Chapter Two
Marty burst into his friend's lab, out of breath, searching for him, his eyes wide.
"Doc!" he called again, but there was no answer. Damn, he thought, he must be with Clara… He concluded that that was the only explanation and set out to Doc's newly rebuilt mansion, praying he was right. He wasn't sure if Doc had been watching the news, but he knew he would be very interested (maybe distraught would be a better word) to hear about it. He couldn't believe the men had used Doc's invention for robbing a bank! As fast as his skateboard would take him, he finally reached Doc's home, in around ten minutes time.
He left his skateboard on the grass and ran to the front door. He knocked fairly hard on the blurred glass, shouting out. "Doc! It's Marty!"
A moment later, the inventor opened it and greeted him. By the way he seemed so calm, Marty instantly knew he hadn't heard yet.
"D-Doc…" Marty gasped breathlessly, "You gotta…gotta hear this!"
Doc's expression went from being pleased to see his friend to worry in a mili-second. The teen was very pale and was sputtering something about an invention. "Marty, calm down!" he said, waving him to come inside. Marty did, greeted by a confused and curious Clara.
"Marty…?" she began, but he recovered fast. He explained to Doc what he'd heard on the television, noticing the frown that began developing on his face. He shook his head when Marty finished, and Clara, who had also been listening, asked, "So they don't have a clue as to who might have done it?"
Marty shrugged. "No more than we know who attacked us. There were only a few men this morning, but obviously they were in the same plan as the rest of 'em."
Doc sighed. "I don't even know how they knew about the inducer—or that we would be at the mall at the time we were."
"Did they follow us around or something?" Marty wondered aloud, and Doc answered with, "I'm not sure. It's possible, I suppose."
Clara shuddered, placing a hand on Doc's shoulder. "Oh, Emmett…what if they are still after you? Or Marty?"
"I think they already got what they wanted," Marty said. "If they stick around in the same place they committed a serious crime, sooner or later they're gonna get caught."
"Oh I sure hope so," Clara said honestly.
No kidding, Marty thought. Then, something occurred to him he'd not had cross his mind till now. "Doc, did you file a report? With the police, I mean?"
The man shook his head. "We really really have no proof—"
"I have proof." Marty muttered under his breath, a hand on his head.
"—and what could we say?" Doc continued with only a slight hesitation. "They stole the sleep inducer? I might get charged just for making it—it didn't exactly prove useless to them."
Marty reluctantly had to agree. Besides, they were probably long gone, the men. No one stuck around after a robbery like it never happened. In movies, they were usually off to Canada, or Mexico. But who could be certain?
"Father!"
Marty turned his head at the voice, as did Doc. Jules Brown appeared at the top of the stairway, looking down at them. Marty still wasn't used to seeing kids in the house, even though it had been around a month.
"Yes?" Doc answered.
"Verne is hogging the computer! And I must do a report!"
Doc ran a hand through his slivery hair and sighed. "I—" he looked at Marty, who held up his hands slightly. "I gotta get back home anyways. I think my mom still thinks I'm sleeping."
"Well, be careful." Doc and Clara said at nearly the same time. Marty nodded. "I will."
He turned, and was through the door a moment later. On his skateboard again, it was almost as if nothing had happened. And that was the way it should be, because it was over.
But it's not, is it?
Marty didn't know why that thought had suddenly crossed his mind. Maybe it was the fact that he'd been feeling nervous ever since he'd woken up the second time, and kept wanting to look behind him.
And he had a feeling, similer to the one he'd had that same morning, that the silent question wasn't wrong.
"Marty, there you are!"
As Marty walked into his home, he watched his mother come towards him and then ruffle his hair. "Uh, hi." he said, confused slightly.
Lorraine McFly sensed what Marty was thinking, and answered the question before he could even begin to ask it. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright."
"Why?" Marty cringed at his bad choice of words, and corrected himself. "I mean, why, what happened? Th—that would make you think I'm not okay?"
Lorraine sighed. "There were just a few robberies this morning, and I—"
"Wait," Marty interrupted, "a few?"
"Yes…"
"I…I thought just the bank was robbed. What else happened?"
