Young Writers Society

"What are you saying?" Alex said quietly. "I'm in love with a pedophile... and a murderer? And I have his daughter?"

Queenie shrugged a shoulder, "He probably didn't lead with those lines, and technically you're a murderer too. You and the other girls all kill someone or something, I don't know. All I know is that I want to get home and that the Librarian chick is a fucking sadist."

It didn't make any sense, but Alex knew that Queenie was telling the truth. She couldn't remember details. Just feelings, images of people she'd once known. And Jay. He'd loved her like no one else had. Hearing Queenie explain was like when you got bad news that you knew was true deep down but didn't want to accept.

"I like my life," Alex said quietly. "Even if we have to live here forever, it isn't so bad, is it?" The song had long since changed. It was instrumental now, and it was beautiful. Life was beautiful. Freedom was beautiful. There was something beautiful about being back in 1933. Even if she never saw Carolyn again, she'd be all right. It wasn't like there was anyone or anything else waiting for her back in Los Angeles. "Who says that just because things were once one way means they were better? What if the world you created by killing Jay is better?" She took a deep breath. "I don't want to fix things."

"Exactly," Queenie said, "Especially since that bitch thinks I'm going to condone some bitch-ass pedo raping a little girl to make a worse reality. We have enough horrible people without Jay."

"You're absolutely right," Alex said. "Is anyone else on our side?"

"Carter, maybe," Queenie said, "I don't really know. No one wants to talk to the girl who shot a kid."

Alex took a deep breath. "Where are those two anyway? Is there a way we can scare Louis off?" She laughed. "Or do we think Carter did that already?" Just then, she looked back and saw someone was missing from their group. "Hey, where's Mary?"

Bo helped Carter to his feet. Carter didn't look at him and instead kept his eyes on Louis until Louis disappeared. Carter sniffed, and then spat on the ground. There was blood mixed in with saliva. He lifted a finger to his lip and felt where his lower lip was split.

Ugh. That wasn't going to heal quickly. And he could already feel his left eye swelling up. He'd have to explain that when he got home.

He glanced up at the man towering over him. Bo looked conflicted and concerned, but Bo'd looked like that the moment he learned about the murder of young Jay, so that wasn't anything new. Carter grumbled and rolled his eyes before finding Alex and Queenie in the crowd. They were talking.

Carter marched over to them just in time to hear Alex's question and he looked around the group of dancers. He could spot Julian, and he could spot Skull and Kirux. Bo's shadow lingering behind him. But Mary? Well, she wasn't with them anymore.

"She either ran off with Louis or Anna, probably," Carter said with a shrug.

I took a moment to step out of my self-pity party; I had just caught a glimpse of Kirux, alone by the fire. Alex and Mary had both deserted him. Which, for one, was rude, but it was also worrying. He didn't really seem like the kind of guy who could handle a crowd like this on my own.

Thankfully, it looked like I didn't really need to worry about him. Just a handful of moments later, I felt like I was suddenly being pulled into an embrace. I glanced over. My suspicions were immediately confirmed; Kirux was the one doing the hugging.

He pulled out his notepad and wrote something down, only to return to hugging right after he finished.

"You looked upset," Kirux had written, "and hugs always make me feel better when I'm upset!"

Upset was one way to put it. But I did have to agree with that last part - the hug was...nice.

"Thanks," I quietly said.

I glanced back towards where Carter and Bo were, ready to give Carter a piece of my mind. But Carter was off talking with Alex and Queenie elsewhere in the crowd now; all that was left was Bo. Bo, who had been nice when we first met to intervene when I was possessing someone else and carrying my injured body. Bo wouldn't be okay with Louis and Anna. He had already been hesitating earlier. And if Kirux ever realized what I had wanted to do - and what I was going to do, once I figured out how to work around the mess Carter had made - he wasn't going to like me much, either.

"We need to find Anna," I said to Bo, my voice distant. I tried to pretend like I didn't really care what was going on right now. It wasn't anything like how nonchalant and disgusting I had been back when I was haunting my own skull, but I couldn't do something like that right now. "If Louis doesn't want to see any of us anymore, Anna's our only shot."

I paused, looking off into the crowd in search of her.

"If you don't want to help," I added, "Kirux can stay with you. I'll go fix this on my own."

Bo was standing a small distance behind the group of people who all seemed to be murderers in one timeline or another. Not that he was an exception in that sense, but he wasn't - well - he didn't think like that anymore. He was trying.

He turned to Skull, leaning in just a little.

