Chapter 17

Get ready for a long, epic chapter.  Are you ready to be thrown answers?  Kick back, relax, enjoy, and gain more questions along the way.

I turned away from this strange man, and walked slowly to my tacky seat and pointed to my equally tacky couch without looking at him.  "Um... you can sit down."

"Alright, very well."  He sat down, and I got ready to hear anything.  I wouldn't have been surprised if he said he was an alien from a different planet in disguise.  But of course that's not what he said, "do you have any idea why I'm here?"

I shook my head.  "Well, you said my dad sent you here?  I don't get it, how do you know my dad?"  He looked at me, and yet it felt like he was looking right through me.  "Some things are meant to be said through one's lips, some through another's."

I looked at him puzzled, why couldn't he give me a straight answer?

Then, he changed the subject, "you have been staying away from your family, TJ.  Why?"

"Well... um, the thing is..."  I started to get very red in the face, and my pulse jumped up a lot.  I couldn't tell him why...

"TJ, what do you think will happen to you if you reveal a secret?  One person will just come after you and murder you in your sleep?  Make it their job to make your life miserable?"

I thought it over for a minute.  He was right, but how could he know I was keeping a secret?"

"Um... when you put it that way, it seems as though I have been pretty unreasonable."  I slapped myself since I had implied that I was keeping a secret, I don't know this man, I don't know if I can even trust him!

"Yes.  Go on, tell me."

I swallowed hard, and let it come out.  "Well... a woman offered to transform me out of my albinism a few months ago... and I accepted on the agreement that I would tell no one that I had the transformation, or tell who she was."

Though I knew I should have been terrified that I gave away my secret, I felt fine- and relieved!

"Very good, TJ.  Thank you for telling me."  He simply nodded, as if he expected such a strange response.

And then, his orange eyes pierced into my very being, and they started to roll inside his head.  I got really grossed and scared on seeing that, but before I had much time to do anything else...

After I was done being grossed out, I opened my eyes and I wasn't at my house.  I closed them again and opened them once more, and when I realized I was still in the white, big place of nothingness, I rubbed my eyes.  I even did a few reality checks that my grandma taught me when I was little when in the middle of a nightmare.  When each time the reality checks indicated I was in reality, I blinked, unwilling to believe what was before me.

Then I looked to my right and saw that he was still here with me.  He looked at me and nodded.  "Stop that TJ, you're not dreaming.  You're safe."

I nodded at him with a scared smile on my face.  It was official, it really was reality.  She also taught me that if someone accompanying you in a situation seems intelligent, then they probably are.

[These last two paragraphs contain references to my story Overcoming the Haze when he's talking about his grandma.]

Then I looked in front of me, and in the middle of this vast white room were two scarlet chairs and a small coffee table.  Merlin gestured to the far seat, so I sat down.  What else was I supposed to do?

As the reality of where I was (or lack of where I was?) was sinking in, I started to hyperventilate.

Strangely, it just took a deep glance from Merlin for me to settle down.

"Don't worry TJ, you'll get back to your house soon."

"Define 'soon'."  Frankly, there wasn't a time soon enough, this immense room of white was freaking me out, not to mention the fact that I wasn't sure how I got here.

"Time doesn't count here."

I looked at him like he was crazy.

"Yeah, right."

He gave me the same look as always, a look that showed no expression at all.

"I'm dead serious.  We're not in the same dimension as your own.  This is a small inter dimensional space, time doesn't pass here.  You could live here for thousands of years without aging."

Forgetting how crazy it was, I said, "you're not going to do that to me, right?  What if we get stuck here?"

Giving me his same expressionless look, he answered, "that won't happen.  It never has, never will.  Don't worry."

"Okay, so why are we here?"

"I took you here because your father told me you need my help, and I am assessing the situation."

"What, you want me to go back home to my family?"

"No, it is much worse than that."

"What?"

"How do you feel?"

"What do you mean 'how do I feel?'"

"How do you feel being normal, not being albino?"

"What do you mean?  I feel great!  I look normal, girls love me, what's not to love?  My social life is so much better than before..."

Before I was even able to finish my response, he closed his eyes and started humming an inhumane tune.  At this point, I was ready for anything to happen.

