Time is of the Essence

Chapter 2: Death by Murder

“Tess?”

 I walked slowly towards the stairs, hoping and praying that the person walking down those stairs was Tess or her dad or just someone I knew. As I peeked to see who it was all I could see was a silhouette walking very slowly. I waited to see if I could get a clear image the closer the silhouette came down. When the person had reached the bottom step I had seen that it was Tess and my heart literally leapt for joy at the sight of her.

 “Oh my god, Tess. You scared the crap out of me.” I said, stepping out from where I was hiding. When I saw her face she didn’t look happy. In fact, she looked like she was crying. “Hey, what’s wrong? What happened?” I asked, concerned. 

 “I-i-it’s my dad … his ti-time reached 0. He’s gone Jacob, he’s gone.” She wrapped her arms around me and sobbed into my shoulder. Damn, losing a parent is the worst feeling in the world. 

 “Hey hey, it’s going to be okay Tess. It’s going to be okay. Do you want to stay over at my place for the night? I don’t want you to be alone in here.” I said, patting her back to reassure her. 

 “Yeah, if that’s not too much trouble. I’m scared Jacob. I’m scared. One minute he was fine and the next he was gone. I don’t even know what happened. This morning he had five years left. Five years. I saw it with my own eyes. I don’t know how he reached 0 so quickly during the day. I mean, even if he had failed a stage he wouldn’t have lost five years of his life. Somethings wrong here Jacob. I can feel it. He’s time can’t just suddenly go to 0. We need to figure this out. We need to figure this out!” She seemed really shaken up about it and I was concerned and worried. I decided to guide her back to my place as she didn’t seem stable enough to walk.

 “So, tell me about it. What happened?” I asked, as we walked out of her house and onto the dead silent streets. 

 “Like I said, one minute he was perfectly fine and the next he was lying dead on the ground with 0 on his arm. This wasn’t a ‘game over’ incident, this was murder Jacob. I didn’t even realise it was possible for people in this world to get murdered.” Tears were streaming down her face so I decided to wipe it off with my sleeve.

 “Tess, we live in a world that is filled with murder. Our survival depends on time and the stages that we have to go through. Eventually, we will all be murdered. The person who’s controlling all this. He’s the one murdering us. We are all being murdered.” I guess it was better to give it to her straight, I was never really good with making people feel better anyways.

 “No Jacob. But this time it was different. He was murdered. There was no way, no way he’s time could’ve disappeared that fast. Something is happening, I can feel it Jacob. And it’s not going to be pretty.” As she was saying this, I saw my house. It had smashed windows and a broken down door. Just like Tess’ house did. 

 “No …” Were the only words I could formulate as I rushed into the house. “Wonton, Wonton. Where are you?” I checked every room, every bedroom and eventually found him in the training room … lying on the ground with only seconds to live. I rushed towards him, frantically searching for something that I could do. He grabbed my arm and looked me right in the eyes.

 “Jacob. There is something happening in this world. Something that no one understands. People are dying instantly, even if they have years to live. You have to figure this out Jacob. Please figure this out. You are a strong boy. You can do this. I believe in you. You … are like a son to me. I love you.” These were the last words he said to me as his time reached 0. I had tears streaming down my face, much like Tess’ tears just a couple of minutes ago. I heard her walk into the room and gasp.

 “Jacob, what happened?” she asked, shocked and devastated. 

 “He’s gone Tess. He’s gone. He was murdered too.” I replied, feelings of anger building inside of me. 

 “Who did this to him?” 

 “I don’t know. But I’m going to find out. And I’m going to kill him.”