𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 ━ five hargreeves

5│THE MISSING PIECE

Five directed his next question to the man: "you ever heard of uh, Area Fifty-one? Roswell?"

He let out an excited sound as he exclaimed, "hot damn!" The previous fear vanished completely as he grinned broadly and tossed the blade aside. "Whoo! See, I always knew we weren't the only ones!" He used both fingers to indicate the crazy gesture. "See, Eleanor thought my head wasn't screwed on tight but. . . but it's all true, yeah? UFOs, crop circles. . ."

"Well, the truth is out there," Five answered vaguely, giving him a non-threatening smile.

"No, no, no, no. The. . . the truth, it's right here in front of us." He approached the boy and his hands reached out towards him but Five took a step back. He leaned forward anyway. "Tell me, why is it always an anal probe?"

Maybe Dolores was still the people-person. Five's eyes narrowed. "Any closer and I'll melt your brain."

The man took his warning to heart and obeyed, backing away. "He needs a little space. Yes, I'll be over here."

"All those contraptions on the roof, you built those, right?"

"Oh yeah, yeah, sure did," he answered proudly. "Yeah, I've been tracking anomalies in. . . in the atmosphere. Just waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Five asked.

"For you," he replied, motioning to the boy. When he didn't catch on, the man continued: "for all of you. It all started in 1960, the year the Silvertone Omega was released. I was in the middle of a sale when something very. . . strange happened." He remembered the bright flash of light that some newspapers had reported existing. "So, for the past three years I've witnessed five energy surges in that alleyway out back. Same thing every time. A bright blue light, then something appears."

Five's brows creased as he did the math. "Only five? Are you sure?"

". . .Yes," the man said slowly. "Why? Should I expect another one?"

"Never mind that," the boy replied. Worry started to form in the pit of his stomach. Where was she? "Did you get a good look at any of them?" He squinted at the pixelated pictures stuck on the push-board.

"Yeah, the first one. And then the big, sensitive one." He pointed to the respective images.

"Sensitive?"

"Yeah, cried a lot, kept coming back to the alley, sat around for hours calling a woman's name. . . uh—" He tried to recall it and snapped his fingers when he did. "Allison!"

It didn't take a genius to figure out who he was talking about. "Luther."

"Yeah, he wasn't the only one. Uh, others came too, off and on over the years, looking for each other. Eventually, they all stopped."

"Did you ever see them clearly again? Maybe a girl, my age, with dark hair?" Five tried not to let the hope show in his voice.

The man frowned, trying to remember before regretfully shaking his head. "No, sorry. Everyone who came by was clearly an adult."

Five clenched his teeth together, his hands fisting as he resisted the urge to touch the metal band reassuringly. He would find her. He had to. He sighed and forced himself to focus. "So, my family is alive. Shit. I think I stranded them here." He turned to the man. "Now listen to me. . ."

He walked up to the other man who grew nervous again as he spluttered, "Elliot. Elliot." He paused as Five continued to walk towards him, spatial jumping to force Elliot over the couch.
"My name. . . my name is Elliot."