Without Direction

Chapter 10

Theo and I stand in an elevator together, in silence. "Do I get to stay?" I ask, nothing wrong with asking, a little reassurance."No I'm throwing you on the street. Of course you can stay!" Theo says laughing at his own joke. I laugh too because his laugh is... interesting. It's loud and squeaks near the end, kinda cute though. "Crap," Theo says rather loudly. I look at him, rather confused. "Glasses, I forgot them at my office," he says basically face palming, but he tries to laugh it off, even with a big red hand print on his forehead. "We can walk over there if you want," I say stepping out of the elevator. "It's a really long way Jade." I turn around, my hair twirling around and settling on my shoulders. "So what? I haven't walked in like what 1,000 years?" I say smiling and shake my head slightly. "Sassy are we?" Theo says and holds the very narrow but very tall glass door open and waves for me to exit. I step through and realize how very cold the "future" winter is. I jump a little, I am so not prepared for this. "Well it's cold." I say matter of factly. "No I thought it would be really warm during the winter." Theo says and smiles ear to ear. "Yeah yeah, no lets get your glasses." I turn around the block and a very very bright flash blinds me. "Jeez, you could have turned the flash off!" I say angered by the green and red dots I now get the pleasure to see. A strong arm grabs my arm and begins to pull me through the horde of lights and people. Words are being yelled but I can't make out any sentences, mainly because I'm blocking them out. I turn my head to one side, and see a familiar face. Manson. I stop and try to fight the crowd to get to him, but Theo is a lot stronger than me. He pulls me through the crowd and now we are running a few blocks. We go down three blocks and then he slows. "My eyes hurt." I complain in a whiney voice."Well we can get you sunglasses. Are you okay? Why did you stop?" Theo asks straightening his clothes, and fixing his hair. "I thought I saw Manson." I say coldly, hoping that I didn't but I know deep down that it was probably him. " It's possible, considering the fact that he is very tall and his hair adds at least another three inches." We both laugh, Manson's hair is dyed a light brown or dirty blonde color at the tips, quite the look. "Now about your glasses, where is this building you speak of?" I ask looking around the street. I hear a burst of giggles, yes giggles. I turn to face Theo who is turning red, he is muffling his laughter. "I had my glasses in my pocket the entire time. Just wanted to get you moving a little. Plus the cafe is down the block." Theo now is breathing deeply, apparently the people of the future have no stamina. "Well, that was rude." I say rather annoyed I was made to go through the paparazzi. "Come on, you have to admit it was fun." Theo says, titling his head to the side and smirking. "Fine, it was fun. Now where is this cafe? I really want food." I say, heading up the block. "Other way genius." I pivot on my heel and walk to Theo who takes my hand and we walk to this adorable little cafe. "There is one thing that confuses me." I say, not really directed at him, just really a statement. "What is that?" Theo asks stopping and looking deep into my eyes. "I going to say that I'm curious how the paparazzi knew where we were and that I was out in public and such. But now I have to say that it's not like I was asking the meaning of life, no need to stop and stare creepily into my eyes" I say raising an eyebrow and continue to walk. "Well my guess is that someone saw us last night. And we have to head home. If the government finds us, or anyone against the idea of you coming back 1,000 years later, and other crazy people, we both will be thrown into isolation for all of our lives. Or worse! We need to hurry!" Theo begins to twitch and jump up and down. "I really wanted food, but I see your point." I canbarley even finish before we both the off running.

