The Mysterious McEvoy

How does a story start? Some say with a flashforward, some with a flashback. But for me, I guess it starts by introducing our protagonist, your average Joe, the regular guy.

Jake was 20 years old, it was the middle of summer and he was walking through London. He'd just got off his train, and he was on his way to work, he had plenty of time to amble through the streets on his way to his boring office job.

He was a gamer, a geek and a nerd. Loved comics, movies, posters and collectible merch from anime and video games. Currently, he lived alone, there was talk of him moving in with a friend to split rent, but it never seemed to progress, and as he was walking he was thinking about what life would be like with a roommate. Especially another gamer, it would be like old times where they had no responsibilities and were able to just get home and jump on the PlayStation, and just play Warzone for hours. The thought of Warzone took him back to covid times, man they were good times, no school, no forced outdoors, just able to sit at home, and play Warzone with his mates all day with no repercussions. That was honestly, some of the best months of his life.

He turned a corner, in his drifting, wandering mind, he'd forgotten to take his usual turns and was now not on his usual route to work. Not that it was an issue, he still knew his way around, but today he saw something, or someone he supposed, he'd never seen before. A man stood on the side of the road beside an old timely cart, he was dressed strangely, a tall top hat, a long curved cane, and a flowing cloak. Not something you see everyday.

“MYSTERIOUS MCEVOY'S MARVELOUS MIDSUMMER MIRACLE!” the man, who Jake assumed to be ‘The Mysterious McEvoy’ shouted. “COME AND GRAB YOURSELF A COPY, A JOY TO READ AND YOU WON'T REGRET IT!” The man's volume stayed the same throughout his hard sell, trying to grab people's attention the same way slapping someone in the face would. It caught Jake, like a fish caught on a hook. Jake was magnetised to the cart where The Mysterious McEvoy was selling his, what Jake now saw were, comics.

The Mysterious McEvoy's Marvelous Midsummer Miracle.

He'd named his comic set after himself, how quaint, Jake thought sarcastically. The Mysterious McEvoy gave Jake a knowing look, almost like he could read Jake's mind, it was very off putting. Jake wanted this interaction over and done with, but he was being drawn to the comic itself despite knowing nothing about it.

“It's about time travel, and I can personally attest to you getting… stuck in.” The Mysterious McEvoy said, rather creepily, but Jake didn't seem to pick up on that, he just asked how much, and bought a copy when he was presented with what he thought was a cheap price for a comic. Jake either failed to see the lingering, almost disturbing smile on The Mysterious McEvoy's lips, or he ignored it, but for one reason or another, he bought the comic, put it in his bag to read either on his lunch break or when he got back home.

Jake's day was just as boring as the last, even the comic didn't give him much joy. He read it all at lunch in one sitting, it wasn't very long, and he now understood its cheap price. It wasn't a very entertaining read, just your average time travel story, a man unknowingly goes back to a time before disaster and learns he has to save the world, kinda deal. Nothing he hadn't read, seen or even played before. He was expecting more. He didn't think anything more of it, and his day came to a natural and unexciting end when he went to bed at his bedtime of 11pm.

Little did he know that I, Liam Storm, had made a massive, terrible mistake.

You see, The Mysterious McEvoy had approached me with an opportunity when he first wrote this comic, and I needed help kick-starting my writing career. In my infinite knowledge, I made a deal with him that I would co-write this comic, and what he got out of it was this; when he sold his 999th copy, if the comic was read from cover to cover, he was able to change the contents of the comic, to whatever he wanted.

I foolishly believed that it wouldn't happen, how could it? It was very specific, and the terms were agreed, however under my nose, he wrote in some terms and conditions (in very small writing I must add) so that he could alter the comic in its length after our final edit. He made the story shorter than short, easily read in one sitting, and he chose his 999th candidate specifically.

