Read without ads and support Scribd by becoming a Scribd Premium Reader.
See Premium Plans
 
THIS TIME
 A short fan-fiction by Joseph Houk 
The first time I remember seeing the lights were when Iwas a toddler. I don't remember much about it, because I wasonly about a year old at the time. What I remember is wakingup from a nap and seeing a greenish light on the wall on theopposite side of the room. I got up, walked toward it, and sawmy momma, laying on the bed and looking sad. I waved at herand tried to say something
–
which wasn't much back at thetime, of course
–
but the light suddenly disappeared.As the years went by, I'd forgotten about that weird greenlight, until 1998
–
when I was 11. It was the Friday of the lastfull week of school, and my older sister, Cassie, wasgraduating from high school the next day.Cassie was an ultra-smart girl who had just sunkeverything into studying and getting good grades ever sinceher little "incident" with that ass-wipe Allen three yearsearlier. She was always a pretty smart gal
–
though she could be a huge pain in the butt at times
–
but after the whole thingat Six Flags, she just went headfirst into her studies. I can'tblame her, in retrospect. She had her friend, Bethany, but thatwas it. And after the court hearings and the stat-rape charge
that got slapped on that Jefferson idiot… well, I
only heard whispers about it, mostly because none of 
my
friends wanted to say anything about it directly to me. Mostly, I think,because they were afraid I'd go off on them.Anyways, that evening I was going to take advantage of the fact that I didn't have to get up in the morning, and satdown in the den of my parents' place in Tyler
–
which iswhere the TV with all the cable channels was located. It wasalso where my dad kept his stash of extra spicy pork rinds, ontop of the mini-fridge by the pool table. I can't rememberexactly what movies I watched, but I was sitting there,munching on the pork rinds and relaxing when I saw thatgreen glow coming from the kitchen.This time, though, I didn't think it was somethingpositive. I heard some footsteps, and then a click and aFZZZT sound, like someone unplugging an old TV set whileit was still on. I muted the TV and crept down to the kitchen.I saw this figure walking around in the dark, looking atsomething in their hand. I decided to try to gain the elementof surprise by turning on the light and saying "WHO GOESTHERE?"Turned out it was
Cassie!
It was funny, because I thoughtshe was upstairs trying to fill out her college applications. Iasked her the obvious question
–
 
 you got a guy in your room or something 
? She busted me, though, when she found out I waswatching late-night Cinemax movies. I begged her not to tellmom
–
Dad, I wasn't worried about, but
mom
? She'd 
kill
me,and then she'd ground me for a year!I remember her response: she covered my mouth with herhand and told me, "I promise not to tell mom if you'll just shutup and stay in here for the next half-hour, no questions asked,deal?" I nodded my head and jumped back on the couch,burying my head under the pillow I'd brought down from myroom. After a few minutes, I lifted my head to see if she'd comeback down the stairs. I didn't hear anything, so I decided toshut off the TV and get back to my bedroom. At that point, Ireally didn't care to watch
Reform School Girls 3
or whateverwas on.When I got up to my bedroom, I saw that green lightagain, coming from across the hallway
–
and under Cassie'sdoor! Curiosity got the best of me, especially when I saw herroom door was slightly ajar. I pushed it open, and saw her,passed out on her desk and fast asleep.