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After a long day at work, I sat down at my sofa to just think.  I've been very confused by why TJ left.  One minute he's acting fishy, the next he's running away.  Am I a bad sister?  Did I do something wrong?  What would cause him to run away like that?  I was starting to think that he could be hiding something he was ashamed of.  Maybe Bailey was beating him, but I was almost positive she couldn't be.  She acted like such an angel, so certainly she wasn't doing that secretly?  Or maybe he is doing drugs.  I just don't know.  But he'll come back soon, where else would he go?  Back to mom and dad?  That's not likely.

Sitting on a seat the wrong way, I hid brimming tears from Reese.  How could TJ just leave from Trish's house like that?  It's bad enough that I haven't seen him anymore since his total outward appearance change- thanks to some spray tan and colored contacts.  He always felt so out of place for being an albino, and thought that people were staring at him weird because of it.  He just couldn't fathom that people were just curious, they hadn't seen an albino before.  Sure it's sometimes shocking to see such a pale guy, but people get over it very quickly!  He has always been such a handsome guy, yet he doesn't see it!  Since his change, he got a social life- but not because of the makeover- oh no- but because of his change in self confidence.

My thoughts were interrupted when Reese turned around after closing his laptop.

"So about that hunch that I was thinking of earlier... I think I have a solution, but it's kind of sketchy."

"What solution?  Wait... what?"

"For how we can get him out of his... slump.  Something is seriously wrong with him, I have to contact Merlin."

I turned around and stared at him wide-eyed.

"What? Those are only stories!"

"No, they're based off the truth.  In my time, he is known by... some."

"What are you talking about?  Who is 'some'?"

"I'm saying, that this guy is real and the stories about him were actually based on the truth.  He... well, it's hard to explain and I only know so much.  But he... helps people.  Only certain people in my field even know who he is."

[Author's note: his 'field' is a reference to my last story, My Life at a Later Date.  He is from the future, works for the government, and came to the past, blah blah.]

I looked at him like he was crazy, and started cracking up.  When he didn't laugh too, I stopped myself.

"It's the only way we can get TJ back.  Something seriously went wrong... somehow.  I don't know what it is, but I know that he needs to be here."

I looked at him confused.  How could he know anything?  We have no idea why TJ even left, so how could he assume something was wrong?  I mean, I understand that something is wrong, but certainly it couldn't be... that wrong?

Then, I opened up my eyes and I was back to where I really was.  In the white room of nothingness.

When I blinked and noticed Merlin simply looking right through me (which was as creepy as hell), I asked him, "what just happened?"

He almost smiled, but in his kind of way, since he didn't really have much emotions.  Or at least, that's what he made me think.

"I took you into the past, and put you in the body of your sister and mother.  Now you know what they were thinking."

"That was for real?  How could you do that?  I don't get it."

"Yes, it was for real, and I can't really explain it to you.  Some things aren't meant for one's ears.  How do you feel about being normal now?  And changing yourself under such sketchy circumstances?"

I just shrugged.  I guess it wasn't really as bad as I thought, being an albino, but... I just don't know.

"No harm done, right?"

"You couldn't be more wrong."

I shivered.  "What do you mean?"

Then he rolled his eyes back into his head again, and I left the white room.

I heard the doorbell ring, so I turned off the television to see who was there.  Since I have a door with big windows, 'peaking in' is a very hard feat.  I have to look at a person indirectly and anticipate their 'moves', let's say.

When I noticed the woman outside of the door, it took me no time to realize that I didn't know who she was.  I don't know anyone with wavy brown hair, that was the one thing I really noticed about her.  Slowly, I started edging away from the door, pretending I wasn't home.

But she wouldn't let me get away with it.  Though it didn't seem like she noticed me, apparently she had, because in a stern, but not unkind voice she said, "let me inside, I have a proposition for you."

I stalled, and looked at the door from where I was.  I had no idea what this lady was talking about, and I probably didn't want to know anyway.  She probably just wanted me to donate money.

With this in mind, I ignored her and went into the tv room which is close by.  Again, she would not let me get away with it.

"Please, open this door right now.  Just do it."

I rolled my eyes and gave in.  I didn't want to be so rude as to shout to tell her to go away- I'm not that mean of a person.  And clearly answering to her demands was the only way to get her to leave me alone.

Slowly, I let her in.

"Thank you.  I would like to give you a deal.  If you agree, we would like to give you a great fortune."

I looked at her like she was crazy, and decided that this was at least humorous.

"Oh, is that so?"

She nodded seriously.  "You heard me.  You have to find TJ Evans and become his girlfriend, and get him interested in looking for a certain note."

