The professor kept glancing at the gate of the university and was waiting for Chance to arrive. "You there, come here." Adam called out a familiar boy that was walking by, "You know Chance Howard, right?" he asked.
The boy stopped and nodded, "Yes, Professor. I help him out sometimes in the library." he responded. "I am one of the students in his class and a library assistant," he added.
'No wonder he looked familiar.' Adam thought. "Great. Then, did you see Mr. Howard? He usually comes at this time." he asked but the boy shook his head, "I usually pass by him, but I didn't see him today."
"I see, then go to your class now. Sorry for the trouble." he said. The boy bowed and walked away in a fast pace as he was going to be late.
Adam sighed and looked at his watch, "I still have an hour before my class." he muttered and went to the parking lot. There is something worrying him that he does not know. After going to the parking, he immediately went to find his car and got inside it.
He wiped the lenses of his glasses and wore it. He started the car engine and drove out of the university, 'I need to see that book again, there may be some clues he had not seen.' he thought.
Normally, he would not care and just let Chance do the research by himself but something was bothering his mind. It was too much of a coincidence that Chance picked up that book, there must be a reason. It is also weird that he did not go to the university, he was usually punctual and hates to be late.
He stepped on the gas and sped up while glancing at the time. '40 minutes.'
~~~~~~~~~~
The doors of the elevator opened and he went to Chance's room which was just near to it. He knocked on the door loudly, "Howard, get up!" he shouted but there was no response. He banged on it and tried again, "Howard!" he yelled while hitting the doorbell continuously.
He turned his head behind him when a lady in his 40s opened her window because her unit was just in front of Chance's room. She looked at the professor with a displeased face, "Can you keep it down? It's so early in the morning!" she yelled.
Ashamed, Adam bowed multiple times as an apology but she slammed her window shut. He scratched the back of his head and let out a sigh.
He glanced at his watch and there was only 20 minutes left before his class started. 'I won't make it.' he thought. He smiled, hiding his annoyance when he imagined his students partying while he was gone. 'Nevermind, I'll skip that and just attend my next class.' he thought.
He faced the door again and massaged his temples. He pressed the doorbell again but there was still no answer. Even after many calls, bells and knocks, no one opened the door. 'Is Chance really this much of a heavy sleeper?' he thought.
A bad idea suddenly entered his mind, 'Did something happen to him inside?' he asked himself with worry. He pressed his ear onto the door and he could hear the sound of the electric fan, a proof that Chance was in there.
'But there's no guarantee that he is okay.' His eyes went down the middle left of the door and stared at his door lock. He slid the plate up, 'I can't believe I'm gonna do this but there's no choice.'
He took out his pocket powder and pour a bit into his palm. He returned it in his bag and blew the powder onto the doorlock. 'Hope no one sees me or I'll look like someone trying to break into a unit.' he thought. 'Which I am.' he added.
Some of the powder stuck, which means that's where Chance presses the passcode.
1,8,9
Adam almost laughed at the numbers, 'This kid is so devoted to his job.' he thought as he pressed, "1,8,8,9." he muttered. 'Obviously the year of his research topic.'
The door beeped and he pushed it open, stepping inside the room. After he closed it, his eyes travelled around the unit and he saw all his things in a mess, "No way, did someone really break in?" he thought and ran all over the unit.
Then he realized that the messy things were just books and papers. He let out a deep sigh of relief, 'Are historical researchers really this messy?'
He picked up the papers that was all around the room and arranged it on his table. Before putting it down, he went through the research that Chance had done, "All of this are names of royal families? Just information of King Charles's family members." he muttered.
"Howard, I'm already inside so wake up." he said while putting down the paper works on the table. "Howard?" he called.
He walked towards the room and saw Chance lying down straight with hands on top of his stomach. Adam rushed to him and checked his pulse. He sighed and flicked Chance's forehead, "How could you sleep like a dead person on his coffin?"
He shook him again but still won't wake up, if only he didn't have a pulse, he would've thought that he was dead. "Is there a person who has a sudden case of coma?"
His attention was caught when he saw a cat near his feet, looking up at him. 'Oh? I didn't know Chance had a cat?' he thought and bent down to pet it. He smiled when the cat rubbed its head on his open hand.
"So cute, what's your name? Blacky?" he joked but the cat backed away from him and hissed, displeased. 'I guess he does not like the name.' he thought and chuckled.