She didn't LOOK thattired when I saw her a few minutes ago
, I thought. I shrugged it off and decided maybe I should just get in bed and go to sleep.I also swore off eating extra spicy pork rinds after that.Time went on and Cassie graduated from Oklahoma,interned at MIT in Boston, then got that cushy job at TerConin 2003 and moved to Dallas with Bethany. After graduatingfrom JTHS a few years later, and despite mom's objections, Isigned up for the Army. Two years after playing in thesandbox that was Iraq, I got into Texas A&M on the GI bill inthe fall of 2008. By that time, she and Bethany had moved intothat cushy place in the north part of the Metroplex, and she'd met that Matt guy. And, I had completely forgotten about anyof the stuff with the green flashes.As part of my Aggie Outreach Project back in 2010, I'd been working with a group that helped homeless and disabled veterans in the Houston area. I remember taking Cassie tomeet one of the guys, who shared his story with her. I didn'tthink much of it, since I had to be back to College Station onMonday, but next weekend when I did a run back to Tyler topick up some stuff for Cassie, she asked me about a guynamed "Jake Holland."I suddenly thought it was funny, because Jake Holland was the director of the charity. But the guy we had visited theprevious weekend? Couldn't remember his name. Thisactually bothered me a bit, because I had been the one to gethim hooked up with Gary's Guys, the charity Jake ran inhonor of his buddy who'd died in Viet Nam.And I really got into Jake's charity. Not just because of allthe good work we'd done for vets in the Houston area, butbecause of some of the people I met. Like Geri. GeriShepardini was blunt and forthright
–
and a fellow Aggie,though she was three years older than me. Now, I didn't meether until after Jake had hired me on as a social work intern inthe summer of 2011. He had me in charge of arranging housingfor vets through the charity. I met up with Geri at a fundraiserthat fall, and we hit it off perfectly.I remember bringing her with to meet my family atCassie's 30th birthday party. She had her older boyfriend Philip along, and there was a big to-do when Cass got into anargument with mom about her sleeping with Philip. Of course, she then let slip that she'd actually seen Allen again;this nearly set dad off, too. I was actually kinda scared thatGeri would never want to see me again after that, but she said it was nothing compared to all the crap she had to do at theHouston Metro fire and rescue dispatch center.Cass left a message on my voicemail a few weeks afterwith a very cryptic message. "I just wanted to let you knowthat you owe me. BIG TIME. And you'll never know why." Ikept the message, wondering exactly what she meant by it.On a lark, I decided to look up Allen on the Texas statesex offender registry
–
again. When I was at A&M, I had done
 
a search for him as part of our coursework in usinginvestigatory tools. What I found wasn't pretty
–
he wasregistration compliant, but his last known address was ahomeless shelter. I only felt a little sorry for him back then; Ithought it was his own stupid fault for not knowing that hewas banging a minor, even if it
was
my sister. I never told Cassie anything about it until it came up during the argument
–
and it didn't matter much now.When I brought up his name now, though, I got adifferent entry: it said that the registration was "terminated." Ifound this strange, because I remembered seeing his previousentry, and he was supposed to be lifetime compliant.The next night, when Geri came over to watch some TVat my place, I told her I had a question for her. She said shehad a question for me first: did I know someone by the nameof Joan Arquette. The name didn't ring a bell, so I asked herwhy. She told me she'd been attending a French language classat Harris County Community College as part of her trainingfor dispatch, and that the teacher's assistant was named Joan.She was a native French speaker from Orly, but sheadmitted she was a little overwhelmed by the Cajun dialectthey were studying. They'd gotten to talking, and shementioned the little "incident" back in February with myfamily. Joan mentioned she knew a "Cassie Wells".I was ready to blow it off until she mentioned that Joanhad specifically mentioned her boyfriend, Philip. When Iasked her what she remembered about him, she said, "He tried hitting on her the first time they met.""Ouch," I winced. "I bet Cassie wasn't too thrilled withthat.""No, she wasn't. It also explains why Philip was soapologetic when you introduced us." She shrugged. "So whatwas it that you were going to ask me about?" I told her aboutwhat I'd found about Allan. "That's odd," she replied. "Usually,if a SO registration is listed as being terminated, it means that
the individual has either had their case dropped… or they're
dead
." We looked at each other, both with a raised eyebrow.A commercial came on for pistachios. Geri got up and headed for the kitchen. "This episode of 
Sister Wives
is a dud.I'm gonna go get a Coke, you want one?" I shook my head."Nah, I'm good. I'll see what else is on," I said as I flipped through the channels. I saw something promising on ComedyCentral, but it turned out to be a promo for a new show
–
and not the
actual
show. I kept flipping through the channels untilI came to Game Show Network, where they were airing an old episode of 
The $25,000 Pyramid
.The contestant was in the final round, where thecelebrity gives the suggestions while the contestant is tryingto guess the common theme. I'd seen it a few times growingup, as it was one of those game shows that repeated duringthe mid-afternoon on some stations. This time, though, Ithought I recognized the female contestant. Nipsey Russellwas giving her clues, but she just ran out of time after I had tuned in. Dick Clark came over to console her, and the more Ilooked, the more I thought,
that looks like Cassie.
