Disclaimer: These characters belong to the Oxen Free game and to Night School Studio.
Hello everyone. All right the updates should be happening more frequently now God willing.
Loud music, dancing, and… projectile vomiting.
Yup Leon was definitely at a concert. In the end, he had decided to take Max up on her offer. Though in truth the concert scene had never really been his thing. Once the television was invented and started to air most events, he didn't often see the need to be there in person.
"You having fun!?" Asked Chloe. She clearly was, her mother was into…
Leon stopped himself from remembering his time with her mother. It was just too weird.
"It's good music!" He replied.
"I know right!?" Replied Chloe as she began to dance.
Leon looked over at Max and Warren who were also dancing, if you could even call it that. Max was fine but Warren…
Well not like Leon was any better, which is why he mostly limited his movements to swaying side to side. Maybe a shake here and there.
One of the problems was that he had learned so many different styles of dancing over the decades. From the waltz, to the foxtrot, to disco, to spinning on his head. What dances were popular changed so many times, Leon had semi-abandoned it all together.
Still, his partner made up for his lack of ability. Clearly, it was not her first concert.
"You two having fun!?" Came a voice from his right. It was Max, apparently, at some point, she and Warren had ceased "dancing" and joined them.
"Yeah," replied Chloe. "What about you two?"
"Having a blast!" Warren Replied. "Thanks for the tickets babe!"
Blast? Babe? Thought Leon. That didn't sound like Warren.
"We're heading to the concession stand, you two need anything?" Max asked.
"Just something to drink." Chloe replied. She was slightly sweating from all the dancing.
"All right." Said Max as she and Warren left. As Warren passed by Leon could distinctly smell alcohol on his breath.
Well, that explains it. He thought.
"Such a cute couple don't you think!?" Asked Chloe.
"Yup!" Leon Agreed.
"Oh, I wanted to a… yo…. Som…!?"
"What!?" Asked Leon not fully hearing Chloe.
"I… W…"
The music had gone significantly higher. Leon was having trouble. He had very good hearing, which just made the situation worse. Between the music, people screaming, and all the car alarms going off. He just couldn't focus on Chloe.
"Come with me!" He shouted finally as he grabbed her arm and lead her to the parking lot. Of course, this was car alarm central, and he still couldn't hear… whatever she was mouthing.
Didn't matter though, he didn't come here for privacy. He came because there was a weak spot next to a blue chevy. Or to be more precise it was inbetween the blue chevy and the brown Dodge Caravan. Sure it was a tight fit but it was the best bet for some alone time with Chloe.
Besides, he wanted to show her something.
Leon Guided Chloe between the vehicles, then instructed her to close her eyes.
"Okay, you can open them now." He said without the need to shout.
"Oh my…" Chloe began but quickly went silent as she looked around the room.
"What is this place?"
"Memories."
"Who's memories?"
"Yours, Mine, Max's, this place is where I can view decisions made before the time loops."
"Time loops." Chloe asked.
"Yes, you see Chloe, Max may be able to travel back in time, but a time loop occurs when a strong point remains… well active for lack of a better term." Said Leon.
He wasn't entirely sure if she had heard him. She seemed focused on a particular memory.
Leon followed her gaze…
…to the very memory he wanted to show her.
It consisted of herself, Nathan Prescott, and… a handgun.
*Bang* Chloe jumped back as she saw the bullet pierce her stomach. She did a quick check of herself as if to make sure she was okay.
"What the… What was that!?" She screamed.
"It's why I brought you here." Replied Leon.
"You wanted me to see myself die?" She accused him.
"No, I just thought you needed to know." Said Leon.
"So that's… what Max rescued me from?" She asked.
"For now." He replied.
"What do you mean, for now?"
Leon sighed. In truth, he didn't want to have to tell her, but what Max said earlier about Chloe not remembering what would happen anyway, had actually made him realize there was no point in not telling her. This time around he would try doing things a little differently. The loop would occur and she would have no memory of any of this anyway.
"Look at the one below it." He instructed her.
Chloe turned her eyes back to the wall of memories and watched seemingly in horror as a massive storm destroyed the entire town.
"What? How? When?" She asked him.
"That's what happens if Max prevents you from getting shot." He told her.
"What?" She asked.
Leon waved his hand. Causing the images to change. Suddenly the wall went from several scattered memories, to just a single giant one.
"What is that?" Chloe asked.
"You know what it is." He replied.
"But how?" She said obviously dumbfounded by what she was looking at.
"This is my memory." He replied.
Chloe stared aimlessly at him. "But when were you…"
Well…
That's a long story.
March 7, 1943
Hot water. That was a true blessing, especially during these times.
