"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."
"Oh we have, sir," the man said. "My name is William Ray and I come from the future."
Harvey stared at William Ray, his lips parting in perplexity.
"I don't understand," Harvey voiced his thoughts.
"You won't have to if you let me use your Time Machine and go back to my time," William Ray said.
Harvey shivered at the mention of those words, it brought back dark memories, memories that haunted him."What Time Machine?" Harvey said, not wasting any time to process William's words.
William looked at him for what felt like a long time and then he rose from his seat and stood tall. Harvey noticed that William's hands were shaking.
"Please tell me you are joking. I need that Time Machine."
"I don't know what you are talking about," Harvey spoke, sternly.
William ran his hands through his hair; he looked pissed and scared.
"Look...sir," he began. "I can explain—"
"Then you're welcome," Harvey cut him off.
"Yes...uh...sure," William said. "So, I, sir, am William Ray. William Ray from the future. I am an author and my first book will be published next year in June. I come from 2019."
"Okay..." Harvey drawled when William looked at him as if to make sure he understood.
"And I am...well how shall I put this," William muttered as he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sighing, he continued, "Well...I am your daughter, Eliza Scott's future husband."
Harvey stilled, his posture stiffened and his jaw ticked, his blood boiling with sudden rage. This man must be one of Eliza's hopeless admirers and was here to fool him. He got up from his seat, looking straight at William. The man flinched at his gaze.
"Get out of my house before I call the cops!" Harvey seethed at William and the latter took a step back but didn't leave Harvey's gaze.
"Look...sir, I understand that I may sound like a creep but I can prove it. I just need to think."
"And why should I believe anything that comes out of your mouth," Harvey demanded, his voice firm and clear. There was no way he was going to let this man near his daughter. He will get him out before Eliza was here.
"You have to because you're the one who sent me here and now, I am away from my home, my wife and everything that I have ever been familiar with. I have no money, no house, and no food in my stomach and on top of that I have a blinding migraine which is killing me and it is all because of you," William said, taking a step towards Harvey as they both faced each other.
Harvey observed the man. If he was indeed speaking the truth, then Harvey, being a scientist himself, had to believe the assumption that he indeed was responsible for the man's condition. He thought for a moment and then spoke, "Fine. Prove it!"
William breathed a sigh of relief and his eyebrows came together in deep thought. After what felt like an eternity, a look of excitement claimed his features.
"My father," William said. "He used Facebook. Do you have Facebook?"
"I do," Harvey said and took out his phone to open the application. He handed the phone to William. If this boy was lying, then Harvey would make sure he paid for wasting his night.
"This phone's so old, sir," William commented as he typed.
It was a brand new phone.
"There you go." William handed the phone back to Harvey.
Harvey took it to find that it was opened to the page of some 'Joseph Ray'. There was a picture, right under the line- 'Joseph Ray just uploaded a new cover photo'.
The photo was of a very elegant and sophisticated looking gentleman with features matching the man before Harvey and beside him stood a woman with blond hair and pretty blue eyes just like William's and right beside that woman stood...William?
Harvey's eyes widened with surprise. He looked at the boy in the picture and then at William. They were the same, except that the boy in the picture was a little younger and looked like a teenager. His hair was long and tied in a ponytail at the back but this William's hair, the one standing right in front of Harvey, was cut short and messy. He looked older and mature.
Harvey put the phone back on the table and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe that this was happening.
"How old are you?"
"I'm twenty-seven, sir," William replied. "I am nineteen in that picture."
"And how do I know that you are indeed my daughter's husband?"
To this, William lifted his hand to show Harvey the wedding ring on his finger. Harvey knew that ring; it belonged to his family.
"This ring, sir," William said, dropping his hand back. "You gave your daughter this ring for her husband."
Harvey knew that. He had given it to her only two days ago. She had kept it in a little jewellery box in her cupboard for safekeeping.
"You could have stolen it."
William chuckled without much resistance. "I assure you, sir. If you check you will find it intact wherever you have kept it."
Harvey was staring at William now. He didn't want to believe that this was indeed possible. His future son-in-law was standing right in front of him — a man who had travelled through time.
It had been a long time since he let go of his past actions but now it seemed like they were back to catch up to him, making sure that he never forgot all the terrible things that he had done drunk in his obsession with being someone great. He didn't want to think about that subject; he had locked it safe somewhere so that it never disturbed his peace anymore. His tale was written in tragedy and his hands were tainted with the blood of his beloved. He didn't want to think about it and yet he had no choice but to believe in the strange story of William Ray's.
"Please...believe me," William pleaded. "I am real."
Harvey didn't want to say what he said next but it was a certain kind of unknown connection with the man who claimed to be his daughter's husband that made him say it.
"I believe you, son."