Her nametagsaid "Sandi" on it, so I didn't think much of it. Cute blondechicks were common on old game shows, especially those onGSN. I was just about to flip the channel when she said something that made me stop:
Nipsey Russell: "I'm sorry we had so much trouble with the cocktail party clues."Sandi: "Aww, that's okay, sweetie!"
I looked right at the screen as she said it. My God, that issomething Cassie would say
–
 
and exactly the same way she wouldsay it!
This woman on the screen didn't look anything like her,though. She had this weird looking pendant hanging from herneck, and she had on this Madonna-like outfit. I called Geri into look, and she caught it just as the final credits came upindicating
© MCMLXXXIII Dick Clark Productions
. Geri didn'tnotice anything, and pointed out that the date meant theshow was taped the year after Cassie was born.I didn't think much of it that night, but when I got intobed after Geri headed home, it started to gnaw at me. Jake had started his charity, Gary's Guys, back in 2005. Cassie had moved to her new place in Dallas by that time. That was alsothe same year he'd met that one friend of hers from Ireland...What was her name again? Maggie?There was just something not quite right about all this.The only thing that kept me from suspecting anything wasthat pendant I'd seen on the contestant.Wait a minute. That pendant!
CASSIE  
had been wearingthat thing back when she caught me watching cable the nightbefore her graduation!I got up and did a search on the internet for episodes of 
The $25,000 Pyramid
. It took him a while, but I found a week inMarch of 1983 where Nipsey had been on the show.Unfortunately, I couldn't track down any videos of the show,so there was no way that I could verify it.I did put a post on an Aggie Alum message board whereyou could post requests for pretty much anything (as long asit wasn't sex or anything illegal). I asked anyone had any clipsor tapes from the episodes I was looking for of the show. Ididn't get any responses, so I forgot about it. I figured at sometime, I could ask Cassie about it.Right before Labor Day, I got a phone message from Dad that Mom's cancer was spreading. I couldn't get off to get overto Tyler, but I told him I'd try to get over there as soon as Icould. On Friday, I told Dad that I was going to come homefor the weekend, but he said that her first round of chemo had gone okay. "Besides, Cassie stopped over to see your mom," headded.That almost clinched it for me. I wanted to talk to herabout what I'd found out about Allen, and ask her if she stillhad that pendant. So, I hopped in my truck and headed up US59/69 to Tyler. By the time I got there, though, she was alreadygone and back in Dallas.Since I was already there, I went in to see mom. She wassleeping, so I was going to just let her snooze off and talk todad 
–
but something stopped me. I noticed there was a spoton the floor next to the bed that looked like mom (orsomeone) had spilled something. I was about to saysomething to dad when I noticed something about the room.
I had seen it this way before.
I stepped in and walked over to the corner, and looked back at mom. It was just as I remembered when I was atoddler
–
momma laying on the bed, looking sad.
 
I quietly stepped out, and asked Dad when Cassie had left. "About an hour ago or so," was what he told me. I asked him if Cassie had said or done anything while she was here."She had this herbal tea that she wanted momma to try, but Idiscouraged her from doing it. Your mom wants to fight thison her own." I nodded, and asked if I needed to find somewhere else to bed down for the night, since mom was inmy old bedroom."Well, as long as you don't mind it, you could always haveCassie's bedroom. She didn't feel like staying around aftershe'd apparently gotten into it with your mother, and we'd already made it up for her."I was fine with that. After cleaning up and watching alittle TV on the old set that was in her bedroom, I started wondering if there was anything in my sister's room thatmight either allay my suspicions about her. At that point, Iwas starting to wonder if she'd discovered some newtechnology or some such thing that would explain all theweird things I'd been experiencing as of late.I didn't find much after poking around her closet or herdesk. The only thing of any note that I found was somethingfrom TerCon
–
looked like her ID badge. I shrugged and figured she'd forgotten it before she left for the Metroplex. Itossed it onto the nightstand next to the bed, putting my cellphone on top of it. I made a mental note to call her when I gotup in the morning, to let her know she'd forgotten it at thehouse.I crawled back in bed and watched a bit of 
Back to theFuture
on TBS. Marty was freaking out because Doc had builta time machine out of a DeLorean. I always thought that wassuch a silly thing; I had pointed out to Cassie once when wewere watching it that it wasn't practical. Why not make itout of a VW Beetle or something? If you were driving a carthat wouldn't look out of place for a good chunk of the past,you'd be able to blend in a little better. Or even a Model TFord.I decided against watching the rest of the movie, optinginstead to try getting some sleep. I don't really rememberfalling asleep, but I do remember seeing that greenish glowout of the corner of my eye. I opened one eye and saw a figurerummaging around on Cassie's desk. I'd seen that figureenough times in the past to realize it was probably her, and when I reached over and turned on the light, she froze."PATRICK!" she said suddenly, realizing she had nearlyshouted it out. "What the hell are you doing in my room?""I came down after work last night to check on mom," Isaid, my eyes slowly adjusting to the light. She was holding asmall flashlight, "I thought you'd gone back to Dallas, and sodid Dad." I looked up at her as I propped myself up on oneelbow
–
and that's when I saw it.
