Remind me not to make predictions about updates in the future.
Sorry for the wait and thanks to all reviewers. I'll be replying in the next chapter.
Chapter 11: Tools of the trade
'28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds, that is when the world will end.' – Frank
The sun was all but gone. The cloud filled sky hung over the town. It seemed to be robbing everything of colour. The world around him was silent. The trees had adopted a stoic, motionless state due to the lack of wind. The assorted birds, rodents and insects living in the trees or drains were, for reasons known only to themselves, also silent.
The world felt dead.
Seachnall didn't however. An all too familiar feeling was coursing through him, supplying his body with an almost nervous energy.
Oh shit, He thought for the seventh time I can't be falling for her can I? Please God, not again.
His train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt by the sound of a passing bus. Inside he noticed that there were no passengers and a second later he mentally kicked himself for deciding to walk back to his house instead of waiting for a bus. Despite the lack of wind, the temperature was bordering on freezing, causing pedestrians throughout the town to shiver and complain collectively about the weather.
The walk wasn't a long one. Nevertheless, that bus looked warm.
Seachnall's attention slipped back to its previous contemplation after the bus disappeared around a corner.
At the age of fifteen, with puberty and testosterone making their presence felt more and more often, he had found himself becoming increasingly attracted to Kelly. His attraction and desire were paralleled by fear however, and an unshakable belief that Kelly wasn't interested.
When this showed no sign of changing, Seachnall had pushed himself away, forced himself not to think, or want to think of her as anything except a friend. Until roughly twenty minutes ago, he thought he had succeeded.
Her spontaneous (and tight) hug had brought it all back. Even though he knew that it was just an act of fear, he still…
Fear.
His train of thought then switched, once again, to what the logical part of his mind felt was slightly more important then attraction.
This day had been surreal. Kelly collapsing in the middle of the street would have been strange enough; now there were too many things going on that shouldn't be. The registration plate, that's where it had started, Then, less then a week later, Kelly was being haunted by God knows what.
His scepticism was gone. Or maybe he just didn't want it.
There's nothing you can do, at least not yet, maybe, I don't know. Just go home, get some sleep; wait.
Kelly slammed her hands onto the padded chair in her room, trying to vent her frustration and not attract the attention of her parents with loud noises at the same time.
Damn it, you were so close. She silently screamed at herself, Why couldn't you tell him? What's wrong with you?
Unbeknownst to Seachnall, Kelly was interested, very interested. Like herself however, Seachnall had never given any outward signs to suggest that he viewed her as anything more then a friend. He never seemed to show any interest in anyone, in all the years Kelly had known him, she had never once seen him show the slightest flicker of interest for anyone, female, male or otherwise.
She had never been able to bring herself to tell Seachnall how she felt, partly because she was sure she'd only damage, or destroy their friendship by telling him, and partly because some insufferable part of her would rather hold on to her mediocre existence of sentimentality and endure the resulting feelings of frustration and unrequited longing then take a chance in her life and maybe feel happy for once.
Kelly sighed and tried to force the thoughts from her head. It was nice, in a ay, to know that in spite of all the supernatural shit that had been raining on her recently, she could still worry about the trivial, day to day things she was used to worrying about.
Noticing her computer in the corner of her eye, she decided to check her email accounts, forums, the google image search, anything that would serve as a distraction from the frustration.
As Kelly waited for the ear piercing shrill of the dial up modem to end, she noticed the drawer where she had stashed the registration plate. Cautiously, she opened it and felt relieved as she noticed it was still there, undisturbed. Although she knew it was doubtful that anyone would stumble across it, she still made a mental note to search for a better hiding place.
Eventually, the room fell silent and the computer displayed a message informing her that she was online. She checked her first email account and found two spam messages, one informing her that her that her computer clock may be incorrect. The second was another of the tiresome get rich quick messages that she seemed to receive every other hour from people who seemed intent of parting her from what little money she had.
She then proceeded to her second account, this was a lesser known email provider and was not as likely to be cursed with junk emails, however it did have twice as many pop ups then most other websites which was almost as bad.
There was new email in her inbox, this was surprising considering the rarity with which she received emails in this account. Kelly clicked the 'inbox' link, read the subject and almost froze with fear. After roughly five minutes of staring at the subject, she clicked the link.
To: Good guess. Not a ghost.
Twenty seven days, thirteen hours, twenty four minutes, three seconds. That is when the world will end.
It's not night yet. Get plenty of rest.
The message also included an attachment. It was a text file with the title 'you'll need this.'
Kelly stared at the screen for a few more minutes, frightened to even move, some irrational, seemingly primal part of her brain forced her to stay still, that movement might attract the attention of the beast, whatever it was, that was now sending her emails.
Eventually, she moved the cursor over the scan and download option. The file wasn't too large and downloaded after only four seconds. After it had downloaded, she moved the mouse over the 'open' icon.
The computer started to click and whir as the file opened. Cautiously, Kelly moved her eyes over the first page.
The title was the first thing that she saw. Sticking out in larger font then the rest of the document read the words 'The Philosophy of Time Travel by Roberta Sparrow'.
To be continued,
A bit of a short chapter I know, I need to end it where it is though.