“I can handle him,” I say pointedly to Lawrence. We have no
other choice.
Lawrence doesn’t respond, but I can tell he’s not happy with
me. Finally, he nods once. “Fine. But I’ll check to make sure
you’re safe very soon.”
“Do that.”
Lawrence starts back to the house. As he passes Brandon, he
bumps Brandon’s shoulder deliberately.
I could kill him.
Brandon’s eyes flash. Lawrence continues walking, and I hold
up my hand, as if I could stop the impending explosion.
“Brandon—”
But he’s after Lawrence like the snap of the whip. I fly
after them.
“Brandon, wait!”
In the thin alley of bushes, Brandon grabs hold of Lawrence’s
shirt and spins him around.
“You want to make this serious, bro?”
Lawrence pushes Brandon’s arms away. “Take your paws
off me.”
“Stop!” I shout.
They both ignore me. Brandon gives Lawrence a fierce shove.
The bushes shake where he lands, causing a bird to flutter into
the sky. I’ve never seen Lawrence look so angry. I grab him
from behind.
“Leave it,” I say. I press my face to his neck and add in a sharp
whisper, “Think about where we are.”
Lawrence gives me a tense glance, but then we both notice
Brandon coming at us, eyes blazing. He throws a punch, and
Lawrence darts out of the way, pushing me to the side to protect
me. Brandon swings again, and this time when Lawrence
dodges, he jumps back.
Too far back. He begins to blur.
Not realizing this, Lawrence retreats further. He blurs
even more.
“I’m not going to fight you,” he says, but his voice is muffled.
Brandon freezes, and terror grips me.
“Lawrence!”
Only now does he realize what’s happening. His eyes widen.
He makes a move toward the beach, but Brandon is blocking
the way. Brandon advances, and Lawrence has no choice but
to back up another step, becoming even more obscured by the
shadows of time.
“What the hell?” Brandon’s voice is soft with confusion
and shock.
I grab Brandon’s arm. “We have to go back to the beach.”
He shoulders out of my grip, not taking his eyes off Lawrence.
Lawrence looks to me. His expression is hard to make out,
but I can tell that he’s as alarmed as I am. What can we do?
What can we possibly say?
Then, out of nowhere, Lawrence turns and runs, vanishing
completely into 1925.
This is bad. This is beyond bad.
I grab Brandon, so that he faces me. He stares at me, waiting
for me to explain what just happened. But no words come.
Brandon steps through the bushes. When he reaches the backyard, he looks around. Looking for Lawrence. But Lawrence isn’t there. Brandon slowly raises a hand to his forehead. Then,
after a moment, he speed walks for the house. I’m paralyzed
with fear. This is exactly what I was afraid would happen. The
worstcase
scenario.
I run after him. “Wait! Brandon!”
He strides ahead without looking back. I run in front of him,
trying to block his path.
“I can explain.”
He shakes his head, backing away from me like I’m a leper.
“Don’t talk to me.”
I follow him through the house and out the front door. As he
gets in his car, I lean through the driver’s side window.
“Brandon, please. It’s not what you think.”
He looks me in the eye for the first time. He’s afraid. I
can see it. I touch his hand, which grips the steering wheel,
whiteknuckled.
“You need to give me a chance to explain,” I say.
Brandon fumbles for his keys. His hand trembles as he turns
it in the ignition.
“I have to go.”
The engine revs to a start.
“Brandon.”
Without another word, he pulls the car into gear and roars
away. I jump back to avoid getting run over.
h