Dysfunctional ~ F.Hargreeves

21} I'm On My Own

Everything around Jenna whirred and twisted itself until it all went still and she was plopped right on her ass onto the ground. She groaned and sat up, rubbing the back of her neck in pain as she did so. She looked around at her surroundings and quickly noticed that she was in an alleyway. She was going to just sit there and wait to see if any of the others would show up, like her husband, until she saw the flash of a camera overhead.
What the actual fuck?

She saw a man pull the camera down from his face, bolting as soon as he caught Jenna staring at him. She grunted and begrudgingly ran after him, going against all of her best judgment. She knocked down the door to the store next to the alley way and yelled inside, "Hey, pervert! What the hell!? Come out now or I'll fucking kill you!"
She looked up the stairs to see the man shaking with fear at the top. He held the camera out in one quivering hand like he was surrendering everything to her.
"Please don't kill me..." He sniffled, "I promise I wasn't trying to be creepy. I just- I saw another one of those flashes and just had to make sure I documented it."
"Flashes?" Jenna took the camera from him and tossed it between her palms lazily.
"Yeah. The blue one you fell out of."
"How many more of those have you seen?"
"Three. So far. You're, uh, the fourth."

"What did the others look like?"
"The first one was a washed-up looking man, the second was a girl with gauze on her throat, and the third was this big and hairy giant. Kinda looked like a gorilla."
"Great. Thanks a lot Five!" She cursed her husband," I told him this wouldn't fucking work."
"Who?"
"Okay, buddy, here's the deal-"
"My name's Elliott."
"Okay, Elliott, I'm Jenna. I'm from the future... kinda. Well, I'm originally from the 80's, but that's besides the point. I came here from 2019 after we failed to stop the apocalypse. My husband, Five, can time travel."
"I'm guessing not very well?"
"Clearly. We all can do shit. I can control electricity, see?"
Jenna flicked her hand and turned on the coffee machine.

"Holy shit! This is- this is a lot to take in. Holy shit, some of my theories are proven right then!"
"I'd sure hope it would be a lot to take in. And what theories? You know what? I don't really care. What's the date, Elliott?"
"Uh..." He scrambled around the room until he stumbled across a newspaper.
It read August 1, 1963.
"God damn it!" Jenna threw the paper down on the ground, "Where am I?"
"Dallas, Texas," Elliott gulped in fear at her outburst.
"Even fucking better. Looks like I'll be running into my past self at some point. This is just great. Just peachy."
Um, it's getting late," Elliott took a deep breath in, "Do you wanna spend the night here? I won't charge you at all... given our meeting circumstances."
"That sounds nice. You won't take any pictures of me in my sleep, though, right?"
"Oh, god, never! Like I said, I'm not creepy. Just documenting weird occurrences."

"Cool. I think we'll make great roommates."
"Yay! I've lived alone for so many years, this sounds nice. Don't kill me, though. Like, in my sleep."
"Why the hell would I do that if you're providing me with a place to stay? I'm not that cruel. If anything, I'll kill anyone who tries to break in, not you. Now, I'm gonna keep this camera for the night. I wanna make sure you aren't weird."
"Gladly. Keep it. I won't be weird."
Jenna quickly held it out in front of her and took a selfie with Elliott.
"There," She popped out the roll of film, "Develop it and hang it on the fridge. I think it'll be a keeper."

~

Jenna lived with Elliott for about three months total. In September, Diego showed up in the alleyway, but he ran away before she could get him. She kept an eye out for him, but never saw him again. In fact, she hadn't seen any of her in-laws, or her husband who stranded her there in the first place.

Part of her agreement with Elliott was that she could stay with him for as long as she grabbed the morning paper for him each day and went for walks, as well as go grocery shopping with him. This was a nice arrangement until Jenna ran into someone... literally... with the car.
"Oh, my god! Are you alright!?" Jenna hopped out of the car and helped the man up. She had only been driving about 15 mph, but she was still worried for his well being.
"I'm just peachy," He groaned as Jenna helped him up.
"I'm so sorry, sir!" Jenna apologized.
"I'm alright, I think," He scratched behind his neck, "Just a few bruises is all."
"I'm Jenna Hargreeves," She held out her hand for him to shake, "Such a bad way to make first impressions, I guess."
"Well, I'm Bill Henderson," He accepted her shake, "Pleasure to meet you, even though you did almost kill me."
Wait... Dad!?