The Time War

Chapter 3

The first thing she saw was his eyes. Conflagrant, apricot eyes that lured her in with the promise of warmth. Dreadlocks crashed like waves of ebony onto his shoulders and down his back.

"Have fun," the boy whispered from behind her, and Alice turned around to see that she had already taken several steps into the room without realizing it. The door closed silently and she was left alone.

"He never told you his name, did he?"

Alice thought for a minute, then shook her head. I guess what his name was hadn't been the most important question on my mind.

The man sighed, tapping his fingers on his desk. "He never remembers. His name is Samuel, and my name is Lee." He looked at her expectantly.

"I'm Alice," she said. Lee gestured to a seat in front of him and Alice sat down quickly.

The room looked to be an office, and a rather grim one, at that. Bookshelves packed with no room to spare lined the walls and files were randomly strewn about the floor. There was but one source of light in the whole room, and it was from a small table lamp that sat on the mahogany desk. Darkness pushed its way into every spare corner, pressing inwards.

"Now, before we begin, did Samuel tell you anything on the walk over here? Anything that frightened you? He likes to mess with new people."

Might as well be direct. I came here for answers, after all. "He said something about how I wouldn't leave the same as I came in," Alice said, clenching her fists. "What does that mean?"

Lee put his face in his hand, chuckling to himself. "He said it in the creepiest way possible, didn't he?" Leaning back in his chair, he looked at the ceiling. "Well, he's partially right. You can leave the woods, but it isn't recommended. Already you have changed, and normal life will become more and more of a fantasy from here on out."

"But how am I different? Both you and Samuel said that, but I feel the same." The name 'Samuel' felt odd in her mouth, like it was too normal a name to be given to someone who could disobey the laws of physics.

"You are different in the way that Samuel is. You might not be able to throw around magic sand, but you are able to do something equally fantastic."

"And what would that be?" Alice asked, her mind still attempting to come to terms with the phrase 'magic sand'.

"I don't know. We should find out soon enough. The fact that you walked through those woods is proof that somewhere in you, you have the ability to do something incredible. But finding out what that thing is and learning to control it..." Lee looked at her sympathetically, "that can be difficult. We are here to help you. Me, Samuel, and the others that live here."

Suddenly, a thunderous thump came from the back of the office. Alice shot up from her seat, eyes scouring the darkness in an attempt to see anything but shadow.

"That would be the others. Someone probably just dropped something upstairs. And broke it. Again."

A flare of crimson shot across his eyes, but when Alice blinked, it was gone and Lee's usual irises, kindly glimmering like a blaze flickering in a fireplace, had returned.

"I promise. It's nothing. The only people in here are people that I have let in. I made this house, I made the woods, and nothing bad can enter.  If it did, I would know."

Samuel said you built the house, but now you're saying you built the woods? How do you 'build' a forest? "What about the thing I saw last night?"

He winced. "We don't know where they come from. They don't come near the house, though. And they don't like the light, either, so they don't come out during the day. I can assure you that in the thousands of years I have had this place—-"

Just like Samuel! He says he's been here thousands of years but looks 30.

"—-no one has been killed by those things. The only person that has been seriously hurt by them went for a midnight stroll. You're just on edge, which is," he raised his hand up in defence, "completely understandable. But please, take your seat again."

Alice sat down slowly, quaking so much she thought she might tip over. She had been pressing her nails into her palms for so long that she could feel her hand starting to cramp.

"This all sounds insane. I sound insane. Samuel sounds insane. Though to be fair, he actually might be."

He stood up, and Alice instantly knew he was the tallest man she had ever seen. 

"Proving what I am saying is true is always the hardest part. I have found, over the years, that the best way to show you I am not lying is by letting you have some firsthand experience."

Alice began lifting herself up from her seat, heart beating louder and louder.

"Abilities are in hiding until something awakens them. But it can take a long time for those abilities to go from being drowsy and half-asleep to actually usable and alert.  But there are methods of speeding it up."

Could I make it to the door or would he catch me? Where would I even go from there? I wouldn't make it very far.

"You say you don't know what you can do."

Lee stared into her eyes, and from the corner of her vision Alice saw the glint of metal in his hand.

"Let's find out."