The Time Warden's Son

Chapter 9

Hi everyone! I am so sorry for the unannounced delay. I am knee deep in the process of moving, so my life has been a bit busy lately. I know some of you are going to be starting your fall semester of college soon, as well as myself. I posted the last four chapters of "The Time Warden's Son" so you can either finish it before your busy college schedule starts, or so you can read it at your own pace as you have the time. Thank you all for your support! It means so much to me! I hope you enjoyed my very first novel.

Sincerely,                                                                                                                                                           Grace Scott

"No, I will not leave the keys with you," my voice began to rise.

"But they will be safer here, and Pete and I can try to figure out how they work," Miriam countered from where she sat on the living room couch.

"If I leave them here with you, Lagabey would come back here and he would make sure he killed you this time. I will not put you in harm's way any more than you already are."

"Pete will be with me this time, he had only left to go to his house and get supplies and food, we were running low, but we shouldn't need anything now. David, you can't just take the keys to Lagabey."

I rubbed the back of my neck and stopped pacing. The clock was ticking, and every second wasted was a second closer to being too late to save Doc and my father.

"I am not going to leave them with you. I have made up my mind, no amount of arguing will change it."

"All right, it's your decision," Miriam replied.

"I have to go," I said as I grabbed my knife and made sure to put the keys to the future back in my pockets; I had taken them out to show Pete and Miriam.

"I'll come to the basement with you. Doc taught me how to use the time machine, I'll get it ready for your leap," Pete said.

"Good luck, David," Miriam said.

"Thanks, and good luck to you here," I said.

In only a few moments, I once again experienced the painful ordeal of time traveling, something I wouldn't miss when this was over. I rematerialized at the same place as when I first came to the past. The streets were unusually empty, even of vehicles, and it poured down rain from the black sky. The moon was out, but I could see nothing of it through the thick clouds that blanketed the sky.

I didn't regret having memorized the route to the shop. Time was of the essence and I didn't want to be out in the rain for long either. I rushed to the shop, hoping that I could convince Charlie to help me. As I ran through the rain, I became aware of the sound of footsteps. There was no one in front or to the sides of me, I glanced back, but there was no one behind me either. I slowed down my pace a bit to listen. I heard the footsteps again. I looked behind once more, and there, I thought I saw someone slip into an alleyway.

My heart began to beat faster, someone was following me. I didn't see who it was, but I had a pretty good idea. I raced down the sidewalk and rushed across the street. The footsteps grew louder and sounded like they were gaining. I leapt onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street and ran for my life to the shop's door. I prayed it was unlocked.

I opened the door without even bothering to stop running, stumbled inside, slammed the door shut, and locked it. I dodged behind the counter, hiding from the view of the glass door and the window. My breath came hard as I listened to the door's handle jiggle as if someone was trying it. I pressed my back into the counter and continued to wait even after it became silent.

Then, a terrible thought came to me: if the main door was unlocked, then the alley door could also be unlocked. I bolted into the storage room and flew for the door. I almost reached it, but I gagged and came to a sudden stop as someone grabbed my shirt collar from behind.

Lagabey whispered in my ear from behind, "Where do you think you're going, my boy?" He raised his voice, "It is time."

A bag was shoved over my head. I hardly had any time to struggle before I was clubbed over the head, then everything went black.

When I came to, everything was quiet. I couldn't see anything through the bag that still covered my head. Ropes bit into my wrists, the corners of my mouth felt chafed from the cloth that gagged it, and my head throbbed for the second time that day. I moaned as I rolled onto my back and struggled into a sitting position.

"How is your head?" Lagabey laughed and whipped the bag off my head.

I responded with a glare.

Lagabey jerked the gag down around my neck, "Well, Thomas, what do you think of your son?"

We were in the back of an alley, Thomas was tied and gagged at my right, Doc was tied and gagged at my left. Lagabey yanked down their gags in turn as well. Thomas' eyes locked with mine.

"I...I love my...son very much," Thomas' voice came out like a wheeze. It was clear he was in pain.

"Then you must not know your son," Lagabey sneered.

"He's my son, that...that is all I need to know."

Lagabey laughed, "Of course. A father's love for his son is strong, or so they say. You once told me something similar, could you truly say it to me today?"

"I...don't know what you're talking about," Thomas said.

"Oh. Well then, I will have to refresh your memory."

Lagabey motioned to the shadows. A man with a cigarette walked into what sparse light filled our corner of the alley; he pushed a man along in front of himself.

I gasped; Doc moaned; Thomas inquired, "Charlie?"

Charlie's hands were tied in front, but no other form of restraint seemed to have been administered. Lagabey pulled Charlie closer to himself. His thug stepped back into the shadows.

"Do you remember me now?" Lagabey asked as he grabbed Charlie's face and forced him to look up.

I squinted in the dim light, realization came slowly, but with force. Lagabey's gaunt frame contrasted with Charlie's muscular build. Lagabey's pale, pasty skin seemed to glow in an unearthly way in the dark, while Charlie's skin looked healthy with its summer tan. Lagabey reminded me of a spider in all respects, even his stringy black hair with jets of gray had a spider-like quality. If one looked closely, one would see that these two men were the same, but with some difficulty. Never could I have believed that one man could vary so greatly in appearance. One version so sickly, the other version so healthy.

The only blatantly similar feature was their eyes. They were both the same pale blue.

"It can't be," Thomas whispered, "What happened to you?"

"You happened to me, you worthless murderer!" Lagabey screamed, Charlie only hung his head.