Shackles

Blake was sitting up in his hospital bed. He was hunched over the pocket watch in his right hand. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a tiny latch at the top of it. 

Pulling it caused the device in his palm to open up. And emanating from its core were three sets of chains, each having their own locks with distinct shapes from the others.

"So, there are keys for this thing out there?", he asked.

"Can't tell you something I don't know.", his reflection responded.

Blake snapped back to the present and looked at his right hand. The pocket watch was gone, but in its place was something that could only be described as a flash drive. One with an immediately recognizable and distinct shape.

"Our first key.", his reflection said.

Blake didn't react to that. All he could do was stare at the flash drive. Unlocking the pocket watch was what would bring about the end of the world. No matter how many times he reminded himself he was only jumping to conclusions, that was the only theory that made sense to him.

Suddenly, everybody else in the mall vanished. The floor started to crumble. And all that was left was a wasteland devoid of life. Is this what everything would look like in the end, Blake wondered. 

"What is that?"

Lena's voice brought Blake back to his senses. He slowly looked at her. Then at the rest of the mall. Everything was back to normal, well as normal as a mall could be after a violent incident. After looking back at Lena, he noticed the slight concern on her face.

"Uh... It's nothing sorry.", Blake said.

He sat back in his seat and casually slipped the flash drive into his pocket. 

A security officer was making his way to the scene of the incident in a hurry only to be stopped by Ethan and his partner. 

"We've got this one."

Ethan pulled out a detective's badge as he said that and showed it to the officer briefly before approaching Blake. His partner lagged behind a bit to apologize for the surprise.

Blake didn't know what to do with the paper bag itself and the rest of its contents. He didn't have a jacket to hide them in, and the portable voice recorder was just big enough for it to not fit in one of his pockets. 

"What are you doing?"

Blake and Lena both turned to see the two men who'd been following them all day.

"...What do you mean?", Lena trembled.

She was terrible at feigning innocence which made Ethan even more suspicious. And after a quick scan, he noticed the paper bag in Blake's arms. 

"Kid, you can't just go around contaminating evidence like that."

"A-And he's really sorry! Right, Blake?", Lena jumped in.

She pushed Blake's head down to apologize. He didn't resist much, but he did find it a tad bit annoying.

"You know boys, right? Always curious about the kinds of things you see in movies, heh."

Her awkward laugh didn't seem to convince Ethan very much, so she decided to try and change the subject.

"Sorry about what I did to your friend by the way... I really didn't mean to kick him there."

Hearing this, the person she was referring to peaked out from behind Ethan's back and added himself to the conversation. 

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm completely over it now. I'm Miles by the way."

Miles extended his hand to shake Lena's, but Ethan raised his arm as if to block him from doing so. He looked at the man he had shot earlier.

"Did you know this would happen?"

As he asked that, Ethan looked directly at Blake.

"Huh, what are you talking about?", Miles asked.

Ethan responded by handing him a formerly crumpled-up piece of paper. It read: 

"Keep a close eye on us today. The second things look dangerous; you need to act. Otherwise, you'll lose your only leads."

"Did you know this would happen?", Ethan repeated.

Lena looked back and forth between the two of them, confused. It took a long while, but Blake eventually responded. 

"I didn't. That message was just... a prank."

"...What?"

Blake's second response was much quicker.

"I was just messing with you."

A brief silence.

"Pfft."

Miles let out a slight laugh and Ethan turned to give him a dirty look. Once done, Miles immediately tried to play it off and act like he had nothing to do with the noise. Ethan turned back to look at Blake.

"There's no way this note was a prank. I don't buy it."

"What other explanation is there? That I hired a criminal to threaten mine and Lena's lives? Or that I have some way of predicting the future? Would you believe either of those stories over mine?"

This seemed to put the issue to rest. Whether or not Ethan actually believed him, there was nothing he could really say to that. But that didn't mean he was giving up completely.

"Then given how this incident played out, you wouldn't mind if we watched over you for a while longer, would you? You know, just to guarantee your safety."

Before Blake could protest, Lena jumped in yet again.

"That's fine with us! Actually, that would be great! Right Blake?"

She turned to him expectantly. There was a look on her face that seemed to say, "Just drop it for now." And so, Blake backed down.

"Fine. Can we go home then?"

"Before that Miles, get that guy off the floor and down to the station."

Miles followed his instructions immediately and escorted the suspicious man off the scene. Immediately after this, Ethan turned back to Blake and Lena. 

"The police will arrive soon to ask you two some questions about what happened here so you're going to have to sit tight for a while."

Blake sighed and went to go sit down at the table again. Before joining him, Lena thanked Ethan for all his help by bowing slightly.

"Hey, he did just save our lives you know..."

"I know... Doesn't mean I have to like him though."

Lena watched Blake as he leaned his head against his arm pressed against the table. He was absolutely drained. Thinking of something to do to cheer the kid up, Lena remembered something and dug into her bag.

She eventually pulled out a small white box.

"Hey, Blake?"

Turning slightly, Blake's forehead collided against the corner of the box Lena was extending out to him. Blake recoiled slightly as he rubbed his forehead which made Lena feel the need to apologize profusely.

"What is that?"

"Well, I... couldn't wrap it or anything, but...

Happy Birthday."

Just two short words. Blake was completely stunned by them.

"...What?"

"D-Did I get it wrong? But I could have sworn I-"

"No, you're right. It's just... I didn't think you knew."

"O-Oh, well it has been a while since we've seen each other, huh?"

As Lena nodded in relief, Blake looked down at the present, the initial confusion wearing off on him and being replaced by this strange warmth. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it was there.

"...Should I open it?"

"Uh, what else would you do with it?"

Once given permission, he took off the lid of the box and saw a sleek silver wristwatch sitting inside. 

"You were looking at it before, so I figured you liked it."

Lena smiled as Blake examined the wristwatch from every angle. But then she remembered something else.

"Oh yeah, we never did get our food, did we?"

"...Oh, I guess not."

"Then how about I go find us something?"

She got up to go look for a food stall that hadn't been abandoned yet leaving Blake alone. He muttered to himself.

"Is this why she was going to come here today?"

"That's right."

His reflection appeared on the surface of Blake's gift.

"Congrats on stopping my prediction by the way.", he continued.

"By the end of the day, Lena will end up dead..."

Blake clutched the wristwatch in his hand and then began tapping his foot.

*Tap, tap, tap*

"And it was because of me."

*Tap, tap, tap*
Blake eased up as Lena walked away from him.

"Well... At least I prevented the worst from happening."

*Tap, tap, tap*
Out of the corner of his eye, Blake saw his reflection grin.

It's not the end of the day yet, is it?

Blake jumped out of his seat immediately, but before he could do anything, the mall erupted behind him. An intense round of gunfire destroying all the glass layering the mall's entrance. Once that all died down, a bone chilling scream filled the room.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEETHAAAAAAAN!!!"

A woman in a red suit stepped forward. She an Uzi raised above her head by her left hand, a crazy smile on her face, and a small army armed with assault weapons following closely behind her. No one could escape.