The Metropolis Series #2: Quinn Beyond Bounds
33. Watchful Eyes

I HAD NEVER FELT so hopeful about a time reset before. For a while, it had felt like the odds had truly turned in my favor. With the flyers Bree had made, I ran around the campus, handing them out to every student I saw. Little did I notice that my inherent shyness had vanished; I spoke louder and clearer with every person I faced, my head held higher every time.

I thought that if many students could attend Deus Ex Machina’s gig that night, and if Cassandra were to attack any of them, she would be easier to catch with all those people around. Someone could probably arouse suspicion about their friend acting weirdly, and if something were to go wrong, I could immediately send a red paper airplane for Julio or any of his companions to see. They would come rushing at the signal and stop Cassandra once and for all.

With all that in mind, I had high hopes that Cassandra would no longer be able to reach the Spanish House.

I was able to distribute all of Deus Ex Machina’s flyers within an hour or so. Bree wanted to keep the gig only among students because there was no time to get the activity approved by the school. Deus Ex Machina carried St. John’s image, so they were still subject to monitoring even if they often moved independently. As we had previously learned from the Founding Festival, teachers liked to meddle with student affairs to the point that they insisted on keeping organizational funds for safekeeping. But it was exhilarating, hiding from the teachers and school administrators in the halls, discretely handing out flyers to any student who passed by.

My parents would be appalled if they were to learn that their única hija was breaking school rules, destroying the image they tried so hard to build, but that had already been distorted the moment I had kissed Curtis in the storage shed. (I didn’t know what was worse on the rule book: kissing on school grounds or organizing underground activities.) Besides, there were students to save from Cassandra, and at the time, that was all that mattered.

It was only when I had finished off all of the flyers that I decided to take a breather. It was then I received a call from an unknown number. I usually ignored those, but this one seemed important.

“Hello?” I said.

“Quinn, it’s Rachael.”

My chest went heavy. Rachael was calling me. Why?

On the phone, I could hear instruments in the background. Guitars were being tuned and drums were beating.

“Deus Ex Machina is practicing right now for the gig,” Rachael explained. “You are coming, aren’t you?”

She asked as if I was going to turn around and bail.

“Of course,” I replied.

“Ah, good. I was hoping that you can watch us practice a bit before the show as our manager and all. Maybe give us your honest opinions?”

“But I don’t know much about music,” I spluttered.

“That’s fine. You can critique us from an audience’s perspective…”

At that, something outside the window caught my attention. Perched atop a telephone wire was none other than a dove. Another had joined it, flapping its wings. Both birds seemed to be staring right at me.

“Hello, Quinn?” Rachael then spat. “You there?”

“Oh sorry,” I said. “I’ll be there in thirty.”

Without saying goodbye, I hung up. I looked out the window again, and now there were three doves staring right at me. Julio had explained that forgotten characters like him could only exist in the Metropolis for a given amount of time, and once that time was up, they turn into doves to preserve their physical forms until they could go beyond the boundaries of the city, right where they belonged. Perhaps these doves were just some guys from the Spanish House, which shouldn’t have worried me until I realized how much Cassandra and I looked alike.

Was that what they wanted? Were they waiting for an opportunity to attack me?

I tried not to think too much about that as I went back to my dorm. The fact that I had made it unscratched brought me relief, but not until I opened the door.

Despite all that had happened at the Spanish House, I was half expecting to replace my roommate, Harumi, eating a bag of chips and ice cream on the floor, but to my dismay, the room was empty.

I felt terrible because I wanted to talk to her again, tell her the crazy things that had been going on… but I couldn’t.

I looked at her desk at the far end of the room, a somber monument she had left in St. John’s. To my surprise, her leather notebook sat untouched on the table’s surface. It made me realize that our meeting with Takahiro and Ms. Louise at The MacGuffin had been undone.

Gingerly, I approached the table and turned to the first page of the notebook, careful to not come in contact with any of the Lethe residue. I let go of the cover page, and it slammed against the surface of the table. It was almost like the notebook was telling me, Hey, Quinn, you’re not going to get anything from looking at that cryptic list again.

And it was right. For one thing, the list on the first page, the one that Takahiro and I discussed at The MacGuffin, was no longer there.

Confused, I decided to scan through the rest of the notebook. Takahiro’s English annotations were nowhere to be seen, another reminder that he had never touched the notebook in this brand new timeline.

So, maybe that means I had never found the list yet.

It was a comforting thing to hold on to, but that string of hope proved to be a little slippery. I looked everywhere in the dorm, going crazy ripping through drawers and looking under the furniture, but no list was ever found.

