Episode 5 – Little Pieces of Time
Enjl peered into Officer Aristocrat’s eyes. They stared back as if they were security cameras themselves, monitoring Enjl’s every move. The furrow in the officer’s brow and beaming attention he gave Enjl meant this was serious business. Enjl swallowed, looked down, and then back at Officer Aristocrat and reported the events in the bathroom.
“Sir, I pulled the fire alarm.” Enjl said.
“What? Why the hell would you do that? Do you want to be kicked out of this university, boy?!” Officer Aristocrat shouted.
“Not in the slightest! I did it to protect this girl! I saw Sanct pull out a gun an–“ Enjl began.
“Wait a minute slow down… slow down. What girl?” Officer Aristocrat asked.
“Pyro. Her name is Pyro, I recognized her and when I saw that Sanct had pulled out a gun on her the only thing I could do was pull the fire alarm to scare him off.” Enjl answered cordially.
“You’re sure about this?” Officer Aristocrat asked.
“I saw it with my own two eyes, sir.” Enjl said.
“I will let the rest of the school administration and the local PD know. Thank you for telling me. Now get outside with the rest of the students until I can get this damn alarm off.” Officer Aristocrat said.
The halls were completely vacant. Enjl made walked briskly to the front entrance towards the school’s lawn when he passed by Superiorstar’s class door once again. From the outside of his classroom, Enjl heard Superiorstar’s end of a bizarre phone conversation.
“Yes, right.
Mhm.
I und- I understand. Can we tal-
Mhm.
I know this is a big deal but can we please talk about this later? There was a fire alarm and I need to be outside.
Yes.
We will talk about this later. Okay?
We will talk about it later.
Okay, I know. I know! Let’s talk about this later please. I have to –
I have to go now.”
The fire alarm was shut off though Enjl remained inside and hidden outside of Superiorstar’s class eavesdropping. He had no idea what Superiorstar could have been discussing or with who, but Enjl continued past toward the school’s entrance doors. He breathed in the autumn air, and walked down the steps still wondering about the strange phone conversation and still dazed over Sanct’s attempted murder being stopped with time powers.
SMBX University’s lawn was littered with frustrated students waiting around. Enjl scanned everyone outside, looking for Pyro. He took a few more steps forward, dragging his feet along his path. Pyro was nowhere to be found, nor Sanct. Enjl wandered around looking for his friend, and still she was nowhere to be seen. There wasn’t any sign of her and just when Enjl was beginning to turn around and return to class when he heard the school’s intercom buzz on.
“Attention students: due to an emergency, all remaining classes have been canceled until further notice. Also, Sanct please come to my office.” Mr. Daniel said into the intercom.
Enjl was too far into the crowd to check if Sanct was entering the university again. He merely hung out with some of his friends in the campus lawn, and talked while trying to get his mind onto something else. Enjl kept a close eye on the crowd however. Not once did he see Sanct, nor Pyro. Furthermore, Superiorstar was the only teacher not in the crowd either. The crowd grew thinner and thinner until eventually Enjl himself departed from the lawn and back towards his dorm.
Before Enjl could even take a few steps away, his phone buzzed. Enjl retrieved his phone from his back pocket and checked it.
1 new message from Sorel.
2 new messages from Unknown Number.
Enjl opened the message from Sorel first. Avoiding the cracks from his carelessness, he punched in his passcode and went into his messages. When Enjl tapped onto Sorel’s name his message history came right up.
Sorel: hey hey, hope you didn’t forget about movie night
Enjl: nope, heading over in a few
Sorel: awesome sauce! Cya soon!
Enjl: blocked
Sorel: lol
Sorel: u there?
Sorel: hello?
Sorel: wtf did u seriously block me?
Sorel: I hate you
Enjl: new phone who dis
Sorel: blocked
RECENT
Sorel: hey are you still outside? I’ve got your flash drive ready to go, I’m over in the parking lot. See you there?
Enjl turned around and went to the parking lot instead of his dorms. As he walked, Enjl texted Sorel that he was on his way. Finally, Enjl walked into the parking area and saw Sorel leaning on the hood of his beat-up used car. Sorel waved, and Enjl returned the gesture and walked towards him.
“Hey man, I got the flash right here.” Sorel said handing the drive to Enjl.
“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Enjl said.
“No problem dude. Heh, hey you look pretty good with your hair all fluffed up from the wind.” Sorel said.
“I don’t feel that good.” Enjl said while touching up his hair with Sorel’s side view mirrors.
“What’s going on?” Sorel asked.
“If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone. Deal?” Enjl said.
“Deal.” Replied Sorel.
“I was in Superiorstar’s class. Everything was pretty much normal. I took a selfie, I got put on the spot, the class ended, and then I went to bathroom. While I was there, I saw Sanct and Pyro come in and start arguing. The argument escalated, and Sanct pulled out a gun and shot Pyro.” Enjl explained.
“Holy shit!” said Sorel.
“I’m not done.” Enjl said.
“As soon as I jumped out when Pyro was shot, I woke up in Superiorstar’s class again. It was the same lecture. I took another selfie, prepared myself to be put on the spot that time, and then went right to the bathroom. Everything happened again exactly as it did before. I could answer Superiorstar’s question this time, so I could change time. That’s when I hid in the bathroom to find a way to change time again to save Pyro’s life.” Enjl explained further.
Sorel nodded his head along paying close attention to Enjl’s every word. He could tell that his friend was being serious from the breathlessness in his voice, and the worry in his eyes.
“I looked for anything I could do. Intervening directly was suicide, so instead I tried my luck with pulling the fire alarm.” Enjl said.
“That was you?” Sorel asked.
“It was.” Enjl said.
The duo remained quiet for some time. The silence consumed the mood, and Enjl brought his phone back out while Sorel was processing what he heard. Enjl scrolled to the two texts from the unknown number. Before he could tap into it, he heard a car’s engine roar down the road. It appeared to be Superiorstar’s black impala. Strangely, one of his tail lights was out. Enjl shrugged it off and looked back down at his phone and opened the messages.
34.9686444587 135.753718652
You should mind your own business.
Enjl looked up his from phone haunted by the vague message. He showed it to Sorel and they exchanged worried glances. Neither of them knew what to make of the coordinates nor the ominous and threatening message attached to it. Everything seemed to be getting worse and when Enjl thought he just finished saving a friend’s life, it was only the beginning it seemed of things to come.