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Hill Valley, California January, 1989
Martin McFly had never been aware of a life other than the one in which he currently lived. He had heard the term "old soul," but he didn?t think twice about it for he believed that a person could only live one life. It was as simple as that. Martin McFly had once believed that reincarnation was nothing more than a crock of shit.
'Had' would be the operative word.
Marty was never quite sure what triggered the night terrors that he began to experience in early 1989. At least he had assumed they were dreams as he was at a loss for a better explanation. The terrifying dreams had snuck up on him, but the strangest thing was that he had absolutely no memory of them afterward. At least that was the scenario initially.
A week before the onset of these dreams, Marty was at Doc's home paying him an overdue visit. He had been swamped with commitments to college, his job and his band. Therefore, he hadn't visited Doc since sometime before Christmas. Marty felt immensely guilty for that lapse of time, but he knew that Doc would understand that it couldn't be helped.
When he arrived at the home, Clara had told him that Doc was upstairs in the attic. He was apparently sorting through the junk that had amassed up there. Marty, deciding that he would never see Doc do something like this again, had gone up to offer his services and, perhaps, some good-natured ribbing.
Upon his arrival in the attic, Marty found Doc rummaging through a box with some old photos and papers in it. Doc made no acknowledgement of hearing Marty come up behind him as he continued to work. Doc plucked one particular photograph out of the rather large box and looked at it wistfully.
"What do you have there?" Marty asked, announcing his entrance.
Doc, who had been lost in thought, jumped a mile at the voice. "Marty, you startled me," he said. "This is nothing, just an old picture."
Marty peered over Doc's shoulder. He recognized one person as a younger version of Doc, but the second person was a stranger. The two were smiling for the camera and something about the picture conveyed to Marty that the two were good friends.
"Who's the other guy?" Marty asked.
"An old friend from school," Doc replied vaguely as he waved Marty off and threw the photo into a pile. "I don't even remember his name."
Marty picked up the picture that Doc had tossed aside and he felt the strangest sensation wash over him. However, before he could grasp what the feeling was, the thought left him.
"It looks like you guys were good friends," Marty probed, knowing that Doc knew more than he was letting on. "Did you guys have a fight or something?"
"No," Doc said as he turned his attention back to the box. Marty frowned at Doc's behavior. He had caught the inventor's sad expression when he had entered the room, so he didn't buy the crap that Doc was trying to feed him now. He looked back at the photo and couldn't help but notice the feeling of déjà vu that had implanted itself in his mind.
"Weird," Marty thought as he set the photo back on the pile where Doc had left it.
"What brings you by?" Doc asked, hoping that Marty would forget the subject at hand.
"Nothing special. I haven't been by in a while and I thought I'd come over," Marty replied. "I'm not intruding, am I?"
"Of course not," Doc said.
"Were you looking for something in particular? Do you need any help?? Marty asked as he eyed the incredible mess. "Perhaps, a magic wand so you can make this crap pile disappear."
"Not really," Doc said, answering the questions as he leafed through some more papers that Marty guessed to be notes of some kind.
"Are you sure that you don't want to talk some more about that photo?" Marty asked tentatively.
There it was. Doc sighed, knowing that his friend's curiosity never remained at bay too long. "I'm quite sure, Marty," he said softly
Just like that, the subject was sealed shut. Marty knew that he wouldn't be getting any information from his friend right now. However, Marty would soon learn more about the mystery person and his tie to Doc than he had ever wanted to know.
Nearly a week later, a terrified Marty twisted and turned in his sleep. The image in his mind was extremely vivid. All Marty could see were flames and he could even feel the searing pain as the flames burned his skin. He tried calling out to someone, anyone for help, but his voice refused to work. It was like someone had ripped his vocal chords from his throat. He had an overwhelming, suffocating feeling that he was trapped and he was going to die. Then everything went black.
And Marty woke up.
He sat in his bed, shaking as he tried to get a bearing on his present surroundings. There were no flames, no smoke, and no burns on his skin. He was back in his own room all right. He tried to recollect the dream that had terrified him so, only to come to the disconcerting realization that he could not remember one little tidbit of the dream he had just had.
Another week would pass before he had the time to visit Doc again and what a tiring week it had been. Marty awoke every night to this dream only to not remember a single detail when he awakened. While it didn't totally deprive him of sleep, the dream did deprive him of enough sleep to make a noticeable difference. Doc was quick to comment on that very detail.
"What ran over you?" Doc asked as he got a look at his friend's tired face.
"Thanks a lot," Marty said. "I've just been having some really weird dreams lately."
"What about?" Doc asked.
"That?s the weird part, Doc," Marty said. "I can't remember anything about them."
"Nothing at all?" Doc asked, surprised.
"Nothing at all," Marty said. "I am startled awake, but I don't know why."
"Strange," Doc said. "Maybe it's stress-related. You said yourself that you have been overburdened lately."
"Maybe," Marty said, though he sounded far from convinced.
"When did these dreams start?" Doc inquired.
"A week ago," Marty said. "As far as I'm concerned, they've been bugging me a week too long."
"Are you sure that dreams are the cause of this?" Doc asked.
"What else could be waking me up like that?" Marty countered.
Doc had to admit that he didn't have an answer for that one. The subject then shifted to other things until Marty looked at his watch and announced that he had to go.
"I promised that I would meet Jen at the pizzeria. Her cousin is visiting town and Jen wants me to meet her."
"That's nice," Doc commented.
"Jen says that her cousin, Candy, is a little eccentric. She's into occultism and stuff like that."
"It should prove to be an interesting evening," Doc said, raising an eyebrow at the description.
"Man, Doc!" Marty said. "When you say that things are 'interesting' you usually mean it in a bad way."
"I didn't mean it that way," Doc insisted. "I was just saying that this evening sounds a little out of the ordinary."
It turned out to be just that. Marty arrived at the pizzeria and found the booth where Jen and her cousin were sitting. He went right over to meet them.
"Hey, there," he said as approached the raven-haired young woman sitting in the booth with Jennifer. "You must be Candy." He extended his hand in greeting.
"Candice, please," the woman corrected as she shook Marty?s hand. "Candy is something you eat, it is not a name." Jen laughed and Marty smiled as he sat down next to his girlfriend.
"Sorry, Marty. That was my fault," Jen said.
"Forget about it, Jen," Marty replied.
"Marty, I already ordered us a pizza," Jen announced. "It should be here in a few minutes."
"No anchovies this time, I hope," Marty said making a face.
"No, I learned my lesson last time," Jen said. "I didn?t know you were allergic to them."
"Neither did I until it was too late," Marty said as he cringed at the memory.
The trio made small talk while they waited for their food. Marty couldn't get over Candice's appearance. When Jen had described Candice to him, she had not mentioned that Candice was an actual Goth girl and it wasn't merely confined to her black hair. She wore the complete ensemble from the midnight black lipstick right down to the pentacle around her neck. However, she seemed nice and the more Marty talked to her, the more like his girlfriend she seemed even if her outward appearance would never register it.
Finally, the food arrived and the trio dove in, hungrily. Marty had taken his first bite of the food when he heard Candice's comment.
"Marty, you just have a fantastic aura around you," she said.
Marty nearly choked on his pizza as he glanced at Candice. She was wearing a deadly serious expression. Marty managed to swallow the bite without further complications.
"Excuse me?" Marty said. "What do you mean by that."
Jen favored Marty with an I-warned-you look as Candice explained her remark. "I mean there is an air about you," she said. "It's kind of hard to put into words."
"Is that good or bad?" Marty asked.
"Oh, it is definitely good," the woman reassured quickly. "Jen, I think that your boyfriend would make an excellent subject."
"Subject for what?" Marty asked as he looked at his girlfriend.
"Candice has been studying hypnotism," Jen said. "She tried it on me last night, but apparently I'm not a very responsive subject."
"That happens with some people, Jen," Candice said. "What do you think, Marty? Would you like to try it?"
