So, while Jane is working on an assignment, I wanted to jump on here and talk a little bit about what happens when the ability to flash is taken away. [Jane gives Vincent a sidelong glance as she opens a psychology book and starts making notes. Vincent smirks, “I know you’d rather be doing this.” Jane turns to Vincent. “I’d rather be asleep.” Both laugh under their breath.]

[Deep breath – And here we go]

Although, I am sure there are going to be plenty of you out there who will think less of me after I’m through with this post… (Jane typing: don’t let his mistake cloud your judgement, he’s still a great guy.) But, when I did it, I thought it was for the best for Jane and Mele. [Gulp.]

So, when I found Mele in the 1960’s, I knew things needed to be different. Elie knew everything of course, because I also was discovering my own power. With Lilian I tried letting her know about the flashes, about everything, but we still had to be reborn. So, I thought maybe if I just let Mele have a normal life, I could do everything we needed to on my own, and she could live. [Gulp, again.] But, the problem was that I needed her help just as much as she needed mine and things ended up worse than the two times before, plus there was no trust in our marriage. Both ends of the candle were burned in that life.

So, how do you take someone’s ability to flash away?

Just like we showed in one of the previous posts, Jane’s lives overlap and as she spirals through a piece of parallel time, she relives her history. When we touch, skin to skin, all I have to do is think about crimping those connections, like a railcar passing into a new lane because the tracks are switched. When I touch her and think of that switch, she will no longer come across those tracks to her history, thus cutting off her ability to flash. (Jane typing: As a general note, when it happened a few weeks ago, it felt like what I figured amnesia would feel like. You know there’s something there, but you can’t seem to find it.)

But, the problem, which I quickly discovered with Mele, was that it’s not a switch that can be turned off and turned back on without consequences. Like Jane experienced, she would have had multiple flashes over the course of the night, but because I took that ability away and then gave it back, she had those flashes back to back. Her soul traveled over and over again in the space of just a few hours. (Jane typing: talk about exhausting – it’s like working for 24 hours without a break or watching a 24 hour movie marathon. Eventually, you really just want to sleep.)

[Vincent looks over at Jane. “Don’t you have enough work to do?” Jane narrowed her eyes and sneered. Vincent licks his lips and smiles. “I could’ve assigned more.” Jane’s head snapped back in my direction and she scoffed. “Is it not enough I only slept 3 hours last night?” Vincent nods, “My point entirely.”] For Mele, after all those years, I lost her once I gave her back the flashes and that truly was worse than death. Honestly, both experiences are not things that I’m proud of, but they happened and not only did I learn from them, but I know Jane is better off being able to flash.

I hope that doesn’t destroy how you all feel about me, I’ve really atoned for both actions, and I hope you see there is a part of me that’s a normal, mistake-making, troubled man.

Vincent

So, Vincent and I have been together, for what [I look over at him and shrug] two months? [He takes a deep breath and rocks his head from side to side, nodding.] Two months… hard to believe, but with school, time seems to be speeding on. 

Anyway, since I’ve been with Vincent, I’ve started to have flashes of my previous lives with him. Coincidence… I think not! [Vincent rolls his eyes and I smirk, turning to wink at him.] It turns out, Vincent has already figured this one out, so I’ll hand the computer over to him. 

Vincent Drake ladies and gentlemen… [I say with such gusto, he bursts into laughter instantly and kisses my forehead while taking the laptop from my hands.]

So, what Jane was alluding to, it’s no coincidence that when we met she started having these weird out of body experiences. The truth is, for us it’s a very real concept. The best way I can describe it is like this. Say today is July 23, 2008 at 4:30PM. If something happened on July 23, 1934 at 4:30PM that was important for Jane to remember from Lilian, her soul will travel back to that moment in time and relive that piece of her life. [Jane typing: Nothing like a good ven diagram to really help drive that concept home – hope these graphics help you visualize what’s going on.]

So, back to this concept of traveling through time. I also think it’s good to talk about the time it takes to flash and how that can affect if you happen to flash into a flash, which has happened. [I look over at Jane and she arches one eyebrow and I turn back to the computer chastened.] So, if Jane flashes at 4:30PM back into Mele or Lilian’s body and while she’s there Mele or Lilian has a flash, Jane’s soul can only stay in that second flash for less or as long as she’s in the first flash. If for any reason she stays in that second flash too long, the portal can close and Jane’s soul would be lost in time, virtually impossible to find. 

If we look at the diagram Jane drew for us, you’ll see her present life and the portal to her previous life. Notice there’s a 15 minute window, if you will, which allows her soul to travel and live out any portion of those lives. 15 minutes total from the moment Jane flashes in her current life, approximately 2 minutes (give or take) of travel time to her first stop, 8 minutes to live (which can be spread out over now and when she comes back), 2 minutes (give or take) to travel to her second stop, 2 minutes (give or take) to live, 2 minutes (give or take) to travel back to her first stop, and 2 minutes (give or take) to return to her present body. [Looking back at Jane, her forehead is wrinkled and her lips are scrunched up – a deep look of confusion if I’d ever seen one.] Fine… let me show it in a different way – see below. 

On the way there: 2mins (travel) -> 8mins (life) – shared over now and on the way back (Mele, Lilian) -> 2mins (travel) -> 2 mins (life) (Lilian, Elie)

On the way back: 2mins (travel) -> 8mins (life) – shared over now and on the way back (Mele, Lilian) -> 2min (travel) -> Back in Present Life

Figure 1:3 – Time presentation going into a flash and time it takes to return back. 

Now you may notice that Jane can only double flash when she goes to Mele or Lilian’s bodies, why might you ask? Elie never had flashes (which Jane shows in Figure 1:1 above); therefore, she wouldn’t be able to double flash. The flashes started when Jane’s soul was reborn into Lilian’s body. Now, Elie had a special gift. I believe her senses were more keen and sharp than most, especially when it came to understanding when danger lurked close by. 

[Jane takes the computer back and Vincent gripes about wanting to finish his thought…] 

Well, now that all of our heads are hurting [Vincent rolls his eyes and puts his head into his hand], we’ll give you some time to mull over that thought! Until next time! 

Jane and Vincent