To make sure that I wasn’t crazy, I turned back to the first page—and the list wasn’t there. Where would it have gone?

I concentrated too much on replaceing an answer that I jumped when my phone buzzed in my pocket. Someone had sent me a text message.

Hey, Vasquez. Bree here. I was hoping that you could pick up the rice bowls I ordered at the caf and bring them up to the band room. They’re for all of us. Thanks! x

Hmm… unlike Julio, I hadn’t forgotten about my wallet, but I had forgotten about band practice. I shuddered. Had I just experienced the Lethe’s mind-wiping capabilities? I didn’t want to replace out.

I closed the notebook, replied to Bree’s message, and proceeded to get dressed.

I slipped on a pair of khaki pants and a graphic tee I found buried in the closet. I pulled out a small shoulder bag for my phone and wallet and packed a bio bag for the rice bowls I was going to pick up at the cafeteria.

As I combed my hair, I heard tapping on the window. I jumped, dropping the bag I had picked from the closet.

“Quinn?” a muffled voice said from outside.

It was only when my heart stopped pounding that I realized who the voice belonged to. I opened my blinds to replace myself basked upon dark, stern eyes, and for once, my window tapper didn’t sport a hoodie. He wore a three-quarter shirt with gray sleeves, a satchel slung over his shoulder, and a pair of faded jeans finished off his look. (And not to mention that he was sitting dangerously on my narrow windowsill balancing on his worn sneakers. Don’t try this at home, children.)

I tilted my head. “Julio?”

“Please let me in,” he said shakily. “I’m scared to death right now.”

I nodded as I opened the window to let Julio in.

“So, you did it,” he said, climbing into my room. “You went back in time.”

And once again, he didn’t have the time to say “hi.” Also, going back in time was a good thing, wasn’t it? But he said it like I had just summoned something dangerous.

I couldn’t blame him; I was feeling that way, too.

“How are you?” I then asked, hoping that question would make my mind feel a little less uneasy. “Is the Spanish House okay?”

“We’re fine,” he said. “Fortunately, everything that happened that night was undone, but our memories will never disappear…”

At that, my eyes wandered to his arms that were now visibly protruding from the sleeves of his shirt. He had scars all over the place.

“I’m sorry,” was all I could say.

Julio merely shook his head at this. “Viv… she…” His expression hardened, and he slammed both his fists on Harumi’s desk. “Cassandra,” he scowled. “I swear, I’ll—”

He didn’t need to explain. Cassandra had possessed Viv in the Spanish House’s control room, and even if that were undone as the timelines were reset, the horrors still remained. I could imagine Viv still curled up somewhere, staring into the void and unwilling to speak.

Julio was silent, shaking as if trying not to blow a fuse, but eventually, he looked somberly out the window, even if the view was covered in blinds.

“And what she did to Yukine,” he began, “was unacceptable…”

The moment Cassandra pushed Harumi into Lethe flashed before my very eyes.

I knew that I wanted to talk to Julio about what had happened that night. It wouldn’t ease my thoughts, but at least I could clear certain things out.

“I was talking to a friend earlier”—by friend, I meant Curtis—“and when I mentioned Harumi’s name, he didn’t know who she was… but… I’ve reset time, haven’t I? It worked the last time. Why haven’t I brought her back?”

Julio turned to face me. “Remember what I said back in the car? When a forgotten character steps into the Lethe without the Author’s permission—”

“They are erased,” I said softly. “Permanently…”

“And it can’t be reversed, even if time itself is.”

And that was when tears began to fall, leaking from my eyes as they streaked my cheeks, but I wiped them off before Julio could notice. I straightened up and chuckled bitterly. “And I thought being Cassandra’s replacement had its perks…”

Julio narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“It’s the reason why I have these powers, isn’t it?”

He sighed. “Right.”

“Look,” I began, glancing warily at every corner of my dorm, waiting for danger to randomly pop up. “What if Cassandra attacks again? I cannot guarantee that I’ll be able to rewind time and fix everything. In fact, I—”

I choked. I couldn’t get myself to talk about where Cassandra had brought me. I was afraid that the mere mention of it would take me back to that place, and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get out.

I figured that if I were to start from the beginning, things wouldn’t be as bad. I just had to take things slow so that I could get my thoughts straight.

“I saw you one time… in this world,” I began. “You were standing on this vast field, talking to Cassandra, telling her that she couldn’t get away.”

Julio’s expression darkened. “When was this?”

