Disclaimer: Not mines, anything mentioned by name here isn't mines. Except the OCs.
A/N: Ahh, Time Travel stories. They can either be slightly enjoyable or equal to the pain of having hot bamboo strips shoved under your nails. Let's see how this one turns out?
Ever have one of those moments where you stop and think to yourself how did I get myself into this? When did my life turn upside down? No, I'm not on drugs or involve in gang warfare or anything like that. I didn't hit rock bottom, but I have found myself in a place I didn't expect to be. Want to know what I'm talking about? This was yesterday date and this is tomorrow's date:
- April 24, 2014.
- April 25, 1958.
No, you don't need to get your eyes exam. And no, I have no idea how one ends up going from 2014 to the late 1950s either. I suppose you could ask the nerds who watch Star Trek or study dimension hopping about it, and I don't think even they could explain what happen to me.
My name is Bryce Anderson, I'm sixteen years old, and I'm from Chicago, Illinois. My birthday is April 23, 1998 and it is currently July 5, 1958. If you're wondering how a sixteen year old boy somehow jump 56 years into the past, well, I can't explain how or why it happen but I can explain what it was like before it happen.
Me and my basketball team had finish our big game against our rivals Seaside High and we were currently getting undress in the locker room.
"Man, we smoke them guys woo!" shouted one of the guys as he high-fived another person.
"Yeah, but we wouldn't have won if it wasn't me." I told them and the guys all grown. "Don't give me that, I can't carry your lazy asses all the way to the championship myself. Get your shit in gear."
"Whatever man," Derrick Matthews, my best friend, said, "You coming to your party tonight right?"
"You know it dude." I told him and we high fived. "I just need to head home and change."
"All right, see you then."
After getting home, taking a shower, and putting on fresh clothes, my mom was driving me over to Derrick's for my belated birthday party (mom and dad had already taken me out to dinner and stuff, but my friends wanted to do something special).
"So Bryce your report card's in today." Oh shit! I thought to myself. "I see you've been getting As and Bs this semester, but I want to talk about this D+ you've been getting in Math." I groaned.
"Mom, I'm going to be a professional basketball player, when is knowing the right side of a hypotenuse ever going to be useful to me?" I told her.
"Bryce, dad and I just want you to have opportunities in life. You aren't going to get very far in life if you only have a high school diploma."
The rest of the drive was quiet until we reach Derrick's place.
"Have fun sweetie," Mom told me kissing my cheek.
"I will, see you tomorrow." Mom drove off and here I was in front of Derrick's house. I had barely reached the front door and I could already feel the music vibrating from the walls.
"The Birthday boy made it everybody!" Derrick proclaimed to the guest. My parents were normally pretty cool with letting me go to parties and Derrick's were okay with him throwing them whenever they were out of town, though they had to have known that there was more going down here than just dancing and talking.
The party goes off pretty well, me and a couple of my buddies were playing Call of Duty games or watching whatever on Netflixs and order some pizzas. Soon a couple of other kids from school and a few guys I don't recognize show up and that's when the party starts letting loose. Pretty soon the beer started flowing in. Don't ask me where it came from; everybody has that one friend that has a fake ID or an older sibling that's cool with buying them alcohol.
"Cheers!" We clinked cans and guzzled down. I saw in the corner of my eye Becky Garrett sitting on the couch, giving me this starry look like she wanted to makeout or something. So I was happy to oblige.
This was the life. Friends, parties, school, the usual. I was Bryce Anderson, captain of the basketball team, guy wanted to be me, girls wanted to date me.
"Man, what I wouldn't give to be Bryce for like a day." I heard someone once say.
Eventually the party started winding down and a few party goers were starting to leave.
"I'm getting hungry." I told Derrick as we were laying on the floor watching something Netflix picked out for us.
"Shit, I think we ran out of pizza." Derrick said as he rummaged through empty pizza boxes.
I started sitting up. "That's okay, there's a Jimmy John's down the road, I can pick us up some sandwiches."
"You don't have to do that man, it's your birthday."
"Yeah, but I need to stretch my legs." I told as I headed towards the door.
"Okay, see you back man."
"You know it."
"Oh, and happy birthday."
I smiled. "Thanks."
The night it happened, I had no inkling that anything was out of the ordinary. Since it was the middle of the night, there were very few cars driving by, so the road was pretty dark saved for some street lights. I'd log onto Twitter on my phone and saw that it was mostly dead so I logged out. Everything seemed normal until a cold breeze hit.
I looked ahead of the road and saw a light in the distance. Car. I thought to myself when the light split into two. But then things started getting weird when a third light appeared. The wind started really whipping and the lights seem to swirling around. I tried blocking it with my arms as the wind had blown hard and the lights got closer before everything went dark.
When I woke up, I notice something didn't feel right. I thought I was in bed, but my bed was never this hard. I patted the mattress to find my pillow, assuming it had fallen off in the night, but instead I felt what seem like pebbles and dried grass, then. Squinting, I blink my eyes open and had to wait for them to adjust to the morning light. When I looked around, I realized I wasn't in my room, but on the side of the road.
