Mystery : Cozy Mystery: Murder on Board the Macedonia (mystery, thriller, cozy, shocking, short stories) (short reads, detective, murder, suspense) (5 page)

And bearing that in mind, it also seemed to all of his worries just faded into a blur, and he felt as though he didn’t have any damn thing to worry about at that moment. He took the little rat into his hands and injected the poor thing right before placing it into the time machine. Dr. Greene then waited for a moment as though he was making up his mind whether or not to press the button.

He needed to know what the heck was going to happen. In other words, all the years of incredibly hard research boiled down to that specific day.

He clenched his teeth and made sure that he had pressed it and took a couple of steps back and watched. Bolts of lightning appeared to be shooting all through the machine and the little rat was screaming and scratching the door as though it was in incredible pain. And that said, it appeared as though everything just stopped all of a sudden and the scratching as well as screaming wasn’t heard. And that made the good doctor feel as though it was some kind of fantasy.

And so without wasting any more time, Dr. Greene decided that it would be a very excellent idea for him just to kick back wait a while longer before opening the door. And as he waited, a quizzical of questions streamed through his mind.

It appeared as though he wasn’t ready to take another loss especially after the people back at his place of work had laughed at him for suggesting the impossible. Honestly, the only thing that was giving him that chance to come clean and on top of his game at all times was the fact that he needed to be.

Dr. Greene stood up and walked slowly towards the time machine which was as quite as a church mouse. He then tried to stretch his hands just to see if the poor thing was still in there or it had actually disappeared. But still, there was something still holding him back and no matter how hard he was trying to get things in the right way, it just seemed as though he was gong to have to work much harder than that. And so he closed his eyes and opened it at once.

The rat had evidently disappeared. But the problem was that there was absolutely no way that it was ever going to come back since Dr. Greene didn’t know how he was going to do just that. It had been three hours since he had initiated the reversal process but from the look of things, it did seem as though it was gone forever – a mystery that he just couldn’t solve.

But that was to be a problem for another day. As far as he was concerned, he had achieved the first milestone, to teleport an animal without killing it or turning it into toast. And even though it couldn’t come back, Dr. Greene still thought he was making some incredible progress and that said, the most important thing for him to do at that moment would have been to stay focused and get to make the most of it.

He had spent eighteen hours in his laboratory, and as far as he was concerned, that was just way too much time, and he needed some rest. So he picked up his coffee mug and took off his spectacles and let out a long, very stressful yawn before stepping out of the room. But it was at that moment that the strangest thing happened.

The time travel machine started running and the light from the little chamber where the rat had been put in shone. This was a little bit strange and it went without saying that Dr. Greene got back in his seat and put on his spectacles right before staring at that machine without blinking. The LCD screen at the controls indicated that the subject was back in the machine and Dr. Greene just couldn’t hide his excitement as he rushed to check out just what was going on.

Once the self-initiated sequence was completed, Dr. Greene came from his chair and ran toward the door of the time travel machine, shaking all over the place. He had just had the most amazing progress, and now he was about to find out whatever the heck was going on. And so after taking his deep breaths and checking it out, he opened the door to the time travel machine.

But what he saw made his jaws hit the floorboards literally!!

…Synopsis…Book 2

Dr. Greene was still having the scare of his entire life, and that said, it appeared as if he wasn’t going to get over it. But he also knew that everyone gets scared once in a while. But what they did with the fact that they were very scared was what seemed to matter the most. And as far as he was concerned, the only thing that would have made some sense at that time would have been to kick back and ensure that he was doing the right thing.

Once he had been accustomed to being in the time machine for the first time, Dr. Greene clenched his teeth, trying as much as possible to avoid his body from shaking right before pressing the red button and holding tight as his entire body disintegrated, separating on an atomic level.

“AAAAAAAAH!!!”

Chapter 1

-The Aftermath-

At first, it seemed as though Dr. Greene was in some shock since he wasn’t uttering a word.

All he could do at that moment was just to sit back and watch without even blinking. The rat was back from the other dimension or time zone, but there was something that just didn’t make any sense at all. And despite the fact that Dr. Greene knew that there must have been a pretty good explanation for it, it seemed as though it was all just too darn shocking for him to even begin comprehending on whatever the heck was going on at the time.

The rat didn’t look as though it had been harmed in any way whatsoever. But that aside, it seemed as though the rat had undergone some changes in its anatomy that just didn’t appear to make any sense. For instance, the rat had two horns sticking out of its head and instead of its usual claws, it had talons in their place. And it went without saying that it was just too darn scary at the end of everything.

