Chasing Time

Getting Caught

Sector B3, Middle Terragon.

15:43, 25th July, 3000

It had been ten days since the episode at the bar. Layana had withdrawn into herself. She barely held conversations with the others, she was just mostly in her room, talking to Gaya. Melinda and Julia had to move out of her room and sleep in the living room because they wanted to give her space. They were worried about her but whenever they said anything, she just smiled and said she was fine.

Julia was especially worried, and not just because of Layana's obvious trauma but also because it was almost a month to the apocalypse and they weren't any close to saving anyone or even themselves. She supposed Gaya would protect Layana since she was her medium but the rest of them had no such reassurance even though she was reincarnated. After the whole thing at the bar, people had surprisingly been talking about the apocalypse more. On The Lessers, that was all everyone spoke about, they argued about the possibility. A particular Lesser mentioned that suspicious things had been going on in Upper Terragon. Apparently, they had not been letting any Middlers in even if they offered the required amount of money. They had also been visiting the central market in Middle Terragon and transporting large amount of supplies back to Upper Terragon. Julia's sensing were tingling and she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to ask Stanley what he knew but she was not even sure if she wanted to know.

They were all up on the roof again, except Layana. Melinda was painting and Travis was next to her, talking about whatever. Julia sat at the very edge, her legs swinging off the edge of the roof. She was looking down and contemplating just pushing herself down and just dying. After all, if she died then, she would not have to worry about the apocalypse anymore. It suddenly seemed like a perfect idea.

"Want to jump off the roof together?" Stanley's voice came from behind her, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned up her face to look at him, he was frowning like usual.

"Go away," she responded and turned back to her view. He let out a breath and sat next to her, facing inwards. She turned her face to the side and observed his profile. Despite herself, she had to admit that he was very attractive, especially when he clenched his jaw like he was doing in that moment. He turned to face her and they made eye contact.

"Why are you staring at me?" he asked and she scowled.

"I was not."

"Yes you were, I caught you."

"Whatever," she answered and turned back to his view. Her face felt hot even though she was keeping her cool. She heard him sigh then shift.

"I got a message," he said and she looked at him again "from...my father."

Layana looked thinner than she did a few days ago. She was dressed in another one of her oversized slip dresses, seated on the couch next to Julia. The rest of them were standing around while Layana read from the paper Stanley gave her. After Stanley told Julia about the message he received, she flew into a fit of rage, only calming down when she listened to his explanation. He told her that the previous day when he went to get rid of the trash downstairs, he was approached by a small child who handed him the piece of paper. The content had shocked him.

"I can't believe you kept this to yourself." Julia said to Stanley, glaring at him. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I had to think about it,"

"Think about what? They know where we are. They can get to us. We need to leave this place. I wonder where your loyalty lies," she said, her tone was biting. Stanley clenched his jaw in anger but said nothing. The paper had two parts, one of which he decided to keep to himself.

"Can someone please read this thing out loud?" Travis asked, feeling more than a little irritated. Julia had snatched the paper from Stanley's hands earlier, read it, then dashed down from the roof to show it to Layana.

"I'll read it," Layana said, her voice dreamier and lighter than usual.

"'Hello son,' it says 'I trust you are doing well and fine since you have decided to abandon home without looking back. You and I still have a lot to discuss but this message is not for you. This message is for the woman you have associated yourself with and her cohorts. I know every single one of them. Layana, Julia, Travis and Melinda. I know where you live, I know where you go, I know everything. Now, I want you to tell Layana, there is definitely a lot we can achieve together. I am willing to negotiate with her, she can have a seat at my table, a place in Upper Terragon if and only if she stops spreading those awful rumors immediately.

I trust that you, my son, will do your best to convince her. I will be waiting at the border two days from now, come to me and everything will be fixed, you have my word.'" she finished and placed the paper down on the coffee table. Her slender fingers fluttered up and she pushed her hair back.

"Oh..." Travis muttered, unsure of what to say next.

"This is perfect!" Julia said suddenly, like she had an epiphany "this letter is ultimate proof! We have the son of the Head Councilman here with us and a letter sent by the Head Councilman himself. All we need to do is convince a large group of people and The Lessers will do the rest."

"Wait, aren't you going to consider what he said?" Stanley asked and they all looked up at him in surprise.

"Of course," Travis said with a chuckle "daddy's little boy wants to run back home and hide in his mansion."

Stanley stared back at him in shock because he and Travis had never had any problems before. It was unusual for the somewhat quiet but imposing man to say something condescending.

"I'm just saying, if he sent this, that means he knows the apocalypse is happening and that means he has a plan. I just think we need to hear him out."

"We aren't going." Julia replied stubbornly "if your father knew about this, then he should have let the public be aware of it. He's obviously keeping it secret for some reason and I don't intend to do the same,"

"Julia, I-"

"You saw!" she interrupted him, pushing herself to her feet to look him in the eyes "you saw...just like I did. All the death and destruction. All the devastation. Your father wants to keep that a secret and you want to enable him? No. No, Stanley. I refuse to be a part of that. I was there first hand. I watched..." she turned to look at Travis and Melinda "I can't do that again. I won't do that again. Now look at me and tell me where your loyalty lies. Are you with us or do you want to turn tail and run home?"

"I..." he started then paused. He looked at the rest of them and realized they were on the same page with Julia, they usually were. He sighed and clenched his jaw.

"In that case, there's something else you need to know," he pulled out another piece of paper from his pocket and read it to them "'Stanley, this is for your eyes only. In case they do not cooperate, I want you to eliminate every single one of them. You are my son and the future leader of Terragon. Do not fail me in this. If you do, I will disown you completely. I trust you will do the right thing. Signed, father.'"

Julia snatched the paper from his hand and skimmed through it. Her shoulders dropped in defeat, then she looked up at him.

"I guess we should find somewhere to hide then." Julia said with a heavy sigh.