A GIFT OF TIME

Episode 27

I stood at my brother's door tapping my foot nervously as I waited for him to appear after barging into his room during his little session with Tanya. To be frank, I have no idea what to make of it. I knew I wasn't mad. I mean I've watched the two for some time and I know they like each other. I wasn't annoyed because I knew it was gonna happen anytime soon. Why was I nervous then?, maybe I was shocked. That was it. I was shocked. Shocked to know how to feel. That's just the explanation. My brother's door cringed open and he came out perfectly clothed and expression calm. 

"why are you here?" he asked calmly. Oh, is he trying to make me forgot that. Oh no he won't. 

"mom asked us to pick some supplies remember" I reminded and he nodded. 

"how we gonna get supplies if the car aren't working, you're not expecting me to hike down to the mall and grocery stores are you?" Charlie quirked and I pouted in realization. Why didn't I think of that? I thought nodding. 

"okay. I'll see mom about that. Um, do you wanna talk about-

" No Claire. I don't wanna talk about it" Charlie sharply cut in. 

"are you sure? We might-

" I said I don't wanna talk about it Claire-

"um, okay. Fine. You're not talking about it. But you do love her don't you?-

" Claire! "Charlie practically snapped at me and I jumped. He didn't just do that. I blinked furiously for some seconds before faking a smile and moving away from his room. Like why the f**k did he do that? I was fuming and I needed someone to rant at. I was reflecting on what just happened between Charlie and I while I made way to my mom to tell her we couldn't be picking supplies if the cars aren't working when I heard loud yelps from the sitting room. Thankfully I wasn't quite far from my room so I moved in to grab my revolver. I was shocked to get to the living room to see the alien my mom was taking care of. The strange alien that looked like my dad pointing.. How the f**k did he get a pocket knife?. He was pressing it against my mother's throat and it was making me boil. Danny was pointing a g*n at him. The rest in the living room was Hailey, Nicole and Mrs Evans. 

"put down your weapon, get me out of here or I'll cut her throat through" my dad's look-alike threatened as we all stilled in fear. 

"Honey, Claire. Come check this out" I heard my dad's voice coming from the hallway leading straight to the living room. But he froze on the scene right in front of him. 

"what's going on?" my dad asked in disbelief watching the wife on my mom's neck but he moved to my side afraid any worse might happen and it did happen. I heard Lucio chuckle into the living room clapping his hands and making me horrified. A chuckling Lucio wasn't something I need right now. It was a bad omen. Danny abruptly turned his g*n at him on his appearance. 

"trust me I wouldn't believe a place full of people who knew so much about us ever actually existed. I believe you must have traveled through time " Lucio turned to me with the declaration making me chuckle lightly. 

"took you long enough to find out. Even your errand boys knew that. How didn't you?" I asked deciding to play along while I distract the one holding a knife to my mom's neck!. 

"my apologies, few things quite escape me. How many are you in here, 12, 15, 16. You did amaze me but did you seriously think your number or multiples of your number can stop us Claire. I mean the chief decided to come earlier on figuring out there was someone who could stop us in this time. I didn't know you didn't really belong to this time. How did you survive the time travel Claire?. Even Ghafils had quite a rough time traveling. It's either you die trying or withstand the pain and agony you feel-

"I actually died" I cut in sharply. 

"made it so much easier. Then I believe you have quite a short time to live. You do know you can't stay in this world for long with a weak heart Claire. The longest you can live is a year-

" the longest you Lucio can live in this world is 15, but you cheated life by living 20. I might be able to do the same" I smirked and he chuckled. 

"such an intelligent insolent brat" Lucio chuckled. 

"Claire. I made an ozone syringe. It automatically release itself inside its victim. You just have stab him with it" my dad whispered as Lucio played with the large flower vase standing next to the steps at the entrance of the sitting room. Taking an advantage of Lucio's distraction. I managed to get the syringe from my dad while I fixed my gaze on Lucio. 

"you know. Ghafils have an excellent hearing, perfect eye sight and fast regeneration compare to humans" that practically had me freezing. 

"Lucio, do you play darts?" I asked ignoring the fact that he might have heard what my dad said and funny enough the question seems to take everyone aback. I had memory flashes of Nicholas teaching me darts at camp. I could almost remember how it felt when he held my hand and how he did it. 

"no, why do you ask?" he questioned studying me warily. He knew I was up to something but I could tell he was busy trying to figure out what. 

