A Mass Murderer - Coffin for the living (ADDITIONAL BOOK INCLUDED ) (4 page)

“You always do this, Gerald. I always tell you that I’m taken, but you still feel the need to flirt shamelessly. You do give my libido a jolt of adrenaline. I’m afraid to say that I take that back to my husband.” He looked a little disappointed, but I think that he was more than a little happy that I had come into his life. He had no idea how to market himself or how to use social media. I was able to do that for him. I was good at making people see that he was the next big thing to come along in a long time.

“You can’t blame a guy for trying. I find you incredible and every time that we talk, I feel that we have more that a passing connection. I think that you’re just going to have to get used to it. I’m not going to stop, until you are mine. I don’t care how long it takes, because you are the woman that I am supposed to be with. You may not know it now, but someday the realization will come to you and you’ll be ready for a real man.” Normally, I would laugh at his attempt to break my marriage up, but this time it was different.

During the divorce proceedings, I really didn’t know if I was capable of finding another. I didn’t want to and dating was taxing at best and annoying to the point that I wanted to give up. I had my faith and my scientific curiosity keep me warm at night, but it did not replace the need for a warm body next to me. Feeling that cool sheet on the other side of me these last few months had made me feel lonelier than I had ever been before.

"Gerald, you have no idea how your attention has made my day over the years. I think that I would like to get to know you. I do like what I see, but I think that we need to look at this, as a work in progress. You never know, some day in the future I may just be ready to try something Greek.” This took him by surprise. His hand gripped just a little bit tighter than it was before “I don’t want to give you any false hope. I just think that there’s room to grow. We are already friends and it’s possible that that could blossom into something that is more lasting. Again, I don’t want to make you think that I’m going to leave my husband for you.”

I had my dark hair up, but now I was unpinning it allowing it flow with a natural grace down over my back. I saw him swallow and his face flushed with the obvious excitement of what it was to be in the presence of a real woman. His muscles could be easily seen and his apron was covering a physique that was better left to be explored by every available woman in the area. I was one of those women. I fantasized about him from time to time, but it was more to excite and enhance what I already had with the man that I thought that I was going to spend the rest of my life with.

“You give my heart hope. I thought that I was barking up the wrong tree, but maybe there is something for us in the future.” Time wasn’t a constant. It was always changing from 1 minute of every day. Life was never going to stay the same. Either you bend with the wind, or it knocks you down and makes you feel ill prepared for what is coming. I certainly didn’t see my marriage becoming rocky to the point of falling in on itself. That coldness in the air when I arrived home every night had nothing to do with the air conditioner or the temperature outside.

We would talk openly, but there was no passion behind our words. “If I give you hope, then I guess I’m doing my job. I really don’t want to make you think that there is anything here more than just a friendship. I’ve been blind and I hope that you remind me of this every morning when I come in here. I think that eventually I’m going to need somebody to lean on and it might be you.” The divorce proceedings had made it impossible for me to see him up close and personal. I didn’t want him to think that I was using our friendship to give my sexual self the jolt that it needed. I stayed away and kept him at arm’s length, thinking that maybe I was playing with fire. Perhaps, it was time to let that fire burn and see what happens.

“You and I might be business partners, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. I’m just putting it out there. I’ve always found you attractive and I would gladly do whatever you want me to do. If it was just to talk, then I would be there to listen, but if there was something more, then you would make me and my whole family very happy.” He hadn’t mentioned my husband, but his infatuation was pretty evident from the way that he looked at me. I think that he was purposely keeping him out of the conversation to make it appear that we were alone in our own little world of culinary delights.

I took that one last bite. I closed my eyes and reveled in that feeling that was coursing through my veins. The sugar rush was amazing. If I didn’t think that I would go into diabetic shock, I would have two or three more in one sitting. They were addictive, but one per day or even one every other day was more than enough to satisfy my sweet tooth.

I walked out to see the difference that technology had made in our lives. The model cars did not exactly show how far we had come in such a short period of time. I knew exactly where my husband would be and I needed to get there. If he was having an affair, I wanted to know about it. He had already admitted in court that he wasn’t a one woman man. I had fallen victim to it myself, but only once and with a very old sold in a young man’s body. I found his stamina to be worth the risk of getting caught with my pants down.

I wondered if maybe I should stop in and see him, but I think that would be just bad taste. I would use him for his body and then toss him away with no regard for his feelings. I had strayed from my path, but I had turned back towards it in hopes that I could make it back before it was too late. From everything that I could see and remember all this time, I think that I was slowly coming to terms with the fact that my marriage was not going to be like star crossed lovers.

I stood at the park, taking a moment to relive those moments that made me smile. I was always on the go and sometimes I felt like I was on a conveyor belt going nowhere. Science was the mistress that was getting in the way of finding true happiness. I found myself wondering, if maybe I got involved with my husband, because I didn’t have anything better at the time. Was it possible that I was settling, when there was something better waiting for me around the corner? Was that something better, a man named Gerald and his fascination and passion with pastries?

“Kayla, you don’t know me, but I know you and your friends.” The sound of my name and the tone of this man’s voice had gotten my attention. I turned to face a carbon copy of a Harlequin romance novel hero. He had long blond hair blowing in the breeze and a cocksure smile that made it impossible not to feel powerless in his presence “I think that we need to talk, before you take this too far. You may not know this, but all five of you have changed things. We normally don’t interfere, but we think that it’s time that we finally do something about it.” I was a little floored. I really didn’t know what to say to these accusations.

