CLIPPED_Another Time Travel Tale

by Angela R. Hart

  "Just our freaking luck, you'll catch freaking tetanus or something and your arm will fall off! We have tetanus patches at the house, Auntie made sure to order some, just in case." I told him, shaking my head. "My arm isn't going to fall off, it's just a little cut. If your Auntie bought some patches, then I'll slap it on and be good as new, don't worry." he said to me. "The past probably clawed your arm up. Did you get the snaps though?" I asked. "Oh yeah, the broken window was at the main room of the house, so I got them, maybe we will get something worthwhile out of it." he said, proud of himself. "Good job, then. Let's wait a while longer and see if anybody shows up and then we will head back to the base." I said, pushing back into my seat.

  Nobody showed up that day, we stayed until nightfall and no cars pulled into the house. I thought for a moment that maybe they did spot Callie and Carson the night before, spying on them, but we weren't really sure and the phone calls didn't mention anything about it. We waited a little longer and then finally made our way back to the house. Chloe and Aunt Allie had gone home earlier in the day but Callie was sitting there buzzing and pacing back and forth, waiting on us to come back. We opened the door and she looked extremely relieved. "Oh thank God, I was getting worried." she said, hugging us both.

  "What happened to your arm?" she asked Carson. "It's fine, I cut it on a window, Zoey says Allie bought some tetanus patches, do you know where they are?" he asked. She went to go grab one from the cabinet and slapped it on his vein. "Dumbass, you need to be more careful." she berated. "I got the snaps, it's all good, we are fine. Zoey got snaps of the entire road too, they should be uploaded to the app already." he explained, sitting down on the couch.

  We gestured through all of the different snaps but didn't really see anything of interest. The ones that he got of the inside house were good, but there was nothing in there to identify anybody as an owner or any type of names on anything, no pictures on the walls either. "Well, we tried, all we can do is keep it up." he said, yawning. I was tired too, so we all went to bed, another group would be leaving soon to continue the stake-out, but I didn't know whose turn it was. We all made our way to the beds, tomorrow was another day. "This is going to be much harder than I thought." I thought to myself as I slowly drifted off into unconsciousness.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  We staked out that house for months, and finally in October, we had some luck. The car came back during the day and we were able to get snaps of the entire car and the plates and tags. A man came out of the car but I didn't recognize him, I took snaps of every angle that I could of him, to try and make sure that his face would be recognizable in the database. We would be able to search him now, the facial recog database was massive and everybody had a 3D holograph somewhere in the system. It was only a matter of time.

  Nothing happened to us whenever we got the snaps of the man and the car and that was a little disconcerting. I figured that if we were on the right track, something would've happened to stop us from getting the information, but nothing happened. I hoped that it wasn't a dead end and that it wasn't just some random guy. We got back to the house and called everybody over.

  The snaps were good, really good and incredibly clear. The phone calls had continued unabated, becoming more and more frequent, just as they had in my time. They hadn't started threatening to kill anybody yet, so that was a good thing. Dad said that he didn't understand why they sounded so immature. "It couldn't be kids could it? That just wouldn't make any sense to me." he said, as he sat down on the couch to wait for the others.

  Everybody showed up, except Aunt Allie. We couldn't get in contact with her and we figured that she was just still asleep. I tried to call her again, but no answer, so I made my way over to her house to knock on the door. Everybody else started going through the snaps of the man and uploading him into the facial recog database to try and find a match. We needed to know who this guy was. It was only a matter of time before we had a name.

  Aunt Allie's car was in the driveway and I felt the hood and it wasn't warm, so she hadn't been anywhere today. She didn't like to get out much, even to shop, so she just used the Shop App most of the time and got everything delivered to the door. I got to the front door and I saw her weekly grocery delivery sitting there. That confused me, because she would never have left it sitting outside. I started to get fearful and knocked a bunch of times, and grabbed my Handheld to call again. I couldn't hear anything in the house except the cats meowing. "Where in the hell is she? She couldn't be sleeping that hard, she's a really light sleeper." I thought to myself, nervously. I tried to look into the windows, but she had the Blinders on, because it was still daylight and this was when she always slept.

