Out of Time 01 - Out of Time

his neck. “Don’t move. I’ll get help.”
    Sebastian’s eyes focused on Simon, and he managed to lift his hand to touch Simon’s. “Too late for that, my boy.” “No!” He couldn’t watch him die. Not again.
    Sebastian gasped for breath and another coughing jag wracked his body.
    “Grandfather.”
    Sebastian squeezed Simon’s hand. “My watch,” he said. “Put my watch in my hand.”
    “No, you—”
    “I can’t die here. I have to return to my own time.”
    “You’re not going to die,” Simon said fiercely.
    Sebastian managed a weak smile. “I wish I could have seen you grow into such a fine man.”
    “Don’t say that.”
    Sebastian’s eyes drifted over Simon’s shoulder, seeing something far off and undefined. “We’re running out of time. The watch.”
    Simon’s hand trembled as he pulled the gold watch from Sebastian’s pocket. He placed the watch in one hand and saw the other held a scrap of black cloth torn from King’s suit and resting in his palm was the scarab ring. In that instant, he was that ten year old boy at the foot of the stairs again.
    “Do you have your watch?” Sebastian asked. “You need to be ready. The eclipse is nearly here.”
    Automatically, Simon pulled out his watch and showed his grandfather.
    Sebastian nodded in approval. “Good lad.”
    Simon dropped it back into his jacket pocket and covered Sebastian’s hand with his own. “I told you to stay in the room.”
    Sebastian shook his head. “I’ve had a good life. Yours is just beginning.”
    “No.”
    “Running out of time,” Sebastian said, his eyes glassing over for a moment. “Simon...”
    “Yes?” Simon said, leaning closer.
    “You made a fine man. I’m so very proud of you.”
    A sob escaped Simon’s throat.
    “Now go,” Sebastian said his voice barely a rasping whisper.
    Simon hesitated, his heart severed in two.
    “Go.”
    * * *
    King stepped through the flames. Struggling to breathe, Elizabeth stepped back until she pressed herself against the wall and could go no further. Flames covered King’s arms. He quickly shed his burning coat and grabbed the comforter off the bed. Wrapping it around her, he lifted her into his arms. Elizabeth pushed weakly at his chest, but the smoke was too much for her and she started to lose consciousness.
    Simon’s words echoed in his ears: “ You may exist forever, but you’ll never live. Not even for a moment. You’ll never know how love feels .”
    His existence hadn’t amounted to anything, until this one moment. The thing he’d been searching for wasn’t something to be taken at all, but something to be given.
    King cradled her to his chest and plunged back through the wall of flame. Kicking the door open, he stepped out into the driving rain. The water slowly doused the small fires that burned away at his clothes.
    His men shouted and tried in vain to put out the fire in the cabin, but it was too late. The flames had grown too strong. Soon they’d eat their way though the floor and ignite the barrels of rum in the ship’s hull.
    King crossed the deck to the railing, his precious burden still in his arms. He pulled back the blanket from her face, and the cool rain began to bring her around. Elizabeth looked up at him, her eyes bleary and unfocused.
    For the first time in his life, as man or demon, he understood what it was to be alive—to love someone. “Tell him,” he said. “I do know how it feels.”
    Without another word, he lifted her over the railing and tossed her into the sea.
    * * *
    Simon ran out of the warehouse. The boat was already a hundred yards from the dock and moving further into the night. Simon paused, his heart pounding against his ribs. How could he have waited so long?
    A bright, orange flame shot up from the boat’s deck. And another. The boat was nearly engulfed in fire. Simon ran toward the water, tossing his jacket aside. Heavy waves broke against the sand, crashing down with a deafening roar. Icy cold spray stung his cheeks as he fought against the power of the sea. His legs felt like lead weights in the thick salt water. Just as in his dream, the boat drifted further away. This was the moment his nightmares became reality.
    “Elizabeth!”
    He was in up to his waist when a blinding light burst on the horizon, quickly followed by a thunderous boom. Simon’s heart stopped as the explosion shattered the night. Fire blossomed on the sea. Burning embers rained down, snuffed out as they hit the cold water.