In the end, what seemed to be the most important thing was the fact that it had gone and come back, meaning that the machine had worked. But that was just one thing solved. Dr. Greene had to figure out just how he was going to set a particular destination as well as a time zone. And on top of that, it also seemed as though he needed to know whatever the heck was going on as far as getting all of these anatomical enhancements were concerned.

It was scary, but Dr. Greene knew that he was on to something. And if history was anything to go by, all the scary findings always made him push a little bit further just to see to it that everything was going to work out rather perfectly in the end. But from the look of things, it did seem as though the latter discovery was much scarier than the usual.

This wasn’t just any other cell trying to eat up another cell or a rush on a test subject that just would go away. No. this was a creature which crossed into another dimension and came back with some features that didn’t make sense at all. And so for a moment or two, it seemed as though the only thing that would have made some sense at the time would have been to wait and see what was going to happen.

In the mean time, Dr. Greene kept on checking the rodent, taking all the precaution in the world since if it decided to attack, there was nothing he could do about it.

It still seemed as though it was dormant and very confident, another very weird characteristic as far as rodents were concerned. Rats were always known to be very timid creatures that wouldn’t just stand there and watch a human go about their business. But this one seemed as though it was very confident that it wasn’t under any form of danger, and that just made Dr. Greene to be a little bit concerned about the place that the rodent had been to.

And for a very long time, it seemed as though that idea had been bothering him for a while now. But at the end of the day, the most important thing seemed to be the fact that his machine worked. And at that moment, Dr. Greene decided that it would be a good idea for him to take a break, let his mind rest for a little while.

The good thing about getting enough rest was that it always made sure that the good doctor always came up with some of the most amazing ideas. And at that moment, he realized that resting was the only thing that he wasn’t very keen enough to be doing and thus it was starting to affect him.

So he decided to close the transparent box right away right before going out to check his refrigerator for some liquor. Once he got in the kitchen and opened his fridge, Dr. Greene just bowed his head and shook it a little. From the look of things, he hadn’t visited his fridge for quite a while, and all of the food had reached expiration date. That was the main problem with being too engrossed in making inventions that would help the world to the point that you couldn’t even think of helping your stomach with some fresh food.

Dr. Greene knew that the world of science was starting to ruin him altogether, but he managed to keep on convincing himself that everything was going to be fine in the end.

But from the look of things, it did seem as though it was just getting worse and worse. And at that point, Dr. Greene just walked towards the living room as slowly as he could and sat down in a heap, trying to figure out where he was going to get some food and later some drink to give himself some energy that he needed to think straight.

*** 

At that moment, Dr. Greene decided that it would be a good idea to go out and get some air. And the best place for him to be at the moment would have been none other than Tori’s bar. Over the years, it appeared as though Tori’s bar always gave her all of the freedom that he ever needed and so it had grown to become some sanctuary at the end of it all.

And so without wasting any more time, Dr. Greene decided that it was about time he went out for a drink. Of course, it was noon, but that didn’t count at any point. All he needed was to get his head cleared, and there was no other place that he could get to think of that would do such a fine job when it came to giving himself some sanctuary.

Thankfully, the club was just a ten minutes’ drive from where he lived, and so it meant that he wasn’t going to have to work too darn hard before he could get on top of the game just like he had wanted. And by getting on top of his game, Dr. Greene was thinking about getting plastered drunk, more than he was used to.

From the look of things, it always seemed as though every single thing would make some incredible sense if at all he got drunk, got over the crazy hangover and then have a clear head.

And as he was driving, Dr. Greene was trying very much not to think about any damn thing to do with the bizarre experiment at the moment. Despite being such an amazing breakthrough and something of note as far as the scientific society was concerned, it still didn’t hide the fact that it was the scariest thing he had ever seen.

And to make things worse, Dr. Greene knew the possibility of having opened a portal through some very dangerous dimensions that could get some dangerous creatures into this one. And if that would be the case, then he would become responsible for single handedly destroying human kind without even trying too darn hard.

Once he got in the bar, it seemed as though the whole place had been abandoned and Tori was just sitting there trying her level best to look cute. She was back to wearing her makeup as well as the skimpy dresses and at first, she looked a little bit surprised to see Dr. Greene back so soon and so early.

“Look at you there! I see you are becoming a very stubborn alcoholic, something that most definitely needs some serious remedying in the end.”

“Woman, you have no idea. Can you fix me a martini? And please, I don’t want any chasers on it.”

“You want it dry?”

“Yes. I want it dry.” Dr. Greene responded without looking at Tori in the face.

