Closure

Nathan gasped, as if coming up for air after years of being underwater, and slammed into the mirrored panel. He saw his own reflection. Tears streamed down his face. He shook violently, pressed his fingers against the glass to touch his reflection and then slid them away again.

Then it hit him. He had been ‘unknowingly’ masquerading as Jason Finn for the past eleven years.

Everything went numb.

Then, he yelled, as every memory he’d lost flooding back into his head in one vivid, blistering flash –

Task Agent Kesler poured into the corridor and ran towards the red room, lifting his gun. Ahead of him, he saw Jenna, now acting like a human shield that blocked Jason. Suddenly, Jason and Jenna vanished behind the door. Kesler kept on running.

Holding Jenna tightly by the hair, Jason pushed the barrel of his pistol into her throat and choked her. “I’m sorry.” Then he brushed back her hair. On her neck was the Shifter device. Jason touched the small switch and watched as Jenna morphed into an exact copy of him.

Kesler clocked “Jason” as he fell into the doorway and opened fire – rat-a-tat-a-tat!

“Jason” was lifted off the ground by the hail of bullets and fell back, as Kesler stormed forwards, shooting. “Jenna!”

As “Jason” fell, “his” body glitched and morphed back into Jenna, who crashed to the ground with an almighty thud that knocked the wedding ring off her finger. It clattered across the floor.

The battle-scarred Nathan, now eleven years older, couldn’t believe what he was seeing. March looked at him. “You murdered your wife.” Nathan crumbled and slipped to his knees. He stared down at the wedding band on his finger and clenched his fists. His knuckles turned white.

Task Agent Kesler looked down at Jenna’s blood soaked body... in her still eyes. His world had ended.

Behind the door stood Jason... he locked his pistol on Kesler and stepped out of the shadows. Kesler yelled and dropped to his knees, as Jason pulled the trigger. Blam!

The shot skimmed past Kesler’s head, as he twisted around and unloaded a shot into Jason’s ankle. He yelped, dropping to his knees. Kesler fired again. Blam!

The shot stabbed into Jason’s left eye and blew out the back of his skull, scattering the walls with blood and brains!

Kesler hooked Jenna up into his arms and rocked back and forth. He sobbed and shook. Ripping the Shifter device off her neck, he looked over at Jason’s corpse. He snatched a Wiper Bomb and broke it.

Boom!

Nothing changed! Jenna was still dead.

Kesler frantically broke another... then another, but still history remained the same. Like all Time Travellers, Jenna Kesler no longer belonged to fixed time. She was dead.

“You became an outlaw, Nathan. As a Taker you didn’t stand a chance of saving her... but as ‘Jason Finn’, you did.”

Looking at the table, Kesler saw the bag of Blades. Heartbroken, he slipped Jenna’s wedding band onto his finger, then hooked the Shifter onto the back of his neck and activated it.

Shadows outside the room formed humanoid figures. Three fully armed Takers appeared and stormed into the room, as Kesler transformed into ‘Jason Finn’. They set their rifles on him. One Taker tried to pry Jenna out of his arms, but struggled. Another Taker behind ‘Jason’ kicked away his pistol, grabbed his arms and hooked them behind his head. ‘Jason’ stared at Jenna, her cold eyes looking back at him. As the Taker tried to handcuff him, ‘Jason’ elbowed him in the nuts, snatched his rifle and busted his face with the butt - whack!

Spinning around, ‘Jason’ took out the remaining Takers – blam, blam, blam, blam!

Grabbing a Blade from the bag – 29/12/1940 – ‘Jason’ activated it and blew a gaping hole out of the time line. As the blistering, black void opened and sucked him inside, a bloodied Taker unclipped a Wiper Bomb, snapped it and threw it into the void.

‘Jason’ plummeted through the void as visions of Jenna, the ‘Red Room’ and a Taker storming inside flashed before his eyes. “Jason Finn, murder, eleven, eleven, nineteen twenty six!”

Suddenly, the Wiper Bomb exploded - boom!

‘Jason’ hit the cold, hard ground with a thud! He was confused and scared... unsure who HE was. Above him, the bleak skyline was broken by floodlights and sirens. He yelled. His memories burned away like a sheet of paper held to a flame, until only ashes of truth remained. He dug his fingers into his skull, murmuring, “Jason Finn, murder, eleven, eleven, nineteen twenty six!”

He ran into a bomb damaged house and scrawled it on the wall so not to forget... JASON FINN, MURDER, 11/11/1926...

Nathan staggered back, unhinged by the flickering, fragmented images he saw in his mind’s eye. March watched him struggle. “You became him.”

Suddenly, Nathan thrust the pistol towards her face, “I’ve got one chance to save her!” He took a breath. “I’m sorry!”

March gritted her teeth, ready to die. Nathan tried to squeeze the trigger, but couldn’t. He growled and struck her hard across the head with the butt of the pistol – whack!

Ding! The elevator doors slide open and a blood soaked Nathan stepped out into the dimly lit basement. He lowered the pistol and looked at the countdown window: 14:57 - 14:56, then back into the elevator. March lay unconscious on the ground. Nathan mouthed, “Sorry” and then stumbled off to save Jenna.

The rotating door spun and Nathan raced out into the street, straight into the busy road. His steely gaze, body, face, hair, legs and arms were soaked with blood. He looked like a Zombie. He truly was a walking corpse.

