Chapter 2

Again, I don't own these characters except the ones I create.

Author's Note: I should have mentioned that this takes place following The Play's The Thing. However, the events of Twister will leave this completely moot, so my goals is to have this finished before Twister airs. Right now, my guess is somewhere between 6-8 chapters. I hope to have it finished before classes begin back on Monday.

Cody just stared at the monitor in front of him. According to what the article said, he would kill himself in just under four years. Cody had no idea how to process that information. What could have made him do such a thing? He had big hopes and big dreams for his future. Sure, one of them appeared gone forever, but he still had others. Cody began shaking his head. He knew then that coming to the library had been a huge mistake. Knowing too much about one's future was a double edged sword. And right then, he felt like he had been cut deeply.

He sighed to himself. "March 14, 2014...Part of me wants to know what happened that day, but part of me knows I shouldn't mess with it. I should never have come here..."

Just then, a sheet of paper came out of a small slot next to the monitor. It was a copy of the article. Without thinking, Cody grabbed it and shoved it in his pocket. He got up, and headed over to Zack. Without saying a word, Cody grabbed Zack's arm and began dragging him away.

"Dude! What are you doing?"

Cody didn't stop though. "We have to get out of here. We can't learn too much about what happens in the future!"

"Why not?"

Cody closed his eyes and swallowed. "Because we might find out somethings we don't want to discover..."

Zack was about to say something, but he noticed the look on his brother's face. Cody was being dead serious, but there was something else in his look as well. Zack paused. Had Cody already found out something bad?

Cody dragged Zack back outside and ducked them into an alley. He pulled out the cell phone like device Arwin had given him and looked at it.

He hung his head. "I wish you would have waited to hear how we are supposed to get back before hitting that button..."

Zack paused. "Yeah, that actually might have been a good idea..." He too pulled out his device and looked at it. "What if I hit the 'SEND' button?"

Cody rolled his eyes. "I think we should find Arwin first. He should still be alive now...I hope..."

Zack laughed. "You worry too much!" And with that, Zack reached down and pushed the button on his device. And like before, Zack began to get fuzzy and distorted before he disappeared.

Cody sighed again. "Oh...what the heck..." He too pushed the button. And the next thing he knew, he was back in the suite at the Tipton again. And both he and Zack found Arwin looking at them excitedly.

"Well? How did it go?"

Zack grinned. "It worked like a charm, Arwin. We were in the year 2040 for a while!"

Arwin began dancing around. "It worked! An invention of mine actually worked like it was supposed to work!"

Cody stopped Arwin's dance. "Yes, it did. And that's why you have to destroy it immediately!"

Both Arwin and Zack looked at Cody is shock. "Why would I destroy it?"

Cody sighed. "Because while this is a great invention, its not for us to mess with the space time continuum. Without knowing it, we could do something that would ruin the world. That's too much power for someone to have..."

Zack looked at his brother. "But..."

"But nothing. When happens when word of this gets out?"

Zack grinned. "Some company pays big bucks for it!"

Arwin nodded. "That would be nice..."

Cody shook his head. "You think the government is going to let a company let alone an individual have this to themselves? And Arwin, once the government finds out you have this, you think they are going to leave you alone to make sure you don't make another one?"

Arwin paused and sighed. "You're right...They'd lock me away in a lab somewhere..."

Cody nodded. "Yeah, and you'd probably never see our mother ever again..."

Arwin gasped. "I'll go destroy it right now!"

Just then, Arwin's cell phone rang and he took the call. Once he was done, he turned back to the twins. "Sorry, maintenance emergency..."

Cody patted his shoulder. "Tell you what, you go take care of that, and I'll take this down to your workshop and take it apart myself..."

"You sure?"

Cody smiled. "Of course..."

Arwin nodded. "Okay, if anyone else would be careful taking it apart, it would be you...Okay, I'm off, see you both later..." And with that, Arwin was off.

Cody reached down to pick up the time machine when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Cody turned to find Zack giving him a look.

"Okay, what's really going on here?"

Cody turned away. "Nothing. This is just too powerful of a device to have. Beside, knowing too much about our futures isn't a good thing..."

Zack paused. "You found out something, didn't you?"

Cody shook his head. "NO!...I mean, no...I might have, but I realized I had to stop looking before I did..."

Zack just nodded, but he didn't believe Cody for a second. "If you say so..."

"That's why I'm going to take it now to be destroyed..."

"Well...Good luck..." And under his breath, Zack mumbled. "With whatever your planning. At least its getting your mind off of Bailey..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing..."

Cody shrugged and took the time machine down to Arwin's workshop. Looking around to make sure he was alone, he triggered the latch on the bookshelf and went into Arwin's secret area.

Cody sighed. "I know what I said, but I have to find out what really happened..."

Cody examined the time machine, and discovered it was relatively easy to find out how it worked. He set the settings for the day before he supposedly committed suicide and set the location for New Haven, Connecticut. Scrounging up his courage, he hit the 'Send' button again. And once again, the same transformation occurred.

And when Cody came to, he was outside again. Looking around, he could tell he wasn't in Boston anymore. And by the name on some of the buildings, he could tell he was on a college campus. He walked around until he could definitely tell he was indeed on Yale's campus.

"Okay...I'm here. Now, where do I start. I don't even know what dorm I will be living in then..." Cody sat down on a bench so he could begin to formulate a plan. But as he did, he couldn't help overhear a conversation between two people sitting on the bench behind him.

"Can you believe what happened?"

"No, I can't...I guess I was naïve in thinking things like that wouldn't happen at a place like Yale..."

"Such a shame though. She was such a beautiful girl..."

"I know. And it was such a shame what happened. Supposedly, she had her entire future in front of her..."

"What did the paper say her name was again?"

"Haley, I think...Wait...no, it was Bailey...Bailey Pickett..."

Hearing that name, Cody felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise up and his heart began to beat rapidly. Had something happened to Bailey? Was she alright? Cody began to freak out. Then he remembered that they had mention something about a paper.

Immediately, Cody jumped up and ran as fast as he could towards the nearest building. And inside, he found a receptacle that held the Yale student newspaper. With trepidation, he reached down to grab one. Without thinking, he found himself sitting down on a bench in the lobby and began to read it.

"Bailey Pickett, aged 20 from Kettlecorn, Kansas, and a junior pre-med major here at Yale, was found murdered Tuesday night. The exact details of what happened were not readily available, but according to the Chief of Campus Police, Fred Thomas, Miss Pickett passed away in the arms of fellow Yale student, Cody Martin. Mr. Martin has not been available for comment."

Cody read the article over and over again. Bailey was dead? Was that why he had committed suicide? Cody gulped. Was he in someway responsible for Bailey's death? Cody paused to think. If he had been, he knew then that he would never have forgiven himself.

Getting up, Cody found himself just wandering around aimlessly with so many questions in his mind. Hearing the chimes of the campus clock, he realized he had to be getting back to his time. He stuffed the paper into his pocket before pressing the 'Send' button again.

Once back in Arwin's workshop, Cody spent several minutes staring at the time machine.

"I'm sorry, Arwin. I know what I said. But I have to know what happened. I know she may hate me now, and with good reason. But if its in my power to save her life, then I have to..." Cody looked down at the machine again. "And with this, I do..."

To be Continued...