This Is My Future

Chapter 3

Artemis P.O.V

My eyes widened, "You're kidding, right?"

He shook his head.

I bit my lip watching him as he pulled his computer up again.

"How are we in 2016?" I asked walking around him to look over his shoulder at the date on his computer.

He pulled up the scan of the mystery man's suit. Red circles appeared on the suit.

"Looks like tech...centuries ahead of our modern technology."

I stared at the scan, "So, this guy is some kind of time traveler?"

"Yeah." He sighed closing his computer, "...and thanks to him, technically, so are we."

I was silent, processing everything. "So..." I said after what felt like eternity, "What do we do...?"

"Only one thing we can do...somehow manage to live through the day."

I couldn't hold down my smirk, "Basically be normal teenagers then?"

He chuckled, "Yeah."

I sighed and looked around.

I caught a glimpse of a man staring at us, he looked down the moment I looked at him. I squinted my eyes to get a better look at him.

His arms were covered in scars that made perfect tally marks scattered around his arm. I saw one finished set above his left eye and one on his temple, four long scars ran from the crown of his head down to his forehead and I noticed that he had an incomplete set, only two short, on the inside of his left wrist.

I had a gut feeling that there was something off about him. I saw him look at me with his eyes, keeping his face down.

"We have to go," I whispered in Robin's ear.

"Why?" He asked, whispering back.

I grabbed his wrist and started pulling him. He didn't resist.

"What's wrong?" He whispered when we were a few yards away.

I turned my head to look over my shoulder, but make it look like I was talking to him. "There was a guy back there," I said a little louder than a whisper. "He was staring at us."

"So?"

"Something about him was making me uncomfortable," I said. I looked slightly further over my shoulder. The man was staring at us face-on again. I felt a chill run up my spine. I noticed something in his hand. My eyes widened slightly and I tightened my grip on Robin's arm, walking faster.

"Artemis, chill!" Robin spat as he picked up his own speed to walk next to me. "What's wrong with you?"

"He has a knife!" I growled.

"Why does he freak you out so much?" He asked as if not hearing my prior statement.

"I don't know...something just doesn't feel right."

We walked across the street and headed down the sidewalk. I refused to slow down until we were nearly five miles away from the park.

"Can we stop Artemis?" Robin asked.

"Why?" I asked looking over my shoulder.

He sighed, "One: that guy isn't following us. Two: I'm starving."

"Fine..." I groaned. I looked around and pointed at a diner, "Let's go there."

"Okay," Robin said. He tried grumbling to himself, but I heard him when he said, "Psycho."

I scowled and followed him into the diner. He walked to a booth in the back. I slid in across from him as a waitress walked to us and handed us menus.

"What would you like to drink?" She asked.

"Water," Robin and I said simultaneously.

She nodded and walked off.

I glanced around the building.

"Would you chill out?" Robin asked trying not to laugh, "You're more paranoid than Agent A when Batman and I go on patrol."

"Who?" I asked.

"A friend," he said. "I'm not allowed to say his real name, so I have to call him Agent A."

I nodded.

The waitress walked back with our waters and Robin and I ordered our food.

I looked out the window and froze seeing the man with the scars again. He was staring at us like before. "Robin..." I said nervously.

He hadn't heard me, he was telling a story that I didn't even realize he started.

"Robin," I said again.

"Yeah?"

"It's him..."

He frowned "Who?"

"That guy from the park," I jerked my head towards the window.

He looked out the window and raised an eyebrow at me, "Artemis...there's no one there..."

I looked back out the window and the man was gone. "I swear!" I yelped, "He was right there! He was staring straight at us!"

The waitress came with our food, giving me a puzzled look.

I glared at her and she slowly backed away.

"Don't worry she looks scary," Robin chuckled. "But she's really just a kitten!"

"Yeah, then I can use my claws to gouge your eyes out," I growled.

He chuckled his infamous laugh.

I threw my fork at him. It embedded in the seat inches from his head.

He laughed, "You're freaked by some guy you don't even know...yet you just threw a fork at my head."

"You realize I missed on purpose," I asked rhetorically. I lowered my voice, "Can't shoot an arrow with bad aim."

"Actually you can," he said matter-of-factly. "You just have higher, or lower, chances of impaling someone."

"True..." I nodded taking a bite of food.

"So what about that guy was freaking you out?" He asked starting to eat.

I hesitated then said, "It was just a gut feeling...there was something about him that didn't feel right..."

He nodded.

We finished eating silently. We paid for the food and left, starting to just wander around the city now.

While we were walking I saw the familiar man who walked past the park earlier, it was a fast glance across the street, but I could tell it was him somehow. I also, repeatedly, saw the man with the scars; Robin didn't.

When the sun started going down we slipped into another diner and ordered dinner. I looked around and it felt like my heart stopped. Once again, I saw the scar man.

"Robin..."

"Hm?" He hummed with a full mouth.

"It's him again..."

"Park guy?" He asked before taking a drink.

I nodded, "He's by the restrooms...and he's looking over here."

Robin stood up and walked to the bathroom. The man followed him with his eyes then looked back at me when Robin walked out of his peripheral vision.

I sat uncomfortably as the man stared, he had a small smile. I noticed the knife in his hands and tensed.

Robin walked back a minute later. I looked at him and felt a little relieved.

Robin noticed my discomfort, "How about we leave?"

I didn't hesitate to nod. He dropped money on the table and we left.

"Hey Robin..."

"Yeah?"

"What now?"