Adventures In Space And Time

Chapter Six

I tried to lower my head back to my pillow, but only succeeded in thwacking my head against the wall. The ensuing string of exclamations coincided with the ending of a low, buzzing snore I only now heard.

Instinctively, I tensed, ready to fight. Then, just as quickly, I relaxed. You really shouldn't mistrust everyone you meet, I chided myself, For all you know, this person might be friendl-

My train of thought was abruptly terminated when a knife blade was laid across my neck.

"Keep your voice down," hissed a slightly familiar voice in a midwestern accent, "I'm trying to sleep." Then, there was a short pause, and the knife was removed from my neck,

"Sorry about that," the voice said, less hostile than before, "I'm always a little touchy when I get woken up early."

A little?! I thought, You were five inches from slitting my throat!

"Hang on," The voice said, " Let me turn on the lights. Then we can properly meet." Then, there wa the sound of feet walking away, followed by the sound of tripping, a huge thump, and a string of expletives.

Five minutes, four trips, and three storms of expletives later, the lights finally clicked on. I had been frozen in terror since the knife had been put at my throat, but I relaxed now that I could see what was going on around me.

Standing on the other side of the room, by the light switch, was a young man, about my age. He was about five eight, maybe 120 or 125 pounds, with a shock of dirty blonde hair that stuck up in several places. His eyes were blue, his mouth was set in a crooked grin, and there was a couple days growth of stubble on his chin. There was a strange gleam in his eyes that made it look like he wasn't completely sane, but I wrote it off as a trick of the light.

He was wearing an old, beat up, black leather jacket, but I saw the heavy overcoat he had been wearing earlier slung over a chair across the room.

Yes, by then I had figured out that this was the same guy who had saved me from the death eater. His voice had immediately led me to make the connection, it was unmistakable.

In addition to the leather jacket, he wore a pair of worn out jeans, a cavalry saber, and a belt that seemed to be made completely of knives. I'm not exaggerating, he had sheathes upon sheathes of knives, ranging from a Mark I M1918 trench knife to a tanto; from a marine corps bayonet to a kukri

He must have noticed me staring fixedly at his belt of knives, because he said, "Don't worry, I won't slit your throat." I had begun to yet again relax, but I tensed up again when he finished, "Not yet anyway."

He started to walk toward me, saying, "Sorry about my 'outburst' earlier," he stuck out his hand for me to shake, "I'm Clayton Marsh."

Reluctantly, I accepted the offered hand and said, "Simon Grimare."

He sat on the bed opposite me as I swung my legs around to face him.

"So, Simon, I know you're probably wondering I saved your life and dragged you back to my apartment," his brow furrowed in a look of concentration and confusion, "I'm not sure myself,"

I rolled my eyes. I could just tell that this was going to be fun.

Several minutes later, his face brightened and he said, "I remember now! I saved you because I saw something in you, something that made you similar to me."

Now I was genuinely intrigued. What had exactly had he seen in me?

"Something that told me you weren't from around here. Like, really not from around here. Like not even from this universe. Thing is, neither am I."

Clayton then launched into story of him stepping off of the bus at school, walking toward a friend, when suddenly that friend disappeared, followed by a friend he had just spotted. Next second, he had disappeared too, and poppe up in this very apartment.

He finished with he words,

"That's what happened to me, what about you?"

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When I finished my story, Clayton stood up and walked to a glass case in the corner of the room, which seemed to contain spare wands. I followed him as he said, "Take your pick, I have no need for them."

As I selected a wand (Ash, dragon heartstring, nine and a quarter inches, slightly supple), he sat down on a nearby chair and started shoving his feet into a pair of rugged combat boots.

He looked up at me and said, "You might want to wear more than that sweatshirt, it's going to be cold where we're going."

"Going?! I just got here," I said indignantly.

Clayton put his hands up in a placating gesture.

"Relax, I know a way to help you, but it will take some time and your assistance."

"Fine. What do you have in mind?"

He looked me straight in the face, cracked a wicked grin, and the strange gleam in his eyes that had still not disappeared, glowed brighter than ever.

"In the mood for a bank heist?"

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I did it! My week of not writing has paid off! I struck a goldmine of inspiration that might allow me to churn out another part, so stay tuned.

In other news, I made some massive story changing decisions, mostly made with inspiration provided by a good friend, so there may be some discrepancies with the earlier parts.

I will hopefully have the next part out within a week, so stay tuned for the next installment in the saga that is...

Adventures In Space And Time!

Marc Lash OUT!