Tempus 2 - Hardcover Version 4

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    By Jonathan Faz

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    This published work, its characters, and storylineare 2008 by Jonathan Faz. All Rights Reserved.

    This work is fictional. Any correlation to real people,events, and locations is entirely coincidental.

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    Follow the clocks...

    A note from the author:

    I wrote this book during a difficult time of my life. Many personal things have happened which have changed me forever.

    Life is all about that. Unexpected things get thrown your way. The question is: how are you going to deal with it

    when it's a bad thing that gets handed to you? That's what makes everyone unique and interesting. That's something I incorporate into my writing, as well. Life doesn't end happily ever after for everyone. When things aren't so happy, that's where a person's true character shines through.

    Tempus revolves around making decisions and how it all

    plays out, as you'll find when reading the series. But this book specifically focuses on the wacky, random ideaknown as life and how it just kinda happens to you, for the good and the bad.

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    For Cindy Quiroz, who always encouraged my creativeness by building up my ego. I wish I could

    have met her, but that time will come later...

    Thanks to...

    Alyssa KingFor giving me an interesting name for an interesting

    character

    Tatiana SolteroElegant, downright spooky poetry is hard to come by, butyou made it possible

    Inspiration for this book...Joss WhedonScott SiglerEvanescence

    ChevelleJohn Williams

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    Table of Contents~1. Foreboding Flames2. The Drifter's Silhouette3. Flight from Shelter4. Elizabeth's First Movement5. Swift Dislike6. Alexandria Library7. The Two Calls8. The Transtemporal Railway9. Vickers Manor

    10. Meeting with the Mystery Man11. Capture and Interview12. An Unexpected Cataclysm13. The Girl With Green Eyes14. An Evening of Mournful Notes15. Back Into Hiding16. Return to the Manor

    17. Arrival at Viktun Square18. The Open Window19. A Shift in the Wind20. The Freezing Gust21. The Boon22. Follow the Clocks23. Encounter With the Two

    24. The Stranger Returns25. Shadows on the Horizon

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    Tempus Shadows on the Horizon 7

    Chapter 1Foreboding Flames

    ain. Horrible, almost unendurable pain. The feeling of fire crawling through muscles, making themquiver and contract, not relaxing until several

    minutes passed by. That's all Graham Sherwood felt as he woke up one cold Friday November morning. Normalteenage kids his age felt a bit groggy in the mornings, butnot Graham. He just felt pain. Pain, helplessness, andconfusion.

    P A chill ran through his back and he stirred in bed, but

    even that small movement hurt unbearably. It had been likethis since the beginning of November, when the really cold

    weather started to settle in. Ever since then, he couldn'tremember a single dream during the night, but hesuspected that something must've been causing his muscles tospasm and contract involuntarily while he slept. Or else he

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    8 Jonathan Faz

    was deathly ill, which was a possibility he wanted to avoid

    thinking about.So far, the really deep pain only lasted about five minutesafter he awoke. Once those five minutes were up, all that

    was left was just a lingering soreness which lastedthroughout the day. This caused his already skinny body tobe even weaker when it came to sports, but it was so badthat it even caused everyday walking to become a chore.

    Graham turned his head slowly, feeling the tensemuscles in his neck protest at this movement, and glancedat his clock. Three minutes left, he estimated, and the pain

    would begin to decrease.He stayed in this position for a while, wondering once

    again about what the new day would bring. Since Graham'sthirteenth birthday last October, he had become a lot better

    at making friends. He wasn't the best , but he was okay at it. Throughout his life he had been an introvert, completely avoiding friendships because most people didn't share hisinterests. When he was twelve, however, things hadchangedand that was an understatement.

    Not only had a vacation to his uncle's house led to whathe now knew was his first friend ever, but it had also led tomuch, much more. While he had been away, thiscompletely unexpected and strange thing happened. Timeas everyone knew it had ceased to exist. Instead of the past,present, and future being separate, their boundaries werelifted or even destroyed. Another phenomenon, called thetime flux, kicked in and began transporting people out of different time periods into what was now commonly calledthe Now. The only constants in the Now were people fromGraham's own time period, which at the time was 2006,and people from the year 5050. Graham had found thisodd about the time fusion, which had seemed far too

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    Tempus Shadows on the Horizon 9

    chaotic to be controlled by such a law.

    He had also discovered the existence of an insane serialkiller that had appeared in the Now. Many had believedthat this killer, who was called the Tempus Murderer, hadcaused the time fusion. None could explain how or why hecaused it, though. Graham had been just as curious then ashe was now, so he tried his best to discover who the

    Tempus Murderer was and how he had caused such an

    extraordinary event. The clock read two minutes left.Due to circumstantial evidence, Graham thought that a

    crazy old man that had lived across the street was this serialkiller from the future. The old man didn't exactly actnormal at any rate, and he regularly yelled at people whocrossed his house every morning. His house, however, was

    what really made him strange. Every eveningup until thetime fusionits windows would shine and glow withbright, blue light. On the night of the time fusion,something else happened that changed everything. Thehouse's windows flashed violently and actually thunderedloudly in the night. After that extraordinary event, all the

    way down to this day, the house remained dormant andsilent.

    Graham was convinced that this proved the old man Jack Rooster, as the kids called himwas the TempusMurderer. As it turned out, Graham was dead wrong and italmost cost him his life and the life of his friend, Tera.

    Katherine, a girl who had befriended his cousin and herfriends during Graham's stay at his uncle's house, had beenthe Tempus Murderer all the long. She had no doubttargeted Tera long in advance and had merely played withthem all during the week Graham was there. It was her ideaof a game, he suspected. He didn't know for sure, however,

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    10 Jonathan Faz

    why Katherine had targeted Tera, of all people.

    Three people had been victims during Katherine's reignof terror. All of them had been members of the LATC, orLeague Against Temporal Crime, the futuristic police forceassigned to stop her. Thankfully, Tera hadn't been the forth

    victim, but Graham usually pondered how she came intoplay with the rest of the victims.

    The clock read one minute left.

    Graham could feel the sweat on his forehead begin todry off. It made him shiver, which sent a fresh wave of painthrough his body, though less intense now.

    Perhaps the most extraordinary thing of all the events of his stay at his uncle's house had been his discovery of theChronoculus, a peculiar drawing Graham would alwaysdoodle when he was a kid. He'd found out that the

    Chronoculus was known in the year 5050 by a late memberof the LATC, a boy robot named Rakhon, and apparently one other person in the LATC who told the robot about itin the first place.

    Graham was always mystified by that. But nothing nothing,could compare with what Graham found out nextabout the Chronoculus.

    He discovered that the Chronoculus had powers, powersthat he couldn't explain how or why it had. It was becauseof the Chronoculus that Graham and Tera were still aliveand the Tempus Murderer was now dead.

    There was a brief twinge of guilt as Graham recalledthese things. After two years, he still wasn't anywhere closerto unraveling the mystery. He wished he had answers, butnone had come to him over the course of time.

    The pain slowly receded, and Graham felt comfortableenough to get out of bed. His pajamas were wet with sweat,causing goosebumps to pop up all over his body. He

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    quickly changed into new pajamasfeeling his muscles

    burn in the processand headed out of his room into thekitchen.Since that adventure two years ago, Graham had

    changed quite a bit. He was still creative and consideredsomewhat of a geek in school, but he had made some morefriends since.

    His best friend by a long shot was a boy named Matt

    Brannon. Matt was a very eccentric blond boy fromGraham's own time period. He normally wore titaniumsquare rimmed glasses on his sharp nosed face. Matt wasusually considered to be in the same league as Graham the dorks of schoolbecause of his love of history.Usually, nobody Matt's age would be found reading Historical events of the 19 th Century on weekends.

    Ironically, it was about the time Graham made friends with Matt that he began to have restless, dreamless nights which slowly turned into painful mornings.

    Graham forced his thoughts to the present where,unfortunately, he had a history essay due in three days andhadn't worked on it at all. Mentally beating himself up forhis procrastination, Graham took a seat at the kitchen table,

    where his oatmeal lay hot and ready. He hated oatmeal, buthis mom made him eat healthy because she thought it wasmalnutrition that caused his pains every morning. Thedoctor, however, was completely baffled as to the cause of Graham's strange pains. This didn't deter his mom fromthinking she was right, however.

    Eat up, she told him, making herself a cup of coffee.She seemed to shiver every time the howling wind outside

    was heard. Sounds like another cold, windy day.Graham mumbled agreement and started eating his

    oatmeal. He was never a morning person, but the soreness

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    12 Jonathan Faz

    made him even less so.

    Were you still hurting this morning? Graham's momasked, her voice turning serious.Graham paused for a moment, then nodded. Yeah. I

    was. Then he added somewhat reluctantly, I think it'sgetting worse.