  I went back to our house and told Callie and Carson to come with me. "Something's wrong, her car is there and she isn't answering the calls or the door. I don't want to go inside by myself if something or someone is in there. I need you to come with me so we can check on her, her Blinders are on, so I can't see in the window." I said, scared for my Auntie. Chloe and Dad looked at each other and then looked at us with their eyes as round as saucers. "Go find her!" screamed Chloe. "Shit!" yelled Aunt Callie. "Fuck, come on, let's go." said Carson, as we all made our way back across the sideyard. "I'm scared, guys." I said to them. "It's okay, let's go wake her up, I'm sure she's fine, she's a tough old bird." said Aunt Callie, as I Chipped into Aunt Allie's house.

  The cats were standing at the door and meowing and clawing at the doorframe like maniacs. They never acted like that and I knew for sure that something was wrong. "Where's Mommy, Booms?" I asked him, picking him up and making my way into the house. As we got into the living room, we all stopped abruptly, banging into each other like a 3 car pile-up. Shit was everywhere, furniture was thrown all around, papers and books were all over the floor and every drawer in the house was opened and the contents were tossed haphazardly around the place. "OH MY GOD!" I screamed, dropping Boomer to run into Auntie's bedroom. "She has to be here!" I thought, frantically.

  Aunt Callie and Carson went around the entire house, searching and looking around for any clue as to who could've done something like this. Nothing was stolen, everything, including the expensive stuff was still in the general area that it had been previously. "She wasn't robbed, she would've kicked a robber's ass if they came here." said Callie, nervously looking around the room. "I don't see anything that could tell us where she could be." said Carson, shaking his head and picking through papers on the floor.

  I came back out of the bedroom crying. "She's not here, everything in the room is thrown around too, I think that I saw blood on the sheets!" I said, upset. "Where is she? Do you think they came and took her? Do you think she's alive! WHAT IF SHE'S DEAD!" I screamed. "I don't know, Lovebug, but I know your Auntie better than anyone in the world, and she will find a way to get in touch with us, we will find her, I swear." she said, rubbing my back. Carson came and hugged me until the sobs died down. "I'm going to feed the cats and then we need to get out of here." I said, making my way to the laundry room to get everybody fed and watered.

  While I took care of the kitties, I could hear that Callie and Carson were searching all around the living room for any clues, but finding nothing. "I think that she has a security feed on the Screen, let's pull it up, Zoey has Chloe's Chip in her other hand and she will be able to access her feed with that, let's see if she caught these fuckers on candid camera." he said. "You're right, she does have a security feed, good thinking, brother." said Callie, patting him on the back. "Are you sure you aren't from 2044? You're so techie now!" she said to him, joking away her fear.

  "Zoey, get in here, we have an idea!" screamed Aunt Callie. I finished with the cats and made my way back into the living room. "Your Auntie has a security feed, right?" Carson asked. "YES! SHE DOES!" I screamed. "You have Chloe's Chip in your other hand, she has access to the feed, right?" Aunt Callie asked. "YES! HELL YES I DO! I'll pull it up right now. SCREEN!" I screamed, excited that they thought of this. I gestured it down t
o the floor and swiped Chloe's Chip to access Auntie's personal options. "She always gave me access to it, just in case I was staying here or taking care of the cats of something." I said, rambling nervously. I pulled up the security option and swiped Chloe's Chip again, to load the feed. I gestured in reverse 24 hours and then loaded it onto the Screen and pulled the 3D out. "I hope she's not a nudist or anything." said Carson, inappropriately joking through his own nervousness. Aunt Callie smacked him upside the head. "Don't be a dick." she said, watching the feed from the beginning.

