4.

In some kind of storeroom, a place she has never before been to, a place she had not previously even known of, Christine is being kept quiet by her friend Karen for reasons she is not aware of. Yeah, there apparently is someone else in the room; a guy from sound of a voice beyond some shelving and cardboard boxes and that voice inquires as to if someone is nearby. Indeed, maybe Christine and Karen are somewhere they are not meant to be, if so, then why is it that they are here at all? Answers will need to come but come they won't, not just yet.

There is that staked shelving in between where the ladies have settled and the position of an approaching stranger. Christine and Karen could attempt to go back through the door that brought them into this room though Karen had already locked it after they came through. They may not have time to open and go back the way they came before the stranger is upon them.

Christine may like to make an inquiry at this point, though she thinks better of it seeing the somewhat concerned look on Karen's face. Before the stranger can make contact, there is another voice, another male voice. Someone else has just entered the room from the far side, and just like the first fellow, neither of these guys can be seen by the girls and vice versa.

'Stephen, a little help out here please. We are about to get a breakfast rush.'

'... Yeah, no bother. I'll be right out.'

The owner of that second voice leaves the room the way he had only just come through in. First voice, owner of the initial inquiring voice, now doubts that he had heard anything odd at all for there seems to have been no further out of the ordinary sounds and he has not seen either of the girls. For a second or two he considers continuing an investigation but decides to go join his comrade. Boss, if the other fellow is the boss, probably won't be happy if Stephen delays much longer. Besides if there were something else going on in here then he is sure that he'd already know about it.

'That was close' Karen tells Christine once she is sure they have the room to themselves.

'What was close? You do not know either of those two guys, do you?'

'No, why would I?'

'Eh ... because you work here.'

'Eh, no I don't ...'

'Why? Were you fired or something?'

'Nothing like that, no.'

'Then what is going on?' It goes quiet for a moment. 'Karen, what are you not telling me?'

'Eh ... Christine, we are not where you think we are.'

'Then, where are we?'

'It is more a when than a where.'

'Huh?'

'Christine, it is 1984 ... you know the history of the town, right? Before the casino was here there was a diner ... it was destroyed by a bomb blast in the late eighties.'

'Yeah, I know that ... everyone knows that ... hold on a minute, what do you mean, 1984?'

Christine follows Karen over towards the rooms other exit and Karen ensures that they both move through that exit undetected and fairly soon it would indeed appear that they both are standing within a diner having not been seen exiting the diner's dry storeroom.

It is not so long before a lady, not much younger than Christine or Karen, approaches. This clear and obvious waitress asks them as to if they would like a booth or an open table. Definitely more than a little confused, Christine can't help but stare at the lady before her. She has questions of course, many questions but that will have to wait as Karen answers the waitress, who herself is a little confused. She had not seen the girls make an entrance into the diner. Just how did they come so far into the Diner without being seen.

'Booth please.'

The booth they are offered is right by a window and the outside area certainly looks a lot different to how it should look. As soon as they sit and are clear from the waitress, the questions begin to come.

'Alright Karen, what the hell?'

'It's pretty cool, right?'

'No, it's not. I'm still at home ... yeah that must be it. I'm still sleeping, and I am dreaming all this.'

'Not unless I am in that dream with you.'

'C'mon, tell me what is happening. How are we inside a diner that blew up thirty years ago?'

'Shush, will ya? No one else here knows what is going to happen to this place, Christine. And we can't tell them either, there would be no idea as to how that would affect our present.'

'Answers Karen, I need answers.'

'That door we came through. It is some sort of portal or something ... I don't know. We are in the past; we really are in the past and that is something I do know.'

'Okay, if any of what you say is true, and it seriously does appear to be true, then we should do something to warn this place of what is to come. It would be the right thing to do ... sure why else would we be able to come here if not for that?'

'No, no, I told you, we can't do that. Imagine what would happen if we were to change the past. We could be doing some serious damage to our own time, even if intentions are good. We were not even close to being born when this place went kabluie.'