    Oh, Graham...It really bugged Graham to see his mom fuss and worry

    about him so much, but he couldn't help but be worriedhimself. He, of course, had a theory about why he washurting, but it really couldn't be proven at all. In fact, there

    was even a flaw in it. Two years ago he had come face to face with the

    Tempus Murderer, and in so doing he had come very neardeath. Katherine had a strange, dark power that allowed her

    to torture and kill her victims. Graham had seen this powerat work on his cousin and her friends, Tera and Elizabeth.He had seen their limbs try to bend the wrong way.Elizabeth, however, had complained about a feeling of fireants biting and crawling through her brain. Her limbs hadstayed firmly fixed.

    Graham hadn't been through any of that, but he had feltKatherine's dark power coarse through him as she tried tostrangle him. It made him feel sick just to think about it.He wondered if contact with that power had caused hishealth to slowly degrade.

    The flaw in this theory, however, was that nobody else was experiencing the same symptoms. Graham had beenable to talk with his cousin, Debbie, after the incident. Shehad never once complained about pain or degrading health,nor did Elizabeth or Tera. If it was Katherine's power that

    was slowly eating Graham up, why was it only effecting him?

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    Then again,Graham thought, it could have nothing to do with

    Katherine.I'm going to call the doctor again, muttered hismother, her voice slightly hoarse. Maybe this time he'llfind something.

    Graham really doubted that, but if it made his mom feelbetter, he would put up with being prodded and pokedagain. Sure.

    In the meantime, finish your oatmeal and start getting ready.Slightly annoyed, Graham did as he was told. After he

    took the last bite of his plain oatmeal, he got up and walkedto his room. There he slowly got dressed for school andmade sure all of his papers were in his backpack. He

    walked back out of his room and stepped up to the front

    door. He smiled, waved to his mom, and found himself in atight embrace that he found excruciatingly painful. Shekissed him on the cheek and sent him off.

    The walk to meet the bus was agonizing. The biting windmade his aching muscles feel even worse, and that causedhim to walk slower. Graham made his way down the street,passing the completely silent and boring house of the late

    Jack Roosteror Lloyd Evans, which was his real name. The dead trees rocked in the wind, but Graham wasn'tafraid of them anymore, nor was he afraid of the creaking house as it shifted. He reached the normal drop-off pointof the school bus and waited, trembling.

    At long last, the bus arrived and Graham climbedaboard. He glanced around for a familiar sharp nosed face,found it, and took a seat next to Matt Brannon. Matt wasdeeply immersed in a book held in his hand that he didn'teven notice Graham had sat down opposite him until hereceived a hard poke on his side.

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    14 Jonathan Faz

    Oh, he yelped, looking mildly surprised. When did

    you get on?About a second ago, replied Graham, looking at thebook. What're you reading?

    Matt turned the book's cover over, revealing the titleStories of the First World War.He grinned at the astonishedlook on Graham's face.

    Honestly, you're getting way too into that stuff,

    muttered Graham. Don't you read anything else?It's actually for school, Matt explained. For thathistory essay, you know.

    Find anything interesting? Graham asked, trying tosituate himself in a way where he wouldn't hurt as much

    when the bus hit a bump; his muscles were very sore.Oh yes, replied Matt, opening the book up. Right

    now I'm reading up on this very interesting person. I think he's going to be the subject of my essay.

    Well, who is he? The bus hit another bump, andGraham shuddered.

    What caught my eye first, Matt went on, seeming toignore Graham's question. Was his nickname. Peoplecalled him the Mystery Man of Europe. Matt smiled andpaused for a second, staring dreamily out of the window.Awesome.

    Uh right, muttered Graham. He repeated his question.Who is he?

    A weapons dealer during the first World War,explained Matt, coming out of his trance. He was a very cunning manipulator from what I read. One time, he sold asubmarine called the Nordenfelt I to the Greeks. Then heconvinced the Turks to buy two since the Greeks had oneand posed a threat. Then he went to the Russians and toldthem about the significant threat on the Black Sea, and so

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    Tempus Shadows on the Horizon 15

    they bought two as well. Matt paused again, snickering.

    The submarines were never used in battle, but the TurkishNavy did try to use one in a trial. The submarine tried tofire a torpedo, and the thing became so unbalanced that itsunk stern first. Matt obviously found this highly amusing,for he chuckled again.

    So he sold them all something that didn't even work?Sounds pretty horrible. I don't like him. Graham shifted in

    his seat again, feeling his mood grow dark as the sorenesslingered throughout his body. He never could getcomfortable in these chairs.

    Oh come on, that was brilliant, protested Matt. Hey, what's the matter with you? You look a little pale.

    Bad night, Graham said truthfully. It shocked himsomewhat to know that he not only felt bad, but he looked

    bad too. Didn't get much sleep. The bus continued its long journey down the many

    winding roads until, finally, it reached Graham's school. Hislegs aching, Graham walked slowly down the bus's stepsand then up the school's steps, the dry and cold windstinging his face.

    Matt followed him to their lockers, chattering away about what else he had learned about the Mystery Man of Europe. His name was Sir Basil Zaharoff, he continued.Look, here's another cool example. A man named HarimMaxim had created an automatic machine gun, okay?Zaharoff is believed to have sabotaged three of Maxim'sdemonstrations of the weapon because the gun was muchbetter than anything Zaharoff and the company he workedfor had. Eventually, Maxim merged with that company,

    with Zaharoff as the chief salesman of the deal. Mattchuckled again. He made a lot of money from that.

    Sounds like you enjoy all that corruption, muttered

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    Graham, darkly. He was not in the mood to admire

    someone's trickery, even though it had happened years andyears ago.No, I enjoy brilliance, replied Matt. And, right or

    wrong, I think Zaharoff was a brilliant man.Graham scowled at his friend and made his way to

    history class, with Matt right behind him. Matt didn'tquestion why his friend was limping and walking extremely

    slowbut then again, he was probably still thinking abouthis new historical hero.Graham took his seat and glanced around. Most of the

    students were in their seats, waiting expectantly for theirhistory teacher, Mr. Braunfels, to show up. He busiedhimself with getting his book and papers together whileMatt merely stared blissfully into his book, still reading

    feverishly.Graham unconsciously massaged his arms and legs,

    which were aching. He was obviously doing it for a long time, for Lynda Cramptona girl with bronze skin andblack hair sitting beside himasked, What's the matter?

    Shrugging, Graham replied, Must be the weather.But you're shaking.Graham paused and looked at his hands. Sure enough,

    they had a slight tremor, as if he was shivering in the cold.But he wasn't cold. I'm tired, Graham said. I guess Istayed up too late last night.

    Lynda nodded. Oh. Well, maybe you should see thenurse anyways. You don't look so good.

    Thanks.Lynda smiled and began to take out her things. She had

    always been nice enough to Graham, but she was moreMatt's friend than his. Yet, the fact that she had noticedhow bad he looked alarmed him. He had never received

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    that many comments after a bad night.

    Bet you liked that, didn't you? Matt whispered, putting his book down for an instant.Huh?Smirking, Matt nodded towards Lynda. Pretty-girl over

    there showing heartfelt concern, of course. She nevernotices when I look sick.

    Graham felt like telling Matt to shut up, but at that

    moment there was a loud thumping sound at the front of the class. Everyone turned to look at what was causing thenoise. It seemed to be coming from one of the windows tothe left side of the classroom. A muffled shriek of agony followed this thump, and then the window slid opensuddenly.

    Mr. Braunfels climbed through the window from the

    outside, gesturing to the class to keep silent. He struggledto get his other foot indoors, then slid the window shut asquietly as possible. Mr. Braunfels was a tall, skinny man

    with a serious expression constantly etched in his face. He wore thick lensed glasses which magnified his eyes to abouttwice their size. What little hair was left on his head was a

    very bright white.He turned to the class and whispered, Shh. Just be

    quiet. He ran to his desk, placed his briefcase on top,opened it, and tossed out numerous papers at random sothat they scattered everywhere. He dropped the briefcase tothe ground and took his seat, making sure to scatter thepapers even more with his hands.

    Suddenly, the classroom door flew open. Amy Melin, theschool principle, marched inside looking furious. Class,I'm afraid your teacher is late again. We'll be waiting for thesubstitute to arrive. In the meantine She stopped,realizing Mr. Braunfels was there sitting behind his desk.

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    If you don't mind, said Mr. Braunfels, a bit angrily,

    I'm trying to teach a class here. What's this about mebeing late?When did you get here?! Amy demanded.I've been here for a while, answered Mr. Braunfels.

    Isn't that right, class? He gave the class a meaningfullook. The class murmured their agreement, some looking amused. It was a definite sign of how much they liked their

    teacher, otherwise they would've just left a hanging silence.He pulled out a small pocket watch and flipped it open.Graham was surprised to see a holographic projection of the time displayed in the air just an inch above the watch.Seems like you're the one who's late, Mrs. Melin. Wasn'tthere a meeting scheduled to start around two minutesago?

