Chapter 3: Out of Time
The time machine raced along as Phil sat anxiously waiting to arrive in 2006. Lloyd had been nice enough to pack a few things in the machine for him. He had put some food cans, a wizard, and the Giggle itself in the machine, which told Phil that he must have been out like a light in his room if his Dad was able to grab that without waking him. Phil checked the Giggle for the fourth time since leaving and still found no updates on Keely. He doubted that there would be any, but he hoped there was an off chance that somehow things had been changed. Negative thoughts kept trying to push their way into Phil's mind, but he blocked them out by focusing on the fact that he was going to see Keely again for the first time in three years. He pulled out the photograph of Keely from his room and looked at it again. Her smiling face in the photo was enough to make him feel better.
The coordinates on the machine were set to arrive two days before Keely went missing. This would hopefully give Phil enough time to warn her and come up with a plan to keep her safe. According to the instruments on the dashboard he would arrive at 2006 in another thirty minutes. Phil decided to take a little nap since he was awaken in the middle of the night to go on this adventure. He slipped off to sleep in a matter of seconds and immediately fell into a nightmare.
In the dream Phil could hear Keely calling out to him, but he could not see her.
"Phil!!! Help me!!! Where are you?" she called out.
"I'm here Keely!! Where are you? Keely!!!" Phil called out, but her voice seemed to be trailing off into the distance.
Suddenly a strange man was walking towards Phil. He did not recognize the man, but he felt a sudden panic wash over him. Phil began to run from the man, but no matter how fast he ran the man continued to gain on him. As Phil continued to run he tripped and fell and the man began to reach out for him.
"No!!! What have you done with Keely!?" Phil yelled at the man. Just as the hand grabbed Phil by the shirt he woke up.
Phil sat up quickly and gasped for air. His shirt was damp with sweat and his heart was pounding. It took him a second to realize that the time machine had stopped. He looked out the window and saw that he was now sitting in front of Keely's house. Phil quickly stepped out of the time machine and took in the fresh air to help regain his composure. Once he was ready he clicked the button on the remote and the time machine disappeared into thin air. Phil looked at his watch and saw that it was 8:00 AM, which meant that Keely would be at the school, about to give the morning news. Luckily Keely lived nearby the school so Phil walked down the street towards the school building.
Meanwhile in the video lab Keely sat at her desk going over the notes for the day's show. It was a new school year and this was the first show of the semester. She had her salt shaker sitting next to her as she always did during the show ever since Phil had left. Having the shaker nearby helped her make it through the show.
"One minute to go time," Brian said to her from behind the camera and she just smiled in return. She glanced down at the salt shaker and suddenly felt a strong desire to see Phil again. She had to fight to keep a tear from falling. Phil had left four months ago, but it still hurt to think about him. "10 seconds," Brian said and Keely snapped out of her daydream. She quickly straightened her hair and looked ready as Brian gave her the signal.
"Good morning. I'm Keely Teslow and this is the news for August 19, 2006. Welcome back for another exciting school year at H.G. Wells. In our first news story...," she began to say, but then she noticed a commotion behind the camera. All the students standing around were staring at the doorway with open mouths and then they glanced at Keely.
"What...what's going on?" she asked and suddenly the students parted and there he was.
"Phil!!!" Keely exclaimed and stood up from her desk. She forgot all about the show and ran to hug him. She met him with such force that she nearly knocked him over and within seconds she was kissing him, not caring who was watching. The two of them kissed for a solid minute while everyone around them smiled and laughed. Finally she broke the kiss and smiled. "You came back!"
"I had to come back. There's something important I need to tell you. Is there somewhere we can talk in private?" Phil asked.
"Yeah we can go in a classroom down the hall. It's not being used," she said with a big grin. She led him quickly to the room and once inside she started kissing him again. "I missed you so much," she said after breaking the kiss.
"I missed you too. Keely the reason I came back is because you're in danger," he said bluntly and Keely's smile turned into a confused look.
"In danger? From what?" she said with a little laugh.
"I don't know yet, but all I know is I saw a news report on the Giggle about you going missing and I haven't been able to find any more information after that," he said to her and she began to really look worried.
"But...who would want to hurt me?" she asked.
"I don't know. All I know is I have to keep you safe. According to the video you go missing in two days," Phil said and sat down on one of the nearby desks.
"Two days!? Oh no...no no!" Keely said and began to freak out. She wrung her hands together and paced around the room. "Phil what are we going to do? We don't even know who's after me," she added before leaning her head against his shoulder.
