"Sorry I'm late. I missed the bus."
The lie was easy enough, which was surprising considering Anita wasn't typically a liar. She liked to think herself a pretty open and honest person, just like her parents had taught her to be.
"That's alright, dear." Mrs. Sax, Anita's second period teacher, gave her the warmest smile. All pearly white teeth and so wide her lips were spread thin. It was so fake, the kind of smile she usually reserved only for the new kids. "Have a seat next to Billie over there." Mrs. Sax gestured to the girl in the back with the horribly dyed green hair. Anita wasn't sure why. She'd been in the same first class as Billie since the seventh grade, and Anita usually sat at the front of the room.
She didn't bother to argue.
Anita was about to take her seat when Mrs. Sax said something that had her stopping in her tracks. "I don't have any new students on my roster. What's your name, dear?"
Anita stared at her, her mouth going dry. This had to be a joke. She had been in her class since the beginning of school in August. She was always the first to raise her hand to answer a question, and she was the only one who actually actively listened to her when she gave a lecture. Mrs. Sax had a bit of a reputation for being mean, so Anita had always made it a point not to give her a reason to hate her. She'd even gotten her to admit Anita was her favorite student a few times. Why was she acting as if she had never seen her before? Was it pay back for that one time she let those eighth graders talk her into pranking her via duct taping her chair to the floor?
Everyone else seemed to be in on the joke too, staring up at Anita with dull eyes, the same way they did every other new student. A few of them even went so far as to ask her questions. "Why move so late in the year?" "Did you come here for the meta humans?" The usually crap the newbies got pestered with. How had she gotten everyone else in on the prank too?
"I'm not...I don't..." Anita waited for one of them to jump up and yell, "haha got ya!" But no one moved. They just kept staring at her, watching her. This wasn't a prank.
The walls were spinning, and Anita thought she might have fallen over had she not been clutching the back of Billie's chair.
The green haired girl glanced up, a small frown on her face. "Dude, if you're gonna be sick turn the other way. I do not want puke in my hair!"
"I gotta go!" Anita bolted, leaving a befuddled classroom behind her. She darted down the hall as fast as she could without tripping over herself. She wasn't sure where she was going, her feet moving all on their own until she was standing outside Daren's classroom. He was already standing there, pacing back and forth, wringing his hands on his shirt. He looked like was about to cry when he spotted Anita.
"No one recognizes me!" he cried. "What is going on?"
"I don't know," Anita said. She was trying to keep her brave face on for his sake, but that was significantly hard to do when the room was shrinking ever so slowly. "I don't know, but, uh, look on the bright side. Now we don't have to go to school today." That got a small and a quiet smile from him, which Anita thought was progress. "Let's go home."
{~}
Anita reached under the rock, where their spare key was located, unlocking the door and leading her brother inside. "Dad?" she called, pulling Daren along. It was cringe worthy, how shaky her voice sounded. But their father worked from home on Fridays, so he'd still be around; and even if he wasn't an expert on meta humans, he had consoled a few of them before. She was hoping he'd know what to do. He was really all they had.
Darryl stepped into the room as he heard the call. He looked a little different. Shorter hair, fuller beard. His eyes were a little different, too, like there was something missing. He wasn't wearing his normal nicely ironed clothes either, the ones Anita's mother always liked best on him. Maybe he was just having a lazy day?
Then the something terrifying happened.
He looked right at Anita and Daren, eyes wide. "Who are you?" he asked.
Daren's grip tightened on his sister's arm. His eyes were watery, tears almost spilling over now. "Anita...?"
She kept quiet for a moment, sure that her stomach had dropped through the floor now. Was her dad in on the prank too? He wouldn't do something so cruel, would he? "Dad, it's...it's us. Anita and Daren..." Maybe he had just hit his head and gotten amnesia or something?
Darryl just shook his head. "I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong man. I don't have any children." The words rang in her ears, and she sank to the floor. He didn't have any children. What the heck was this? "How did you get in here?"
"With the spare key!" Daren insisted. He was sobbing now, but Anita couldn't bring herself to stand up much less comfort him. He frantically held the key up. "It's under the rock! Anita was the one who decided where to put it! And I'm the one who put that dent in the wall. When I was three. I ran into after you and Mom told me to stop running in the house, but I didn't listen."
"Okay..." Darryl nodded, but it was clear he didn't believe him. "Calm down. Why don't I just make a few calls and we can get you home."
"This is our home!" Daren cried. "That's where Mom kept her art stuff. That's why there's paint splatters every where." He pointed to one corner. "And that's your favorite picture of all of us!" He moved to point at a spot on the wall, only to find a blank space. "It... It should be right here!" Daren ran to the wall, patting it like that would do any good. "Where is it?!"