  At first, she was just walking around, doing Auntie things. She talked to the cats, lounged around on the couch, cleaned a lot of stuff, went to the kitchen, ate snacks. She got tired in the middle of the day like she always did and she made her way into her bedroom. The security app recorded every room with any type of Screen and her Handheld was also attached to it, so you could see where it was at all times, but the Handheld part seemed to be disabled. She made her way into her room around 12:30 PM. She got up and went into the bathroom a couple of times and then went back into her room and fell asleep. Nothing in any of the rooms seemed out of place or strange.

  Then, at 5:36 PM, the front door creaked open. Two large men in masks moved slowly through the entryway. "OH MY GOD!" I screamed, covering my mouth. Carson and Callie were staring at the two men without blinking or moving a muscle. They paused the feed and rotated the image to see if there was anything distinguishing about the two men, but there was nothing. "They're very tall, I can see that, taller than your Auntie, and we are tall women." said Aunt Callie, flipping the image some more. "They're in good shape too, and they carry themselves well, but I can't tell an age just by their bodies. They are men, I can tell that too, they have a cockiness about their walk, unless we have two huge ass butchies on our hands." said Carson. I was too shocked and I couldn't see anything but the masks. "Play the rest!" I yelled, and they gestured it to play again.

  The men walked into the living room and the cats started to meow, but they were always super friendly with strangers, so they didn't bother them or bite them. "Those damn cats are way too fucking nice." said Carson, shaking his head. One man moved toward the bedroom, and then we lost him on the feed. There was no Screen in the hallway, only in the bedrooms. "We are getting tiny Screens installed everywhere, in every house after this." said Callie, getting angrier by the minute.

  We switched to the feed in the bedroom and saw Aunt Allie quickly get up out of the bed. "She's heard something!" I said. She immediately went to the closet and did something that we couldn't see and then put on pants and running shoes. "She's getting ready for them, your Auntie is always prepared for everything, after the last time she fought the past." said Callie. She came out of the closet holding a baseball bat, waiting for the man to open the door.

  She knew what sounds the cats made in the house, and the men weren't as quiet as they thought they were. The masked man opened the door, and Auntie went ape-shit on him. She swung the baseball bat with all that she had and hit him square in the chest, knocking out his wind and then hit him again. "He's taller than she was planning for, or she would've hit him directly in the head and probably killed the fucker." said Carson, staring at the scene unfolding.

  While he was down she kicked him square in the jewels, putting him out on the ground. "OOH SHIT, NUT SHOT, OUCH!" yelled Carson, with his face going white at the thought of it. "That old woman is a beast." said Callie. "Damn right!" I said, amazed that she knocked one of the bastards out by herself. Meanwhile, the man in the living room heard the commotion and started to make his way toward the bedroom, knocking stuff around and throwing shit everywhere. He turned the corner to the bedroom and then we lost him. Auntie was hiding behind the open bedroom door holding the baseball bat with a grip of steel. The man reappeared, on the bedroom feed that time, carefully walking through the open door. Aunt Allie was as still as she could be, and then man turned his head to look for her.

  Suddenly, she pushed the door as hard as she could and swung the bat toward him. It hit him in the shoulder, but because of the awkward angle, there wasn't as much force behind it and she didn't do much damage. The man was livid and snatched the bat from her hand, throwing it to the ground to grab her arms. The other man started to move, coming back to consciousness. "Oh my GOD!" I screamed. I wanted to cover my eyes, but I couldn't, we HAD to see what happened.

  Auntie started to struggle with the other man, but it was no use, he was too strong and overpowered her. She tried to flail and twist out of his grip and tried to kick at him, but he held tight, until the other man finally regained his wind and started to stand up. They said something to each other, but it was too quiet, we couldn't understand what they were saying through the masks and the security app couldn't detect the words that their lip movements made, since their mouths were covered.

  The first man ripped the cord from the lamp next to Auntie's bed and wrapped it around her legs, then he looked in the closet and found something else to tie up her arms with while the second man held her down. She struggled and wiggled like a fish out of water, but they had her tied too tight, she couldn't move. They stuffed something in her mouth, maybe socks, and then they both exited the room. We all stared at the Screen, praying that she was going to get herself loose, but she never did and we could tell that she was starting to tire from struggling and fighting so hard.