They needed to find Anna. Well, he knew that. Louis said he didn't want to see them again, so that was a broken bridge thanks to Carter. He wasn't sure if he wanted to take the "out" that Skull gave him, but he knew he couldn't. No matter what path he took, people's lives would be ruined - or in the case of making sure Jay wasn't born, erased from history completely, which - as he saw it, was really just a different kind of murder. It was just complicated because of time travel.

"No. I'm with you," Bo said quietly, turning away from the others a little. "Kirux can come with us. I know he's young, but I'd rather he stay with us. But - well, how do you expect to find her? It sounds like Mary followed after her already, and honestly, I don't know exactly where she falls on the side of... messing with time and history and things. But I can't imagine how we-" he gestured to him and Skull "- or particularly me would even manage to do anything productive by walking up to Anna's house. I don't exactly look like your friendly neighborhood trustworthy... dude. I'm going to be honest with you. I have no idea what we'd even say. It might be easier to find Louis..."

Alex was tired, and she didn't want to do anything about this tonight. She was tired, and figured they could do whatever they needed to do in the morning. She wandered aimlessly around the Hooverville for a while, and then an older woman caught her attention.

"Sister, are you lost?"

"Yes," Alex said with a smile. "I'm actually looking for a place to stay. And I was wondering if I could stay here."

"Just wait," the woman said with a smile. "Sadly, our tents are full. But we have some spare blankets and pillows you can use, and it will keep you warm. My son is paving roads upstate. Thank god for Franklin Roosevelt."

Alex smiled softly and waited for the woman to return with blankets and pillows. She did and handed them to her with a smile.

"We rise with the sun," she said. "There's coffee and bacon over the fire in the morning. We do what we can."

"Thank you," Alex said.

The woman smiled and went back into her tent.

There was something about this that she liked. Something about this that was familiar. It had to sustain, otherwise, if what Queenie said was true, she ought to be in prison now. She couldn't let that happen.

She found an open space in the grass, and looked up at the stars. She slept soundly.


**

Mary was trying but failing to fall asleep. Everything was at it should be. The borrowed clothes just fit just right, and the bed was comfortable. Besides, they'd had such a long day and she ought to be drifting off to sleep, and yet, she couldn't.

Just then, she heard someone at the door.

"Mary? You awake?" Came Anna's voice.

"Yes," she said. Just then, Anna entered with a lantern. She set the lantern on the end table so the girls could see each other talk.

"Mother says lights off after 9pm. It helps us save on the electric bill," Anna said.

Mary nodded. She had to play the part, and not let on that to her the Great Depression was a distant historical time rather than her lived experience.

"I had this strange vision," Anna said, sitting on Mary's bed. "Just now. You were in it. But you were older and so was I."

"That is strange," Mary said quietly, trying not to let on.

"You were with a man. Your husband, I think. It was funny, he looked so much like Louis. I think, too much to be a coincidence." Anna laughed nervously. When Mary didn't respond, she added, "you don't believe me."

"I do," Mary said. "I'm not sure what to say. I don't know if I know what it means either."

This felt counter-intuitive, but wasn't the first rule of time travel not to tell people what happens in the future? Just then, Mary noticed that Anna was holding something in her hand. She opened it. A silver cross necklace. "I took this off tonight. I didn't want to wear it at the dance."

"Why not?"

"I'm not a fast girl, okay?" Anna said. Her tone was clipped, and she could have sworn there were tears forming in her eyes. "I just.... wanted something different. And when I've worn it before, I... men avoid me."

"How old are you anyway?" Mary asked.

"Fifteen. I'll be sixteen in October."

"I didn't kiss a boy until I was seventeen," Mary said. "And you know what? I'm still a good girl. People are surprised when they find that out, but I don't want to do it with just anyone."

"Me too," Anna said. "It's not about that... it's just.... Louis made me feel like no one has before. And besides, girls my age are getting married. So, it's not like it's that weird. And... It's not like the world is exactly a great place right now. Who knows what's going to happen?"

"What are you saying?"

Anna took deep breath. "I shouldn't have run away."

"Well," Mary said. "Do you even know his last name? How to find him."

Anna shook her head.

"Everything happens for a reason, Anna," Mary said. "If it's meant to happen, it will."

This made Anna smile. "Thanks Mary," she said. "Sleep well."

She took the lantern and walked away with a skip in her step. Now Mary could sleep soundly, even if she had no idea how they were going to reunite with the group.

Carter wished he was home.

After Mary and Anne disappeared and Louis stormed off there wasn't really anything to do. No one knew where they lived, and how many lies would they possibly be able to come up with to find that out? Not that Carter even wanted to. He was hoping that his taunting would keep Louis away, but at this rate, he had a feeling that everything he did was all for naught.

