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"I think you've got plenty here to get you to the nearest gas station," I said as I clamped the gas can nozzle shut.

"Sure am," she happily replied. "I don't really have anything to repay you with. I'd sure like to pay you back somehow."

"It's fine. Like I said, I just wanted to help to get you back home."

"Well," she said as she casually slithered her arms around the back of my neck, "you won't mind if I insist on repaying you, will you?"

"Oh," I replied in amazement before she planted a brief kiss on my lips and grinned. "Wow."

She giggled. "You are pretty cute, you know and very helpful."

To my surprise, she began leading me back toward her van with a mischievous look in her eyes. I was very intrigued as to where this was headed.

"You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

She blindly opened the back door of the van where she'd been lounging earlier.

"Super serious," she replied with a big smirk as she tumbled back into the van. She laughed as she pulled me in with her, causing me to drop the gas can on the ground. I couldn't say I didn't appreciate this kind of reward for being an upstanding citizen.

We eagerly moaned as our lips pressed and danced deeply within one another. Her lips parted away from mine, giggling again as she looked at me.

"You're a great kisser," she said, causing me to smile before she hungrily went back in for another kiss.

Considering how serious she seemed, I decided to give us some privacy. In the quiet of the van, I casually froze time around us while leaving the automobile intact. Her music on tape continued to play while we played with no interruptions.

She went right for the kill, rubbing my crotch in her palm. I responded by kissing downward, to her chin, and into her neck. She moaned happily, throwing her head back in excitement. As I continued to kiss around her neck, she suddenly became very quiet and very still. Her skin oddly felt like it was made of hard porcelain. My kisses came to a slow, confused halt.

I pulled away and looked at her. She was completely immobile. Somehow, she'd been frozen in time as well. That didn't make any sense.

"What?" I uttered in confusion. I hadn't frozen time for her. Was it some sort of malfunction? Did I mess up somehow?

Then, my head buzzed.

Oh, no.

I quickly turned around. There they were; tall, bony and clad in black. The three of them were standing a short distance away from the van. In a panic, I quickly dashed out from the backseat and stood before them. I clenched my fists, staring them down with a serious expression. It had become a standoff. My new powers had bolstered my confidence to a point I needed to deal with these guys. They weren't going to jump at me and scare me off. This time, I was ready to fight back.

"Back again so soon?" I joked before my tone became more serious. "What did you do to her?"

"It's time..." I was told yet again. I was getting tired of hearing that.

"Time for what?" I dared ask.

That's when the center one rushed at me in the blink of an eye. It moved so fast that it completely caught me off guard. Next thing I knew, its sharp, bony fingers were buried into my stomach. I stared at its indiscernible face in disbelief. They weren't screwing around. The excruciating pain of my abdomen being torn open was proof enough of that.

It whipped its hand out of me, blood pouring out. My body shook uncontrollably in fear for my life. I'd never been so grievously injured before. I couldn't think straight, but I absolutely had to if I was going to live. I immediately clasped my arms over my abdomen, gritting my teeth as I stared at them with rage in my trembling eyes. I was able to get a handle on my thoughts before I could go into shock. My wound rapidly healed itself within seconds - organs and all. As I looked down at my torso, I impressed myself to see I'd even fixed my torn shirt and removed the blood from it as well.

I looked up at them again. I immediately remembered the last time I took my eyes off them, they'd vanished. This time, however, they were staying. So was I. I was pissed. These guys have toyed with me, screwed with my head and kept me up at night guessing as to who or what they were and what their motives are. No more. It's going to end now.

"Hmm...you are as resilient as we predicted. Our apologies for being so brutish." The voice that they spoke with changed considerably from the last time. It was no longer just one of them speaking. Now, all three of them were speaking in unison, three different tones and pitches in their voices.

"Apology?" I shouted. "You just tried to kill me!"

"A necessary strife in the grand scheme of things. Your life is meaningless to us."

I narrowed my eyes at them. "Funny, I feel the same way about you."

"You wanted to know about us, now we will explain everything to you."

I scoffed. "Whoopee. It's about time."

"We have existed since the beginning , the beginning of time. Everything that was created and had a history was on our watch. We see everything, we know everything. Our knowledge surpasses far more than you could ever know. In simpler terms, we are the keepers of time."

I was intrigued, processing what they said for a brief moment.