The Eternal Rhapsody of Cassidy York

Chapter 2: Heir of Chronos

       3, 2 , 1...  I was out of time. That's ironic. In fact, I'm the person with the most time in the world. But, this time around I was the one with no time left. I had to make a decision quick, or it was Game Over for me and my quest. Lying seemed like the most reasonable response, and perhaps the most effective at the moment.

      "Hello, sir... I seemed to have gotten lost. Probably got the wrong floor or corridor wrong?", I lied, smiling nervously and wiping the rapidly, building sweat on my forehead. I turned around, just to come face to face with a teenager with jet-black, spiky hair and ice-cold, blue eyes, who was frowning. I'm not sure if he bought my lie, but he also showed no signs of not believing me, which made me a bit weary. 

       The silence between us was deafening, the only sounds I could hear being my quick, almost panicked heartbeats. It seemed he was in the same predicament as me, not being able to muster a word, and his legs shaking, despite the emotionless and almost cold stare he gave me. I knew this was my chance to escape, but either I was mesmerized by these ocean-blue eyes that felt creepily familiar, or I was just too terrified to move from this same spot. I just had to break my gaze from his eyes, or I was doomed. I had to do something. And so I did. I pinched myself and dashed the same way I had come from.

     I thought he would run after me, but to no avail he just stood there, looking confused and showing his first signs of facial expression. His frown flipped upside down, and he began to laugh and laugh, bursting into a laughing fit. I stopped running for a minute, and just stared at him, reciprocating the same confusion he had displayed a few seconds before. 'Why is he laughing? Why isn't chasing me? Who is this guy and why does he look so familiar?', I asked myself. And so to not let his laughs be the only sounds echoing in the abandoned hallway, I pitched in on his laughing fit by giggling, my awkward noises adding a weird effect to it. 

    After he managed to calm down, he wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes, and extended his arm out to me, who happened to be on the other side of the narrow corridor. "Hello", he screamed out to me, "What's your name? Mine's Harry. By the way, who are you?" I hesitated for a split second, before coming to my senses and responding back. 

   "My name is Cass, short for Cassidy. Are you the only human being on this floor? There's like no one else that seems to be alive, unless you count the dying lights or the humming machines", I hastily replied. On the other end of the hall, a giggle bounced and echoed off the walls. 

    "Sounds about right. There's not much human activity on this floor in particular all year. Actually, now that I think about it, I believe this room is off limits for all staff, well except for me, at least. For this, this is my secret escape from the world. Where I'm allowed to be myself, with not rules imposed on me. Also, my butlers don't ever think of searching for me here, ya know?", he added with a slight smirk and wink.

   I was now utterly confused. He had mentioned this floor was off-limits, and yet he still somehow has access to this floor. He must know what lies beyond the big, metal doors at the end of the corridor, right? But, he also informed he has butlers. 'What kind of teenager has butlers? Wait--- is he rich? And if so, what's he doing wandering around this kind of laboratory? He did say it was his form of escape, but why would he need to escape in the first place?' I was in bigger confusion than before.

   I managed to mutter a few words. "Wait-- Harry", I walked from where I stood towards him, "who exactly are you?" I walked till we were almost touching. 

  "Oh! My bad!", he exclaimed in surprised. Giggling, he said, "My name's Harry Ballard. My father owns this building and the company name. He is one of the founders of the Ballard corps., which you may recognize on the watch you carry on your wrist."

    "What?!", I exclaimed in shock and surprise. "Your father owns the Ballard watch company? The one that everyone in the world wears? That's insane! You're super wealthy!" I couldn't grasp at the facts being thrown at me. It was just so crazy that it was hard to process.

   "Yes, he sure does", Harry said, as he lifts up his own wrist to show off his personalized watch, with the numbers still ticking down. So he was normal. The numbers read 8760: 58: 35.... I read the watch and stared on in horror. He was going to die in exactly a year. 'So even the son of the man who created the watch is susceptible to death. That's wild. And if so, how old is he?'

   "Harry, this may seem like a bit random, but how exactly old are you?", I asked in fear and expectancy.

  "I'm around 16 1/2. Why?", Harry said. I gulped in fear. "When was the last time you checked your watch, Harry?"

   "Last night. Why?", he said a bit more forceful than before. 

    "You might want to check again, just this once", I said fearfully. I observed Harry as he pulled his watch off and stared at the ticking numbers, as he began shaking and threw it down at the floor. The cracked watch lay on the floor, as Harry fell down on his knees and began to sob, in what seemed like almost tears of ecstasy. 

   And so the son of Chronos lay on the floor, sobbing, as I stared down in disbelief and shock.