„I want to live telling parables and poems, not judging others based on their appearance, gender or religion. If this must undoubtedly be disclosed by a simple story teller, I will do it for a thousand more times."- Hillary Wolf
Writing was not a priority at the moment. She had to figure out more about the magic and what she had experienced. The only way to do that would be to go through the library again, but she didn't want to go alone. Perhaps Sylas was right, they needed one another for grounding at a time like that. Important exams were just around the corner, but her mind would not have been at ease if she didn't travel in time again. So, without further ado, she grabbed her schoolbag and left.
During lunch break, she caught up with the boy.
„Sylas!"
„Ooh, heeey, the weird girl is here to ask me out on a boring hang out, once more. What's up?"
„Come along! You need to meet a certain individual that will explain more to you."
Vivien immediately wasted no time and signaled him to follow her through the crowd of students.
„Woah, hold on. Not so fast, short legs."
The two walked all the way to the library, a tedious and long stride. The both of them stood by the door and Vivien did her magic. She reached for the doorknob and the purple light flickered from her hand. Sylas followed her without a single word or without mentioning what was upsetting the both of them. The girl opened her phone and texted Jude to meet them outside the university, with Sylas asking oftentimes for what she's doing, what they're waiting for or who she was texting.
After a bit longer, Jude stepped out the entrance door to the university and walked down the white steps. He approached them with a feeling of uncertainty. Once he was close enough to the both of them, she began her speech.
„Meet Jude.", Vivien gestured to him.
„Hi, Jude?"
„You're not someone I was expecting to see right here. Aren't you that depressed guy from room 56? But why do you look... all cleaned up and with no beard?"
„AAAA, NOOO, nooo, it's highly probable you have the wrong guy, Jude. He mistook you with somebody else, no need to brood."
„I'm pretty sure it's him."
„IT'S NOT HIM, YOU'RE MISTAKEN... Sylas, you're here to.."
„Exactly, Sylas, that's the guy's name from room 56! Sylas Jackson"
Vivien shot out a rough glare at Jude. Did he really not understand the message to stop talking?
Sylas chimed in.
„I admit, this hang out is much better than the previous one you had planned for me at the library in town. I'll give this hang out an 8 out of 10 stars, because I'm confused about something, and this dude has sweat stains on his shirt."
Jude raised his arms and noticed his shirt was slightly stained with sweat.
„Huh... oh... sorry."
Vivien ignored his antics and talked to him.
„I was doing my best to keep this from you, but... in this future, it looks like you're alone, miserable, drinking, and you have a heart problem. We can change it, though!"
„Is that why you told me about the heart issue when we went to the library? You think you can change the future?"
„Yes! I don't know what college I'm attending in 2028 or if I'm here at Elton College, but we can manage to find me from the future and fix things."
„Naaaah, you're on your own in this. I want to see you struggling to find yourself, only to find out you've been wasting your time. This is all too much for my brain: past... future... magic door to the library. What was that quote I heard? Ah..."never meet yourself from the future or else bad stuff will happen, blah blah blah". Some cheesy words like those... I will go by that quote and not get involved in this."
„Aren't you curious to see yourself from the future ?"
„I won't end up like that guy you told me about. I'm doing fine."
Jude watched them both with quiet bewilderment etched on his face.
„Hold on... you two really are from the past?", Jude asked.
„Rise and sunshine, the sleeping beauty has just awakened. Yes, we're from the past and we're here to rob you of your future."
Jude made a schocked face at Sylas' words. His jaw almost dropped to the ground.
„Don't take him seriously about the robbing, Jude. About us being from the past, yes, take him seriously. Anyways... since you don't care about yourself, Sylas, I'll be here at times, trying to mend your future, and possibly, mine as well, if it is as disastruous as yours. If you'll want to follow me through this escapade, I won't mind."
„This is stupid. I will not end up like that."
„Denial won't get you anywhere, buddy.", Jude uttered to him as if trying to make sense of the gravity of the situation in turn for Sylas.
The boy walked up the stairs and fled the scene, dissapearing with Jude's words still ringing in his mind.
„Huh.. Viv, you from this timeline really left this college and changed your phone. I've been trying to contact you for a few days ever since you left, but... I met you from the past?"
„Surprise, it's me again. You said I left the college. Any idea where I from this timeline could be?"
„Nope, you said something about changing your phone and not speaking to me again. In addition, you talked about moving to a different college, but you didn't mention anything about it in detail since you were very upset, for some reason. I assumed you weren't being serious, so I never dove deeper into it."
„Yeah, that's classic me when I'm upset at someone. I'm starting to hate myself."
„What are you planning to do, now?"
„I have to find myself to hear about what's happened. Attending this college has always been my dream, so I must find out why I gave up on it. I also have to help Sylas, I can't leave him to suffer."
„Help Sylas, from here? Good luck with that, he doesn't want the help."
„I can modify it. We've been given this opportunity, we might as well take advantage of it and alter our future."
„If you need help, I'll be here. Please show me how the time travel works."
„I could use some help... You might be the first person who took my words to heart so incredibly fast.", she said, starting to get wary of him.
Vivien walked with Jude to the library. She opened the door for the room and the same purple light drifted off the doorknob. Jude followed her and couldn't help but stare in awe as they teleported to 2026.
„Care to tell me why you lied to me about not knowing Sylas when I first saw you?", she asked suddenly.
„I thought that you're not going to let this go. Look... I didn't know why you were asking about him and your friends. I had no clue you came from the past. I assumed you're simply trying to make fun of me by telling me he's a better friend than me."
„Tell yourself that, but according to my own intellect, you knew about this library and about the time traveling for a long time. Much longer. Future me must have mentioned it to you when we first met, in my first year of college. You did say we've been friends for about a year."
„Okay, you caught me. I was trying to act clueless for no reason."
„For no reason? On second thought, I don't need your help because I dislike liars and avoid them like the plague. I see why future me was upset at you."
„You won't get too far off without my help. You'll need me, sooner or later you'll come crawling back to me."
„Don't cause me the misfortune of seeing you around again."
The girl opened the door back for Jude to enter 2028 again. He frowned, but complied and stepped back inside the library. She closed the door behind him and sighed heavily. Vivien knew what was awaiting ahead was not going to be easy, but she needed to do something about Sylas' future, and to find herself.