    Amy looked taken aback. Well, it's just that nobody hasseen you enter the building... She glanced at the desk,

    which was piled with papers. Oh, fine. I'm sorry for theinterruption. I've got to run, now. She strolled out of theclass and closed the door behind her.

    Mr. Braunfels stared at the door in victorious satisfactionfor a second, pocketing his watch as he did so. He turnedand smiled at his class. I thank you, he said, beaming atthem. No homework tonight for that wonderfulimprovisation. Now, then... He dug through his papers fora moment, finding what he was looking for at last. Ah,yes. On with our lesson for today.

    The entire class cheered, except for Graham, who knew he would feel intense pain ricochet through his arms if heclapped.

    This was, of course, typical behavior for Mr. Braunfels.Even though the man always looked serious, he really

    wasn't. In fact, it seemed he could be quite careless with his

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    Settle down, class, she said with a slight British accent.

    Settle down. Yes, that's it. Thank you. Now, turn to pageone hundred forty seven in your books, please. And pay attention, I will not repeat myself.

    Graham couldn't concentrate on this lesson, either. Hekept glancing up at Lynda, but she kept her back to him.He felt so guilty for snapping at someone who was justtrying to help him.

    Mister Sherwood, came Miss Sable's prompt voice.Would you care to explain how the back of MissCrampton's head has anything to do with this mathproblem?

    The class all turned around to look at him, all exceptLynda, who merely looked up from her book butcontinued to stare forward. Graham felt the blood drain

    from his face and his mouth grow dry. Sorry, he said,shifting in his seat uneasily.

    Let it be the last time, now, said Ms. Sable, stiffly.Now, come here. We'll see how well you take thisproblem.

    The problem was not that difficult and Graham solved it without thinking about it much. Thankfully the strangenights didn't affect his brain as it did his muscles. Hereturned to his seat, still blushing but making sure to keephis eyes on his teacher at all times now.

    Ms. Sable turned to the class, beginning to explain anequation on the black board. Copy these problems intoyour notebooks, children, she said. And remember, if you think about the problem correctly, it's easy to find thesolution.

    It highly annoyed everyone in the room whenever Ms.Sable called them children, but they complied. Grahampulled out his notebook and opened it. There, sitting on the

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    corner of the page, was a small Chronoculus that he had

    drawn earlier. He glanced at it for a few seconds, thenlooked back up to the black board. The first problem read n + 3 > 7. That was easy.

    Graham copied the problem down and solved the answerby writing n = 5. The problem after that was easy as well.

    And so was the one after that. Graham got to the forthproblem and was about to start copying it down when he

    stopped suddenly, glaring at the black board inastonishment.Both the board and the wall surrounding it seemed to be

    melting. Graham felt a strangely familiar dizzy feeling andhe grasped the desk for support. He knew he had felt thissensation long ago, but he couldn't quite place where...

    His eyes fell upon the Chronoculus on the notebook. A

    small stream of smoke was rising from it, its edges glowing with a dim orange light. Graham felt his head and body tipping over to his left, and he forced himself to lean right.

    The orange light began to get brighter and brighter until,finally, it erupted into flames.

    Now he remembered. This had happened before. Twoyears ago, Graham had felt this same vertigo and had seenthe Chronoculus burst into flames. It had happened justbefore Graham heard that his friend, Rakhon, had beenmurdered.

    The room spun around and Graham felt he would surely vomit if it didn't stop soon. He lost the grip on his desk and spilled over onto the floor, clutching his head andmoaning.

    This was definitely way more intense than before. He feltlike his whole body was being sucked into a small space,the space on his notepad where the Chronoculus was.Slowly, darkness began to engulf him until

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    Mister Sherwood? he could hear his teacher call out.

    Wake up, it isn't real.Graham's eyes flew open, only to see the kids in theclassroom staring down at him with concern, Matt theclosest. He was shouting something, but Graham could nothear a word he was saying. He couldn't hear anything anymore.

    The room gave another jolt and he lost consciousness

    completely.

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    Chapter 2The Drifter's Silhouette

    hen Graham finally came to, he was lying downon a reclined bed in the school clinic. His boutof unconsciousness had, thankfully, not

    produced the normal stabbing pain associated with waking up in the morning. The dizzy feeling, however, was stillthere, though it was less intense. W He looked around slowly and carefully and saw that theroom was empty except for the short, plump nurse who

    was sitting across from him, reading something held on aclipboard. What happened? he asked aloud. The school

    nurse looked up at him, looking worried.Oh, you're awake, she sighed, walking up to the bed

    and feeling his forehead. You fainted. Not quite sure why. Your blood pressure and temperature are normal, at least

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    when you got here. There doesn't seem to be anything

    physically wrong with you.Graham scowled. He had heard that many times before. Weird things continually happened to him and every medical expert who saw him said that nothing was wrong

    with him. Right. There was a movement out of the corner of his eye. He

    turned and saw his teacher, Elena Sable, in her peculiar

    black dress, peering at him with a curious expression. May we have a moment alone?I was just about to send him away, the nurse replied.Go fetch his books, then.What?He needs his books. Go get them and I will speak to

    him privately.

    The nurse looked slightly appalled at the idea. Sheopened her mouth to speak, but Elena gave her a very severe, authoritative look. The nurse's mouth closed, shefumed for a second, and then stormed out of the room.

    Elena turned to Graham and looked at him withcalculating eyes. Mister Sherwood, are you feeling okay?

    Yes, Graham answered, wondering why she wasappearing to be so concerned with him. She had alwayscome off as uptight and bitter. Now I am.

    May I smell your breath?Graham did a double take. What?Your breath, young man. Can I smell your breath?Quite confounded, Graham obliged. Elena took a sniff,

    withdrew, and wrinkled her nose. Oatmeal...Was there a point to that? Graham inquired, almost

    annoyed.Mister Sherwood, I could have sworn that I saw a lick

    of smoke near your face before you fainted, Elena said

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    coldly. I am merely investigating if you have smoked

    something that has made you ill.You saw smoke? Graham's heart seemed to freeze. Sothe phenomenon was visible to others? But, that couldn'tbe trueeveryone in the room would've noticed the

    warping, melting walls, for instance.Yes, replied Ms. Sable. Smoke and the unmistakable

    orange glow of a fire. Such as it is, I think it may have been

    my imagination.Graham remained silent as Elena eyed him suspiciously for a few more seconds. Get to your feet, Mr. Sherwood.

    You do look pale, you know. Maybe all you need is somerest. Your mother should be arriving here shortly.

    The one thing he didn't need was rest, he thought darkly,remembering the restless nights he'd been experiencing. He

    nodded and, careful not to fall on his face, got out of thebed. His head spun for a moment, but over time itdissipated.

    Elena walked him out of the room just as the nursereturned with Graham's books. Here you are, she said,panting softly.

    I have decided not to give Graham any homework,Elena said. He will not need his books after all. Good day,Mister Sherwood. She walked down the hallway back toher classroom, the nurse staring daggers at her.

    Deciding he'd better leave, Graham began to walk to theschool's main exit. He staggered dangerously for a moment,then regained his balance and continued on, careful not tooverexert his sore muscles.

    Graham!He recognized the voice that spoke as being that of

    Lynda Crampton. When he turned to look at her, he saw that she was running up to him looking positively worried.

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    Oh, said Graham, trying to look comfortable. Hello.

    How are you feeling? I was so worried, she said whenshe got to him, her eyes scanning him up and down asthough convinced he were near death.

    I'm okay, he replied. Just felt a little dizzy, that's all.So are you going home? Youyou still lookPale? I know. Graham forced a smile and nodded.

    They think I need sleep. That's where I'm headed right

    now.Well, I hope you get better, then, said Lynda. I'll letMatt know what's happened. She gave Graham a light hug and then walked away. Graham walked away too, for somereason feeling a little better than before.

    He stood outside the school for about ten minutes untilhe saw his mom's car pull up slowly. He hopped in the car

    and soon had to endure a long series of questions during the drive back home.

    We're going to take you to the doctor soon, his momsaid for about the third time. Maybe even today, if we canmanage it.

    Mom, growled Graham, exasperated. How many times have we gone to the doctor? He always says the samethings. There's no point in going anymore.

    Graham's mom made a sound in her throat, annoyed.There's always a chance he missed something...

    If he's missed something that many times, I should geta new doctor!

    There was a pause, and Graham's mom lookedthoughtful. Good idea.

    Graham sighed, looking out the window. He didn't wantto go to any doctor. He was quite sure that it wasn't thedoctor's fault that the cause of his condition hadn't beendiscovered. I don't want to go to the doctor.

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    But, what if this time around he finds something

    He won't, mom!Graham's mom moaned. Sweetie, please don't think that. You can't give up hope.

    Graham slumped back in the seat and sulked, keeping his eyes out of the window. It wasn't about losing hope.