I wildly underestimated the manic madness of The Mysterious McEvoy, and overnight, while our protagonist Jake was sleeping, he adapted it, twisted it, he dismorphed the whole story, and for reasons I will never understand, he deviously rewrote the comic in such a way that forced Jake into the role of his main character, and left it open ended so no one knew what happened to him after being sent back. He simply finished the comic with Jake being sent back in time while he slept. And the mad bastard sent me with him.

And so, our story continues where the Mysterious McEvoy's story ends.

Monday, March 9th 2020

Jake woke up to an alarm he recognised, but not his usual alarm. In fact, this alarm gave him immediate anxiety, almost to the level of PTSD, his school alarm. The alarm he got rid of when he left school, an alarm that wasn't on his current phone, an impossible alarm.

He snapped his eyes open, he was in his old bed at his parents house, he slapped his phone screen trying to turn off the impossible anxiety alarm. It was 7:45, his school time alarm, his work alarm was a lot earlier. He was more than confused, it must still be a dream, right?

His mum called up to him to tell him he was going to be late, as she always did, and so he abided and went about his old morning routine. What was wrong with this picture? What was going on?

It was a Monday, Jake could tell that just from the way things were laid out in the house, it was tidier, mum always cleaned on a Sunday, and gradually the house would get messier throughout the week. Clothes would be strewn on the floors, glasses and plates would be left out, the floors would be muddy and hairy with dog fur, but seen as it was a school morning and the house was spotless, Monday. The news was on as Jake went downstairs for breakfast, Covid, back on the news again after a few years, except, it seemed to be more frantic than usual? Has it spiked again? He could see the fear in his parents' eyes, the worry for themselves and their kids.

“I don't think you should go to school today kiddo.” That was Harvey, Jake's dad, a good man, funny, and loyal to his family to a tee. He never let the family down, and Jake remembered having this conversation as if it was yesterday, so this must be a dream? Right?

“I'll be fine dad, I've got GCSE's to study for, I need my grades to be good enough for 6th form.” Jake replied, following the script that he had created back in 2020.

“I still don't think it's a good idea, look,” he stated, pointing at the TV. The news anchor was talking now, she was saying how this could turn into a worldwide pandemic, and was telling people not to panic. “even the news stations don't know what's going on.”

“They never do!” this was Louise, Jake's mum, she continued, “But I agree with your father about school J, just stay home today, okay, you can revise here and I'm sure it'll be okay to miss a day, we'll see what the news is tomorrow.” sensible as always, also a good person, great actually, Jake couldn't ask for nicer parents. They were worried as he went to a boarding school, although he didn't actually board, a lot of people had been traveling back and forth from different countries, and it was an airborne disease.

Jake agreed as he didn't want to fight too much to go to school, this was an ideal situation, he could stay at home, do some schoolwork, play some video games, catch up on some TV he'd missed over the weekend and… He was thinking this like it was new information, like he was really there, this wasn't new, this was old, this was a dream or a memory, how had he fallen back into that state of mind? Had he already forgotten what it was like to be 20, to have a job, to live on his own? Or was that all a dream? Had he got this all the wrong way round, had he dreamt his life for the next 4 years? That would be more strange than being sent back to this time, wouldn't it?

If this was a dream, it was a lucid one, and he could do what he wanted, if it was a memory, he could only follow the footsteps of his younger self, and lastly, if it was real… Somehow, he had traveled back in time almost 4 and a half years to a point directly before the pandemic. He needed to test this, find the truth.

What I already knew, and what Jake was yet to discover, is that he was neither in a memory nor a lucid dream, but he was in fact in the past.

But you already knew that, so why the interlude? Well, have patience my avid reader.

You see, there was something else, another piece of the puzzle, an 11th slice of the pizza, something that even I did not know at the time. Whether intentional or not, when The Mysterious McEvoy sent us both back, he created a new timeline, and no matter what our protagonist Jake did, nothing would, or could ever be the same again.

Jake jumped out of the window.

