Chereads / Beyond The Veil Of Time / Chapter 4 - chapter 4: The unsettling feeling

Chapter 4 - chapter 4: The unsettling feeling

As Max, Jake, Ryan, and Sarah made their way to his house, the usual chatter filled the air, but something felt off. Zara had stayed behind for her tuition, leaving the rest of them to hang out. When they arrived at Max's house, the familiar warmth of home greeted them, but there was a noticeable tension in the air. His parents, busy preparing for their upcoming business trip, were rushing around the house, finalizing last-minute details.

"Max, make sure Lisa doesn't get into trouble while we're gone," his mom called from the kitchen, where she was packing a bag.

Max nodded, a small smile crossing his face. "I will, don't worry. Have a safe trip."

His dad, adjusting his tie in the living room mirror, gave a quick nod. "Stay out of trouble, alright? We'll be back in a few days."

Max didn't say much, his mind still partially preoccupied with the strange watch. Meanwhile, his five-year-old sister Lisa, who had been playing with some toys on the floor, spotted Max and her eyes lit up. "Max! Jake! Ryan! Sarah!" she cheered, running over to them with a big grin.

Max chuckled and scooped her up, letting her climb onto his lap. "Hey, kiddo. You're gonna be good while Mom and Dad are away, right?"

Lisa nodded enthusiastically. "I'm a big girl! I can do it!"

The group spent a little while playing with Lisa, letting her show off her new toys and laughing at her endless energy. But as the noise quieted down, Max found himself looking at the watch again. It sat on the table, its metallic surface glinting in the afternoon light. His fingers itched to pick it up, but something was holding him back. There was an odd sense of foreboding, like the watch held some kind of mystery he wasn't ready to unravel just yet.

As the group settled down to do their homework, Max couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. His friends were focused, scribbling away at their assignments, but Max's attention kept drifting back to the watch. The more he stared at it, the more he felt like it was calling to him, urging him to discover what lay beyond its time-warping potential.

"You alright, Max?" Jake asked, glancing up from his notebook. "You've been zoning out for the last ten minutes."

Max blinked, snapping out of thoughts. "Yeah, just… thinking."

Ryan, noticing his distraction, smirked. "About Lena, I bet."

Max rolled his eyes. "Not everything is about Lena," he said, though his voice lacked its usual conviction.

Sarah, ever the practical one, leaned back in her chair and glanced between the group, her eyes landing on the watch. "You've been eyeing that thing for a while. You're not thinking about messing with it, are you?"

Max hesitated, his gaze locked on the watch. "I don't know. It's just... weird. I can't stop thinking about it."

Sarah raised an eyebrow but didn't press him further. Instead, they all went back to their work, though Max couldn't focus. The watch sat there, as if daring him to figure it out.

....

The evening grew quieter as Jake, Ryan, and Sarah said their goodbyes, preparing to leave Max's house. They had spent the better part of the afternoon hanging out, doing homework, and playing with Max's younger sister, Lisa. Zara had been absent, caught up in her tuition classes, but the group had made the most of their time together. Now, the air was filled with the sounds of their laughter fading as they walked down the driveway, heading toward their respective homes.

Max and Lisa stood on the porch, waving them off. Max's sister, a lively 5-year-old with boundless energy, had insisted on staying up to say goodbye, her small hand fluttering in the air as she giggled. Once their friends were out of sight, Max ushered Lisa back inside and up the stairs to her room. She was tired, and Max helped her settle into bed, tucking her under the covers with a soft kiss on her forehead. Lisa had never been one to go to sleep easily, but tonight, the day had worn her out, and she fell asleep almost instantly.

Max stood by her bed for a moment, watching her peaceful expression before leaving the room. He quietly closed the door behind him, his steps echoing as he made his way back to his own bedroom. The house had grown silent—his parents had already left for their business trip earlier that afternoon, and now it was just him in the house. He felt a strange sense of solitude, like the house had become a little too big for him to be alone in. But that was the way things were when his parents were away.

Max sat down on his bed, his gaze falling to the small desk where he had absentmindedly placed the watch earlier that afternoon. It still sat there, gleaming under the faint light from his desk lamp. Max had hardly given it a second thought during the day, distracted by his friends and the usual banter. But now, in the quiet of his room, the watch seemed to demand his attention.

He picked it up again, turning it over in his hands. The weight of it was more than he expected. It didn't feel like any regular watch—there was something substantial about it, as though it held more than just the time. He studied it closely, running his fingers along the band and the fine engravings along its edge. The patterns were delicate, intricate—too detailed to be a mass-produced design. Max squinted, trying to make sense of them. The symbols were unfamiliar, almost like a language, but it didn't look like anything he had seen before.

Max glanced up, his thoughts racing. The watch was too fancy to belong to just any student. It had to be someone's—someone important, perhaps—but whose? It had been left in the art room, and there was no way it belonged to any of the teachers. He couldn't recall ever seeing any of them wear something like this. It certainly wasn't the kind of thing someone would forget carelessly. Was it possible that it had been lost on purpose? Maybe it wasn't meant for anyone at all.

He frowned, his fingers grazing the band as he turned the watch over again. It didn't make sense. It felt like there was something more to it, something hidden beneath the surface. But what? And why was he so fixated on it? Max had never been one to obsess over an object, but something about the watch was different.

The room seemed to grow even quieter as Max sat in the stillness, his thoughts turning inward. As he continued to inspect the watch, he noticed that from a distance, it looked completely normal—just like any other high-end timepiece. But the closer he examined it, the more details emerged that seemed out of place. The way the engravings were so precisely etched into the surface, the way the light caught on certain parts of the band, and the weight of it—all of it felt… intentional.

Max paused, staring at the watch for a long moment. His heart beat a little faster, his mind racing with possibilities. It was almost as if the watch were waiting for him to understand something—waiting for him to unlock whatever secret it held.

Shaking his head, he set the watch down on his desk with a soft thud, trying to push the strange thoughts from his mind. It was late, and he needed to focus on getting some sleep. But no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, he couldn't shake the feeling that the watch wasn't just a forgotten piece of jewelry—it was something far more important.

Max lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, but sleep didn't come easily. Every time he closed his eyes, his thoughts drifted back to the watch, to the strange, unexplainable feeling it gave him. What was it about that object that made him feel so unsettled? And why did it seem like it had a purpose, a destiny tied to him, something he couldn't quite grasp yet?

He turned over restlessly, glancing at the watch again. It seemed to shimmer in the dim light, as if it were alive, waiting for him to figure it out. But Max had no answers. Only questions.

With a heavy sigh, he turned off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness. But even in the quiet of the night, the feeling lingered. The watch had left its mark on him, and Max knew, deep down, that this was just the beginning.