Timesurfers Read online

  TIMESURFERS

  Copyright 2015 Rhonda Sermon

  Published by K&R Books

  Smashwords Edition

  Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organisations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to your favourite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  ISBN: 978-0-9943617-2-1 (Smashwords)

  Cover design by Angela Fristoe at Covered Creatively

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to David, Keeley and Riley

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1-There's a Bomb on the Bus

  Chapter 2-Aftershocks

  Chapter 3-Mind Control

  Chapter 4-Infuriating Twerp

  Chapter 5-Wizard Magic

  Chapter 6-Extreme Makeover

  Chapter 7-A Dead Cheerleader Awakens

  Chapter 8-The Break

  Chapter 9-Jonah

  Chapter 10-Quantum Indicators

  Chapter 11-Catherine

  Chapter 12-Mutant Wizards

  Chapter 13-Immortals

  Chapter 14-Up, Up, and Away

  Chapter 15-Happy Birthday

  Chapter 16-Family Ties

  Chapter 17-Magic Trumps Technology

  Chapter 18-Eve

  Chapter 19-The Plan

  Chapter 20-Quantum Microchip

  Chapter 21-Training

  Chapter 22-It's Time

  Chapter 23-Three Wise Men

  Chapter 24-Game On

  Chapter 25-Sparkling Zombies

  Chapter 26-Four Brothers

  Chapter 27-Consort

  Chapter 28-Toga

  Chapter 29-Another Plan

  Chapter 30-Family Meeting

  Chapter 31-Sorceress

  Chapter 32-Midnight Reset

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Connect with Rhonda Sermon

  Chapter 1

  There's a Bomb on the Bus

  “Is this some kind of joke?” Cate pointed at the text.

  “Not a joke. Sorry honey.” Eve gave her a sad smile.

  “And everyone knew about this before me?”

  Eve grimaced. “Pretty much.”

  Cate checked her phone again.

  ZACH: “WITH BRITTANY NOW. WE R DONE.”

  The text message came five minutes after Eve arrived to console her about the breakup. Cate was the last person to know she’d been dumped and replaced by a perky cheerleader. She brushed a mix of sad, embarrassed, but predominantly angry tears from her cheeks. Zach was part of her witness protection deal.

  “I guess they can be one giant bubble of popular fizz together,” Eve said.

  “Huh.” Cate absently twirled her blonde hair.

  Eve patted her arm. “Popularity is so overrated. He traded down in the looks department. Cheerleader be damned. I’d choose you over Brittany any day. I never got you and Zach.”

  Eve was perceptive. Cate’s witness protection rules required a boyfriend. She followed all the rules regardless of how unpleasant or annoying she found them. They kept her hidden and safe. No one would be impressed she was the talk of the school for all the wrong reasons yet again. There was definitely another long lecture on “blending in” and “staying under the radar” pending.

  Her breath, mixed with the freezing air, created smoke as she exhaled. She was in the slowest-moving bus queue ever. Seriously, how hard was it to pay the driver and find a seat? It was always such a nightmare to get home from Sunday paintball.

  Something didn’t add up. Cate’s handler had chosen Zach to groom for her boyfriend because he had no other friends. He was a sure thing because he wasn’t popular. After a few years of a carefully manufactured and managed “good friends” relationship they moved to “officially dating” last year. Apparently fifteen was the “right” age for acquiring a boyfriend. “How did Zach transform overnight into this übercool dude guys high-five and girls flip their hair for?” Cate demanded.

  “And...delete contact!” Eve landed a vicious stab at her phone. “Zach is officially dead to me. You’re delusional, sweetie. Zach’s been popular forever.”

  “What? You’re joking, right?” Eve’s blank look was yet another thing that made no sense. “I’ve stepped into some alternate universe, and it totally blows.” Cate dragged her hands down her face. This was weirding her out, and that was saying something. Five years in witness protection had made her the Queen of Weird.

  Eve’s blue eyes narrowed. “You’re using a kinda whiney voice, which is very unattractive.”