It was almost as if Tori would suddenly have talons and horns just like his test subject had and for a moment, it occurred to him that maybe he was just overreacting. And that was what he was doing at that time, and so he had no other choice but to let go of his negative thoughts. But still, Dr. Greene couldn’t hide the fact that he was scared shitless with the invention that he had come up with at the time.

“There you go. But remember, if you are planning on drinking yourself to sleep, then I should warn you in advance that I don’t have the energy to carry you. Make sure you can manage to take yourself the hell out of here.”

“Such a nice way to treat your customers Tori.”

She just smiled and walked to the other side of the bar to take care of a client, leaving Dr. Greene to his drink. He sighed for a moment while rubbing his hands, still trying to understand just what the heck had happened to him. As far as he was concerned, the only thing that was considered as magic or science fiction, as popularly known, had just occurred in the home lab, and it was scary.

According to his contract, Dr. Greene was supposed to report every single thing that had happened as soon as possible. But the committee had rejected his invention terming it impossible to achieve and absurd. And thanks to their cruelty, he used that as his motivation and now he was on the brink of getting on top of his game and eventually staying ahead of the curve without any problems at all.

At that moment, Dr. Greene decided that maybe it would be a good idea if he just stopped thinking way too much about his invention and just focus on having a drink. But no matter how hard he was trying to do just that, it appeared as though he was never going to achieve his goal. And that said, he decided just to kick back and ensure that he was getting to focus on the details of the time machine, trying to figure out just how he went wrong and what might have been the cause for his subject to come out like that.

Chapter 2:

-The testing-

Tori was always very amazing especially when it came to giving Dr. Greene some pieces of advice about life in general. And now that she had seen him shaken because of work, she decided that it was the perfect time for her to tell him the truth. She wasn’t going to allow him to drink too much since from the look of things; Dr. Greene seemed like the kind of person who was running away from responsibility.

“Look, I am not giving you any more drinks. I think you are running away from something. And even though my boss would kill me for telling you this because it denies him money, I think the best thing for you to do is to stop drinking and figure out how you are going to get this whole invention working. And even though I have been selling these frothy drinks for a while now, I think I am qualified to give you advice about it. And you want to know what the advice is all about?”

“What?”

“Alcohol helps you forget about your problems, but it has never solved them. Not even once. You look like you have a problem. So I suggest that you make a point of solving them rather than wallowing in here in self-pity and hoping that the universe will hear your plea and get you all sorted out.

“You have a big brain, use it to find the solutions you are looking for at the time. And you won't find them here.”

And with that, Tori took the bottle from him and just stared at him without even blinking. It seemed as though she had been pissed off altogether and she wasn’t going to allow the drinking to go on. And it seemed as though Dr. Greene was listening to her for once. He had been known to be a very stubborn doctor, and that was a fact that he knew jolly too well.

Dr. Greene wanted to protest since he thought that his right as a free drinker was being violated. But from the look of things, his right to being a top notch scientist was being upheld and for a moment, he found himself in a dilemma. At that moment, Dr. Greene stole a glance at Tori and then right back at the empty glass that he was having. He wasn’t that drunk, at least not as much as he had wanted.

“Well, I guess you are right. Whatever it was that had me all disturbed is now past me. I have to embrace the outcome and make sure that I am pursuing it to the bitter end.”

“Now that’s more like it.”

“Now that I have realized my mistakes, can I just walk away with the bottle that you are hiding from me? I already paid for it.”

“Sure. But not today. Come back after a week. And then you will have to tell me if you have progressed with your experiment. I will only give you the bottle if I am convinced that you have made some progress.”

“What if I just choose to lie to you?”

“Well, I think it would all be in vain since, from the look of things, the most important thing at this time would be to ensure that I take a good look at you. I may not be a scientist like you, but trust me when I tell you that I am a pretty damn good judge of character my friend.”

There was absolutely no way that Dr. Greene was going to change Tori’s mind. She was the kind of girl who always puts her foot down, and no matter how hard one tried to change her mind, it just wasn’t going to be possible. And now that Dr. Greene was drunk, especially after he had promised that he was going to do just that, it seemed as though there was nothing that could be done to get the bottle back.

“Ok Tori, I give up. You can keep the bottle.”

Tori didn’t even bother responding to him, but the cute smile was enough for him to know that she was having the time of his life. And that said, he decided to go back home. But as he tried to stand, Dr. Greene realized that his head was winding to the point that he almost fell. So he immediately sat down and tried to clear his head for a moment. It appeared as though he discovered that he had way too much to drink.

“I think I had way too much to drink Tori. Can you call the cab for me please?”