A Murder in Time

Alfred fell 150 meters below. But he fell on a soft ether like firmament which enabled him to float and carry himself back on the street below. He should have died and smashed his bones to bits, but none of that did happen after being pushed out of the top of the building.

"I am alive?" he laughed.

The watch wasn't responsive, but he saw the dial move counterclockwise.

"What does it mean?" he asked.

"Why is it moving backward?"

Soon, Alfred saw it moved faster and faster back. He was amazed. How can this possibly happen? He noticed his surroundings changed too. The night quickly turned into the day, then back again tonight, the scenery changed, and people of all sorts have dotted his point of view and then gone also out of sight. The change is re-winded as quickly as someone flipped a Netflix movie. Am I back?

"Yes," the watch said. "You can see, feel, hear, you are being brought back in time. "

"But why? "

"Time isn't complicated. It unfolded itself like a petal. Albert Einstein described it as space-time. Space and time are one. People have been wondering why time moves forward and not backward? None of that in physics says one cannot go back. It is an illusion. Time is symmetric. The arrow of time going forward is a concept of the human mind because we want to gather unto ourselves the gift of memories. Good or bad. But some have already discovered something else. That it can go backward, they have been to where you are right at this moment. Because they learned all along that everything that has ever been and ever would be is happening now!"

"This is real. I mean, where I am right now?"

"You are back in your past Alfred."

"See the house in front." Alfred looked at his former house.

"Oooh, this is too much." Alfred clenched his teeth and closed his hands.

"I am back in my old house. "

Alfred slowly entered his house and saw his mother setting up the dining table.

She was alive and still so young. Alfred felt the urge to embrace her. But he maintained his composure. His mother certainly won't know it is him dressed as a woman. His little self, aged 6, walked inside the dining room and pointed at his bigger self.

"Mama, there's a woman here."

His mother looked at him. She had not set up the exact plate on the table.

"Oh, are you Edgar's friend?" she asked.

Alfred just nodded his head. No one can tell precisely how striking he looks in a woman's outfit, but the way he carries himself exudes a sophistication his mother cannot deny.

Then a burly man came out of the room dressed for the night out.

"Oh, the boss knows how to send a proper rep. What's your name?"

Alfred uttered a name he could barely hear. "It's Thalia," Alfred replied.

"Miranda, can you get my bag. I am already late for the meeting. This deal would help us out of here in the dump. Come on, faster!"

Miranda acted disoriented, and she came back from the room, holding a small clutch bag.

"Not that one, you whore!"

Alfred cannot understand how Miranda's relation with this monster came to be for a brief moment. All he could remember was that her mother left his husband in the province to find a greener pasture in the city but ended up being sold as a slave from one household to another.

"Go back, mother," he mumbled. "You don't deserve this punishment."

Miranda came with a much bigger bag. Edgar snatched it from her hand.

"Everything should be in here, and if you steal something, not even a drop of this liquid in here, I will kill you. Get it?" Miranda nodded her head in fear.

"It's all in there. I didn't look inside," Miranda assured him.

Then Edgar turned to Alfred.

"Sorry about that. Let's go."

Alfred followed Edgar into his parked car outside.

"Why don't you sit beside me, Thalia. I promise you our drive will be smooth."

Alfred sat beside him. They went to drive out of the city and into a secluded place.

"Don't worry; I am a respectful man for a sweet woman like you."

Edgar placed his hand on Alfred's left thigh. Alfred's watch was unresponsive, and he felt uncomfortable.

"You know how I wanted this deal with the boss."

Alfred responded, "Yeah, that's what I am here for."

"I didn't know he would send a beautiful woman out here. That's real. You know what I'm saying?" He continued, "My wife back there; she's not my wife. We haven't tied the knot. I bought her for a couple of whiskies." He laughed in a mocking tone." Guess the worth of these things? " 

Alfred replied, " No."

He grabbed the weapon in his pocket.

"100 million fu_king quid. Crazy, right? That's more than enough to retire! And I thought someone like you could do wonder for a guy like me."

Alfred held Edgar's hand and quickly put it away from his left leg.

"Why is that liquid worth that much?"

Edgar laughed. "The boss is a mysterious one. First, he called that he wanted it at his office. Then he told me he would send someone to signal the start of the deal, and sure enough, it was you. "

"You haven't answered my question."

"This liquid has an alien property of sorts. I don't know what f_cking experiment they are doing in the BEB building, but Americans wanted these liquids as a lubricant in a machine they are developing inside. A top-secret experiment. But you know all that, don't you?"

"Where did it come from?"

Edgar laughed. "If everyone has personal knowledge of where these liquids came from, then I would have a competition. It's "no es de tu Maldita incumbencia." Do you understand? Hope my Mexican roots isn't failing my expressions."

Edgar again touched Alfred's in his left leg. He looked at him for a second and stopped the car when they reached the dark portion of a recently built dam.

"I can tell you everything, but first, let me have a taste of you." Edgar moved to kiss Alfred on his neck.

Edgar removed his clothes and laughed as he grabbed Alfred to kiss him on the neck and cheek. "Remove your clothes," the watch said to Alfred. He followed his order. He removed his trench coat and placed it in the back seat. Alfred's eyes grew big when Edgar bit him on his lips. Then he heard the word that seemed to have emanated from his watch.

"Time to kill him, Alfred."

He took out his right hand, armed with a pointed weapon, and positioned himself to stab Edgar as quickly as he can. Then he pushed Edgar's face back out and stabbed him again multiple times on the neck until Edgar choked from the blood that clogged his throat. Alfred rushed out of the car and positioned himself from outside the door with labored breathing. The moment's later, he checked Edgar's body to see if he still had a pulse. He then carried his lifeless body to the trunk.

The watch reminded him as he closed the trunk, "Clean the blood off your dress. You cannot bring the blood back to the present time. They will ultimately trace it back to you."

Alfred took the black bag and examined its content. It had unusual sized bottles filled with an unknown clear liquid.

"Drive back, and 2 kilometers from here, you will see a bridge, Alfred."

Alfred followed every word the watch said.

"Now you can go back, Alfred; you have done your work."

When he reached the bridge, he rammed the car against the metal railing, and it plunged 200 feet below. He felt a vortex swirl around him as it sucked him out of the vehicle and transported him elsewhere. He could feel the sky turned into night, the night turned into day and back, faster and faster until it re-winded itself back to the present.

"Alfred, wake up!" the voice said. Maybe it was the watch. When Alfred slowly opened his eyes, it was Ingrid standing beside the bed.

"Time to get up. It's time for the weekend market. Mama is outside, waiting for us."

Alfred banged his head in disbelief.

"Mom was alive?"