The Eye Of The Ankh #Wattys2016

Chapter Thirty-Four

What Hugo said has me worried. I know that he's still in Eota, but that doesn't mean he's not safe. He doesn't do anything horrible in the group. He recruits.

There's so much to think about these days. Graduation is coming up—like it really matters, I won't really graduate—and there's Hugo and school and Anna and therapy and staying happy and art and still, somehow too much time to think.

And in that horrid time to think, I've thought of the one thing that will really make me feel more like the old me. Closure. And not closure with Ethan, closure with my parents.

I never got to really say goodbye. When I left the house, I stormed out, angry. If I had any idea what would come that night, I would have never left. But I did.

I'm tired of thinking. I'll sleep now. And in between the time I lay down and the time I'm actually asleep, I'll do nothing but think more. Then, when time flies and I need to sleep more and think less, I'll count my breaths. Every breath in, everything breath out.

And I will sleep.

I called Hugo around one the next day, a Sunday. He picked up. "Yes?"

"I have a favor, and it's a pretty big one."

"What is it?"

"Well, I know that you can go into the future... but can you go into the past?" I bit my lip. I know that time travel is risky as is, but going into the past is idiotically stupid. I read that story, The Sound of Thunder.

"The past? That's dangerous."

"I know, Hugo, I know. But I figured with a good enough reason to go, you might make it happen?"

"What's the reason?"

"I want to go back, to the night my parents died, and I want to say goodbye. Not even to them. They never have to see us. But I need comfort. Closure."

Hugo took a deep breath. "Let me think about it." He hung up.

I let out a breath.

"Where are you going?" Anna asked as I opened the front door.

I paused, my hand hovering over the door to the garage. "I'm meeting up with Hugo at the school. He's taking me somewhere. Surprising me."

"Okay. Be home at a decent time, okay? You've got school tomorrow."

I nodded. "I know. I'll be home soon." I walked into the garage and got into my car.

Walking up to the barn I felt nervous. Hugo's SUV was already there.

Inside, Hugo stood before the control panel, pressing buttons and hitting switches. He didn't even glance up when I walked in. "Okay, listen, Alice, there will be very strict rules. We will not do anything that might break those rules. We will not talk to anyone, we will not let anyone see us, we will be invisible, we will not touch anything besides the ground, we will not take anything with us we don't need, and we will not leave anything behind. Understand?"

"Leave no trace we were there. Got it."

"Okay. Go get ready."

I sat down in the glass case as Hugo continued to mess with the settings on the machine. Once he finished, he hurried over to his case and laid down. He didn't look at me. He just looked straight ahead, eyes harsh. This is going against every fiber in his being.

Once we were in the past, the cases opened and Hugo got out. He went up to the loft, coming back dressed in all black. "Come on. It's dark so we'll blend in better." He tossed me black leggings and a black jacket.

When I was dressed, he walked to my house. It was cold, a few days before Christmas.

The house was loud, yelling heard from inside. Hugo and I squatted by a window on the side of the house, one to the living room. Inside, I ran down the stairs, tears hanging in my eyes. I stormed out of the door, my car heard gunning down the driveway.

My parents, oh God, my parents. My mother was crying, my father was trying to comfort her. They were speaking, but I didn't know what they were saying.

A car, one without headlights on, pulled silently into the drive. A man got out and snuck up to the door. He opened it, smiling. Then I watched my parents' murder. The man started to strangle my mother as my father fought back. The man pushed my dad, his head cracking on the edge of the coffee table. I gasped a little. He had passed out, blood spilling. The man held his hands around my mother's neck as she tried to claw at him. The next minute, she went limp.

They were both dead.

Outside, the grass rustled and I saw Hugo—the Past Hugo—outside a different window. He pulled out his phone. "Yeah, I need police and an ambulance here right now. There's been a possible murder." Hugo gave my address, starting to pace. I still hadn't arrived.

"What are you doing here?" I asked the Present Hugo.

"I'll explain when we get back."

Sirens sounded in the distance, getting closer and closer. The murderer had already left, speeding off into the night.

"Alice, we've got to go. Now."

I looked back to my parents. "Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. I love you."

We ran between the fences of my house and the neighbors to avoid the police that were coming. Once we were on the street behind mine, we stopped running. I started to cry, and I didn't even realize i.

Hugo didn't say anything.

We went to the present.