by Em Pitts
"I'm not going to engage with ‘fleshy sins’. I need to talk about my future problem." I confided in the man sense he already knew about my time travels. "You're not one to talk about sex though. Last I checked you had three wives and at least one kid." I raised my brow in indignation.
A vague warning was sounding in my head at how Nick seemed certain that I would be whipped or hanged by the members in that room three days ago. I was hoping that was a warning for the others and not Hector. He seemed like a cool guy. I hope that was true. He blushed profusely at me calling him out on how much sex the man probably has.
"They are my wives." He mumbled and looked away. "Sex outside of marriage is a sin." He sniffed. "A woman was made an example of, for having a child outside of wedlock, just earlier this year. I'm trying to protect you." He admitted and toed the road. "Come on, I'll walk you to Ollie's."
I felt bad about his demeanor. It wasn't his fault that the people in this town were crazy enough to investigate people's personal business. If anything, he really was doing what he thought was right by trying to protect me. I walked up to him and grabbed his arm interlocking mine with his and startling the poor guy.
"Thank you," I said gratefully.
I looked way up into his eyes, so he knew how much it meant for him to look out for me. He blushed again and looked away but continued walking.
"I don't care for how others get hurt. I wouldn't wish it on anyone." I believed him. He seemed a genuine person. "I um, I'm married to three women and have three children, you know. I'm not looking for more." He pointed out.
It took me a minute to realize Hector thought I was interested in him. The guy was tall and good looking, but he was also taken times three. I'm selfish enough to know I don't care to share. Besides, it isn't like I can take someone from this time back to my time with me. And I am going home, regardless of what the powerful people in this town believe.
I patted his arm with my free hand. "I just want to go home, Hector," I told him truthfully. "But I would love to hear about your family. Tell me about them." And with that, he talked the whole way to Ollie's while I took note of where we were.
We made it to Ollie’s home and I’m proud to say I can find my way there and back on my own even in the dark now. Turns out there are paths to take to get from place to place, even with all the trees, hills, and lack of roads surrounding us. I feel a bit like an explorer with my newfound capabilities.
Hector was still speaking about his family even as we knocked on Ollie’s door. It’s cute the way he seems so proud of his women and children. It’s kind of sad how oblivious he seems towards his wife Jayne though. I get why the guys joked about her after hearing Hector mention some things, namely of the greed variety.
Ollie still had not answered after the second knock and I couldn’t hear much over Hector speaking. His latest conversation was pissing me off honestly, otherwise I might not have overstepped and intruded on his business.
“Listen, Hector.” I cut him off mid-sentence. “Your family sounds wonderful and I thank you for getting me here safely. As a thank you, I’m going to give you some honest advice.” At his hesitant nod, I continued. "Jayne is out of line. If no one else in the town has a personal cart and horse, then why should you be working harder to make enough to get her one?
"Just from some of the stories I’ve heard, she sounds selfish, lazy, and greedy enough to run you into the dirt if you let her. Don’t let her. She is your wife, not the woman to boss you around. Honestly, it sounds like you need to have a discussion with her, after you think about the things you will and will not put up with from her from now on.” He wears a confused and angry expression at the end of my speech.
I get it. Love makes you blind, but that blindness will always cause you to lose yourself. He can’t run himself ragged for her greed. I feel sorry for him because he seems like a submissive guy too and is probably easy to manipulate.
“Think about it this way.” I try again when his anger seems to be all he can focus on. It is kind of a marvel experience watching a giant teddy bear of a man get mad on behalf of his lover. “Would you want her to treat your children this way? I know they are young now, but they are already watching and learning from her. Either they will grow up to be the same way or they will be run over by her selfish desires. Just don’t let her bad qualities overtake her good is all I’m saying.”
Not that this woman sounds like she has any good qualities if what I’m hearing from him and the comments the others in town have let slip are true. I think deep down he knows this too because he gives a reluctant nod. Or he is just trying to get me to shut up. Fair enough, since it isn’t my business anyway. Time to wrap this up and figure out where the hell Ollie is.
“Thank you again. You’ve saved me a lot of time figuring out how to get here. I’ll see you around.” I go back to knocking on the door. When Hector doesn’t leave, I give him an inquisitive look.
“I should really stay in case you need me to walk you back. Ollie might not be home if he has not answered the door yet.” He tells me like he is duty bound to protect me. I could see this guy as the sheriff back home. I wonder why he isn’t.
“I’ll be fine.” I appreciate the offer and consider taking him up on it, but ultimately decline.
It’s true that Ollie might not be home, although I never even considered it a possibility five minutes ago. But as wrong as it sounds, Hector is now officially the kind of person I can only take in small doses. Great guy, but kind of oblivious to being taken advantage of, and he talks a lot. I mean a lot. I said maybe two sentences the entire way here after I told him to tell me about his family. A mistake I will need to remember not to make again.
“It’s not really safe out here at night, Miss Tessa.”
“Why not?” Now I was confused.