"because I can throw darts with my eyes closed" I informed and he furrowed his brows. 

"watch" I sharply instructed before throwing the syringe to my dad's lookalike on the arm he was using to press the knife against my mom's neck he frowned at the strange attack and try to slit my mom's throat but his hand trembled and he let out a loud gasp so I abruptly turned when I caught Lucio trying to make a run for it at the corner of my eyes. 

"do not move" I warned pointing and clicking my g*n at Lucio. 

"you're just too smart for my liking" Lucio hissed and I snickered. 

"I'll take that as a compliment. Get rid of him. And please tell Tony to keep his pockets knives out of Lucio's sight. He's a sly fox. I knew he took that knife. Now look at what he's done" I asked gesturing my head to my dad's lookalike side. He was gasping for Nitrogen as he slowly turn brown. 

"he was too slow. We could have been out of here-

" if you ever think you're gonna be out of here any soon. Well dream on because we are cut out of the f*****g electricity. We could only figure out how to make the light work not the cars dumbass and trust me. You wouldn't hike a meter before we have you heading back here so. Do yourself a favor and not make it hard for yourself. We don't have any intention to kill you but trust me, we can reconsider that if you asshole isn't behaving yourself. Sorry dad" I turned to my dad apologizing for my choice of language as I watch him move hastily to my mom's side helping her with the slight cut on her neck. I nodded at Danny who pushed Lucio out of the living room while I head to my mom's direction. 

"mom" I worriedly called kneeling next to her as she sat dejected on the floor with my dad next to her-

" I'll be fine. It's just a cut" my mom assured as my dad pressed on the wound. I sighed and nodded at her squeezing her hand in assurance. She couldn't hold back her tears anymore so she start to cry. 

"I thought I was gonna die Claire. I was so scared I'll leave you for the second time. I was so scared" my mom sobbed moving into my dad arms. 

"it's alright honey" my dad assured slowly patting her back. 

"Claire saved me. She saved me" my mom sobbed and I smiled at her acknowledgement. 

"I didn't mom. Dad did. he made it. He made the ozone syringe. It was him and not me" I smiled giving the credit to my dad. My mom sobbed even louder at that hugging her husband tight. 

"I was so scared too. I thought something was gonna happen to her" Mrs Evans sympathetically relayed. Moving closer to give my mom a soft pat. 

"Um, guys. You think the alien would live. He's turning chocolate" Nicole observed as he watched the alien change from human to its really true form.

"he deserved to die!" my dad said through gritted teeth. Eying the writhing alien with distaste. 

"he can't. I made a promise to his wife. Actually it's mate but I'll prefer to use wife. I promised to bring him to her if she helped us get Hero. I can't let him die yet dad. What are we gonna do about him?" I asked and my dad sigh. 

"just plentiful dose of pure nitrogen. I can't believe he'll try to do that to Barb. Your mom had been helping him take care of his wounds since he got here. Because of the environment and lack of proper dose of nitrogen. His healing had been slow. But your mom made it her work to make him recover. I can't believe he'll do that. I hope everyone of them would be like Hero. Hero is a good alien " my dad notified and I smiled. 

" yeah I agree dad. Thanks dad" I assented as he helped my mom up and lead her away probably towards the clinic. I was about heading to the laboratory when Hailey and Nicole stopped me looking frenzy and nervous. 

"is your self defense classes still available Claire.?" Nicole asked and I snickered. 

"it's yet to start. But don't worry. We are having it today". I assured the girls making my way out to the lab to get nitrogen for the alien. I had managed to tie him up before getting nitrogen into him. His recovery rate was slow but he did recover. At an hr rate. I nodded at the observation before making my way out to see dad heading into the engineering unit of the safe house. I saw him discussing with Mr Stewart about the ozone weapon he developed. I watched as Mr Stewart brought out a g*n which will be able to eject the ozone in the syringe form. Just like a g*n shooting a bullet. It was quite impressive really. 

"why standing by the door?" Danny's voice made me flinch and I abruptly turned to him. 

"I was.. Looking at their accomplishments. I can't believe they made those. Don't get me wrong. I'm just amazed how skilled how parents are" I smiled as I resumed staring at them while they test out the ozone shooters. 

"Hey, Nicholas greeted distracting us as he made way out from the back of Mr Stewart and my dad. 