    There was just absolutely no point in going to the doctoragain. He didn't want to waste any more time hoping in

    something that wouldn't turn out. The car stopped at a red light, just next to a group of people all holding up signs. Graham's mind wastemporarily distracted as he surveyed the group of people,

    who were obviously protesting something. One of thesigns, held by an older man with a white beard read, Support unification for a brighter future!

    Intrigued, he lowered the window slightly, trying to hear what they were saying.

    Separation isn't the solution, it's part of the problem!one lady shouted through a loud speaker. We shouldembrace our differences to make everything better!

    The rest of the crowd were chanting, Unity! Unity! The crowd was made up of several modern day people, butGraham picked out a cowboy and at least three individualsfrom the future dressed in black, leather armor.

    A siren roared suddenly from the sky. A flying police carsettled to the left of the group just as the traffic light turnedgreen and Graham's mother began to drive forward. Theonly thing Graham could see before the crowd was out of

    view was a thin woman and several men jump out of thepolice car. He wasn't sure if they were trying to calm themdown or if something else was happening.

    Wonder what that was all about, his mother muttered,glancing through her rear view mirror.

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    Graham shrugged, his mind once again turning back to

    his problem. The rest of the ride was silent and uneventful.Once home, Graham stepped out of the car and closedthe door without another word to his mom. He walked intohis house and headed straight for his room.

    Graham, his mother called out. Don't be upset,please.

    Why would I be upset? Graham asked sarcastically.

    Well, you're going to the doctor tomorrow. I'm going tomake the appointment right now.He slammed his room's door and kicked his dresser hard

    in frustration, but instantly regretted it. His big toe eruptedin pain.

    You are upset, he heard his mom say through theclosed door. I'm only looking out for you because I love

    you.He didn't reply nor move. He waited until it was

    completely quiet and he was sure that his mom had left himalone, then he slumped onto his bed and stared at nothing in particular. Why were all of these things happening tohim? Everything seemed to keep getting worse and he feltcompletely helpless, like there was nothing he could do.

    And the problem was that he was right, there really wasn'tanything he could do to fix it.

    For the rest of the day, Graham stayed inside his roomand mulled things over in his mind, trying to find some way to remain optimistic. His mother, of course, tried to cheerhim up, but he wasn't too fond of her at the moment. It

    wasn't until the evening, when the phone rang that hisbitter thoughts paused for a moment.

    It was Matt and he sounded concerned. Dude, whathappened earlier? he inquired. You fainted in the middleof class and I never saw you afterwards. Are you still

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    alive?

    Yeah, I'm fine, Graham muttered. Just... stuff.Nothing to be concerned about.Yeah, sure there isn't, retorted Matt. Falling

    unconscious is all the rage... it's so now . You're always sosecretive about things, you know? Graham said nothing,but glowered at the wall. Anyways, Matt continued.Since you say you're okay, I'll leave you be. I was just

    concerned.Thanks, Graham replied after a long pause. Maybe I'lltell you about it later. It's just so... complicated.

    No big deal. I've gotta go. But listen, I'm gonna bring abook over that I really want you to read. Tomorrow'sSaturday so I'll be by sometime in the morning. I've got alot of stuff to do during the day with my family.

    Sounds good. See ya, then.Yeah, bye.

    After hanging up the phone, Graham slumped in his bedand switched on the TV. He usually did this when he

    wanted to clear his mind and slowly fall to sleep, sincepeace and quiet gave him opportunity to think about thenext morning and the new pain that it would bring.

    The evening news was on and a familiar scene was being played on the screen. Graham recognized the crowd of people who had been chanting something about unity. He

    was watching the aftermath of the police showing up. The woman with the loud speaker was being forced to theground and handcuffed by the skinny policewoman.

    The LATC have arrested Caressa Longworth, asuspected member of the unification supporters known asthe Nine Tails, or time bandits, as they have been calledbefore, the reporter's voice spoke as the scene played out.This is in response to the massive train derailment earlier

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    this month in which two people were killed and dozens

    more were injured. The LATC suspected sabotage by theNine Tails. No word yet on if this lead will play out for theofficers.

    The policewoman shoved the woman into the back of the flying vehicle and took off. The two officers that hadaccompanied her stayed behind, trying to control theoutraged group of people the supposed Nine Tails member

    had been with.Graham remembered hearing about the train derailment.He hadn't seen much about it at all. All that he knew wasthat it happened downtown and had been caused by anexplosion. He found it odd, since there weren't any trainstations in his city, even in the midst of the time fusion.

    The phone rang again, making Graham jump in surprise.

    He lowered the TV's volume and reached for the phone.Hello?

    He heard the familiar voice of Debbie, his cousin,answer him back. Hey, she said. Are you okay? Whathappened?

    It took Graham a few seconds to answer. Debbie'sunexpected questions took him by surprise. What do youmean?

    Earlier today. Something happened at school, didn't it?Oh, said Graham, finally getting the idea. That. Yeah,

    I'm fine. Don't worry about itNo you're not fine, Graham. You've been feeling

    terrible and you've been waking up every morning in pain. Why haven't you told me?

    Graham sighed, feeling slightly annoyed. Who needstalking when I've got my psychic cousin reading my thoughts, he muttered. You know, that really creeps meout. I don't even know how you do it.

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    Thanks for the compliment, but no crystal ball this

    time, replied Debbie. Your mom told me all about it. That's how I know.Oh. Well, I'm fine. Really, she's overreacting. I've been

    to the doctor several times and he's never found anything wrong with me. She keeps wanting me to go, though... Hepaused, a new thought crossing his mind. Do you think I'm just imagining the pain?

    I don't know, said Debbie. But I agree that it's pretty useless to keep going to the doctor if he keeps saying everything is fine. Debbie paused, thinking. But I think she's right to think this is serious. I think you should go toa specialist or something.

    No way! I'm not going anywhere. I can deal with this by myself.

    But that's your problem, persisted Debbie. Youalways try to do things alone when you've got friends to

    Is there anything else you wanted? Graham cut heroff, angrily. He instantly felt guilty for doing this andadded, with a calmer voice, Sorry. I didn't mean to soundrude.

    There was a pause. Let's talk about something else,then. Okay?

    Yeah, okay.Well, a lot has changed since the last time we talked.Like what?Well, Elizabeth and her family moved. They live further

    into town now. Oh, and she's also gotten artistic, if you canbelieve it.

    Graham snorted with laughter. I never thoughtElizabeth could be creative. What exactly is she doing?Does it involve macaroni?

    Music, replied Debbie, simply. I must say, she's

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    improving. I don't get headaches anymore when she

    practices.Graham laughed. That sounds like Liz.So what's new with you?Graham thought about this very carefully. Debbie knew

    about the pains he got every morning and about the factthat he had just fainted. What she didn't know, however,

    was that Graham knew that the incident at school and the

    painful mornings were not caused by the same thing. Heknew this because of the fact that the Chronoculus hadburned once before and had caused a similar reaction inhim, but the pains had only recently started.

    He pondered over the decision about telling her or not,and settled for not telling her quite yet. She didn't needsomething else to worry about. Graham hated it when

    people worried about him. Nothing, he replied finally.Deciding to throw her off the trail, he decided to bring uphis friend, Lynda. There's this girl in school who seems tolike me. That's about it.

    The bait worked. Debbie jumped on it quickly ratherthan question him further. Oh a girl, huh? Graham couldhear the interest in her voice. What's her name? Who isshe?

    None of your business, replied Graham, but he wassmiling. She's just a friend and I don't really like her back,so it's no big deal. I just hope she leaves me alone soon.

    Now Graham, be nice to her. Don't hurt her feelings.Yeah yeah. Graham hesitated, and a question popped

    into his mind. How's Tera been?Debbie giggled. How funny you ask about her now of

    all times.What?Nothing. Well, she's doing fine too. Her parents are still

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    giving her a rough time. But dad's been very nice to her and

    she's been staying over a lot.Tell her I said hi, then. I miss everyone.Oh I will.

    There was a slight flicker in Graham's peripheral vision,and he turned his gaze over to his notebook, but it wasclosed and completely normal.

    Dad's calling, said Debbie, suddenly. Dinner's ready

    and it's my favorite, spaghetti. I'll talk to you later, okay?Sure. Bye.Graham hung the phone up, but immediately after

    letting go of the receiver, the phone rang once again.Frowning, Graham picked it up and muttered, Hello?

    There was a short moment of silence. Graham? Is thisGraham Sherwood? It was Lynda's voice this time.

    Graham felt his mouth dry up. Uhm, yeah. This isGraham. Lynda?

    Yeah, hey. Uh, how are you? Just wanted to check upon you.

    I'm fine, Graham replied, trying not to soundexasperated. Really. I just... didn't eat breakfast.

    Oh, okay. Well, I hope you remember to eat next time. That was scary.

