Timeshock - I Want My Life Back (10 page)

Nigel panicked a little - he glanced at the indicator boards and saw a flight to Paris leaving in two hours.
 
He booked himself onto that flight and rushed through security.
 
He was safe - for now.

The flight landed in Paris and Nigel rushed to the Gare Du Nord and booked a Eurostar ticket to take him to London.
 
On the train, Nigel realised that his original plan was doomed.
 

There was no way he was going to be able to build another time machine for Natalie in haste.
 
Then he thought -
you have a time machine
.
 
He could just go back to before he went to Italy and he would be safe.
 
He felt such an idiot for not thinking of it before.
 
He just needed to find somewhere to go back in time.
 
It probably wouldn’t be safe returning to his flat - the Mafia might be waiting there.

Almost immediately after leaving the train at St Pancras, Nigel headed for the toilets - he found a large cubicle and got the time machine out and activated it to go back 6 days.

This journey took virtually no time at all.
 

Nigel had forgotten one of the lessons about choosing locations to time travel.
 
He found himself in a cubicle with a very old man using the toilet.
 
The man screamed.

In a total panic Nigel stowed the time machine and the old man in the storage diamond and fled out of the toilet.
 
Remembering the old man, he found a deserted men’s toilet at nearby bar and released the mortified pensioner.

Nigel took the tube back to his flat and then he remembered another important fact about time travel he had forgotten - sitting on the sofa in the flat was another Nigel.
 
It was himself from 6 days ago.

For about a minute there was silence.
 
Then eventually Nigel explained to his twin what had happened.
 
His twin understood why he had done what he had done, but pointed out that there were now more Nigels than Natalies in this reality.

As the time travelled was so little, this Nigel was virtually identical in terms of mood and outlook to his twin.
 
They discussed the situation and came to a conclusion.
 
The twin would build two new time machines based on the plans of the current one, which were also in the storage diamond.
 
Nigel would travel even further back and take the place of the Nigel who had originally built the time machine, arriving back just after he had jumped back in time.

The only issue was that neither twin knew the exact date when that Nigel went back in time.
 
Nigel went over to Raymond and Natalie’s house to see if they could remember the date the original Nigel went back in time.

After ringing the doorbell Nigel waited for a while.
 
Eventually the door opened and Nigel saw Raymond shaking.
 
He was holding a knife - covered in blood.
 

“What on earth happened?” asked Nigel.

“I..I…I’ve killed Natalie.”
 
Raymond started sobbing.

“What!?!
 
Where is she?”

“In the kitchen.
 
She said that she had a lover and was leaving.
 
I lost control.
 
I am so sorry.”

Nigel rushed to the kitchen and saw Natalie’s lifeless body lying on the floor. She had been stabbed multiple times.
 

Nigel fell to his knees and wept.
 
Looked like this Nigel was doomed for tragedy as well.
 
Then he remembered.
He had a time machine.
But this time he would think things through before rushing off.
 

He asked Raymond what had happened.
 
Raymond said he had been suspecting Natalie was having an affair for a while, though he ignored it.
 
Then she had foolishly decided to tell him after they had had an enormous row.

Nigel told Raymond he needed to ring the police and confess.
 
Raymond naturally did not seem keen on the idea.
 
Nigel thought for a second.
 
He was going to fix this with the time machine, so it didn’t matter what happened here.
 
So he decided to say to Raymond he would help him cover it up.

This relaxed Raymond considerably.
 
Nigel used it as an excuse to pump Raymond for information.

“What date was it that I travelled to the past again - I was trying to remember but my memory is all hazy.”

“It was the 4th June two years ago.
 
You know if you had come back as you promised I would have taken you up on your offer to use the machine.
 
I’d so loved to have saved my sister.
 
I still can’t believe she is gone.”

“Well, believe me time travel is over-rated.
 
Who do you think Natalie was having an affair with?”

“Pepe, her personal trainer.”

“Oh I didn’t know she had a personal trainer.”

“Yes, they train together here every Saturday afternoon when I go to watch the football.” Then Raymond remembered what he had done and started crying.

“Don’t worry, I will fix this,”
 
Nigel said concealing the fact he wouldn’t fix it for this Raymond but himself.

Nigel made his excuses and left the house. He rang the police anonymously and reported Raymond.
 
He then went to a local park and set the time machine to go back to last Saturday afternoon as he knew Raymond would be out.

Travelling back those few days took virtually no perceived time to Nigel.
 
He returned to Raymond and Natalie’s house and he rung the doorbell.
 
There was no response so Nigel went around the back.
 

To his horror he saw Natalie making love to a muscle-bound Hispanic man who he guessed was Pepe her personal trainer.
 
They were too busy to notice Nigel staring at them.
 
He quickly left.
 

Clearly she had been having multiple affairs.
 
Nigel sat in a local park for about half an hour crying and then went back to the house to confront Natalie.

Again he rung the bell. Nigel was shaking.
 
Natalie answered the door.

“How could you?” demanded Nigel.

“What?” Natalie seemed confused.

“I saw you sleeping with someone through the window!”

“What?
 
You’ve been spying on me!”

“I tried the door but you didn’t answer so went around the back.”

“Oh. Well it just kind of happened when you were away. I was going to end it with Pepe,” said Natalie who held her head low in shame.

“To think I thought you loved me.”

“But you abandoned me when you went back in time.”

“That was the other Nigel.”

“But it was him I loved.
 
