Tale Across Time: Part 1
"First chapter of Tale Across Time, sub-story to War Of the Dimensions. This was supposed to contain yiff, sorry about that, I promise the next chapter will, it's an integrated part of the story so..."
The New Beginning
Robert sat up in the bed, body shivering slightly in the cold air. It was morning and the only thing keeping him from falling asleep again was a massive buzzing sound, beeping it's way into his head. He slammed his hand down on the clock, hearing it give off a last restrained beep before silencing. He looked at the clock, the numbers flickering red for a while before giving up completely.
9am, this was turning out to be a swell day. The heater probably crashed down, wasn't Bob supposed to deal with it? That lazy good for nothing jerk. Robert stood up, yet quickly leaped into the bed against, grabbing his foot. The floor was ice, it was so cold had he stood any longer his skin had frozen stuck. This was the middle of June, what the hell was going on? He grabbed his slippers under the table, putting them on his feet and standing up.
Robert Arthur Edison, a young man at the age of 20, orphan since birth, mother died while giving birth, father unknown. Normal young boy, roughly 5'9'' tall, slender build, working out four times each week. But what's most remarkable are his head and face, one green and one blue eye, shifting in color depending on mood. His hair is an ivory-red, long, silken hair, living its' own life in a way, probably never seen a comb yet it stays very prude and neat. His entire face seems to be roughly cut by several years, yet he's hardly been outside the town.
Robert grabbed his morning-robe and draped it around his body, heading out from his apartment, into the kitchen. His apartment was really just one room, in a huge house shared by five students. There was Robert, Bob, Michael and two others, friends of Bob. Robert, Bob and Michael had been friends since kindergarten, sharing both good times and bad times. Robert had been placed in adoptive-family after birth. Yet as soon as he got the chance and possibility he took off.
Robert glanced over the kitchen, seeing all the leftovers from the earlier breakfasts, old pieces of cheese, a package of butter standing and melting in the sun, causing a vomiting smell in the entire kitchen. An empty package of milk stood on the table, another lied down in the sink, milk pouring out of it. They were disgusting slobs everyone of them, and if it hadn't been for the fact that himself had to use the kitchen now, he'd gladly leave it for them.
He started up the wooden-stairs, knocking on the door just over the stairs.
Bob, get your ass down to the kitchen and clean it up.
There wasn't any reply; he could just hear someone breathing heavily inside. That asshole, he wasn't actually. Robert grabbed the handle to the door, feeling it cold in his hand, shivering slightly, the thought of what he might see making his entire body shiver in disgust. Then he tore the door open, met by two loud shouts, not entirely to Robert's surprise it was a male and female. He stared into the semi-light room, seeing two figures in the bed.
- Robert, what the hell is your problem?
That voice was easy to recognize.
Squeaky, slightly male voice, always trailing down at the end of a sentence, making him sound like a tape-recorder played on fast-forward, batteries running low. Robert could never really keep a straight face when Robert had this voice, it usually only came out when he was extremely embarrassed or when he was seriously pissed off. This was one of those extreme moments where they the both causes acted a part.
- Bob, you know you can't leave the kitchen like that!
Bob quickly got up from the bed in his full nudity, marching towards the door. Robert chuckled and if eyes could kill, Robert had be hung, gutted and crisped.
Bob pushed Robert outside the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him; his eyes flashing with rage as he more or less nailed Robert to the wall with them.
- What the fuck is your problem, didn't you know what we were doing?
Robert gave off an innocent face, staring up in the ceiling.
- I would never do such a thing on purpose, Bobby Boy.
Bob was one of those characters who had been bullies since first grade, but in reality a girl could whoop his ass. Robert had realized this long ago and used it much to his own amusement and advantage.
- Robert, the kitchen can wait.
Robert sighed and shook his head, knowing it was practically impossible to convince Bob when he was mad.
Bob slammed the door shut behind him again while Robert headed down the stairs. It was long before they returned to their former pastime, yet this time it was louder, just to make sure everyone was hearing it. Robert would never get used to living with those four, he had never been like them, but a group works better if it has one of each kind, thus Robert had been welcomed into the group. Now he had that longing desire to move out of here just as much as he had when he lived with his. family.
Robert found the kitchen in the exact same mess as he left it, not much change there. He didn't have time to clean the entire mess, he was late for work. a work he loathed but it paid well. He just swiftly cleared and area on the bench and made his breakfast, nothing fancy but a couple of cheese-sandwiches, he'd have to grab some meal on McDonalds on lunch.
Robert was a warden at the zoo two miles outside town, an international zoo with just about every kind of animals you can imagine: horses, goats, bears, cows and elks to the pleasure of the more timid watchers. Yet the zoo also offered lions, tiger, elephants and monkeys for those of that interest. And for those creepy characters and wild kids they had a basement filled with snake, spiders and various insects to measure up to Natural Geographic's library.