An oncoming car screeched to a stop. Nathan raised his pistol and pointed it at the windscreen. Blam! The windscreen shattered, “Out!”

The petrified driver fell out of his seat and dropped to his knees on the road, as a lorry thundered past. He yelled, seeing his life flash before his eyes. Nathan raced over and hijacked the car.

Slamming the door and screeching off down the road, Nathan swerved the car, catching a passing automobile’s wing mirror, as he launched into full octane action.

Spinning the wheel, Nathan pressed the accelerator pedal down to the floor and the car gained furious speed. The road ahead was a flashing blur of colours and lights. Tossing the pistol onto the passenger seat, Nathan clung onto what little life remained in his bones and faced the road ahead.

The motor car swerved a corner and rocketed down the busy road, narrowly dodging oncoming cars and pedestrians crossing the street. The car gained awesome speed, overtaking traffic and racing through a set of lights – skimming a bus that careered to a shuddering halt.

Suddenly, the road ahead distorted and the skeleton of a vehicle begun to take shape. Flash! A fast moving Army Jeep, filled to the brim with Takers, raced straight towards Nathan, who frantically spun the wheel. “Jesus!”

The motor car spun around and mounted the pavement, demolishing a newspaper stand, before crashing back onto the road and veering out of control. The Jeep belted towards the car and rammed into the back, throwing it down the road. The Jeep rammed it again – smashing the back of the car to smithereens.

Nathan was thrown around the car like a sock in a tumble drier. He let go of the steering wheel and snatched at the pistol. Another almighty bash took the car door clean off. It smashed and clattered down the road.

The Jeep gained speed and soared towards the wayward car that free wheeled full pelt towards a row of parked vehicles. Nathan leapt out of the driver’s seat and slammed down onto the pavement, rolling hard into the side of a building.

The car flipped into a ferocious toppled and landed on top of the parked cars, smashing them to bits, as the Jeep, going way too fast, quickly followed and slammed into the wreckage – bang!

Nathan groaned as he dragged his bones off the pavement. The side of his head was a bloody mess. Suddenly, Jason Finn raced past Nathan and looked back to see Task Agent Kesler racing after him. Nathan clocked Jason and reached for his pistol, only to have it kicked away by his relentless, older counterpart, who ran past and chased Jason down a side street.

Ahead of Jason was a decaying warehouse with a flight of iron steps leading up to a bright red door. He took to the steps, dragging his weary bones upwards, as Task Agent Kesler appeared and fired a shot. The bullet jabbed into Jason and kicked him violently through the door – crash!

Kesler took to the steps.

Bashed to buggery, but driven to go on, Nathan finally grabbed his pistol and forced himself back onto his feet. He was so close to death... so pale. He glanced back at the pile of cars and saw injured Takers forcing their way out of the wreckage. Choking on the blood in his throat, Nathan staggered towards the side street and vanished around the corner.

The narrow wooden passage ran down to the ‘Red room’. The overhead lights flickered and buzzed. Inside the room was Jenna. She was plastered in dry blood and drooped her head. Her body was shrouded in shadows and her hands were cuffed behind her back.

Jason stumbled painfully into the corridor and ran towards the office. He flung the door open and fell into the room.

Task Agent Kesler took to the steep wooden steps and race towards the corridor, gun gripped tightly.

Bleeding heavily, a dazed Jason circled over to Jenna, who lifted her head and yelled as he approached. He snatched her by the hair and dragged her off the seat. He spun her around and un-cuffed her wrists, then hooked the barrel of his pistol under her chin.

Nathan fell hard against the metal steps and dragged himself up towards the bright red door.

Task Agent Kesler poured into the corridor and ran towards the ‘red room’, lifting his gun. Ahead of him he saw his wife, now a human shield blocking Jason, who stood behind her. They vanished behind the door. Kesler kept on running.

Jason held Jenna tightly by the hair and pushed the barrel deeper into her throat, making her choke. He looked at her. “I’m sorry.” Then he brushed back her hair. On her neck was the Shifter device. He pressed it and Jenna swiftly transformed into an exact copy of him.

Everything slowed down.

Task Agent Kesler raced towards the room – gun poised to fire.

Nathan fell out of the shadows, seconds away from drawing his last breath. He yelled and fought to life his pistol, trying to lock it on the back of Kesler’s head.

‘Jason’ fell into the doorway. Kesler almost pulled the trigger.

Staring down the barrel of the pistol, Nathan set his final sights on Kesler. He closed his eyes and gasped. “Now it ends.”

His finger, shaking, so weak, pulled at the trigger.

BLAM!

The back of Kesler’s skull exploded and his body dropped to the ground. ‘Jason’ yelled!

Eyes open, Nathan slumped to the floor, stone dead.

‘Jason’ tore off the Shifter and swiftly morphed back into Jenna. She staggered into the corridor, “Nathan!” Dropping to her knees at his side, she scooped him up into her arms. Tears streamed down her face.

Jason staggered into the doorway and lifted his gun. Jenna looked at him. She was mortified. “Kill me you bastard! Kill me!” Jason toyed with the trigger. He shut his eyes. His finger let go of the trigger. The pistol clattered as it hit the ground. He looked at Jenna. “I can’t live with death anymore.”

Rushing back into the ‘red room’, Jason grabbed a Blade and activated it. He hurled it as hard as he could across the room –

BOOM!

In a flash, Jason Finn vanished.

’He who fights with monsters might

take care lest he thereby

become a monster.′

Friedrich Nietzsche