Out of Time

Chapter 1

It was the same beautiful mansion, the same decorations... however, it was much more clean and there were papers all over the desk in the room. Suddenly she heard a soft snore.

She slowly turned to see a man sleeping right next to her. "This has got to be a joke...." She whispered lowly.

Yet, there he was, solidly asleep, a dog at the end of the bed. It woke when it heard her and looked over, tipping its head.

She waved at the black German Shepherd. "H-hey there boy. How are you doing?" She said in a whisper, trying not to make the dog bark at all and awake his owner.

The owner also has black hair and... sideburns? No one had sideburns in her time. The dog crawled quietly up the bed and began to lick her face.

She began to giggle at the dog's actions. "Stop that! You're going to cause me to wake up your owner!" She said with a louder giggle.

"Alex... go back to sleep..." He swatted at the dog's tail, not quite awake.

Arianna froze when she heard his voice. It was so....beautiful. Shaking her head, she moved to get out of bed as gently as possible without awakening the man fully.

It was true, he did have a very rich baritone. He turned onto his back and stretched once, letting out a groan when the dog crawled on him and laid his head on his chest. "Get...off..."

She froze again, not breathing this time. Hoping that he wouldn't be able to see her or sense her at all. Until she felt something licking her hand. "Great...."

He barked at her happily, waking the man in the bed completely. "And what is your problem?!"

She immediately ducked down on the side of the bed, hoping to hide.

Alex panted and whined, poking his nose over the edge of the bed. The man pulled him over by the collar. "Silly dog..."

She slowly and quietly began to crawl towards the end of the bed and spotted her suitcase and carry-on by the wardrobe still. "I wonder if I can get that before he gets up...." She muttered. She poked her head up and over the side of the bed to see the man staring right back at her.

He blinked twice before jumping up and falling out of the bed. "Madame, I insist on knowing what your business here is!" He said in a thick English accent.

"You and me both bud! What were you doing sleeping with me?" She yelled at him. "And," she took a look at her surroundings, "why does everything just scream Victorian Era?

"Y-you are a witch... How did you get into my room?" He picked up a chair and held it up. "Don't think to cast a spell on me!"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What did you just call me? I am not a witch!" She shouted at him, frustrated and annoyed. "Now, tell me how you managed to find this place? I was just passing along when I found it and I ran in to escape from the rain. I yelled out multiple times and no one answered. So, I figured the place was empty!" She crossed her arms. "Now, I would kindly ask you to leave seeing as how I found it first."

"Madame, this is my house! And it hasn't rained in three days!" He tried not to look at the strange woman... What on earth was she wearing?

She scoffed. "It hasn't rained in three days? When I arrived here the forecast said it was supposed to rain for the next week!" She told him. "Here, what's the exact date today? I can tell you're confused, so I will gladly let you know what you're wrong about." She told him.

"M-March the eighteenth, year eighteen hundred ninety two..." He looked over at his dog. "Great attack dog you are!"

She smiled. "Well, how about that? Looks like you do know the date. It is March eighteenth, eighteen ninety...two. Wait, what?" She looked at him and her surroundings. "This must be some kind of cruel joke...." She whispered. "But, it's two thousand fifteen.... That's like a difference of," she pointed at the air for a minute, "one hundred and twenty-three years!" She marched over to the man. "Hey, can I use your telephone? I guess I'm sorry for coming in without permission. But, I really need to call the airport."