Young Writers Society

She gave a small laugh at that, "Fine, you distract the others, I'll take care of the rest. Sound good, love?" The last bit would usually be a formality, but she was beginning to realize that she was in the frustrating position of actually needing his approval to have him participate. She much preferred when the threat of torture was one she could easily use to bypass that little annoyance.

Carter turned to her and smiled.

“Sounds perfect.”

Queenie leaned down and gave Carter a kiss on the cheek, "I'll need three minutes," she whispered and pulled away. She gave him one more of those little fake smiles before walking back to the others.

She knelt down next to Jay, smiling at him like she actually liked kids, and asked him, "What are you up to?"

"I want my mom to take me to New York," Jay said. "I've never been to a city."

Esther had a bad feeling about Carter and Queenie were up to, but Anna and Ruth were still lost in conversation. She offered Jay a weak smile, trying to think of what to say.

She hadn't the slightest experience with babies. Adam's daughter Rachel, her niece, had just been born, and Esther hadn't had a chance to meet her yet.

"I've never been to New York either," Esther said quietly.

Just then, the scene changed.

It was... different. They were in a living room inside of a mansion, but it seemed almost... of the future. The cars parked in the driveway looked weird. The TV was rectangular and flat and attached to the wall, almost like a miniature movie theater screen. And yet, it was TV. They were watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. The ticker tape on the TV said that it was 2019. That couldn't be.

She saw the blonde first, and immediately placed her. Jennifer?!. Subtract a few lines and wrinkles and you had a girl of 19 instead of... however old.

Beside her was an elderly couple who was clearly the woman's parents. No. That was impossible. Charlotte and David Wade had died on July 4th, 1971, when Jennifer was only two. Along with...

Margaret. She would be, about 74 years old if it was 2019. And she still looked great as she entered the living room, followed by a tall biracial man who looked just like her.

"You good, Mom?" The biracial man asked.

"Yes, Owen, thank you," Margaret said with a smile.

"I'm going to check on my kids," Owen said. "I'll be right down."

Esther had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, but they kept watching. Margaret sat down across from Jennifer, Charlotte and David. "I'm so glad we're all here," she said. "Well, most of us, anyway."

Just then, the scene faded again, and there were about fifteen people at a Thanksgiving dinner table.

Margaret. And older black man beside her. John, of course. Charlotte. David. Jennifer. Owen. A biracial woman who must have been Margaret's other daughter. Their spouses and about a half dozen grandkids.

Perry Como's There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays was playing from within. Everyone was laughing, and talking. Just then, Margaret led them all in prayer. "I just want to thank all of you for being here and the nearly fifty years now that John and I have been married," she said. "I feel truly blessed."

"Let's eat," John piped in. And they began to eat.

Then it flashed. Back to 1971. Margaret, Charlotte, David. All lying dead in pools of blood. Police sirens in the distance.

The Librarian hadn't needed to show them that for Esther to understand what she was saying. And of course, there was a lot that the Librarian wasn't showing either.

She didn't show when Esther and Adam gone to see the first Star Wars a half dozen times in the theater and dressed up as Luke and Leia that year for Halloween. When they'd gone to Disneyland the following summer and rode Space Mountain so many times that Esther had thrown up, but they'd had a good laugh about it later. Going to see Queen in Seattle in 1984 as Esther's first ever concert. And of course, there was how good he was to Mary and the incredibly romantic way he'd proposed to her and what and amazing father he was going to be, and probably a million and one other memories the two girls who were maybe her sisters... Amy and Tara?... had as well. She still had to meet them.

Adam was a good person. His mother, from the moment Jay was arrested, had said he wanted Adam to turn out nothing like Jay and she had definitely succeeded that. And while Esther's life was much more of a mess, it had its moments as well. Adam and Esther had done nothing wrong but born to the wrong father. That didn't make their lives any less valuable. They weren't responsible for what happened to Margaret, Charlotte and David that night. But maybe everyone would be better off without them.

