Till The Clock Strikes Gone

o7 | the man from the future

"Who are you?" Harvey Scott murmured as he stared at the man sleeping on his couch.

He was about to go to bed after checking on his daughter and making sure of her whereabouts when the doorbell had rung. Harvey got up from his bed and put on his robe before climbing down the stairs and opening the door with the chain still intact.

A bald man, carrying that young man on his shoulder, was the intruder of the night.

"Harvey Scott?" the man asked.

"Yes," Harvey replied, confused.

"This man here said that he needed to see you urgently. He was mugged on the way and later fainted in my truck," the man explained.

"Uh..." Harvey searched for words. He stood stunned for a moment, not able to recognize William's features but thanked fate for Eliza not being at home.

"Okay. Bring him in."

The guy put the man down on Harvey's couch and Harvey provided a cushion to rest his head more comfortably.

Helping a needy came easily to Harvey. He thanked the man who was kind enough to give a ride and bring his guest to him. The man smiled at Harvey and then went back to his truck, whistling a tune. Harvey waited for the man on the couch to wake up and sat on the tea table as he watched his guest.

The man's clothes were torn, his blond hair dirty and he was barefoot. His face, as Harvey studied, was beautiful. He looked like the artist who created him had sharpened his features in all the right places. Harvey wanted to see what the colour of his eyes was so that later the information would come in handy while describing his late-night guest to his daughter.

The man steered and Harvey straightened, alerted of his guest finally waking up. The man touched his head and grunted before he opened his eyes. Then, as Harvey watched, he stared at the ceiling for some time and as if realizing something suddenly, jerked up to sit and took his surroundings by a look of cautious surprise. The man looked around and then his eyes fell on Harvey.

Harvey noticed the colour of his guest's eyes. They were a striking blue, like the colour of the sky and as those eyes stared at him, the emotion in them was replaced with hysteria.

"No! " the man exclaimed, his voice loud but weak.

"What?" Harvey asked, getting up from his seat and extending a hand to hold the man's arm, very gently. "Are you okay?"

The man shoved Harvey's hand away and stood up. He ran his hands all over his face, his hair and the light stubble forming on his cheeks. He was tall, taller than Harvey, who stood at the height of 5'9.

"Where's the calendar?" the man questioned, his voice laced with nervousness and urgency. Harvey caught his accent to be English with a hint of Scottish.

Harvey watched the man and with a sigh, took his phone which was resting on the table. He opened the calendar app and showed it to the man. The latter looked at it, his eyes widening in disbelief and then he closed his eyes and sighed, slumping down back on the couch.

"It's true then," the man said, mostly to himself. "I am in the past."

Harvey stiffened at his words. He watched the guy, surprised at his remark. The man looked at the floor, lost in deep thought. Harvey cleared his throat to bring the stranger's attention back to him. The stranger raised his eyes to look at Harvey.

"Hello, sir. Nice to meet you...again," he said with a small smile.

"Again? I don't think we have met before."