Why Me? (Book 1 of Time Memory) #Wattys2015

12 - Forever

"Ylona are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Well then lets go."

"Yeah. I'm gonna make that bastard pay for kidnapping me."

"He sure will."

"By the way Earl? About a while ago, we should get some answers."

"Yeah, I agree. But it feels like we're gonna know it soon."

And then I heard a bang. Sort of like a gunshot.

"Earl! Your chest!"

I touched my chest and it was wet. I looked at my hand and it was red. My chest was dripping with blood. I've been shot. I looked where I thought the sound came from. I saw the gunner's face. I can't believe it. It was Jan and it wasn't Jan. He looked kind of different. My vision was blurry so maybe I could've been wrong. My legs were already shaking. And when I hit the ground, I woke up.

I woke up in the dark room where we started with a sigh of relief, that maybe it was just a dream. But it wasn't, my chest was still hurting from the gunshot but it was bandaged. Ylona. Where was she? She wasn't here.

I tried standing up to look for her.

"Ylona? Where are you?"

"Who's Ylona?" A shadowy figure appeared and said.

"Who are you?"

"Who's asking?"

"You can call me Low."

"You human?"

"I think thats pretty obvious."

"I'm Dia." She came out of the shadows.

"Dia? Like Diamond?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Its me, Earl. You know, Jan's best friend."

"Earl? No way. That's impossible. You're dead."

"Dead? No way. I'm standing right here. You look dead."

"What do you mean?"

"You're older than you were. You didn't have scars. Where's Jan? And what are you doing here?"

"Earl.... what year is it? Look at your phone."

"Uhh... 2015."

"Of course. You're not him yet. Come with me."

"Him? Where's Ylona?"

"Ylona? Thats the girl in your dream right? Jan told me. Either way, she's not here."

"What? She was here, beside me, when I got shot. Thanks by the way."

"For what? Healing you? No, thank Jan. And Ylona wasn't here but Jan may have an explanation to that."

"Jan's here? Where is he?"

"Thats why I'm asking you to come with me."

"Oh, sorry."

I followed her to another room. The place was exactly like the aliens' ship.

"Where are the aliens?"

"Aliens? No aliens here."

"What? But they built this place."

"No they didn't. Someone did.
Actually it was destroyed and then somebody else fixed it."

"And who is this someone?"

"You can't know that yet. You will know that when its time."

"Ok. But what do you mean?"

"No more questions."

I didn't say anything more because she may bite me. We walked into a room. There were computers, chairs. Somebody was sitting on one of the chairs.

"Jan, heres another one."

"You really should learn how to dodge bullets, Earl."

"Jan? What the hell? You were really the one who shot me? What gives?"

"To give you these. Courtesy of you."

He gave me a pair of gloves with a slot that looks like a key hole and he also gave me a key.

"Jan! Why did you tell him?"

"Don't worry hon. He's different from the others. Trust me."

"What do you mean others? And I made this? Thats crazy. I don't even know how to use a fire extinguisher properly."

"Just trust me. Now, about Ylona. She isn't here."

"Then where is she?"

"Shes in your time. We're in the future."

Now their faces make sense. We were in the future.

"I need to go back."

"Wait!"

"Three questions before I leave."

"What is it?"

"Where, why, and how did I die?"

"You can't know that."

"Then I'm out of here." I put on the gloves and I asked something else.

"What does this do?" I brought out the key Jan gave me.

"Its for the gloves. Shout "Time Wave" when you want to use it. You'll know when to. The others did."

"And what are you guys doing here?"

"Helping people like you, believe me, they always come."

"Does this sort of thing happen all the time?"

"You're different. YOU really cared about us."

"What?"

"Just get out of here. Save your girlfriend."

"Shut up. Why did I go here anyway?"

"To make you come here. Thats why I shot you. So that I can travel you to here without you resisting. I have something special for you planned there by the way."

I concentrated to the past. I don't know what will happen if I traveled from the future to get to the past.

"Don't bother. I'll just use my time machine to get you back."

"Its my power."

"Shut up." His time machine must've been like a gauntlet time machine or something since he pointed it at me.

"Thanks."

And then I traveled.

"Damn, I forgot to thank him."

"For what?"

"I wouldn't be the same as I am now if it wasn't for him. That's how I knew he's different."

I kind of felt bad for leaving them. I remember in class when they used to argue with other people if there is a forever or not. I guess they got what they wanted. Jan and Dia, the forever couple, we called them.
After that, it was dark. It was tight. I can barely breathe. I think I was in an alien's version of a janitor's closet.

"Earl?" Somebody said. I didn't notice somebody was beside me this whole time.

"Huh?"

"Its you!" It was Ylona. I was so happy to see her again.

"Ylona?" I hugged her with so little space that we have.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was running from aliens and hid here." She said.

"I thought you were gone. Where were you?"

"I'll explain everything later. I'm so sorry that I ever left."

"Oh yeah, the one who shot you? I know who it is."

"Me too." And I smiled.