"Well, the corner store was stolen from as well, along with a jewelry store, and a few minor shops." she saw the horrified look on Marty's face, and added, "No one was hurt."
"D—did they say anything, like, how? Was an, 'unknown' weapon used?" Marty asked, emphasizing with air quotes.
"Why, yes, yes they news reported did say that…" she trailed off, suddenly realizing her son had gone pale and looked like he might be sick. She took him by his arm and set him down on the couch. "Are you feeling okay, honey?"
"Fine." Marty lied, his voice cracking.
"Well, alright, if you're sure." Lorraine shook her head and went into the kitchen. Marty leaned back. "Oh man…" he murmured. "This is heavy."
So the thefts weren't over. That couldn't be a good sign. No one robbed that many places in one day without getting caught. They'd all have to be genious! Or have a sleep inducer…Marty reflected bitterly. Then, a thought hit him. The more than inducer was used, the less power it had. It would only have an effect on people for a very short amount of time by now. But yet, they must have snuck in and out of the places like they were invisible in the ten minutes or so of no one watching. It couldn't continue. Eventually, Marty realized, the inducer would fail, and they'd be caught. He sighed and relaxed finally. At least that's good. But how long untill that time? How many more places can they get?
It didn't seem like any. The rest of the day's news reports were normal, or at least not having to do with the men—gang—whatever they were, which Marty was obviously pleased about. In fact, he was utterly relieved, hoping that maybe they'd left town. Sure, they had the money, but if they were gone, Hill Valley would just have to deal with that and be glad.
Marty, despite himself, flipped on the television once again to be sure, right before he headed off to bed, for the night. Again, nothing, and that was the way he wanted to keep it.
He had just drifted off into sleep when he, distantly, heard the phone ring. For a moment, he did nothing, wondering if he had dreamed it. But the second ring startled him out of slumber, and he grabbed it, holding it to his hear. "Hello?" he mumbled.
"Marty," Doc's voice began on the other side of the phone.
"I'm not going out anywhere tonight." Marty said automatically, and then added, "Sorry," when he realized his tone had been kind of pushy. But he was dead serious. And tired.
"No, no," Doc said quickly, "I wasn't—I just wanted to appologize about earlier."
"No need to. It's 'kay."
"I didn't mean to rush you out." Doc said.
"It's fine." Marty answered. "Anyways, I was sorta checking in on the news every once and a while…no other thefts happened…execpt for a few my mom told me about when I came back. A jewelry store, and a few others small ones. But there wasn't anymore after that."
"Yeah, I figured they'd back off eventually. The inducer must have lost most of his power by now, if not all."
"I was thinking about that earlier." Marty replied. "I don't know how someone didn't just wake up before they got away. You'd think at least one person would've—it's like these guys don't even exist!"
The inventor sighed. "I don't know how they did it, but they did. Hopefully they're halfway to wherever they're going."
"I don't think that's far enough," muttered the teen. His eyes caught the clock, and he mumbled a curse. "Doc, hey, I gotta go. If I'm late to class tomorrow, Strickland will…" he trailed off, and then finished with, "I can't be late."
"Alright, goodbye."
"See ya," Marty set the reciever down, pulled the blankets over him, and fell asleep almost instantly.
When he woke, he quickly pulled on some clothes, grabbed his things, and, amazingly, made it to school on time. Actually, it was four minutes to the bell when he arrived on campus, and he smiled mockingly at Mr. Strickland's surprised expression. "Well, well," he said as Marty approached the front doors. "This isn't something I see everyday." His face turned sour again. "I expect more of this from you, McFly, now that I know you can actually do it."
"Sure," Marty retorted, purposely making it sound like he didn't care. He didn't have to try much.
"Watch it, McFly." Strickland's eyes raised as the bell rang, and students began to crowd into the hallways. "Get to class."
"Yes, sir." Marty smiled in a sickly-sweet way, enjoying the glare he got from the principal. He didn't know why he found joy in pissing the man off. Maybe it was the fact he was a jerk to everyone, especially him? Yeah, that could have been it…calling his father and him a slacker at twice a week or more didn't exactly make him a likable guy.