We just make it to the elevator when the clicks and flashes of cameras greet our backs. We jump into the elevator and watch the doors stop the army of photographers."That was painfully close Theo." I say looking at him worried. "I know I'm thinking where we could go, we can't stay at my place, the feds. could be there already or on their way. We could go to the ruins, but that's a dumb idea, too open. We good go to another town but we will be noticed anywhere." Theo rambles on and on. I'm not going to kiss him again, can't do that right now, not enough time. "Theo can't we go to your office, you said you have one far away and no one knows about it." I say recalling last nights conversation. "You're brilliant! I could kiss you right now!" Theo says smiling like he just realized what living really means. "Well what's stopping you?" I ask raising an eyebrow. Theo tilts his head and smirks, he leans down and kisses me lightly on the lips. Just at that moment the dumb very stupid elevator doors open. And the paparazzi are right there. I press the lobby button and the doors close. Theo moves so his back is to the door, our lips never leave each other. I move my head back just a little and whisper "Great timing Theo." I smirk and Theo chuckles, wrapping his arms around my waist. I quickly realize we are almost at the lobby and a large mob of flashing lights. I push his arms away and take his sunglasses that hang on his shirt pocket. I put them on and strike a pose and say "I'm ready for the paparazzi!" Theo laughs just as hard as I do. The door opens and we are both ready, Theo has his arm around my shoulder and my head is down. We get to the door and the paparazzi has followed. We look at each other and head off to his office, weaving around every block, throwing them off. After two hours we make it to the office, well I think. There is a small dent in the side walk. Theo stabs a small metal card into it and a staircase opens. We both head down and then we are swallowed into darkness. Lights flick on row by row, the light reveals a room with white walls and dark grey wooden floors. There are white shelves bordering the wall, each holding some technology piece. I walk around in awe. I bump into something. A white pedestal had revealed itself in the middle of the room. A small usb looking device lays there. I stare at it. "Manson had one." I say in a slight daze. "I know, I made it for you, he just held it for you. It holds all the information you need to survive and bank statements and all those things. The one you see is a prototype, you wear the real one." Theo says, seeming proud of himself. I look around the room, reading every blurb, memorizing every prototype that line the walls. "Do you remember anything from your past?" Theo asks, I freeze. I swallow and turn around to face him, he isn't here. My eyebrows knit together, I walk down to where there is a slight glow of light. A cozy office is there, a metal desk with a large screen in the center of it, lined with buttons. I hadn't even noticed Theo sitting there, until he stood up. He actually had his glasses on, they looked really good on him. They were black and were sort of rectangular but rounded near the bottom. They are what I used to call geek glasses. "I asked if you remember anything from your past. I thought seeing what technology has become, you might have remembered something from your past." Theo says, setting his glasses down on this desk thing, I think that's what it is. "I mean, I guess. A few things." I say softly, looking around the office. "Anything specific? Or just some general memories?" Theo asks walking to the front of the desk and leaning on it. "I might have lied, I remember a lot of things, almost like little movies in my mind. I remember that's how I remembered things back then, did that make any sense?" I ask, I am getting nervous and I have begun to stutter. "Don't be nervous Jade, and yes it did make sense. Just if there are any memories you want to talk about, just let me know. Okay?" Theo asks looking at me with a very stern, but almost relaxed look. I don't know he is a weird person. "Okay. Theo, do you think that I will ever live a normal life like have a job, have a family, maybe even go to a party?" I ask recalling that I used to do those things, when I was normal, before everything changed. "I will try my hardest to ensure that you live an as normal life as you can." Theo says walking over and hugging me. "We can start by picking off from where we left off." Theo says, leaning away to look in my eyes. "We could." I say smiling, and that's when his arms wrapped themselves around my waist, holding me close to him. My hands hang around his neck. Happy that there is something that has stayed the same over these years. I hear a whirl and a few clicks. I push Theo away, regretting it because it was where I felt safe within the madness, but someone's breaking in. Theo runs into the front room grabs something off the wall, and clicks a few buttons. The lights go off silently and he pulls me against a wall and we hold our breath. I can hear his heart beat, along with footsteps. "Theo I know you are here. Probably working on something that will consume all of your time, but I wanted to tell you something. Stay away form Jade, I saved her, don't come in and act like you're a savior. Because we both know you aren't." A familiar voice echoes off the wall, and hangs in the dark air. "Yes sir, but it wasn't just you who saved Jade. I created the machines that formed new organs that weren't obliterated with bullet holes. And what does it matter to you if Jade is safe or not? Not to seem rude sir." Theo says each words cutting through the dark air. "Theo you have a lot to learn. I didn't leave on my own choice, I left because the feds were on us, I knew she would find you. More like you would find her, but same end picture right?" The man laughs but suddenly stops. A distance voice booms down the staircase "Manson have you finished the job?" I wanted to scream and punch Manson so hard that he feels the same pain I do. "Almost Sir." A loud boom and then a sizzle hurts my ears. Foot steps fall on the stairs and then gears close the sidewalk. The lights turn back on. A blue goo slides down the wall. "That was close." Theo says, he had turned as white as paint. I look over his shoulder and see that if Manson aimed an inch to the left, Theo would have been dead. "Yes, it was close, I'm so happy you're okay!" I say hugging him as tight as I can. "That was just the beginning. Now we know that Manson is standing by his threats." And that is the last thing Theo says before he passes out. Or so I hope.