She was resigned to whatever was going to happen.

Their walk was quick.

Too quick.

It was like the walks Lockwood and Lucy would take when they were at one of their jobs and didn't want their clients - or the people they were not-so-subtly eavesdropping on - to realize whatever problem they had just noticed. I couldn't guess what Carter and Elizabeth were talking about, but they were even more suspicious than Lockwood's little group.

And that was saying something.

I moved a little closer to Jay as Elizabeth came back. The gun was still unaccounted for, I reminded myself. Either Elizabeth or Carter had it, and I was leaning a little more towards Elizabeth. She reminded me of Megara; Megara would have been the one to use it. I couldn't imagine Carter shooting a kid in the same way - he seemed like just the kind of guy who would get others to do his dirty work.

Before I could react to Elizabeth and Jay's conversation, the librarian decided now was the perfect time to remind of us just how horrible of a person Jay was going to become - and how his life would mess up countless other lives.

If I hadn't already been suspicious of Elizabeth and Carter, I would have been after those flashes ended. It seemed like a sign from the librarian to stand down. She probably had guessed that Esther wouldn't try killing her dad. I couldn't tell if she had guessed what I would do, but I didn't really care. I didn't like authority. I didn't like the thought of killing a kid. And Esther's existence alone was proof that there was a little more to the story that the librarian was trying to sell about Jay's impact on the world.

"I've never been there," I said. "My accent might give it away, but I wasn't born here - I grew up over in London. It's probably a little different than what you want to see, Jay, but it's definitely...different than here. I can say that much."

Depending on if we were talking about my actual childhood or what my last years in London had been like, it was also in another time. But my point still stood.

I moved a little closer to Jay - subtly, of course. I played it off like I was just stretching - I reached my arms out behind me, lost my balance for a moment, and by the time I regained it I was just slightly closer to Jay.

I wasn't sure how I was going to stop him from being shot. My powers were out of the question - the librarian, of course, had taken those away. I couldn't pickpocket the gun away because 1) it was a gun and 2) I wasn't even sure who had it.

What other options did that leave me with?

Queenie eyed Skull as he moved closer to Jay. She was sure he thought he was being subtle and all that, but it was annoyingly amateur.

She wasn't particularly bothered by the flashes. These weren't people she knew, why would she give a damn? Honestly, the fact that the do-gooder with her little time travel library choose Queenie, of all people, to help stop this much-less-deadly nuisance spoke volumes about her level of insanity.

"I live in a city," Queenie said to Jay after Esther's little addition, "or, I used to," this era was less fun than hers, "I had to leave when I stopped being able to afford my apartment." Historically accurate? Did the kid care? Probably not.

Carter had just about reached the others when the moments played out before them as if to confirm the mission they'd already been handed. He didn't see how it was necessary. Showing the murder scene was a cheap shock tactic, and he understood how it was supposed to incite fear and/or anger, but he chose not to give it much thought.

It happened. But as soon as Queenie ended Jay's young life, it wouldn't happen, and it would all be over. That was that.

He sat down between Queenie and Skull, but closer to Skull, looking over at Jay with fake interest. Why were they trying to have a conversation with the kid? It wasn't like Jay was going to defend himself or prove himself a better person. He was a child, and he had the mind of one at the moment.

While the others awaited Jay's answer, Carter leaned in towards Skull's ear and whispered so only Skull could hear.

"Elizabeth doesn't have the gun," he whispered as if informing Skull of a forbidden, worrying secret. "I was trying to see if she did because I didn't know if she might turn on us or Jay, but she doesn't. Do you have it?"

I glanced over at Carter.

"I don't," I whispered. I didn't entirely know what he was trying to do, but it just felt wrong. If Elizabeth didn't have the gun, that left the other three of us. Carter was asking for it, so he didn't have it, either. Rule out me as well, and all that was left was Esther.

Which was stupid.

