Whew, he got out in time!  Now for the next adventure.  Keep up the great work!

Ahhh yikes! This is very late. Sorry, school has left me very busy and un-inspired. I probably won't be able to keep up with a regular updating schedule, so keep your eyes peeled for new installments, I'll try and keep them up every week or so. 

Anyway, hope you're all enjoying - this one was longer than intended but didn't quite get it where I wanted it. Oh well, have a nice time reading it.

Part 6 ~~

Alec flung himself out the window and went tumbling into the bushes below. The fall was not far and didn’t hurt, but he still felt searing pain all over his body. He checked to make sure his binders were ok - which they were, save for a little singe and dirt around the edges. The next thing he observed was that quite the crowd had gathered to watch his burning house, and that Semolian, Kit, Vivian, and Jack were among them, looking quite nervous. Although every part of his body moaned in protest, Alec scrambled to his feet, grabbed his binders, and started running towards the street. 

Which was when he noticed someone familiar running towards his house. 

Someone that he, no doubt, had known his entire life.

It was himself, a few years younger. 

Every gear in Alec’s brain was spinning in different directions. He stopped running and backed away, knowing that the fate of the space-time continuum and the rest of the universe laid in his hands. He had to get back to the group to let them know he was safe, but he couldn’t let himself see himself. 

That contradicting statement would be funny if it wasn’t so true, Alec thought ruefully. He began searching for a way out again. There was no chance of not being seen by his past self if he tried to run across the street, so he began creeping around the bushes, where he could hide and search for a way out. 

When he noticed Jack running across the street.

~~~

Jack and the others had been standing across the street for too long. Alec was still in that burning house. 

“I’m going to get him,” Jack proclaimed, tossing his jacket on the ground.

“Please don’t. That’s a bad idea. Jack!” Semolian begged, but he was already running across the street. 

“You never run into a burning building,” Vivian mumbled, staring at her feet. Kit rolled her eyes, wondering why on earth someone would run into a house on fire to rescue someone they barely knew. 

The three stared hopelessly as Jack ran toward the house, and he was nearly to the porch when he stopped in his tracks. Semolian and Vivian let out sighs of relief that they had been holding in, and Kit glanced away from Nero, who she had been scratching behind the ears. 

To their relief, Jack slowly turned away from the blaze and looked toward the bushes. He hurried that way and started talking to the bushes. The three glanced at each other quizzically - when they realized who he was speaking with. 

The three nearly screamed when they saw the burns on Alec’s face. But that didn’t seem to be bothering him - he was talking frantically and pointing down the street. It took a minute, but they realized what he was talking about. 

Alec was walking down the street. But Alec was standing next to Jack at the same time. 

They knew what this meant - the entire existence of the space-time continuum was at risk. 

Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry for not posting! I'm also taking part in NaNoWriMo, so I'm really busy writing for that, and school has taken a lot of time away from me. :/ Hopefully I'll have the next part out soon!

Finally, I have the next part done. I was mainly focused on getting it finished and posted, so my apologies if there are some editorial(?) errors. Hope you enjoy!

~~~~ 

“We have to stop Alec,” Semolian said. 

“But how?” Vivian squeaked. 

“It’s not that hard,” Kit said with an eye roll, and walked right over to Past Alec. Nervously, Semolian and Vivian followed behind her. 

“Is this your house?” Kit said, pointing behind her at the blazing house.

“Umm… Yeah,” Past Alec said sadly. 

“Well don’t worry, because with Qualify Insurance you can ensure that nothing in your house is…” As Kit rambled on, Semolian’s eyes wandered to where Jack and present Alec were. She noticed that they had made it across the street without Past Alec seeing, and that they were frantically trying to wave them over. She ever-so-discreetly nudged Kit, who noticed and decided to wrap things up. 

“Are you under 25 years of age?” She asked. 

“Umm… Yeah,” Past Alec said again. 

“Sorry, looks like you don’t qualify for Qualify Insurance. Bye!” And with that, the three girls turned and ran away, making sure to shield Present Alec in case Past Alec was still watching them. 

As they caught up with Jack and Alec, the sound of a siren became audible, and soon a fire truck and an ambulance were rounding the corner. Although it remained unsaid, they all knew that if the ambulance discovered that Alec was injured from the fire, Alec would have to go to the hospital and they would for sure be found out by Past Alec. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Jack said frantically.

“What did you do with your binders?” Semolian asked. 

“I left them in a spot that I knew Past Alec would find them,” Alec answered vaguely, panting. No one asked any more questions as they took off towards the alley from which they came. Their feet pounded against the pavement, like a stampede of bulls charging down the road, until Alec began falling behind. 

The group slowed. 

“Are you okay?” Jack asked, but the only response he got was Alec clutching his face and bursting into a mad coughing fit. 

“He probably still has smoke in his lungs. And it probably isn’t easy to run with those burns,” Vivian said, surprising herself and everyone else by saying more than one sentence. Jack nodded in agreement.

“Do you think you can make it back to the car?” He asked. Alec tried to respond, started to cough again, attempted to keep walking, and almost fell over. 

Silence stood among the group for a moment. They had no idea what to do. But suddenly, in one swift motion, Jack ran over and tossed Alec over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. 

Everyone was surprised and rather confused, but Jack just said, “Let’s go!” And they all started running again. They were somehow moving faster than before, even though Jack was carrying his entire body weight on his shoulders. The adrenaline pulsed through them as they turned sharply into the alley and ran back toward the convertible, still parked there and shining in the sunlight.
Jack threw Alec into the passenger seat, and the other four jumped into the car as quick as they could. Without thinking, Jack punched the buttons on the dashboard and they launched back into the realm of time and space.