    Yeah, Graham laughed awkwardly, his face warming up. I'll definitely keep it in

    There was a rush of wind that blew some loose papersoff of Graham's desk, making them spiral into the air.Graham suddenly felt as if the entire earth had shifted

    violently, and as he dropped the phone to the ground he letout a slight yelp. His notebook sprang open, the frontpages flying off the binding until the top page was that of the Chronoculus. It glowed with orange fire, hissing andpulsing. The fire spun around, growing taller and taller until

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    it almost reached the ceiling.

    It was happening again.Graham fell off his bed, clutching his head. The room wasn't just spinning, it was shaking. Distantly, he couldhear Lynda talking on the receiver, but he was too dizzy and sick to pick it up and ask for help. All he did was gruntas the extreme vertigo got even worse. He couldn't evenbalance on his knees. He fell over to one side and shut his

    eyes, trying to fight the urge to throw up and the feeling of being sucked into the pages of his notebook like a vacuum

    Outside. And then, suddenly, it all stopped. He lied on the ground

    breathing hard and fast, sweat pouring down his face. Forsome odd reason, he had the urge to go out to his back

    porch and sit on the bench. He felt that he needed to bethere.

    Almost as if he were in a dream, he got to his feet,ignoring the dull ache throughout his body and the soundsof Lynda's desperate voice from the phone, and walked outof his room. The outside hallway was completely empty and Graham had no interruption during his journey to theback door, which he unlocked quietly and opened. He

    walked outside and immediately wished he had thoughtabout bringing a coat. It had to be near freezing.

    Graham folded his arms, shivered, and then walked tothe bench. He took a seat and stared out at his back yard,

    wondering why he was even outside to begin with. Whathad he been doing before this? He couldn't quiteremember.

    The lawn was long and in bad need of cutting. He couldsee the long strands of grass illuminated from a light polein his back yard, its greenish glow making the grass look

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    alive for this time of year. Unlike the daytime, the night air

    was still and quiet.Sighing, Graham watched the condensation of his breathfloat away in front of him. What had happened back there?

    Why was he suddenly here on the back porch? It was theChronoculus, yes. It had caught on fire again.

    He thought long and hard about it. The last time theChronoculus had burned up, he found out after the fact

    that Rakhon, the boy robot from the future who had beenhelping him, was killed. He had always assumed that both were related somehow. Now, however, he was fresh out of theories, as Rakhon had been dead for two years now.

    Two years. That's how much time had passed sinceGraham had defeated the Tempus Murderer. He now feltsick with himself for not getting any further in finding out

    the answers to his questions. He had much to find out andhe hadn't even given it a second thought.

    Suddenly, there was a bitter gust of wind. Grahamshivered, finally coming to his senses and realizing he wasabsolutely nuts to go out in the cold without a jacket; hismother would kill him since she seemed to think he wasnear death. He stood up and scanned the backyard onceagain.

    As he turned to leave, however, something caught hiseye and he stopped dead, slowly turning back toward thebackyard to gaze into a gap in between two trees. At first,he thought he had imagined the movement. But after a few seconds he saw it again. Something was in the shadows andit moved forward one step.

    Graham squinted and gazed harder. The shape of a man was barely visible now. His features were concealed inshadow, the bright green light from the light postilluminating his outline only. It was an older man, someone

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    Graham was sure he didn't know. The silhouette stood

    there, seeming to glare at Graham for a few seconds.Graham's pulse quickened and his eyes widened. Thesilhouette stirred, still staring at him. His eyes flickered tothe back door and he wondered if he could just run back inside and tell his parents. He wished that he had thoughtabout bringing the Chronoculus outside with him. He

    wasn't sure what good it would've been, since he hadn't

    used it in over two years, but he would've definitely feltsafer. At the moment, he wasn't sure if he was in danger ornot.

    At last the shadow of the man staggered forward,sending a fresh wave of fear through Graham's body, buthe remained motionless. He was afraid that any suddenmovement on his part would make the stranger violent. So

    all Graham did was watch as the man came closer andcloser with small, limping steps.

    Again, Graham's eyes flickered to the door. He decidedif the man took one more step, he'd have no choice but torun inside. The problem was that fear had paralyzed hislegs. He couldn't get them unlocked from their currentposition.

    But the stranger did not take another step. He paused inmid stride, stirred again, and stood motionless. Though he

    was a bit closer to the house, Graham still couldn't see any of the man's features. The light from the windowsilluminated part of the man's pants and shirt, which both

    were torn and disheveled. There was a long moment of inaction and the two

    merely looked at each other. Graham began to calm downa little and wondered if he should say something.

    But it was the stranger who spoke first.Do not get anyone, he muttered, his voice very hoarse.

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    The man moaned just audibly, stirred again, and glared

    back up at Graham. Dangerous for you... mustn't go andget help. Keep me inside!Graham stared in astonishment, unable to speak. The

    stranger went on in his weak voice, The murders were allconnected... I don't want to, but I must... He took a greatbreath, as if all of this were causing him tremendous pain.He slurred something that was not understandable, then

    took another deep breath. Go... you must discover it atthe library before it is too late. And... follow the clocks. The man's voice slowly trailed away, weakly. Follow...follow the clocks... keep me inside. Do not get help for me.

    Too dangerous... And with that, he collapsed onto the grass face first.It took Graham a minute to finally move from his

    position. Keeping his eyes completely trained on thecollapsed stranger, he carefully made his way to the grass inthe backyard. Was the stranger dead? Was he injured? Or

    was this all some trick to get Graham to come closer? A few more steps towards the prone figure answered

    those questions. Graham could see the slow but definitemovements of the man's shoulders and back as they roseand fell. He was breathing, so he wasn't dead yet. Slowly,carefully, Graham reached down and turned the man over.

    The light from the house windows now illuminated theman's entire face, and Graham's mouth fell open.

    The man's face was scratched up, blood still oozing frommost of the wounds. The biggest one wasn't so much a cutas it was a gash right in between his eyes. The man's shirt

    was unbuttoned and open, and Graham could see similarinjuries on his chest. There were also what looked likeburns on certain places, the most prominent right wherethe man's heart should be. The man's pants were still in

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    tact, but they were stained all over. It was no doubt blood.

    The man's right foot was bare, the other fully clothed in alarge, steel toed boot.If Graham had to put it in words, he'd say that the man

    was a torture victim. But if that were the case, why didn'tthe man just ask for help? Why did he instead say all of those strange things?

    Graham stood rooted to the spot, staring down at the

    sprawled man. He wondered what he should do. Would hismom be furious with him for letting a stranger into thehouse, or would she make an exception because the man

    was hurt? Maybe, Graham thought, he should just call thepolice.

    But the stranger had said not to call for help. He hadrequested to just keep him inside.

    Suddenly, Graham's thoughts were interrupted. His eyeshad fallen on the man's shirt pocket, which had anoticeable bulge. There was something sticking out of it, apiece of paper it seemed. Graham reached down and pulledthe item out, examining it closely.

    It was a small piece of paper folded over twice. It wasbrown and worn out, clearly very, very old. Grahamunfolded it slowly and gasped.

    Clearly drawn in the middle of the old piece of paper was a picture of the Chronoculus. It was unmistakable. Justunder the Chronoculus was a small, stringy-letteredsignature.

    By Graham Robert Sherwood. As if that wasn't cryptic enough, Graham soon

    remembered that he had seen this particular piece of paperonce before. He had seen it clutched in a dead person'shand, a person who had been murdered by the TempusMurderer two years ago. A person who wasn't a human

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    being at all, but a robot named Rakhon.

    It was the same exact piece of paper. He was sure of it. The question was, why did this man have it now?

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    Chapter 3Flight from Shelter

    he familiar stabbing pain shot through Graham'sbody as he awoke, making him lie very still until itpassed over once again. He stared up at the ceiling,

    wondering for a moment if the previous night had been a

    dream. Then he realized that he was lying on the floor andhe knew with certain dread that it had been real.

    THe sat up after the pain dissipated. His eyes fell upon his

    bed; upon the stranger from the night before who wascovered in blankets. Graham had managed to sneak thestranger into the house and to his room without notice. He

    was sure that this man, whoever he was, was a victim and

    not one of his enemies. He did, after all, have aChronoculus.

    Even though that was the case, Graham still knew thathis parents would not understand. So, the stranger simply

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    could not stay in the house for long. But, Graham couldn't

    just leave him anywhere. The man had pleaded to keep himinside. The door handle to his room jiggled, causing Graham to

    jump in surprise. He was glad he had locked his door, orelse either one of his parents would've been able to walk ineasily and see the stranger on his bed.

    Graham? his mom's voice called out from behind the

    door. She paused. Are you okay?I'm fine, he replied, rather stiffly. Again Graham's mom paused. Okay... Well, your father

    and I are going out this morning. Could you do us a favorand clean up a bit? I left a note for you to follow.

    Sure, alright. Have fun. Graham strained his ears,trying to hear if there were any footsteps outside his door.

