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After he got kidnapped for a second time, Milo’s friends and family get even more protective of him. And he doesn’t mind, because every shadow starts to look like Sally. He sticks close by them, which isn’t hard because they won’t leave him alone. His sister has taken to walking him to bus stop. Melissa and Zack always find an excuse to come with him, wherever he goes. Cavendish and Dakota show up occasionally with extremely poor excuses for why they are there.
Today she is outside with just Melissa and Zack, and they have stopped to buy takeout. Of course, Murphy’s Law soon rears it’s head and Melissa and Zack have to abandon their takeout to chase a swan that is running off with Milo’s.
“Stupid bird.” Zack puffs as they run back without Milo’s takeout. “You can share ours.”
“I’m fine!” Milo plops down next to the boxes. “I’m not that hungry anyway.”
“Neither am I, so just go half and half with me.” Zack opens the box. Immediately a squirrel dives for his box. “Oi! This is ours, go get your own!”
Milo and Zack try to keep the box away from the squirrel. Meanwhile, Melissa starts eating. The chips are good, although they have definitely gone cold. And there is a funny aftertaste, like… like…
Melissa gags.
The boys turn to look at her. “Melissa? What’s up?”
“I don’t know, I think-“ She coughs violently, clutching at her throat. Their eyes widen in concern as they rush closer, and she tries to reassure them but she can’t through her coughing fit. Coughing turns into gagging, and she clutches her throat as she goes paler and paler.
“I think we should call an ambulance!” Zack exclaims. She shakes her head. Then she coughs again and a tiny splatter of blood lands on her chips. She starts nodding instead.
By the time the ambulance arrives, she is a funny grey colour and can’t even hold herself up. She is leaning against Milo, who is getting more and more anxious even as he rubs her back and reassures her. He could cry with relief when the ambulance shows up. They’ll figure out what’s wrong and fix it.
———
“We have absolutely no idea what’s wrong.” The doctor says. Milo and Zack are sitting near Melissa’s bed, while the doctors are talking to her father. “She is showing symptoms that align with poisoning, but we can’t figure out what.”
Melissa groans, wiping her face. She is grey, sweaty and has been getting drowsy. “You sure it isn’t food poisoning?” Her voice is strained from coughing.
“Doesn’t seem like it.” The doctor says.
Her father comes around to sit next to her, looking worriedly down at her. Milo squirms around in his seat, feeling utterly helpless. This isn’t Murphy’s Law, he can’t pull something out of his backpack to fix this. All he can do is wait.
His phone buzzes. He looks down to see a text from an unknown number. How is your friend?
He frowns, turning the phone around to show Zack, who shrugs. “Maybe-“ The phone buzzes again.
He looks back down at his phone to see another message. That poison was invented twenty years after the time you are in. So was the antidote. There is very little the doctors can do. Sorry kiddo!
Milo flinches roughly. Even in text he can hear her voice. He and Zack share a horrified look. Surely this has to be a prank. Surely. But Milo’s heart sinks. He waits frantically for another message, and finally one pops up. Outside the hospital in a bush is a small device. If you can plant it on the neck of either Cavendish or Dakota I will deliver the antidote to you.
She probably has until morning. Good luck!
Milo jumps to his feet, grabs Zack’s hand, gabbles an excuse and yanks him out of the room. They stare at each other in horror. “This can’t be real. It’s someone trying to scare you.”
“I… I don’t know.” Milo stares at the messages on his phone for so long that they blur together. “Can we risk not taking it seriously? Melissa…”
“How about,” Zack takes a deep breath and pats Milo’s shoulder, “How about we go check the bushes. If we don’t find anything, it’s obviously a prank.”
They find something. A black box, inside of which there is a small black device, so small that it reminds him of a tick. Exactly like the one that was used to mind control him. A small sheet of paper with instructions.
“It’s real.” Zack breathes, rubbing his face.
“Zack, I can’t do this. I can’t let her control Cavendish or Dakota. But I can’t let Melissa… let Melissa…” Milo drops the box and leans against the wall, his head spinning so fast he can’t even think. “What do I do?”
———
“Milo!” Dakota smiles at the boy on his doorstop, although he is quite confused. It is very late at night, definitely past when they should be out. “And Zack too. Where’s the other one?”
He doesn’t miss the look the two boys exchange. “Can we come in?”
“Sure! Sure, come in.” Dakota moves to let them past, his face creasing with worry. “What’s up?”