Marty's first impulse was to laugh aloud, but he knew that kind of response wouldn't score any points with his girlfriend. He managed to choke back the laugh that was threatening to escape.
"I guess I?m game," he said.
Candice grinned broadly. "Good! I have a good feeling about you! I can't wait to get started!"
Marty smiled at Candice in return as he wondered just what the hell he had gotten himself into.
Later that evening, the trio had assembled in Jen's room. The first thing that Marty noticed was that someone had rigged up a video camera in a corner of the room.
"What's that for?" Marty asked, growing suspicious. "Blackmail material?"
"I plan to keep the video as proof that the hypnosis worked," Candice explained as Jen turned the camera on.
"Marty, maybe this can explain those dreams that you've been having," Jen said. "If it works."
"What dreams?" Candice asked, interested.
"They're really nothing," Marty said as he was uncomfortable discussing this with someone that he had just met. "Would this hypnosis stuff really work on my dreams?"
"We?ll see," Candice said as she produced a small crystal on a chain from a pouch in her suitcase.
Now it was real hard for Marty to keep a straight face. Candice eyed Marty?s skeptical expression and promptly rebuked.
"This is nothing like what you see in the movies," she said. "I won't turn you into a zombie and make you commit murder or something." She stood in front of Marty and held the crystal an inch from his eyes.
"We'll start with something basic," Candice said. "I just want to test your trance ability. Ready?"
Marty nodded and Candice started to swing the crystal from side to side, very slowly. "Keep your eyes on this crystal as I speak to you. Relax your body. Feel every part of your body go limp as you draw in each breath. Feel your body grow lighter with each breath. Now relax your eyes. Feel your eyelids growing heavy and give into the urge to close your eyes. Now close your eyes."
Marty?s eyes closed. He appeared to be asleep. Candice put the crystal in her pocket.
"Now I want you to concentrate on my voice. Do you understand?" Candice commanded.
"Yes," Marty answered. Jen couldn't believe how monotone Marty's voice sounded to her ears.
"Good," Candice replied. "Now, when I count to five, I want you to awaken and remove your right shoe. You will have no knowledge or memory of my instructions. The only thing that you will be aware of is an intense need to remove your right shoe. Ready? One? Two? Now you are coming out of your trance. Three? You are becoming aware of your surroundings. Four? Five? Now you will awaken."
Marty opened his eyes and looked around. "That was it?" he asked, a little disappointed. He brought his foot up and began to unconsciously untie his sneaker as he talked. "I hate to burst your bubble, Candice, but you might have to find another subject. That hypnotism stuff didn't work."
"Marty, look at what you're holding in your hand," Jen said as she tried not to snicker.
Marty looked down to notice that he was holding his right sneaker in his hand. Had he just taken his shoe off? Why couldn't he remember doing it?
"You?re lucky that she didn't tell you to dance around like a chicken," Jen said as she took in Marty's perplexed expression.
"We'll save that for another time," Candice said as Marty put his sneaker back on.
"Heavy," Marty mumbled. "Candice, why can't I remember anything?"
"The power of suggestion," Candice replied. "Good news, Marty, you trance very quickly. I'm afraid that the basic exercises don't help you much with your dreams, though. I'm reluctant to try anything else tonight, as it would be hard to induce another trance as heavy as the one you were just in. Are you free tomorrow night?"
"I could stop by after work," Marty said. "It might be kind of late. Is that okay, Jen?"
"Sure," Jen said. "I want to see more of this."
"It?s a date," Candice said.
It was about ten o?clock the next night before Marty arrived. Jen ushered him up to her room where Candice was waiting.
"Are you ready to get started?" she asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess," Marty replied.
"Good," Candice said. "I wanted to try a little age regression hypnosis on you tonight. I'll take you back through your adolescence, childhood and infancy. We'll see if anything comes up that would explain the dreams that you've been having. If that doesn?t trigger anything substantial then I may try past-life regression hypnosis on you."
"You mean like reincarnation?" Marty asked, skeptically. "That's stretching things a bit, isn't it?"
"I don?t know," Candice said. "I've never actually tried that particular hypnosis on anyone. It's up to you whether or not you want to try it. I can't guarantee that it will work."
Marty thought about it for a moment. He didn't know if he believed in that sort of thing or not, since he had never had to think about it before. However, if the age-regression hypnosis didn't yield the results he was looking for, what other options would be left?
"Okay," Marty said, a little uncertain about the whole thing. "I guess I'll give it a shot."
"Okay, then let's get started," Candice said as she began the session. She began the session in the same way as the night before, but instead of giving him a simple task and bringing him out of the trance, Candice began to direct Marty back through the years of his life.
"Okay, Marty, now I want you to go back to when you were fifteen. Go back to the point in time when you were fifteen. Are you there?"
"Yes," Marty replied.
"Tell me what you see," Candice instructed.
"I'm late for school again," Marty began.
"That's nothing new," Jen quipped.
Candice put her finger to her lips to quiet her cousin. "Keep going, Marty," Candice said. "What else is happening?"
"Mr. Strickland is giving me a tardy slip. He's giving me his standard lecture about how I'll get detention if I keep it up. Blah, blah, blah."
Candice smiled. "Okay, now you're leaving that place and you're going to go further back. Go back to when you were twelve years old. I want you to be twelve. Are you there?"
"Yes," Marty said.
"Tell me what you see," Candice said.
Jesse, Kevin and I are hangin' out at my house," Marty explained. "We're practicin' riffs and Dave is yellin' at us for making too much racket. He?s such a dweeb!"
Jen had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. Marty sounded so different and she could swear that his voice had a slightly higher pitch to it.
"Okay, I want you to take a another leap back. I want you to go back to when you were eight," Candace instructed. "Go back to when you were eight years old. Are you there?"
"Yes," Marty said.
"Very good," Candice replied. "Tell me what you see."
"Mom is yellin' at me," he said in a small voice.
"Why is she yelling at you?" Candice asked.
"I sorta started a fire in the living room," Marty answered.
"How on earth did you do that!" Candice asked.
"I didn't mean to! It was an accident!" Marty answered, getting upset.
"It's okay, Marty," Candice said soothingly. "We don't have to talk about that. Okay?"
"'Kay," Marty replied, calming down considerably.
"I'll take you further back now," Candice explained. "I want you to go back to when you were three years old. Go back to when you were three years old. Are you there?"
"Yep," Marty replied.
"Good. Now, tell me what you see around you," Candice instructed.
"Lindy and Dave are fighting again," he answered. Jennifer had to think a moment before she came to the realization that 'Lindy' was most likely an old nickname for his sister Linda.
"This is the second time that Dave has come up," Candice commented. "Is Dave your brother?"
"Mm hmm," Marty answered, nodding his head as he did so. "And Lindy's my sister. She's mad 'cause Dave took the heads off her Barbies and tried to flush them down the toilet. I helped him do it!" Marty seemed extremely proud of this.
Jen was close to exploding with laughter now and Candice was having a hard time keeping a straight face. However, she retained her professional demeanor. "Okay, what else do you see?" she asked.
"Uh, Mommy's telling ?em to stop it," Marty answered. "And she wants me to go take my nap." he said and he made a disgusted face. "I hate naps."
"Okay, Marty, that was very good," Candice said. "Now, I want you to go back to when you were an infant, perhaps, one year of age. Go back in time to when you were a year old. Are you there?"
Marty nodded this time instead of speaking. "Okay, then." Candice replied. "What do you see around you?"
"Crib," Marty answered. "Mama sing."
"You're in your crib and your mother is singing to you?" Candice ventured.
Marty nodded again. "What else is going on?" Candice asked.
"Sleep," Marty answered.
Candice took that to mean that he was falling asleep, so she decided to probe further. "All right, Marty, now I want you to transverse time and space. I want you to travel back to a time before this lifetime. Okay? Now a scene should be appearing before you. It is the scene of a life long forgotten. Take a moment to look around at what was once familiar." She paused for a moment as Marty remained in the trance. "Now, I want you to tell me where you are." Marty was silent for a moment and Candice began to wonder if the regression had worked at all. "Marty?" she prodded.
