The Clepsydra: Chapter 4 - Ice-Cream for forgiveness

"There's no ways that's even possible, my parents would have told me I was adopted!"

"Not if the circumstances required them to have it hidden from you, and from what I've seen everything points to the fact that something has happened which they don't feel willing to share...have you ever seen any baby pictures of yourself, or have any of those embarrassing home videos of you dancing around in a tutu or princess crown?"

Now I'm the one who's pacing, pulling my fingers through my hair and wiping my sweaty hands on my shirt and pyjama pants.

My stomach feels like I'm riding the world's wildest rollercoaster backwards with no seatbelt on when I realize I haven't ever seen any of the things he's talking about, simply because the only time I had ever brought it up my mom had looked at my dad nervously before saying that they had gotten lost the last time we had moved houses and I knew better than to bring it up again from the way she had answered.

"Before you explain anymore, please say why you feel the need to be telling me all this? Why couldn't you have just left me alone to carry on with my life?"

He picks up his sword in its sheath, which had been resting on the ground against the fallen tree up until this point. He lays it across his lap, pulling out his blade and inspecting it up close, the weapon so pristine that I can see his reflection staring back at him.

"If I had left you to your own means, you might have wreaked havoc simply because of the fact that you had no clue what you were doing. Untrained Clepsydra can do as much harm as any Alterate...from now on I'll need to-"

I hunched over where I stood, my stomach feeling as if there was some invisible rope drawing it in 3 different directions. Aidan stood up, dropping his sword.

"What's happening? Why do I feel as if I'm being pulled apart like a rusty spring on a trampoline!?" Aidan walks towards me, concern written clearly on his face.

"You're waking up involuntarily for some reason and you fighting against it is causing you pain. You need to give in to it, let it take you like a current flowing through a stream."

"...But I don't want to go yet, you haven't finished explaining things to me!" I hold my hand up in front of my face, and I see it flickering in and out of visibility like a static T.V.

"I'll see you again tomorrow and finish explaining just don't forget to..." although I never heard the end of his sentence, because everything went dark before he had the chance to finish.
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My eyes shoot open, and the first thing that I see are the big blue-grey eyes and drooling tongue of my German Weimaraner puppy, whose wagging tail was thumping against my legs.

I let out a slight groan at being pulled out of my ‘dream’ because of a dog as Piper whimpered softly, her long spindly legs getting tangled in my duvet.

She had been my 17th birthday present 5 weeks ago, but she was strictly forbidden by my parents to sleep inside in case she decided to go on a chewing spree as puppies tend to do. How she got inside was a mystery to me, and I decided to risk the slight chill in the air to put her back outside before my mom woke up and had a fit.

I got out of bed and padded out of my room, walking down the passageway while I rub my arms, wondering why it’s so cold in the house. I shuffle into the kitchen, Piper on my heels as I head to the backdoor.

A strong blast of cold air makes me look up, only to see that the backdoor is wide open, the one side of the door handle looking like it had been severed clean off. Piper whimpers again, backing up to hide behind me. I frown, my forehead wrinkling as I slowly step forward, trying to peer around the corners of the doorframe.

My parents always make a definite effort at making sure all the doors are locked before going to bed, so this was a major concern to me.

I take a deep breath, and walk through the door into my backyard, barely able to make out the wall cornering off our swimming pool which separates me from the rest of the garden.

I run my hands along it, my ears perked up and ready to alert me of any sounds but it’s not my sense of sound which freaks me out as much as my sight, when as I round the end of the wall I see a large person squatting with his back to me on the fence bordering us and our neighbours.

My gasp causes the person to swivel around, tilting their head to the side before jumping off the wall into the next backyard, disappearing into the night.

I turn around and run for my life for the second time that night, not stopping until I was inside, had locked the door behind me, checked the other doors as well as the windows and then jumped back into my bed with the duvet pulled over my head.

I focused on calming myself down, breathing in through my nose and exhaling out again through my mouth. The silence was interrupted by the sound of paws and nails scampering across the tiles of the passage outside my room before I hear them scratching against the carpet of my bedroom.

I feel a cold, wet nose poke my legs before I feel a long tongue licking at my exposed toes.

