We all landed back on the same bed and my Dad whispered. "What the fuck! That's what it feels like! That's freaking HORRIBLE!" "Shut up, Andrew, we don't want them to hear us." said Aunt Allie. "Chloe, go peep around the corner and make sure that it actually worked." she whispered to me. I nodded and crept out of the bedroom as quiet as a mouse. I looked around the corner, and there everybody was, talking and laughing and having a good time. "OH MY GOD, THIS IS NUTS!" I thought to myself excitedly. There were 3 different versions of me in the same place at the moment. I could barely wrap my mind around it.
I crept back into the bedroom and closed the door as quietly as I could. "It worked! We are all out there. That is freaking trippy!" I whispered, shaking my head. "OKAY, we will talk when we get back, come on Chloe, I've already set the time to a minute after we just left." Aunt Allie whispered. My Dad was just sitting there looking dumbfounded and amazed. "Come on, Dad, grab my arm!" I whispered, grabbing his arm for him and wrapping it around mine. I set the 'FORWARD' link to 2023 and checked to make sure that Aunt Allie had the right time and date, and we all popped back to our original time. We all landed back in the same bed with a "THUNK!" I looked at the clock and it said 7:36 PM. I got up and crept around the corner again, and we were gone from the living room. "It really worked." I thought, excitedly.
"HOLY SHIT! THAT WAS AWESOME AND CREEPY!" said my Dad loudly. "Dude, hush Andrew, shit, we don't want them to all know what we are doing in here!" snapped Aunt Allie. "We are going to be able to go together! I can't believe it! We are going to fix this shit! I know it!" I said, excitedly. "I can't believe that it actually worked!" said Aunt Allie, amazed. I really didn't think that it was going to work, but there we all were, and nobody got sick. Aunt Allie was right, that medicine was a must-have. "Okay guys. Well, now we know that we are going to be able to go, so we need to start getting our shit together so we can get started." said Aunt Allie. "Okay, I'll go pick up the bracelets or whatever and then we can meet up at your house, I'll text you whenever I figure out the right time. It'll have to be when I am off of work and don't have the kids." he said. "Sounds good. This is going to be epic." said Aunt Allie. "Hell yes it is!" I said.
We finished our chat and all made our way back into the living room. We had been back there talking for a while and both of the kids had dozed off on the couch while we were gone. "Everything alright?" said my Mom, quietly. "Yeah, they have a plan for the future and they wanted to be able to tell me without the kids overhearing." said my Dad. "I'll tell you everything tonight after we get home." he said. She nodded and said they should get going since the kids were already knocked out. PawPaw was passed out too, in his recliner with his mouth hanging open. "SNORE! SNARF!" He snored louder than Aunt Allie, and we all laughed so loud that he woke back up. "What?" he said, looking around. "Nothing, Dad. We are all about to head home, thanks for letting us have dinner here." Aunt Allie said. "You're welcome, we will see y'all later." said Granny, waving goodbye.
We said goodbye to my parents outside, before they left. I gave them both a big hug and told my Mom that I was really glad that I got to see her. "I'm glad I got to meet you all grown up, you're awesome." she said, hugging me tight. "Love you both! Tell the girls that Auntie Zoey was really happy to meet them." I said, laughing. They laughed too and said that they would, and then we all made our way back to our separate homes. It was a wonderful night, probably one of my most favorite nights that I had ever had. I couldn't wait to get started on saving everybody. "This is going to be amazing." I thought, as we made our way inside of Aunt Allie's house.
CHAPTER TEN
The next few days, we continued talking about when and where we should land. I was the only one who knew how everything was in the future, so I had to be the leader. My Dad texted Aunt Allie and said that he was off in a couple of days and that the kids would be with their MawMaw, so it was the perfect day to do it. My Mom was going to be working that day and he said that he already told her the plan, and that she wasn't happy about it, but she said alright.
I wrote all of our tests out in the journal, so that we would have that available for later on as well. We decided on March 30, 2023 to leave the first time. It wasn't anybody's birthday or anything, but if I brought the journal with me, I would be able to keep track well enough. We were going to be going to January 1, 2044. I didn't remember the exact date that the calls and shit had started but I did remember that it was in 2044. January 1st would give us time to find everybody and clue them in on the situation.
Auntie told me that when she traveled back, she was able to bring things with her. So we each got a shoulder bag so that we could pack away a few things. We definitely wanted to bring both journals along. She was going to leave her original journal in 2023 and pack away the older one to take back, along with my new journal, so that we could take notes and keep up with everything. I told her about the Handheld Screens that we used in the 40's and that she might be able to bring one back here and that excited her. They were kind of like the tablets and iPads that they had nowadays, just way better. I knew that the satellite network wouldn't work but it would still be able to function in this time just fine.
She asked about our clothing and I told her not to worry, I had plenty of money thanks to Other Aunt Allie and I would be able to buy her shit to wear if she wanted me to, so that she didn't stand out. Blue jeans were are still around in the 40's and not much different than what they looked like in the 20's so we were both just going to bring a few pair of hers and some t-shirts. Those never went out of style, plus, people would think we were just super vintage, and vintage was always cool. We texted my Dad and told him to pack the same types of clothes, that way he would be ready as well, and he said that he would and he bought us some bracelets to wear. They were just braided black leather bands and they matched anything that we wore, and looked good on all of us. Everything seemed to be in order by the time March 30th rolled around.
