Hide The Time Machine

  a time travel romance

  By: Olivia Walker

  Copyright © 2022 Olivia Walker

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

  Description

  Enter into a timeline of scientific advancement - Where once serious illnesses are being cured, technological inventions are blossoming, and flying cars are just a few physics calculations away from being brought to life.

  Brandon is a playboy, partier, and lead scientist at Demarco Labs. He's also the great-grandson of legendary scientist Patrick Demarco, inventor of time travel and the founder of Demarco Labs. Heralded as one of the world's most advanced and prestigious scientific labs, Demarco Labs is credited for saving the nation and several different countries with their breakthrough scientific knowledge over the years.

  But when humanity is brought to its knees under the spread of a deadly virus, Brandon and his lab struggle to find a cure. As time ticks away and the world is plunged into chaos from the quickly spreading virus, Brandon is at his wit's end, desperately trying to create a viable vaccine that will at least stop the virus from killing those it infects.

  With every laboratory in the world trying and failing to fight off the new plague, Brandon is summoned home to be with his family and take shelter at their extensive estate. As the pandemic rages, Brandon is left with a choice.

  Do nothing, and watch humanity fall to extinction.

  Or use the long-hidden machine that launched their family into fame decades before.

  Table Of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  About This Author

  Chapter One

  The dimmed light and hip-hop music at the club was all Brandon thought of as he drove through the streets of New York at 1.00 am. He turned and smiled at the blonde Russian model he had met two days back. She returned a seductive smile and blew a kiss at him.

  “We are gonna party all night, babe.”

  “I’m all for it, Brandon.”

  “You sure you can handle the wildness?”

  “Try me, baby.”

  He laughed and pressed the accelerator driving more than the stipulated 60km per hour on the highway.

  “You should slow down, “she said with worry in her voice.

  “Common Bella thought you said you are in for all the wildness.”

  She laughed.

  “I meant the club Brandon; I didn’t mean you should get me killed.”

  “Alright, baby, anything for you.”

  He slowed down and smiled at her.

  Tiger’s club came into view a few minutes later. He parked at the VIP section and signaled for her to hold on. He hurried to her side of the car and opened the door. Holding his hand for her to step out, he pulled her into a short kiss and ran his hands along her hair.

  The bouncers at the entrance of the club smiled at him in recognition. He beckoned to her to step into the club while he walked behind her. Before he stepped in, one of the bouncers whispered, “Another one?” It was loud enough for him to hear but not within her hearing range.

  “Who knows, she may be the one,“ he whispered back.

  “Hey, stop there,” the other bouncer said, stopping a young man and a lady.

  He turned to see what was wrong. The young man didn’t have an access card. To gain access to Tiger’s club, you need to pay a membership fee of 1500$ quarterly. Only celebrities and top shots in society were members of the club.

  Brandon didn’t need to show his access card anymore. He was a regular face. He ignored the commotion going on outside and went into the club.

  “Hey, Brad, man!!” His friends called out.

  He gave a brief wave in response, leading to cheers from his friends, and a few others across the club responded. They all smiled at the Russian lady beside him, but no one needed an introduction. Brandon's relationships didn’t concern them.

  The following day he woke up with a banging headache. He rolled over to the other side of his bed, and he felt resistance. He opened his eyes softly and saw Bella sleeping calmly.

  He got up, holding his head, trying to recall the previous night's event. He had partied and drank at the club till 4 am, and brought Bella home. He checked the time – 11:00 am.

  He groaned loudly—the lab.

  There was a new experiment that needed final testing, and it was scheduled for noon that day. As the head scientist at Demarco’s lab, he needed to be there.

  “Coffee, please,” He said to the coffee maker.

  Brandon’s house was fully computerized. He didn’t need to touch anything. All he had to do was to speak or use a remote. He had lived his whole life that way. The Demarco’s empire wasn’t just a house but rather an estate, with mansions, nannies, cooks, butlers, and other services aimed at one’s comfort.

  His great grandfather “Patrick Demarco” invented a time travel machine and built a lab- Demarco’s lab, which happened to be one of the most extensive labs in New York. The lab was one of the Nations treasures. Its inventions have helped the Nation on several occasions, cure illnesses, and create innovations that have saved the nation and even continents on many occasions.

  His Great Grand father’s name was known throughout the country. He set up links across the continents through his fame and affluence. He laid a legacy that, if well maintained, will keep paving the way for thousands of years, benefitting the generation after him. Brandon, at 33 years, was still living off his Great grandfather’s legacy. Although he has been able to create wealth for himself, he still had to glide on the wings of the legacy.

  Brandon was the first born out of three children. His father had been the only child born to his grandparents.