He couldn't remember exactly what he did on that day, but knew he definitely didn't do that. And if it was a lucid dream, he doubted very much he would hurt himself, if he was lucky, he could fly, or maybe the grass would be bouncy and he would just shoot back up into the air, or perhaps even the grass would be like one of those massive whoosh air cushions - he knew what he was thinking about.

Unfortunately, it was none of those, and even more unfortunately, he could feel the pain. Fortunately however, he didn't do any serious damage. It hurt then, and it hurt for about half an hour. He stayed down, on the grass, rotating his left ankle, keeping it moving. He could see it swelling, but his mind was drifting. He recognised where he was now, he now knew he was in the past. He didn't know how, or why, but he knew. He thought about warning people about the coming pandemic, but people already knew about it, he remembered the news this morning, he also remembered that Italy was the first country to go into lockdown, he was confident that that was today - March 9th - and then England was a week or two after that, but it was declared a pandemic before England went into lockdown, he was sure. So what could he do apart from living his life as usual? He was just a random 20 year old guy, no, a 16 year old kid, or was he still 20? He didn't know how to answer that.

He thought about messaging people to stay at home, but what would the point be? They'd get that message soon anyway, and no one he knew had any serious side effects from COVID, so what would the benefit be? It's likely people wouldn't even believe him right? Why would they? Some people might take his advice to stay inside considering the national concern there was, but again, he was just a random 16 year old kid in their eyes, obviously with no history in medicine. What choices did that leave him with? None. He chose to play the role of 16 year old Jake, and see what happened. If anything, he was looking forward to the months of gaming ahead of him.

Much to the surprise of Jake's parents, Jake limped back in through the side door of the house. His right side was muddy from where he landed, and his ankle was hurting with every step. Jake couldn't explain his reasoning to his parents, so just left the questions unanswered and half walked, half hopped back up to his room. And did what any other 16 year old with a day off school would do, read a book….. Just kidding, he played PlayStation until he found himself getting tired at around midnight. It was, he supposed, still a school night.

Tuesday, March 10th 2020

7:45, his alarm woke him. He heard his mum call him to get up, so he did.

The news was on again downstairs, but something was wrong, or, not necessarily wrong, but different. It didn't feel like he was replaying a memory today despite being sent back in time, it felt… New.

The deaths from COVID were increasing, that wasn't new. The panic was evident on the news anchors face, and in the way they were talking, again, not new. But… “this isn't right.” Jake said aloud, catching the attention of his parents, who both gave him questioning looks. “Italy,” Jake continued, “should have gone into lockdown yesterday, they were the first country to do so.”

His parents looked at him, dumbfounded. It was his mum that spoke first, after a quick glance to her husband, she said “what are you talking about? What is a lockdown?”

It took Jake a moment to realise that prior to this lockdown in 2020, there hadn't been one in the UK since the Black Plague. It wasn't common knowledge yet, he must have sounded like a rambling idiot, speaking in the past tense like that. But he was right, this was all wrong. He decided not to press the subject, “just a video game I've played,” a safe way out, his parents relaxed slightly around the shoulders already, “I'm still tired sorry, I was up late worrying about school today after the news yesterday.”

An acceptable explanation, in his parents eyes. They suggested again that he doesn't go to school, to which he willingly accepted. Already the course of today was different to what actually happened 4 years ago, so he spent the rest of the day scouring news websites and trying to remember what happened in the upcoming days. The 11th was in his head, he'd had that as an important day since yesterday. It clicked suddenly, that was when it was declared a pandemic, a milestone in COVID history. As long as that happened, he couldn't be too far off the beaten track, and he would just be able to sail through the next few years until he was back to where he started this journey, in 2024.

He found nothing in the news that stood out to him as different, apart from the fact that Italy hadn't gone into lockdown. Until 4:07pm.

BREAKING NEWS

Prime Minister Boris Johnson in hospital with a severe case of COVID-19.