"I?m in the chemistry lab," he responded.
"What are you doing there?" Candice asked to urge him on.
Again, Marty didn't answer right away. "What are you doing there?" Candice repeated.
"Fire," Marty said in a small voice. "There?s a fire! I can't get out!"
Candice could hear the panic building in his voice and she decided that this would be a great time to end the session for the night. "It's okay, Marty," she said. "All right, Marty, now I want you to come back to the present. You are traveling back through your childhood and your adolescence, back into adulthood. On the count of five, I want you to open your eyes. Ready? One? Two? Start to come out of your trance. Three? Four? Feel yourself awaken. Five."
Marty opened his eyes. The room was silent except for the ticking of the clock on Jennifer's nightstand. Candice and Jennifer both regarded him with expressions of shock and Marty became immediately concerned. "What's up?" he asked. "Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
"Marty, if I'm not mistaken, you just had a memory of a past life," Candice replied.
Marty looked at his girlfriend. "She's kidding, right?" he asked.
Jennifer shook her head. "No, she isn't," she said.
"What is this memory that I supposedly had?" Marty asked.
"You were trapped in a room that was on fire," Candice explained. "I believe you said it was a chemistry lab."
That familiar feeling of déjà vu came over Marty again akin to the sensation he had experienced when he picked up the photograph in Doc's attic. A knot was beginning to form in the pit of his stomach as he realized that Candice and Jennifer were telling him the truth.
"Marty, I would like to explore this a little further, that is, if it is all right with you," Candice said. "Can you come back here tomorrow night?"
"Yeah, sure," Marty said, softly.
"Marty, are you okay?" Jennifer asked as she took in her boyfriend's bewildered expression.
"Great," Marty replied with a touch of sarcasm. The knot in his stomach twisted a little more and he had a bad feeling about what the next night's session would bring.
What have I gotten myself into this time?, he wondered, silently.
The scenario was so familiar, but so unknown at the same time. The classroom was filling up with smoke. Frantically, Marty ran to the door to escape, but when he tried to open the door, he found it locked. Marty ran to the windows, but they wouldn't open enough to let him through. It was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe through the thick smoke. He got down on the floor to try to salvage whatever oxygen he could, but it was to no avail. Just as he was losing hope, he heard a voice through the locked door.
"Charlie, are you in there? Answer me!" the voice called.
"Who the heck is Charlie?" Marty thought as he tried to dispel the illusion that he had lived through this before. He tried to call back, but ended up with an intense coughing fit instead. He tried to crawl back toward the door and the source of that voice, but the smoky atmosphere made it difficult for Marty to see where he was going. He felt an incredible burning and look down to see that his foot was on fire. The sensation mixed with his inability to breathe caused him to pass out.
Marty sat bolt upright in bed as the sweat dripped off him. "Man, what a nightmare!" he whispered as he tried to settle his shaky nerves. "Where was I? Why did everything feel so real? Why did everything seem so familiar?"
Marty held his breath as the realization struck him. For the first time in days, he remembered what he had dreamed. Was this the same dream that had been plaguing him? Why couldn't he remember it before? What had been different this time? Marty thought hard for a moment as he came up with the answer.
"The hypnosis was what was different," he realized.
"You were trapped in a room that was on fire," Candice had told him. Marty wondered for a moment if that suggestion had caused his dream, but he shook off that notion almost immediately. His intuition told him that this couldn't be explained away that easily. Marty settled back in his bed and waited for the immediate trauma of the dream to pass. He had had his share of nightmares in the past and a series of weird, yet realistic, dreams when he time traveled to 1885. However, these didn?t hold a candle to the dream that he had just experienced.
That night, at Jennifer's house, he told Jennifer and Candice about the dream. Candice was fascinated by the dream, to say the least.
"The hypnosis must have opened a portal to your past life. Dreams will offer clues ranging from the obvious too the not-so-obvious and it is up to the recipient of these clues to figure out their relation to a past life experience."
"Could the dream have been brought up by something that you said, Candice?" Jennifer asked, mirroring Marty's earlier thought.
Candice shrugged. "Anything is possible," she said. "The only way that we can tell is by bringing you back to that past-life state, Marty. I want to try to derive as many clues as possible from the hypnosis."
"Okay," Marty said hesitantly.
Jennifer was quick to notice her boyfriend's reluctance. "Marty, what's wrong?" she asked.
"I don?t know, Jen. It's just nerves, I guess," he said.
"Do you want to go through with the session?" Candice asked.
"I guess so," Marty said. "I want to know why I'm having these dreams."
"Okay. Then, I suppose we should get started," Candice replied. She led Marty back through the stages of his life and to the point where they had left off the previous night. Candice hoped that this session wouldn't end with another panic attack.
"Now, what is it the name that you use in this lifetime?"
Marty paused a moment, his features twisting into a frown. "I don't remember," he answered frustrated.
"That's okay, we'll come back to that," Candice said. "Do you know what the date is?"
"1932," he answered.
"Do you know the month or day?" Candice asked.
"No," Marty answered as that frustrated expression returned to his face.
"That?s okay," Candice said. "Now where do you go to school?"
"Hill Valley Academy," Marty replied.
"Okay, Marty, I want you to leave that scene and go to some other point in your life." Candice paused for a moment to let Marty get a feel for where (or when) he was. "Where are you?" she asked.
Marty was quiet for a moment. "Chemistry lab," he answered in a disinterested voice.
Candice continued with her questioning. "What is going on around you?"
"Class," Marty answered in that same disinterested voice.
It didn?t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Marty?s past self was less than enchanted with this particular subject. Candice suppressed a laugh and continued with the session.
"Who is sitting in front of you?" she asked.
"Bobby Jenkins," Marty answered.
"Okay. Now who sits behind you?"
"Emmett Brown," Marty answered.
Jennifer?s eyes widened and she almost spit out the soda that she had been drinking. Candice regarded her cousin with a strange look. Jennifer swallowed the mouthful of soda and beckoned Candice to follow her out into the hall. Candice gestured to her that she couldn?t leave Marty at this point, but Jennifer was adamant. Candice sighed and put the session on a hiatus.
"Marty, I want you to get a good feel of your surroundings. I will return shortly and ask you about everything," she instructed and then joined her cousin who was waiting for her just outside the door.
"Jennifer, what is your issue?" Candice asked, exasperated.
"Marty is friends with an Emmett Brown," Jen blurted out.
"Is that what you couldn't wait to tell me?" Candice asked.
"It has to be the same one! How many Emmett Browns can there be in the world?" Jen asked.
"You?d be surprised," Candice replied, becoming impatient. "Can we resume the session now?"
The two went back into Jennifer's room and Candice recommenced the session. "I?m sorry about the interruption, Marty. Now, what is it the name that you use in this lifetime?"
"Charlie," Marty answered.
"Does that come with a last name?" Candice inquired.
"Strickland," he answered
Jennifer didn't know whether to laugh or scream. Principal Samuel Strickland had been a thorn in Marty's side during high school. Given the information that Marty or more precisely Marty?s past self was supplying, it was a near certainty that this Charlie Strickland was a relation of some kind.
"Okay, you have now established who you were in this past life. That is the name you will continue to be known by as you travel through this life. Is that understood?"
"Yes," Marty answered.
"Good," Candice answered. "Now Charlie, I want you to travel to a specific point in this lifetime. During our last session, you mentioned a fire in the chemistry lab. Do you remember the details of this fire?"
A fearful, almost pained expression overcame Marty's features. "It was an accident," he said.
"What kind of an accident was it?" Candice asked.
Marty's answer was rather fragmented. "Class. Two beakers. One had to be applied before the other."
"So, you were in the middle of an experiment," Candice said.
Marty nodded. "Class assignment."
"What happened next?" Candice prompted.
