Running Out of Time

Chapter 26 - Old Kids, Older Books

"Eliza and Laf are planning my wedding, Mulligan is apparently knitting a new house, Angelica and Jefferson are off galavanting somewhere, Peggy and I are somewhat convinced the end of the world is coming, Laurens is just happy to be happy, and what are you doing," Hamilton moved the hamster in his hand closer to his face,"what the fuck are you doing?"

"What the fuck are you doing," Peggy raised an eyebrow and she looked at the man who was laying across her bed.

"I'm introducing myself to the hamster," Hamilton smiled while holding up the critter. The hamster was a new addition. Peggy had decided to get it after she settled with the idea that her death is not longer set to happen anytime soon.

"Really? That's why you're spread out on my bed?"

"You haven't minded before," he sat up while being gentle with the animal.

"You were a ghost. I couldn't stop you if I tried," she phrased it almost as a question as she plopped down on the open part of her bed. She wasn't sure why she was so tired.

"You have a point," he nodded.

"So," she turned to look at him, "how are things? Laurens, umm, may have told me that you haven't been having the greatest time, how did he put it, readjusting." Peggy ended that sounding more like a question but she was sure Hamilton knew what she meant.

"I'm okay," he continued to play with the small animal. He didn't really want to talk about any of this but he knew it would come up either between her or Laurens, he wasn't sure who he would rather answer. For the most part he really was okay. He was doing much better than he had been but he wasn't completely perfect yet. Hamilton knew he still had some work to do.

"Are you sure?"

"For now."

--

Laurens watched as Lafayette dropped a rather large and dusty box on the counter. The dust was thick but the edges of the box didn't look to tarnished.

"What's this," Mulligan raised an eyebrow.

"I do not know," Lafayette explained as he began to fiddle with the locking system, "I found it in the basement."

"How does it open," Laurens attempted to wipe some of the dust away.

"It looks like," Lafayette also wiped at the box, "a number code."

"How many numbers," Mulligan leaned in to get a better look.

"Four."

They all sat in a moment of thought before Laurens made a suggestion, "try 1776."

Lafayette shrugged and figured it was worth a try. To everyone's surprise, the box opened. Mulligan lifted the heavy book and placed it next to the box. It looked like a perfectly average book, just bigger. There was no title or anything of the sorts, it was just bound in leather. At first the group wasn't sure they should open it but they did anyway.

The first few pages were blank, but that was expected. The idea for the complete book was written in a very small print and covered two pages. One thing that Laurens noticed was that the writing for the pages in the back was noticeably fresher than the others. There were sections of years at the beginning of each section and it appeared as though the writing truly was from that time. It was unusual.

Mulligan was the one who pointed out that a page in each section had one of their names on it. Everyone was there, it was a fairly sizeable book. Without much thought, they flipped to end but there was nothing. It had not yet been writing. They all found this to be very strange.

Laurens was the one who noticed that single piece of paper slide to the floor when Lafayette lifted the book back into the box. They had come to the conclusion that something this strange is probably best left somewhat alone. He casually bent down to pick it up. At the top of the page was a simple phrase: The end. Laurens didn't think much of it. The numbered list didn't seem to have much to do with the title. The first thing was just the word "ghost". The second row read "late love" and the third read "child". To him, it didn't make any sense. No one else had noticed him with the page, he decided to keep it. Laurens thought that Hamilton might be able to make sense of it as something to do.

--

"What do you think is going to happen," Eliza looked over at Maria. They had been laying across Eliza's oversized bed all day. It was still a wonder how the bed got into the room but they both lived the size, it was extra comfy.

"What do I think," Maria thought for a moment. "I think we might all grow up to be old, bitter people who are just tired."

"Why are we bitter?"

"Because we're old and usually that's just a you thing," Maria turned her head to face her. She was beautiful.

"It's not always just me."

"I know." The both broke into smiles, "what is it?"

"Nothing," Eliza took a light breath, "absolutely nothing."

--

"What is this," Hamilton was already unfolding the paper Laurens had handed him.

"It was just something I found in a book Laf found," he explained, "I don't get it."

Hamilton read over the list. It began to make more and more sense to him. He read the fifth line, "marriage." That was followed by the word "fall". This was the section that worried Hamilton the most. He had been the ghost, he and Laurens had been considerably late lovers, and Angelica was about to have a child. That wasn't even mentioning that the wedding hadn't yet happened. This list meant that a fall was coming. Alexander just wished he knew what it possibly could be.

--

"The ones who know the most will see the ghost, they will see the fall before it happens but will remain motionless. Interference will lead to devastation," Lafayette read aloud to himself from the book.

He had found that the sections in the book that were about them were only a simple documentation of their lives. There was very little that information in the book itself, he had to dig for it but he had found something near the back. It wasn't much but it would do.

What he had gotten from the text in front of him was that he, Maria, and Peggy would have some level of unknown knowledge about whatever fall was coming. They wouldn't be able to do anything but they would know. He still wasn't sure if the fall was a good thing or bad thing, it sounded bad but there was no way to be certain. If anything, it gave a small amount of u sight as to why it was only them who could see Hamilton as a ghost.

Lafayette knew he would have to keep this book around, it could come in handy. When he thought about things, it was almost impressive how quickly everything moved. The fast pace didn't bother him. He had enough slow lives in the past, if this was to be fast then he would just let it be.