That morning, he came busting into the house with a small duffel bag. It was full of jeans and t-shirts and boxers and stuff. He came into the living room and pushed the fat black cat named Junior over a little bit so that he could sit down. All the cats decided that they were going to crawl all over him and sniff him, but he didn't seem to care, he was used to them and how friendly they all were. I took his bag, so that they wouldn't get hair on everything and I put it into the spare room with all of our bags.
When me and Aunt Allie traveled to the future a few weeks ago, we had done it from the spare bedroom, because I knew that it hadn't changed much, but this time, we weren't going to be able to do that, because Other Aunt Allie would probably be in the house if we arrived there. We decided to travel from Granny and PawPaw's house. We were going to wait for them to leave and then sneak in and leave from the living room, because I knew that it would be empty in 2044. They passed away a few years before, and Dad owned the house now. He had told me that I could move into it if I wanted to, but I hadn't gotten the chance to do the actual moving yet, so it was just sitting there empty, which would be perfect for us to arrive in and we would be able to stay there for an extended period of time. The neighbors would just think that I was my Other and not question it if they saw me coming and going.
We sat and waited for Granny and PawPaw to go somewhere, they liked to go out to eat a lot, so we knew that they would head out at some point. Finally, a couple of hours later, we saw them head for the truck and pull out of the driveway. We had no idea where they were going or how long they were actually going to be gone, so we hurried up and grabbed all of our shit from the spare room. Aunt Allie had the links and clip in her pocket and we watched for the truck to turn left off of the street. All three of us looked really dumb creeping next door, but we made it to the front door with no problems. None of the neighbors were outside to tell them what we were up to and that was pretty good luck. Old Mr. Carter across the street was nosy as hell and liked to watch everything and then tattle. Auntie said that he had been living there forever and
had nothing better to do.
Granny and PawPaw had an electric lock on the door with little number buttons, so that you could just put in a code, so Aunt Allie put her own code in and we all crept into the living room. PawPaw kept a security camera on the mantel and we didn't want him to see what we were doing, so we turned it away, just enough so that we weren't visible from the opposite side of the room. "Okay, y'all make sure that your bags are strapped down to your shoulders and that it doesn't come loose, or you won't have them when we leave." said Aunt Allie. We both checked and they were firmly attached.
I was nervous as hell, but Aunt Allie seemed to be okay. I think she finally got used to doing crazy shit like this back in the day, so it didn't bother her at all. Dad, on the other hand, was ticking like crazy. "It'll be alright, Dad. Did you take the pills?" I asked him. "Yeah, I took them at home before I left, did you both take them?" he asked us. "Yes, we took them as soon as you said that you were on your way. We should be fine, they should still be in our system." said Aunt Allie, as she pulled everything out of her pocket.
I attached the links and set the 'FORWARD' one for 2044 and she set the date to January 1st, 12:01 AM on the clip. We looked over it one more time and everything was correct, so Auntie attached the clip to her shirt. We decided to sit on the floor because I wasn't sure where the furniture was in the house in 2044, it had been a while since I had been in there. "Okay, everybody link arms." said Aunt Allie. "Here we go." said Dad. "Do it, Lovebug." said Aunt Allie, and I closed my eyes and clicked the link. All three of us vanished into nothingness, headed for 2044. This was going to be interesting.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
All three of us landed in a giant pile of Harmon limbs in the middle of the living room floor. A small wave of nausea hit me, but it wasn't anything that I couldn't handle. I just swallowed a few times and it passed. I looked over at my Dad and Aunt and they seemed to be going through the same thing. "Ugh, my ass!" I whined. "What in the hell, I didn't think that we would hit that hard, maybe it was because it was all three of us." Aunt Allie said. "Meh, I don't feel that great." said my Dad, rubbing his stomach. I hoped that he wasn't going to puke, I wasn't sure if there were any cleaning products in the empty house, although, I really had no idea what was in here. It had been a long time since I had been over to this house.
I got up and looked around and it looked about how it did the last time that I saw Granny and PawPaw before they died. There were sheets covering all of their furniture. Dad said that I could have everything in the house if I decided to move in, so at least I would have what I needed. Aunt Allie always took care of the yard and made it look like someone lived here, so that no hoodlums would come and steal everything out of it, and the lights outside were all timed. "I really need to get it together and just move in." I thought to myself. "Maybe after we fix this problem and save everybody's lives."
Aunt Allie and Dad got up and looked around, checking everything out, just to make sure that the house was truly empty and they came back and said that it was. "Okay, this is going to be our home for a while. Since nobody lives here we will be able to make it our own and that way the Others will always know how and where to find us. From here on out, we will only refer to each other outside of the house by our aliases. Sound good?" said Aunt Allie. "Sounds good, Callie." I said, smiling. "What do you think, Carson?" I said, looking at my Dad, and then I busted out laughing. "Sounds like a plan, Zoey." he answered, smiling.
