We flashed into existence right next to the run down shack. The shack stood next to an old well both surrounded by trees with a dirt road running a path through. If we weren't about to do something that I felt was slightly crazy I would spend some time taking in the beauty of area.
"So, how come we have to get rid of the Russian officials anyway? Won't that mean that we will be the cause of the nuclear war? Don't we want to prevent that future?" I asked our shadowy guide.
He sighed, "Only those in the present can change the future. At least, that's what I think. I don't entirely know how all this time travel stuff works as I've never met another time traveler. All I know is that the Russian officials mysteriously were murdered in a short period of time and they just seemed to automatically blame the U.S. for that. I just have a hunch that we were the ones that did that especially after realizing it was you two that came with me when I saw us in the past."
"Okay, I guess I don't really understand time travel either but I do know that I'm not going to kill them. I just don't believe in murder."
"That's understandable, I suppose."
"By the way, what's your name?" Lilian asked.
"Yeah, I've been wanting to know that too," I added.
"Uh, you can just call me Shade."
"Shade? You've got to be kidding me. That's a super cliché name," Lilian snorted.
"Well, I don't really care to give away my real name."
"Why not?" I asked.
"I have bad memories of my childhood. I have used the name Shade ever since I left home."
"Oh, ok..." Lilian said slowly.
We both seemed to understand that he didn't want to talk about it further and we left the subject alone after that. We started walking down the road and I teleported us further down the road whenever I could so that we made better time.
We had teleported further away from the city so that no one would notice us because the photograph that Shade had handed me was an older one and he felt that that would be the safest option. It would be safer than teleporting into a lesser know location where we wouldn't know exactly who would be there.
As we went further along the road turned to pavement and the country homes changed to city buildings. We didn't have to worry about people seeing us as both Lilian and Shade took turns keeping us invisible and unnoticed by the people milling about.
"Our first target is Kryztov Krstyx."
"How are we even going to find these people?" Lilian asked.
"Thankfully for us," Shade pulled a small notepad from inside is pocket, "we know exactly where they were when they were murdered or I guess where they are going to be murdered. Kryztov was mysteriously bashed in the back of the head by his own candlestick in his office."
"Hmmm, gotta love the details of history books," Lilian rolled her eyes.
As we walked along closer and closer to our destination it became increasingly hard to avoid the crowded streets. Sure we were invisible but that almost made it harder. We eventually stopped in a side alley and Lilian made us appear exactly like three men who had just passed us by on the street. With this new disguise in place we found it easier to just push through the crowds.
Life sure was confusing. Here we were the products of a nuclear war that we ourselves were about to go and cause to happen in the first place. I worried about what I would do once we actually reached our target. I usually frown upon killing in general and especial against killing an unarmed man. I pondered on what to do for a long while and as we neared the entrance to a large building that I knew was our destination, I knew exactly what to do.
Lilian and Shade would probably think I was nuts but I knew that what I would propose to them would be the only way of keeping them alive. It was sort of a crazy idea but I knew it would work.
We were stopped by some men asking to see our identification as we approached the doors to the building. Lilian made the men think they were receiving legitimate papers and we were waved on by. It was a surprisingly easy task to find Kryztov. All we had to do was go to the front desk and ask the lady if we could interview him for a local news station. She said that he was busy but did go and check with him when he might be free. Little did she know that we followed her into his office, now invisible.
Kryztov's office was rather boring. A large desk and a bunch of filing cabinets lining the wall were the only furniture. Kryztov himself was busy looking through one of the cabinets. Lilian made her way over to his desk and picked up the candlestick on its surface.
"Wait!" I hissed.
Kryztov turned startled by the noise and looked around, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. I realized that our illusion wasn't meant to block out our voices as we weren't expected to speak. He slowly walked over to his desk unaware that we were standing right next to it. Lilian looked curiously at me.
"We can't kill him," I said.
"We have to," Shade threw his hands up in the air in frustration.
Kryztov jerked his desk drawer open and pulled out a gun. He pointed it shakily around the room.
"Who's there?" he demanded.
I gestured my hand toward him and felt something cold well up within me. It traveled up my chest and through my arm. A wave of white snow burst from my hand and flew toward the man. The snow hit him and he was instantly encased in a prison of clear ice. He looked around in astonishment and fainted. I almost laughed at his weak mind. Lilian waved her arm and the illusion holding us fell away revealing our true forms.
"What do you then propose we do with him? We can't just rewrite history!" Shade shook his head as if the very idea was just too wild to even think about.
"We take him back to the future with us," I stated simply.
Lilian's mouth dropped open and Shade sat right down on the floor and started rocking back and forth muttering something about kids and time travel.
"You're not serious," Lilian stated rather than asked.
"Why not? I mean, think about it, you can just make an illusion that looks like he's been murdered just like the history books said and I'll just keep him in this ice prison and we'll take him with us. I can easily teleport him back to the shack and leave him there in the ice and then come back here and we can get the rest of them."
Shade stopped rocking and looked up.
"You know..." he said slowly, "that might actually work."
