The Connected Man

Introduction

This is a follow-up to my vague science fiction story “They Walk Among Us” which you can read below.

The Clocks

After work, he took himself into town to buy three wind-up clocks to protect him from “time vampires” in the houses next to and behind his house. He felt almost grateful that he wasn’t in a high rise apartment as the floor and ceiling would make him vulnerable to the time drain.

Getting some wind-up clocks was a near impossibility, everything was battery or mains operated so he had to start searching out junk shops, which obviously meant he would have no real guarantee, but he knew a couple of such establishments and got a small cuckoo clock, and two small but impressive grandmother clocks.

They seemed to work so he took them home and placed them against the three walls where he felt that he would need protection.

These were 19th-century houses, two up two down and a back yard so by knocking on the door, once it was opened he would be able to see inside and if there were any timepiece-related shenanigans going on but he would see if his clocks provided any protection but he would have to get used to the constant ticking.

The Cat

He also needed a reason to knock on people’s doors, he couldn’t give them anything as that would be suspicious, why was this guy in the street trying to give them things? Then he thought maybe if he had a lost animal then he could take it to their door and ask if it was theirs, that might be a good idea but first he had to find a “lost animal”.

He remembered a cat shelter and had wondered about getting a cat or a dog, but he could kill two birds with one stone so to speak, he had wanted company and a cat would be perfect. He visited the shelter and took to a gorgeous ginger cat whose owner had died. The shelter said that they had to run some checks on him and if they came back clear then he could take the cat home tomorrow.

The Last Day Alone

He placed the clocks against the walls and made himself something to eat and started cooking a ready meal that would take fifty minutes in the oven (he didn’t like microwaves), he put the timer on. The alarm started ringing immediately fifty minutes had disappeared, the clocks hadn’t worked, or maybe they took time.

He ate and then watched some TV but there were no more timejumps, so he went to bed.

A Purrfect Pair

After work, he got a call to pick up his new feline companion. It was still light so he thought he would visit the neighbour at the back.

He knocked on the door and asked if they had lost a ginger cat

N1: “No we don’t have a cat, but if you don’t find his owner we could look after him”

He took the living room in and there was nothing suspicious, just a small clock on the mantlepiece,

He: “Love your decor, I live at the back of you”

N1: “Would you like to come in for a tea or coffee?”

He: “Thank you, it is good to know your neighbours”

N1: “You can let your cat wander while we chat”

It seemed to him that this house was not the source of his problem, but he had made a new acquaintance and even a friend. He left and knocked on the house to the left of his in the terrace.

An old lady answers and he asked if she had lost a pet. She said she hadn’t but he looked to be a lovely cat. He looked into the front room and could see nothing that looked amiss.

She also offered him a drink and he took her up on the offer.

He: “Could I use your toilet?”

The cat was wandering around the front room.

N2: “Yes it’s just upstairs.”

He took a chance to check out the rest of the house, but nothing suspicious, so it looked like the house to his right was going to be the one where the “Time Vampire” was.

He left the second neighbour and knocked on the door of the final house.

There was no answer but he could hear movement so he knocked again.

The door opened, and he dropped the cat in shock.

A shadowy figure opened the door but in the middle of the room was a figure in a chair the flesh dried to parchment, with cables and wires connected to it, and every one of the wires was connected to a clock or other timepiece. There were also hourglasses and water clocks, nothing digital. And every one was connected to the corpse-like figure in the chair. The body looked mummified but the eyes were black bright and alert.

The shadow figure spoke.

S: “I am three hundred years old and I need this figure to do my bidding. You can see my real body would disintegrate if it moved but my brain is active and kept alive by the time I take from others. I would have just taken the odd hour from you, my other neighbours but now I have you here and will take all your time for myself”

The cat ran off down the street

The shadowy figure dragged him into the room and shut the door. A needle pierced his arm and he passed out.

He would never wake, his body was strapped to a bed in a cellar in the house, fed on a liquid diet and wires ran from him to the owner, the Time Vampire who would suck the time from him until his body finally expired, and then it would be used for compost until there was nothing left.

The Time Vampire was determined to be immortal.