"TJ Evans?  Why?"  I remembered just who he was.  He was a guy that used to go to my school, he was a shy, albino boy with no friends.  He wasn't ugly or anything... he was just dull, and boring.

"Why would I want to go out with him?"

"Because then you can influence him to look for a note, and he'll be persuaded by you to go see it."

"Okay, seriously, what note?  Why do you want him to follow whatever it says?"

"Well, we'll take his albinism from him when he comes to meet me."

I raised an eyebrow at her.  Clearly, she was on crack.  "Why would you want to um... help him?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't reveal everything to you.  The important thing is, once he is no longer an albino and gets to a certain point, we can give you the money."

"What point?  And what the hell are you talking about with we?  Who's we?"

"I can't tell you either, I'm sorry."

"Then this is the suckiest deal ever."

Later, I was influenced to accept her deal.  At first I thought it was a joke, but clearly it wasn't.  She had me sign a contract, she proved to me she wasn't kidding.  I believed her, and I was ready to gain my fortune!

**********

I was walking away from the science lab since I just finishing using one of the computers.  Education for a personal trainer isn't cheap, so I haven't been able to buy a nice computer.  Sometimes, I just like to go here to use one since they're big, have amazing graphics, and are super fast.

And then, I saw a white figure walking on the sidewalk.  No doubt, this was TJ Evans.  Slowly, I walked to him smiling.  I didn't have to work as hard as I thought I would to find him!  I thought I'd have to look him up in the phone book, and call him, telling him I had this deep desire for him ever since high school.  I was so happy when I saw him walking!  

As I saw him, I said, "what are you staring at?"  Luckily it was dark, so I could suppress a giggle.  "Llama, is that you TJ?"  I almost bursted, it was so fun acting as though I didn't know who he was!  It was quite obvious.  He was still wearing his beanie, he would look so much better without it.

I decided to go the 'back then, I didn't think you were so great, but now, you're awesome' route.  It was the only way he would believe me.

[If you don't remember this scene and want to look back at what happened in more depth, go back to chapter 3.  I used the same pictures, for the last two.]

After smoothing it over with him for a while, and convinced him that I was interested in him now and wasn't so much back then and declared that I thought of him as mysterious- I decided it was time to ask him out.  I mean, why wouldn't he accept?  I was the most popular girl in school.  That must have been why Brianna asked me to do this great favor for her- bigger chance for success.

*************************************************

I was going over to my nightstand to retrieve a letter, while TJ was busy staring at my bird, Sammy.  The letter was a very important one, which I had to send to Brianna to tell her of my success with TJ.  Going the route of reverse psychology worked rather well with him.  I convinced him that it would spell total doom for him and he shouldn't go, but of course that just made him want to go more.  From the few weeks I've known him, I've understood that he is a very curious individual.  His curiosity wins even when it could spell him doom.  Well, at least in this case it could have.

Then, Sammy said something to TJ, "big plan, big plan," he said.  My heart sank.  Of course he was talking about my deal, my plan of getting the fortune...

"What plan, Sammy?"  He asked it.

Then, he answered it with the truth, and I almost panicked.  "Big money, fortune."

"What is it talking about?"  TJ asked.

I couldn't think of a way to smooth it over, so I just said, "oh, just some favor I was going to have you do for 

me.  Be quiet Sammy!"  I decided to figure out an answer for it later.

[This scene was in chapter 9 if you want to refer back to it :).]

Then I blinked and I was back in the white room.

"Bailey- Bailey is a fraud."  My heart sunk.  I was really starting to truly fall in love with her.  She has always been so easy going, never looked too deeply into my problems.  And now I knew why.  She was faking everything the whole time, and knew my secret!  My body started to convulsively shake.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, TJ.  You had to understand this.  You can't continue to live like this... with how you are now, after your transformation?  She is waiting for you to become fully how she wants you to, and you don't have much time."

"But... won't I die now?  I told you my secret...."  The secret had been gnawing at me for so long, that was the only thing I could think about.

"No, TJ.  You told me here- in a place where she has no control.  She won't know, there's no possible way.  And besides.  I knew already."

"How?"

"There are some secrets that can't be told anywhere to anyone."  There he goes again....

"So... what do I do?"

He raised an eyebrow.  "We have all the time in the world to further discuss your predicaments."  I nodded slowly.  He was right with that, at least.