Jump Line (Book 1 - Jump Line Series)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

It felt like it took me several minutes to make my way to the back room. Time had slowed down. A hard lump developed in the back of my throat as I rounded the corner.

Theo was hunched over a frail figure slumped in a rocking chair. His anguished sobs filled the tiny space as he shook the person sitting in front of him. Audrina ran up behind him and tried to pull him away.

"Theo, get back," Audrina yelled as she grabbed both of his shoulders. "Step away from her."

That's when Mary's full figure came into view. She was wearing the same outfit she'd had on the other day, but the front was now splattered with several large blood stains. A large gash, with dried blood, covered the top corner of her head. The petite woman, who was so welcoming the other day, looked like she'd never had a chance to fight off her attacker.

Theo pounded his fist into the closest wall.

"Stop Theo!" Audrina yelled, grabbing his hands. "You need to get a grip."

"I'll kill him." Theo seethed, his voice deep and full of hatred. "I'm going to kill him slowly and make sure he feels the pain."

I wondered just how powerful Theo could be when truly pushed. I had a feeling, I had only seen a glimpse of what he was actually capable of.

"Who?" I asked, perplexed, trying not to look at Mary's bloody body. I could already feel bile creeping up the back of my throat. I looked out the window, anxious to locate something else to focus on, so I wouldn't unleash the contents of my stomach.

"Paul. I know this has to be his work," Theo said as he clenched his fists repeatedly.

"But I didn't think Paul could travel on the Jump Line." I swallowed, trying to make sense of the scene. "Whoever did this had to be able to jump to this year, or they are from this year. Did Mary have any enemies?"

"No," Theo responded.

"How do you know that?" I shot back at him. "You all loved her, but maybe there was something going on in this town. Have you ever walked around to see what it's like outside of this cottage?"

"Esa, you don't get it," Theo let out a deep sigh. "This isn't the work of someone from 1910. This is the work of someone from our year. Those gunshot wounds are too clean to be from a gun from this period, and I found one of our collection bags near Mary."

"Collection bags? Like the one Audrina used when she brought back those bodies?"

"Yes." Theo held up the familiar long, white bag. "One of us was apparently trying to collect Mary, but who? Audrina, any ideas?"

"No. It wasn't me, and I know it couldn't have been Esa, so that leaves the other three guys on the team." Audrina lifted Mary's limp body and placed it gently on the bed. "Someone jumped to this year and tried to grab her. I don't know why, but we can't leave her here. We can't let someone find her."

"What? We don't have time for that. Whoever did this could still be here, watching, and waiting to attack us," I said. If Theo was right then it was only a matter of time before the attacker returned and made us the new targets. We had obviously interrupted something. Whoever had done this to Mary was only just beginning.

Audrina glared at me. "We need to put Mary in the bag and take her back with us." She closed her fingers into a tight fist. "I'm not sure how this will impact time. I don't think Mary was supposed to die just yet."

Audrina held out her palm. A tiny line of electricity danced in the middle before slowly growing bigger. Audrina slung back her arm and threw a ball of electricity at one of the walls, leaving a charred, perfectly round hole. She then placed her hand on Mary's heart. The frail woman's body lurched slightly, but it didn't look like Audrina's touch had any impact.

"It's too late." Audrina began to wrap the bag around Mary. "Don't worry Mary, we'll find out what happened to you."

"We've all been together for the past few hours..." Theo said.

"Except for Samuel and Luther," I finished his thought.

A knock on the front door startled us.

Theo stiffened at the sound. "Audrina, leave Mary for now and go out the window to see who's at the door. If it's an unknown, please take care of the problem. We can't afford for anyone to walk into Mary's house right now. I'll wait thirty seconds and then I'll open the door. Esa, stay hidden."

Audrina nodded and then turned and slid quietly through the window. Theo walked toward the door and took in a deep breath. There was no peep hole to look out of, to see who was on the other side. Mentally, we both counted to thirty before he forcefully gripped the knob. Time was up, and Audrina hadn't given any sort of signal.

The door let out a loud creak as it swung open.Standing on the front porch was Samuel. There was an odd look on his face, andhe wasn't alone. Next to him was... Paul.