  “I’ve been dumped by text.” Cate tugged at her ringlets which were courtesy of the damp air.

  “And I get that you’re dealing with embarrassment on a totally epic scale.”

  Cate gave Eve her best death look.

  Eve grinned. “I see your emerald stare and raise you my sapphire glare.”

  Cate fought back a smile as Eve returned her gaze. She was a little sad. Zach had been nice to her, until the twerp dumped her by text. Mostly she was concerned. Sure, she had to deal with all the stares and whispers at school tomorrow, but her handler and mother were going to insist she made good on all the rules. She needed another boyfriend, ASAP.

  “What the...?” Eve’s eyes widened. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. The colour leeched from her rich honey-toned skin.

  “What?” Cate automatically followed Eve’s gaze. A good few inches taller than her friend, she had an uninterrupted view of what had caught Eve’s attention.

  “Um...Ah...” Eve mumbled as a supertall boy who could have walked straight out of a Ralph Lauren advertisement stepped between them.

  He wore a loose, black silk shirt with leather cuffs and black trousers. His height held Cate’s attention, and he got better the more she looked. The tousled griminess of his rich chocolate hair promised finesse in the most wicked of ways. He had distinct cheekbones and an angular jaw.

  Women were suddenly attentive. Their eyes intense, heads high, and bodies alert, enthralled by the potent swirl of pheromones and lust that trailed in his wake. Her eyes, along with everyone else’s, followed him until he disappeared around the corner. She was trained to remember faces. That face she had never seen around Tempus Falls before.

  In this small town, an unfamiliar face was cause for concern. She needed to get home. Something was amiss. “Let’s just get on the bus and focus on how I’m going to live through the next few days of humiliation at school.” She dug her elbow into Eve’s rib cage when her friend didn’t answer. “Eve!” She flapped her hand across Eve’s vacant face. “Eve—helloo!”

  A prickle of apprehension scuttled up her neck. She stepped closer to Eve. When their noses were nearly touching she stuck her tongue out. Nothing, nada, zip! Her friend seemed...frozen, like a statue.

  Turning in a circle, Cate’s uneasiness ratcheted up to fear. A woman was perched awkwardly with one leg on the ground, the other halfway out of the car she was exiting. A group of people were poised midstep on the crosswalk, and a street performer, his mouth open, stood silently, frozen midsong. The entire street resembled a photograph. All the people were still, petrified statues. An icy chill rippled across her skin. What was going on?

  “H...H...Hello...” The word was barel
y audible. “Hello,” she shouted toward the inky black clouds smeared across the sky.

  She placed a trembling hand on Eve’s red wool coat near her heart. Please don’t let anyone see me feeling up my friend. The rise and fall of Eve’s chest confirmed she was alive. She poked her friend, gently, then harder. As Eve toppled backward, Cate grabbed her. Eve was a dead weight and Cate struggled to stand her back up. Out of the corner of her eye, she sensed movement.

  Two hazy figures flickered like static, their grainy outlines solidifying with each purposeful stride through the unmoving crowd. Tendrils of fear coiled around her heart and squeezed. A girl and boy prowled into focus. She’d never seen them around before either. Run! Run! Run! Her brain shrieked. Her feet remained nailed to the ground with fear.

  The two figures were close now. The girl’s black mermaid hair shimmered as she executed the perfect do-not-mess-with-me head toss. Cate knew instantly they would never be friends. Their genes were designed to repel one another. Aggressively.

  The girl reached the bus shelter and surveyed the unmoving crowd, hands on hips. Her tartan coat parted to reveal black velvet knee-high boots with a surprisingly sensible low wedge heel and crimson jeans. She tapped her foot impatiently. “Where is he?”

  The voice of self-preservation spluttered through Cate’s panic, urging her to stay utterly still.

  “Chill, Rose, you know Rafe likes to make an entrance.” The guy brushed a hand over his combat-short brown hair and slouched nonchalantly against the Bus Stop sign. He looked underdressed with his fleecy red and white checked shirt and worn blue denim jeans ripped through one knee. His fingers drummed the Bus Stop signpost as his eyes roamed the frozen crowd.