    For a while there was nothing. Then, at long last, he pickedup on a soft thump thumpof the car doors being closed.Graham waited until he heard the start of an engine andthen silence. It was then that he ventured out of his roomto look for food, water, and bandages.

    He spent the better half of an hour trying to care for theman, but it was rather difficult trying to get him to drink

    water since he was unconscious. Once Graham dressed theman's wounds, he grabbed a pastry for breakfast and set to

    work in cleaning up around the house.He pondered over the old Chronoculus he had found in

    the man's pocket and what it could mean. Had the mantaken it off Rakhon's body after the boy robot had beenmurdered? If so, why had he done that?

    Graham finished washing the dishes, placing the last cupin the dish rack, and walked to the living room to find anote from his mom tucked under a book on the table.Graham picked it up and read her instructions.

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    Make sure to pick up your things and put them where they belong.

    And please empty out the letter holder and throw away all the junkmail. Dad wants you to leave the letter on the very top shelf, though.Don't forget. Love, mom.

    Graham went about his duties without even being annoyed, since he was still dwelling on what had happenedlast night. He began to empty the letter holder with very little brain power involved. He got all of the solicitations

    out of the first three bottom shelves, then made it to thetop-most shelf and paused. He remembered theinstructions on his mother's note and left the letter where it

    was. However, as he began to turn away, he did a doubletake and whirled back around.

    The letter that his mom specifically mentioned not tothrow away was still enclosed in its envelope, though there

    were signs it had been opened already. There was nopostage stamp on it, no identifying mark of any kind exceptfor a name written on the front, which was partly obstructed by the letter holder. Graham frowned, his trainof thought momentarily away from the injured stranger inhis bedroom.

    He leaned forward and pulled the letter upwards so hecould read the full name.

    Nathaniel Abner.Slowly, Graham pulled the letter completely out of the

    holder. He was intrigued by it, since he remembered vaguely seeing his father reading the letter some time ago.He couldn't quite place it, but if he had to guess, it wasshortly after the defeat of the Tempus Murderer that heremembered seeing this.

    But at that moment, there was a knock on the frontdoor. Graham jumped, slightly frightened and looked at thedoor. The person on the other side knocked again.

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    Someone had attacked the man in his room and tortured

    him very badly. Could it be that whoever was behind thedoor was the same person? What if they were coming back to finish him off?

    Graham walked silently towards the door, trying to peek outside the window and wishing that the front door had apeep hole. He had to strain his neck to keep himself out of sight, but eventually he was able to see and recognized the

    figure standing outside.He sighed with relief when he saw the familiar titaniumrimmed glasses and blond hair of his friend Matt. Heopened the door and gestured for Matt to come in, notsaying a word. Matt frowned for an instant, but did as he

    was told. Graham examined the street and neighborhoodfor signs of movement, but he didn't see a soul. Graham's

    eyes fell on Jack Rooster's house across the street, whichlooked as old and abandoned as ever.

    He closed the door and turned to Matt, grinning.What's up? he asked.

    Why the whole spy act? asked Matt, frowning. Hegestured vaguely to Graham and the door. Looking out tosee if I got followed, right?

    Yeah, you can never be too careful, replied Graham,trying to smile and look sarcastic. So, the book... right!

    You were going to bring me a book this morning.Matt handed Graham the book, still eying him

    suspiciously. Yeah, I think you'll like it. It's the seventhbook in the series. Some say it'll be the last.

    I'll definitely read it. Graham looked up at Matt,suddenly realizing something. How did you get here? You

    walked?Yeah, answered Matt, slowly. Obviously. I couldn't

    have driven here, could I?

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    No.

    Graham was thinking about the injured man again. How had he gotten to Graham's house in the first place? Why did he choose Graham's house in particular?

    Soon, Graham realized that Matt would have to leave. If Matt were to accidentally walk into his room and find thestranger in there, Graham would have to answer questionsthat he did not want to face.

    Hey, sorry buddy, Graham began, trying to soundapologetic rather than anxious. But my parents don't wantme to have anyone over right now. So

    Again, there was a knock on the front door.Nobody over, huh? muttered Matt, sarcastically,

    raising an eyebrow.Shush, Graham hissed, trying to peer out the window.

    I don't know who that could be. Keep quiet.Graham, Matt whispered back. What's going on?

    You're acting weird right now.Graham didn't answer. He was bending low on the

    ground trying to get a good view of whoever was standing outside the door. Matt, apparently thinking that this wassome sort of game, rolled his eyes and strolled over to thedoor. Before Graham could stop him or say anything, Mattturned the handle and opened the front door.

    Oh, he said, a look of surprise on his face. Graham,feeling his anger rising up at Matt, just stood there and heldhis breath.

    Matt turned to him, a small smile appearing on his face.It's for you, he told Graham.

    Frowning, Graham inched forward and, very slowly,peeked out from behind the doorway. He immediately saw the slim figure of Lynda Crampton, his other friend fromschool. Her black hair was pulled up into a pony tail and it

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    seemed to gleam even though the sun was still well hidden

    by thick gray clouds. She was wearing off-white joggers anda dark blue wind breaker.Are you okay? she asked anxiously, looking Graham

    up and down. You hung up so abruptly last night. I triedcalling back, but I got a busy signal. When I finally gotthrough, your mom answered and said you had gone tobed. I thought maybe you had another attack.

    No, said Graham, quickly. Nothing happened. There wasthere was a problem with the phone, I think.Oh. Lynda stood there, looking expectantly at

    Graham. Graham looked across the street again, scanning the area to see if she had been followed.

    Matt sighed audibly behind Graham. Lynda, would youlike to come in? Graham shot an angry look at his friend,

    but Matt shrugged. What? It seemed like the polite thing to do.

    Lynda shook her head and grinned. You know, I getthe feeling he isn't being entirely truthful. She looked atGraham again with interest.

    Well, I can't have anyone over right now, Grahamreplied automatically. I'm sorry. Maybe we can hang outnext time.

    Oh, Lynda said, glancing at Matt. Well... what's he doing here, then? Boys only?

    No, Matt was just leaving. He just came to dropsomething off.

    Come on, Graham, said Matt. What are you trying tohide? You don'tyou don't have a girl here, do you?Hiding in your room?

    Shut up, Matt! Graham snapped. I'm not trying to berude or anything. I just can't have anyone over. What's sohard to understand about He trailed off. His eyes had

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    just fallen to the house across the street again, and he

    belatedly realized that something was different about it,something that had changed since Lynda arrived at thedoor. Get in.

    Lynda looked taken aback. What?Get in! Come on! He pulled Lynda inside and shut the

    door quickly. He ran to the windows and peeked outside at Jack Rooster's house. Lynda and Matt stared at each other

    in complete bewilderment.He was your friend first, Lynda muttered. Any idea why he's acting like this?

    Graham ignored her comment. He was staring intently atthe door to Jack Rooster's house, which was now inexplicably open. He watched closely for any sign of movement, trying to keep the window blinds from opening

    too much. From what he could see, whoever had openedthe door was either further inside the house now or had leftalready.

    Graham, murmured Matt after a long pause. Are youpart of some new house-watching club that we don't know about?

    When Graham didn't answer, Lynda stepped forwardand placed a hand on Graham's shoulder. What's wrong?she asked. But Graham ignored her too and stood up,thinking hard. If Matt and Lynda weren't here, he'd be ableto run into his room and grab his Chronoculus, theninvestigate the house. But as it stood, he did not want totake two people who had no idea what was going on. Hehad made that mistake before and he remembered wellhow badly it had turned out.

    As he thought about what he was going to do, however,his thinking was interrupted by yet another visitor.

    A silver car stopped outside Graham's house, blocking

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    his view of Jack Rooster's house. Graham felt agitated and

    wondered who could possibly be coming by his house thistime. He realized with a jolt just who it was when a familiar,black haired girl got out and looked straight at him with herelectric-blue eyes. She ran down the driveway hastily,almost bumping Lynda when she stopped.

    What are you doing here, he asked his cousin,frowning.

    Something's wrong, Debbie gasped, panting slightly.Isn't there? I know you were veryvery stressed out lastnight. What happened, Graham?

    Graham stared at her, not quite sure if he should beannoyed or impressed. Nothing. His eyes fell on Lyndaand Matt for a second, then he tried to tell Debbie with alook that she should drop the subject. Can we talk about

    that later?Debbie looked ready to argue the point, but she nodded

    reluctantly. He could feel her electric blue eyes staring, feelhis mind being probed. He held his gaze for a momentlonger, noticing that she still seemed to wear too much eyeshadow, then looked away. She hadn't changed much.

    Care to introduce us? Matt asked, glancing at Debbie.Debbie, these are my friends. Matt and Lynda. They're

    from school.Debbie shook both their hands, but remained silent. Her

    gaze was still on Graham, who decided to glance out the window again. Hey, Deb, he started. Did you seeanyone inside old Jack Rooster's house, by any chance?

