Still Loop 397
Rion grows rigid, and his eyes widen. "What do you mean? I've been completely honest this whole time."
"Is that so?"
His eyebrows pinch together. "Yes?"
I watch him closely. "Is that a statement yes, or a question yes? Because it sounded an awful lot like a question yes."
"What are we even talking about?" Rion's growing exasperated. "We're just distracting ourselves when we're supposed to be watching Heather this loop. And it's not like before, when there are endless loops." He stops suddenly, realizing what he just said. "Holy shit, we don't have endless loops anymore, do we? How many loops do you think we have left?"
An icy dread fills me. I don't answer.
Because I don't know.
"Do you think it's like a dozen more? Or less? Like two or three?" Rion's frantic now, his blue eyes no longer able to focus on anything. "What's that Velocity Point you told me about? VNE? When you can no longer level out of a nosedive?"
Panic builds throughout my body. I've been in nearly 400 of these and haven't figured out squat and now I have only a handful – or less – of these loops left until I'm squat.
If, of course, there's anything to be solved.
But there has to be a way out, my gut tells me. I didn't necessarily think so before, but with Rion by my side, it feels like everything is changing. We're onto something. I just know we are.
Heather closes the luggage compartment and she's walking by us, towards the front of the plane.
As we watch her, my patience hits a dead end. "Fine, Rion, if you don't want to fess up, then I'll just come out and say it," I blurt out. "When Janelle Fiori saw you right before she collapsed, I know she said something to you. I was watching the whole thing, and honestly you seemed... I don't know the word for it... Surprised? Alarmed? Or maybe if Surprise and Alarm had a baby together, and the baby inherited Surprise's facial expressions and Alarm's temperament."
He tilts his head like he's trying to decipher what I'm saying.
"But the thing is," I continue, "I don't know what she said to you. So, Rion, I am now making a formal request. Please tell me what she said."
"Oh, that." He swallows.
"We're a team," I remind him with his own words. I point at him and then back to myself. "We're teammates. And then, once there are no secrets between us and we trust each other entirely, we will go ahead and solve the shit out of this loop."
I glance towards the front of the plane where I see Heather's back facing us. She stands in the left corner, in front of the bathroom. Her shoulders hunch forward, but she's still.
"What is she doing up there?" I whisper.
Rion follows my gaze. "I don't know. But it looks like she's definitely up to something."
We watch her for another second, and then I hear Rion say, "When Janelle Fiori saw me, she said, 'You.'"
"Wait, what?" I mutter, in shock. "You? Like, you as in you, Rion James? Or like the letter u? Or do you mean like a baby goat ewe?"
"Why would she be talking about goats? Plus, I'm pretty sure an ewe is a female sheep, not a baby goat."
I shrug. "I definitely need to polish up on my livestock vernacular. But I don't know, maybe Janelle owns a sheep farm and she's very worried about her baby – sorry, female – sheep? But she didn't say ewes. Is ewes even a word? Or, maybe she's just concerned about one female sheep, in particular."
"A sheep farm?" Rion shakes his head. "No, I'm willing to bet all my money she wasn't talking about sheep. I'm pretty sure she meant me."
I sit up straight, my vision locked on the front of the plane. Rion follows my gaze and we watch the bathroom door fold open. Heather turns towards it from whatever it was she was doing, and then freezes. She takes a step forward, then she's inside the bathroom, and the door closes behind her. The light above the lavatory switches to occupied again. It all happens very quickly, within a couple seconds.
"That's weird," I say. "I never noticed that before, probably because this happens during what's usually my four-minute therapy session with Dr. Sheryl. But what's weirdest is that bathroom was always occupied since the start of the loop, yet when the door just opened, no one came out." The words circle my head, not making sense. "But no one could've been in it, because we just watched Heather walk right inside, and those bathrooms are insanely small. But someone must have been in it, right? Bathroom doors don't open by themselves."
"Next loop," Rion says, watching the front of the plane. "You trail Heather from start to finish, and I'll finding out what's up with that bathroom."
"Deal," I respond, and then my attention swings back to Rion. "But now I need you to tell me why do you think Janelle Fiori said 'you'?"
Rion shifts in his seat.
"What is it?" I insist.
"Ok, but tell me you won't freak out?"
I shake my head. "We're in an eternal time loop that suddenly just lost its eternalness. Plus I already told you in regards to the nut grab, I can't make any promises."
Rion leans back against the headrest.
"What? I'm just being honest," I'm nearly shouting now, but I don't care. This whole loop, and the fact that the loops are lengthening lies heavily on my shoulders. I mean I despise the loops with a palpable hatred, but the thought of only having a handful of them left – or less than that – is utterly gut wrenching. "Yes, of course I might freak out. So what? I'm allowed to freak out. Dr. Sheryl says we have to own our emotions, experience them. We can't just run away from how we're feeling."
Rion rubs his eyes. "Ok, fine. I know Janelle."
I freeze, my fingers gripping my Chapstick.
"Or at least, I think I know her from somewhere," Rion adds. "She looks familiar. Very familiar. But I can't place her."
Whoa.
Rion eyes me, waiting. "You're not freaking out," he then says, his voice stiff, as if he's waiting for me to completely lose it.
"I'm... digesting." I purse my lips, turning this new piece of information over in my mind. "Do you think you saw her in Hawaii? Or somewhere else? Can you remember what she was wearing? What was around her? Anything at all?"
He shakes his head. "I've been wracking my brain, but I just don't know. I can't remember. Honestly, I'm starting to think that maybe I don't know her and she just reminds me of someone."
"But she said you," I argue. "And unless she meant a female sheep – which I feel like we've officially ruled out by now – then it sounds like she recognizes you, too."