Chapter 1 (Last edited 10.18.09)

Bursting in through the back door my pulse beating wildly in my ears. Sweat pouring from every corner of my face drenching my red sweater and soaking my hair like I was a water skier just back from the lake. Burning heat radiates from my face in a red glow so vibrant it would make a virgin’s blush appear faded. The house was empty and still. Silence echoed and dissipated quickly as my presence aged. No time for silence, it was urgent I get to my room. In my haste and desperation I climb the back hall stairs in a most clumsy fashion, though my efforts were still coordinated I simply lacked style. Style couldn’t be on my agenda right now though. As I darted through the kitchen slipping on the laminate floor an image flickered momentarily in my mind of the tile floor that once existed here before this laminate was removed. Sliding on the floor in my socks I nearly lost my footing and though I was still moving forward the direction I was facing had changed. Behind me trailed remnants of the escape made for nearly twenty blocks. Blood spots scattered on the floor. “It’s only a flesh wound,” I thought. Suddenly I remembered another aspect of the kitchen that had yet to be changed. I crashed my side into the elongated floating counter using my hands to stop my head from bouncing off of the countertop. Cursing the older design of the house I spun to the right as I shifted my body to the left and considered for a moment the benefits of slowing down.

Putting the thought aside because there wasn’t enough time I made my way through the living room quickly and into my old room. That living room couldn’t have looked any more leftover eighties, with its heavy wool woven furniture and old turn dial tube TV. Passing the foot of my bed I slid onto my knees and did a one-eighty to face the built-in drawers under my bed. In doing so I realized I was wearing my favorite blue jeans with holes torn extensively in the knees, though the burning pain created by the carpet was minimal. A stack of POGs on the floor were knocked over and for a moment I almost laughed. Swiftly I pulled the bottom wooden drawer all the way out and off of its tracks revealing a hidden space beneath it all, a secret space between the drawers and my floor. In the space sat a laptop which I retrieved quickly. I looked at my calendar on the wall even though I knew the date was March 25th and the year was 1994. I opened the lid of my computer and commanded it to power on, practically yelling at it. In a jiffy my display was crystal clear and awaiting command.

“Begin,” I stopped short of my command when I heard a hellish eruption of sonic power tearing through raw materials. My pursuers had broken down the back door. My ears rang so badly now it made me want to cry. “Begin reversal length one year, set timeline override password authority, initiate!” I shouted towards the computer listening as carefully as I could to the men made their way carefully through the house. I closed the computer up and grabbed the V3 Toast bio-incinerator that had been placed next to the laptop. I laid the laptop back under the bed and placed the drawer into its place once again. Creeping just out of sight from the men now lurking just beyond the hall I set my weapon to Wave Push, a setting designed for only two things, both were ways of making an exit. By now the ringing in my ears had subsided, shame it wouldn’t last. I turned and fired at the wall facing west which instantly crumbled and gave way as the pressure tossed it away from the side of the house by more than five feet. The kickback threw my body hard into a chest of clothing drawers releasing an explosion of wooden shrapnel and apparel. The tremendous boom and destruction alerted every person within a block of my location. Dodging the fish tank falling from where it had been kept upon the chest of drawers, at once I ran for the opening as I set my weapon to a Tesla-pitch explosion, flinching at the pain in my back and side.

I could hear the men from the other end of the room preparing to fire but it made no difference now. I leapt from the room and turned my weapon upon the mass of officers stationed outside my home and in the street, firing only once towards them. An eruption of screams and lighting tore men from their feet throwing them mercilessly into the air. Explosions of exhausted gas tanks ripping through police cars faintly heard but seen and felt followed a moment later. The force of it all knocked me sideways nearly seven feet. The officers inside my house must have been hit the force as well, I guarantee they’re not standing anymore.

I landed hard on the ground and rolled against my neighbor’s fence. Completely exhausted now, I pulled myself to my feet in a hurry and jumped the fence. The cool air of the day wafted over me once again while I crossed the lawn headed for any where that didn’t appear to be swarming with police. The ache of my back was now double what it was before thanks to that second landing. Dirt had been ground into me so much in parts I was bleeding. The sweat in my eyes stung and reminded me just how over-heated my body felt. The vibrator in my shoe went off and a chill went up my spine, he had the laptop. Then a smile spread. “He’s so slow sometimes,” popped into my head. Pain again, the smile faded.

I looked around franticly then proceeded over the adjacent wooden fence. Trampling over some low shrubbery I began a brisk jog uphill just as a helicopter sounded in the distance. That answered my question as to where the police were, and was a good sign there weren’t any squads currently in pursuit. I smiled for just a second, he’d underestimated me. Just then much of the pain I’d received earlier began to take effect, my body hurt all over. I stopped in the street, and started slowly towards a few steps. The chopper came into view just overhead, a 64A Apache, basically a prototype. What kind of nut would send a prototype gunship after me? At once the speakerphone demanded I stop and surrender. I changed the setting of my weapon to a simple exploding electrical charge, also Tesla-based, and fired one good shot into the cabin of the vessel. Its propellers went haywire changing speed erratically while all controls appeared to completely shutdown from the power surge. Smoke billowed from some aperture as it teetered and bobbled back out of sight.

Police cars steered with force onto the grass and gravel medians from the street in every direction. Jumping from their cars wielding pistols without any hesitation I was surrounded in less than five seconds. “Drop your weapon!” They ordered allowing their fear to bleed into their voices. At that point it was clear they had orders not to kill me. I threw my weapon on the ground and smiled at them. I needed only a short period of time more before the preloading processes would be finished. “Now lay down on the pavement and…” The officer’s voice trailed off when a dark figure marched into view flashing a badge indicating higher rank of some kind. The aurora of darkness drifting casually from his robes was a complete clash with the surrounding environment of middle class lawns. His head was covered by his cloak so as to hide his face from being seen. Without saying a word he removed from his robes my laptop, opened it, and pointed to the screen.

“Forget it Samuel!” I shouted angrily and chuckled to myself. “You’ve lost this time around, and if I had my way you’d be dead. Best remember that next time. I’ll be coming fast!” I announced with so much poise if I wasn’t only three foot eight inches it would have been considered quite threatening, as it was I was simply amusing. Except of course, to Samuel, he knew it was a serious matter of life and death now. Just then the screen went blank. Reaching with all his speed Samuels arm moved as far as two inches from his weapon, not a single officer had time to move. Then it stopped, all of it stopped.

Sitting at my desk I wrote simple sentences. “Today I saw a cat,” I wrote. My head turned longingly towards the play area. Suddenly my head hurt badly. Grabbing at it with both arms, felt like explosions in my mind. Crying, I almost screamed.