Free The End Came With a Kiss by John Michael Hileman Page A

strange. They were red when I came in at ten."
    He presses the button again. "Who else has been in there since you came in?"
    "Just Kyle." The young scientist looks up from his clipboard and raises his hand when he hears his name. "And Cartwright’s assistant."
    "What assistant?" I say, intrigued by their response. "Cartwright doesn’t have an assistant."
    Lau gives me a funny look. "Yes he does. Dr. Cross."
    "Cross? Never heard of him."
    "Her," Lau corrects. "She’s been helping us from the start."
    "Why haven’t I seen her?"
    "You have," he says with a weird intensity.
    Have I? Wait a second. I remember Cartwright mentioning he would bring his assistant in to get our team up to speed. She must have been assigned directly to Lau’s department. That’s why I don’t know her.
    "What does she look like?"
    "She has red hair that she keeps up with a green flowery hairclip."
    "And," I prod.
    "That’s it. Red hair. Green flowers."
    As he says it, I realize, I have seen her! Leaving the lab earlier. She was petite, with a green hair clip and green shoes. I didn’t get a look at her face. That must be why Lau can’t give me a better description. The more I focus on the words red hair and green flowers, the more the lab blurs, and the more Doctor Cross becomes substantial.
    She is walking away from me down the corridor as I approach the labs. When I reach the door I tear free of the time stream and keep walking. I can tell by the way her elbows are bent that she is holding something. Is it the tray of test tubes? I pick up speed. A torrent of questions flood my mind as I jog to catch up. Should I follow her? Is that possible? Won’t my memory be altered by this subconscious dream world as soon as my current self enters the lab? What good will that do me?
    I could stop her, but that too would provide no real information. I never saw her face. I never saw the item she was carrying. It doesn’t make sense but I can’t stop the impulse. My hand shoots out and my fingers dig into her bicep as I spin her around.
    Her head turns and her face comes into view. What I see causes my hand to snap back. This isn’t possible. I struggle to take in a breath, and the room sounds as if it has a heartbeat. I don’t understand.
    This is my mind playing tricks on me. It has to be.
    Ashlyn?
     

9
    The lights in the room go out and flicker back on. Ashlyn’s face is contorted.
    "Can I help you?" Her voice sounds irritated.
    "Don’t you know who I am?" I prod.
    "Carter, right? Ben Carter?"
    "And you are?"
    She pulls her hand out from under the tray of red banded test tubes and holds it out toward me. "I’m sorry. Dr. Angela Cross."
    What is this? Is my subconscious mind inserting Ashlyn’s face because I never saw the real face of Dr. Cross? There is no way the two could be the same person. Lau would have recognized her immediately. But this looks so real. Frighteningly real. My pulse has begun a low rhythm in my neck. This was a mistake. I should have stayed in the time stream.
    "Are you okay, Mr. Carter?"
    "I’m just..." The words stick in my throat as I look around the large office space. Am I in the same timeframe? Is this before or after the breach? I can no longer tell. Why can’t I tell?
    "Mr. Carter?" Ashlyn’s voice startles me.
    "Yes?" I say with a nervous twitch.
    "Are you okay?"
    A man behind her is looking at me, his eyes cold and staring. That’s what the dead do when their automated motions are interrupted. Is he one of them? I can’t tell. I see others moving about as if nothing has changed—but they do that too, they can look almost normal.
    I swallow hard and notice that my breath is labored. Where is this dread coming from? After all I’ve seen, I’ve never felt like this, like a predator is stalking me with its cold dead eyes. Ashlyn is stepping back from me now. Her expression revealing her uneasiness with my behavior.
    "I’m sorry," is all I can stammer out.
    I have to get back to the time stream to return