TIME & TIED: DESTRUCTION

ARC 3.1 - With Chartreuse

PART 49b: NEW ARRIVAL 2

"Corry! Hey, Corry!"

The redhead turned towards Carrie, arcing an eyebrow. "Something I can do for you, Waterson?" he asked.

"Actually, yes," Carrie said, as she reached his locker. "I'd like information on the new student in our homeroom, Glen Oaks."

"Okay then. He's a new student in our homeroom," Corry said. "Oh, and he also has red hair. You really should pay better attention."

"Corry, come on. You know what I mean."

Corry crossed his arms. "Sure I do. Just like YOU know I'm not inclined to help out all of Julie's old associates, simply because she's no longer the active force around the school."

"Hah! I’m a little more than THAT to you," Carrie countered. “Not to mention how you've spent months helping out Julie herself!"

"Julie actually NEEDS the help," Corry said pointedly. "Heck, it's partly my fault she does, after I turned so many against her." His gaze turned wistful. "There's a part of me that misses the rivalry too... but that's neither here nor there."

He lowered his voice. "You know how I feel about you, Waterson. That doesn’t change simply because of what you may or may not become in the future. So why should I do anything for you? For that matter, what help can I possibly be to someone who has the power within her to destroy the world?"

Carrie winced. "Corry, please. I'm trying to put that behind me. Besides, I haven't asked you for any special treatment since those events – and all I want here is a bit of information! Is that so hard?"

Corry paused, sizing her up. "I'll think about it," he yielded. “After all, I was going to look into Glen myself. Come back in a few days, and I'll decide then whether what I have will cost you."

Carrie nodded, deciding that was probably the best she was going to get from the male Veniti twin. She proceeded down the hall towards her own locker.

***

That evening found Carrie Waterson knocking on the door of the Vermilion residence. She and Chartreuse had decided to continue their temporal sessions despite the end of the summer.

After all, despite how much Carrie wanted to simply banish the strange forces raging inside her, she knew they weren't going anywhere. And keeping those powers in check was the only way to avoid another incident like the one last November, which had nearly cost the lives of... well, everyone on the planet.

Actually, the more Carrie thought about it, the more she wondered whether the pink haired mystic would have put the pieces together herself, given enough time. Chartreuse had accepted Carrie’s explanation of last year’s events with remarkable poise.

Carrie sighed. Or she still wanted to rationalize getting Chartreuse involved, after that conversation with herself last March.

Carrie reached up to knock again, but before she could, a young girl with short blue hair opened the door. Carrie offered up a tentative smile. "Hello Azure, is your sister here?" she inquired.

Azure peered at Carrie, then turned and shouted, "Chartreuse, your girlfriend is here to see you!" She stepped back, allowing Carrie to enter the house. "Go easy on her tonight, okay? She was all dizzy the morning after you two bunnies had your session last week."

Carrie frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, like I don't know what you two do in my sister's bedroom for hours at a time. I'm fourteen, I read about these things."

"Azure, I know it's a strain for you, but pull your head out of the gutter when you're, you know, talking with my friends, okay?" Chartreuse sighed, coming down the stairs. "Sorry Carrie, I was just in the washroom."

"She's all pretty for you now," Azure noted. "Be sure to compliment her new perfume."

"Azure..."

"I'm going, I'm going," the blue haired girl said. "Just don't be too loud, I have homework to complete. On the first day! Seriously, what’s the deal with high school anyway?"

Chartreuse sighed and shook her head as her sister went upstairs. "Really sorry about that," she said, closing the front door. "Honestly, just when I think she can't get any more annoying, her hormones explode all over the place."

"Sounds messy," Carrie remarked.

"I'm hoping it's just a phase," Chartreuse said. "Anyway, my sister's not the reason you, like, came here. Let's get upstairs. I have everything we’ll need laid out on my bed.” She paused. "Which, come to think, is not at all as dirty as it sounds."

***

Carrie seated herself across from Chartreuse. "Okay," the pink haired girl said, passing a cleansing crystal around Carrie's head. "Remember what we've been talking about. Relax, and let the sensations, like, come to you."

