Parallel

Chapter 1

Alex finds herself in a dark room there's nothing but blackness, "heh...hello?" she calls out. Nothing, Out of the corner of her eye a bright purplish pink light appears. "What's that?" slowly Alex walks over to it "it's...so...pretty. I wonder " she reaches for the light and hears a sound weirdly it's a car horn "what the..." she says.

Awaken, the sun rays gleam down on Alex's face making her squint "ugg it was just a dream" she quietly says to herself. She gently rubs her face, stretches her arms and legs. "Ahhh that feels good...I've been having that dream a lot lately and it's always the same every time" she says rising from bed and walks over to her mirror. She scrunches her nose fiddles with her hair and makes a horse noise with her lips. She glances over at the corner of her bureau, there's an empty carton of Chinese take out with chop sticks sticking out and a few pieces of broccoli with chicken at the bottom. Alex picks it up and sniffs it "bleck! you know I've had Chinese a lot before going to bed maybe that's why I'm having those dreams well no more of that!" she says loudly to herself. Holding the carton Alex walks to the kitchen tosses it in the garbage then hears footsteps coming to her direction. A happy cheerful face peeks around the doorway "good morning! It's so beautiful out lets do something today Alex!" is heard Alex scratches her head "I can't Sarah I have to work today its mandatory Monday remember?" she responds. Sarah, a long time friend and roommate she was always a free spirit and being a photographer for the town news paper makes her life even more free. Not much taller than Alex her brunette hair and brown eyes plus curves to match always made her the popular girl in school every guy wanted to date her all the girls hated her Alex envied her. "Oh boo your always working! You never have fun any more what happened to you? You always wanted to do new things and be spontaneous! What happened to that Alex?" Sarah snaps back while folding her arms. Smirking Alex looks at the fridge and sees all the bills due for the end of the month, not to mention rent. "That Alex grew up and has bills to pay and if I remember correctly so do you missy" she playfully replies. "Besides" she adds while making a pot of coffee. "I still have fun just not everyday like you" she finishes a chuckle echoes threw the kitchen reaching Alex's ears. She decides to ignore it Alex never likes to argue before her first cup of the day.

Gurgle gurgle from the coffee maker breaks the silence between them "Fine! Go to work but your making up for it on Saturday Ryan and I are going out and you're coming with us! "Sarah taunts like a 5 year old. Pouring creamer and sugar into a mug Alex lifts her head up "and why would I do that?" Alex questioned "because Ryan's brother brad is coming I told him you were... and...That...you couldn't wait to meet him" Sarah says fast thinking Alex wouldn't catch on. Slamming the mug down Alex cocks her head in Sarah's direction if she could only make her eyes red at this point "YOU WHAT? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? "Alex screams" YOU ALWAYS PUSH ME TO GO ON DATES! IT NEVER WORKS BECAUSE THE GUY IS EITHER A MORON OR HE ENDS UP BEING A JERK!" she grips the counter. It creaks from the force of her anger. She takes a deep breathe. "If I don't force it you never do it yourself you are to shy and stubborn to get your own feet wet so I give you a nudge" Sarah calmly replies. A pause comes over the room Sarah now leaning on the door way watches and waits for a response from Alex. Alex on the other hand just wants Sarah to go away so she can have her coffee in piece. a few min pass, Alex still feeling Sarah's presence finally answers "I'm not going I will date on my own time I appreciate the thought but id like to do this myself ok?" a sigh comes from Sarah "I love ya Alex but your hopeless" she says frustrated. "Well I'm off then ill see you later!" a few steps the down the stairs and slam of the door. Finished brewing, Alex pours her cup and sips slowly savoring the piece that she wanted "ahhh at last silence" she says to herself.

Walking threw the hall back into her room Alex notices the time she needs to be at work in 2 hrs "awe damn really so soon?" she puts her coffee down and gets her uniform a coverall, holding it up to make sure it wasn't dirty Alex looks at the logo Scyferous Works it reads with a hammer and wrench overlapping each other making an X shape. A company Alex was hired at not long after she graduated College, her degree is in engineering and restoration and sometimes she does a little mechanic work on the side for some extra cash. Alex has fixed everything from cars to planes her company also makes other machines for other companies that she helps design and build. Placing it on her bed she also gets out a black tube top, black skin tight shorts, and black underwear. Leaving them on the bed Alex enters her bathroom and turns her shower on. Letting the water heat up a bit she undresses throwing her clothes in her hamper next to the sink. Alex opens the curtain a little bit to test the water "hmm that's good" she mumbles. She slips in.

