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The Bridge (I)

This was bad, really really bad, what was I supposed to do? Sure, dad hosts an unveiling every now and then, not a big deal, who cared about museums these days? People had more important things to worry about than useless artifacts from a time no one even remembered anymore.

Sure, it was gonna be annoying, wasting an entire evening greeting smelly old men and women with a fake smile plastered on my face, I had attended enough of these things that I'd perfected acting like an emotionless doll that just smiled and nodded as my father talked up people for donations.

All it should have been was a three hour waste of time.

Of course, my stupid life could never be that simple! After all, my stupid father went and invited General Von Crois of all people, the damned war crone, and what was more stupid than that? Von Crois accepted the damn invitation and what a bombshell that was, to be dropped on a Saturday afternoon while I was studying for a test that was worth half my damn grade!

And no, it didn't stop there! My idiot father went and promised Von Crois's stupid son a dinner date with me! the bastard was pushing thirty! Why would a thirty year old geezer want to have dinner with a fifteen year old girl? It was both weird and creepy!

Then, my dad goes and gets stuck in a thrice damned loop of death...and despite whatever stupid things he had pulled, I did not want to come back home to see his pale, lifeless face hanging a few feet from the ground...or watch him get shot right in front of my face while the damned general's son held me head in place to make sure that I didn't look away.

So, here I was, fifty four...make that fifty five separate time jumps later, finding out the exact set of events that would make sure that my dad would not die, with the secret that I'd protected for the past fifteen years out in the open for the damn bastard who'd planned this entire damn thing!

That wasn't even the worst part of it! The blonde haired bastard in the last timeline after leaving somehow told my dad exactly what I was, so, what does my stupid father who just heard the damn general give the most rotted damning speech in the history of speeches do?

GO IN AND MURDER THE DAMN GENERAL WITH ALL HIS MEN RIGHT THERE!

Great play dad! Especially after I spent fifty four times living the same day over and over again to save your stupid life!

The fifty fifth time jump of the day, running on fumes and what does the bloody bastard do? He walks off, scot free! and now I had to run after him, make sure that I could learn everything about him in an hour, jump back, eat dinner with an entitled prick and then, finish my business with the prick!

This was the worst eighty three hours of my life!

Following after the blonde bastard, I left the exhibit, nodding a hello to the security detail, never hurt to be polite after all.

The hastily combed mop of blonde hair that seemed like it hadn't had proper care in years made him stand out as I went after him into weird alley after alley until we were in a rather seedy part of the settlement.

I had been here before, not for good reasons of course, this place wasn't safe for anyone, even the authorities didn't dare come here.

The streets were riddled with potholes and the buildings were decorated with peeling white paint and charcoal drawings.

The cheap street lights were spaced fifty feet apart, and their flickering didn't put me at ease in any way.

The bastard was stood in the middle of a bridge, leaning on the railing, doing utterly nothing.

I checked my phone, it took thirty minutes to walk all the way over here, I could wait another fifteen minutes, any more than that and I wouldn't be able to function properly.

He stood there, unmoving what the hell was he doing? I had other things to do than just wait here, move damn it! how long can you stay there without moving?

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Ten minutes, ten whole minutes of waiting and nothing!

I could jump back now, to before I had followed him here and go to the stupid dinner date, however, that would leave me with only two emergency jumps to back then, if I messed up, all my effort from my first jump would be in vain.

Or, I could go and confront him now and then jump back, but that would mean that I would only have two jumps to deal with whatever he threw at me...and I'd have to skip the dinner date...kind of a plus but it wasn't really an option cause dad would probably get killed.

There was also the third option of jumping back, going to the dinner date and then coming back here to meet him.

However, that meant that I had to wait here right now to see how long he'd be around so that I could plan around that.

Which meant ignoring my dad's fate for the foreseeable future.

Gritting my teeth I put my phone on silent, this was the best way to deal with this, if anything went wrong, I'd be able to jump back in time to anytime after or during the dinner, I would have enough energy to deal with whatever he threw at me!

