Time Split – Sample Chapter
“Excuse me, sir!”
Jason woke with a start. He looked around, alarmed.
“Excuse me, sir, the film finished ten minutes ago, you’ll have to leave.”
He stared at the girl blankly for a moment before suddenly remembering where he was.
“You’ll have to leave now or I’ll call the manager,” she said, her voice sharp.
Jason shook his head. “There’s no need. I’m sorry.” He stood. “I’m going now.”
Once outside he checked his watch. In three minutes’ time he would be recalled. He had to be somewhere quiet or his disappearance might be seen.
It’s a pity the film didn’t last a little longer, he thought. A darkened cinema was the perfect place to vanish.
With little time, Jason quickly looked around for somewhere discreet.
The streets were frustratingly busy. A crowd had formed to listen to a speaker on behalf of the Weimar government. As he spoke out against the National Socialist Workers’ Party, storm troopers moved in to break up the gathering and assault the man. As he was dragged away, he began to struggle and got a club to his head for his trouble.
Jason quickened his pace.
The crowd was chanting as the police moved in and started making arrests.
A woman screamed.
Jason glanced at the commotion and bumped into someone as they stepped from a doorway. Quickly he apologised, but as he tried to move on he was grabbed and flung away with such force, he was sent sprawling to the ground. Shocked, he looked up and discovered he’d rushed into a guard.
The man ordered Jason to get up. In the meantime, his colleague moved alongside, blocking the path further.
Any hope of a discreet disappearance was now gone. At the very least there would be questions.
Gripped with panic and with only seconds remaining, Jason leapt to his feet and grabbed his revolver. Instructing them to stay away, he began stepping backwards. Moments earlier he had seen an alley. If he could escape down there, they would never find him. In ten seconds he’d be gone in any case.
He swept the barrel between the two, keeping the men at bay, until, level with the alley, he glanced sideways to confirm it was empty.
This was the moment the guards had been waiting for to grab their guns.
When Jason looked back he saw the revolvers. He lunged for the alley, but rain earlier that day had made the pathway slippy. The world seemed to slow as he stumbled. Powerless to resist, he fell backwards until, when he hit the ground, everything blurred into one – the impact, the shot, the pain and then darkness.
No comments yet.
