Together, we searched around the house, checking every room for any sort of television. Every room, every closet, every bathroom, until eventually I heard Carmen call out to me from the bottom floor. I raced downstairs to meet her, where she stood in front of the bedroom closest to the living room.

“I found one that looks like you said! And um… I also found Ms. Steinfeld,” she said, before showing me into the room.

Ms. Steinfeld sat on the end of a bed, frozen with a phone in her hand. That meant that we were going to be next if we didn't hurry. I quickly went to turn the TV on, which turned to static. I searched for other buttons, a remote, a cassette player or anything else.

“Was I wrong?” I wondered aloud. “I was sure I saw some static on my card… card! That's it!”

As I finally pieced things together in my mind, I pulled out a card from my pocket. Specifically, it was Mina’s card. I didn't know what exactly to do with it or why, but my first instinct was to place it against the screen. It worked. The instant the card tapped against the screen of the TV, a burst of pink color expanded from the center of the static and outwards. Eventually, the entire room we were in was illuminated in a bright pink light, to the point where all I could see was pink. Before we were blinded completely, I turned around and grabbed onto Carmen’s arm, worried we’d be separated. Then, everything went pink.

What followed was a change of scenery. Not a cramped and dark room of the Roseate Manor like before, but an open field. A field surrounded by trees, mountains and a stream. This was the very land the Roseate Manor was built on, but without the Roseate Manor. Just an open field. Across from us stood a girl with black hair and pink eyes, holding a magical wand with a stuffed pink fox tucked beneath her arm. This was Mina Roseate.

I didn't let go of Carmen's arm, still wary of what was to come. This was the person who was tormenting this whole time, and now we were face to face with her. Before saying anything, she raised her wand into the air, causing an enormous pillar of pink light to form to the left of her, halfway between us.

“Iris, I'll give you a chance,” Mina spoke loudly in a high pitched voice.

I gulped, a single drop of sweat falling down my cheek. “A chance to do what?”

“A chance to show me you aren't useless.”

After that, the bright pillar of pink light began to reveal a figure. A figure of incredible size. My eyes widened as I looked up just to see the figure take form. It was human, or at least appeared that way, but it was the size of a bus if you were to flip it vertically. I could see it was crouched down by the time its limbs were revealed, and all four of its limbs were chained to the ground. It wore the expression of immense agony, as if it were in constant pain.

It was male in appearance, until something absurd happened. It changed appearance, from a man to a woman and then into a newborn infant, only to change back to a man again. It would occasionally swap its appearance the longer I stared, but wearing that expression of agony all the same. The thing wasn't gross looking, but even so I thought I'd hurl just from how unnatural it seemed.

“What… what is that thing!” I screamed, stumbling backwards.

Mina shook her head. “Pay no attention to it. It's only there as a time limit. You'll be facing me instead.”

“Facing you, what do you mean?” My heart was pounding in my chest as I tried to make sense of this bizarre reality.

“If you can hit me once with your magic, then perhaps this timeline isn't doomed at all,” she said with an indifferent expression.

In the very next instant, she raised her wand and a beam of pink energy blasted to the side of me. I quickly scurried to my feet, only to see another beam of light shoot towards me. I only barely got out of the way as it grazed my arm. It stung. It burned. It was real. She was trying to kill me.

Carmen yelped as another beam went past me and nearly collided with her. For whatever reason though, Mina wanted nothing to do with Carmen. Only me.

“Are you going to run around without even firing back?” Mina said.

“Fire back with what!” I shouted. Each beam of pink got closer and closer to hitting me with each evasion.

“Your magic, you fool!” she yelled as if trying to motivate me. “At least shield yourself before I hit you.”

I tried to take her advice and conjure up something, anything, but nothing would happen. She was shooting magic at me. Real magic, yelling at me to do the same, but I couldn't do anything. No magical shield appeared, no laser beams appeared from my fingertips, I couldn't do anything.

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As she finally caught up to me, a beam of pink light pierced my right leg, immediately causing me to fall to the floor and writhe in agony. Pain shot through my body instantly, flaring up my entire nervous system. It was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. A fiery sensation burning in my leg. All I could do was scream and look back at my leg, not even paying attention to what Mina was doing anymore.

Carmen rushed to my aid, pressing down on my wound. Blood painted the blades of grass red. Nothing she did stopped the bleeding, but she tried all the same. Mina no longer was firing at me, only giving an unimpressed and disappointed look.

“You really are undependable,” Mina said. “To think I have to rely on a weakling like you…”

Something fired up in my chest like a furnace, as I gritted my teeth and tried to lift myself up. “What did I even do to you!” I screamed. As I tried to stand, my leg spasmed and my whole body gravitated back to the floor. “I've done nothing!” I screamed in pain once again, my wound feeling as if it was opening itself up further. “I’m…” I whimpered, struggling to get my words out. “I am your God!”