Robert felt just at home here, the bus-ride out felt like the door to heaven, filling him with some kind of bliss that wasn't achieved anywhere else. He only loathed it cause as true it was, the bus-ride there saved his life, yet the bus-rides away was torture, breaking some kind of hope that built up during the day. It was even worse when the zoo was closed, then he didn't have access under any circumstances.
But this was a normal day, he wasn't off on forced leave in months, he usually placed his vacation on the winter when many animals where shipped off to special locations where they were to stay during the winter. But it was half a year to winter, at least, yet this day was abnormally cold, it would've been so even if it had been winter. Snowflakes were dangling down from the sky, Robert hoped only that they had covered the cages and turned on the heating.
The day was extremely uneventful, just as usual. Cleaning some cages, feeding some animals and fixing a fence that was about to break. A boring day, in the middle of June with a temperature below freezing point. Just like any normal day, really. well, up to the point when I had to go home. I usually came home around midnight on days like these ones. We were under-staffed and fixing the entire zoo on just three took time. I was the one who locked up on regular basis, standing on my slightly, too thin, slightly too small jacket for such a day.
I was shivering madly as I walked towards the bus-shelter, seeing it crowded with thugs didn't really help either, but thugs around here were just wimps with a tough cover, much as Bob, I guess. But I was never going to get as far as the bus-shelter, not today. Just ahead of the bus-shelter was a crossing, it wasn't the most trafficked road in town, but the traffic could be pretty heavy industry: big lorries, trucks the size of small Boeing and heavy machinery, we hadn't really placed any animals near the road, they'd be terrified.
I didn't really pay attention to the traffic; it wasn't really necessary usually. I used pulled my jacket tighter around me, shivering in cold. I set my foot down on the street and took a few steps out. My ears heard the horn clearly on the double. I turned my head and saw the truck rushing toward me in way over 100mph. I don't really know why I did what I did, I just did it: I curled my lips in a grin and gave off a slight chuckle, only saying:
Well, fuck me.
There was no way out, not a chance in hell.
Arms grabbed around my chest tightly, squeezing all the air from my chest.
Wouldn't mind if I did, handsome.
Who ever. WHAT ever it was, simply lifted me straight up in the air, the grounds left my feet rapidly and I heard the trucks rush past under me with a roar, sending vibrations even up in the air then through my body. Hot steam and fumes covered my entire body as I hung loosely in the air; one arm still wrapped around my chest. I stared down at the truck passing under me, how long was that damn thing?
And then it was all over. The end of the truck passed under my feet and no longer than a second after, I was dropped. I fell no more than 7-8 feet, but it felt like my entire body slammed into the pavement from the fifth story. I fell to me knees, toppling over with a hurl, spewing my breakfast and lunch on the street. I had just gotten as close to death as you get, without actually dying. A hand slid across my back, the anatomy was fucked up, I could feel it.
Who ever was behind me gripped both my shoulders gently and started massaging.
We'll meet again, be so certain.
And with that IT was gone again, leaped away just as swiftly as it came. The voice had been female, but the structure and speed of the body wasn't female. In fact, I doubted it was even human. A few startled gasps were heard from the bus-shelter and I heard them running towards me, shouting something. I couldn't make out the words, I had twisted my ankle upon landing, no doubt, it was burning.
I felt several hands touch me at once, some shouting to the persons next to them, ordering them to get an ambulance or something. I tried to turn my head but my entire body was burning, as if I had been lowered into lava and pulled out. only, I guess my body was heat-resistant, or I'd be melting. A funny thought that crossed my mind at that point was if vampires felt like this when sun stuck their body. But the cool air quickly made itself reminded and it chilled my body.
I soon found myself in an ambulance, on my way to hospital. They kept taking samples from me, but there was nothing wrong with me, I had just felt ill. The nurses in the ambulance kept saying things, like:
Don't worry, you'll be just fine again.
What ever that meant eluded me at that time. I could be off worse, splattered in red across the hood of a truck the size of Montana. or near, traveling towards New York in 100mph. like I said, much worse. I never even like New York. This thought was the last to cross my mind before I saw the nurse take a needle with some green stuff and injected it. I was out cold immediately.
High on the rooftops above the accident, the young wolf observed. The man was reckless, he deserved to die for what he was. but this wasn't the time or place. The wind rustled through her gray fur, a few strands of her fur brought along with it. She had left her fur all over him, it was only a matter of time before he started looking. The elders wouldn't be pleased if he found out too early, what if he denied it before he was ready? She had to follow him further, the nearest hospital wasn't too far.
To be continued...