They Walk Among Us

Introduction

This is a vague science fiction drawing on “They Live”, “What We Do In The Shadows” and “The Eighty Minute Hour” among others. Hope you enjoy it.

Late Again

He missed the bus, he checked his watch and had twenty minutes to get to the bus stop, but that was twenty-five minutes ago and he wasn’t sure how had become so distracted. He hadn’t talked to anyone, the TV had been on but all he could remember was the adverts and now he was at the bus stop waiting for the next bus and he would be late for work again.

It wasn’t always like this, when he walked alone, and when he was at work he always seemed to have enough time, but at times like this it seemed to disappear.

He wondered where he had problems with his brain, was he blacking out without realising it, or was it something else? At times his time seemed to vanish into thin air and he didn’t know why or what to do about it.

What To Do?

He made a doctor’s appointment but the doctor could find nothing wrong, telling him to make sure he was getting enough sleep and not to overdo things. That was rubbish he thought.

He went home and decided to relax, have a beer and watch a film. He looked at his watch it was eight o’clock. He looked again and it was ten o’clock. Two hours had just disappeared. His drink was untouched. What the hell was happening to him?

He wondered if it was the television, but he dismissed that as absolutely pure science fiction. It seemed however when he was close to home or in his house, the time would just disappear, this was not time going fast, this was time disappearing, being sucked out of existence.

He slept and then left the house early to get to work. He continually checked his phone to make sure he didn’t lose any more time, he was starting to panic thinking he could lose his life if his time kept disappearing.

A Revelation

He was at the coffee point and started chatting with a new girl, she was an analytics expert and seemed to know a lot about everything. He decided to chance it and told her about his lost times.

She: “Oh that is weird, it was happening with a friend of mine. He eventually solved it but I don’t think you will believe me when I tell you”

He: “Now you have to tell me, I haven’t a clue what’s going on”

She: “Well he said he had a neighbour who was a time vampire. Their house was full of clocks, all mechanical, no electrical or battery ones, and he said he visited once and the ticking drove him mad, there were clocks in the front room, the kitchen, up the stars even in the toilet. He had been asked to look after the house while his neighbour was away, and although he should have taken maybe five minutes to check out the house, when he got home he found out he had been away for three hours. This happened each time he went in, with varying time periods. This was an exacerbation of what was normally happening but he could now pin it to his neighbour's house.

When his neighbour came back he challenged his neighbour about it, and the neighbour told him that he was a ‘Time Vampire’, but not a real vampire. He said it was the clocks that caused the situation but kept him in a permanent state of health and he had grown used to the ticking. He apologised for my friend’s time loss and gave him a solution.

A wind-up clock against the wall next to his neighbour’s house. That would negate the “Time Vampire” effect, and maybe he would eventually want more mechanical clocks himself.

My friend did this and hasn’t had a problem since, maybe you could visit your neighbours and find out if you have a time vampire, or maybe just get a few clocks to place against your walls and maybe that will solve your problem”

He: “That sounds absolutely mental, but I will get a few clocks, I don't talk to my neighbours”

She: “You should talk to your neighbours, you may find you only need one clock, although I can see that it might be difficult to ask them if they are a time vampire”

He: “Aye, if I see them in the street I will try and get invited in for tea or coffee to check them out, but thanks for that mad idea, after work I am going to buy a couple of clocks and see what happens”

The story concludes here: