CHAPTER FIVE: THE SLIPSTREAM

  Jackie:

  I jolted awake in suffocating darkness, in a pressing void like a coffin lid crushing my chest.

  My breath caught in my throat.

  Am I dead? Is this purgatory or something… worse?

  The blackness was damp, cold, and smelled of charcoal.

  Water dripped in the distance, but my concept of distance warped. The space could have been infinitely large or the size of a birdcage. I couldn’t grasp any more details.

  Is this the afterlife?

  The nothingness made me hyperventilate.

  “Relax.” His rigid voice startled me, but I was glad not to be alone in the dark.

  I looked around for my companion, but saw no one.

  “Who are you? Where are you? How did you get into my head?”

  “You don’t remember? Call me Firestorm for now.”

  “Okay, well, I’m freaking out, Firestorm. I just got shot, and now I’m a ghost. Are you my imaginary friend?”

  “You’re not a ghost.” His voice no longer reverberated in my head, but I didn’t know where it was coming from.

  “One minute I was on the roof, and now I’m here. What is this place?”

  “Welcome to the Slipstream,” Firestorm said.

  “What’s that?”

  “The Slipstream is a place to explore past, present, and future probabilities.”

  “So I’ve gone insane? Great.” My head spun, dizzy with profound uncertainty.

  Am I lying, standing, or floating?

  “Settle, Jackie. Rebirthing can really scramble your brains.”

  “Rebirthing?”

  “Quiet your mind. Leave yourself open to the probabilities.”

  I didn’t know what that meant, but I instinctively took deep breaths to compose myself.

  As I relaxed, sparks of fire rained around me. Their light replaced the darkness and ignited a vivid aura, illuminating the cavernous Slipstream. The infinite space became an endless field of glimmering sparks, like fireflies dancing in the summer breeze.

  “Whoa.” For a moment, the weight of my worries vanished, leaving me lighter than air. “It’s magnificent.”

  Sparks connected, forming a tunnel of electrical pulses. Like synapses firing in a storm of ideas, energy currents wove the sparks of light into a brain-like lattice.

  My body tingled from the sizzling air.

  “What are these sparks made of?” I asked.

  “Probability.” Firestorm’s voice echoed in the Slipstream tunnel.

  I inched closer to touch a flickering spark of light, mesmerized.

  Tiny flames kissed my skin then danced just out of reach, glowing with a promise of something otherworldly. The fire fanned out, blooming outward in rippling waves like molten petals. The crackling blaze formed a vortex that spun seductively.

  Goosebumps raced across my skin as I stood transfixed, jaw slack, suspended in time.

  The fiery gateway twisted open, daring me to step through.

  “What’s inside?” I approached it with caution.

  “You must master the Slipstream to save the timeline,” Firestorm said.

  “Huh? These portals… Can I enter them?”

  “Yes, but…”

  “Where do they go?” I focused on the vortex as it opened wider.

  A shimmering pool of light formed a screen over the portal, revealing a familiar image of my rundown house on Wright Road.

  I longed to return home.

  The distant memory of my mom abandoning me played across the stream like a warped movie. I watched without blinking as the scene unfolded on the front stoop.

  “I forgot about this…”

  My mom handed me, as a toddler, to Baxter on the steps of our home. She gave him the keys, kissed my forehead, and then walked away.

  “Mama,” I called out with a shrill voice.

  Baxter hugged me tight as my mom left.

  I bawled until I was red in the face. Arms outstretched, begging for her to return, somehow knowing I’d never see her again.

  She looked back one last time at her gap-toothed toddler with a messy red streak in her unkempt hair.

  I sensed my mom holding back tears, but her face was fuzzy and out of focus. I didn’t remember what she looked like. It had been too long.

  Baxter reassured me, but I fought him, kicking and screaming.

  He never let go, holding me tight to his chest until I crumbled. He carried me inside the brick duplex on Wright Road.

  The heart-wrenching goodbye sent a chill through my bones.

  “I forgot about this until today. Baxter told me she died. Do you know what happened to my mom?” Snot dripped from my nose, so I sucked it back in.

  Wanting to learn more about my roots, I moved closer to the vortex.

  The gateway to the past pulled me in like a magnet, poised to engulf me.

  “Stop,” Firestorm said. “Don’t enter that portal. The key to stopping Life Rite isn’t in that stream.”