The fearful expression on Marty?s face grew as he unconsciously recounted the events. "Emmett and I were working together. Both beakers had a clear liquid. He applied the first one. That one was fine. But the second one? Explosion! Fire! Trapped! Died!"
Jennifer gasped. "Bring him out of it, Candice!" she urged.
"Okay, Marty, now I want you to leave that life and travel forward through space and time to the present. Ready?" she counted to five like she had always done, but something was wrong.
"Jen, he isn't waking up," Candice said. "I did everything like I'm supposed to and he isn't waking up!"
Marty sat still and silent as Candice and Jen tried to bring him out of his trance. Finally, out of desperation Candice grasped Marty squarely by the shoulders and shook him for all she was worth. Marty's eyes popped open and confusion was plain on his face.
"Candice, what the hell are you doing!" Marty said as he released himself from her grasp.
"You literally zoned out, Marty," she answered, breathing a sigh of relief. "I couldn?t rouse you from your trance."
Marty looked at his girlfriend who stood next to him and noticed that she wore a similar worried expression. "So, did you get the clues that you needed?" Marty asked.
"Yeah," Candice said as she glanced at her cousin. Jen met her gaze and her concerned expression grew. Marty could feel that knot in his stomach again and he wasn't sure that he wanted to know what had happened.
"What is it?" he asked in a small voice.
Candice and Jen took turns filling Marty in on the details. When they finished, Marty's face had paled several shades.
"Heavy," he said as a small shiver coursed through his body. A frown developed as he pondered another piece of the information. "God, of all the possible people in the world I had to be a Strickland! Jeez, what did I ever do to deserve that?"
"Jen says that your friends with an Emmett Brown," Candice said, changing the subject. "It's possible that he could verify these clues, provided that he is the same one as in your past-life memory."
"I don't know who else it could be," Marty said. His mind darted back to that day in Doc's attic and that picture. There had been a distinct feeling of what? Familiarity? Had this really happened to him? Had this incident been the reason why Doc hadn't wanted to talk about the other person in the picture?
"You know, Marty, it is said that a person will encounter the same people in each of their lives," Candice explained as if she could read Marty?s thoughts. "People that were family members, friends or lovers in your past lives will cross your path again in the same or variegated roles. There is a reason that you and this Emmett Brown are friends in this lifetime. It also sounds that there is some karma that needs to be worked out between you so both of your souls will be freed from this burden in the next life."
Marty knew what he had to do, though he would rather have met up with a firing squad. "Man, Doc won't believe this in a million years! I can hear his lectures now."
"Would you like us to come with you?" Jen asked. "He can't discount this so easily if it comes from the three of us."
"We'll see," Marty replied.
Marty stopped by Doc's house the next evening after his band practice let out. He had convinced Jen and Candice to sit this one out. Marty knew they meant well, but he knew that Doc wouldn't appreciate the three of them ganging up on him. He figured that it would be easier for him to talk to Doc alone. Marty had spent the entire day trying to figure out how to approach his friend about this matter and he decided that anyway he approached the subject it would be a tough sell. It felt like the Gabriel Douquette experience all over again and Marty held a slim hope that Doc's initial reaction to this scenario wouldn't be as bad as that had been.
Taking a deep breath, Marty exited his truck and went straight into Doc's lab before he could lose his nerve. Doc was consulting a set of schematics and he was so lost in thought that he didn't hear Marty come in.
"Hey, Doc! How's it going?" Marty asked.
Startled, Doc whipped his head up to see Marty standing in the doorway. "Oh, hi, Marty," he said. "I was just going over some plans."
"Now, what are you working on?" Marty asked.
"A minor household improvement," Doc answered. "Clara said it was all right as long as I didn't short out the electricity again."
Marty laughed, but Doc thought the laugh sounded rather half-hearted. "So, what is on your mind, Marty?" Doc asked. He looked his friend over and decided that Marty had certainly looked better. "Are you still having trouble sleeping? You look exhausted."
"You could say that," Marty replied. "Though, not sleeping seems to be the least of my problems lately."
Doc was immediately concerned. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked.
Marty realized how he must have sounded. "No, Doc, not like that. I mean, nothing is physically wrong with me. Look, I have something to tell you and I'm not sure how you're going to take it."
Doc gave Marty his full attention, though his concerned expression didn't waver. "Are you sure that you're okay? Otherwise, what could be so bad that you feel you can't tell me?" he asked.
"It's a long story," Marty replied. "I need you to promise me that you won't interrupt me once I start."
Doc nodded his consent and Marty regaled him with details about the sessions with Candice. Doc listened to the entire story, the unreadable expression on his face unchanging. When Marty finished, Doc just stood there regarding him silently. As the silence dragged on, Marty became increasingly worried about Doc's possible reaction.
"Please say something, Doc," Marty pleaded when he could stand the silence no more.
Doc, however, said nothing as he returned his full attention to the schematics that he had discarded on his worktable. Marty knew what Doc was trying to do and he resolved that he would make him face this one way or the other.
"Doc, I'm not leaving until you answer me," Marty said. "This Charlie was the other person in that picture, wasn't he? You claimed that you didn't remember him, but that was a lie, wasn't it."
Doc stiffened and Marty was glad that he finally got some kind of response from his friend. However, his joy would be short-lived. "Do you really want to know what I think about this, Marty?" Doc asked slowly and evenly as he looked up from his plans. The look in Doc's eyes offered Marty no reassurance. "I think that this is the most sordid tale of bullshit that you could possibly have fabricated!"
Marty was wounded by the remark and the pain tinged anger in his friend's eyes. "Doc, I?m telling you the truth. I swear it. I didn't mean for this to hurt you."
"How did you mean this then, Martin?" Doc asked, tersely.
Marty winced at the use of his full first name and the tone of Doc's voice. He couldn't say that he was surprised by Doc's reaction, but he had hoped there would be a slight chance that maybe Doc would understand. Not only did Doc decide not to be understanding, but he had obviously put up one hell of a wall around this terrible memory. Marty was less confident now of his ability to get Doc to verify anything of his past life memory.
"Doc, I..." Marty began.
"Marty, I don't want to hear any more. Please leave," Doc said, cutting him off.
"Doc, please listen to me!" Marty implored.
"Get out!" Doc snarled, giving Marty an icy glare.
Marty faltered a little, but he resolved to hold his ground. "I'm not leaving things like this, Doc," he said. "I didn't come here tonight to play some cruel joke on you. Jennifer and Candice can attest to that. This shit's for real, Doc and it scares me to death. I want, no I need your help here! Please!"
Doc regarded him for a long moment. Marty could tell that Doc wanted to say something, but he couldn't quite get the words out. Finally, Doc turned away and again immersed himself in the task at hand.
"What happened to Charlie, Doc?" Marty probed.
Doc didn't answer. Marty walked over to the worktable where his friend was hunched over his plans. Marty bent over so that he and Doc were eye-level. "What happened?" Marty asked softly.
Doc sighed despairingly. "You know what happened, Marty," he said.
"Pretend that I don't, Doc," Marty replied.
Doc sighed in defeat as he realized that Marty wouldn't let the matter go now. He looked up and Marty could see the pain in his old friend's eyes. "Charlie and I were doing an extra credit project after school one day. Our teacher had to leave early that day, so he left out a couple of labeled beakers of chemicals and some handwritten instructions. He trusted that we would be able to follow along from there. I applied the first beaker of liquid as instructed. Nothing happened, of course. However, when I applied the second one there was a terrible explosion. The force knocked me clear across the room. The next thing that I remember is a person pulling me out of the burning classroom while someone else tried to go after Charlie. However, they didn't reach him in time."
"Your friend burned to death?" Marty asked, shuddering as he remembered the painful sensation from his dream.
"Smoke inhalation was what killed him," Doc said. "He was terribly asthmatic and I doubt that he lasted long at all."
"That's awful," Marty said softly. "How did those chemicals get mixed up?"