The man looked about to say something in return, but Marty was off before he could.
His first period teacher, Mr. Johnson, looked at him strangely when he walked into the classroom. Not only was he not late, he was also the first student to get there.
"Well, hello Marty." the teacher said slowly, watching as the teen took a seat near the back.
"Hiya." Marty replied, as if just addressing a friend. He smiled at the man, watching his confused reaction. "What? I can't get here early one day?"
"No. But it's a good surprise." He stood from his desk and walked over to the teen, his hand held out. "I'll be even more surprised if you turn in your homework."
Damn. Trying to change the subject, he argued, "Hey! I almost always do my homework!"
"Yes," Mr. Johnson raised an eyebrow. "But you're almost always late anymore. At least, certainly not early. I don't think it's possible for you to do both."
Why do teachers have to do this to me? Marty groaned softly. "I—I didn't exactly remember—"
Mr. Johnson retracted his hand. "Well, it would have been nice." He walked back to the front as more students began coming in. Some had heard his words, and were giving Marty glares.
Slightly unnerved, Marty shrank down in his seat. He realized it was quite a ridiculous reason to get embarrassed, and he swallowed hard, ignoring the looks. He straightened up best he could and watched as Mr. Johnson began speaking. After a few moments, Marty's mind had drifted off, and he was no longer listening. This wasn't a hard thing to do, as he had a terrible time concentrating on math. Everytime he tried, understanding slipped away as if he were trying to grab a wet bar of soap. It was somewhere around…completely impossible. He sighed, wishing school was already over. Weekends passed far too quickly.
Only 5 days to go till another one, Marty thought, trying to keep positive. It was not exactly the easiest task, not sitting here, in class, in school. Hell, he corrected, or…maybe a little better than that.
He blinked when he heard his name called, and realized everyone had their eyes on him.
"The answer, Mr. McFly?" Mr. Johnson waited.
"Uh…" Marty shook his head, drawing giggles from the class.
"No, 'uh' is not the answer. It was 17." Laughter erupted.
Marty fell back, frowning. Nope. It's Hell. Definitly Hell.
Finally, the last bell of the day rang, and relieved, Marty gathered his things and met Jennifer outside where they always did after school. They embraced and kissed, and then Jennifer questioned, "Why do you look upset?"
"I'm not." replied Marty. "Just tired, I guess." He decided not to worry Jen by telling what had happened the day before. There was no reason to.
Jen nodded comfortingly. "You should go home and rest." she suggested with a smile. Marty returned it. "Thank you, Nurse Jennifer."
"No problem…" she kissed him again, interrupted by a car horn. She pulled away and said, "Darn. I have to go." She began towards her dad's car.
"Love you!" Marty called.
"Love you too," she answered. Then, before ducking into the vehicle, she asked, "Do you want me to call you later?"
"I'll call you. I'm gonna go see Doc after this."
"Alright, bye!"
Marty watched as they drove away, and when they turned out of sight, he dropped his skateboard. He rode without rush to Doc's lab, weighed down slightly by his backpack. If it was possible to get an illegal amount of homework, he had it.
He placed his bad, once he'd arrived, along with his board outside of the door, but out of the way so he or Doc wouldn't trip and kill themselves if they left.
He heard talking from the inside, but thought nothing of it until he opened the door. "Doc—" he stopped abruptly with a gasp, completely horrified at what he was seeing. Men…he counted eight, some with masks on, some without, all turn to stare at him as he entered. Marty's eyes widened and his mouth hung open in shock.
"You damn fool!" One shouted to another, "I told you to keep the door locked!"
Marty caught sight of Doc, sitting in a chair with two burly guys in front of him. He gaped at Marty, as if he couldn't believe he'd stepped in at this very moment.
Startled, Marty locked eyes with an unmasked man with very dark brown hair that turned to him, smiling wickedly.
"Well, look who decided to join us."
Yay! My first cliff hanger (: I've realized writing them is very fun, so expect more in the future! *ahem* :D
Please review and tell me if you liked it! Or…if you didn't, please don't tell me. I respect your opinion, but I really don't want to hear it (:
Thank you for reviewing! And I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving / Thanksgiving break!