  “Stream?” I cocked my head and looked toward his voice.

  His shadow moved across the Slipstream tunnel walls as he slid behind another vortex in the distance. I didn’t catch details, except that he was extremely tall.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “But I saw my mom in there…”

  “It’s normal you want to explore, Jackie, but we have to move fast. Follow my voice over here,” Firestorm instructed.

  “But I need to understand.”

  “If you want to help your mother, the answer is this way.”

  “Help her? With what?”

  “You’ll see…”

  Not wanting to be alone, I followed his deep gravelly voice, despite yearning to enter the previous portal.

  Gravity worked differently in the Slipstream, so I swam with my hands and flew through the tunnel of light like an astronaut in space.

  Along the way, other sparks unfurled, vying for my attention with their undeniable warmth and electricity.

  Flames pulsed and spread, shaping portals that spiraled wide, luring me with glimpses of the unknown.

  I passed another vortex showcasing my rushed goodbye with Pops in the dusty street. He held his gushing stomach, blood pooling in his quivering hands. His gunshot wound looked critical.

  “What about Baxter? Can we help him?” I swallowed, trying to clear the lump in my throat.

  I moved toward this stream to get a closer look, and it too pulled on me, ready to submerge me in its vivid scene.

  My face tingled. It felt so real yet ethereal at the same time.

  “Don’t get distracted,” Firestorm told me from up ahead.

  “Can I step into these moments? Maybe change what happened?”

  “Come on, Jackie. Follow me. I know a shortcut.”

  “A shortcut to where? Pops is here,” I said, lingering near the portal. “We need to save him.”

  “Time is tight. The key to healing the timeline is exposing the truth about Life Rite. The things they’ve done are unspeakable.”

  Firestorm’s voice moved further away, so I raced to keep up.

  “Why bother? Let’s be real. Life Rite owns the world, and I comply with whatever they say. Besides, I’m gonna get my bonus soon.”

  “Bonus?”

  “And sure, I’m curious about what happened to my mom, but she left me. Pops was always there for me. He needs help, and I want to stay by his side. We need to make sure he’s okay before we do anything else.”

  Firestorm sighed. “Following my plan will save Baxter, too. Trust me, I see the bigger picture. The probabilities will click if you do as you're told.”

  I stopped, floating in a sea of portals, unsure where my unseen guide was leading me.

  “Do as I’m told? You know what? I’m gonna need details of this plan of yours. Who are you? Why should I trust anything you say? Show yourself or I’ll scream.”

  “I’ll explain things in time, okay? For now, I need you to comply, as you say.”

  “Comply with what exactly? Who put you in charge, Firestorm?”

  “The answer to your questions is this way.” His voice drifted further away.

  “Hey, stop.”

  “Try to keep pace if you can.”

  I still couldn’t see him, but his voice trailed off.

  “Wait for me.”

  “This way, Jackie.”

  I followed his drifting instructions through the Slipstream tunnel, my skin prickling with anticipation.

  The air buzzed with tension, like the moment before lightning strikes.

  Scared of getting lost, I called after him. “Where are we going? Show yourself.”

  “I’m over here.” His voice reverberated from behind another portal.

  I trailed behind. “Fine. Tell me what your plan is, oh wise one.”

  “It’s easier if I show you. You’re going to have to ride my stream.”

  I gulped at his cryptic response.

  How can I trust someone I can’t see?

  “Over here. Keep going.” Firestorm hurried through the Slipstream.

  He passed several portals with details that demanded my attention; the time Baxter got me a chocolate lava cake for my birthday, the smell of my mom’s coconut shampoo when she hugged me goodbye for the last time, the anxiety of my first day working at Life Rite, the chaos of my first and only Wellness Check.

  “Where are you taking me? There’s a lot to unpack here.”

  Firestorm sighed. “Listen. You’re dwelling on the wrong things, Jackie. We’ve got to go deeper. Keep breathing. Don’t focus on any ol’ portal. Stay open to all the probabilities.”

  “Probabilities? I’m not sure what that means.”

  He kept using that word, and Beatrice Claudi said something about probabilities in the lab, too.

  “Just keep yourself open…” Firestorm instructed from afar.

  “How?”

  “I can’t explain it. You’ve got to find it for yourself.”