  His great grandfather Patrick Demarco had two children. His grandfather and his grand Aunty who he had never met. She died of an illness at two years, old leaving his great grandparents with only one child.

  His daughter's death made him think about how he could go back in time to see if he could change the course of her illness or possibly create more time for her. He kept trying for years, even when his colleagues laughed at him.

  At that time, he was a scientist at a Small lab in Russia. He spent his nights at the lab, reading, researching, and building equipment. But he had several failed attempts.

  One of the failed attempts was so dramatic that it led to his employment termination. He had tried to start up a small model of the time machine, but there was a spark that led to a fire at the lab. Thankfully there were no casualties, but the head of the lab was furious, and he was fired immediately.

  But he didn’t give up, they moved to the UK, and he continued his research. His wife always encouraged him, but it was apparent she also felt he was on an impossible mission.

  “Patrick, you need to stop this,” she said to him one night when she found him lying down on their basement floor, completely weak from exhaustion.

  “I have to do something, what if we can bring her back,” he said with tears in his eyes.

  “She is gone forever, Patrick. You need to accept that.”

  He nodded.

  But she knew he wouldn’t stop because that spark was still very much in his eyes. He never accepted defeat.

  Eight years later, after thousands of failed attempts, Patrick Demarco created the first-time machine in history. Between the eight years, he also had a son—Brandon’s grandfather.

  The desire to go back to see if he could stop his daughter’s illness was by then diminished. He listened to his wife and accepted the reality that he had lost his baby girl forever. However, it wasn't long before he began getting offers from the government and private business investors because the time machine became significant news. He began to solve national problems by going back in time and going into the future. His name was written in the Guinness Book of Records and into history. However, it wasn’t just the positives, he also had to deal with the negatives. His life and that of his family became threatened. He was given some sort of protection by the Government, but it wasn’t enough. Death threats and assassination attempts prompted him to put the time machine away and hide the technology.

  He staged a fire at the lab and announced that the time machine was destroyed, including all the research work and materials he had used to build the time machine. He also told the general public that he wasn’t interested in building another one since he was growing older, and wanted to spend time with his family instead. But he was still considered to be one of the greatest men in history.

  He kept the time machine hidden on an island somewhere in the Philippines. The death threats were resolved, though some people believed he could build another machine if he wanted to.

  He invested in a laboratory of his own. His initial fame enabled him to build an impressive company that surpassed the capabilities of other laboratories around the world. His model was structured in a way that accommodated biologists, geneticists, cytologists, chemists, physicists, and other branches of the scientific world. There was no other facility like it. Eventually, world governments again patronized his scientific acumen to solve specific issues. He expanded the compo und, and it became a gigantic structure with several units and infrastructures.

  Patrick Demarco died at 89, and passed on his life’s work to his only son. The laboratory and all its subsidiaries were passed on with each generation until it reached Brandon. He always wondered why his great grandfather and grandfather only had one child each. Of course, he knew of his great aunt’s death, but he wondered why they didn’t try for more children. It was his father who broke that pattern and had three children. Two girls and a boy. Brandon was the firstborn and the only son, his immediate younger sister Priscilla who was 29, owned a fashion line and didn’t want to be involved in the family’s scientific path. His youngest sister Jennifer was 25 years and a doctor but she wasn’t particularly interested in the lab. However, all the siblings benefited financially from the lab through their shares in the company.

  That Morning, Brandon sipped his cup of coffee while holding his banging head. He reached out to a remote on the table and pressed a button, the kitchen cabinet above him opened, and he reached for the box of painkillers. He knew he needed to sleep, but he had to get to the lab as quickly as possible.

  He groaned when he thought of the lady still in his bed.

  “Why did he bring her home in the first place?”

  He should have taken her to a hotel. He would have been able to just leave her there. Now, he had to deal with leaving a stranger alone in his house. He knew it would be unfair to wake her up, as they’d been having sex until the early hours.

  She was still a stranger as far as he was concerned. He had only met her two days ago when he went to visit Priscilla at a photo shoot.

  “Who’s that girl?” he’d asked his sister.

  “Bro..you never get tired ahn?” she said, shaking her head and handing over a document she signed to her assistant.

  “Common, who knows, love can be found in weird places.”

  “Places everyone” she yelled, ignoring him.

  “Arianna and Bella, we will start with you two. Individual pictures first, then both of you”.

  He shook his head and enjoyed the attention he was getting. Everyone knew he was her brother. Her rich brother.

  But he only had eyes for the blonde Russian beauty.

  He followed Priscilla, who was discussing with the photographer about how to accentuate the beauty of the clothes.