Shoot, in my frantic safety-check I had forgotten all about my dog. I sigh, deciding that both of us could benefit from a little company tonight as I lift my duvet up off my head, patting my bed next to me.

Piper jumps up onto my mattress, walking to the end of my bed before laying her body over my feet like a blanket. A big yawn shows off her canines, and then she closes her jaws and a puts her head down over her paws.

I yawn myself, putting my head down against my pillow and before long, a slight snoring can be heard from the bottom of my bed. I pull my duvet up to my chin, and stare at my ceiling...I know for certain that only one of us will be getting any sleep tonight.

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I wake up early the next morning, having only dozed off for about half an hour before waking up again. I convince myself out of bed by sheer will power alone, patting Piper on the head to wake her up.

I know that my mom is not a morning person, and her walking past my room to find the dog sprawled on my bed like she's on a yacht would not end well for me, so I need to get Piper back outside before anyone else sees her.

Piper springs off my bed, shaking herself off before galloping after me towards the back door. I let her out, then quietly creep back into my room.

Faint bits of sunlight are filtering through the blinds on my curtains, and I'm reminded of the dream I had with Marina and Cortés. It makes more sense now, since that must have been when I had also gone through the Crossover without realizing it.

Ichika must have been a friend of hers, but then why did I appear in my own body tonight and rather than seeing through the perspective of one of Christopher Columbus' men?

That's something which needs to be asked about as soon as I see Aidan again, as well as bring up the fact that there was an uninvited guest sitting on my wall in the middle of the night who may have broken into my house.

I sit back down on my bed, wincing as the alarm clock goes off. I bang it off, missing the button the first few times because of my drowsiness. I drag myself back off the bed, opening my cupboards and staring at my shelves of clothes before opting to change into a floral skirt, white lacy top, cropped denim jacket and cream coloured sandals.

Hopefully my better thought-out attire will prevent any further hallucinations due the summer heat. I'm still so uncertain about whether or not my interaction with Aidan last night was a figment of my imagination, but it's a surety that seeing him today will clear things up. I get dressed into my clothes and then continue with my usual routine of packing my bag and heading to the kitchen for breakfast.

I see my dad reading the paper as he usually does and my mom stirring her coffee and I suddenly remember Aidan's revelation last night about me being adopted. I approach the breakfast table and slouch into my seat, trying to think of a way to bring it up.

I'm saved by the motion of my dad getting up to check his emails before another meeting this morning and my mom going to touch up her make-up. What was I thinking anyway, I mean they would never tell me truth if I started off by saying that I was asking if I'm adopted because a boy in my dreams last night told me I might be.

I eat my cornflakes quickly, and then wash my bowl before going back into my room and sitting down at my desk. I take out my laptop as well as an empty notebook and do a little research on Christopher Columbus...I figure that if I'm going to be popping in and out of history like a jack in the box if last night really happened, I need to start building up information so I don't get killed for mentioning being on the wrong side of a war for instance.

After writing down a couple of points on the guy I also take a look at second hand scooters for sale, noticing that all of them are above my current price range. I shut my laptop in exasperation, just as I hear my dad's car pulling out of the garage. I sling my bag over my shoulder, stuffing the notebook in and grab my lunch before heading out the door to face day 2 of my new messy life.

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I'm flustered when I arrive for school. There had been a car accident on the highway which means we had been stuck in traffic and now only had about 2 minutes to pack my books and run like Usain Bolt to get to class before I'm late and see the foul side of Mr Stalink.

I rush to my locker, pulling at my lock and opening the door, then a slip of paper falls out and I bend down to pick it up. The first bell rings, and I now know I have a minute to get to the complete other side of the school before the next bell rings and I'm faced with Stalink's evil glare.

After shoving the books for the first 3 periods into my bag I then slam my locker shut, stuffing the paper slip into my jacket pocket before running to class so fast I would make the athletics team look twice.

I run through the door as the second bell rings, my sandals sliding along the classroom floor in front of Mr Stalink's desk as I ungracefully plonk myself into my desk. I get the expected look from my home base teacher, but he just pushes his glasses further up his nose and continues with the register.