After ten minutes the water stops. Alex bursts out dripping, wrapping up in a soft towel she goes to the mirror. Covered in steam from the shower she uses her hand and wipes it off a blurred image of herself seeps threw. A soft glow seems to pier from her skin. Brushing her long blonde hair the towel slips off reveling her toned body. Alex works in a high energy job with heavy lifting. Abs, muscles on her arms, and thighs are distinctive. turning Alex's tattoo that she got a years ago can now be seen 6 stars 3 are almost the same size, color blue, and in a line 3 are on the sides of the lined ups stars and are purple, red, and yellow. With the steam nearly gone now Alex can see her self clearly she leans in closer. It can't be seen well but Alex has 2 different color eyes one blue one green. Growing up she was always mocked for being different if it wasn't her eyes it was her body as a teen she always had a more muscular build than any usual woman a smaller chest size then all the other girls didn't help either she wasn't flat or any thing but not developed like her other fellow female classmates. It made her very self conscious. Looking at her body in the mirror Alex remembers back to when she was 16 and over heard a conversation between 4 other classmates 3 of them being boys. She remembers they were talking about who they like or would date the girl in the conversation Nadie Swanson who Alex didn't know very well was naming off girls to the boys. Alex's name came up " Alex! Really! Dating her would be like dating a man!" was shouted. Shaking her head Alex snaps back into reality her hair in a loose pony tail she hurries putting on what she laid out for herself throwing on steel toe boots and out the door leaving her coffee still full on her bureau.

Fortunately, for Alex she doesn't live far from her job so she walks to work the same route everyday. Passing bye emits grocery, Texel gas station, and then Fugis Chinese was Alex frequents on her way home. "Not for awhile Fugi" Alex says to her remembering the weird dreams she's been having.

"10, 15, 42" Alex says in her head in front of her locker. Creaking open she gathers her tool belt, safety goggles, and hard hat. Alex being the only woman engineer has her own locker room " heh kind of feels like I have my own office" she laughs Stepping out she is stopped bye her boss Todd Lowdem "hey uh Alex before you come out on the job today we got a call from the museum they have some old artifact that needs fixing" she looks at him puzzled "um rant there people that do that kind of stuff that work at the museum? She asks "well that's what I said but apparently its some sort of clock I don't know I told them that you would do it I mean didn't you go to school for restoration to Alex? In any case here take this to the museum you will be paid for your time" Alex is handed a note on it says Doctor Wallowitz History and Legends department.