  Ignoring their conversation, he leaned into his sister and whispered loud enough for her to hear.

  “Does mum know you broke up with mark?”.

  She turned to him sharply and excused herself from the photographer.

  “What kinda big brother are you?“ she said smiling.

  “One who knows how to get what he wants,” he said, returning the smile.

  “Her name is Bella, she is here on vacation from Russia. I expressed my desire for a Russian model, and someone connected me to her. What else do you want to know?”

  “Nothing else, I will take it from here,” he said grinning.

  “Promise not to tell mum I broke up with Mark.”

  “I will never do that, boo, I just needed to get that piece of information from you.”

  “So, you resorted to emotional blackmail?... Really?”

  “I’m sorry, pumpkin, you know I love you,” he said pulling her into a hug.

  “Of course, anyways thanks for being here big bro. Means a lot” she said pulling away.

  He caressed her cheeks “anything for you sis.”

  She hit him softly in his stomach.

  “Ouch” he exclaimed softly.

  “That’s for blackmailing me emotionally,” she said walking away without looking back.

  He laughed.

  After the shoot he spoke to Bella and immediately got her number. She seemed quite interesting, and he couldn’t wait to take her out.

  “But how do I get her out of my house?” He mused, jolting himself back to reality.

  He groaned when he got to his room and saw her sleeping on the bed. He tapped her softly, and she roused from her sleep.

  “Hey, babe,” he said softly.

  “Hey.”

  She closed her eyes again, and his heart sank.

  “Hmmm, Bella”

  “Uhhn,” she groaned softly.

  “I need to get to work asap.”

  “Okay, bye” she said closing her eyes once more.

  “You have to leave to Bella.”

  She opened her eyes sharply and sat up.

  “What do you mean?” she said.

  “I’m sorry Bella, I can’t leave you here. You have to leave too.”

  “Ohh..you can’t leave me here, but you can sleep with me?”

  “No…I…that’s not what I meant.”

  She abruptly got up from the bed and picked up her clothes from the floor. She started getting dressed and he could see that she was obviously angry.

  “I thought we had a connection, I thought you were different. Now you’re just throwing me out,” she muttered as she pulled on her jeans.

  Chapter Two

  Brandon drove towards the lab and kept looking at his car’s mirror to ensure he looked OK. He had taken a really quick shower and brushed his teeth, but he still didn’t feel great. Thankfully the painkillers had worked a bit.

  Everything was going well, apart from Bella, who stormed out of his house, of course. He was really sorry. She was a decent girl, but he couldn’t let her stay in his apartment.

  He had offered to give her a ride and even some money. But she declined stating she didn’t get into his bed because of money.

  He knew he will get a call from his sister soon though. Before Bella left his house angrily, she said “And tell your sister to go get another Russian model. I don’t want to have anything to do with you or anyone and anything connected to you again”.

  But why was she so upset though?

  He only said she had to leave because he was leaving. It wasn’t like he said she shouldn’t come back or something.

  “Women” he muttered.

  A little part of him felt bad, he could tell Bella was different. He was shocked when she refused his money.

  He will call her to apologize later.

  “Maybe” he said as he wasn’t too sure about what he was apologizing for in the first place.

  In the meantime, he temporarily blocked his sister’s number, he was tired he didn’t need any emotional stress.

  He got to the lab, albeit a bit late, and headed straight in. The testing was going well, and they confirmed they could publicize the results the following month. After his meetings, he sat in his office completely fatigued. He didn’t know when he dozed off on his seat.

  “My man,” Ryan shouted startling him.

  “Gosh you scared me.”

  “How can I scare the man of the hour, congratulations!”

  “Thanks. This is big.”

  “Really big.”

  “Why was the protocol changed at the security unit?”

  “Sorry man, someone tried to break in last week.”

  “Ohhh...the time machine folktale.”

  “Yeah…….”

  “I still can’t believe people think it exists,” Ryan said finally sitting down.

  “No offense though, I know it’s your family’s story, but I still can’t believe something like that exists. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t seem right…those are just stories after all,” he added.

  Brandon laughed and ignored his questions. Ryan was his closest friend, but everyone in his family knew they must not disclose the location of the time machine. Any discussion about it could lead to certain questions that may jeopardize the safety of the time machine. It was best Ryan didn’t even believe in the time machine.

  “Don’t worry next time, they will let you straight in. I will tell them.”

  “The instructions actually came from my Dad. He said everyone should be scrutinized now, both old and new faces, but I think we can compromise with you man” he added.

  “Are you ready for Miami?”

  “Of course, this weekend is going to be lit.”

  “I heard the ladies are hot.”

 

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