A Family That Cares

“We know you,” She began.

“We know who you are,” He chimed in.

I pulled at the restraints but they would not budge. The place that had once been a lovely family home, decked out in only the nicest of 80s kitsch stuff was now a nightmare dungeon made of dark stone and crazy nightmares. Their faces sloughed off revealing who they really were underneath.

“I trusted all of you!” I shouted. “I can’t believe any of you. You were the people I loved!”

They closed in further, it would be the end of my story. When I reincarnated, I wanted to come back as someone who wasn’t having as terrible a time as I was now. The dustiness made me sneeze, it was unbearable. Everything was unbearable.

Cutlery materialized in their hands, and at the verge of their feasting on my flesh, a terrific BOOM rocked the dungeon and vibrated it back to its 80s kitsch. They were furious, I disappeared completely as they wheeled around. A car-shaped gash in the wall revealed a device that looked like a souped up car, with no wheels. Bright, surgical white adorned with bumps and bits and pieces, like lego. Teal electric charges zapped around it and eventually dissipated.

A hand covered my mouth. I was startled but the kind owner of the hand reassured me that he was here to help me escape. I looked over and saw a buff man in a black tank top and camo pants. His hair was messy, long, and it looked like he had time travelled straight from the 80s. I was freed, but he didn’t have a weapon. The couple continued investigating this craft, which produced a hand that pointed behind them.

The man turned and saw us both.

“Hey, come chase after us,” He said before bolting away down the hall. I was too panicked to be furious and ran after him. The hallways moulded into different setups. Covered in nothing but sticky blood, 80s kitsch, 1880s cottagecore, everything. It was disorienting. I looked at him, he looked at me, he smiled, I did not smile.

“Hold on!” He shouted. I could feel our pursuers breathing down my neck. He shouted, “NOW” and I didn’t know what to do. Instinctively, I stopped and my pursuers didn’t eat me for breakfast. I turned around and they, too, had become copies of the same car-like device.

I stumbled over and investigated, tapping around.

“You can have one of those, by the way.”

I looked over at him, finally calming down just enough to start getting angry. “What the hell was that!?” I shouted.

“They’re time machines. You can go wherever you want. Be whatever kind of person you want to be. Up to you.”