  “Well, I haven’t got a clue what I’m supposed to be finding.” I shrugged and stopped in my tracks, lost in the maze of portals that suffocated me from all sides. “Firestorm?”

  Everywhere I looked, portals pulsed and drifted nearer, pulled to me like metal to a magnet. The path forward remained unclear.

  “Firestorm? Where are you?”

  “Jackie, you’re running around in circles. We’re not getting anywhere. Geez, I should have brought training wheels.”

  “I need someone with answers, not riddles.” I bobbed and weaved through the expanse of sparks littering the Slipstream. “A map would help, too.”

  “Settle, Jackie. Stay calm,” he said.

  “I’m trying.” My voice trembled as I wiped my sweaty hands on my jumpsuit. The bloodstains had vanished somehow. “This can’t be real. Maybe I’m dreaming.”

  “Let me guide you toward my streams.”

  “Your streams?” Following a stranger in a strange place seemed foolish, but getting lost wasn’t appealing either.

  Should I go my own way and ditch this curious Firestorm character?

  “Yes, you can ride my streams if you relax a little.”

  “Okay…” I slowed my racing heart with an exhale and took it all in.

  The Slipstream is celestial. How expansive are its tunnels?

  Its portals made of fire seemed limitless, expanding in every direction like a billion galaxies in space. Connected yet fluid.

  I breathed in a million sparks.

  “You’ve been drawn to fire your whole life, haven’t you?” Firestorm asked.

  “Yeah. How did you know?”

  “I’ve been watching you from the shadows, across streams. Drink from their power.”

  My muscles relaxed as I examined the glimmering sparks around me.

  Their flickering took me to my happy place. I zoned out and felt like I was floating, dancing, capable of exploring all the streams at once.

  “Excellent. You’re going deeper,” Firestorm whispered. “You’re a natural. This way…”

  His looming shadow guided me through the Slipstream.

  With a swim of my arms, I followed once more, unsure of the best course of action. I picked up speed and soared through the tunnel.

  The flapping of wings echoed between portals as they whipped past in a fiery blur, creating a corridor of bioluminescence.

  The Slipstream was beautiful, majestic, and therefore powerful. For the first time, the possibilities felt endless.

  “We’re almost there.”

  Firestorm knows a path through it all, but how?

  We passed familiar scenes from my life in Twin Flames; waiting in line for free soup at Joe’s Place, going to bed hungry, trapping and skinning raccoons in the alley for a rare feast. My stomach rumbled as those memories drifted past.

  The path curved sharply ahead. I snaked around the corner and veered into darkness, entering the unknown.

  New portals appeared and swirled open, showcasing scenes that were unfamiliar to me–dark moments of torture, anguish, and despair. Teeth pierced putrid, rotting flesh. Whips lashed across breaking skin. Intense sobbing and violent roars drifted from this corner of the Slipstream.

  “I don’t think…”

  Firestorm cut me off. “Here we are.”

  “But…” I almost glimpsed his sizable form as he entered a stream.

  “Jackie, look this way. I’ve entered this portal. Give it all your focus. Then it’s easy to follow me inside. Got it?”

  “I’m scared, Firestorm.”

  “You can do it, Jackie. I believe in you.”

  My knitted eyebrows released. “I guess I’ll try.”

  “We’re in it together. Now, focus…”

  The fire portal presented itself to me, and I inspected it. Its screen revealed a small but impressive island. A volcano nestled in its lush green forest. The clear blue ocean surrounding a small indigenous village reflected the Grid.

  “Where are you taking me? I’ve never been here before. This is no memory of mine.”

  “Follow me to the sacred lands of Bennu Island,” Firestorm said from inside the vortex.

  The gateway to another world locked onto my chest with magnetic inevitability, pulling me in. My jaw dropped as the stream became crystal clear.

  A cold, concrete complex was attached to the back side of the island’s volcano.

  “Who would go to the effort of building such a monstrosity?” I asked.

  Firestorm didn’t answer, but the endeavor felt significant and brooding.

  Birds screeched, making my teeth hurt.

  “Wait, no. I don’t want to come here.”

  I tried to turn away, afraid of what I’d discover on the other side of this bizarre portal. But it sucked me in.

  “How do I stop it, Firestorm? I’ve changed my mind. I’m not coming with you.”

  It was too late. The portal had swallowed me whole, and there was no going back.