Chapter three

I sat outside at a local eatery that made the best hamburger. I looked at this man and I had a feeling that I knew him, but didn’t know him at the same time. It was the strangest thing. “I don’t know what kind of sick joke this is, but I’m not laughing.” I took one bite and I was transported by the flavors. It had this nice spice that caught you by surprise.

“Normally, I wouldn’t eat anything when I’m on the job. For this one time, I will break one of my own rules. My name is Milton Niles. I’m your benefactor and the one that gave you the tools to make time travel possible. That power source was taken from many years in the future. You probably thought that it was alien by origin, but it’s really just an evolution of technology in a new form. We decided to find somebody with the potential to go beyond their own reasoning.” He sounded crazy and anybody else would’ve thought that he was going around the bend.

“I don’t know if what you’re saying is supposed to scare me or excite me. We always thought that it was possible to go into the future, but we never were able to put that particular piece of the puzzle together. We found that going back was easier, but still unpredictable. I think we learned that thinking outside the box and collecting our thoughts is the best way to make the journey.” I wasn’t sure what to say and the questions that were running around in my mind were seeping out of the corners of my mouth.

“I’m not here to tell you what to do, but maybe you should think twice. This can only end badly.” He put his hands on top of mine and for some reason I didn’t try to pull away. The intimate connection was more than I had in a long time. I was now holding onto it for grim death. “I’m not sure how long I have. We were quite impressed that you didn’t want to make any monetary gain from the discovery. Others in your shoes might have decided to branch out and bring others into the experiment. That is something that we cannot allow. It’s only by natural selection that we gave all five of you the chance.”

“I came here to confront my past, my present and my future. My husband was my only concern, but now that has changed. I see you and I know that the world is different. Time changes and if we don’t change with it, then we’re going to be left behind. You must have seen that we were getting close and you gave us the kick in the ass to go the rest of the way. We were stuck and then you came along and opened up our eyes. We didn’t know how close we really were and how easy it was to going to be to make that leap.” He was handsome, calm and distinguished and he showed no malice or fore thought to do me any harm.

“We saw the five of you, as a steppingstone to a new more civilized future. There were others, but nothing that resembled five distinct and very unique members that had the capacity to see past with their own eyes. We’ve been with you every step of the way and we were quite amazed at how you made those tough decisions. Like I said, I normally don’t interfere, but things have changed and we need to put them back on the right course. Unfortunately, fate and destiny has a way of cleaning things up in a hurry.” I really didn’t like the sound of this.

“What you are trying to say is that, if we do change something, then life has a funny way of making things right. That does make sense, but you seem to have something on your mind.” He was wearing a white shirt and black pants. He was constantly looking past me. It really did insult me and I was hoping for a little bit more attention. I guess I was craving somebody to look at me like a natural woman.

“You may think that your friends have found happiness, but there a couple of you that are going to get a cold dose of reality. Hope gave her lover a lifeline that wasn’t supposed to be. The plane that was taking him to see her crashed with only one fatality. I really don’t think that I have to paint you a picture. We understand that it’s hard to walk away from something that means that much to you. Hope made her decision and then fate decided that death would not be denied.” I felt bad for hope and I wondered if she would bounce back after something like that.

“Is she the only one, or is there something else?”

“Samantha was close to making a colossal error in judgment. I’m not going to go into detail, but it’s suffice to say that her decision was one that we condone.” I had more questions and I wasn’t sure how long I had, before he would leave me. “You all think that you’ve gotten a handle on this, but trust me life is not made to pull at those very thin threads. We wanted to give you an opportunity to find that out for yourself. Those that have come before you have gotten an insight that they didn’t have before. They tried to warn you, but of course you wouldn’t listen.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m going to leave my marriage the way that it is. I know that nothing good comes from turning things around. If I could’ve done that, I would’ve done that in my own time. Since I didn’t, I’m guessing that it was meant for the both of us to slip out of each other’s fingers. I’m not even sure that we were in love. We did have a wonderful time together, but something was missing. I’ve been foolish to deny it, when it was right in front of me the entire time.” I had my eyes on Gerald and I wanted to make an effort to seek out the possibility that there could be something between us.

“You’re making a good decision, but you also think that it’s possible to find another. It is, but not here in this time. Take all of this back with you and use sound judgment to make things better for yourself.” I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t come here, so that I could be sent away with no answers to my questions. I wasn’t going to interfere, but I needed to see this for myself, whether it was a good idea or not was beside the point. “I see that you are dead set on watching and learning from your past mistakes. I’ll leave you to it, but trust that we will be watching and monitoring everything that is going on. By the way there is something that you will have to do.”

I heard this loud siren and it was deafening. I closed my eyes and when I opened them, Milton had disappeared. It felt like he had broken the time barrier. I thought that I saw this shimmer of something, but I couldn’t be sure. I had no idea what to make of his last statement that I was going to have to do something. I looked around and nothing had changed. There didn’t seem to be any sign that I was leaving.

“Excuse me, but maybe you should take that somewhere else. Some of the regulars are getting a little weirded out. I don’t have any problem with you talking to yourself, but they seem to think that you were talking to somebody else that wasn’t there.” The waitress was a comely young blonde that probably had no problems getting a date on a Saturday night.

I was close to telling her that there was somebody here, but her eyes told me that there was no way that anybody had seen him. He could only be seen by me and I believed that it was by design.

“I’m sorry, but I tend to think things through better by voicing them. If I made any of your regulars uncomfortable, then I sincerely apologize. I hope that you will take it in the spirit in which it was given.” She nodded her head and walked away with a shift in her hips that made it impossible for any man not to take a look. That was proven by three men that had decided to be subtle about it. To me, it was obvious, but then again I was able to see what was happening. I didn’t want to admit it, but having Milton here had made me take stock in my own life.