A week had gone by and now I was sitting in the park waiting for a certain jerk to arrive. He was late by twenty minutes and my mind was playing games with me. Doubts were forming in my mind and with each passing second, I was planning a more brutal way to kill him. Ten minutes passed and I was on my sixth murder plan when I finally heard the clip-clop sound of hooves.

"Hi" I heard Callan behind me. I turned to find him getting him down from Aaron.

"Hi" I replied curtly. Then I made my way towards the horse and hugged him. Aaron reciprocated my hug and moved further into my arms. I chuckled at his behaviour. "Looks like someone actually missed me. I missed you too buddy."

I kept stroking him until Callan coughed beside me. He seemed to be irritated by something. I didn't know exactly what but I was pleased nonetheless.

"I didn't think you would make it today. You are half an hour late." I told him trying my best to keep my anger out of my voice.

He seemed surprised by my statement. "Really? I didn't realize." I wanted to punch his perfect face but kept my hands to myself. "What would you have done if I hadn't come?" he asked me.

"I would have found you by some means and made sure to kill you in the most brutal way possible. As a matter of fact, I had already devised six plans to do it, the last one still in the making." I said calmly as if I was telling him about my last night's meal.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed.

He was now seated on the bench I had sat on earlier and his calm expression was not at all helping me.

"Hey man. We are on a schedule. I don't have much time."

"So?" he asked without looking at me. I took a deep breath. I had thought that after the last meeting we were on better terms, but no! Today he was back to square one. Of course, I just had high expectations.

"I know where we can find the stone," I announced in the hope to get some response from him. Unlike expected his reaction was immediate. He snapped his head so fast that it could almost be heard.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"You heard me." I shrugged.

"Tell me."

"Nope!" I said with a smile. Nothing was more interesting than irritating Callan.

"Anana," he said in a stern voice.

"Callan," she said in the same stern voice, mimicking him.

"Weren't you on a tight schedule?"

"Aren't you?" I asked him suspiciously.

"Not exactly, I am totally free. Have been from the past week," he smirked.

"Past week? Then why did you arrive half an hour late today? And why did you make me wait an entire week to meet me? Like you could have come any time." 

I expected a civilised answer from him. But I had completely forgotten who I was talking to. His smirk grew evil and he gave me the shortest answer possible "It was fun."

And those three words were enough to make me see red. I wanted nothing more than to remove that stupid smirk off his face. It was official now; he could die in front of me and I wouldn't even blink an eye. However, being the calm and collected girl I am merely smiled back at him while making a promise in my head. There will be revenge Mr Callan. He narrowed his eyes at me, not at all understanding my smile but I was in no mood to explain.

I went and stood before him; my hands crossed across my chest. "So, Callan. Teach me how to time travel."

He didn't reply and kept staring at me. So I repeated myself "Boy! Teach me how to time travel so that we can go to the past and I can show you the place where we can get the stone from."

He finally sighed and pointed to my belt. "The hook directly opposite the buckle that is the ninth one from the right is used for time travel. You have to flip it outwards to go into the future and inwards to travel into the past. Where should I turn it?"

"Inwards," I called as I turned my belt to make the required hook appear in front. He followed me and then taught me the next step - to select the exact time where we want to go. It wasn't really difficult but wasn't easy either. After fifteen minutes of struggling, I finally understood what to do.

"Remember Ana, you are time travelling. Be precise in choosing your location. The moment you reach, flick the second switch from your left."

"What's that for?"

"Invisibility."

I looked at him in awe. I wanted to ask him how he knew all that but I decided to keep it for later. We arranged the location on the timeline. Callan made his way towards Aaron and held his reigns as we together flipped our hooks.

The sensation of time travelling was very much similar to teleportation. The tinkling, the contraction and the expansion were experienced once again as the present era dissolved around me and we landed in past. Our journey was a two-step process. After time travel, we had to teleport to our required location. I didn't exactly remember the house address, so I aimed for a river. From there we went on foot, looking around.

Both of us were on foot while Aaron walked behind us. "How does he travel?" I asked Callan while looking at the horse.

"On hooves?" he answered back. I turned my head towards him, only to find him already looking at me with a silly grin on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him which only caused him to laugh out loud. My stomach twisted into a knot as I heard his laugh. It was so unfair for a person like him to have such a bright laugh. I ignored him and sped my pace up. Aaron also sped up and came with me. Once Callan's laugh died, he jogged to reach us.

"I know what you mean. Aaron also had a spirit inside him. He can easily time travel and teleport. I always grab his reigns whenever we go just so that he knows where to go. It's like he does the work himself but I guide him through." I understood what he said but didn't reply to him. I didn't want to talk to that jerk. So, I kept walking at a fast pace, looking in the front.