"Daren!" Anita yelled, jumping up to grab her brother. "Stop it!"
He yanked his arms free from her, turning to glare at their father. "How could you forget your own kids!?"
"Don't be mad at him."
Anita swallowed hard. It had been several weeks since she'd heard that voice, but even so it was easily recognizable. "Oculus..."
The man himself stepped out of the shadows of the room, his usual happy go lucky smile cast over his face. Anita tried hard not to be angry at that. Her family was in shambles and he was smiling about it? "It's not his fault. Temporal anomalies can have quite the effect on the memory."
"Temporal anomalies?" Darryl scoffed. "What are you -- who the hell are you? How did you even get in here?!"
"It's something of a long story," Oculus told him. "Well, not really that long. It's just that it's very boring." He rummaged around in his pockets for a moment, coming out with three identical wrist bands. "Here, put these on."
"What are they?" Daren sniffed, taking a band from Oculus and slipping it around his wrist.
"They'll counter act the effects of the anomaly, at least for you anyway. Everyone else...not so much. Sorry."
Anita took her wrist band, her father doing the same, albeit much more hesitantly. Once they were secure on their arms, Darryl blinked a few times; he stared at his children, shell shocked. "Anita. Daren." How could he forget them? He pulled them into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry..." Darryl glanced up at Oculus who was rocking back and forth on his feet awkwardly. "Thank you." Oculus gave a curt nod as the Dunets slowly pulled apart.
"Why is this happening?" Anita asked. She was still shaken from, apparently, being erased from existence.
The Dunets watched as Oculus crossed the room, observing the wall as the family picture began to magically reappear. "Well, let's see. Who's missing from the picture?"
Anita glanced over the picture. It looked normal. Dad was standing behind Anita and Daren, a hand on either of their shoulders, all smiling brightly. But Oculus was right -- there was someone missing.
"Mom," Daren muttered.
"Wait. Why would Dez erase our kids from history?" Darryl asked, sounding confused. Anita looked down. Would her mother really do that to them?
Oculus shrugged. "I think it's more likely that someone removed the Mrs. from the time line."
Anita looked up at him. "What do you mean removed from the time line?"
"I mean," Oculus said, "that someone went back in time, grabbed a younger version of your mother, and brought her somewhere else." He tilted his head to the side. "Or I suppose they could have..." He trailed off, waving whatever thought he'd had away in an instant. "No, no, that's silly. They wouldn't do that. Not unless she was some sort of time criminal."
Daren glanced at Anita. He was fiddling with his shirt again, biting his lip. It wasn't hard to use the imagination to figure out what Oculus had been about to say. "She's...going to be okay though. Right?" Anita asked. "We could just go get her and --"
"We?" Darryl interrupted. "No, no. There is no we! You are not time traveling anymore, young lady! You're staying right here where its safe!"
"Dad!" Anita protested. "Come on! We're existence! What else could go Wrong?!"
"Uh, it's better not to tempt fate like that," Oculus told her. "But your father is right. I only came back here to make sure you and your brother didn't disappear for good. Not sure why but I've grown fond of you over the weeks we've traveled together and I think it would be a real shame if you were never born."
"But --"
"Don't worry. Your mother will be fine. I'll make sure of it."
"We can help!" Daren insisted.
"I'm sure you could." Oculus and Darryl shared a look with one another. It was that look adults liked to exchange, the one that said they thought they were too young and naive to know about anything. "But it could be a very dangerous trip. People who go around removing people from the time line usually aren't the friendliest."
"So what?" Anita snapped. "It's our mom!"
"Yes but I don't think she'd want you putting yourselves in danger for her either would she?" Oculus asked.
"I guess not..."
Oculus nodded. "Your parents just want to keep you safe." Darryl nodded in agreement at this. Maybe he was starting to realize Oculus wasn't so bad after all. "So, stay here. I'll be back with an update! Until then, keep those do-hickeys on. Can't have you all forgetting things and disappearing can we?"
Anita and Daren promised to keep their bands on, and with one final goodbye Oculus was off again. Darryl went off a few minutes later to get back to work, not without first making sure his children were alright though. (With all the meta human weirdness it was rather easy to shake off the rattling time travel bunk.) As soon as their dad was out of sight, though, the Dunet siblings were out the door, hurrying after Oculus. He was just a few streets down the road; they caught him just as he was about to time jump away. Both siblings jumped on his back at the last second, disappearing into the depths of time alongside the amnesiac man.