  We switched back to the feed in the living room and saw the men gesticulating wildly at each other, saying something that we couldn't make out again. Then they both started tearing the place apart. The cats all scattered in every direction, hiding from the insane people destroying their happy home. The men found nothing, and got angrier and angrier. One of them went back into the bedroom to say something to Auntie and she gave them a death stare and I saw her middle finger rise to the occasion. "FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!" she screamed at him. "Oh shit!" said Carson. "FUCKING MEN! Bastards!" screamed Aunt Callie. The man ran at her and violently punched her in the face, he was enraged. We all screamed after we saw that, and Auntie went limp, blood dribbling out of the corner of her mouth. "OH MY GOD!" I screamed in terror.

  He went back to his partner and continued the search, still finding nothing. Finally, after everything in the house had been torn apart, they went into the bedroom and grabbed Auntie, throwing her over the larger ones shoulder and they made it back to the entryway, pausing at the doorway to make sure that no one could see them leave. "She must have fallen asleep and forgotten to lock the door! She has always been really bad about that!" I cried, wiping tears from my eyes. "Is she dead?" I asked them. "No, Lovebug, I could see her breathing in the bed." said Aunt Callie. We all breathed deeply for a moment and then switched the feed to the yard. The doorbell had a Snap on it and we wanted to see if there was a car around.

  We pivoted the images to look around the yard, but could see no car, then suddenly, it peeled away from down the street. "IT'S THAT DAMN CAR FROM THAT FUCKING HOUSE!" screamed Carson, pausing the feed to point at it. "He's right, it is the car, we need to save this and send it to the app. We need to find out who these people are now, more than ever." said Aunt Callie, sending the snaps of the car to the app. "She's going to be okay, I know her, she will find a way to contact us." said Aunt Callie. "We need to tell the others, now. We've been gone a while, they will be worried." said Carson.

  We went to the front door and brought all of Auntie's groceries inside and hurriedly put them away so that nobody would notice that she wasn't here, and then we all made our way back over to the other house. "She has to be okay." I thought to myself, sadly. We got into the house and Chloe and Dad were sitting there waiting for us with concerned looks on their faces. "Where is she?" said Dad, looking scared. "Guys, we have some bad news, you're not going to like this at all, prepare yourselves. She's alive, but..." said Callie, and she started to tell them everything. "Poor Aunt Allie." I thought. "She has to survive this!"

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Chloe and Andrew were beside themselves
. "How could this have happened! With you all right here!" he screamed at us. "We can't hear what's going on over there Andrew! It's a fucking brick house! SHIT!" Callie screamed back. Chloe was on the couch crying while Andrew hugged her to try and calm her down. "She's tough guys, you know it and we know it, she will find a way to get in touch with us. You know Auntie, she is ALWAYS prepared for EVERYTHING." I said, reassuringly. "She is, you're right." said Chloe, sniffling and wiping her eyes.

  "Has the app found the man yet?" Callie asked. "Not yet, still searching the database, it's a very extensive database, it might take a while." said Andrew. We nodded and all sat down on the couch to think. "Where could they have taken her? That house maybe?" I asked. "Maybe, we need to go drive by and check at least, if they were in that car, then it's very possible that she could be there. I don't think that they know that we know about that house, or that the three of you even exist in this time." said Dad.

  "I will go, I will drive by and see if that car is there at least." said Callie. "You aren't going by yourself, moron. I'm going with you, we will go together, that way, if they are there and there is a fight, you'll have backup. Come on, you have to be smart." said Carson, going to his room. He came back in, shoving a gun into the back of his pants. All of us just stopped and stared. "You brought a freaking gun? You've had that the whole time?" Callie yelled. "Well yes, why the fuck wouldn't I bring it! We're fighting the past or the future or whatever! I had it packed in the bottom of my bag whenever we came here!" he yelled back. "Whatever, just don't shoot yourself." said Callie, shaking her head. She was never a fan of guns, but my Dad always had them. He knew how to handle them just fine, and it would be safer for them that way.