Leon stood in the shower, just enjoying it for a moment. Traveling the world, seeing so many with so much less, made him really appreciate the small things in life. A working shower was one of them.
His clothes were currently drying in on Maggie's clothesline in the backyard. God willing they would be dry soon.
He had to meet someone in Brazil in an hour, and this was not a meeting one showed up late to. Not that he should really show up late to any meeting but especially not this one.
*creak*
Suddenly Leon's attention turned to the front door. He couldn't see it from the bathroom, but that was definitely the sound of it opening.
"Maggie!" Call of voice from downstairs.
It was Anna.
Maggie said she shouldn't be back until tonight. Thought Leon.
"Oh here you are." Said Anna. She wasn't downstairs this time.
"Get this, you know that new girl Susan?" Anna said. It would appear she was using the sink.
Leon didn't respond. Nothing but the shower curtain now separated him and the young woman.
"Well, she's gotten good enough that the captain has decided she can hold the communications on her own, so day off for me!" Said Anna enthusiastically.
Leon just kept the shower going. Not knowing whether to respond with high-pitched "mmm" or simply remain silent.
Fortunately, Anna made the decision for him.
"Well anyway, apparently we'll be getting fewer shifts now that she can handle it on her own. Good thing, I've been so exhausted with these 15-hour work cycles. I think I'm going to take a nap. Oh Mag, don't forget to stop at the store in the morning for bread and eggs on the way back from your shift."
With that Anna went out the door.
Once he heard her close the door to which he assumed was her room, he immediately turned off the shower opened the window, and jumped down. He wasn't about to risk being seen if Anna came out of her quarters.
His clothes weren't exactly dry but they were good enough to wear so he quickly put that on and began to head toward the front of the house when…
"Oh hello there." A familiar voice said.
Rowan looked up, having just finished putting on his shoes to see Anna standing about 20 feet in front of him.
"Not that I mind, but What are you doing here?" She asked as she approached him.
"Well… I came to see Maggie." He replied.
"Why are you in the backyard and your clothes…" Said Anna.
"See I had a bit of an accident, I fell into the ocean." He replied.
"Oh…" Anna said. She didn't seem entirely convinced but she didn't press the issue.
"Well If Maggie's not here…"
"Oh no," Said Anna. "Those clothes aren't dry enough yet. You know we still have some of Henry's old clothes upstairs, why don't you hang those to dry and you wear his clothes until they do?"
"Well, I really have somewhere to be." Replied Leon.
"It should only take about 20 minutes."
"Don't worry…" She went on.
"I'll keep you company until then."
Present day
Chloe just sat. Her head rested gently on Leon's Chest. She had been crying for a bit, though She didn't seem sad.
The image Leon had shown her was her past, or more so her parents' past. In Reality, it was more about Chloe's birth father.
"So dad was… like Max?" She asked.
"No, he was like me." Leon replied.
"But aren't you…"
"No" Explain Leon. "Max can manipulate time, I can bring up certain acts, and travel through the portals using various weak points."
"Mr. Scientists." Said Chloe with a slight chuckle.
"So he did what? Fixed the cracks that people like Max made?" She asked as she lifted her head off his chest.
"No, that's grunt work. Your father was more like Vice president or something." He replied.
"So, the car crash?" Asked Chloe.
"What about it?" Leon Replied.
"Well…" Chloe began. "Max told me about the Alternate timelines."
Leon wasn't surprised after the constant time loops Max was bound to be frustrated and thinking that her choices didn't really matter in the long run. She probably told Chloe as a way of just seeing how it would change things, knowing that most likely time would loop again and most would forget about what happened.
"She even told me about you and mom." Chloe added.
Now that surprised him.
"What!?"
"Chill man." Said Chloe. "It was a little weird for me at first, but I got past that."
"Glad you're past it!" Said Leon Sarcastically.
Chloe Gently grabbed his hands.
"Doesn't really bother me, but that's not it is it?" She asked.
"Is what?" He replied.
"You told Max it was too weird to date the daughter of someone you used to date, but that's not the only reason… is it?"
She really is her mother's daughter Thought Leon.
"Okay, but what I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone, okay. Not even Max."
Chloe lifted her left hand and made a zipper motion on her mouth.
"My lips are sealed."
Jonas was unusually talkative. Then again he had a reason to be. His father had recently met someone at the restaurant. A lady customer had wanted to thank the chef. One thing had led to another and at this very moment they were going out to dinner.
Alex smiled. If she had to be honest part of her had always felt guilty about causing Michael to come back which inadvertently stopped her parents' divorce which meant her mother and Jonas' father never got together.
"She's a little bit young for him though." Said Jonas.