"Maybe you should leave town for a few days. Do you have any family in other cities?" Phil asked as he put his arms around her and held her close.
"Nana Martin lives in Clarksville. I could...," she started to say, but the door to the room suddenly opened.
"I'm sorry could we have a second please," Phil said as a man walked into the room, but the second the words were out of his mouth he knew it was no good. The man he saw standing in the doorway was the same man from his nightmare. Phil stood quickly and placed himself in front of Keely.
"Who are you?" Phil asked.
"Phil Diffy...you need to come with me," the man said and gave the two of them a stony stare.
"Why would I do that?" Phil asked defiantly.
"Because you are in violation of the time travel laws...and you are under arrest," the man said and then flashed a badge.
"What!?" both Phil and Keely said at once.
"No!! You can't take him! He was just coming to save my life," Keely said to the man, but he ignored her as he walked over to Phil and grabbed him by the arm.
"You don't understand. This woman is in danger. You need to tell your colleagues to protect her! Someone is going to try and abduct her in two days!" Phil pleaded.
"That is not our job. We track down and arrest time travelers. If she is in trouble she needs to contact her local police," the man said as he pulled Phil's arm behind his back and cuffed him.
"You know they won't believe her! Please I'm begging you don't do this!" Phil said as the man began to drag Phil away. Phil started to struggle and the man shoved him up against the wall.
"Look Diffy! We've been watching your family for awhile. Ever since you came back from the past you've been watched. We know that you are all up to something and now I have my proof. I don't know what this young lady has to do with your plans, but you will not be interfering in the time-line again! I have made it my personal mission to rid this world of Chrono-Terrorism and scum like you and your family are exactly what I'm after," the man said as he pinned Phil against the wall.
"I'm not a terrorist!!" Phil cried out.
"He's not! I told you he came to save my life!" Keely cried.
"There have been countless attempts by terrorists to go into the past and alter major events in history. You and your family have spent the most time in the past out of anyone from our time period. Are you trying to tell me that you were all just taking a vacation!?" the man yelled.
"It was an accident. Our time machine broke down in this century and my Dad had trouble fixing it!" Phil said to the man who was mere inches from his face.
"Likely story! You're coming with me Diffy!" the man said and dragged Phil out of the room by his arm. Phil was paraded past onlooking students who all whispered to themselves. Keely followed behind them with tears in her eyes.
"Keely get out of town! Whatever you do don't stick around here!" Phil called out to her as the man pushed Phil forward and away from the students.
"Okay...I will!" she called back as the mass of students blocked her view of Phil.
"When we find your time machine Diffy your Father will be joining you in a jail cell! We will have all the evidence we need to put you all away!" the man said as he pressed a button on his remote and his car pulled up to the curb. Phil could see that even though the car looked like something out of the current time period it had no driver. The man opened the back door and shoved Phil inside before closing the door and heading for the driver's side. Soon the car was in motion and within minutes they were going into flux and heading back to the future. Phil was trapped, Keely was helpless, and the time machine was stuck in 2006. The whole ride back Phil sat in silence hoping to himself that Keely took his advice. Once they were finally back in the year 2124 Phil asked the man a question.
"Is there any way you can check the Giggle to see if Keely is okay. That's all I'm asking," he said.
The man sat in silence, pretending he didn't hear Phil, so he asked again.
"Please...I just want to know if my friend is okay," Phil pleaded.
The man reached over and punched a few keys on his dashboard and a TV monitor sprung to life in front of Phil.
"You have two minutes and then I'm cutting it off," the man said.
"Giggle on! Giggle show me last known file on Keely Teslow," Phil asked and braced himself. After a few seconds a video began to play and instantly Phil felt like the world was falling out from under him. On the screen was the same news story about Keely's disappearance that he had seen before. "NO! This can't be!!!" he cried.
The man cut the Giggle off after a few seconds and then looked back to say, "You will now contact your Father and tell him you are in custody. Do you understand me? I'm hoping that once he sees we have you that he will turn himself in as well," the man said and the TV monitor switched over to a live feed. Within seconds Lloyd Diffy was answering the video call.
"Diffy residence! Phil!!!" he said when he saw Phil's face. "What happened?"
"Dad...the time cops got me. I've been arrested," Phil said.
"No!! Oh no...oh this is all my fault," Lloyd said.
"It gets worse...Dad....I failed....Keely.....she's gone Dad. She's gone," Phil said.
To be continued...