- You know, sometimes
I just feel I don’t belong in here. And it’s more than just some times.
- Are you a time
traveller?
He was smiling when he asked.
- Don’t you feel
sometimes you’re out of time and out of place?
He smiled again, in his funny way, as if
knowing more than what he was telling his friend.
- I do.
- Then you know
how I feel… It’s just so…
This time he was thoughtful as if something
more serious came to his mind.
- You have no idea
how much I understand…
***
- We shouldn’t be
here. If someone sees us…
- Shush! Nobody
will. We are safe. It’s long past midnight.
- What if the
police shows up?
- We will be
quick. I just want to make sure it’s really here.
- How would we
know?
- I will know, believe
me…
- OK.
- It should be
around here somewhere, but it is so trivial, no one would ever notice it. Or if
they do, they would never have an idea of what it really is. There it is. I
knew it!
- It’s just a
cache!
- That is what it
could look like, but it’s more than that. It’s not a box. See?
- What are we
going to do?
- Nothing. It’s
safer if it is kept here, the way it is.
- Do you think
there are more?
- Portals?
- Travellers?
He looked at the young man wearing glasses,
in silence. His face was in darkness, but his breathing could be heard from a
distance. And it had changed a bit.
- Let’s get out of
here now. It will be morning soon.
- I hear
footsteps.
- Quick! Do some
stretching. Pretend we are exercising.
The sound of the steps became louder.
Someone was running on the pathway to the jetty and getting closer to where they
were.
The man wearing glasses turned around and
stretched his leg on the lower rail, going slowly with his hands to his feet,
as if stretching arms, back and legs. His mate was holding his foot with his
hands, standing in one leg only.
They could not really see inside the dark hooded
sweatshirt, if the newcomer was young or old, but by the way he moved, they
could say the runner was a young strong man. He passed along the lane and ran
around the lighthouse, coming back to the jetty and out of the pathway, into
the street boardwalk and disappeared in the darkness again. The sound of his running
steps faded in the distance.
The two men looked at each other in relief.
- That was close.
- It was not. Stop
being so scared of everything. Let’s go back. We’ve had enough.
They left quickly to where the Jeep was parked,
by the walkway and got into it, not before looking around.
They did not see the man wearing a dark
hooded sweatshirt standing on the other side of the parking lot, hiding in the
dark.
As soon as the car left, he crossed the
parking area and went back to the jetty, running…
***
They got home in some minutes, as there was
no traffic at that time in the morning. They still had some things to discuss.
- What the fuck
was that? A portal?
- Yes. You know
very well.
The man wearing glasses was feeling totally
confused, as he knew those things were hard to understand and to believe in.
His friend seemed to be more comfortable
with the existence of a portal, although since they had left the lighthouse
earlier on, he seemed to be very absent-minded, as if he was in another world
or era.
- Do you think we
should…?
- I guess so.
- When?
- The sooner the
best. Pack some things. We might not be back today.
***
When the sun was still rising, they were
already on the road to the north. The A28 motorway was quiet, but soon it would
be busy, either because of the traffic to the industrial areas or the people
going to the beaches.
- A portal? It’s
not possible! We had the last one completely destroyed!
- I know. But
everything points to a new one and we had it located.
- How can that be
possible? Unless… wait… no, no, no… That is unlikely…
- What? Wait a
minute. Are you implying that they’ve come back here?
- What are you two
talking about? You make no sense at all.
- But why here and
why now? What’s in here now that could possibly be of some interest for them?
- I have no idea.
If we had any indication of what happened when…
They looked at the man wearing glasses.
- Oblivion…
- Ok. Stop right
here and now. I want to know everything about the Oblivion incident… It’s more
than time. Don’t try to fool me any further, please!
The two men looked at the one wearing
glasses. He was pale.
- OK. Sit down
now. I’ll bring you some water. Relax a bit, will you?
- I don’t want to
relax. This all seem to be related. Tell me what happened… Now!
- OK, but sit
down, please. Drink the water. I’ll explain… or I will try to, anyway…
***
