Never Knowing Why

Chapter 11

I slammed back into myself in the 21st Century so forcefully that the impact left me reeling and slightly gasping. Alex was mirroring my movements as we recovered from the memory. We realized our hands were still touching after a few seconds and jerked our hands away.

Alex and I sat in silence, unsure what to say to each other.

“That was… Wow I can’t wrap my mind around it,” I said in attempt to break the silence.

“Yeah, that was intense. It was different this time around though, didn’t you feel it?” he asked thoughtfully.

I nodded my head, “It was like I was actually her this time. Normally when this happens I’m her to an extent that I can like see through her eyes, know what she’s thinking, and what she’s feeling, but it feels like I’m merely observing and not in control.”

I said babbling away as my mind went in a million different directions.

 Alex leaned forward so he can rest his arms on the table in front of us making me flush at the close proximity.

“Did you feel the connection though? When we saw each other on Titanic, I felt this weird out of body experience and if I remember correctly I whispered your name. I think for that split second we were our 21st century selves.” I had two sides that were at war inside of me.

“Do you really think that we actually went there this time?” I asked him dubiously trying to keep my breathing slow and even.

“Yes, I honestly think that we did.” I sighed, I knew that he was right, but my practical side didn’t want to accept it.

“I believe it, but at the same time I can’t accept it.” I confessed to him as I played with the pages of the diary.

“I can’t either, but logic really doesn’t have a place in this” he said gently, but firmly. I realized that his demeanor had changed ever since we ‘got back’.

He acted more like Will with a commanding and powerful presence. The past and the present were merging together making him a different person. It made me wonder if I changed at all from what had happened even in the short period of time.

Alex probably saw my inner turmoil in my eyes because he grabbed my hands in both of his and holding them tightly “It will be okay” he said soothingly. I didn’t know if it was because of the emotions that the memories brought back or if it was on my own accord, but I fell for him a little bit. Too soon the moment passed as he let go of my hands. I glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall so he wouldn’t see the disappointment in my eyes.

I turned back to Alex, who had taken out an iPhone and was typing away furiously on it. At that moment I felt a buzz from my backpack saying I had a text. I took out my own iPhone and saw that it was a message from my mom asking where I was. It was only 3:45, but it felt like it should have been closer to 5 o’clock. I grabbed the diary and stuffed it back into my backpack. The zipping sounds made Alex look up from his texting.

“I have to go my mom is wondering where I’ve been.” I told him resignedly as I slung my backpack on my shoulder.

“Um do you want my number so we can contact each other?” Alex asked shyly.

“Yeah um sure,” I said opening my message app and typing in the number as he said them.

He nodded as he typed my number in.

“Got it,” he said as he slung his own backpack over his shoulder. 

“I should probably go to. My dad just texted saying he’s waiting outside for me and he’s not very patient.” He explained as we weaved through the tables.

We said our goodbyes and parted ways after walking through the library doors. I made my way home going over what had happened during the day.

Later after my homework was done I had gone into the kitchen to grab some water. I was putting the glass next to the sink when I heard the doorbell ring. I walked to the entry hall where I opened the front door and looked outside. No one was there and I was about to close the door when a flash of white caught my attention. My breathing sped up because on the doorstep was another white package. 

This one was a lot smaller than the others had been. I quickly grabbed it and brought it in to the kitchen. I set it down quickly then ran to grab a pair of scissors. I had gotten better at opening the boxes, but I still wished for a light saber. When it was finally opened I reached in and brought out a DVD in a plastic case. Stuck to the DVD was a post it note on it was you should not have been there. Pause at 1:56 on both videos and zoom in on the northern railing where the first class deck hangs over the second clas,. Then you’ll be made to see- A Friend.

I ran upstairs and stuck the DVD into my laptop.

As the video player fired up I couldn’t help, but think ‘What do they mean I should not have been there. I wonder if this person sent the other stuff to me.’

Finally the video loaded and started to play. I was surprised when I saw what the video was about. The video was about a ship pulling away from a port. The picture was in black and white with no sound that went with the grainy image. I knew automatically that this was a video of Titanic pulling away from port. When it rolled around to 1:56 I paused the video and took a screenshot of it. I hit play again and watched the smiling faces of the people wave good bye.

‘If only they had known about the sinking’ I thought grimly as the next video started playing. I repeated the actions on the second video as I had on the first. I opened word and save the two as pictures.

I quickly opened them up in Photoshop and zoomed in as much as I could before the picture went grainy. I flipped back and forth for about 15 minutes trying to find anything different. I started to get frustrated as time dragged on and I found nothing. I was about to give up when I noticed something finally. I zoomed in and cleaned up the pixels so that I could see it. In picture one Ashlyn and I were grinning and leaning over the railing from the second class deck while Alex was standing stick straight and unsmiling. I flipped to the other photo and almost did a double take. We were missing in the second photograph.

I slipped the DVD back in its case when I felt another sticky note on the back. I flipped the case over and on the note it read first video: Titanic Sailing 1912  (fake) second video: Titanic Sailing 1912 (real). I had viewed the photos in the order of the videos they were taken from. ‘If we weren’t supposed to be there, then what did we change?’ I thought as I stared at the photos.

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A/N  Hey guys! I know that this was kind of slow but I hope you like the end of the chapter. I promise that this story will be picking up a lot more speed soon. I don't want to write this in 20 parts and be over. Please bear with me on this. I would like to hear what you think of the story so please please please comment. Vote Fan Comment ♥