Timeshock - I Want My Life Back by Timothy Michael Lewis

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    He was now on the run from the Italian Mafia.   But Nigel wanted to get back to England so he could build another time machine for Natalie.   But he worried about what he had told Christina.   She knew he was called Nigel and that he was staying in Hotel Napoli.   He had to get out of Italy fast before they could catch up with him.  

Chapter 18
    After rushing to his hotel, Nigel stowed all his luggage and everything except his wallet and passport in the storage diamond.   He then checked-out and grabbed a taxi towards the airport.   When he got there he discovered that the next flight to London was time-tabled another four hours away and was delayed another hour.  

    Nigel panicked a little - he glanced at the indicator boards and saw a flight to Paris leaving in two hours.   He booked himself onto that flight and rushed through security.   He was safe - for now.

    The flight landed in Paris and Nigel rushed to the Gare Du Nord and booked a Eurostar ticket to take him to London.   On the train, Nigel realised that his original plan was doomed.  
    There was no way he was going to be able to build another time machine for Natalie in haste.   Then he thought - you have a time machine .   He could just go back to before he went to Italy and he would be safe.   He felt such an idiot for not thinking of it before.   He just needed to find somewhere to go back in time.   It probably wouldn’t be safe returning to his flat - the Mafia might be waiting there.

    Almost immediately after leaving the train at St Pancras, Nigel headed for the toilets - he found a large cubicle and got the time machine out and activated it to go back 6 days.
    This journey took virtually no time at all.  

    Nigel had forgotten one of the lessons about choosing locations to time travel.   He found himself in a cubicle with a very old man using the toilet.   The man screamed.
    In a total panic Nigel stowed the time machine and the old man in the storage diamond and fled out of the toilet.   Remembering the old man, he found a deserted men’s toilet at nearby bar and released the mortified pensioner.

    Nigel took the tube back to his flat and then he remembered another important fact about time travel he had forgotten - sitting on the sofa in the flat was another Nigel.   It was himself from 6 days ago.
    For about a minute there was silence.   Then eventually Nigel explained to his twin what had happened.   His twin understood why he had done what he had done, but pointed out that there were now more Nigels than Natalies in this reality.

    As the time travelled was so little, this Nigel was virtually identical in terms of mood and outlook to his twin.   They discussed the situation and came to a conclusion.   The twin would build two new time machines based on the plans of the current one, which were also in the storage diamond.   Nigel would travel even further back and take the place of the Nigel who had originally built the time machine, arriving back just after he had jumped back in time.

    The only issue was that neither twin knew the exact date when that Nigel went back in time.   Nigel went over to Raymond and Natalie’s house to see if they could remember the date the original Nigel went back in time.

    After ringing the doorbell Nigel waited for a while.   Eventually the door opened and Nigel saw Raymond shaking.   He was holding a knife - covered in blood.  
    “What on earth happened?” asked Nigel.
    “I..I…I’ve killed Natalie.”   Raymond started sobbing.
    “What!?!   Where is she?”
    “In the kitchen.   She said that she had a lover and was leaving.   I lost control.   I am so sorry.”
    Nigel rushed to the kitchen and saw Natalie’s lifeless body lying on the floor. She had been stabbed multiple times.  

    Nigel fell to his knees and wept.   Looked like this Nigel was doomed for tragedy as well.   Then he remembered. He had a time machine. But this time he would think things through