Micah excused himself and headed down the hall. It was just his anxiety – he was under too much pressure with the event. Any moment, he’d find his love heading his way with a can of bubbly water, or maybe he’d gotten caught up in a conversation about one of the exhibits.
His dread increased with every step. Clarence stood beside Micah’s portraits with a group of people. He flagged Micah down and said, “There’s our man of the hour. We were just remarking how–”
“Have you seen Cosmo?”
“No, but–”
Micah hurried past.Cosmo is gone.
Presque vu flooded him with a sudden memory from the other timeline. Goosebumps erupted on his arms. This had happened before. He’d find a box of bagels spilled across thefloor of the break room, and a bottle of seltzer in the hall. And when he found scattered zip ties and spattered blood in a parking space outside, he was going to call the cops. Except when this happened in the adjacent universe, no one had known where Royce had taken Cosmo. They wouldn’t know until days later when it was far too late.
He shoved through the back door and sprinted for his car. With trembling hands, he dialed 911, then hopped into the driver’s seat and peeled out of the parking lot.
“Lemon Disco Police Department. What’s the address of the emergency?”
“My boyfriend has been abducted!” Micah ran over a curb and sped through a yellow light. “He’s being taken to the old church on Cherry Lane. Please hurry; he’s going to kill him!”
But there was still time. They’d changed things in this universe already, and if Micah got there before it was too late, he could change this. He’d snag another thread from the string of time. He’d yank the fucking thing out as hard as he could.
The emergency operator asked him for his phone number and name. His hands cramped around the steering wheel, accelerator mashed all the way to the floor. The buildings thinned out, making way for farm fields and cow pastures. His headlights sliced through the dark, momentarily flashing on cars ahead until he sped around them.
“Where are you now?” the operator asked.
“I’m on my way to the church.”
“Sir, it’s not advised for you to put yourself in danger–”
“He’s going to kill him!” Micah’s voice fractured. “Please, Christ, you have to get therenow.”
Royce had probably murdered that ceramics artist too, the one he wanted sexual favors from who was eventually found dead in her bathtub.
There wasn’t anything to use as a weapon in the car, but if Micah got to the church before the police did, he’d improvise. That’s what people did. They strangled women with shower curtain ties and beat men with wall sculptures.
He searched his mind for more details of the impending events – if he knew exactly where Royce would be with Cosmo, he could figure out how to approach to catch the bastard by surprise – but the only other future memory beyond theblanket of dread was of Micah sitting in the shower with his clothes on, icy water beating down on his face, until Everett walked into the room and hauled him out.
There was no time to mourn the fate of Other Micah. The road sign for Cherry Lane loomed. Micah pulled into a sharp turn, and the car skated on loose gravel. The phone flew from his hand and clattered across the floor. He slammed into a mailbox, and it bounced off the windshield.
A red taillight glowed ahead. At first he thought it was a motorcycle, but then the other light flashed on momentarily.Blinkblinkblink – blink – blink – blink – blinkblinkblink.Micah’s heart leapt. Oh, his baby was smart.
His first instinct was to rear-end Royce’s car, but he couldn’t do that with Cosmo in the trunk. He hung back. Cosmo would be safe until they stopped.
Darkened houses and barns passed from view. Reflective mile markers flew by. The flashing taillight burned into Micah’s retinas. It suddenly went dark, and the car sped up. Shit. Micah floored the accelerator. If Royce knew someone was on to him, he’d keep driving until he lost them.
He pulled up alongside Royce, then drifted into his lane. Royce laid on his horn and tried to weave around Micah, but Micah yanked the steering wheel to the right and slammed into the side of the other car. The side mirror shattered. Royce tried to cut ahead, swiping the nose of Micah’s car, but fishtailed and swerved onto the shoulder. The car veered down the embankment, bounced violently, and crashed into a utility pole. The pole listed and glass sprayed from the windshield as the front end of the car crumpled. Smoke billowed in the beams of the headlights.
Micah hammered the brakes, and ice scrapers and water bottles flew into the front seat.
The trunk of Royce’s car popped open, and Cosmo clambered out. He dropped into the grass, then ran into the field. Micah’s heart lurched. He jumped out of the car and vaulted down the ditch. Rocks and brush slashed at his arms, and sweet-smelling rot drifted on the cold breeze.
He hadn’t saved himself from Derek. Every Micah would let Derek in, turn to get him a glass of water, and get smashed in the face with a ceramic sculpture over and over.
He hadn’t saved Cosmo from Royce. Not at the bar, and not at the abandoned church on the other timeline.
But the universe was giving him a do-over. This time, he would do what his other selves couldn’t. He loved Cosmo, and he wasn’t going to fail.
Royce’s silhouetted figure stumbled out of the car. He turned and sprinted after Cosmo. Light winked off the blade in his hand. Cosmo screamed, the sound cutting above the crash of Micah’s heartbeat and the trill of crickets. Cosmo fell, scrambled up, and veered for a house in the distance. Micah gained on them, and just as Royce looked back, he tackled him.
The blade flew from his grip. He reached for it, but Micah slammed his fist into Royce’s face. Blood flew from his mouth. He tried to pull away, but Micah snatched his tie and yanked on it. Royce let out a strangled cry. This absolute piece of shit had hurt Cosmo enough, and Micah might not be able to do anything about Cosmo’s other self, but he could save this one.
