Hexad: The Ward by Al K. Line Read Free Book Online Page B

the coffee." Amanda quickly grabbed the mugs and they walked into the cool interior of the kitchen.
    It felt normal, which made it feel weird. Amanda could have convinced herself everything was okay if it wasn't for the Hexad on the table, the 3 flashing, casting a faint blue light on the ceiling that needed a new coat of paint.
    "I think I need a lie down."
    "Me too," agreed Dale.
    They went into the living room and slumped down on the sofa.
    The coffee, forgotten, slowly grew cold in the kitchen.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Stupid Ideas
    Present Day
     
    "That's the last one I go to. Ever," moaned Amanda. She dumped her coat and bag on the kitchen counter then ran her hands through her hair. The fine drizzle had flattened it like she'd just got out of the shower, and she felt miserable, defeated, and worried about the human race if she was honest.
    "Me too. What is wrong with these people? Well, at least we tried," said Dale, clearly trying to be the optimistic one. "Now we know we aren't going to get answers from any of these damn conventions. It's just made up of weirdos and crackpots. None of them have got a clue what they're talking about, have they?"
    "Absolutely no idea. If they knew what we know I wonder what they'd say?"
    "They'd probably smile to our face and nod, but call us nutters behind our back, like we do to them."
    "Except the difference is we really have done it, haven't we? Tell me it wasn't all a dream, Dale, tell me we jumped."
    "We did, honey, we sure did. I'm half tempted to do it again just to prove to ourselves that we are the normal ones." Dale took off his coat and shook it before realizing he was getting the kitchen wet. He picked up Amanda's and put them both out on hooks in the small utility room that led off the kitchen to the side garden. After taking off his shoes he came back into the kitchen. "Ugh, my socks are getting all wet. And what's this!?" Dale bent down and picked something up off the floor.
    "What is it?" Amanda slipped off her Converse and danced around the wet patches on the floor, then put them out next to Dale's. She sidled up beside him — he was still peering at whatever it was he'd found.
    "Looks like sausage. What's going on here? Why does this keep happening? Think we've got mice?" Dale dropped it into the bin, the lid scraping against bare brick wall as he opened the lid too wide as usual.
    Amanda kept quiet, even though she was itching to tell him to be careful. "Maybe we time travel and come back and steal our own sausages?" Dale stared at her. "What? You never know. Anyway, I'm past caring. I'm shattered. No more conventions, they just depress me."
    "Agreed."
    Amanda got two glasses out of the cupboard and poured them both a much needed glass of wine. They took them into the living room and sank gratefully into the soft sofa.
    It was now months since their time travel experiences, and much as they were glad to be able to go about their normal lives, the events of the past hung over them, as if waiting to warp reality once more. But nothing happened, life just carried on as normal. They did their work, they looked after the garden. Dale mowed the lawns if the rain stopped long enough and they had a fry-up every Saturday. It was maddening. Life went on as before but it wasn't relaxing — they both kept expecting something to happen, something epic, something crazy, but life remained static.
    Neither of them had dug up the garden, much as they wanted to, as they agreed no good could come of it, the same as no good could come from using the remaining jumps they had. Instead, they had delved into books on anything even remotely related to time travel, trying to understand the theories, the concepts, anything that could help untangle the strangeness they had got caught up in. None of it helped.
    There were as many theories as there were people interested in time travel itself, each of them varying wildly when it came to what would happen if you jumped — whether you could