Esther was the first person I had ruled out. Carter was apparently stupider than I thought if he assumed I was going to fall for whatever he was trying to do. Elizabeth had to be the one with the gun. I knew I couldn't keep comparing her to Megara in my head, but the two of them seemed to be very similar kinds of people. Megara would have taken the gun. When we had been forced to follow that queen's bidding what seemed like an eternity ago, Megara had done what the queen wanted in order to get home.

Elizabeth would do the same.

I was sure of it.

I thought for a moment.

"...You're either worse at guessing lies than I thought," I whispered to Carter, "or that's the worst lie I've ever heard."

Carter was not going to lose his patience, but he had lost any possible amount of trust he had with Skull. Skull would always be skeptical of him. Fine. He could work with that.

He leaned away, clicking his tongue.

"So, you do have a brain, then," he said, glancing at Esther. He stopped whispering and spoke lowly, still quiet, but enough for Esther to hear. He didn't care if Jay heard.

"I suppose you're not concerned about not knowing the location of the gift from our bookish friend, are you? I can't imagine it's far. I just want to make sure someone else doesn't get their hands on it." He landed his gaze on Jay.

Esther felt her heart pounding as she stared at Jay. She knew what was about to happen, and didn't really know if she had anyone on her side. Maybe Skull. The others, definitely not.

"Jay," Esther said. "Why don't we go for a walk? We can pick dandelions and make your mommy a dandelion crown. She'd like that."

"Okay," said Jay. He stood up, and Esther extended her hand. It felt weird, trying to hold her own father's hand, but have the roles be reserved, but she tried not to think much about it. She walked quickly towards the nearest trail, not sure what the two of them were going to do once they got there.

I should have gone along with Carter's lie.

I was stupid for not guessing that he'd turn to Esther right afterwards. And while I was sure that Esther was a good person, I knew that I didn't come across that way to her.

I rushed to my feet.

Before Esther and Jay could get too far away, I went over to their side. I didn't need to act too much like a couple right now - Jay wouldn't pick up on something like that.

"I can help pick the dandelions," I offered.

Queenie let them walk away without her. She'd initially planned to take Jay away from the group herself and kill him quietly. Now, though, it would be too much effort, not to mention too suspicious, to try to salvage that plan.

Plan B: She did have a gun, and, as Briar would condescendingly point out, those work at a distance.

She stood up once they were out of her line of sight and brushed herself off. She slipped off her shoes and spared a glance in Carter's direction. He could play lookout or something. It wasn't like she had the option of not trusting him right now.

Quietly, she followed after the others, catching up quickly, making sure they didn't hear or see her. She'd never practiced with this gun, so she wasn't entirely positive if it was defective, if the aim was off, or if something else was the matter with it.

Still, she'd either hit Jay on the first try, or she'd hit one of the others. Esther wasn't going to exist by the time she was finished anyway, and she really didn't mind seeing Skull shot.

She waited for them to stop and took aim.

I was surprised - but grateful - that Esther didn't object to me tagging along. I wasn't sure she actually trusted me; I was just as questionable as Carter and Elizabeth were. But at least she was letting me stay. If things went as bad as I knew they were going to, I'd be there by her and Jay's side.

Speaking of Jay, he had just suddenly stopped. I didn't see any flowers nearby, so it probably wasn't because he had found the perfect place to make a flower crown for his mom.

I looked down at what he was looking at.

A dead squirrel.

...Okay, maybe some of his problems later on were more nature than nurture.

But it wasn't like he had killed it. He had just conveniently found it.

"I wonder how long it's been dead," I absentmindedly commented.

Esther was disgusted by the dead squirrel, but Jay seemed endlessly fascinated with it.

"Alright, let's leave the squirrel to rest," Esther said.

"It's not resting, it's dead," Jay replied. He turned to Skull. "I don't know. A day?"

Esther gripped more tightly onto Jay's hand, not able to escape the feeling they were being watched.

I eyed it.

"That seems about right," I agreed. "But we should probably do what Esther said - if we don't hurry, we won't be able to surprise your mom with that dandelion crown."