock up. Would you like me to check out the copy of the book for you?”

I had read enough. The thought of knowing that this was to be the grim fate of New York was sickening to the stomach. I could see how a book like this would be paid attention too.

“No thank you.” I answered as I pushed my chair back under the table. “Goodnight.”

I walked out of the library with the sense of urgency to find her.

*************************************************************************

that's all for now folks, should keep you happy for awhile.

Good news, i did finally figure out how to end it..

It's the end of school at deerpark middle school and they've opened all the lockers in order to clean them out. In some of the lockers there are books and notebooks and binders still left. So i'm walking up in the upstairs of deerpark and i see sam mosely's locker and kristin rawlins' locker. I take a notebook that isn't written in from sonika momin's locker and i'm just kind of walking around. I go downstairs by the main office and there is the head lady asking me if i know any body so I can give them their books back. Of the list I know two of the kids - sam regimbal and ryan baird. I tell them that I will see both of them at graduation tomorrow and that I will tell them. I walk out the from door and begin to walk home.

I get home and it's dark and all of a sudden shots are fired. I run through the house trying to get away from the people that are firing at each other. It's the police and then it's other people dressed in blue. The blue people start shootin at me so I start to climb my back fence to get to the front yard. A police officer rounds the back corner of my house and shoots the blue person that is following me. I make it to the other side of the fence and the fence disapears. I manage to hide behind a little part of the house that sticks out. I watch as a blue person approaches me from in front and i try to get as close to the house so that the person behind me can shoot him. The police shoots him, and instantly i feel the blood splatter from his back onto the wall, the grass, and onto me. It's warm and it's sticky and it clings to everything. I scream and then I start running. I run up tamayo and then run onto quadros. From there I run until it's that big street and turn right.

I'm running and then Taylor calls me and I act all normal but then a police squad car pulls up in his convertible cop car. I beg him not to radio everyone and tell him that he's found me. I'm just too scared. He promises that he won't tell with a silent head nod and I get into the car. He closes the top on the car and he just starts to drive. I say thanks and he just kind of looks at me and goes "i lost people too, in horrible ways." I start to have a conversation with him and we get to this house. I remember wrapping my arms around him and knowing that with him i'll be safe.

There is this girl in the house and we have to get ready for a show of somesort. I'm so bruised and bloody that I have to take a bath, but i'm afraid to take one. It's in the dishwasher. I have to take out the bottom tray to put the dishes on and then i get in and I have enough room to sit. I don't want to sit in the thing until i find out how to get out. I do and the water hits me and it's warm and refreshing. I get out and there is this blowdrying with a note from a famous hair stylist saying that if i call her she will come to do my hair. We call and she says that she's busy and that i should just go ahead and use her supplies.

that's all.

I was in a place, i think it was a pool and there was the kid that I babysit there.

All of a sudden he's like not breathing so i start to do CPR. But I can't remember how many breaths there are to compressions but i'm just kind of compressing and then breathing.

He dies.

And I wake up remembering that I was crying.



&^^ I'm realy quite over dreams that people die in them. It's kind of scaring me.

So I am in the school parking lot and there is like a ship, like an old school pirate ship, that is supposed to fly in the parking lot. There is this guy from church, kenny, who is with me.

So there are these guys that are making fun of us and something happens (I really can't remember) and so the ship starts to take off. I grab onto one of the masts and we start to spiral upwards around the parking lot. We eventually crash behind the back portables (like where coach hoover's is) and we run into the school.

So we are in the school and we are running around and we find an elevator, kind of by decker's room upstairs, by the cafeteria stairs. We see Ms. Cochran come out and we go in. All of a sudden I just kind of lean in and kiss him quickly. It's awkward and we just kind of stand there. Then the elevator is stuck and we press the buttons. It goes down a floor then starts to fall. I remember looking over at him.

Then, in the dream, i wake up with a terrible headache and i'm dead. (Think Lovely Bones) and the person there tells me i can look on the rest of my friends to see how they react.

There was also a part of the dream that dealt with jeeps and putting and taking off the covers, but at this point i can't really remember.

Wierd.