"According to the way the beakers were labeled, the chemicals were applied in the proper order," Doc answered. "However, a rumor started circulating that I purposely botched the experiment. The rumor had no credibility of course, but there were certain people, your former principle included, that felt a twelve-year-old kid had no place in a high school. They were prepared to believe anything if it meant that it would "put me in my place" so to speak."
"People can be so stupid," Marty said in sympathy. "You reminded me of something, though." Marty said. "Jennifer told me that Charlie's last name was Strickland. Please tell me that he wasn't related to you-know-who."
"I'm afraid I can't," Doc answered. "Charlie was Samuel Strickland's cousin. Samuel resented the fact that Charlie took me under his wing and befriended me in the first place. He would tell Charlie that his being my friend would only lead to trouble and he has rubbed that in my face ever since."
"Wow, that sounds familiar," Marty said as he recalled Strickland's lectures from his high school days. "He used to say something like that to me."
"Some things never change, I guess," Doc muttered.
"Candice seems to think that people who knew each other in one life meet again in another. She said that there's a karmic reason why we're friends now. Do you think that could be true?" Marty said.
"Do you believe it?" Doc countered.
"I guess so," Marty answered. "I mean I don't know why else this would be happening to me."
"I'm sorry, Marty, but that reasoning seems rather far-fetched to me," Doc replied.
"Yeah, we thought that you might say something like that," Marty replied. "That's why Candice thought it might be a good idea if you sat in on the next session." Doc started to reply but Marty cut him off. "And before you can say that you don't believe in this sort of thing, Doc, just remember that there was a time that you didn't believe in evil ghosts either."
That statement seemed to silence any argument that Doc was ready to give. "Fine, I will do this one time," he said. "However, if I am not convinced that what I am seeing is real, then you will drop this matter for good. Is that understood?"
"Fair enough," Marty said confidently "Are you free tomorrow evening? We can move the session over here."
"Fine," Doc said. "You can come over after supper. We can do everything in here."
"That sounds good," Marty said. "We won't stand as much of a chance of being interrupted in here."
"How long will this session take?" Doc asked.
Marty shrugged. "It depends on what Candice can uncover, I guess." A sly smile spread across Marty's face. "Hey, maybe after Candice hypnotizes me, she can trance you, too."
"Don't push it, Marty," Doc said.
The disturbing memory of his former friend's demise followed Doc to dreamland that night. He tossed and turned in his sleep as he saw the events unfold and he was again powerless to stop them. As they brought out Charlie's body, Doc noticed that something wasn't quite right. When Doc was able to see the body, he realized that he wasn't looking at Charlie. The body was Marty. Suddenly, the young man's eyes opened and he cast an anxious glance at Doc.
"Doc, you gotta find out the truth!" Marty said.
Doc woke up in a cold sweat. "What a nightmare." he muttered. What did it mean? Was it merely a product of the conversation between himself and Marty or was there a possibility that it meant something more?
"Time will tell," Doc muttered as he settled back to sleep.
Doc was still wondering how he had let Marty talk him into the whole hypnosis session when Marty, Jennifer and Candice arrived the next evening. However, he resolved that he at least owed it to his friend to try this. After all, he had played the role of total skeptic once before and it had almost cost Marty his life. He was determined not to let that happen again, no matter how outlandish this claim was.
On the other hand, what if this whole thing did prove to be true? The previous night's dream had left Doc with a serious case of nerves. He had tried telling himself that the nightmare was caused by emotional stress from the previous afternoon. However, that explanation didn't quell that all-too-familiar feeling of anxiety in his gut. He wasn't so certain that hypnosis could explain why Marty was suddenly having dreams about his former friend, but he reasoned that he could at least humor the concept.
"It's too late to back out of this now, anyway," Doc said ruefully as he let the trio in.
As they came in, Doc noticed that Candice carried several items, including a camcorder. Doc raised his eyebrows, suddenly suspicious. "What is that for?" he asked as he pointed to the item in question.
"Candice is keeping a video log of the sessions," Jennifer explained. She took the video camera from her cousin and proceeded to set it up.
Candice set her other items, her crystal and a notepad, on Doc's worktable. She extended her hand to Doc in greeting. "It's so nice to meet you Doctor Brown!" Candice said. "I am so pleased that you agreed to do this. By the way, did anyone tell you that you just have a wonderful aura?"
Doc heard a snort and a muffled laugh from the other side of the lab. His gaze followed the sound to where Marty stood with his hand clamped tightly over his mouth. Doc shot him a warning look and the young man's laughter quickly dissipated.
"No, I can safely say that I have never heard that before," Doc replied, trying his best to remain polite.
"Candice, the camera is set up," Jen said. "Do you want to start now?"
"I'm all set," Candice replied. "Do you want to get started, Marty?"
"Sure," he replied as he took a seat in the chair next to the workbench.
Candice pulled up the other chair and began the session as Jen and Doc looked on. As Candice went through the introductory motion, Doc could easily say the he was less than convinced. He rationalized that this whole thing could easily be faked. However, he kept the suspicions to himself as he continued to watch the session.
Candice quickly brought Marty back to the brink of his past life. "All right, Marty, now I want you to tell your name in this lifetime."
There was a moment's pause and Candice was about ready to repeat the request when Marty spoke. "My name's Charlie."
"Good," Candice said. "Now, I want you to tell me what you see. Where are you?"
"Hallway," Marty/Charlie answered.
"Are you at home?" Candice asked.
Marty shook his head in reply. "Are you at school?" Candice asked. Marty nodded his head in affirmation.
"What is happening in this hallway?" Candice asked.
"There's an argument," Marty/Charlie answered.
"Who is arguing?" Candice inquired.
"My cousin, Sammy and I," Marty/Charlie answered.
That got Doc's attention. There would only have been one person in the world that would get away with calling Samuel Strickland by his least favorite nickname. He would bet serious money that Marty hadn't just picked up that information somewhere. He continued watching the hypnosis with renewed interest.
"Why are you two arguing?" Candice asked.
"He's telling me about how I shouldn't be friends with a slacker like Emmett," Marty/Charlie said. "He says that the friendship will leave a black mark on the Strickland name."
Doc remembered that argument. He and Charlie had been leaving the school when Samuel had accosted him in the hallway. Charlie had come to his defense and the cousins exchanged some nasty words. Now, Doc had to wonder how Marty would know about this incident. It was just one more factor that tipped the scales away from skepticism and toward belief.
"Okay, Charlie, I want you to leave that hallway and go to some other point in your life. Go to another point in your life. Are you there?"
Marty nodded. "Where are you?" Candice asked.
Marty's/Charlie's face immediately pinched in fear. "Fire!" he said in a shrill voice.
"Okay, Charlie I want you to exit that memory. I want you to start to return to your present life as Marty when I count to five. One... Two... Three... Four... Five... Okay, Marty open your eyes.
Marty opened his eyes as instructed, but Candice could tell immediately that something wasn't right. There seemed to be a vacancy in Marty's stare that she couldn't recall having been there before.
"Marty?" she said as she waved her hand in front of his eyes. "Are you okay?"
Marty wouldn't answer her. Jennifer approached him cautiously. She touched him lightly on the shoulder. "Marty, this isn't funny." she said.
"What is going on?" Doc asked as he approached his friend. A voice in the back of his head said that this spacing out was a ruse. However, when he looked at Jennifer and Candice's worried faces he realized that this was no joke. Suddenly, Marty reached out and grabbed Doc's arm. Doc gasped as the women emitted shrill screams of surprise. Marty looked into Doc's eyes with that same vacant stare.
"You can find out the truth, Emmett." he said. "You can find out who really did this to me."
"The dream." Doc thought. "How could Marty have possibly known about that? Unless..." Doc shook the thoughts off. "No. It couldn't be."
"You can find out the truth, kid," Marty said softly as his eyes closed again.
"Kid?" The last person to call Doc by that nickname was Charlie himself. Doc could feel the chills again as Marty's grip released from his arm.
"It can't be," he whispered. Doc could feel his face grow pale. Candice moved so Doc could have her chair. He accepted it gratefully for he new that if he didn't sit soon then he would faint.