While the cat was licking itself, he glanced at Chance who was still not awake. 'Maybe I shouldn't have accepted that research request.' he felt like it was his fault why Chance was in stress, but that is normal for a researcher so he thought Chance should get used to it.
'It must have been a really difficult topic.' he told himself and patted his student's hair. "Good job." he muttered like a proud father. He decided to just let him sleep for a day, since he never once saw Chance rested for a long time.
He caught a glimpse of a violet light in the corner of his eye. He turned his head abruptly and the black cat was staring at him with glowing eyes. "What in the world?" he said with widened eyes, surprised by the creature.
"What are you?" he asked, it would not be weird anymore if he was to talk to a cat since the glowing eyes were strange enough for him. His hands made its way to the cat's head to try to look at it more clearly. The cat rubbed its head again then sat up straight, still staring at him with its violet eyes.
He glanced at Chance then back to the cat, 'Is this cat one of the reasons why he would not wake up?' he thought. "Blacky, I want to know who your owner is and why you did this to my student." he stated.
There was no response and the cat just stared at him blankly. He sighed and massaged his temples but was startled when the cat jumped towards him. He immediately rolled to the side and stood up to avoid it but the cat landed on top of the table by the bed.
He breathe out while his hand was on his chest and smiled at the cat, "You startled me, Blacky." he muttered and went to caress the black creature but his eyes landed on the book it was sitting in.
The old book was familiar so he pet the cat and carried him away from the book. There he saw a blue book with gold embellishments, 'It's the book that Chance picked up.' he thought.
He almost dropped the book when it suddenly glowed. The bright rays coming from the book suddenly hurt his eyes. He looked away with his other hands blocking his sight. When the light's brightness had gone down, he stared at it not knowing what just happened.
He glanced at the cat who was just sitting with a cute face, looking at him. He looked at it with a bored face, "You sat there on purpose, didn't you?" he said to the cat and it just meowed.
His eyes returned to the book in curiosity of why it glowed. Nothing can even surprise him anymore after what happened, even if he sees a flying chicken in the sky. 'Am I in a fantasy world or what?' he joked.
He opened the book and saw Trapped in History on the first page. Then he saw the two pages which he and Chance saw. He flipped to the next page but it was still empty.
He sighed and dropped down to the seat, putting his elbows on top of the table and stared at the book. 'What was the glow for?' he asked in his head. He crossed his arms and buried his face on it to take a quick nap.
He suddenly could not sleep and felt something weird. It was as if it won't let him sleep. He sat up straight again and the atmosphere was gloomy. The uneasiness made his body heavy and when he turned to the side, he saw Wish staring straight at him with its violet eyes.
If only the cat wasn't so cute, it would have been scary.
The way Wish gazed at him was as if it was commanding him to do something. His head was stiff but it was being pushed to the side on its own and when it did, his eyes dropped to the open book.
Surprised, there were suddenly words on the page that was supposed to be empty. Words kept appearing on it as if the pages were slowly getting filled. He immediately grabbed it and read, if the Trapped in History was about Charles, then maybe the words that was appearing could help, he thought.
He was surprised to see a familiar name among those words, 'Chance?' he thought, he got into a daze as he try to process it into his head. He slowly looked at his student who was akin to a person in comatose. 'Could it be?'
He began to read out loud and every word made his mind float, "Chance opened his eyes widely and gasped. His surroundings are not all white anymore and he found himself lying on the bed. He exhaled loudly out of relief that it was all a dream..." he took a pause then continued reading it until he came to the part where Chance realized what happened, "Fancy buildings, people in simple yet beautiful dresses, compared to the fashion of his time, it's very different. He could hear the galloping of the horses with the carriages where you find most of the wealthy people. The voices of the chattering as they shop...19th...century."
Adam threw the book back onto the table, he pressed his face on both of his palms in stress then wiped his face in frustration. He glanced at the cat, "Are you telling me that Howard is..."
He shook his head, 'I know I should not be surprised by anything but him in the book is serious!' he said to himself. "How could that happen? How could he be in there?"
Amid the tense atmosphere, Adam's phone rang and saw one of his student assistants calling, "Hello." Adam answered.
[What time will you arrive, Sir?]
While he was on call, his eyes did not go away from the book and just stared at it, "Do me a favor, please report to the office about my absence for two classes." he said to his student.
[Okay, Professor. Will you come back later?]
"No." he responded and grabbed the book, "I have something to read about." he said and ended the call.
He opened the book again and decided to read it,
Until the end.