The Timekeeper

Chapter Three

000d, 000h, 000m, 000s

I looked up, at the empty space surrounding me; I was alone in a completely white room. Where was he? He was supposed to be here as soon as the Timekeeper reached zero. When it rings like wedding bells, you're supposed to see your soul mate. But all I could see was white. There was no furniture in the room; no windows and I couldn't even see a door. How did I get in here? Where was I?

My Timekeeper started to buzz, which couldn't be normal. I should've seen him by now, where on earth was he? He wasn't dead, because my Timekeeper would've shown a big fat red line, but it didn't. At the current moment, it was blank. There was nothing on it at all, like it should be when I meet him. But he's no where to be seen.

"Hello!" I yelled, my voice echoed off the walls.

"Where are you!" There's no reply, no sound at all. I was all alone, and I felt like I was going to be that way forever.

I woke up; sweat trickling down my face and the back of my neck. Oh thank god, it was only a dream. I checked my wrist and see that it's not blank, it's still counting down. I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he was still out there somewhere, and I was going to meet him in under a week. I wiped the sweat from my face and neck, before getting up and walking across the hallway and into the bathroom. I turned the shower on, stripped down and hopped in, letting the warm water immerse my skin.

I stared at the countdown on my wrist, which I seemed to be spending a lot of my time doing lately. Why did we have to have them embedded into our wrists anyway, you might ask? I would sometimes wonder that as well, although I actually knew, I still found myself wondering why we needed them.

It was well over 50 years ago, when technology started to evolve into the wonders we have today. Scientists began to get creative and mix unknown chemicals to create cures and solve all the mysteries of science. One group of Scientist's though, weren't working on a cure for cancer or a way to live on Mars; they were trying to figure out how love works. Crazy right? Who cares how it works, it just does.

Anyway, they worked on this project for at least 5 years, saying it would be 'life-changing', before they finally finished the device. There were tests done and experiments to make sure it would all be perfect and work exactly how they wanted, and I guess it did. People were notified and there was news about it everywhere, making people of all ages rush to the nearest clinic to get one. At first it was only optional, but then they realised that it wouldn't work if only a few people had them, so they made it compulsory.

Of course they had problems with it. People were getting their children done when they were only a few days old, and unfortunately the Timekeeper malfunctioned and the babies got long-term damage, which is quite horrible I know. That's when they realised you should be a certain age before you get your Timekeeper, and they chose the age of sixteen. Why? Mainly because they did more tests that somehow proved that most people meet the one they will marry at the age of sixteen. That seemed a little crazy to me, but I guess so does the Timekeeper.

As I walked out of the bathroom, I heard my family talking quietly downstairs. Eager to find out what had gotten them up so early on a Saturday morning, I rushed into my bedroom and slipped on some denim shorts and a plain black t-shirt, before hopping down the stairs and into the kitchen. The whole family sat around the dining table, Mother, Daniel, Patricia, Jacob and Lucy. They seemed to be talking about the wedding that was only about a month away now, and I for one, was beyond excited for it.

"Hey Candy, you're just in time." Lucy smiled, which showed off her pearly white teeth.

Daniel called me over to sit next to him, and I took in the faces of the people around me. They were all such wonderful people living wonderful lives; they've met the ones they are meant to spend their lives with, to create futures together. I don't understand how other people could stay sane waiting longer than a month to meet their soul mate, I was going crazy and I only had to wait a week!