"How young?" Alex Asked.
"A around 5 years I think, but she looks younger." He said.
"Hmm, sounds like you have a little crush." Alex said causing Jonas to adjust in his seat.
The two were at Alex's house actually. Michael had gone to visit Nona again. Her parents were upstairs watching an old movie.
"Well, no… I mean she is pretty… but…" He nervously responded.
Alex gave a light chuckle. "Just teasing." She assured him.
"So…" She began. "You want to watch tv or something?"
The two were sitting on the couch, but the tv was off. Then again Jonas had provided the entertainment when talking about his father's new girlfriend.
"We both know why we're here." Said Jonas rather stoically.
Alex let out a sigh. She had really wanted to avoid this topic.
"We don't have to talk about it." She said.
"Yes, we do." He replied.
"We could just wait until after."
"By then it'll be too late."
"It's not like discussing it now…" Alex was seriously trying to stall, but hit her with the kill shot.
"Will you stop Michael from Drowning?" He asked.
It was worse than a blow to the stomach.
"I don't know." Was all she could think of to say.
"You know." He replied.
"No, I don't!" She shot back.
"You think it's easy!? Yes, I know your father and my mother but can you see this from my perspective?"
She had come closer to him on the couch and now they were practically talking face to face.
"My parents got divorced because of what happened to Michael, because of what I did, then I accidentally bring him back and I see how life could have been. How am I not supposed to take advantage of that?"
"I saw how life could have been too." He replied. His voice was calmer than she'd expect it to be.
"Listen I'm not telling you what to do." He said "The Choice is yours. God only knows what I would do if I had the opportunity to prevent my mom's death. I'm just saying that choice has a massive ripple effect."
"You don't think I know that!?" She snapped.
She was practically on top of Jonas by now.
There was an awkward silence as the two just looked at each other. Then Jonas smiled.
"This is kind of like the time we were fighting over what to watch," He said. "Remember when were step-siblings?"
Alex smiled back, but then a sort of realization came to her.
"What?" asked Jonas noticing her lack of response.
"We were step-siblings weren't we?" She asked.
"Yes…" He replied sounding slightly nervous.
"We aren't anymore, there may be some...
...benefits to that."
Jonas seemed puzzled.
"Benefits?" He asked.
"Yes…" Alex came closer.
"Alex…" That was all he said before lips locked.
Alex semi couldn't believe what she was doing. In truth, the feelings had always been there, but it awkward when they were living in the same house supposed to be like siblings. In the other alternate timelines, Jonas hadn't remembered their time together as step-siblings so the awkwardness remained. But this time was different. Alex was into taking chances since the time loop was bound too…
Another realization came while the two were still joined by the lips. Yes, the time loop was still going to happen but if what Leon said was true both she and Jonas would remember everything.
Including this.
Alex backed away. She saw Jonas' eyes were closed.
"I'm sorry…" She began. "I just…"
"Yo… u….chea….." Jonas interrupted.
"Jonas?" Alex Asked.
Suddenly his armed grabbed her hard and he pulled her face closer to his. His eyes opened and Alax saw they were glowing red.
"Your Cheating!" Was all he said, but the voice coming out of his mouth was not his.
Alex screamed…
Her body was covered in sweat as she jumped up.
Viewing her surroundings she noticed the familiar sight of her bedroom, though something was different yet the same.
The door shot open and her mother quickly turned on the lights.
"Alex, what's wrong? I heard you scream." She said as she came over to check on her daughter.
"Just a… nightmare." She said.
"You're drenched in sweat." Her mother said as she grabbed a nearby tissue and began wiping her daughter's face.
"I'm okay mom." Said Alex.
"You sure?" Her mother inquired.
"I'm sure." She assured her. "Sorry about waking you up."
"Oh, I wasn't sleeping." Her mother told her. "Sam and I were watching a movie."
"Sam?" Asked Alex surprisingly. "Jonas' dad?"
"Well, who'd you think it would be?" She asked back.
"D…" Alex started but suddenly it came to her what had happened.
"What day is it?" She asked.
"Friday honey." Her mother replied. "You sure you're alright, maybe you should skip that trip to the island tomorrow."
"It's tomorrow!?" Asked Alex in shock.
"Yes, mayb…" Her mother began but Alex cut her off.
"No, mom I'm okay." She said. "Just… a nightmare that's all."
"Are they still of Michael dear?" Her mother asked.
Alex didn't respond. Despite the fact that she knew what had happened to him, it wasn't until those words left her mother's mouth that it hit her. Michael had drowned, her parents had divorced, Jonas was her stepbrother and
she was going to the island…
for the last time.
Thank you all who made it to the end.
May God bless you all.