Mina flinched, her expression changing to one of disgust. “That's what you think?” She gripped her wand tightly in her hand. “This whole time, you thought you were a god? You're not a god… you're a pretender. Godhood is earned by people who deserve it. Someone special… you're not special.” Tears formed in Mina's eyes. “If you think you can even compare to her, there really is no saving you.”

As I was wallowing in my own despair, listening to this little girl berate me, suddenly Carmen stepped in front of me, spreading her arms out in a protective gesture. “Stop this,” she said. “Just stop it! Whatever your reason is, leave her alone! She might have a god complex… but she is special!”

Mina glared at Carmen with daggers for eyes, but Carmen remained headstrong. “What do you know, you rich prissy brat?” Mina said.

Carmen put a hand on her heart. “Iris is special, but more importantly, she's kind.” Carmen took a few steps towards Mina, hiding all of her fear. “She's kind, and that's why-”

“Stop, brat!” Mina yelled, but by then it was too late.

As Carmen took those steps, the beast to the right of her which had remained quiet finally attacked. It swung its head down over Carmen with what little reach it had. Carmen only barely looked up before seeing a mouth of teeth descend, biting down against her ribs.

I coughed while trying to scream, watching what happened next. With Carmen in its mouth, it bit down, making a loud, audible crunch. Then, I looked on as Carmen’s body was severed in half, her lower half dropping to the grass. Her intestines sprawled out like spaghetti, marinating the ground below her. Inside of the creature’s mouth, it chewed on her upper half whilst crying.

It cried, as if it was horrified by what it was doing, and eventually it let the remains of Carmen’s body drop from its mouth. She was completely mangled, chewed into a broken mess of flesh and bone. What remained of her face stared back at me, eyes wide and devoid of life, with a mouth completely agape, eternally screaming. It was an expression of terror.

The moment I saw her face, I vomited. It was a mixture of saliva and stomach bile. I kept staring at her, unable to look away from those wide, dead eyes. It was my fault.

Mina scratched her head viciously and shouted into the sky. “I hate you all! I hate all of you and I hate this time loop!”

After these words, the world around me started to feel as if it was collapsing. My vision was already blurry from tears, but the curtain of reality was slowly falling around me. I couldn't move any of my muscles, not because of my wound, but because of something else. Eventually, my vision would disappear entirely for a brief moment. Then, I was back. Back in that dark room.

The blood and the wound in my leg was gone, yet the tears and vomit remained. My clothes were stained and filthy, reeking of puke. As I turned around and started to stand up, I saw Ms. Steinfeld. This time, she was moving.

She glanced around the room, before looking at me. “Oh gods, what happened to you?” She rushed over to me, putting a hand on my back. “When did you even get in my room?

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, I continued to sob, kneeling in my own body fluids. I covered my mouth, having trouble breathing. Ms. Steinfeld rubbed my back, probably in immense confusion of what happened. For whatever reason, Carmen was nowhere to be seen. As well as that, the cards and the hourglasses were gone. It was like all evidence of what happened just disappeared.

After what happened, with everyone having collective memory loss and Carmen going missing, the field trip ended early. As I was grabbing my things from my room, I was alone with Ilya and Lily who were reasonably the most confused after being trapped in the attic. Silence filled the room for a while, until Ilya decided to say something.

“Iris,” she called to me, before stepping towards me.

I turned around to face her and quickly felt two hands grab me by the collar, shoving me against the wall. I yelped as I slammed against it, two blue eyes staring into mine through clear lenses.

“Hey, break it up!” Lily started walking over.

Ilya pushed me hard into the wall, glaring back at Lily. “Shut up, Lily. Iris, you know something, don't you?” With my growth being so stunted, she easily lifted me higher.

I grunted. “Know what?”

She clicked her tongue. “Ms. Steinfeld found you covered in vomit. What was that about? You saw something.”

I feigned ignorance, staring into her eyes and staying silent. She shook me, causing me to hit the back of my head against the wall.

“Say something!” she yelled, before dropping me. “Fuck!”

I fell to my knees, nearly crying again, just about holding it back. Ilya stormed out of the room, leaving me alone with Lily. Neither of us said a word. I gathered my things and put them into my bag, leaving the house to wait for the bus.

As I stood outside, red eyes haunted my memory. Empty eyes without life, screaming in horror. The face of pain. It wouldn't leave my mind. On that day, I experienced magic. Real magic. Magic that could kill. My leg was pierced and I felt my life force draining. It was magic that snuffed the life out of Carmen, my friend, and I couldn't do a single thing to stop it.