FICTION | SCI-FI
Time Dance
The backward tick of the clock
Gregory had one dream, and it wasn’t to become successful. He bore the mark of treason, and if found, he would die within seconds. Even so, killing that man was a sacrifice he had to make for his survival. Having been targeted for days, and with the timeline being so unstable, he ought not to trust anyone but himself.
Time was his enemy. One that had taken his parents and sister. The one that had taken his whole life. All because of one powerful brain. Scientists have repeatedly stated that Time can stretch, but cannot reverse. That was not so true after all.
As he jumped into the celebration and saw all the people dressed in formal clothing, he couldn’t help but smile. Gregory was filthy and his jeans were almost as tattered as his white shirt. Eyes were quickly fixed on him and he slowly moved around the salon, asking an old fella for a drink. The man stared and rebuffed him.
What a mistake. He smiled and as nobody was looking, Gregory clenched his hand into a fist.
Gregory left the storage room wearing a tuxedo and had a clean face. He looked around for her. The only person he had stepped into this ridiculous tuxedo for.
“Young man, why would you stand here without a lady?” Of course, it had to be another old man.
Gregory made his best attempt of a smile. “I assure you I am just waiting for the right one so I can ask her to dance.”
“Are you currently courting anyone?” The man curiously asked.
Courting? Gregory had to remind himself they still did that during this time.
Nevertheless, he focused his gaze on her standing near the drinks. As she took a break from dancing, a strange man approached her. Despite the distance, Gregory was able to hear his awkward laugh quite clearly. In a blink, her shy smile had turned into a scowl. She walked away, her feet stomping on the floor as though the man had told her the most horrible thing in the world.
“Would you excuse me?” Gregory said before leaving the old man behind.
He knew exactly what the awkward man had told her. In fact, he knew her whole story. Gregory knew she would storm to her brother, the Viscount, and confront him on why he had permitted the awkward man to court her.
However, Gregory was fast getting her hand and pulling her to dance. She battled, her temples wrinkled. She fought him with all of her force. He had to whisper in her ear, “I am very sure you don’t want to create a scandal. It would reflect very badly on your reputation, so I suggest we talk.”
“I suggest you let me go right now before I punch you in the face!”
He couldn't help the smile playing on his lips. Indeed, she was too headstrong for this timeline. “Anne,” when she heard her name, she stopped fighting him. “It is important. I promise you I am not going to hurt you.”
“Say it then!”
Then he told her about everything he knew. It took much effort to talk and dance at the same time. Every breath was taken from his aching lungs until he was finished and had to stop to look at her.
They had halted, gotten a drink, and she ultimately said, “you’re crazy!”
“Yes, I am. And I am not going to waste my time anymore with you because I know you. You do not believe in anything without facts, so I made sure to get something special on your drink.”
She vacantly gazed at her drink, but Gregory’s antidote hit her before she even had time to react and soon he had to help her stay on her feet. People started noticing her in his arms and her devil brother decided to finally give her some attention, forgetting about the women around him.
Gregory pressed one of his hands against his tuxedo where his gun had been hidden and looked at Anne whose eyes had rolled back into her head. “Anne?”
He stared at her wrist where a small star was, the same treason sign.
“Anne?” He gently placed her on the floor, taking off his gun and pointing to her brother. He stopped walking and raised his hands.
“Hey big guy, you certainly don’t want to do this, do you?” The man started saying, looking over Anne laying down on the floor. “What have you done to my sister?”
“She is not your sister and you better let me pass or I will have a bullet through your skull!” Gregory was impatient and had quickly taken down the man who had come from behind him. Men were idiotic to go after somebody holding a weapon, but now, he was outnumbered.
Yet, he felt somebody’s hand on him, removing his blade from him and another man shouting. He had no chance to recuperate from this unexpected episode before another man went after him. Gregory attempted to shield himself but got diverted by Anne’s moves with the blade. She cut down men like they were nothing!
Their eyes were no longer on him, but on her who stood with her bloody knife, hair covering her face, and heavy breathing. He glared at her indistinct face, dumbfounded.
“Let me understand. You let the government find out about our secret and then you let them punish me by sending me to a different timeline with a fake story. Then you come back to remind me how horrible my life was as a physicist in 2060.”
“Well, no one said being a physicist would be easy, and plus, your life was not horrible. You had me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Let’s get out of here.”
Gregory strolled behind her shooting over the light. The bullet turned all of the lights off, as everyone’s memories.
Copyright © 2022 Larissa Capella. All Rights Reserved.
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This story has been written for a prompt and the song that inspired is attached below.