  A determined ray of sunlight pierced the black clouds, spotlighting him at the exact moment he smiled. Even totally freaked out, his killer smile registered with her. That smile would get him anything that he wanted.

  “We need to disarm this bomb, pronto.” Rose’s tone matched her head toss.

  Bomb? Cate’s stomach contracted.

  No. There would be a logical explanation. Maybe she was being Punk’d. Hmm, while that would explain Zach’s sudden popularity it would never happen. Tempus Falls went crazy when there was a population explosion of one. Hiding an entire TV crew would be impossible.

  Okay...no need to overreact. She tasted bile. Who was she kidding—considering the bizarreness of the situation, overreaction was impossible. She wanted to run, but if she left Eve frozen in the street, that would make her the worst friend ever. As the self-proclaimed Queen of Weird, there was only one thing to do. She wove through the frozen people. “Um...excuse me.”

  A heartbeat later, two pairs of grey eyes turned her way. She gasped. The boy had three vivid crimson marks that traced down his cheek. A matching mark curled around his ear. All four marks continued down his neck and disappeared under his shirt. It looked like something had swiped an enormous claw down his face. Her spark of bravado flickered and vanished.

  “What the...?” Rose tapped her watch and gave Cate a look that could cut diamond.

  Cate flinched and took a few involuntary steps backward. “We still have twenty-seven minutes, Austin.” Rose stabbed an accusing finger at Cate. “She should be holding like everyone else.”

  The calm, curious gleam in Austin’s eyes as he appraised Cate made her pulse spike. Were they here for her?

  “I’m...” A dryness edged down her throat, making speech impossible.

  “I don’t remember a girl on the marked list at these coordinates back in 2014.” Rose pulled out a piece of paper. “No, definitely no girl. You don’t have a bizarre guy name, do you?”

  Cate shook her head, because her mouth refused to move. Rose’s upper-class British accent matched her English-rose complexion. She was Pilates lean and around six foot tall.

  “You’re an unexpected complication, aren’t you?” The red slashes on Austin’s cheek glistened as he stepped toward her.

  She took two rushed steps backward. Austin wasn’t typically good looking or beautiful. He certainly wasn’t unattractive through, and he had buckets of swagger.

  “What is your name?” Austin asked.

  “Cate,” she squeaked, and swallowed the bile rising up her throat. Please don’t throw up. She was handling this like a total wimp. Show no fear, she chanted silently and angled her chin upward. “Don’t come any closer. I’m a black belt, and I will hurt you.”

  “Black belt, hey?” Austin took a long, deliberate step toward her. “Do I know you?” His grey eyes narrowed as he examined her face.

  Not the response Cate expected. A hysterical giggle escaped her mouth. “Nope. I’m excellent with faces.”

  “Whoa! Rain Man flashback. I’m sure you’re also an excellent driver. Does she look familiar to you, Rose?” Austin asked.

  Rose circled Cate. “Hmm. A five foot ten, big boned, flat-chested teenage girl, whose dirty, scraggly blonde hair has cheap rainbow hair extensions.”

  “Rose,” Austin cut in.

  Rose held up a finger. “I’m not finished. Freaky green eyes, freckles, and dressed...well...badly. Don’t know her.” Rose smiled a tight smile and returned to study her list.

  Bitch. Cate had been so right; she could never be friends with Rose.

  “Ignore Rose. Normally she reserves that type of venom for someone she’s had at least one previous encounter with. Clearly you’re special. What intriguing little secrets are you hiding?” His eyes sparkled with mischief as he contemplated her.

  A sonic boom and fireworks exploding at the end of the street saved Cate from responding. A ribbon of red streaked toward them. A monster silver and black motorbike slithered to a halt at her feet. The glare from the rider’s shimmering red jumpsuit made her eyes water. His mullet would have made Billie Ray Cyrus jealous.