Shit, I forgot I was going to Jimmy John's! I thought to myself. Aw man, I hope Derrick didn't think I was flaking out on him. I pulled out my phone and tried calling him to explain what happen, but I heard no ringing. I tried calling my parents to pick me up, still no ringing. When I look at the screen, it said I had no service. Weird, there's usually a cellphone tower near by.
But when I took a really good look at my surroundings, I saw I was out in an open field? I knew the way from Derrick's to Jimmy John's past by a little wooded area, but not an open field. When I saw I only had two bars in my battery, I shut my phone off to conserve energy.
I kept walking until I saw a sign in the distance. When I ran up to it, I couldn't what it said.
'Welcome to Castle Rock'? Since when was there a Castle Rock in Chicago. Before I could comprehend what was going on, I heard a tire squeal behind me. I turned around and saw a car speeding up to me with some teenagers yelling and hooting about something. As they zoom by, one of them actually threw a beer bottle at me and they all laugh!
Trying to not cough on the cloud of dust in their wake, I walk into this strange place and felt like I step into an episode of Leave It To Beaver or something. The guys had slicked back hair, were wearing faded jeans, and clean-cut shirts. A lot of the girls were wearing either dresses or skirts and blouses with bob or beehive hairstyles.
Did Chicago decide to do a 50s Week or something? As I walked further into town, I saw really old, yet still new looking(?), cars driving by. When I looked into various shops and the grocery store, I saw everything had been bump down to 50s prices with 50s style ads more authentic than any retro style ad I've seen.
"Either Chitown decided to do a Fifties Week or they're filming a movie right now." I said to myself. I felt my unease grow when people would actually stop and stare as I walked by. Some even pointing at me and whispering to each other. Did I stand out that much?
"I guess they are and I didn't get the memo." As I looked around, I felt myself get roughly bumped into by a bunch of guys.
"Watch where you're going asshole!" One of them rudely yelled at me.
"Me? Watch where you're going dumbass, you bump into me!" The guys stop and all turned to look at me. I saw they were mostly wearing white t-shirts and blue jeans, while others wore colored shirts and slacks.
"Excuse me? I didn't catch that, what did you say?" One of them asked eyebrow raised (his eye looked really messed up), but the way they said didn't make it seem like they were sorry.
Suddenly I felt a little nervous. "I said you bump into me first, so you watch where you're going…" I tried to remember he said, "asshole."
"What? Man, who the fuck are you? I never see you before in my life!" One of them exclaimed.
"I think our guest needs to be taught a lesson, don't you agree guys?" One of them asked and they all smirked as they nodded in agreement. They all circled around me and I raised my fists. One of them swung first, but I was able to avoid and throw a punch back. Another of them came charging but I push him off me. I was doing pretty good until they all started ganging up on me. I was wrestling with one of them until two of them grabbed me by the arms, pulled me away and stretch them out. The guy who had bumped into me punched me in the gut. Hard.
I fell to my knees wheezing.
"Not so tough are ya?" He said while the others snickered. It got worse when he kicked me in the face. Time seems to slow down to a crawl as I laid on the ground, getting punched and kicked. One of the guys even grabbed me by my cheek roughly and a fist connected with my nose and my eye. I could feel something leaking (or gushing) from my nose. I could taste copper as I cough up blood. My right eye was so swollen I could barely see through it.
"I think he's had enough Eyeball, let's go." One of them said, like kicking my ass was boring to them or something.
"I guess you're right, but…" The guy (I guess his name is Eyeball? The fu-) trailed as he gave me a swift kick in the balls. I almost threw up.
"Hey!" Shouted a new voice. Oh God, please don't tell me someone else coming to join in too.
"Christ, its goody-two shoes Lachance." I heard the one called Eyeball mutter under his breath. "This doesn't concern you Lachance!" He called out.
"Ganging up and beating somebody up makes it my business, leave him alone!" The guy I'm assuming is Lachance told them.
"Back off Lachance, or else!" One of the other guys said, then a heard a distinct snick sound. I didn't need my eyes to see that was clearly a knife being brought out.
"I'll say it again, leave him alone." Lachance repeated.
"You think you can take us all on?" I heard Eyeball boast.
"If I have to." Damn, I had to admit, this Lachance has some major balls.
It had turned silent until an aggressive sigh let out.
"Let's go guys, he ain't worth it." I heard Eyeball say, "I hope you've learn something new kid, stay out of our way." And with that, I heard a group of footsteps all walking away. I'd almost blacked out until I felt someone shaking me.
"Hey! HEY! Are you ok? Jesus they did a number on you. Can you hear me?" I heard the voice shout. I turned my head to try to see with my good eye who was savior was, but even that was blurred due to tears coming out. What I could make out of him was that he had dark brown hair and was wearing a letterman jacket. "Come on, you need to be taken to a clinic."
He grabbed my arm and put it over his shoulder, and then he tried to help me stand up. As I wheeze and cough, I asked him who he was.
"My name Denny."
