Back To The Future

Black and White

The soft sound of rain. The coldness on my cheeks. The soft feeling of Clive's lips on mine...

It felt as if it had happened just a day ago when it had already been months... during those months, Clive and I had made a big change- we had decided to move in together. When we had started to talk about it, deciding on which flat to move in felt like a puzzle... Both of us had been living in seperate ones, but I eventually moved into his which was extraordinarily large- and it's furnishings were just like I would have expected: Clive had a very old-fashioned taste, which could be partly explained with his upbringing- he had been temporarily raised by elders, after all.

When I awakened from my daydream, I heard someone knock hastingly on the door.
It couldn't be Clive because he was still working on the secret project he vaguely informed me about, so who could it be?

As I opened the door, I was facing a rather troubled looking man.
Even though he looked as if he was in his thirties, his eyes looked extremely old and tired. The man had grey hair which wreathed his face in soft waves- his clothing looked a little strange to me as he wore clothes that reminded me of what scientists wore- a white lab coat and hat over a grey shirt and scarf.
Even though his face looked a bit pale and sunken, he was a very attractive man.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! It must be the wrong apartment!", he apologised.

The man immediately turned around to leave again.

"Wait!", I yelled.
"May I help you?"

"You might!", he said hastingly.
"I'm searching for a young man who lives somewhere in this house. His name is Clive."

"Oh! Then you've found the right apartment!", I smiled. "~! Pleased to meet you!"

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Clive's friend, who had turned out to have the beautiful name Dimitri, and I had sat down in the kitchen to have some Earl Grey.

When I looked at him, I saw that his glance got lost in the tea as he stirred it- and I sensed that something must really be on his mind.

"I'm sorry to ask this, but... since you are his partner", Dimitri asked nervously, "how much... how much do you know about his project?"

"To be honest, I know nearly nothing about it...", I admitted embarrassedly.

Just as he had heard my answer, Dimitri's expression had changed completely as if a weight had fallen off his shoulders. His trouble turned to relief- and more curiosity started to grow within me.

"Dimitri, could you please tell me why you are searching for Clive? I thought you were working on your project together?", I asked.

"Oh yes, apologies! You know how Clive is, hectic, wild- when we were supposed to have a meeting, he ran off- and now I have no idea where to find him! He isn't in Un- uh, the place we're working in, so I thought I would maybe find him in his apartment. But now I really don't have any ideas left!"

I sighed. I might have known Clive for longer than Dimitri, but I knew so little about their project that finding out his location was like a difficult puzzle- even for me...

crash.

I winced at the sound of someone kicking the door open.
Dimitri and I didn't have any time to react before a suspicious man suddenly stood before us- he was wearing black clothes and his eyes were entirely covered by sunglasses.
"Dimitri", he said, "he is waiting. You know where."

Dimitri, whose expression was still as shocked as mine, nodded slowly.
I didn't hesitate before adding "I'm coming too!"

———————————————————————

Following Dimitri and the mysterious man through London, I noticed that there was revolt in the city- someone had apparently had a car accident. Having just been able to take a short glance at the damaged car, I suddenly saw a policeman approach me.
"Excuse me, Miss, we are searching for the victim of this accident", he stated.
"We're asking for witnesses to find the victim."

I gasped.

"Does this mean the victim has disappeared?", I asked.

"I'm afraid it seems so."

How horrible!

"We haven't been here at the time of the accident, but maybe we can still help you, Sir!", I offered. "Do you have any information about what the victim looked like?"

The policeman nodded sadly.
"Apparently, the victim was still very young. We don't have his name, but of what other witnesses saw, it was a young man, estimatedly in his early twenties. He had light brown hair and dark eyes and was wearing a suit, furthermore..."

It felt as if my heart had stopped beating as all the blood wavered from my face when I realised that the victim was Clive.

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"...Please stand up. ~, please... I assure you he is alive...", Dimitri reassured calmly.
"Have you... have you seen the car?!", I protested weakly.
"Please, Miss... trust me this once. You have to follow me, we will certainly understand soon."

Did I have a choice?

I continued following Dimitri around and noticed the way we went- was he taking me... to the clockshop?

My assumption was correct, and just as I had opened the door, I immediately discovered Clive in the backroom.

"Clive... Clive!"
I started crying when I fell into his arms. He stroked my back softly and calmed me down, but as I looked at his face, my heart started going crazy again- the wounds on his face made it obvious that he had been hurt.

"Clive, we have to take you to the hospital! And inform the police that you're the victim!"

"No, we can't!", Clive replied, and I was shocked to see that he seemed to be nearly scared of that thought.

"Why? And please be honest to me!"

"Of course, my love... the truth is, I don't want to end up in the newspaper."

"Clive, you've been a journalist, your name has been there several times!"

"That's not the same... a picture would ruin my project... I am sorry, but I can't say more about this... I don't want to drag you into this danger."

"Danger?
Clive... look at your face! It pains me to see you've been hurt, I feel like I can't protect you! I know your project is very important to you but I need you to spend time with me so I can take care of you!"

A smile suddenly stared to curl Clive's lips.
"And this my dear, is why I love you so much."

And before I could do anything else, Clive had laid his soft hands on my cheeks and kissed me passionately. It was a comforting kiss- all the sadness I felt seemed to vanish and was replaced with so much happiness.

When we had stopped kissing, I wasn't surprised to see that both Dimitri and the man had turned around to give us some time which had made me giggle.

"If it makes you happy, I shall give you this time to spend with me, my dear", Clive added. "After all, I miss you very much too."

As I looked at Dimitri and the other man while I was still hugging Clive, it occured to me that they had both behaved so similarly in this situation... Terrifying how much looks are able to deceive...

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A/N: Ugh I'm not completely happy with this chapter but all this information and foreshadowing (read the last sentence again) was necessary... if you continue reading my next chapters too, you will hate me for the next ones... :)
(and as always, pleaaase point out grammar/spelling mistakes to me, I would appreciate it!)