Jake read the article, but it gave him no additional useful information that the title hadn't already. But he was confident this hadn't happened before, at least not now, not today.

Was this to do with him? Had his traveling back in time somehow caused the difference in the timeline? He'd seen it before in films, most recently in the Marvel film series, it was explained well in that, but he wasn't an important player in the world's timeline, he was just a nobody, he wasn't traveling back to steal infinity stones, or to change the course of history, in fact he even tried to stick to the script. Was it when he jumped out of the window? Did that force a different timeline? Was he now on a different course, was he about to play a new level in the game of life?

Wednesday, March 11th 2020

7:45, he was already awake when his alarm went off, and his mum didn't call him from downstairs.

He rose, got dressed and headed downstairs, the news was on in the kitchen, as it always was. But today, it was harrowing.

BREAKING NEWS

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has died. Country in mourning. 10 Downing Street empty, as all occupants in hospital due to COVID.

Jake said nothing, how could he? This isn't how things were meant to play out, he didn't know what was going to happen next, this is completely uncharted waters. The news was chilling, disturbing and downright terrifying. No countries had gone into lockdown yet, and it didn't seem like any were going to, despite the high rates of death and the strain on the NHS.

What could he do apart from play the game, he can no longer rely on his memories of the last 4 years to help him get through this. Was there a way he could advise the government to go into lockdown? He highly doubted it, not to mention there practically wasn't one after the news today. The country, no, the world was in turmoil. Why were the governments not calling lockdowns? Why has this not been declared a worldwide pandemic? Jake was terrified.

The breaking news kept coming in throughout the day, more people dying. The total numbers were through the roof, there were politicians and celebrities who were still alive in Jake's real timeline, or his old timeline he supposed, this was his real timeline now, unless he was able to find a way back. For now though, he didn't see a way back, he didn't see a way forward, all he could do was try to survive the present.

Wednesday, July 10th 2024

It's my birthday today, I used to enjoy them, but now there's nothing to enjoy. Everything went to shit when the governments of the world didn't put any lockdowns into place. Or I suppose it went to shit when The Mysterious McEvoy rewrote the comic. But if I say that, then I should go all the way back, and say it's my fault for making that stupid deal with him in the first place.

The world never recovered from COVID. Jake quickly lost hope in getting back to his own time, and eventually it got to a point where he believed it to be a fever dream, with the likes of lockdowns, zoom school lessons and working from home all seeming way too abnormal to be normal.

COVID still ran rampant, some people had taken to wearing masks, but it had never become law, it was never even recommended by governments. The world's population had diminished to an estimated 1 billion, approximately 1/8th of what it was before. A lot of those being nurses and doctors from all the patients with COVID going into hospitals. They weren't able to figure out a cure, they never created any vaccines, so it just blitzed through the population.

Many people went into personal bunkers, films and TV shows stopped being produced, sports never regained its popularity and video games lost all meaning.

Jake survived, as did his parents, but they were shells of what they were before, a time long lost. The news anchors were saying that there were less and less new cases of COVID every day, and that any remaining scientists estimated the population to drop another couple hundred million before COVID disappeared completely, and then and only then could humanity start to rebuild itself. If anything Jake thought, this was good for humanity. Humans had been ruining this earth with global warming which had almost stopped completely, ice caps had stopped melting, smog in some of the busiest cities in the world had disappeared, and nature was rebuilding itself.

Was Jake happy? A difficult question to answer. He wasn't unhappy, he was just living, surviving, doing his best. And although he believed his old life to be a fever dream, there was a small part of him that still believed it wasn't, and that small part of him didn't realise that today was the day he'd left his timeline and nor did he care.

___________

Authors note:

This story was written for Alexander McEvoy's unofficial challenge 'Hear Ye Hear Ye'

Alex is a very talented author here in Vocalia and it is a pleasure to write a story based off of his prompting! Take some time out of your day to check out some of his work.