"So I get the silent treatment now?" he asked me raising his eyebrows which I saw through the corner of my eyes. "Alright. I know you will speak when we reach there. No worries, I can keep us entertained by then." And for the rest of the trip, he kept on speaking. He would tell stupid and silly jokes and I would be lying if I said they didn't make me laugh. However, I managed to keep my fierce face up. After a few minutes, it became clear to him that I wouldn't break. So he shut up and we continued our journey in comfortable silence.

The house we were going to was an isolated one near the river bank. I remember it to be the only one made of cement in the poor surroundings. Therefore, it wasn't difficult to identify when we came across it. As it came into sight, I grabbed Callan's arm and pulled him back. I felt sparks pass through my hand at the contact and I immediately withdrew. Callan might have felt it too for he was suddenly interested in anything but me.

"So" I cleared my throat before beginning "That is the house," I said pointing towards it.

"Do we need to rob it?" he asked under his breath but I heard it and suddenly all my shyness flew away. The jackass was back.

"A girl lives there." I continued with confidence ignoring his earlier statement "Her name is Amora or Amanda. I don't clearly remember but it was something like that. I think it was..."

"Ana," Callan interrupted me "I am not marrying her so you can cut the formalities. Skip on."

I glared at him. "Are you always this insufferable?" I asked him, irritation evident in my voice. He looked at me with a smirk on his face. Then suddenly he took two steps towards me closing the distance between us. Then he whispered in my ears, his hot breath fanning my shoulders as he spoke "You are special." And then before I could even react, he had gone back.

I stood there in shock, his words revolving in my mind. You are special. I shook my head violently to clear my thoughts. He was playing with me. And sure enough, when I turned to look at him, he was standing there with his smirk clearly amused by my behaviour caused due to his words. I wanted to punch his face but Aaron neighed, indicating the more important situation at the hand. I realised he was right and spoke hurriedly without looking at the devil "The girl has the stone."

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Callan looking at me. I waited for some kind of response from him but he just kept staring at me in confusion. I sighed and looked into his eyes. "There is a long story associated with the stone and family." At my words, he simply turned and sat on the ground. "Continue," he said motioning with his hands. I understood what he was up to and went to sit in front of him.

"The family wasn't always rich. The men in the family are fishermen hence they were really poor..."

"What a unique story," Callan murmured slowly but I heard him. I glared at him and this time even Aaron nudged him. He was also becoming angry at his irksome behaviour. I mean, who wouldn't? Callan realised his mistake and slowly raised his hands above his shoulders in a surrendering gesture. "Sorry. Couldn't help it."

I shook my head at his childish behaviour and continued. "The stone was kind of a good luck charm in the family. I don't know how they came to possess it but it was passed on in the form of a bracelet from the mother to her daughter. The girl who I had possessed was also given the stone on her eighteenth birthday. I have no idea of her age at this moment but either she or her mother would definitely be having the stone."

"So what's the plan?" he asked me.

"Well, we can't possibly take their stone but you can have a look at it. And if it is what we want then we can trace the place from where they got it."

He thought about it for some time and then agreed. "Alright. No harm in trying, I guess." I grinned and we made our way toward the house. A few steps away from it Callan called me back.

"We need to teleport, preferably into an empty room. Let Aaron guide us. He can go first and then all we need to do is to reach him."

"Will it be alright?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yes. Aaron can sense human presence. He will lead us to safety. Trust him." he seemed really confident. So I stepped back. Callan smiled at me and then turned towards him. He seemed to give him some instructions and then stepped back. Aaron slowly started diminishing in front of me until he was fully gone.

"How will we know when to go?" I asked him.

"When I met Aaron, I designed a chip and put one part behind his ear and the other in my belt. If he concentrates deeply, my belt vibrates lightly."

"Okay! Two questions."

Callan looked at me. "Of course, you have questions. Shoot" It was clear that he found me too intrusive but I didn't care. I am just eager for information. So I continued.

"You met Aaron?"

Callan nodded. "Long back. I hosted a boy who lived on a farm. He was poor but knowledge-driven. That's what attracted me. Aaron also possessed a horse on his farm at the same time. I realised his presence and we grew close."

"So he isn't in your present life?" I have always seen them together. So I was a little shocked at his revelation.

"In Rodin's? No" he was quiet for some time so I knew he won't add anything. Sighing I turned towards my next question.

"What do you mean by you created a chip? You can create gadgets?" Callan looked at me in shock. "I... Uh..." he was however interrupted by his belt. "Time to go, I guess. I will tell you later." he looked almost relieved by this interruption. I groaned inaudibly and flipped the hook. I looked at him doing the same as darkness engulfed us. 

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