    The question was simple, yet he felt Debbie stir uneasily at the mention of the house. What? No, I didn't. Why?

    The door is open.Frowning, Debbie stepped over to the window and

    peered out of it. There was an audible gasp. I didn't even

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    notice it. I wonder if the wind blew it open.

    What's the big deal? inquired Matt. The house isempty, right? That's what you always told me, Graham.Maybe someone's moving in or something. I mean, theghosts are gone, right?

    Graham had never told Matt what had caused theglowing lights and strange sounds inside the house. Matthad, of course, heard the rumor that the house was haunted

    when he was a kid. The house was practically a legendthroughout this part of the city.There were no ghosts in there, Debbie answered.Then what was in there? asked Lynda, intrigued. You

    sound like you know something.Debbie hesitated and gave Graham a quizzical look.

    Graham shook his head just noticeably. He didn't want to

    have to explain everything to both Matt and Lynda at once. There was no time for it. Understanding Graham's gesture,she grimaced, staring out the window again. I don't know anything... She stopped suddenly and peered closer atsomething outside. Graham, look! she hissed.

    Graham glanced out the window again, towards Jack Rooster's house, and his mouth fell open once he saw whathad caught her eye.

    A man was walking out of the front door. He was very tall, with big cheek bones, thick eyebrows, and dark hairthat looked like it was a toupee rather than his real hair.Graham had definitely seen that face before. He had seen ittwo years ago, in fact. Is thatis that Katherine's dad?Debbie nodded, her complexion even whiter than usual.

    Who's Katherine? Lynda asked, bewildered. Comeon, what is going

    Graham! Debbie interrupted, trying to keep her voicedown, but not hiding any of the panic she was feeling. She

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    jabbed a finger at the window. The man was now walking

    across the street and heading straight for Graham's house,his expression blank. When Graham saw that he waspulling out a long metallic rod from his coat pocket, heinstinctively knew it was time to run.

    He whirled around, looking at Matt and Lynda. Go! he whispered. Run out through the back door. Debbie and I will catch up!

    Why? Matt and Lynda both asked at once.Never mind that! bellowed Graham. Just go! Trustme! You're in danger!

    Lynda turned to go and Matt paused for a few secondsbefore following her. They both disappeared around thecorner of the hallway, sprinting towards the back door.Debbie began to run after them, but Graham grabbed her

    arm and stopped her. No, he said. There's someone else we need to get.

    Debbie frowned at him as he led her along the hallway towards his room. She didn't argue at being taken along likethis, nor did she ask any questions. It was like she knew that Graham was telling the truth and that he wasn't going to be talked out of it. Graham opened the door to his roomand walked in. Debbie followed and gaped at the scenebefore her.

    She couldn't explain any of this. None of it made theleast bit of sense to her. Debbie always knew that she hadsome kind of connection with her cousin, but it had neverbeen this strong. She could remember being able to tell if he was lying or telling the truth, but that was as far as it got.Last night, though, it was different. She had felt him getdizzy, felt him panic afterwards, and felt his anxiety. Andnow that she rested her eyes upon the unconscious stranger

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    lying in Graham's bed, bandaged and injured as though

    tortured, she knew that this had been the cause of all of that. That didn't stop the shock from spreading through her

    body, however. Whowho is he?Graham looked up at her, still about half a foot shorter

    than she was. I don't know, he replied truthfully. He walked to his bed. But we have to take him with us. I

    think Katherine's dad attacked and tortured him. And now he's looking for him.What makes you think that? inquired Debbie,

    watching Graham run to his dresser drawer and retrieve hisChronoculus. Katherine's dad went into Jack Rooster'shouse. Maybe he was looking for something else.

    Well, someone had to have done this to him. Graham

    reached his bed and grabbed the man's arm and shoulder.No time to argue. Help me!

    Debbie grabbed the man's other arm and, together, sheand Graham lifted him off the bed and helped him into thehallway. Debbie was a little grossed out at how limp theman was, but his flesh was warm. That meant he was stillalive.

    A loud bang stopped her dead in her tracks. Graham!she hissed. Graham exchanged glances with her, terror inhis face. Someone had just hit the front door. Another slamechoed through the house, and Debbie felt her heartbeatquicken. Hurry!

    It was obvious that Graham was right. Katherine's father was definitely after them. She and Graham dragged theunconscious stranger into the kitchen amidst thethunderous impacts on the front door. They startedtowards the back door, panting but determined to escapebefore their enemy made it into the house.

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    They began to move inexplicably faster. Katherine's

    father stumbled and tripped, missing her leg by inches. Atfirst, Debbie thought that they had dropped the strangerand decided to save themselves. She realized what washappening when she looked down, however. Two white,glowing lights were surrounding the man's feet, which werenow running in unison with theirs. She knew immediately that Graham's Chronoculus had come through for them

    once again. They rushed past the light pole in Graham's back yardand, instead of turning left towards the gate, finishedrunning the distance to the fence. Unsure what Graham

    was doing, Debbie just stood and watched as Graham triedto lift the stranger up. The power of the Chronoculus wasstill working, for the man floated up and above the fence.

    Climb! Graham shouted. They both jumped and began to climb the fence.

    Graham was extremely sluggish for some reason. He was wincing, as if in pain, and nearly fell back to the ground.Debbie reached out and helped him get his footing again.She held his hand as he reached the top and glanced up.

    Suddenly, she felt a hand close around her ankle.Debbie! Graham cried. Debbie glanced at her cousin.

    She could see the fear in his eyes, saw him almost lose hisbalance. Katherine's dad pulled hard and Debbie's grip onthe fence slackened. Another strong pull brought Debbieflying back into the yard, landing hard next to Katherine'sfather on the ground.

    Debbie! Graham hopped back down and surveyed the scene. He

    saw the man get up from the ground, pick Debbie up off the ground and secure her arms behind her back in one

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    smooth, lightning-quick move. She screamed in pain at her

    limbs being bent by force. She did not fight back. Shelooked too frightened to do anything.You, young one! he said, pointing at Graham

    unnecessarily. His voice was booming and seemed to vibrate Graham's heart and lungs. Bring that man to meand I will let you have the girl back.

    Graham looked at his cousin, who whimpered and said

    nothing. He looked back at Katherine's father and felt arising hatred for the man.Graham! came Matt's voice from behind the fence. I

    know this is a weird question, but why is there a guy floating in the air?

    Bring the man here! barked Katherine's father again.He twisted Debbie's arms roughly and she let out another

    whine. A cool, calculating feeling swept over Graham suddenly.

    He could feel his Chronoculus vibrating, feel its powercharge up. He knew that he was going to be able to saveher. The only question left was how it would all play out.

    Let her go, Graham said, quietly.Give me the man!Let go of her arms. Please.Please? You're so polite, boy. You would make my

    mother proud. Now, I'm not going to say this again. Givethe man to me or she loses an arm!

    You let go! White, glowing lights wrapped themselves around

    Katherine's dad's hands and they flung upwards at once,releasing Debbie from his clutches. Debbie paused only asecond before running towards the fence and climbing frantically over it.

    Katherine's father looked slightly startled and stared at

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    his hands with detached interest. Well, well, well, he

    muttered. That is interesting. A Chronoculus... I haven'tseen oneat least one that worked in years.Graham didn't have time to ask the man how he knew

    about the Chronoculus too. He hopped back on the fenceand climbed over, adrenaline making his pain temporarily nonexistent. He took hold of the unconscious stranger'sshoulder and pulled, his efforts still assisted by the

    Chronoculus. Debbie, Matt, and Lynda brought up therear. There was a sudden jolt inside Graham's stomach and he

    toppled over, slamming hard onto the ground. The mandid too, his feet no longer surrounded by the white glow of the Chronoculus. Graham swirled around onto his back and, to his horror, he saw that Katherine's father had some

    how broken out of the hold. The privacy fence was in ruinsand he was running towards them, grinning maliciously.

    Debbie rushed towards Graham, grabbed him, andhelped him to his feet. Go! she ordered. Leave the man!

    There's nothing you can do for him!No! Graham replied, trying to drag the man by himself

    up the alley. We can't leave him! He was sure that thisman, whoever he was, had just escaped from Katherine'sdad and certain death. He wasn't about to let the man berecaptured after he had fought so hard to survive.

    Graham found Lynda beside him, bending down andhelping to drag the man. Graham felt a rush of gratitudetowards her and, his determination increasing, pulled ashard as he could. Matt ran and grabbed the man's rightfoot. Debbie, growling in disapproval, took hold of theman's other leg and lifted.

    Graham could see Katherine's dad getting ever closerand he knew that, as far down the alley as they had gotten,

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    they were not going to make it.

    He caught Debbie's eye for an instant and could see aburning determination in them mixed in with her fright. He was reminded of when he and his cousin had been interrible danger when Katherine had revealed herself as the

    Tempus Murderer, reminded of how Debbie had gottenkilled that night before he fixed things...

