I continued screaming until my mouth went dry and I started having a coughing fit. The Masked man got up and walked towards the back of the room. If the room was any creepier then I would consider it a murder shack. The walls were cracked and covered in stains that contrasted the yellowish hue had covered every part of it once. The floor was dirt and it had no windows. However the roof was just some creaky boards that when shifted allowed for dust to fall down. It was like a basement. To add to the eery affect the only light was that of candles.

The Masked man returned holding a glass of water which he offered to me. I reluctantly accepted and he removed the shackle from my right hand so that I might hold the cup to my lips myself. Then he sat down as he was before and watched me.

“Are you finished screaming now?” he asked.

“I would believe so. What do you plan on doing with me?”

“That depends entirely on you.”

“How so?”

“I have learned through a mutual acquaintance that you can travel through time. If you can do something for me then I will let you go and stop the killings done by our changeling friend.”

“What mutual friend?”

“Rubin Ruben.”

“You know Rubin?”

“Knew Rubin. I killed him after I learned of your existence.”

“What? Why?”

“I couldn’t allow anyone else to know that a time traveler was in our midst or else I wouldn’t be able to do this.”

“Well I don’t know what he told you but it’s a waste of time.”

“How so?” he asked as he tilted his head to the side. I couldn’t read any expressions due to the mask but I assumed that he wasn’t pleased by my response.

“I can’t do it. I haven’t been able to since I came to this time period.”

“That may be true now but I will make you learn or else you will suffer far worse than anyone in history.”

“What does that mean?”

“Did you know that according to Rubin your body as a Time Lord can regenerate entire limbs after a period of time? Well, it’s more like turning back time on your injuries. You have noticed that when you get hurt it heals faster than normal right? As such I can torture you as much as I want so long as I don’t do anything lethal and you’ll be fine.”

“I would rather that you didn’t do that.”

“If you learn quickly then we don’t have to go through with all that so try.”

“What do you even want me to do?”

“Go to a time before the Agency was created and save someone. Just one person and I will have the killings stopped and you’ll go free.”

“I’ll have to sleep on it.”

“Of course, but tomorrow I will need an answer and if I don’t like your answer then I will make you change your mind.” he said with an evil grin. I couldn’t see under the mask but I could tell that he was a sadistic freak. He took the glass from my hand and before I could react he shackled my right hand back to the cot. I had no choice so I laid back down hoping to see Tim in my dream again.

“What a mess you’ve gotten yourself into.” I heard a voice say from behind me. I was in the world of stars as I had recently dubbed it. “First you fail to save the woman then you get captured by the enemy. You are not good at being a hero.”

“Did I ask to be the hero?”

“No, but everyone wants to be a hero at some point. Some people just give up on that dream too early or maybe they haven’t been in a place where being a hero matters to them yet.”

“I guess, but why is this happening to me? You warned me about the changeling at the last minute and then I got captured because I was given this useless power.”

“It would have happened to anybody with a good conscience.”

“What?”

“I didn’t choose you, you just happened to be the one who I landed on. So don’t go blaming me for your new power, I just give it out. Also there was no way to save that woman, she was going to die whether you were there in time or not. Plus, you got captured because you didn’t understand how you were supposed to deal with the fact that you can’t protect anybody.”

“So why even tell me? If I can’t protect them then why even give me a chance to try.”

“I wanted to see what you would do, and you surprised me.”