Marty came out of his trance, finally. As he took in the three astonished faces before him, most notably Doc's, he felt another knot form in his stomach. "Now, what happened?" he asked.
"You zoned out again," Candice explained. "I'm hesitant to conduct another session as this problem seems to be getting worse."
"How bad was it?" Marty asked.
"Pretty bad," Jennifer replied. "You were totally out of it."
Marty's eyes drifted to where Doc sat in stunned silence. "Are you okay, Doc?" Marty asked. He knew that if Doc looked that rattled, then something significant must have happened.
Doc continued to stare at Marty, his mouth agape. Doc's silence only made Marty more nervous. "Doc, please say something," Marty begged.
"I don't know what to say," Doc said softly.
"Does someone want to fill me in on what happened?" Marty asked.
Candice did most of the talking. "As I said before, I think that this will be the last session. Your trance state is becoming too deep for me to control. I am afraid that you will be lost to it."
"Can that really happen?" Jennifer asked.
"It is an extremely rare occurrence," Candice replied. "However, I don't want to risk it."
"It's all right, Candice. I think we can work this out from here," Doc supplied.
Marty looked at Doc quizzically. Doc had that familiar look in his eye. It was the look he wore when time travel was involved.
"Oh, boy," Marty thought.
Candice and Jennifer left shortly thereafter. Candice told Marty to let her know of any changes in his situation as she would be leaving in a few days. Marty promised her that he would and the two cousins finally left.
Doc had asked Marty to stay behind. If they were to get to the bottom of this matter, then Doc wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. This whole thing was wearing on his nerves. Marty and Doc quickly thought out a simple game plan and they set off to the past.
"I still can't believe that you wanted to do this," Marty said as they arrived in 1932 Hill Valley.
"I know how you feel," Doc said as he steered the DeLorean into a pre-conceived hiding place. "However, I don't see another way around it. This is the only way that I can find out what really happened to Charlie."
"Doc, I know that we should avoid our past selves in situations like this. Does that also apply to past-life selves?"
Doc opened his mouth to reply, but he abruptly closed it when he realized that he didn't have the slightest idea. Naturally, the thought had never occurred to him before. "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it," he said, instead.
"How are you doing with all of this?" Marty asked noting his friend's anxious features with concern. "You haven't said much of anything to me since the session earlier."
"It's still sinking in," Doc said quietly, not looking at Marty. Marty frowned in response, but it was more from concern than agitation.
Doc turned off the ignition and the two climbed out of the car wearing their period garb. Marty felt a large knot forming in his gut, but he didn't know whether it was from dread or concern. Marty glanced quickly at his friend and noticed that Doc looked especially disconcerted.
"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Marty asked. "We can go home and forget about this whole idea. There must be another way to find out what we need to know."
Doc looked at him and shook his head. "No, I need to do this," he said. "I want to know what really happened."
Marty nodded, but he noticed that Doc looked extremely uncomfortable still. "Is it me?" Marty wondered, noting that Doc was purposely looking everywhere but right at him. He made a mental note to discuss this Doc when this sorry mess was resolved. Meanwhile, they had a job to do.
"Marty, be very careful not to disrupt the events that are about to happen," Doc instructed. "You are merely here to observe. As soon as you get the information you need, I want you to meet me outside of the school as we planned. Is that clear?"
Marty nodded. Doc glanced at him for the briefest of seconds and promptly looked away again. After everything he had learned in the course of the last day, he just couldn't look at his old friend the same way.
"Just when you think that you know all you can about someone," Doc thought as they walked to the Academy. If Doc's memory proved correct, they should arrive there shortly before the end of his science class. The class would be his professor's last class of the day. Their plan was for Marty to sneak into the classroom and find a hiding place to stake out whatever transpired between the time the professor left and the time that Charlie and his younger self arrived to perform their experiment. The plan was risky, of course, but it was the best that Doc could come up with under the circumstances.
The walk ended too quickly in Doc's opinion as they arrived at their destination. Doc hid behind some shrubbery as Marty entered the school. Doc had told Marty where his classroom was and Marty had no problem finding it. "Man, Doc was right when he said the sulfur smell would lead you there," he thought as he wrinkled his nose.
Just then, a bell sounded signifying the end of the period. As the students filed out, Marty squeezed past them and into the classroom. He glanced quickly at the teacher, who seemed distracted for the moment and ducked behind a bookshelf.
The hiding space wasn't very comfortable, but he had a good view of the front of the classroom where the teacher now appeared to be laying out the materials for the experiment. Once the teacher had finished that task and scribbled out some instructions, he left the room.
Marty huddled behind the bookcase, as he waited for the events to unfold. He did not have to wait too long. He heard a soft creaking as the door opened and closed . Then he saw someone skulk in the room. Marty couldn't quite see the person?s face as the figure was hunched over, but he noticed that the person appeared very nervous. This person stopped next to the note that the teacher had just written. Then, the figure peeled the labels off the beakers and switched them around. The figure, seemingly satisfied with himself, stood up and smiled smugly.
Marty had to bite back a sharp gasp as he caught sight of the intruder's face. The person was considerably younger then when Marty had last seen him, but Marty would know that face anywhere.
It was his former principle, Samuel Strickland.
Marty had to resist giving in to the sudden anger that was threatening to erupt from him. The goddamned hypocrite!, Marty thought. He watched with a gaze of astonishment and horror as the younger self of his former disciplinarian sneaked out of the classroom.
Marty stayed hidden for a short while longer to make sure that Strickland wasn't coming back. Finally, he decided that it was safe for him to get out of there without being discovered. He crept out of his hiding place and toward the door. He had just placed his hand on the doorknob when the door swung open. There, in front of him, stood Charlie Strickland. Chills snaked through Marty?s body as he glanced upon the person who was in a sense his past self. Charlie greeted him with a smile and a short wave.
"Hiya," he said. "I don't believe I've seen you around the school before. My name's Charlie Strickland." He reached out to shake Marty?s hand.
Marty hesitated, having suddenly come down with a serious case of the creeps. "I'm Marty, uh, Eastwood," He said thinking quickly as he accepted the handshake. As their hands touched, Marty felt that all-too-familiar sensation of deja vu.
"Eastwood, huh?" Charlie asked. "Are you any relation to that fella who fell into the ravine?"
"No," Marty replied. "Listen, I've gotta go." Marty took off running, leaving a bewildered Charlie standing outside the classroom.
Marty didn't stop until he was out of the building. He almost plowed over Doc who had vacated his hiding place to meet him.
"Great Scott!" Doc exclaimed as he grabbed Marty's arm. The young man's face was ashen. "Are you all right?" Doc asked.
"I met him," Marty said as he tried to catch his breath.
Doc thought for a moment. "Do you mean Charlie?" Doc asked and Marty nodded in reply. "What happened?"
"Nothing big," Marty replied. "It just really creeped me out."
The thought gave Doc chills as well. "What did you find out?" he asked.
"A person came into the classroom and changed the labels on the beakers," Marty said.
"Just as I suspected," Doc said. "Did you happen to see who it was?"
"It was Mr. Strickland," Marty said softly.
Doc's jaw dropped open. "Great Scott, are you sure? I mean it cannot be possible?" Doc was silent for a moment. "Then again, maybe it can." Doc's face contorted in anger at the realization. "He was the first to accuse me. He would have been the last person anyone would suspect."
"That jackass!" Marty sputtered. "You don't think he meant to do it, do you?"
"I seriously doubt that," Doc said. "He is a nincompoop, but I don't think he is a killer. I remember that science was never his best subject. I doubt he knew what kind of a reaction he was creating. He probably thought it was a harmless prank."
"What do we do now, Doc?" Marty asked.
"We can?t do anything more here," Doc said as the sound of a blast ripped through the quiet afternoon. Both Marty and Doc looked up to see smoke coming out of an upstairs window.
"Marty, we must go," Doc said, partly out of concern for the space-time continuum and partly because of his reluctance to relive this tragedy in his life.