    Katherine's father was just behind Debbie now, reaching

    out a hand to grab her neck, apparently to pull her back into a strangle hold. It was all happening in slow motion.Debbie blinked, knowing what was about to happen. Buther determination never faltered.

    The man's hand was a hair's width from closing completely around her neck. Graham's eyes widened andsomething filled his lungs, a sort of energy that wasn't

    entirely air. NO!

    A force so terrible and strong that it made everyonestagger away from Graham shot towards Katherine's dad.

    The impact was terrible and violent, knocking him at leastten yards back. He landed hard on the ground, rolling along the dirt and pavement another few feet before coming to astop. His body remained motionless, as did everyone else

    who stared at what Graham had done.Graham, Lynda breathed. What... She didn't know

    exactly how to ask what had happened, so she just stoppedthere.

    Wait a second, Matt muttered, rubbing his eyes. Thisis usually the part where I wake up.

    It's not a dream, Debbie said. Come on. Let's get outof here.

    Graham, Debbie, Matt, and Lynda carried the strangerout of the alley and into the street. They went past one

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    street, then another, trying to avoid passing cars and

    pedestrians who would find the sight of four teenagerscarrying an unconscious man a little too interesting.Finally, they came across a deserted house's back yard

    that was full of overgrowing bushes. Here, Grahamcommanded, deciding this would be an excellent place tolie low. They settled into the yard and rested, breathing fast,their ears alert for the sound of coming footsteps. But there

    was only silence except for the occasional sound of a cardriving through the unseen street.Graham relaxed and sat back, still panting. Somehow he

    knew that, whatever had just happened, Katherine's father would not be getting up to chase them any time soon.

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    Chapter 4Elizabeth's First Movement

    raham, Matt began, his face pale and sweatpouring down it. He looked like he wasclose to fainting. Whowhatwhy

    He gulped. What's going on?!G

    I'm not exactly sure myself, replied Graham, wiping sweat from his forehead. But I think that man back there was after this guy.

    You mean 'this guy' as in the guy that floated over thefence with light all around his legs, right? Matt askedsardonically. Just to be clear.

    Yes, that one.

    Well, maybe this guy is some fugitive. Maybe the otherguy was some kind of police man or FBI agent. Mattthought about this for a second longer, realizing something.Wow, you're in big trouble if I'm right.

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    Graham had to admit that he had not thought of the

    possibility of the stranger not being some innocent victim. The part about Katherine's father being a federal officer,however, was ridiculous. He knew that man was up to nogood.

    He began to recall bits of what the stranger had said theprevious night. The murders were all connected. Follow the clocks.

    What could that possibly mean?

    Believe me, Debbie said. That man, whatever hisname, wasn't a fed. He's bad news.How do you know that?Look, Graham cut in, looking up at Matt straight in

    the eye. This will take too long to explain and I don't wantto explain it here. We need to get to safety, and quickly.

    My dad's car is still at your house, said Debbie, her

    own face flushed with exhaustion and fear. Do you think we can get to it?

    Yeah, said Graham. Matt, Lynda, you two stay here with this guy and make sure he stays out of sight. We'llcome and get you.

    No way! Matt said, a bit angrily. I'm not doing anything until you tell me what's going on!

    Matt, you need to stay or else it'll be Lynda by herself watching over this man. Come on, what's the gentleman-like thing to do?

    I can handle myself, countered Lynda, defiantly.Seriously, go. I'll be fine.

    No, replied Graham, flatly. Matt, please. Stay withLynda.

    Matt stared at Graham for a while, then noddedreluctantly. You'd better tell us what's going on afterwards,though, he muttered.

    Graham grinned, then stood up, looking around to see if

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    the area was clear. There was no sign of Katherine's dad

    anywhere. Come on, Deb. He and his cousin walked outof the yard and back towards Graham's street. After a minute, they reached the car safely without any

    interference from anyone. Debbie unlocked the car andGraham entered the passenger side. He glanced aroundagain, making sure nobody had noticed them. This is thefirst time I see you drive. I hope you're good at it, Graham

    muttered, strapping his seat belt on tightly.Debbie glared at him, turned the car on, and stepped onthe gas. The car shot forward, sending Graham into hisseat. Yeah, pretty good, Debbie replied lightly, the cornerof her mouth rising.

    Soon, they were parked next to the abandoned houseand Graham hopped out of the car to help Lynda and Matt

    carry the stranger. They quickly sat him down and strappeda seat belt over his shoulder.

    At long last, they were driving away from Graham'sneighborhood, away from danger. For a while, all of them

    were silent. It was obvious what the rest were thinking of,but Graham was thinking about something specific.Something that bothered him down to his core. Katherine'sdad had somehow managed to break out of the hold of theChronoculus just after they made it over the fence. As faras Graham knew before today, nobody could overtake thepower of the Chronoculus. The question that was plaguing him was simply: was the Chronoculus not strong enough,or was Graham himself not strong enough?

    Another thing that bothered Graham was the fact thatKatherine's father recognized the Chronoculus at all.

    That is interesting,he had said. A Chronoculus... I haven't seen oneat least one that workedin years.

    That made four people in all that knew about the

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    Chronoculus and its capabilities: Rakhon, Jack Rooster,

    Katherine, and her father. There was also a possible fifth,that being the stranger that was sitting in the backseat. The question that he hadn't been able to answer for two

    years reappeared, picking at his mind as if to say,Remember me? How did these people from over three-thousand years into the future know about his drawing, hiscreation? What made the Chronoculus work?

    Lynda spoke first, breaking Graham's thoughts.Graham, she said. We're all safe now. Would you mindexplaining everything now? She was asking kindly, butGraham could tell that she wasn't quite going to take no foran answer.

    Yeah, Matt chimed it, still sounding bitter. Try explaining why that guy got tackled backwards when you

    yelled at him, too.Graham suddenly realized how strange everything must

    seem to Lynda and Matt and felt a bit guilty for notexplaining things sooner. Look, he began, tentatively. Iguess you can say that I've got... well, I've got... secrets.

    Matt and Lynda stared at him blankly. He continued,Do you remember when the Tempus Murderer wasrunning around? I'm the one who got rid of her. I stoppedher.

    How? asked Lynda in a toneless way. Matt saidnothing.

    Graham sighed, then reached into his pocket and pulledout his drawing of the Chronoculus. This, he said. Idon't know how or why, but this is what helped me protectmy friends and defeat the Tempus Murderer.

    Both looked at the drawing for a long time, pondering over it. A look of disbelief crossed Matt's face and anunpleasant smile appeared there. You're joking, he said.

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    I wanted an explanation, not a fairy tale.

    But it's the truth! protested Graham, annoyed.Stop kidding around! snapped Matt. It isn't funny anymore!

    Oh, so I yelled at the man and he just slipped by accident, huh? And this guy we just rescued just floated upover the fence because of the wind?!

    Both of you, stop it! All heads turned to Debbie, who

    glared at Graham, then at Matt through the driver's mirror.Right now, she continued, calmer this time, We need tofind out where we're going to go.

    What do you mean? asked Graham, who thought theanswer was obvious. You're taking us to Uncle Jim'shouse, right?

    Debbie shook her head. Katherine visited my house a

    lot, remember? I'm pretty sure that's the first place her dad will look for us. I have to tell my parents to leave as soon aspossible.

    This had never occurred to Graham before, but now herealized that Katherine had gotten a lot of information

    when she had pretended to be an innocent teenage girl.Had she passed on the information about the Chronoculusshe saw in Graham's notebook to her father? Is that how he knew about it? One thing was for sure, she had not beenable to tell anybody about where Jack Rooster's house waslocated because she was killed immediately after finding it.Her father must've only recently discovered it.

    I think, continued Debbie, keeping her eyes on theroad now. We should use Elizabeth's house.

    Katherine went to Elizabeth's house even more thanyours, countered Graham. Don't you remember? They

    were like best friends. They were together all of the time.I told you already, said Debbie, patiently. Elizabeth

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    and her family moved further into the city just a few weeks

    ago. I told you last night over the phone. We'll be safethere.What about us? inquired Lynda, looking anxious. Do

    you think the man will come looking for me or Matt?Probably, answered Graham, truthfully. But I think

    you'll be safe enough in your houses. He doesn't know where you live. He turned to Debbie. Hey, how are you

    gonna talk Elizabeth's parents into letting us keep theinjured guy?Debbie glanced at the unconscious man leaning against

    the window. We'll think of something.

    She didn't like this. Not one bit. Debbie was still feeling a little angry at her cousin for not leaving the man where he

    was. Something about this entire situation troubled her. It was almost like when Graham and the others had decidedto go into Jack Rooster's house. She had tried to tell themnot to do it, but they didn't listen. And bad things hadhappened.

    She felt like keeping the stranger was the begin