Black to the Past

Chapter 41

Brooke was beginning to get impatient. It was 9 o'clock. The library was closing which was where they'd all told their parents they were going and now she'd have to lie and tell her parents they were doing something else like going to the movies or out to eat. She didn't like the fact that she'd found the report of the missing man whose name was coincidentally also Professor Harold. And wasn't it strange that he had the same last name as Michael?
    I should just barge right on in there, Brooke thought to herself. But she didn't dare. If her friends were dead inside of that house, the only way anyone would know where to look for them would be if she were alive to deliver the message that they had gone to the library but they'd left and went to a strangers house who'd told them that he had a time machine. She knew she'd sound crazy. I mean, how old were they, six?! Who believed that time machines existed? It was like a five year old being asked to help look for a long lost puppy then being kidnapped!
    Brooke went back to her phone to look up time machines. She knew it was a stretch but she had to keep her mind on something. Nothing showed up about real time travel. Just the movie concepts: Back to the Future, Timeless, The Time Machine, Avengers EndGame. If real time travel existed why wouldn't it be talked about, she said out loud, feeling silly. Brooke's phone started to ring. She looked at the caller ID and noticed that where the number usually was it said UNKNOWN. Hesitant to answer, Brooke took a chance and said Hello.
    "You don't know me but I need you to listen carefully," the scratchy, deep voice said.
    "Your friends are in trouble. They are coming back to a world much different than when they left. I don't know what they've done to change history but whatever it is they need to get back there and change it back before the civil war that started this morning, destroys this country."
    The voice clicked off. Brooke started shaking uncontrollably. She looked at the house for a long time, then looked at her surroundings. No longer were there tall street lights hanging where Legacy Village used to be. She could not see the lights from the mall either. There weren't as many houses down the street where she was parked as their had once been and now Brooke was afraid in a way she'd never been before.
    Brooke glanced at her phone to check the news and the date. The date was the same January 25, 2019. She tapped into her news app where she usually just checked for updates on her favorite entertainers like Arianna Grande or Kendall Jenner, but this time none of them showed up. The first news feed spoke of martial law being declared all over the U.S. and a nationwide curfew of 9pm.
    Oh shit, Brooke thought to herself. As she heard sirens in the distance she forgot all the reasons why she should stay in the car. She turned the car on, drove down the street, turning into the oversized driveway of the house with the solarium attached, hopped out and ran for the door.