Chapter Ten

"Chelsea? What the hell is going on?" Julia shrieked in surprise when I tackled the poor girl to the floor in my hurry to get inside.

"Shut the door!" I screamed as I noticed a weird looming in the shadows behind Gannon's shop.

"What the hell is going on?" Vaughn exclaimed unhappily from his perch in the hallway, his hair all over his head and sleep on every line of his face.

"Damn it!" I scramble to close the door and I hear a loud thud as the shape crashes against the wooden door.

"Did you all see that? That... black blob that was over at Gannon's? Please tell me you all saw that!" I pleaded and they both shot me a blank gaze.

"Chelsea, I will only ask this once. What are you fucking talking about?" Julia asked, her voice harsh and so unlike her usual bubbly voice, that it caught me off guard.

"Julia, I'm not imagining things! Someone was in my house threatening to kill me and everyone I loved." I tried to reason with her but her face held no reason, "Vaughn, you saw it didn't you?"

He shot me a cold look, "I didn't see anything. Now go home." he walked forward and pulled me off the floor while opening the door with his other hand.

"What is wrong with you guys? Why won't you believe me?" I questioned, my voice shooting over three octaves in panic.

Vaughn shoved me out into the rain quickly, "Go home, Chelsea." he shouted over the noise of the storm before slamming the door in my face.

A tall person in a black flowing robe with the hood obscuring their whole face swarmed up to me then and stood behind me, "I'm not going to hurt you now. I want to show you something."

He raised a hand out to me and I looked at it suspiciously, "How do I know you aren't going to hurt me?" I whispered, the highest volume I could get my voice to go.

His hand remained steady, "Unless you give me a reason to hurt you, I will hurt a hair on your hand." he replied in his deep voice and I took a deep breath.

I grabbed his gloved hand in mine and my world melted to blackness.

**/**

"Where are we?" my voice wavered as I looked around us at the blackness.

"This is the darkness. Do not worry, this is just an intersection to our actual destination. Look ahead into the light." he murmured and I did just that.

The darkness turned to light and faded into the familiar surroundings of Sunny Island. Except, it was different. Where Taro's house was, there was a family of five who worked a mining company. The animal shop was actually a tailor shop, and Chen's merchant store was a shipping company. The only store that was the same was the carpenters shop. I looked over at the figure and tried to peer into the darkness of his hood for a face.

"What is this place? I know it's the island, but it's different." I asked and the figure put a hand out to me again.

"This is the island forty years prior to you moving here. Come little one, there is more to see." he prodded and I took his hand again.

We zoomed past the buildings and stopped at the door of my farm house. Err, the person's farm house. This one was much nicer then mine is now. The man opened the door and motioned for me to go in. I try to overstep the loose board, but it wasn't there. I couldn't worry about that, because I was too busy trying to hide from the man now getting out of bed and walking towards the kitchen. The figure laughed at me and I turned around to look at him.

"Mustn't worry. No one can see us." he soothed and I nodded and turned back to the man.

He was in his late fifties, and had thinning brown hair under a blue baseball cap. He wore loose fitting overalls and had on white work gloves. I felt the edges of my memory tug when I looked him over but I couldn't place him. I don't think I've met him before, but he seemed oddly familiar.

"Nami, what do you want for breakfast?" he questioned a sleepy redheaded women as he approached the kitchen counter.

"It doesn't matter to me. Something simple will do. I bet you can't have it finished by the time I get done with chores." she taunted the older man and he smiled down at her.

"You're on." he stated happily and the woman made her way towards the door and walked straight through me.

The man cracked two eggs in a pan and the sizzle filled the house. He walked over to the door and crouched right in front of my feet. I looked at him curiously as he grabbed a screwdriver and shoved it between two boards, taking it out of the board out. He reached behind him to grab something out of his pocket and placed a paper and a photograph in the flooring before replacing the board. He got up quickly as he stirred the eggs and his wife came back into the room. She grinned at him victoriously.

"Looks like I win. Again." she taunted and he pulled her in close.

"Either way, we both win." he said before leaning down to kiss her softly.

"We must go now. Come child." the robed man offered me his hand again and we went back into the darkness.

**/**

"What was the point in that?" I asked the figure and he shrugged his broad shoulders.

"Do with it what you will. Just keep what was said earlier in mind. You don't get off this island, you will get hurt. There are others out there who will do harm to you. Keep that in mind young one. I will try to assist you as much as possible." he said before disappearing in a flash of black.

I stare at the empty place before me before crouching down in front of the loose board. I try and pry at it with all my might, but it's no use. I give one last final tug and the board comes out and I land right on my ass. I put the board down on the ground again and crouched over the hole. Sure enough, the note and picture were still there. I take the note out first, and it read:

"Who ever is reading this, listen carefully. I was viciously killed October 17, 1970, along with my wife. I need you to bring this man to justice. The picture included is of the man who killed me. Please help me, whoever you are. The fate of this island depends on you."

I picked up the picture and the face staring back at me made my blood run cold and soon all I saw was darkness.