I release a huge sigh of relief, slipping my bag off my shoulder and onto the floor. I feel around in my pocket for the piece of paper and I unfold it, hiding the note behind my desk while Stalink carries on calling out names. "Elena, meet me at the pier after school...we need to talk about last night. Aidan."

I hear a small snort from my right, and I glance over to see Aidan holding his hand over his mouth. Glad to know he finds all this so amusing, seeing as my world has been turned upside down, inside out and then put on a washing machine spin cycle.

I scowl at him, still miffed about his abrupt introduction to all this and then to top it off that he finds a teacher's annoyance with me a laughable matter. It is funny though, considering that I faced him with a sword last night and yet I'm still worried about a teacher's approval.

The bell rings for the end of the register period and I get up to make my way to my Biology class, but before I leave I feel a strong hand grip my arm. I turn around, face to face with Aidan.

"So, you got my note. Are you in?"

I give him a smug look before saying "What, you think after last night's choppy ending and our little confrontation that I would want to back out? Exactly the opposite Aidan...I'm more convinced than ever to find out exactly what's going so I'll meet you at the beachfront after school and you better be ready to talk. Now get your hand off me before people start getting the wrong idea."

He looks down at his hands, not realizing that he had still been holding my arm. He lets go slowly, then gives me a small nod before gently pushing past me and walking through the door. I adjust my bag strap and step into the passageway, ignoring the hustle and bustle of the busy hallway.

The sooner this day is over and the sooner I can talk to him again the better...it's funny that I can't seem to decide whether I am loathing or looking forward to it.

After walking though the busy hallways, I see Anna in Biology and I slide into the seat next to hers at our table. Her eyes glimmer and that's when I remember our conversation yesterday.

"Oh Anna I'm so sorry...I forgot to call you back!" she giggles, and her big brown deer like eyes twinkle.

"No need to apologize, I wouldn't have been able to pick up anyways because Daniel had been texting me and aggravating me by taking forever to reply to my messages. They say girls are the ones that play hard to get but Daniel sure does know how to get me to chase him."

I laugh at this comment, but am soon stopped when the professor walks in and stands in front of the class.

"Good morning everyone, please take out your textbooks and turn to page 120, pay careful attention as this will be in your test in two weeks time."

I pull out my book and whisper to Anna "So, did you manage to extract any more information out of him about this weekend?"

She flips to the page, then mutters back to me, "Boy, did I try, but he was locked up tighter than a safe."

I pause our conversation to take down a few notes. "Well An, that will be something different for you, having a guy not willing to fall on his knees and grovel to do anything you wish him to."

She nudges me in the ribs with her elbow playfully, then continuing with a comeback "Oh I'll get to him eventually, all I need is a crowbar." Anna truly is beautiful, and ever since puberty did her the favour of making her drop dead gorgeous she's managed to turn heads wherever she goes. That didn't mean she was experienced when it came to guys but rather the other end of the scale and she had had quite a few pointless relationships to prove that.

The lesson continued, but I became rather unfocused with my thoughts tending to drift to a rather sexy but dangerous male. I wondered what we would talk about at the pier, and how much more things I needed to learn from Aidan before I would feel satisfied.

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The lessons until lunch are a dim existence for me and my concentration levels are anything but stable. I stop by my locker at lunch, needing to exchange my books for the lessons after the break until the end of the day with my books from this morning's lessons.

I'm so intent on trying to reach the textbook which had somehow managed to get shoved to the very back of my lockers top shelf that I nearly jump out of my skin when a smooth voice behind me says, "Need some help with that?"

I drop all the books I had been holding in my arms, and hastily bend down to retrieve them. I say icily, "You know, sneaking up on people isn't very nice Aidan, especially since I am more jumpy today because of what happened with you last night."

He grimaces, exhaling deeply through his nose as he bends down to pick up my last book off the floor. We both straighten back up, and he puts the book on the pile in my arms, some of which I place back in my locker while I tip the rest into my canvas bag on the floor.

"I really need to apologize for that, I don't usually introduce myself to someone by trying to kill them and then explaining to them that they're part of a group of people who protect history." I glance off, looking anywhere except his eyes.