" the repulser is done. We've managed to combine two. We can only do as much because we have limited resources. We really need more supplies" Nicholas informed folding her hands as he stared at Brian still working on something. 

"you think those two will work now?. We can use them to get view supplies." I suggested and he nodded though I refuse to meet his eyes. 

"where's Tony by the way?" I asked passing by my dad to Brian to watch what he was working on. I spotted Mr Robinson at the end sitting next to a desk with a smoldering mask on while he melted few things together on little Aimee. 

"he's fixing the CCTV at the other side of the house. Said he needed to have every area of the place covered. Look over there" Danny pointed to a corner where computers stood atop each other. Gracious lord that's like 8 computers there. Looks much like camp. 

"said that's his work unit. Also he asked me to give you this" Danny said moving to another desk and table to grab what looks like a map. It was a map but different. It was a surveillance scene captured by the satellite. 

"he found the Driller" Danny informed and Nicholas brought some other pictures making me briefly meet his eyes. He had a silly smile on his face but I chose to ignore. 

"this is the clearest image we have on it" Nicholas informed. 

"why does it look like a rocket?" I muttered to myself as I study the diagram. 

"it does looked like a rocket with perfect drilling mouth. Just like a wood driller but it's different. The estimated tonnes it weighs is 150tonnes. The metal is unlike anything on this earth it's massive. How we are supposed to stop this thing, I have absolutely no idea " Danny sighed and I run my hands through my hair in similar frustration. 

" he is able to scan it through, I want to know how the damn thing is built. How it will be turned on and stuff. We need to find out more about it before we move. We don't know if it can get us killed." I mused meeting Danny's eyes and he nodded in acknowledgement. 

" hey guys. You're here. Mrs Evens had me bringing lunch " Tony announced beaming on happiness. I guess he does love food. He walked in with four plates of pizza. How did he do that?. I wondered as he balanced the four plates in his hands. He placed two plates on Mr Stewart table and two on ours. 

"thanks man" Brian said to Tony and he gave him a smile in response. 

"Tony, I was saying we need more-

"hey, do you know how hard it is to get that?" he frowned. 

"Tony I know it's hard. It's ridiculously hard. That's why you are the brains-

" I am the brains? "he quirked at me studying me. Something you need to know about Tony is. He loved to get praised. Just praise him a little and you can have him doing the impossible. 

" yeah Tony. People might call you geek but trust me to me it means Greek Genius. You can't do what no one can. No one is this penthouse can do what you just did. You are amazing and that's why I believe you can get the structure of this thing. I'm very scared to go after it when I don't really know much about it. I mean we can get ourselves killed out of ignorance. So we need you Tony " I concluded and he sighed. 

" I'll see what I can do about it Claire. It'll be hard getting the structure of the alien thing and you know it. I mean the goddamn thing isn't even from here " he complained looking quite doubtful. 

" I believe you can do it Tony" I patted his shoulder with that. 

"how's your grandma by the way? I know you told the old ma she was on a family vacation. It's really good because we can't have her suffering from heart attack." I clicked grabbing a slice of pizza. 

" yeah that's true. I mean for a perfectly healthy human this is too much to handle " Brian assented with a mouthful of pizza. 

" she's doing fine. Just told her we are working on a point making game and everyone is forced to work together to get points. So most of us are building things. But Claire? " he paused looking at me while I chewed on my pizza. 

"we are running out of her drugs. We need to go pick em up sooner." he informed ruefully and I smiled. 

"we'll work things out Tony. Don't worry" I assured and he nodded. 

"I think I should go get another plate of pizza". Tony suggested grabbing the two empty plates in front of us. How in the world did that happen? I only had a slice. I frowned and nodded vigorously at his suggestion making him chuckle while he head out. 

"so, you think this will work?" I turned to Brian in question. 

"we haven't quite tested it so we can't be sure" Danny put in. 

"do you always have to wait for me to test it out really?" I asked clapping out my hands to get pizza crumbs off it. I moved out with Brian, Nick and Danny to test the repulser on the cars. The smaller repulser was oval-shaped. Compared to the larger one repulsing electromagnetic pulse a meter away. Thankfully we were surrounded by rocks and water. The place was a residential villa, so it takes some time seeing the city from there. The small repulser had similar constituents with the large one but smaller and the silver lead used was quite reduced compared to the large one. Danny had improved it compared to the one made at camp. The one made at camp was always in the front seat but this was made to fit in the engines cabinet. A good improvement really. The car worked immediately it was started so I thought it actually worked. 