The pendant.
It was the exact same one she wore in highschool. And the exact same one that gal on
 Pyramid
wore.I didn't notice right away that she was asking me aquestion, until I saw a pair of fingers snapping in front of myface."Hello, Earth to Patrick, eyes up here," she said. "Have youseen my ID badge,
 perv
?"It took me a second to realize what I'd done
–
she thoughtI was staring at her cleavage or something. "Ew, no! I mean,
uh, I was just…" I reached over by my phone and grabbed her
badge. "You left it here. I found it lying on your desk." She wasabout to take it from my hand when I pulled it away."Just a second, Cass." She looked at me with genuinefrustration."Look, Pat-
 prick
," she said, using her favorite littlepejorative towards me. "I need that for work. I came all theway back here to get it, so hand it over.""No,
 you
look," I said, sitting up in the bed. "I gotta ask yousomething, and you've
 got
to come clean with me." She waseven more annoyed, but decided to humor me."Okay, what?" She stood there, her hands on her hips, and that pendant hanging from her neck. I pointed at it."Is..." I couldn't believe what I was about to ask her. "Isthat a time machine or something?"Her face suddenly turned blank. "What?""That pendant. A time machine," I said. "I've seen youwearing that thing before." I explained to her about the déjàvu I'd experienced when I'd seen mom earlier that night, and about the episode of 
 Pyramid
I'd seen, and how it was justweird that she'd fallen asleep so fast after talking to her thenight before her graduation."The only thing about all this that didn't make sense wasabout Allen," I finished. Her look at me had been blank theentire time, until I mentioned Allen."Allen?" she asked."Yeah." I explained to her what I'd found, and what Gerihad said the status meant: "Either he had his SO statusstricken from the record 
–
or he was
dead
." She suddenlyscrunched her face up in confusion."He's not dead," she said. "I'm obviously not seeing him
anymore, but…" She suddenly felt like she'd said way too
much. "Look, it's none of your business about what happened to him, okay? But I do need my ID badge. Hand it over," shesaid, trying to reach for it."No!" I said, holding it away from her. "I asked you aquestion! Is it a time machine?" I paused. "It's the onlyexplanation that makes sense."She looked at me, and stood in silence for a good while."You know, I never thought I'd be able to tell any of you,"she said after what seemed an eternity. "Least of all you." Shelooked at me, her hands almost in a defensive posture. "I didn'texpect you to get involved with Gary's daughter or anythinglike that." Now it was
my
turn to be confused."What do you mean? Geri's dad is named Tom, not Gary.Gary was her mom's ex-boyfriend who died in 'Nam." Shesuddenly got a look on her face, and all of a sudden
I
 remembered something."Jake," I said, the memories suddenly flooding back. "Iintroduced you to Jake. He told you about how Brandy had left him, and how Jasmine had killed herself after Gary'sfuneral. And you thought it was so sad how Jake had ended uphomeless and disabled, and you wanted to do something forhim." I pointed to the pendant. "And you did. Somehow, youconvinced Brandy not to leave Jake, and then convinced Geri's
Notes
Load more