Chapter 4 - Attack

When scenery reappeared before my eyes, I slammed on the brakes of the Viper. I turned the engine off and looked around briefly to the surroundings from inside the car, noticing a lot of plant life, like there was in Jilly's time. I opened the car door to my left and stepped out of the driver's side of the car, closing the door after I was out. Jilly then stepped out of the passenger side and held onto the open door, looking at me.

"I wonder what time it is," I said.

I leaned toward the window of the driver's side door and peaked in, looking at the time display. The display was turned off, and I assumed that happened when I also turned the engine off. I thought about how I knew about Doc Brown, the odd deja vu feeling, the dream I had with the mysterious voice, seeing the note signed by me from a different time, and then this Viper. Everything was all so confusing, and I wondered what was going on. How did I know of Doc Brown, when no one told me and I never met him before? Why did I have deja vu when I was in his garage? Why was there a note signed by me from another time? Why did I have that weird dream after I had that severe migraine? I then shook the thoughts from my head, figuring I was just thinking too much.

"Well, traveling using this Viper would be safer than on foot," I said.

With that said, I opened the driver's side door again and stepped in, closing the door after I was settled in. Jilly mimicked me, by sitting back in the car and closing the door after she was settled in as well. I turned the key in the ignition and pressed on the gas slowly. I drove along a dirt path through the woods, that was big enough to travel on with the Viper. I followed the dirt path through the woods as the farther I drove into the woods the darker it got. I turned on the headlights as it got darker, so I could still see the dirt path ahead of us. I noticed something shoot across the path before us and slammed on the brakes quickly.

"What was that?" Jilly asked.

"I have no idea," I said.

I turned the engine off, leaving the headlights on, and stepped out of the car through the driver's die door. I gazed around the dark woods trying to see what had run across the path before us, yet I couldn't see anything in the dark. All I could see was some of the paths in front of the Viper and that was it, I found it useless to even try looking to the sides and back of the vehicle in the dark.

"Nathe?" Jilly asked.

I stepped back into the Viper and closed the door after I got settled back in. I had a feeling that Jilly called me like that cause she was curious to know if I had seen anything.

"I didn't see anything," I said.

"I was just about to ask if you saw anything, how did you know I was going to ask that?" Jilly asked.

I thought about that for a moment, how did I know that? I just had a feeling inside that she was wondering that. Have I become in tune with her feelings or something? If so, has she become in tune with my feelings as well? Could she sense that I had an attraction to her from when I first laid my eyes on her? I blushed at the thought of her knowing that and turned away a little bit.

"Why is your face so red? Are you feeling alright?" Jilly asked.

I sensed that she thought my blushing was cause I was sick, and I didn't know how to tell her it wasn't that I was sick at all.

"Um, well, I -" I started to say.

Just then something rushed by the driver's side of the car in it's currently stopped position. This cause Jilly to scream and jump in her seat, clutching onto me very tightly, with her head on my shoulder. Instinctively I blushed when she held onto me like that, then I thought about her scream, which only seemed to snap me out of it afterward. I quickly turned to face the driver's side door, pressing the button on the door to lock both of the doors. I thought about how scared Jilly must be then and decided I should comfort her the best that I could.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm a little scared, what was that?" Jilly asked back, in a semi-frightened tone of voice.

"I don't know, but I'll protect you from whatever it is," I said.

I only noticed what I had just said after I had said it. I noticed Jilly relax a little and smile although I could tell she was still scared. I wondered why I said what I did, and the way I said it, yet shook those thoughts from my head when I felt something hit the side of the Viper, shaking the car violently. I swallowed hard as I was slightly scared as well, and looked to Jilly, noticing the fear in her eyes. I decided to get out of the car and approach whatever might be out there head on. I unlocked the driver's side door and opened it slowly. As I began to step out I felt Jilly pulling on my right arm and turned to her as I held my left foot on the ground outside of the car.

"I'll be okay," I said, in a calm and comforting voice.

With that Jilly let go of my hand and I stepped out completely. I turned back to her with the door still open.

"I want you to lock the door, just to be on the safe side," I said to her, as I closed the door.

Jilly slowly reached over and locked the door, making it so that I nor whatever was outside with me could get in and get to her.

"So the boy has become the gallant hero," a coarse voice came from the woods to my left.

I jumped slightly and turned to my left in search of the source of the voice. Before my eyes, I could see a pair of glowing red eyes, which showed no emotion to them whatsoever.

"Who or what are you?" I asked, bravely standing straight in the face of whatever it was before me now.

I couldn't see it faces, only it's glowing eyes. It was just too dark to see anything else as if the rest of its body was cloaked in shadows.

"Who I am? I have no name. What am I? That you'll have to find out yourself," the same course voice said, sounding like it was coming from the pair of glowing eyes, which was most likely the case.

"What do you want with me?" I asked.