Staring at the note given to her Alex glances up at the museums entrance it hadn't changed much since she had been here witch was on a school field trip. "Well might as well get this over with" saying to herself. walking inside she sees a tour guide "excuse me I'm here to see doctor Wallowitz were can I find him?" the woman holds out her arm and points in front of them " just go straight its the first door on your left" she unhappily says. deciding to stroll Alex as she passes by glances at all the wax figures, old bones, and stuffed wild animals "nope hasn't changed one bit" she says. Making it to the department door Alex knocks twice and waits. A mans voice yells out "who's there!" Alex yells back "Uh Scyferous works sir you called cuz you needed something fixed?" a moment of silence "Ah! Yes! Come in!" she opens the door and slowly inches in she takes a look around. Shelves upon shelves of books and jars with dead animals in them, a computer desk and a separate desk with yet more books. Cobra skin perfectly preserved sat on its own stand next to a pencil holder. not seeing any one she calls out "Doctor Wallowitz?" she waits a tall skinny man with glasses appears with a clipboard writing and talking at the same time "contents of box well intact..." he looks at her "oh hello can I help you?" Alex shifts her weight "um I'm here to fix.." he cuts in " OH YES THE CLOCK SILLY ME COME THIS WAY!" rounding a corner the doctor steps on a stool in front of a rack of shelves reaches up grabs a box steps down and places it on a bench against a wall next to Alex " your lucky miss not many people get to touch a rare gem such as this one" he blurts out. Opening the box with such care he pulls out a gold framed item about the size of a small plate and places it on the bench "here it is! this is the clock of Norte please be very careful with it its very old and a prize possession here" the doctor orders Alex walks over to the clock and picks it up she notices that it has hands like a clock but no numbers "how does it tell time?" she pondered shrugging her shoulders Alex gets to work taking the back off she cant help but ask " so what's the deal with this clock any ways?" a few seconds of silence the doctor peeks his head out " that my dear is the clock of Norte its a mysterious item that was found many years ago on a dig in the desert" Alex more interested " so I don't understand this is a clock right? so why doesn't it have numbers on it?" hearing the doctors voice come in " well its been said that the clock of Norte is not a clock that tells time rather it is theorized that it actually has the power to send a traveler in and out of different parallel dimensions" Lifting up her eyebrow Alex stopped her work and flipped the clock back over looking closer she doesn't see anything different of that of any other clock minus the numbers of course " just looks like a weird clock to me who is supposed to use this any ways?" she says while resuming her work carrying thick books the doctor walks past Alex and arranges them in order on a shelf behind her he explains " well it has been read that only one pure of heart, hidden power and strength, and baring the mark can wield it of course its never been confirmed" he explains he turns back to continue his organizing.

An hour passes, "almost done! Just have to do this part screw the back plate on and its fixed" she informs. Alex at this point has unzipped and removed the top part of her coverall for such a lil thing it was making her sweat. The doctor for most of the time was in the other part of his office reading and doing computer work. "oh good give me a second here" she hears feeling a cramp in her neck Alex stands up while screwing on the back plate the doctor heads over to Alex and immediately sees her tattoo "that...that...tattoo" his words stuttered leaving his mouth Alex looks up at him and then down at her shoulder. "Oh this? You like it? I got this a couple years back" she says smiling " you...bare the mark" he replies the last screw locks in Alex flips the clock facing her and touches the glass she looks up at the doctor again " huh? What does mean it's just a tattoo" she tells him. she notices that the doc seems shaken suddenly Alex feels a vibration go threw her body " what the...what the hell was that?" she thought looking at her herself clock still in hand the doc gains his composure " you bare the mark" he says Alex jerks her head towards him " 3 stars in a line 3 are at the sides 3 pigments are of the same 3 are not and looks as if in play" he lets out. Strangely looking at him a light bursts from the clock stunned Alex try's to move and put it down but she is frozen "what the hell is this!" she says worried "The clock has chosen you!" the doc cries the light grows brighter blinding them both letting out a scream Alex is sucked into the light and vanishes.

Slowly opening her eyes Alex is surrounded bye people all of them whispering to each other. eyes now in focus she can see everyone's face around her all of them in clothes she'd never seen before and weird hair styles "who are these people" she thought sitting up Alex squints from the pain in her back " ow! What happened?" she groans. One woman kneels down to her and speaks "We were all just going about our day and we heard a loud bang and here you are!" Alex is now confused she doesn't remember coming outside "Excuse me could you point me to the museum?" she asks. The woman wrenches back and tilts her head to the side "muse...um? What's that?" the woman says "wait what? Museums you know were old artifacts and stuff go for people to look at?" Alex says stunned. The woman laughs and moves to help her up " we don't have any of those around here you must of hit your head really hard young lady" she remarks. Not able to understand how this woman doesn't know what a museum is Alex gets up and looks around behind her is a dirt road with a grass field on either side stretching for what looked like miles. looking to the front there's what looks like a city Alex can see cars and people walking in and out of buildings "there!" she yells running to it hoping to see something familiar "the museum is this way I know it!" she adds running full speed in Alex puts the brakes on and looks around shops with strange goods can be seen all over she even sees a shop for weapons "what in the world? Weapons what for?" she thought. Alex also sees clothing and jewelry booths as well as places to eat "I don't understand where am I?" Alex asks out loud the woman who spoke to her earlier stops beside her " you're in Davenport sweetie" she answers with a smile.