It was the 1600’s. People were still leaving their doors unlocked in the '80s. The crazies only just started coming out of the woodwork within the last twenty years or so. Are there drug-crazed, gun-toting, serial killer people here?
“There have been children missing. Taken from their homes. Snatched right under the parent's noses while they slept. Two within the last year.” He explained.
Okay, I admit that was scary. And messed up. Children are the ones who should be the most protected. I vehemently stand by that truth. I still shook my head after having thought about his offer again.
“I’m not a child and if anything, I can help if I see something like that. I’ve got a bit of a big mouth and a strong kick.” I smiled to show I was okay. “Really I’m fine. I’m sure Ollie will show up soon and I don’t want to keep you waiting when you’ve got a job to get back to.” He seemed reluctant to leave still but eventually did. Thank goodness.
Or not. I gave up knocking but even after calling out for the guys and looking around the home I refused to leave. It was stupid honestly. I knew I was being ridiculous showing up uninvited and sitting on the porch waiting around for whenever Ollie or someone else showed up. Hell, he was probably getting laid and would not be back until morning. Still, I refused to move. Because when it came down to it, if I didn't do something myself then I could not guarantee it would get done.
I waited three days for someone to contact me about any information found towards me leaving. In those three days, I cleaned, cooked, and wore myself ragged without complaint (okay, with little complaint) while the others were probably twiddling their thumbs waiting on these special "trials" to happen. I refuse to sit back and let everyone push my problems aside while sticking me in the corner to work and be quiet. I need to be out of here. If that means I need to sit on this porch and possibly cockblock Ollie, then so be it.
8
It took over an hour and I was losing my determination. I had already started counting the leaves in the trees for lack of anything better to do when the ground rumbled, shocking me. It felt like a small earthquake. I jumped off the porch scared of it collapsing and tried to wait out the tremors.
A l
oud noise of tumbling dirt startled me, bringing my focus on a giant hole forming in the ground. I jumped right back on the porch scared of the earth swallowing me whole. Is a sink hole happening right now?
The dirt was collapsing in on itself and the hole spanning about eight feet wide now stood in front of me. There was very little room around it, and I was terrified to try and get off the porch to run away. It looked deceptively stable now that the crumpling part had stopped.
The tremors were continuing, and I started tugging on the door ready to run through the house and find any way out. Surprisingly, the door opened with ease and I stumbled backward from the force I used to pull, somehow keeping my grip on the door.
Wait. Was that a voice? I turned away from the door to warn whoever was coming this way. Please don't let them not notice the gigantic hole and fall inside. It was dark out, but surely, they would see that.
I could not find anyone in my frantic searching and called out in my panic hoping the person heard me to stop. The voice ceased immediately leaving me in silence. The tremors stopped as well. What the hell was happening right now? I started backing towards the door in the ensuing silence.
A whooshing noise was the next startling sound as a strong wind whipped my hair around me. Before my eyes, four figures appeared as if jumping right from the pits of hell. The tremors started again, and I screamed.
I took off and slammed the door behind me quickly. My feet skidded as I ran through the house and knocked over everything in my path to slow down my pursuers. The cursing from behind me reached my ears and I didn't dare slow down to see who it was. I just needed to find a back door or a weapon or something!
It had to be demons. Who else flies out of the ground from a gigantic hole? Maybe they were here to take me because I had already caused an unbalance from time. Maybe they were here to collect Ollie from a crossroad deal. I didn't know and I didn't care.
I made it to Ollie's bedroom and found the shutters tied holding the window together. Curses slipped off my lips as my fingers fumbled through the knot hoping I was fast enough. The knot tightened in my haste and my heart pounded working to loosen the rope.
Angry male voices reached my ears as a body barreled through the doorway. I screamed again and tried to toss myself through the now opened window. My hand twisted it in my haste, the stinging worsened as I slipped on the sill trying to get through. Two arms banded around my waist and yanked me into a larger form.
I kicked and thrashed with everything I had to no avail. I could not even get lucky enough to land a solid crotch shot because the demon was holding me too low on his body. Another figure burst through the door and immediately held up his hands in a placating gesture. A raspy voice cut through my panicking and I realized he sounded familiar. I paused in my thrashing, really looked at him and saw Nickolas standing there. A stranger cut in behind him in the doorway, but I ignored him after seeing it was just a man not a demon.
I calmed down for a moment realizing Nick was here and could help me. He was saying something about not hurting me. Didn't he realize demons were after us?
"Get this demon off me!" I screeched and pulled at the arms that I had clawed up in my struggle.
The arms released me immediately and I stumbled forward as Nick caught me. Turning around, I saw none other than the house owner himself. Nick's voice rumbled up my back as he spoke over me.
"Demon is a new one. You two have some strange love names." The humor in his voice made me relax further. If he was being himself then there was nothing to fear, right?
"Where did the demons go?" I asked keeping my eyes on Ollie. He looked pissed, but I couldn't tell if that was due to the demons or something else.
I heard shuffling noises towards the living room and tried to pull away from Nick. He ignored the noises and kept holding me. Why wasn't he concerned with who was in the living room?