We were never lovers, he never would.”

“What?”

“Until Nigel left I never cheated on Raymond - and we weren’t even married then.”

“Oh” said Nigel.

“You, err.. I mean ..err.. the other Nigel deserted me, and Raymond seemed disappointed as he wanted to go back in time as well.
 
How do you think I took it - both men in my life wanted to go back in time and abandon me.”

Trash“So you ended up having an affair with Pepe?”

“Yes. Raymond married me to secure our relationship and as a fool I accepted - we should never have married.”

Nigel knew what to do.
 
He gave Natalie the plans to the time machine and told her to give them to him the next time they met.
 
He said that he wouldn’t remember this meeting.
 
Natalie looked very confused.
 

“He won’t know that you cheated with Pepe,” said Nigel.

“What?
 
You know.
 
What - are you yet another Nigel?!?”

“Yes, it’s very hard to explain.
 
Give him the plans and tell him another Nigel came from the future and gave them to you.
 
And don’t tell him about Pepe!”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“Can you promise to ditch Pepe and be faithful to him?”

“Well I was going to dump Pepe anyway,” said Natalie in a tone that sounded honest if not exactly certain.

“Do not under any circumstances tell Raymond you are having an affair.
 
In the future he kills you because you do.”

“Oh my god - is that why you came back?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

With that Nigel left the house and went back to a local park again.
 
He set the machine to go back to the 4th June 2012.
 
Nigel for once had a trouble-free appearance in the new time period.

It was nice to feel sun on his face for a change, Nigel thought.
 
He realised he had no idea where his other self had actually travelled back in time from.
 
It was unlikely it was from his flat - it was too small.
 
He didn’t seem to rent any business space, so it wasn’t from there.
 

Surely Nigel would try a test first.
 
A small journey into the past to see if the machine worked.
 
Where would he do that?
 
Think.
 
Think.
 
Both Natalie and Raymond knew about the machine - maybe he had left from their house?

Nigel raced over to Raymond and Natalie’s house.
 
He saw the Nigel from this time wheeling a machine with a platform out of a van and into the house.

Nigel’s master-plan had a flaw.
 
His time machine didn’t look anything like Nigel’s original machine.
 
He would have to wing it and build a new machine if he could get his hands on Nigel’s original plans.

He crept behind a small wall outside the house and tried to look in.
 
A cat from the local neighbourhood was taking an unusual interest in him.
 
He pushed it away and looked in to see that Raymond and Natalie seemed slightly bemused by the machine.
 
There was much laughing and joking between the three of them.

The cat was pestering Nigel again and he pushed it away.
 
It made a growling noise at Nigel and he froze.
 
Had they heard him?
 

Thank God, no they hadn’t.
 
He saw the other Nigel program the machine to go back 3 minutes. The cat was also looking over at the other Nigel and the machine now, its curiosity piqued as well.

The other Nigel stood on the machine with a flourish and activated it.
 
He disappeared.
 
Natalie and Raymond waited for a minute or two and then started to get concerned.

Nigel sensed his opportunity and began to think on his feet.
 
He rung the doorbell.

“Nigel?” exclaimed Natalie.

“Yes, it’s me.
 
It was a success but the machine was a write-off.
 
I went back in time!” said Nigel lying.

“Well it’s good you succeeded, Nigel.
 
Shame about the machine though,” said Raymond pushing his way alongside Natalie at the door.

“Well, it worked and I think I can build a new one.
 
You will get to go back in time Raymond!”

“Let’s have a beer to celebrate!” exclaimed Raymond.

With that they went inside and relaxed.
 
Thankfully the other Nigel had left the keys to his van with Natalie and in it he found plans for the machine.

Over the next few months Nigel worked on a new platform based time machine copying the original design.
 

After several months, on a cold November’s day, Nigel unveiled his new machine to Raymond and Natalie.

“It’s very simple to operate,” said Nigel, showing the controls to Raymond.

“Yes, I understand,” nodded Raymond.

“Going back to change Hitler’s destiny is a massive change.
 
I’d prefer if we tried a smaller change first,” said Nigel looking at Raymond.

“Do you want me to go back and save my sister first?”

“Yes, I think that would be a good idea.
 
I’ve proved it works, so go back and save your sister.”

“Great.
 
I’ll get my things!”
 
With that Raymond left to go upstairs.
 
Natalie looked a bit concerned.

“Is that thing safe Nigel?” asked Natalie.

“It won’t kill him but there is always a risk he won’t come back.
 
We don’t really know what happens with proper time travel,” said Nigel.

“Hmm.
 
Well, he is keen to go.
 
To be honest things aren’t good between us.
 
I think he would far rather have his sister back than spend time with me,” moaned Natalie.

Raymond returned carrying a bag and asked Nigel if he could use the machine.
 
Nigel waved him onto the machine.
 
Raymond activated it.
 
That was the last that was seen of Raymond Deville, in this reality at least.

Natalie got over Raymond surprisingly quickly. She and Nigel became close over the next year and eventually got married.
 
They moved to a nice house in the suburbs and Nigel began to enjoy life again.

One summer’s day, Nigel was happily sitting in the garden when he heard a scream come from inside the house.
 
Rushing inside he saw Natalie being held at gunpoint by a tall man in a uniform.
 
Another smaller man pointed a gun at Nigel.
 
Everything about these two men made no sense.
 
Their clothes looked like black Nazi uniforms - but they were holding futuristic weapons similar to Raymond’s.