  “Centimetre perfect! I’m so good I scare myself,” he proclaimed, adjusting his headband.

  “Rafe, how lovely of you to join us. Nice low-key entry there. And you’ve gone for an understated look today,” Rose said.

  “We’re in a time stop. How often does that happen? I’m going for bold.” Rafe flicked his red, sequined cape over his shoulder. “I would have worn fluffy earmuffs if I’d known it would be this cold. I have some that match this, you know.”

  Okay! Enough! “What the hell is going on?” For once, Cate was glad her angry young teen lurked so close to the surface.

  “O-M-G! She’s talking.” Rafe flapped his hands toward her.

  “And somebody better start answering me.”

  “Feisty.” Rafe grinned and proceeded to ignore her. “What’s her deal?”

  Austin shrugged.

  “And before you ask, she’s not on the list,” Rose said.

  “Outrageous! Let me have a go at her.” Rafe scrambled from the motorbike.

  Cate tensed and put up a guarding block. She manoeuvred so the three of them were in her line of sight.

  “Careful, she’s a black belt.” Austin returned Cate’s glare with a cheery grin.

  Rafe smiled big at her.

  “Stay away from me,” she growled. How spooky; she could hear—well, more like sense—Rafe speaking, but his mouth wasn’t moving. A dead calm settled over her, which was far from normal, considering the situation. Her brain became sluggish, and her head clouded with dense fog.

  Colours, shapes, and sounds dissolved in her head, replaced by a blank, transparent canvas. She flinched as Rafe’s face burst into view. The sharp focus of his face contrasted with the muted colours and shapes now swirling behind him.

  Ignore us. You won’t remember anything about us. Sit at the bus stop while we get this done.

  Cate shifted her weight backward, working against the fact that her feet wanted to walk toward the bus stop seat like Rafe said. Her conscious mind told her feet to stay still, but they seemed to have a mind of their own. She pressed her knuckles to her closed eyelids, trying to relieve the pressure inside her brain. As quickly as it arrived, the f
og vanished.

  As Rafe reached for her, she blocked his arm, as her other fist connected with his jawbone. There was a loud crack, and pain speared up her arm and exploded in her shoulder. Rafe stood his ground and shook his head.

  A normal person would be sprawled at her feet, but he barely swayed. Her arm hung limp by her side, refusing to move no matter how much her brain demanded. “I told you—stay away.” Close to tears, she brushed her eyes with the back of her other hand.

  “Ouch!” Rafe rubbed his jaw.

  “That right hook must mean she’s immune to your talents too,” Rose said. “Ignore her and get the bus.”

  “I’m on it.” Rafe traipsed past Cate. Using one hand, he hoisted the front of the bus off the road. He rested the bumper across his chest and used both arms to test its weight.

  Cate’s jaw fell open. The bus wheels now hung in the air. The few people who had made it onboard toppled down the aisle like bowling pins. The bus creaked and groaned as Rafe pushed it further above his head. “That is so not normal.” Too bewildered to resist when Rose shoved her toward Rafe, Cate complied. Her shoulder was on fire. It had to be dislocated.

  “Watch her,” Rose snapped, and ducked under the bus with Austin.

  “The intel was good. There’s a bomb with Jonah’s name written all over it,” Austin called from underneath.

  Alarm prickled along Cate’s spine. There was a bomb on the bus. She wheeled around to run. Rafe’s fingers encircled her bicep in a vicelike grip before she could take a step.

  “Oh, no you don’t.” Rafe smiled, relaxed as he stood, one hand holding her while the other balanced the bus.

  A wave of pain rolled along her arm and shoulder as small silver stars exploded behind her eyes. She clutched her shoulder, pleading in her mind for it to pop back in. “Let me go!” She clawed with her good arm and smacked at Rafe’s wrist and fingers.

  “You have the cutest accent,” Rafe said. “Where are you from, England?”

  Cate glared and kept trying to pry his fingers from her arm. She turned and stepped into him, scraping her heel down his shin before grinding it into his foot.