“Shortly before we met. To be honest, I didn’t think much of it at first, but I saw it again at the Spanish House…”

And that was when the life drained out of him. He stumbled back, losing his composure, his face turning pale. “So that’s where you went…”

His expression scared me. I had met Cassandra in my nightmares a bunch of times, and for a while, I held on to the idea that it was just a bad dream I could wake up from. However, the moment you begin to share those same dreams with someone else, they weren’t dreams anymore.

They were real.

But I was stubborn. I couldn’t easily accept what was happening. “What are you talking about?”

“She tried to trap me in her world once,” Julio began. “Almost didn’t escape. She’s trying to counter the Author’s works with her own, and I was her first target.”

I swallowed. “What happened…?”

“When I escaped, she stopped pursuing me. Cassandra isn’t the type of person to do the same thing when it has already failed once. She’ll be looking for someone else to trap.”

“I figured she would do that,” I said. “So, do the others know about this world she’s building?”

“No,” he replied, “but I know what they think. They believe Cassandra turned back time because our reinforcements were able to subdue that St. John’s boy.”

“These were the reinforcements Takahiro went out to get, right?”

“Yes. Cassandra is underestimating us, and the fact that she showed up in another person’s skin could mean something. Her physical form could be getting weaker, but we know how relentless she can be.” Once again, he turned toward my blinded window. “Go on, Quinn. See for yourself. Open the blinds.”

“The blinds?” I asked.

He just nodded.

I peeked through the blinds and saw a bunch of doves perched on the telephone wires. I knew that these were people from the Spanish House, and I had first anticipated them to flock all over my dorm window and attack me as Cassandra’s look alike. However, with Julio’s conversation in my mind, my fear dissipated, and the doves’ intentions became clear.

“Are these—” I stammered. “They’re guarding St. John’s?”

“They sure are,” Julio said.

“And… they’re not attacking me?”

“Well, I was able to explain your situation to them. The fact that you were in the control room while Cassandra possessed my sister…” He choked but shortly regained his composure. “At least I had the grounds to prove that I wasn’t insane. Tamara even backed me up.”

There was no mention of Mackenzie, but I decided to not think too much about her. Instead, I managed to smile. I think my eyes even sparkled.

“Thank you,” I told Julio. “You have this all thought out now, don’t you?”

Julio beamed with pride. “So, the next time Cassandra attacks, we’re now one step ahead. We’ve set posts at the arcades, the cafés, the nearby shops, everywhere. Hopefully, we’ll catch her this time…”

I wanted to comment on how determined he sounded, but the problem was he didn’t sound so determined at all. I didn’t know how I could tell, or maybe it was just my mind whispering things to make me feel uneasy, but I sensed a twinge of doubt in his voice. I couldn’t blame him. The Spanish House had endured two attacks, and they couldn’t bear another one.

“So,” Julio then said. “Where are you off to?”

I realized that he had eyed my outfit and sling bag.

“Oh,” I laughed nervously. “A just—pfft—band practice…”

Julio looked at me like I was joking.

“Band practice?” he scoffed. “You don’t sing, do you?”

“Oh no,” I said. “I manage a school band. They have a gig later tonight.”

“A gig? Where?”

“The Red Herring Bar and Grill.”

Julio stroked his chin. “I don’t think I have anyone stationed in that area. I’ll alert some of our aerial patrol units to transfer and I’ll tag along to watch close by.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Some of our units are disguised as Metropolitans so that the doves don’t draw too much attention. As of now, I’m going around assessing the situation, and nothing out of the ordinary has happened yet. So, I suppose I could accompany you and observe for a while.”

That wasn’t what I meant. I was sure Julio wasn’t dumb enough to disassociate his former lover with a high school band. Did he want to be around his ex during dangerous times?

I didn’t want to make a big deal about him being around. Besides, I wasn’t the one protecting the Metropolis from monsters, so I was confident that he knew what he was doing. He even came along when I picked up Deus Ex Machina’s rice bowls in the cafeteria, offering to carry three of them to the band room. But once we were by the room’s door, he stopped.

“I’ll be right outside,” he said. “Just in case.”

“I think we’ll be okay from here,” I replied, taking the rice bowls he’d carried. “You don’t have to watch over us.”

“You think I don’t know what I’m getting myself into?” He glanced at the glass window where the band room came to view. Deus Ex Machina had begun their rehearsal, and Rachael began to sing an angsty song.

“I just want to keep her safe…” Julio said.

Upon hearing that, I never thought I’d be jealous of Rachael—in a different way, that is. Even if the chances of getting back together were slim, Julio was still around protecting her from the Metropolis’ dangers. When the day would come for unpleasant events to unfold, I wondered who’d stick with me until the end.

At that moment, I wished I could have someone like Julio, too…