When everyone in the homeless camp starting turning in for the night, Carter found himself as the odd one out. He watched as Bo, Alex, Kirux, and all the others received friendly welcomes from an older woman. Blankets, pillows. Smiles. Encouraging but meaningless well-wishes. All things he didn't receive, probably because he'd "started a fight." Even though he didn't start anything, at least not physically. Louis was the one who'd blown up in anger.

All that to say, Carter was left on the cold hard ground and no one seemed interested in associating too closely with him. He'd made peace with this, and told himself it was only temporary. He'd be back home eventually - and if not, he supposed he'd be dead. That would be something he'd have to come to terms with eventually. If not now, when? Now was as good a time as any as he stared up at the foreign starry sky and wondered why the hell anyone - all-powerful being or not - would bring him here.

She'd said it was some kind of test. But tests had clear attainable goals. Tests you could prepare for. Tests had a clear set of expectations. This? This felt more like an experiment. A really bad one, created by someone with a mind probably not too different from his own. Had he the power, the resources, and the boredom required for something of this scale, maybe he'd come up with something like this. But to be the person on the receiving end? Well, he supposed he'd just have to take it.

Spite could only get him so far in this situation.

With his hands folded together on his belly, he looked up at the stars. He wished he knew their names.

Eventually, he fell asleep.

Laying on the ground and looking up at somewhat familiar stars wasn't how I expected to spend my night - the librarian must have been pretty mad us - but I found it strangely comforting. If I ignored everyone around me and kept looking up at the sky, I could almost pretend I was back on the world I was supposed to be on now - trying to fall asleep after teasing Nathaniel and chatting with Asmira. It was far better than sleeping with Carter at Amy's place what felt like an eternity ago.

Of course, it was also noticeably colder out. I wasn't as fond at that part. But Kirux seemed to already have that covered - after staring up at the stars with a surprising amount of fondness, Kirux had quickly fallen asleep. It turned out he was just the kind of guy who cuddled anything near him in his sleep - including people. The comfort of knowing another person was nearby helped me fall asleep quickly.

If I was lucky, I wouldn't have any nightmares that night.

Mary rose with the sun. The clock told her that it was just past seven in the morning.

She walked over to the door and found her outfit from last night waiting on her door. It looked and smelled clean. The only thing that would make her feel better was a shower, which she'd been too tired to ask before.

She found Anna's mom Louisa in the kitchen.

"Good morning," she said to Mary.

"Good morning. I was wondering if I might shower," Mary said.

"Of course," Louisa replied. She gestured down the hall. "I can get you a towel. You should know that we try to limit it to five minutes. And the water's not hot."

Mary nodded. The cold shower may have been better if it was warmer. It was going to suck.

And it did. But at least she was clean later. Louisa offered her oatmeal. "Can I help?" Mary asked.

"That's all right," Louisa said. "You know, we feel very blessed by God that we are well off at times like these. We may not be wealthy, but we have a roof over our heads. You stay as long as you'd like, honey."

Mary nodded. "Where's Anna?"

"Still sleeping, probably," Louisa said. "Along with my husband. I think Anna's going with her friends to the amusement park though. I'll tell her to invite you."

"I'd love that," Mary said. "I mean, is there the money? Shouldn't we be working?"

"Sweetheart, everyone deserves a day off."

Mary nodded and waited for her oatmeal.

**

Alex woke to the sound of several male voices who had, for some reason, decided to have a loud conversation at dawn right beside her sleeping bag.

"I can join you in the afternoon," said the man she realized was Louis. "It sounds fun." He walked away.

Alex sat up and made eye contact with the men, who simply smiled at her. She wasn't sure what they were talking about, but it sounded fun.

She went over to the fire, where the older woman had promised her there would be coffee. She figured the others would her in their time.

Julian woke up sore, stiff from sleeping on the ground, his eyes dry from crying.

Queenie had found her own place to sleep, somewhere away from the others. He'd wondered where she'd gone, he'd gotten angry at her for leaving without explaining herself, these rumors...

His thoughts had become incoherent as he fell asleep, but now he picked up where he left off. Freshly awoken but not really refreshed, he got up and straightened himself out. Something had happened last night, some commotion on the other side of the fire that he couldn't really make out. Had Queenie been involved? Would she do something like that? He didn't know anymore.

He stopped thinking about it for now. Queenie still hadn't returned and he didn't want to have to figure this out without hearing her side.

There were a couple of guys talking about something near where Alex was sleeping, and Julian wanted to talk to someone who wasn't involved in this...whatever this was.

"Good morning," he said to the guys, making his way over to where they were.