I had fifteen missed calls from my dad before the blonde bastard moved away to leave.

Eight thirty, the bastard had made me sit around for an entire hour.

Oh, he'd pay for it, definitely pay for it, making me waste an entire time jump to find out how long he'd stay in this stupid place.

Making sure he was gone, I took in a deep breath and held my hands together, with a step back, I could feel myself falling into nothing.

The rush of wind at my back seemed intent on tearing me apart, invisible walls to my side, ever constricting, funneled me to the bottom, air was pushed out of my lungs as an immense weight began to crush my bones.

I opened my eyes to stare at the doors I'd walked out an hour and a half ago.

I turned away from them and waited for the dumb general to finish his speech, tuning out all his bullshit about better life and economy.

My dad walked over to me, a bright smile on his face.

"It was a great hit Rosie! It couldn't have gone any better! The idea with the spotlight, genius, pure genius!"

I gave him an awkward smile.

"The general was really happy with how good it went! And guess what! He wants to meet you!"

I froze.

"What?" I asked, purely out of surprise.

My dad took the shaky smile on my face as a sign of nervousness than that of discomfort.

"Oh, Rosie, don't worry, it's gonna be fine, you'll be great! come on, the general wants to have dinner with us!"

Oh just great! As if his creepy son wasn't enough, I had to deal with him too! Two creepy bastards who wouldn't bat an eye at murder!

My dad led me outside to a heavily guarded black car, it was bulletproofed and seemed more like one of those tanks my father used to talk about than a car.

A security guard stepped in front of us, "Raise your hands for a security check sir, the young miss will be next."

"Leave the girl Martinez." The general's voice called out from inside.

The guard nodded and opened the side door to the car, "Go on in young miss, your father will be with you in a bit."

I looked at dad who just nodded, motioning for me to go on.

I stepped inside the armored car as a sense of claustrophobia immediately set upon me.

"Please, take a seat Miss Rose..." The general offered, motioning towards the space next to his creepy son who smiled at me.

That was not a smile that I ever wanted to see again, it was too damn disgusting.

I gave the middle aged man an awkward smile and sat down.

My father stepped in moments later as the general smiled, "Ah, Jules, come on in, now that we're all here, we can get going!" He tapped against the partition separating the driver from us with his shiny black cane as the vehicle began to move.

"So, miss Rosie, your father tells me that you were the one who planned the entire event?" The general's son asked, looking at me.

No one got to call me that, only my dad got to call me Rosie, not some creepy middle aged guy who tried to hide his bald spots by slicking back his greasy black hair.

"Ah, it wasn't much, father was having a bit of a tough time deciding the proper arrangements for the decorations so I decided to lend a hand..." I said through my forced smile.

"Oh, Rosie, don't be so modest, you were the one who planned the entire itinerary of this event!"

Charles Von Crois looked at my father with a raised eyebrow, "You must really trust your daughter Jules, as much as I do my Richard, if not more!" He pointed out.

Richard puffed his chest in pride with a knowing smile towards my father.

Why in hell was this old bastard trying to sell his son like a product? What in the world was he pulling?

"Ah, Rosie's my pride and joy sir, ever since her mother left this world, the only thing that's kept me going is Rosie..." My dad gave me a reassuring pat on the knee.

"It's a shame about Maria, she was a good soldier..." The general nodded.

How had my dad blabbed about my mother to him? He never spoke about her to me, so why would he to a random old man?

The car came to an abrupt stop as the doors opened, Richard Von Crois stepped out of the car and offered me a hand.

I ignored him and shuffled out as he took his hand back, smiling like the creepy bastard he was.

"Come on now, this is the best restaurant in Eden!" he announced as the general nodded, walking into a gaudy looking building with the word nostalgia on a board above the entrance.

Swallowing the annoyed sigh that fought to break out, I followed after the general and his goblin of a son.