"Right," Marty said. Suddenly, Marty felt as though his mind was encased in a sort of fog. He stopped walking and turned to face the Academy and the room where his past-life self lay dying.
"Marty, let?s go," Doc said, noting Marty's hesitation.
Marty paid no heed. He ran back up to the steps and into the school.
"Marty wait!" Doc called as he ran after his friend. He was able to catch up to Marty before he got too far. Doc grabbed Marty by the arms and nearly tackled him to the floor. Marty put up quite a struggle, but he wasn't able to free himself from Doc's grasp. Suddenly, Doc could feel the fight leave his friend and he released his grip, tentatively.
"Marty, are you all right?" Doc asked softly trying to ignore the strange looks he was getting from the few people who passed by.
Doc received no answer to his query. "Marty?" Doc asked softly. He turned Marty around and he finally got a good look at the young man's face. The sight sent chills up his spine.
Marty's eyes were wide and there was a noticeable vacancy in his stare. It was similar to the expression that he wore during the hypnosis session.
"Marty, please don't lapse into this now," Doc pleaded as he tried to rouse his friend from the trance. "We have to get out of here."
Marty blinked once and the focus came back to his eyes. "What happened?" he asked softly.
Doc breathed a sigh of relief. "You zoned out a little, that's all," he said. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Marty said vaguely.
"Good," Doc said. "Are you ready to go?"
"Go?" Marty asked.
Doc's concern grew tenfold. "Are you sure that you're all right?" he asked.
Marty nodded as Doc practically dragged him from the building. It was a quiet walk back to the DeLorean. Doc kept a watchful eye over his friend to make sure he didn't lapse into another trance.
Once back at the DeLorean, they wasted no time in getting into the car. Doc set the destination time as Marty silently belted himself in. Doc risked another concerned glance at his friend. He hadn't slipped into another trance-like state in the interim, but he seemed a bit off to Doc. Doc couldn?t put his finger on why, though. Deciding that they could sort the whole thing out when they arrived home, Doc put the car in gear and traveled back to the future.
Doc parked the car in the lab and got out. Marty remained where he was in the passenger seat. A nagging feeling crept into Doc's gut. Something wasn't right somehow.
"Aren?t you getting out?" Doc asked.
Marty gave him a strange look. Red flags went up in Doc's mind telling him that something was wrong, but Doc couldn't identify the specifics. Doc opened his mouth to ask Marty what was wrong, but the sound of his telephone ringing cut him off. He walked quickly over to his wall telephone and picked up the receiver. "Hello, Brown residence," he said.
"Hiya, Emmett. This is Charlie!" said a cheerful voice. "Hey, since when is it the 'Brown residence', anyway?"
Doc dropped the receiver of the telephone on the floor in shock. He scrambled to pick it up. "I'm sorry is this some sort of joke?" he said, though his gut told him that it was all very real indeed.
"It must be a joke that I'm not aware of," the other man said good-humoredly. "Say, when did you want me to stop by this afternoon?"
"Drop by?" Doc parroted.
"Didn't you want some help in the lab this afternoon?" Charlie asked, sounding perplexed. "You wanted some help testing your addition to your time machine."
Doc nearly dropped the telephone again. "Actually, something has come up and I don't think that I'll be working on that today," he said.
"You seem mighty distracted. Is everything all right over there?" Charlie asked with concern.
"Um, no. One of my sons is sick," Doc replied quickly.
"Emmett, what on Earth are you talking about! You have no children!"
Doc was speechless for a moment. "I don't?" he asked softly.
"Hell, Emmett, you're not even married! You?ve been a bachelor for as long as I've known you."
Doc's blood froze and he was speechless for a moment. How could he not have a family? Surely, this was his house. Wasn't it? "If I am bachelor, then what am I doing in a house as large as this?" Doc asked.
"It was so run down that it was the only thing you could afford," Charlie said matter-of-factly. "You only moved out of that garage of yours, because you about blew the place up during one of your experiments!" Charlie exclaimed. "For land?s sake, Emmett! You didn't slip off your toilet and hit your head again, did you? Seriously, you don't sound well."
"No," Doc mumbled. "Look, Charlie, this is really a bad time. Can I call you back?"
"Of course," Charlie replied. "Are you really all right, Emmett?"
"I'm not sure," Doc said as he hung up the telephone. He had a serious case of the chills. He needed to think. What had happened during their harried expedition to the past to change things this drastically?
Doc looked at Marty. His friend had exited the DeLorean and was now walking around the lab as if he had never been there before. He looked at everything as though he were seeing it for the first time. When Marty met Doc's gaze, his eyes held an accusatory glare.
"What am I doing here?" he asked. "Did you kidnap me for one of your weird experiments or something?"
Doc was so thrown by the outlandish remark that he couldn't respond. He looked at Marty incredulously and that only angered the younger man even more.
"I asked you a question," Marty seethed. "Answer me!"
"You came here of your own free will earlier this evening," Doc said as he finally found his voice.
"I find that hard to believe since I've never met you before in my life," Marty replied.
"This is just getting worse by the second," Doc thought. "Martin, I've known you for nearly ten years! How can you even say something like this to me?"
"Old man, you are nuttier than this town says you are," Marty said. "Aside from your questionable reputation, I wouldn't know you from a hole in the ground."
Doc cringed at the harshness of those words and he knew that he had to do something to get the situation under control. He spied his first aid kit sitting in its usual spot by his worktable. He hurried over to the kit and dumped its contents on the table. His Alpha Rhythm Sleep Inducer was in there as he hoped it would be.
"Success!" he cried.
Marty looked at first apprehensive, then almost fearful as he caught the scientist's relieved expression. "What are you doing?" Marty asked.
"Just stay still. This won't hurt a bit," Doc said as he walked toward his friend.
"What the hell are you doing! Stay away from me!" Marty cried as he started to run.
Doc was faster than Marty gave him credit for and he easily caught up with the young man and tackled him to the ground. "I'm getting too old for this," Doc thought as he activated the sleep inducer. In one quick motion, he snapped it in front of Marty's face. The device emitted a bright flash and Marty was instantly out cold.
Doc dragged his unconscious friend back to the DeLorean. He set Marty down carefully in the passenger seat and closed the gull wing door. Feeling that he needed more to fully get a sense of what was happening, he decided to search for answers in his house.
He noticed a difference as he opened the back door. The house was unnaturally quiet save for the patter of Einstein's feet as he padded over to greet his master. Doc patted the dog quickly and explored his house a little further. The interior of the house was considerably more run down and disorganized than when he had last seen it. The kitchen sink was filled with dirty dishes and it looked like they had been sitting in that sink for a few days at least.
Venturing into the living room, he noticed plans and other papers strewn about. As he looked at the walls, he noticed a solitary framed picture, but all of the photos of his family were gone. The chills crept up on Doc again as this only served to validate Charlie?s claim that he didn't have a family.
"How could the time machine exist, but not them?" Doc thought as he leaned in for a closer look at the one photograph. The sight only made his chill worsen.
It was a picture of himself with another man. They stood next to the DeLorean and were both grinning like fools for the camera. There was an inscription on the bottom of the photograph. Doc was sure that he was losing it now. There was no way that he could be reading that right
The inscription read: Emmett and Charlie leaving for 2010, Twin Pines Mall, October 26, 1985
Doc gasped. A mixture of shock and confusion threatened to overtake his brain. He really needed to make himself think and he began to pace the length of his living room.
"This just keeps getting stranger," Doc thought. "First, Charlie turns up alive. My wife and children do not even exist. Then, my closest friend acts like he has never known me?"
Doc stopped pacing. If what Marty had told him was true and he actually reincarnated from Charlie, it could explain this scenario. It was evident from Charlie's call that he was still very much alive, unlike the time line that Doc knew to be true.