"it works then" I noted and Brian nodded. 

"I guess so. There was no problem in starting the car so. Maybe it works" I had no idea why Brian sounded so unsure and it made me frown. 

"I'll go get Charlie and Tony. We need to get supplies. Also, I might need to check on my mom" I informed sauntering inside to check on my mom first. I slowly opened the door to the pent clinic to see her sleeping quite beautifully. She had a bandage on her neck and I was glad she was okay. I adjusted the covers on her and moved to look for Charlie. Took me a while to find him. He was at the back of the house sitting on the upholstered chair and staring into nothingness looking perturbed. The back of the house was facing the ocean and it was quite chilly outside sweeping my red hair across my face. I had to tuck few strands to the back of my ear to make out Charlie's dejected image. 

"hey, you okay?" I asked sitting next to him while I met his depresses gaze. 

"Nah I'm fine" he timidly replied. 

"no you're not. Something is wrong isn't it?" I asked and he exhaled deeply looking at nowhere in particular. 

"tell me Charlie, what's wrong?" I urged and he moved his hands into his hair which looked like it he had run his hands through it countless times. 

"I don't know Claire. I don't know. I mean I love Tanya but.... I don't know how to do about her. I love her. And I want only her but she doesn't seem to want that. Why does she always stopped me from talking about it. Every time I tried to talk about it. We end up having s*x-

"hold on a second" I halted Charlie and he paused. 

"how many times have you two..." I drawled and he gave me a silly look. 

"does that really matter Claire?" Charlie asked with an arched brow.

"yeah, it quite matter" I insisted and he sighed. 

"five times-

" five times? "I asked like I wasn't sure that was his answer. 

" yeah five times " he insisted and I stood cackling like a mad person before turning to my brother which I actually thought I knew but unfortunately I didn't. 

" Charlie. How the f**k did you guys had s*x for five times and I had no freaking idea about it? "I asked staring at my brother with utmost disbelief. 

" seriously Claire? Are you kidding? Should I always show up on your door to announce to you 'oh Claire I want to have s*x' "Charlie finger quoted with sarcasm. 

" I.. I.. I wasn't expecting that. But five times Charlie that's freaking surprising " I blinked ferociously at the imagination. 

" yeah right. She's just so hot" Charlie dreamily muttered. 

"snap out of it Charlie" I snapped my fingers in his face and he flinched before throwing me a haughty look. 

"so, you want commitment but she doesn't seem ready-

" yeah that's it-

"have you tried talking it out with her-

" are you even listening? She doesn't wanna talk about it" Charlie frustratedly groaned. 

"we'll figure it out. Right now we need to pick supplies and Tony's grandma's drugs. The cars working now so we need to get going" I tapped my brother and he sighed standing after I had headed into the house. 

"Tony, we are going to pick supplies. You might wanna come along to pick drugs for your grandma" I informed but he was quite distracted with what he was doing. 

"why don't you go ask Tanya. She knows which drugs to pick. I'm kinda busy right now" he replied eyes still fixed on the system. 

"yeah sure" I said moving down the hallway down to the series of room to hear faint discussion from a newly opened room which I hadn't quite noticed before. I moved and slowly opened the polished door to see Tanya showing Nicole and Hailey some moves. All of them were clad in fitted leggings, sports bras and slip-ons. How did they managed to get the outfit. I had no idea. 

"Tanya. We need to go pick some supplies and Tony would love you to come along so you could pick grandma's drugs" I informed and he nodded. 

"I wanna go-

" no Nicole. You stay here and practice your new moves with Hailey. We'll be right back " I smiled though giving her a disapproving look while Tanya smiled heading towards me by the door. 

" later girls " Tanya smiled moving her fingers at the girls while grabbing her jacket at one corner of the floor. The room was quite empty. I made my out with Tanya to the parking range. He was drooling on seeing Tanya and I prayed he would be able to concentrate while driving. 

"you really need to snap out of it" I whispered to him while making my way to sit in the front seat. He averted his gaze and join me while Tanya moved to the back. 

"hold up" Nicholas halted the car as Charlie tried to start the car. I groaned as he hastily moved to join Tanya at the back of the van. We all rode in silence as we made our way out of the penthouse but met a bad luck a meter away from the penthouse. The van stopped! Can things get any worse! 

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