"They already have," Carrie murmured, as all of time coalesced around her. The best description Carrie could give for the phenomenon was that it was like she was standing in the middle of a swiftly flowing river, being gradually pulled along by the current as the seconds ticked by.

The separate drops of water, they represented the millions of people and other objects moving through time. By looking upstream, Carrie could see the events of the past. By looking downstream, Carrie could see different branching paths of the future. The metaphor wasn’t perfect, but it was serviceable.

Carrie now knew that she had the ability within her to travel this time stream under her own power, not to mention affect it in other ways, but for now she was more than content to simply let the current pull her along.

"Oh," came Chartreuse's voice, reminding Carrie of where she really was. "You know, it never ceases to amaze me how easily you do that lately.”

“Yeah, I find it quite unsettling myself," Carrie murmured. "What now, Chartreuse?"

"Well, as I recall, we were working on finding individuals who aren’t in physical proximity to you. Want to, like, try for anything in the past or the future yet?"

“No, let’s stick with the present for now. I’m going to see if I can locate Frank again. It's easier to pick up former time travellers, they feel a little out of synch with the rest of the world."

"All right," Chartreuse agreed. She reached out to take Carrie's hands. "Visualize him then. Imagine that he's standing right in front of you. Then, once you have that image, see where it takes you."

Carrie nodded, taking in a deep breath, concentrating on Frank and on where he might be in the torrent of water rushing around her. "He's... he's with Luci," Carrie realized as a picture of the girl swam up before her eyes. "That will make it easier. They're not at his house though... or hers... it's... the cafe. They're at the central cafe."

The scene practically leapt out of the water at her then, and it was like she was standing in the cafe herself - except her body had no substance. A spirit body, as Chartreuse called it. Able to see things, but invisible to them, and incapable of interaction.

"Carrie, what's happening?" Chartreuse's voice inquired, sounding like it was coming from the bottom of a well.

"I'm now here too," Carrie replied, forcing down a feeling of panic. "In the cafe. There's a lot of people around. It's so much more chaotic than any of my previous experiences!"

"Stay calm," Chartreuse said. "Just centre in on Frank and Luci, you're not there for anyone else."

"Right... right, okay," Carrie said, taking in a few deep breaths. "They're in a corner booth together. They're... aw, they're sharing a basket of fries. That's so sweet." She paused. "Luci would kill me if she knew I was eavesdropping like this."

"You're not really eavesdropping, it's a public place.”

"I guess. But they can't see me. And last week when I centred on Frank, he was inventing stuff in his basement."

"Look, Carrie, if you're this concerned about spying on them, just don't, like, centre in on them in future."

"Well how the heck am I supposed to know when they're together?" Carrie grumbled. “But whatever. Now that I'm here, what should I try next?”

"How about this – pick out someone else there that you could, you know, shift your attention to instead," Chartreuse proposed. "You don't have to take it in all at once, just scan the room."

"Okay," Carrie called back, turning her spirit form to do a slow pan. "It's mostly kids from school. Looks like Theresa's the one waiting tables, like usual. Oh, wait a minute..." She hesitated.

"What?" Chartreuse asked.

"It's him," Carrie said at last. "Glen Oaks, that new boy in our homeroom. It... it's weird, it feels like he's looking directly at me. He can't see me, can he?"

"I doubt it, my mom's the only one I know of who can see spirit forms," Chartreuse replied. "Maybe he's looking at something behind you."

"There's a wall behind me. I don't think that... OH!" Carrie shrieked. "NO, NO, GET ME OUT, GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

All at once, Chartreuse was kneeling in front of her, shaking her shoulders. She was back in the bedroom.

"Carrie! Carrie, calm down, it's all right!" the pink haired girl was saying. "You're all right, you're safe now, you understand?" Carrie nodded wordlessly, struggling to regain her breath. "Thank goodness," Chartreuse breathed. "What, like, happened?"

Carrie felt a shiver run down her spine. "I... I saw... oh god, I was in the cafe, and suddenly I saw fire. The place has caught on fire, Chartreuse!"