Chapter 32

ALISSIA'S Pov

“Timekeeper, appear,” I commanded, closing my eyes.

By the time I opened it, he was right there in the room, standing before me. He had a straight face, void of emotion. His hands were behind his back, making him look a high lord.

“What happened back there?” I asked him, my hands trembling as I waited for an answer. The atmosphere became tense and I could hear my heart beat slowly.

“I don’t know, I’m as surprised as you are,” he replied.

I found it hard to believe his words. Does he mean he didn’t know what happened to me in there?

“Liar!” I yelled. You took me there, you held my hands so that I couldn’t do anything, claiming I can’t utter the events of the past. Whose past uhn? And why did I feel a piercing pain in my head before coming back to reality when that little girl hit her head on that stone?

“I really wish I can answer your questions Alissia,” he replied calmly. “I… I seriously don’t know.”

The rest room was extremely spacious, it could almost pass for a standard bedroom if not for the water closet and bath-tub resting distance apart among many others including the ceramic basin for washing hands.

I walked to the closet and sat on it’s closed seat, burying my head in my hands— lost in thought.

“Take me back!” I ordered. “I want to know what happened to the girl.”

He opened his mouth to speak but I stopped him before he could, “don’t you dare say no. You started it, you will end it.”

He grumbled a little before stretching his hand out, signaling for me to take it so that we could be on our way. I grinned happily, knowing that I had won this time.

A sudden wind blew and my spirit with the timekeeper was floating in the air again. I looked down at Jenna’s who stood up from the toilet seat, startled.

She was obviously wondering, what am I doing here?

I cared less about her and concentrated on the journey ahead. Within the twinkling of an eye, we were in the past again, watching the kids from where I last saw them.

The new boy, bruised a little on his elbow rushed over to the girl who still held her head in pain.

“Oh no, what have you done?” He whispered, addressing no one in particular as he sighted blood on her head. He tore off a piece of his cloth and used it to stop the bleeding. By now, the girl had sat up and she whimpered in pain.

“Just keep the cloth on the wound okay? I’ll be back,” he assured her, getting up on his feet.

The girl sheds tears silently, holding the piece of cloth to her head with one hand, cleaning the tears which dropped down from her eyes with the other. I couldn’t hold my emotions and was moved to tears also.

I felt nothing in my face and remembered that my physical body will be shedding tears wherever it was.

“What is your problem?” The new kid asked, furiously. He walked to where the bully stood with high shoulders, facing him. “Didn’t I warn you to leave the girl, what did you do that for?”

The bully sneared at him and hit him on the chest. What are ye going to do about it? Huh?

The air became filled with tension as their eyes locked in a fierce stare, each daring the other to make the first move. The other children stood behind, watching, all holding their breath, sensing the intensity of the moment.

Without warning, the bully charged forward. His fist swung around, aiming for the new kid’s jaw. But the new kid dodged the blow with ease.

The new kid counterattacked, landing a sudden jab to the bully’s nose. The bully stumbled back, his eyes watering from the sudden blow. But he quickly regained his composure after he almost fell and launched himself at the new kid.

They clashed again, punching each other like there was no tomorrow. Their fight had began to attract passers by who did nothing to stop them.

Why In the world would anyone stand by while little children fought each other like grown up men? I asked myself.

“They are the children from the orphanage,” a voice which sounded like a man’s own came from the crowd.

“That witch doesn’t give a da*n care in the world if these kids survive or not,” a second voice replied, belonging to another man.

“Shouldn’t we stop them? they’ll kill themselves at this rate,” a third voice which sounded like a woman’s own suggested.

Orphanage? I gasped, looking at the timekeeper. “What do this people mean?”

He wanted to ignore me like he always did but I kept disturbing him with loud noises and meaningless words from my mind since we could communicate without anyone hearing us.

“Just shut up okay, let’s ask somebody. I’m as confused as you are,” he confessed.

“Ask somebody?” I wondered. “Wouldn’t that affect something in the future? I thought we can’t alter the events of the past?”

“Exactly,” he answered me almost screaming. “You are learning fast.”

I knew immediately that he was messing with my mind— preying on its vulnerable state. There was no way we could ask anyone anything here.

Taking my eyes back to the fight, I saw the bully’s blows crashed into the new kid’s space, but the latter's quickness allowed him to dodge the attacks.

The new kid landed several blows on the bully’s stomach but the bully’s strength kept him in the fight.

From the look of things, the new kid was loosing this fight. Only a miracle could save him from the bully who had pushed him to the floor and was now sitting on his face.

Sweat mixed with dust formed a sort of mud clothing on their bodies and their breathing was irregular. The bully’s face formed into a growl, while the new kids eyes blazed with determination.

In a sudden reversal, the new kid turned the bully over, striking his stomach and chest. The bully lay still on the floor gasping for air.

“When I say you stop, you stop!” The new kid yelled and raised his hands up to strike a punch, aimed directly for the Billy’s eye when a voice broke the fight.

“What is going on here?” It asked and all eyes turned to where it came from. Standing before us was a middle aged woman who had a frown on her face.

Our eyes clashed and that was when I felt it, a form of electricity, passing through my spirit.