Since it was the middle of the night, we decided to get the house back in order first. We didn't turn on many lights because we didn't want Aunt Allie next door to see them and come snooping. We were going to tell her first, before anyone else. Right now, she was the only one with a lot of time travel experience and she would be the biggest help in getting Other Chloe and Other Andrew to the house to talk to us. She would be the least shocked to see the three of us, although she would definitely not understand how we all came here together. That would be a nice story to tell her. I was going to be the one to go get her in the morning, since I was the only one who looked normal.
"Does this house have those sweet ass Screens like mine did, Zoey?" asked Callie. "Yes, Aunt, I mean YES, CALLIE!" I said. That shit was going to really take some practice. "I think they are still in here. They might be a little older than the ones in your house, but they still do about the same thing. There should be one in most of the rooms." I explained. "ANDR... I mean, CARSON, COME CHECK THIS SHIT OUT!" she hollered from the other room. He got up and went into the master bedroom and I could hear her say, "SCREEN!" and then she snapped. Light blazed from the room and I ran in and told her to throw one of the blankets over the window so it wasn't shining outside. She rushed to do it and then went back to the Screen to gesture through the channels. She found something that looked interesting enough and then gestured to holographic 3D. "HOLY SHIT! THAT'S FUCKIN' AWESOME!" said my Dad, mesmerized by all of the movement in the room.
I made my way into the kitchen to check under the sink and see if there were actually some cleaning products. The house stayed relatively dust-free over the years, thanks to the efforts of Aunt Allie. She came over and tidied once a month and she installed a bunch of Neutralizers. They attach to the air vents and they neutralize all of the dust in of the air so that it didn't accumulate everywhere. People that had bad allergies always got them to make their homes hypoallergenic and they seemed to be doing the trick. I found some spray and other cleaners and went out to the garage to see if there was anything to mop with. I got lucky and she had all of the cleaning supplies already out there, so I pulled all of the sheets off of the furniture and ran the mop around to tidy up the rest of the old funk and grime that had settled in various corners.
Everything seemed pretty nice and I didn't think that we were going to have a problem staying there. All of the rooms were still fully furnished, we would just have to buy shit like personal items and food, of course. I would have to do all of that though, because Callie and Carson (SO WEIRD) didn't have Chips and I didn't know exactly how we were going to pull that one off yet. Maybe older Aunt Allie would have an idea about that. She always came up with ingenius plans. I was going to be sleeping in Auntie's old room, Dad in his old room and Aunt Allie in the master, and we could switch out later if we wanted to. The rest of the night, we just sat in the living room and watched the Screen until everybody finally dozed off. It was a weird ass day.
The next morning, we all woke up with the sunrise. I had a feeling that older Aunt Allie would already be up and moving around. She would wake up at like 3 or 4 in the morning and then go to bed in the afternoons. She had always stayed on a weird schedule because she didn't have many friends and she enjoyed the peace and quiet, so she said that the middle of the night was the perfect time to do what she needed to do around the house. I told Callie that and she said that the morning would probably be the perfect time to go and get her.
"If she's just like me, she will be wide awake this early in the morning and any later than 11:00 AM, she's not going to be as receptive to everything." she explained. "That sounds like her, alright. So, should I go get her now? What should I say to her?" I asked, suddenly VERY anxious. "Just say that you have some people over here that she needs to talk to and it is very important. Don't say anything else yet, because I don't want you by yourself if some shit goes down. I know how tricky the past can be and I need us to be together just in case." she warned. "Okay, I'll do it. Give me a few minutes to get her warmed up." I said, as I made my way out the front door.
I trudged across the yard, looking around to make sure that no neighbors spotted me leaving the other house, but nobody was out and about yet. All the old people had passed away, so now a lot of the neighbors were my parents' age and they didn't wake up as early as the geriatrics. I walked to the front door and took a deep breath. I was really nervous, and I didn't know why, I had been to this house to see her a million times before. Maybe it was because she was dead in my real time or maybe it was because I was ab
out to take her over to her Other and her Other brother, I wasn't sure, but I held my breath and knocked.
"KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!" I stood there, fidgeting my feet around until I heard the cats meowing at the door. If they were making a ruckus, I knew that she would be at the door shortly. She probably thought that she was just hearing things and was taking her time or something. Finally, the front door creaked open and she was looking at me like I was evil for interrupting her peace. "Chloe? Why in the hell are you here so damn early?" she said, opening the door to me. "Hey, Auntie..." I started, and then the tears started falling. She was dead and I couldn't handle that. "What is wrong with you, Lovebug?" she said, taking me to the couch and rubbing my back. I took a couple of breaths and got myself under control again. "I'll tell you everything in a little bit, Auntie, but you need to get dressed, I have some people you need to talk to. Don't ask questions, because I won't answer them, just do it and come with me, please." I said. "Okaaay..." she said, looking at me like I was losing my mind. I probably was.
CLIPPED: Another Time Travel Tale (The Harmon Family Adventure Series Book 2) Page 6
