Bonds of Time

Giselle Elmer hoisted her bag higher on her shoulder. It was particularly heavy today seeing as it was her first day in university as a medical student.

The sun was shining brightly, blinding her as she hurried up the front steps. A small smile graced her lips as the breeze ruffled her short blonde tresses.

A sharp push to the shoulder almost caused her to lose balance, but she managed to sway precariously without falling.

“Watch where you’re going, Elmer.” A rough voice said. Giselle visibly quailed.

”I-I’m sorry, I didn’t see you. The sun was in my eyes, I-“

“Stop stuttering, you did that on purpose, Elmer. I saw you.” Another voice said. The latter one was more feminine, but had the same amount of roughness as the former one.

”I didn’t, I swear I didn’t! I’m so sorry, I-“

“You tied to knock my brother down, just because he’s limping. Didn’t you?” the woman in front of her said, motioning with her head towards her brother. She had black hair, almost down to her waist, pretty face with steel eyes and a shapely body. Giselle didn’t want to admit it, but she knew that the unpleasant brunette was quite a beauty.

The same couldn’t be said for the brunette’s brother though. He was quite heavy-set and his small narrow brown eyes were wide apart, giving him a perpetually dull look. The dull look was completed with a head full of brown bristly hairs, shaved closely to his scalp. He may have looked dull, but Giselle knew that he was anything but.

Giselle steeled her spine, trying to stick to her promise to herself. “Of course I didn’t. And if I did, I doubt a hundred and twenty five pound person, like me, would send a two hundred twenty pound person, like your brother, flying with a simple brush of the shoulder. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m running late for my lecture.” And with that Giselle hoisted her bag even higher and hurried away from the horror siblings, as she had dubbed them privately.

However, her bravado ended in a blanche as she heard the tell tale pounding of heavy and much lither feet behind her. She didn’t even dare look behind her to confirm her theories; she sprinted, running as fast as she could with a set of heavy books. She hardly knew where she was running, and her mind didn’t even register the path she was taking. She only focused on putting as much distance between her and her pursuers.

As she turned a corner, she looked behind her and a gasp of shock escaped her. The dark beauty had caught up with her and with a firm hand caught Giselle from her bag’s shoulder strap, pulling it neatly off her shoulder. The bag fell to the floor with a heavy thud, the strap tripping her.
The chase was up, she was caught.

She didn’t even feel the sharp sting as she slammed down to the polished marble floor. She was only focused on getting away from the duo. As she crawled, a foot came out of nowhere, kicking her in the ribs. She gasped in pain, as she was rolled over due to the power of the attacker’s kick.

A wide knuckled hand grasped the front of her jean jacket and lifted her up, feet dangling and toes barely touching the floor. Her terrified eyes quickly darted to the dull-looking young man holding her aloft, his face alight with cruel delight.

“You’ve been inviting this for so long, girl,” he whispered as his large hand slapped her delicate cheek. The resounding slap echoed around the empty corridor as her face was turned to the other side.

She vaguely noted that, somehow, she had managed to land herself in an unknown part in the Physics department. Not that she was familiar with the university to begin with.

A pitiful whimper escaped her lips, much to her aggressors’ delight, as another slap turned her face to the other side. She struggled, trying to distract them as she discreetly unbuttoned her jacket, slipping back on her feet. As soon as the soles of her shoes hit the solid ground, she was off like a bullet, wrenching the first door open, which so happened to be a laboratory.

She didn’t even look at the ‘Do Not Enter’ sign as she hurtled past workbenches and stools. The laboratory, she vaguely noted was not one that was often used. All of the benches had a thin layer of dust, except the back two. She ran towards the back of the lab, praying that a hiding place would reveal itself to her.

And it seemed that someone had heard her. To her left was a metal door, quite unlike any other she had seen. It looked as if it was made of steel, however she didn’t really feel the need to verify. The knob looked more like lever than knob. It was obvious just by looking at it that the door could only be opened by pulling this lever. Three narrow horizontal rectangles were equally placed in the middle of the door, with the necessary space in between. The top one was proudly showing a digital number in bright red; 1891.

Giselle looked behind her, confirming that her pursuers were still chasing her, and without a second thought pulled the lever, opened the door and jumped behind it.

The door closed of its own accord, leaving a sinister hiss in its wake. Giselle shivered, rubbing her arms as her anxiety reached an all-time-new level. Bright red lights were flashing on. Laser lights, she noted. She immediately squeezed her eyes shut, fearing damage to her eyesight and tried to make her way back to the door. Only no knob could be found.

She was trapped.

She didn’t dare open her eyes, as her vision was turning red even though her closed eyelids. Half a moment later, the well oiled purr of a machine kick started to life and the floor started to turn; slowly at first and then increasing in speed. Faster and faster it went, till Giselle lost her balance and fell to the floor once again. The sting in her side, this time, was felt with a much larger intensity than normal. She tried to stand up again, but the speed was too intense. Also it seemed as if the pressure was increasing, forcing her to stay down, and crushing her.

Her head jerked back in surprise, hitting a type of hard surface with enough force to push it back slightly. The rotation went even faster and the laser lights even brighter, but Giselle knew no more.

She had lost consciousness.