"You need to work on your people skills by the looks of things. Sneaking up on girls and suffocating them hints at you not being a very good person socially." I spit the words out, the place around my neck where his hands had been the previous night going tight again.

He takes my chin in his hands, tilting my chin up so that I'm forced to look at him. "I don't know how to make you understand how sorry I am about that, and I intend to make it up to you." He lowers his voice before resuming. "I don't know if I can wait until the end of the day to talk to you again, there's still a lot we need to talk about concerning the Clepsydra..."

He takes a step closer and I retreat slightly, only to trip on my bag behind me.

He catches me around the wrist and waist with each of his hands, preventing what would have been an embarrassing moment of me face-planting against the lockers when I fell. I glower, more upset at the fact that my stomach felt like it had little butterflies swirling around in it because of his large hands encircling me than the fact that I had tripped.

Seriously Elena, get a grip.

He releases me slowly, and I pick my bag up off the floor. "Not going to lie, you threw me a bit of a curveball last night and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since...I have a whole lot more questions than just the ones last night that need answering."

Looking almost smug at this, he takes my bag off my shoulder and wrapping it over his instead.

"Um, what do you think you're doing?" He just turns around and starts walking away, opening a door leading off from the hallway with me following close behind.

"Getting out of here so we can go to a place where we can talk without having to worry about being eavesdropped on." I tread across the threshold of the door he opened, momentarily surprised at finding myself in a cleaning supplies room and even more astonished at seeing Aidan climbing through the window at the back of the small room.

I follow suit, needing to get my bag back. I drop through the window, finding myself in one of the schools flower beds and I wrinkle my nose at the smell of fertiliser before stumbling through the vegetation. I see Aidan halfway across the parking lot already, and I pursue him.

He takes some car keys out of his jeans pocket, pressing a button on them and I notice the lights of a midnight blue Chevy pickup truck blink on and off. By the time I've caught up to him, he's already perched in the driver's seat and I've come to a standstill outside the passenger door with my hands on my hips.

"Are you getting in or not?" He's smirking and his eyes are bright with a mischievous glint but I refuse to be charmed by it.

"What about school? Won't we get caught?"

"Call Anna and ask her to cover for you...I'm sure she would be happy to oblige."

I get into the car, knowing full well that Anna will be more than happy to say I 'went home sick' for me, since she's convinced I'm becoming too much of a 'perfect teenager' for my own good....she'll especially be keen to do it if I told her I'm sneaking out to be with a boy she thinks is cute.

I sulk as he switches on the engine and drives out if the school parking lot. I look back at the building disappearing into the distance, a bit shocked at my slight elation at not following the rules for once in my life.

I text Anna, telling her what's going on and about Aidan whilst hoping that she hasn't left her phones sound on again and will get it confiscated for messaging during class, but she replies quickly telling me not to worry because she's got it covered and that its rude to kiss on the first date. I grin at the message, glad that I have someone like her to rely on.

Aidan drives on confidently, in a relaxed stance with one hand on the steering wheel with the other resting on his open window. I open mine too, savouring the fresh air and noticing that we are driving towards the beachfront.

"So, are we still going to the pier?" I ask, trying to sound nonchalant but I still hear a note of worry in my voice. I can't help it; seeing as the last time I was alone with him things didn't work out so well. He notices it, and looks across at me.

"Yes, but not in the way that you think," Aidan says, pulling up to a beach-side parking bay.

I unbuckle my seatbelt, and reach to grab my bag which he had thrown onto the backseat when he had gotten into the truck. "I would advise that you leave it in the car," he surprises me again when he opens my passenger door.

I raise an eyebrow at him and look back to my bag before relenting to his suggestion.

"All right then, I guess I won't need my school books but I'm still taking these" I put the bag down on my seat rummaging through it and I grab my wallet, house keys and cell phone which I had put in there after texting Anna. I stuff everything in my jacket pockets as he closes the door for me, locking the car behind him.

I see that we've parked literally steps away from the beach, and that the holiday homes filled with tourists during this time are stretched out on the other side of the road. I look down at the beach and see an older couple taking a walk while a family is having a picnic. The two children in costumes are playing amidst the small waves lapping at the shore, shying away from the water whenever it brushes up against the sand and almost reaches their toes while the mother and father unpack the food and beach chairs.