Lilian groaned, "what are we gonna do with them after we get back to the fortress? Aren't there like time travel laws or anything against brining people from the past into the future?"
"Don't ask me, it's not like there's a bunch of time travelers around. I'm the only one and I have no idea what will happen. All I know is that it's a lot better of an option than just killing them."
"I can't believe I'm saying this but I think he's right," Shade stood up.
"Well, okay, I'm gonna trust you two but if all hell breaks loose when we get back I'm gonna blame you guys."
I nodded to her and put one hand on Kryztov's icy prison. In a flash I was back by the shack. I added some more ice around the edges just for extra protection and then teleported back to the office. Lilian waved her arms around slowly forming the powerful illusion making sure that it would last for a long time. Invisible once more we made our way down and out of the building.
It didn't take us too long to find everyone else and gather them up. Everyone was in the city for some meetings and therefore not too far from Kyrztov's office. We ended up with a total of 7 men and 4 women all encased in a cube of ice and scattered around the shack. It was a rather amusing sight.
Some, like Kryztov, had passed out while others stood alert with scrutinizing gazes. They saw us and saw what we could do and seemed amazed. I couldn't blame them though. When I first discovered my powers, I was pretty amazed as well.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Max," Shade shook his head in wonderment.
"Me too," I grimaced.
I gestured to the blocks of ice and used my telekinesis to stack them all together.
"I've never tried to teleport this much before so I hope it all goes well."
Shade frowned and Lilian shrugged her shoulders. They walked over and put both hands on a cube and waited for me. I reached my hands out and touched one of the cubes. I envisioned all of the cubes in my mind and could sense them all along with Shade and Lilian. As my sense power reached Shade I thought I felt something strange but it was gone too fast for me to see what it was.
I focused on sensing the entire group and then focused on picturing the fortress in my mind. I knew that we would be too large of a group to fit into the room that I had originally appeared in when I first arrived at the fortress so I focused on the grassy field outside.
The grassy field came into view for a second and then became blurry.
"Someone's trying to teleport in!" an echoing voice exclaimed.
I ignored the unknown voice and concentrated on the grass. Slowly it came into focus and I quickly envisioned our group on the field. There was a flash of bright light and then darkness.
"Max! Max!"
I jerked awake. My mom was leaning over me with a concerned look on her face. She breathed a sigh of relief when I sat up. We were all in the grassy field, Lilian and Shade were lying on the ground several feet away, and the cubes of ice were half melted. A large crowd had gathered and surrounded us.
Layla stood in front of the ice her hands out and flames flowing from them slowly melting the icy prisons. Vernon stood on the other side making a cloud poor what looked like hot rain over several other cubes.
"Max, you need to explain what's going on here," mom stood over me her hands on her hips looking quite unlike a mother and quite menacing.
I stood up and sighed. This was going to be interesting. Everyone crowded around but I waited till Shade and Lilian woke up before I started my tale. As soon as Shade woke up he took one look around and quickly disappeared. Everyone looked startled at first but then shook their heads and their expressions changed into curiosity. I felt cool try to brush over my mind at the same time but I shrugged it off and realized it was Shade using his power to literally disappear from everyone's memories as well. Something didn't quite sit well with him. He seemed awful serious about hiding his presence from everyone.
I started at the beginning of my tale with how Shade had approached us and how we teleported and time traveled into the past. When I mentioned who exactly the people brought back with us were I saw fury in many faces. It was good to know that homophobia was definitely not welcome here. By the time I had finished my story, the prisons of ice had been melted and the people they had held looked around in a daze of astonishment and disbelief.
"So, what exactly are we going to do with them now?" my mother asked.
"Well, what better to do with a bunch of homophobic individuals but put them in a super inclusive environment in the future and show them how much things have changed? How else do you expect them to change their way of thinking? Maybe, just maybe, this will actually be good for them."
"Wow, I never really thought about it like that. That's really good of you actually. I can tell how much you care about your LGBT friends. It makes me proud that my son turned out to be such a loving man."
Her eyes started to tear up and she grabbed me in a hug.
She held me out at arm's length and smiled, "I'm very proud of you."
I placed my hands on hers and smiled back. The crowd dispersed taking the Russian officers with them. Someone had caused them to fall asleep and another was using telekinesis to carry them all along.
"Where are you going to take the officers?" I asked.
"We have some holding cells in the fortress if the occasion ever arose to use them and I guess it now has," mother answered.
We stood looking at each other awkwardly for a several minutes, everyone unsure of what to say. Eventually Lilian spoke up.
"Well, that was fun..." Lilian slowly said.
We looked at each other and laughed.
"You do need to get to your class though, Max."
"Thanks mom, I look forward to it," I said sarcastically.
Lilian rolled her eyes, "Come on."
She grabbed my hand and we ran to the academy. I realized that while we had been gone for several hours, it had only been several minutes since we had left. We walked up the steps of the academy and I ran to join the rest of my class. The practical part of tier one was all about actually using powers and I looked forward to what we would do in class.
I breathed in and out deeply and pushed the classroom door open.