'So, what are you now? Some sort of time cop or something?'

'Look, I know something bad will happen here, it already has happened and for those living right now, it is still a few years away. Can you imagine what our time would be like if this place is still around? There would be no casino. Many people like me work there or here or whatever but all the lives that would change. Who knows if we'd even be in Castletown if this place survives?'

'Alright Karen ... let's just take a moment here for a second. Right, how do you know it is 1984?'

'Because I have been here before.'

'How many times?'

'Three, well four now, each time before it was 1984 and I am sure it is again. The month and date move along with our year, like it was the twenty sixth of May before we came through that door. I am confident that it is still May and still the twenty sixth, just in 1984 and not 2018. I am sure too that there probably is some good reason as to why we can come here.'

Waitress returns and asks as to if they are ready to order. Realising that any money that doesn't belong in 1984 won't do as payment for whatever they may order, Christine considers the thought that she and her friend could always do a runner back the way they came after having had something to eat. They'd hardly be caught for not paying for food if they head straight back to their own time.

With the waitress waiting to take an order, Christine throws a look at Karen who says not to worry as she came prepared, having been here before has ensured she would be organised somewhat. She shows that she has cash that predates 1984 so with the hour of the day being what it is, breakfast is ordered.

Sitting alone at a table three booths over, a middle-aged man dressed in a dark suit that probably wore well once at some time when it was new, is going unnoticed paying particular attention to two relatively young ladies who have only just placed an order for breakfast.

There are two customer entrance exits to this diner. The main entrance door opens causing the bell over it to ring, sounding the arrival of a possible new customer not that the staff need to be made aware or any new arrival. Abe's Diner is a busy spot even at the quietest of times. The bell ring makes Christine take notice of that entrance and of whom is coming through. Karen having been here a few times already has become accustomed to that bell ring, so she pays no attention to it.

The man sitting alone three booths over also takes notice of the main door and of whom is coming through, and this is cause for some agitation for him and he immediately tries to hide himself, or at least hide how he looks.

A hat goes on and a newspaper goes up as a barrier between his face and the rest of the room, still he continues to take notice of his surroundings. Christine now notices this fellow and his actions, and her attention moves back and forth between the man sitting alone and the man coming through the door.

These two men are so alike it is uncanny. They could be brothers, twins actually, twins except for the fact that the man coming through the door is younger, possibly ten to fifteen years younger than the man sitting alone. Wait. Maybe Christine and Karen aren't the only ones to have come through that magic door of theirs, though Karen had previously said that there is only one key, right?

Thing too with time travel is that if this sitting man is not of 1984 then he doesn't necessarily need to be of 2018 either. He could have had that key and access to that door from some point well after 1984 and long before 2018. But who can know anything for sure?

Are the two men the same person? The man at the booth glances over the top of his newspaper and back towards Christine and Karen and this completely unnerves Christine. He knows something, what does he know? He hides his face once more as if he doesn't want Christine looking at him. She may be unnerved; her heart may be beating all the faster now, though she does see a difference. The two men are not the same man, she is sure of this but still they may be related somehow, and no thought can be completely ruled out.

The man who came through the door has moved to take a seat at the counter and he orders a black coffee. The man sitting alone has a drink on his table and nothing else, it would appear that he has not ordered any food, he might have, and it could be gone already or perhaps he is waiting for its arrival but that seems unlikely. Christine, if she were a betting lady, would be sure that the drink on the table also happens to be a black coffee.

'Karen, we need to go.'

'What? No, we only just got here, don't you wanna see more?'

'I think I have seen too much. We need to go.'

Karen doesn't argue any further. She sees how agitated Christine is, so the two get up and leave the way they came and as stealthy as possible and without having received any breakfast. The sitting man reacts to this and stands but quickly sits back down again, possible in fear of reaction from either of the ladies or from that other man. If Christine has noticed something amiss, then maybe someone else has too.