Then, Marty couldn?t have reincarnated from Charlie as the past-life regression hypnosis supposedly implied. He must have reincarnated from someone else. The thought chilled Doc as he realized that the Marty who was sitting in the DeLorean could now be a completely different person than the Marty that he knew. That possibility certainly explained Marty's extremely strange behavior just moments before. It also explained the reason for the lack of a family in this alternate reality. It was apparent that Charlie was his assistant, not Marty. Based on the information given in the photograph, Doc's alternate self and Charlie only went twenty-five years into the future, not thirty years like Doc had done in his reality. The trip to 2015 to save Marty's son's future couldn't have happened in this reality. If Marty was not around to steal the Almanac during that trip to 2015, then there would be no reason to go to 1955 to stop Biff from mucking up history. The DeLorean would not be there to be struck by lightning and Doc would not be sent back to 1885. Therefore, Doc wouldn't have an opportunity to meet Clara Clayton and his sons would not be born.
Taking a deep breath to try to steady his shattered nerves, Doc started pacing again. He began to compare the events in 1932 as he remembered them to the ones that he had viewed that afternoon. He was thankful that the ripple effect hadn't quite caught up to him yet or this task might not be possible at all. He ran through the short trip in his mind. They had walked to the school. Marty had gone into the school to stake out the classroom. He had literally run from the building a short time later, white as a sheet, claiming that he had just met Charlie...
"That has to be the key to this puzzle,? Doc realized. He smacked his forehead in agitation with himself for not catching that before. "Of all the stupid, insignificant things!" he muttered as he hurried back to the lab. Doc wasted no time in getting into the DeLorean and setting off for the past. He would have to prevent Marty from meeting up with Charlie in the school.
When Doc arrived back in 1932, he checked Marty quickly to verify that the young man wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. He took the keys out of the ignition and began the trek back to his old school.
He knew that he would have to get Marty out of the classroom almost immediately after Samuel Strickland left. As he climbed the last step, he was nearly run over by someone who clearly wasn't looking where they were going. A glimpse at the retreating form told Doc that the person in question had already left the room.
He hurried to the classroom and swung the door open. He did a quick search of the room and spotted Marty crouched behind the bookcase.
"We have to leave, now!" Doc said.
Marty gave him a strange look as he stood up. "What are you doing in here? I thought we were meeting outside."
"There's been a slight change of plans," Doc said as he grabbed Marty?s arm.
"Easy, Doc!" Marty said irritably as he yanked his arm out of Doc's hand. "I can walk on my own, you know."
"Then do it. Quickly!" Doc said, putting great emphasis on that last word. Marty got the hint and the two practically ran from the room. Once they were in the stairwell, Doc stopped suddenly. He began to search his pockets and a panicked look spread across his face. "Great Scott!" he said.
"What's wrong?" Marty said as he stopped running.
"The keys to the DeLorean are missing. They must have fallen out of my pocket. Listen, Marty, go on ahead. I'll meet you in our original meeting place out front. Okay?"
Marty nodded and ran off. Doc watched him go as he shook his head.
"Sometimes, it's just too easy," he said as he took the time machine's keys out of his pocket. It was a nasty little trick, but Doc had to be sure that Marty's past self would meet up with his past self so that they could return proper order to the space-time continuum. Besides, one Marty was enough to handle. He certainly didn't need two. Doc turned around and walked toward the other side of the building and the rear exit that he knew was there.
Arriving back home, Doc parked the car in the lab and sat back in his seat with both hands still on the steering wheel. The realness of everything that day was really starting to sink in. He looked over at Marty and let out a weary sigh.
Marty stirred then and opened his eyes. "Doc?" he whispered. "Man, I have such a bitch of a headache! What happened?"
"Do you remember anything from the trip?" Doc asked.
"I don't remember anything after I left your old high school," Marty replied with a yawn. "Did I hit my head or something?"
"It's a long story, kid," Doc replied as he and Marty got out of the car.
Marty pulled out of Jennifer's driveway and drove toward Doc's house. He had stopped by to talk to Candice and Jennifer and say goodbye to Candice since she would be leaving early the next morning.
"I thought you might like this," Candice said as she handed him a tape. "It's a copy of the sessions tape."
"Thanks," Marty said. "I assume that you're keeping the original."
"Of course," she said. "I might need it for blackmail someday." That got a laugh out of Marty. They said their good byes and Marty left.
Marty felt rather apprehensive about dropping in on his old friend. After they had arrived back home after their trip back to 1932 two nights previous, Doc started behaving rather strangely. First, he all but kicked Marty out of the lab making up some excuse that he wasn't feeling well. Then, when Marty had tried calling him several times to make sure that he was okay, Clara answered the phone and told Marty that Doc was too busy to talk to him.
Now, Marty had had enough of the shit. He parked his truck in Doc's driveway and marched up to the lab. He knocked once and when he did not get an answer, he walked in. Sure enough, Doc was there as Marty suspected he would be. Doc stood, hunched over a set of plans with his back toward Marty and he did not notice or he pretended not to notice his friend's arrival.
"Hey, Doc. What's going on?" Marty asked.
Doc started at the sound of Marty's voice. Marty let out a sad sigh.
"Is everything all right?" Doc asked.
"I was going to ask you the same thing, Doc," Marty replied.
"What do you mean by that?" Doc asked.
"You know what I mean. I've been trying to call you for two days and I keep getting this same lame excuse from Clara that you're too busy in here to talk to me. We have been friends for, like, a decade, Doc and you've never been too busy to speak to me before. Did I do something during our trip to the past to offend you?"
"Of course not, Marty," Doc replied.
"Then, what is it?" Marty asked. "You're treating me like I have the plague."
"It isn't you, Marty," Doc said. "I have just needed some time to adjust, that's all."
"Adjust to what, Doc?" Marty asked. "It's still me. Nothing about me has changed."
Doc finally turned around to look at him. "You are still the same person, Marty, but my perception of you has changed," he replied. "I can't look at you without thinking that the only other good friend I ever had died so that you would exist just as you are now."
Marty was silent for a moment. He hadn't considered that at all. "I'm sorry, Doc," he said softly as he looked at the floor. "If you don't want me hanging around anymore, I'll understand."
"No, Marty, that's not what I meant," Doc said. "I mean that it will take a while for me to get used to this whole thing. It isn't everyday that one learns that they have been friends with two different people who share the same soul."
"You don't think that I'm creeped out by this?" Marty asked. "Before those dreams started, I never gave this whole reincarnation thing a second thought. I mean, how far do you think this all goes back? How many lives have we really had? I don?t think that I have the sanity to deal with this again."
"Let us worry about that if and when it happens," Doc said. "Meanwhile, I hope that you accept my apology for my behavior over these last couple of days."
"Accepted, Doc," Marty replied.
"Has there been a change in those dreams yet?" Doc asked.
"They didn't just change, they stopped," Marty said. "I don?t miss them one bit."
"Funny," Doc mused. "Perhaps, we did everything that we were supposed to do."
"Maybe," Marty said as he puzzled over a thought. "What are you going to do with the information on Strickland? Are you going to press charges or anything like that?"
"As much as I?d like to see that bastard get what he deserves, I'm afraid that it would be impossible to do much of anything without having to tell how we know."
"Aren't you going to do anything?" Marty asked. "He shouldn't go without some kind of punishment."
"I know the truth now, Marty. That will be enough for me," Doc replied.
"All right," Marty said, finally conceding to the idea. A devilish grin spread across his face. "Maybe he'll reincarnate as a cockroach in his next life and someone will step on him."
"Marty that is horrible!" Doc said, trying to sound appalled. However, he couldn't quite keep up the charade and he and Marty broke down into laughter.
"Are you feeling better now?" Marty asked.
"I'm a little better, I suppose," Doc replied.
"Good," Marty said. "I was beginning to worry that this whole thing would kill our friendship."
"I don't think there is a danger of such a thing happening, Marty," Doc replied. "Our friendship has seen some serious strain and it has survived more or less intact."
"True," Marty said. If Candice was right about the same people being friends from lifetime to lifetime, then there was no doubt in his mind that their friendship would, indeed, last forever.