"What demons?" Spoke a deep voice behind Nick.
I turned to the stranger and caught a shaggy black-haired man who stood tall like Nick but was much broader. His face seemed familiar for some reason. He was looking puzzled at me.
"The demons who jumped out of the ground!" I pointed towards the front of the house, but Nick refused to let me out of his arms. "There was a giant ass hole and four of them just popped up out of nowhere and they were chasing me." The new guy raised his eyebrows and whistled low, but the seething voice near the window captured all our attention.
"You broke into my home and smashed everything because you thought we were demons!” Ollie was furious. "What the hell were you even doing here?" He all but shouted at me. "Go smash up your own things and get the hell out!"
"Hey, no need—" Nick started to placate Ollie but I cut him off. I was furious at Ollie for yelling at me and the adrenaline had not worn down enough from my scare.
"I would love to go smash up my own shit at my own home but I'm the only one who seems to remember that its 300 fucking years away!" I shouted back.
Nick rubbed my arms that I didn't realize were trembling as I glared at Ollie. Ollie was clenching his jaw and his eyes never left mine. The shuffling noises still going on in the living room were like background music to our stare down which both of us refused to break.
"I could use some help in here." Isaake's smooth voice called out piercing the silence.
I refused to look away for a moment longer and Nick must have taken that as a cue to move things along faster. He shuffled me out of the room, and I saw what a mess I had made of the place. I felt bad at the broken glass that must have been on top of things I threw down.
There were broken pieces from a toppled table all over the living room, from me throwing it down and probably from them breaking through the pieces as well. The table legs were snapped off and the clock that was hooked to the wall had fallen and was in pieces as well. My guilt pushed me to start cleaning.
I headed to the clock and tried to see if the pieces could be attached back. The panels would go back on, but the bell on top would need to be fixed some other way. I doubt there is a tube of gorilla glue in this house. The side panel popped in with a click and I went to put in the back panel next.
There was a script engraved in a different language on the panel that caught my eye. It looked familiar. I would have sworn it was the same clock that Earl had me work on, but there was no symbol below the engraving. I popped the panel in and set the broken pieces beside it as I continued cleaning the rest of my mess up. All the guys pitched in to help. Even Ollie as he grumbled.
There was silence as everything was picked up. By the time it looked decent, I stood awkwardly trying to figure out how to demand the answers that I came here for. Normally I would just do so, but this time I kind of tore up the guy's house first.
“So,” I started and cleared my throat to make my voice stronger. “You jump out of holes underground now?” I surprised myself with the question that popped out of my mouth. I meant to ask about getting me home.
“It’s quicker to travel underground in a straight line sometimes,” Isaake explained. Ollie still seemed angry and was ignoring me. Nick was speaking with the other man.
“Makes sense. Could we have traveled quicker the other day from here to town in the same way?”
I had no idea why I was still on this topic. Just woman up Tessa and demand answers. No need to feel bad and try to ease everyone into the conversation that is going to remind them that you pretty much broke into the house and destroyed it. Accidentally. It really is Ollie’s fault for chasing me every time I run away.
“You could have,” Isaake said. He was watching me with his head cocked sideways. Nick finished his conversation and sat on the couch.
“You seemed to be nervous by the gifts though,” Nick said.
“I’m not. They are just different.” I defended.
“So, you did not just run away in fear after watching us use our gifts.” Nick raised an eyebrow as if to say “see”.
“That’s different. You just jumped out
of the ground at night. I didn’t know you could do that. What was I supposed to think?”
“Demons.” Ollie snorted condescendingly, bringing back some of my anger from earlier.
“I wasn’t wrong on your account.” I huffed crossing my arms.
Yes, I realize it was childish comparing him to a demon, but he makes me angry enough to revert to senselessness. And there was that glare of his aimed my way again. I turned away refusing to let him get under my skin any longer. No need to start sticking my tongue out at him. I’m an adult, damn it.
My eyes connected with the new guy. He was standing beside the couch. He kept his hair shorter than Nick’s, and his blue eyes were darker, but they looked familiar side by side. Nick noticed where my attention had gone.
“Tessa, meet my brother Raynor. Raynor, this is Tessa. We spoke to you about her the other day.” Raynor nodded his head in greeting. The other day could have been any of the last three days that I had not heard from them. I may have been a bit bitter about that.
“Tess," I corrected. "You were supposed to get back with me after trying to find a way to send me home.” I got on track and speared Nick with a look.
“And we will. It’s a bit hard to go find someone who can time travel. We didn’t even know it could be done.” Nick said logically.
I hated that he sounded reasonable. I hated that I was not being reasonable. I hated the whole situation. It felt like I was stretching at the seams and a stiff wind would unravel me at any moment.
“How do I know you're trying?” I began pacing. “I’m stuck in the tavern every day and none of you even give me any progress. You were there today, and you didn’t even think to take a second and say ‘Hey, no progress yet, but we are still working on it’. I need some kind of reassurance.”