Matt looked at everything his sister Lachina had written on the messy stack of papers on her desk. She was either losing it or she had a weird way of trying to cope with the loss of her boyfriend Kassius. When Kassius died, a horrible accident at the construction site he worked at, Matt had more or less forced his sister to move in with him until she got back on her feet.
"Jesus Christ, Lachina, what the hell is this?" She asked.
"My work," she answered.
"Work? What work? What the hell is this?" He held up a paper. "You're writing about time traveling and meeting him in a cave. And aliens? What the hell?"
"Spaceman!" She growled. "He prefers being called spaceman."
She walked over and pulled the papers our of his hands. She put them all together in a little pile and gently placed them down on the desk.
"I will see him again," she said.
"Lachina," he said.
"No, this doesn't concern you, Matt," she said.
"It does. He's dead. I know you're hurting but you need to let go and allow yourself to feel that pain," he said.
"You better leave or you'll be late," she said.
He let out a deep sigh. Date night. He thought about canceling it after seeing this but he knew his wife would be sad. She had been looking forward to their night out and Lachina had promised to babysit their kids. He put on a smile, refusing to let this destroy his evening.
"Right," he said. "No ice cream no matter how much they beg."
He walked out in the hall where his wife was waiting. They left the house together and walked out to the car. He let out another deep sigh as he started the car.
"What's wrong, darling?" She asked.
"She's losing it," he answered. "She's seeing some spaceman in her head and she thinks he's gonna make her travel back in time to meet Kassius."
"Should we leave her alone with the kids then?" She asked.
"She'll never hurt the kids. You know that," he answered.
A few hours later Lachina was tucking in the twins. Their little brother was already sleeping.
"You're big girls now, right?" She asked.
The twins nodded.
"Big girls stay in bed all night unless their little brother cries. Then you go to him and make him fall back asleep," she said.
"Where are you going, aunt Lachina?" One of the girls asked.
"I'm going to see uncle Kassius," Lachina answered.
"Where?" The other girl asked.
"You know that cave where people say a troll lives?" Lachina smiled at the girls. "It isn't a troll. A spaceman lives there and he controls time. He can bring me back to uncle Kassius. I'll bring him back home. Don't you wanna see him again?"
The twins nodded again.
"Yeah, me too," she said. "Now be big girls and do as I said. Your parents will be home soon."
She put on her sneakers and jacket and left the house. It was a cold night but the spaceman had told her she needed the cold to travel. With a flashlight in hand she went to the cave and walked inside. It wasn't any warmer in there.
"Lie down."
"The ground is frozen," she said.
"You need to be ready to dance on the edge. You need to sacrifice as much of yourself as possible. I'll bring you to him."
She lied down on the hard, cold ground. She was already shivering from the cold but she knew better than to get back up. She was about to do what no human thought possible. She was gonna travel through time to find her lost love again.
"I... love... you..." Her teeth was clattering.
A shadow appeared and walked closer to her. It started forming into a human as it knelt down beside her. She looked up at his beautiful, smiling face.
"Kassius?" She asked.
"I'm here, baby doll," he said.
"I found you," she laughed. "I found you, baby."
Matt heard his twins giggling when he entered the house later. That was odd. They should be asleep now. It was way past their bedtime. He walked into their room, expecting to find his sister there too. The twins were alone.
"Hi," he said. "Why aren't you asleep?"
"We're big girls," one of them answered.
"Where's aunt Lachina?" He asked.
"She went to the troll cave to see the spaceman," the other girl answered.
"Shit!" He yelled.
He stormed back out in his car while he called 911 to explain that his sister might be in danger. It was too cold to survive the night if she didn't keep moving. And to keep moving inside a cave that deep and dark would be dangerous too. He needed help.
He arrived by the woods at the same time as the cops. They walked through the darkness with flashlights to guide them. They finally reached the cave and entered. A faint light from a flashlight came from the ground. As they walked closer, they saw the hand holding on to the flashlight.
"No!" Matt yelled.
He dropped to his knees, pulling the dead body of his sister up into his arms. She was frozen.
"God damn it, Lachina!" He cried. "Why the fuck would you do this? Wake up, damn it! I demand you to wake up!"
"Son," a gentle hand touched his shoulder.
"No!" Matt snapped his shoulder away. "This is my fault. I knew she was planning this and I ignored it. I ignored her."
"You need to let us do our job," the hand touched his shoulder again. "You need to let us take her."