Aidan has walked around the other end of the truck, and glancing over his shoulder he realizes I'm not following him so he walks back and takes me hand, waking me from the scenery I had gotten absorbed in.

My first thought is to pull back from his touch, but there's something about the way his warm hand envelops mine that convinces me to keep it there...for now.

I look up to see one of the numerous ice-cream palaces which can be found along the beach, but this happens to be one of my favourites. When I was smaller my mom and dad had often brought me here to Eddie's Cones when we came for a swim in the sea.

A bell tinkled as Aidan opens the door and the sweet smell of vanilla fills my nostril. He leads me to a small, beige, leather covered booth in a corner of the café before sitting me down and turning around to walk towards the counter. I see him conversing with the older lady in a red and white striped apron at the counter while I take look around at the rest of the ice-cream parlour.

We're the only ones in here apart from another guy sitting near a window with his hood up, drinking what might be coffee. He seems oddly familiar, although my eyes wander to rather look at the beachy mural painted on the wall along with a chalk board displaying prices and specials.

My thoughts are interrupted when Aidan walks back, carrying a tray which has two large glasses on it filled with chocolate ice-cream, wafers, sprinkles and a spoon in each.

He takes the seat opposite me, before putting the tray down and taking the sundaes off it. I eye him and then the glass before returning my gaze to him. He smiles at me, saying "I said I would make it up to you, and that's what I intend to do."

I take the spoon out and swallow a spoonful of the icy, creamy goodness before retorting with "It's going to take more than sugary, frozen treats to make up for what you did and the shock of this all, but I will say that we're off to a good start."

I won't lie and say that I didn't find this at least a little sweet, and I'll give the boy credits for the addition of the sprinkles.

Oh, my weakness that is ice-cream.

"Now can you tell me why I had some weirdo perched on my wall last night, because I'm pretty sure I didn't organize for a midnight wake-up call from anyone?" He stops midway through a spoonful of his own ice-cream, his jaw closes and he plops the spoon back into his glass.

"You had someone at your house last night? Who? Did you know them? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I wanted to mention it earlier but...."a flash of movement catches my eye, and my head swivels to survey the man on the other side of the café tilting his head slightly towards us.

Aidan follows my line of sight, and notices him too. He stands as still as a statue for a couple of seconds, then his whole demeanour changes and I pick up on his body suddenly radiating a frantic, nervous energy.

He stands up quickly, picking up our sundaes and putting them on the tray once again. He takes the tray in one hand, and pulls me by my hand out of my seat with the other.

"Where are we going, we just got here," I say, a bit worried about what has suddenly come over him. He stops at the counter, thanking the old lady as he hands her the tray and tells her to keep the change when he hands her some money.

He pulls me towards the door, glancing over his shoulder at the seated man. Aidan stops by the entrance, guiding me through by the small of my back while he still watches the other guy who now seems to be getting out of his chair.

Aidan closes the door behind him and says hurriedly to me as he walks briskly towards his car, rushing me along "Elena, listen to me very carefully. That man is coming after us now, so I need you to run and not stop, no matter what. Run to the nearest building you can find and figure out a way to blend in with the tourists so that you aren't very noticeable. I'll track you using your cell and find you, but do not look for me. Do you understand?"

He releases my hand, and is looking me straight in the face. Those pools of turquoise have gone very dark, and the wind which has picked up is causing my hair to lash at my face and my eyes to water.

"Why? What's going to happen? What if you can't find me? Aidan!"

He pushes me gently, turning around to face the man who has now exited the ice-cream parlour and is looking around, spotting me and Aidan and then jogging towards us.

"Just go Elena! Start running!" my legs feel as if they are made of bricks as I turn away and run as he said, but I only make it around the corner of the building when I stop dead in my tracks at the sound of a car window screen being smashed.

My hands curl into fists, and even though Aidan is going to be pissed at me for it I turn around and run in the direction I just came from. Oh if only I had listened instead of being the stubborn idiot I am.

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