"Whoever said I had anything to do with you? You are just a bump in the way to what I'm really after," the thing before me said.

"And what's that?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at whatever it was in curiosity.

I wasn't sure if it could even see me very well, yet it was safe to assume that whatever it was had some sort of night vision.

"You haven't even discovered who you really are yet," the thing said.

"What does that have to do with what you're really after?" I asked.

I heard laughter and assumed that whatever stood before me was laughing at my question.

"Come on, think that one over, I said I had nothing to do with you, that you are just a bump in the way to what I'm really after, and that you haven't even discovered who you really are yet," the thing said.

I thought about it for a moment, but I still couldn't make any sense of it. I could sense that whatever stood before me knew I was still clueless as it breathed an irritated sigh.

"If you're after Jilly, I won't let you have her," I said, stepping closer to whatever stood before me.

I could feel warm breath on my face and whatever stood before me brushing partially up against my chest.

"Ah, so you are gutsier than what I was told," the thing said.

I felt a sharp pain across my chest then. It felt like I had a metal rake just rush across my chest, cutting me. I stepped back a little, falling to one knee, and put my right hand up to my chest, and felt a warm liquid running from my chest, which I assumed to be blood which I couldn't see in the dark. I took my right hand and brought it to my mouth, and stuck my tongue out to taste my hand. What I tasted made me figure out that I was right, that what was running out of my chest was my own blood. I stood to my feet shakily, already feeling the effects of blood loss and the pain in my chest. I clenched my right hand into a fist and threw it into the air in front of me in an attempt to hit whatever stood before me. I felt something hard hit my hand and a groan shortly after. I figured I had successfully hit the thing in front of me, and hurt it too.

Suddenly I saw bright light flash all around me and I was blinded from the sudden change of dark to light. As my eyes began to adjust I looked around, noticing that it was still dark all around me, yet everything had an odd green tint to it. I thought of night vision goggles, which had things appear in green and black around the wearer. I thought perhaps that night vision goggles were put on my head and reached up to my face. I felt nothing on my face and was puzzled by it. I then thought to look for whatever had stood before me and looked down to the ground at my feet. Laying there was a sloth-like creature that while standing I estimated would have stood ten feet tall. It appeared to be unconscious at the moment as I leaned over to get a better look at his face. Closer examination showed that the eyes were closed and the creature wasn't breathing. I looked down its chest and stomach, looking for where I may have punched the creature, and saw a gaping hole in its stomach. I looked to my right hand and saw blood, that didn't belong to me, dripping from it. My eyes widened in both fear and surprise. I was scared of what I had did, and how there was blood on my hand, and surprised that I could actually see it. I reached down and brushed my right hand on the dry fur of the creature, trying my best to get the blood off. Then I turned to the driver's side door of the Viper and knocked on it lightly with my left hand. I heard the sound of the door unlocking, yet it was louder than normal, as if my ear was pressed against the door lock when it was unlocked or something. I reached for the door handle with my left hand and opened the door. I then stepped into the car and sat down in the driver's side.

"Nathe?" Jilly asked as I felt my eyes adjust to the little bit of light in the car.

"Yes?" I asked back.

"Why is there blood on your hand, and why are you bleeding from your chest?" Jilly asked, with slight fear and concern in her voice.

"Not to worry," I said, running my hand over my chest. "I'm fine. Can't say the same for the creature outside."

"What happened?" Jilly asked, more curious than scared now.

"I got into a fight with the creature, and won...somehow," I said, moving from feeling neutral to confused as I said that.

Thoughts ran through my head at an incredible pace. How could I see in the dark without any night vision goggles? How did I punch right through the stomach of the sloth-like creature? How come my chest doesn't hurt anymore? I looked to my chest as I thought that and noticed that my shirt was cut across the chest, and slightly drenched in blood. As I continued to stare at my own chest I noticed that the shirt wasn't getting more bloody, and wondered why. I pulled my shirt off to get a better look at my chest and noticed that there was a scar across my chest, but not any wound, or much blood for that matter. My mind began to wonder, as I thought of what has happened so far. All that happened, all within 24 hours, regardless of the time traveling I've been doing. I knew not much time had passed, maybe a couple hours, and that was it. I began wondering why was I involved in all of this? What part did I have in it all? What is to happen next? I received no answer to all my questions and figured I would just find out eventually, whether I liked it or not.

"Where to now?" Jilly asked.

"Let's see what's passed this path and figure it out from there, okay?" I asked.

"Sure," Jilly said with a smile.

I could tell she was glad that I was okay, yet I could also see some concern in her eyes. She knew that I was thinking hard about something and that it was definitely having some effect on me emotionally.

I turned the key in the ignition, starting up the car engine again. I then slowly pressed the gas as I drove down the path before us. Whatever was ahead I didn't know, but I knew I would find out, and face whatever it is together with Jilly.