Milo seems uncharacteristically nervous and shifty, avoiding looking straight at him. Zack is perhaps even worse, fidgeting a lot as he looks up at the ceiling. He doesn’t need to be a mind reader to know that they are hiding something. “Kids?”
“Melissa’s in hospital.” Milo blurts out. “She’s really sick. I’m worried.”
“Oh no!” Dakota exclaims. He really is worried, and that makes sense, but he is certain that there is something else too. “You want a hug?”
“Yeah.” Milo goes for the hug, and Dakota squeezes tightly. Milo feels stiff and awkward, and then he moves his hands weirdly… then he stops and pulls away. “I can’t do it. Dakota, I need to tell you something.”
———
Dakota stares in horror at the message. “She’s poisoned Melissa to blackmail you into helping her mind control us?”
“Yeah.” Milo fidgets with a small black box before handing it over. “I shouldn’t even have considered it, I just didn’t know what else to do, I’m sorry-“
“Hey!” Dakota ruffles his hair. “Your friend is in danger, I understand.” He says. “We’ll find something to do.”
“Like what? The antidote doesn’t exist in our time!” Zack exclaims, looking extremely frightened.
“It exists in ours.” Dakota says, trying to be calm for the freaking out children. “We just need to figure out what it is, and then we can just go and get it.”
Milo lets out an extremely shaky breath. “Thanks, Dakota.” He says. “I’m glad that I didn’t go along with her.”
“She was counting on you panicking so much that you didn’t think to ask for help.” Dakota finds himself getting angry. Not at the kids, of course not, at those agents who have messed with them over and over and are now using them as weapons to get at the actual B.O.T.T agents. “We’ll fix this. It’s going to be ok.”
———
Melissa coughs weakly, rubbing at her aching neck. Even lifting her arm to do that exhausts her, leaving her to slump back onto the pillow. “Where’d Milo and Zack go?”
“I have no idea.” Her father says. “Lie down, don’t try to talk much. I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”
She listens, because she is so drowsy that it’s hard to do much else. She feels like she is drowning in her own sweat, her stomach growls and twists as nausea rises in her throat. She hasn’t ever felt so ill.
The doctors are confused, she can tell. She is starting to get worried, even frightened- she is in a lot of pain and extremely tired. She apparently has passed out a few times, although she didn’t really notice.
It’s getting harder to pay attention, to stay awake. The world is getting fuzzier, and maybe that’s not so bad. At least she wouldn’t feel so awful if she was asleep.
———
Dakota gets Cavendish, and the four of them get into the time machine. In the future they rush around, desperately trying to research when certain poisons were invented and their symptoms. Milo is getting more and more scared as it is extremely late at night by now. Time is passing fast. He remembers the note about the time and is sick with fear that they might run out of time.
“It must be this!” Cavendish exclaims. “I’m sure. And we can get the antidote.”
So they speed across the city, probably breaking many traffic laws, to buy the antidote. The sun is rising by the time they get back in their time vehicle and rush back in time to the hospital.
Milo grabs the antidote and sprints into the hospital, desperately dodging falling ceiling parts and runaway carts with hospital supplies and angry swans. He bursts into her hospital room, making everyone look up. Aside from Melissa, who looks so weak and grey that Milo’s heart sinks. “We don’t have time for questions, I think this will help her!”
Usually bright Milo looks so serious that no one argues. He rushes into the room and uncaps the bottle, then looks down at her. “Melissa? Mel?”
At first, nothing. Then he hears a quiet, pitiful groan. She looks like she might be trying to open her eyes, but she can’t quite manage. “Mel, hey. You need to take this.” He tries to help her drink it. She can barely even lift her head. He looks at the doctors for advice. A doctor notices his helpless confusion and takes the antidote to help her take it.
Milo watches her with bated breath. At first he thinks it didn’t work, and his heart sinks. They could never be exactly sure, maybe they were wrong. Maybe this is the wrong antidote. Maybe-
“Milo?” She mumbles, opening her eyes to look up at him. She looks exhausted and bleary, but is beginning to turn a healthier colour and she is clearly better. “Wha’s going on?”
Milo grabs her clammy hands. “It’s ok. It’s fine. You’ll be ok.” He vows, finding his voice shaking with emotion. She was so close. Sally was willing to kill her to get to Cavendish and Dakota, when she could clearly get to them herself.
There are very few people in the world that Milo dislikes, but he is finding anger growing in him, hot and sharp like a heated knife, next to his deep, cold fear of this woman.