Timeless - Mark Tuan

Chapter 33

I'm breathless when I finally pull myself away. His lips were on mine for only a few seconds, but it seems like years. 

I've dreamed of him. I remember now. There were times, when I was with Lady Ealasaid, that this boy would come into my dreams. The 'thoughts' that he's shared ... I've dreamed of those, too. Before, I thought I was dreaming of the boy I used to like ... the one in the forest ... the one who caught me spying on him ... the last person I saw in that place before I fled the confines of the woods completely and came to the city. I was wrong. It wasn't that boy ... It's Mark. 

"Annie!" He breathes out, holding onto my arms, looking down at me as I stare up at his face. "Come with me."

"Mark!" I hear someone shouting from beside the road. I turn my head and see two women. They look all too familiar. I've seen them in my dreams and in Mark's, too. "We have to get going!" 

From the aura that emanates from them, they're witches, too. 

Mark lets go of my arms and offers his hand. "Let's go, Annie."

I'm still a bit shaken ... maybe even dazzled, when I take his hand and he starts running towards the women. 

What am I doing?

_____

The next thing I become aware of my surroundings, I am somewhere else. Somewhere far away from London. A place that looks alien yet familiar at the same time. 

"Annie, you ok?" Mark is shaking my hand, getting my attention. "Annie!" He says, snapping his fingers in front of me. 

"What just happened?" I ask, slowly turning my gaze to him. 

He smiles then, and sighs. "We're in LA. In my time." He lets out another long breath then pulls me towards him, wrapping his arms around my still trembling body. "You're gonna be ok, now. You'll be safe here."

"We ... We're in the  ... f ... f ... future?" I stutter. Just yesterday I was asking Jinyoung to take me time traveling. And now, I'm here. I don't know if I should feel excited or worried. I just followed a boy who I barely know, way far into a time I thought I wouldn't be able to live long to see. 

"Three decades into the future." He says, resting his cheek at the top of my head. 

"Th ... Three d...d...decades." That's even farther than what I thought. Why did I even follow him? Is it my curiosity? Or is there something really going on between us? 

His lips earlier, although we didn't really kiss, was something I've only dreamed of. And here we are now. Here he is. Here I am. Both from different times, different places, yet, we're standing in front of each other, holding onto each other. It's feels like I've missed him in a way. Ever since I joined Jinyoung, I haven't dreamed of him anymore. 

"So, you're Arnisa!" The woman's voice make me jump away from Mark's embrace. I turn to my side and to the two older women. One of them tilts her head to the side and furrows her brows, as if trying to remember something while looking at my face. "Have we met before?" She asks. 

I study her face, too. 

Her eyes suddenly get bigger. "Luke. You know him, don't you?"

I knit my eyebrows. Luke? Then I gasp. Luke! That boy. 

I turn to Mark in disbelief then back at the lady. "You ... " I slowly take a few steps towards her. I hesitate on putting a hand on her arm. She nods and I hold onto her hand. Images of me being high up on the tree come up. "You're .... his mate?" I let go of her hand and step back. He was married to her? But ... what is she doing here?