-WAKE UP-
I jumped out of bed as the cold air left my mouth and quickly searched my body for any wounds or injuries. I began to hyperventilate and experience tightness in my chest as panic crept up inside of me.
“That could not have been real. It is not possible.”
I said this to myself in a panic. There was then a knock on my door, which startled me.
“Is everything okay in there?”
The voice on the other side was my mom's. I struggled to catch my breath as I was overwhelmed by this new feeling. I had never experienced claustrophobia before, but it seemed to be taking over.
I sprang from my room without pausing and ran past my alarmed mother. I just needed to get out of the house. The cool morning air hit me as I stepped outside, and I doubled over, my hands on my knees, trying to take deep breaths. My breathing slowed down over time, and I started to feel more in control.
My mother followed me outside, still calling my name with concern etched on her face. I allowed myself to unwind in her hug, as I felt secure and comforted in her presence.
“Let us go inside, ok?”
At that point, I noticed that a few of the neighbours had emerged from their homes to observe. I was also dressed inappropriately for being seen outside—shorts and a singlet, which they stared at. I felt exposed and embarrassed by this.
With her arms still around me, my mom took me back into the house, seated me at the dining room table, and sat down next to me. She waited for me to speak up and let her know what was wrong, while we both remained silent for a while.
“Mum, is dad travelling anywhere soon?”
“No, why are you asking?”
“I am not done.”
I spoke quickly to interrupt her, and she began waiting for me to continue.
“Are we throwing a party for Omar?”
“No.”
I ran my hands across my face in confusion. So were those all dreams?
“I am sorry, mom.”
“Sorry for what?”
“For making you worry.”
She gave a weak smile, trying to hide her worried look.
“Do you want some orange juice?”
“Yes please.”
I tried to sound energetic, but anyone could tell I was not okay. However, I am sure she did not want to push me any further and tried to alleviate the stress I was feeling, so she then stood up from where she sat and walked over to the fridge to prepare some freshly squeezed orange juice.
Why were Dad and Omar not here? Then realisation dawned upon me as I remembered that dad had said he would be taking Omar to school early from now on. My memories were terrible, as I seemed to always be forgetting things. They seemed to be failing me both in real life and even in my dreams. It was all so weird.
The sound of a glass cup hitting the table jolted me back to reality. A tall, icy glass of orange juice was in front of me when I looked up. I gulped down the entire glass as my mom, who was now sitting next to me once more, watched me.
“I just had a thought explosion.”
“Thought explosion; what is that?”
“It is basically overthinking, but I am ok now.”
“Elisa, are you sure? We could go see the doctor, you know?”
“Doctor Jordyn, no thank you.”
Despite my best efforts to reassure her with a smile, my mother's concern didn't seem to diminish. Her eyes were heavy, and it seemed there was nothing she could do. I did not want her to feel or act this way.
"I am just worried about you."
She spoke softly, and I placed my hand on top of hers to reassure her once more.
"I am okay. Can I just stay home for today?”
“Of course, you can.”
“Thanks, mom.”
I gave her a warm embrace before standing up.
“I need to rest my head, so I’ll be in my room.”
“Ok honey.”
I retreated to my room and locked the door behind me. I slid down to the ground with my back against the door and curled up into a ball with my legs tucked under my arms.
“Elisa, calm down; you got this.”
I said quietly to myself. It was a mantra that I repeated, trying to reassure myself and prevent another breakdown. I stood up from the ground and surveyed my messy room. My bed wasn't made, my closet was a disorganised mess, and clothes were all over the floor.
I thought I could check online and maybe I would get some answers, but at this point, I was just thinking of something that would explain what was happening—that is, if anything weird was even happening or if I was just dreaming and thinking this was all real.
“Where is my phone?”
I recalled that my phone was on top of the drawer, so I had to get up and reach for it. Once I retrieved it, I returned to my bed, still unsure of what exactly to search for on the internet.
“Briana or Louis?”
Stolen novel; please report.
As I considered reaching out to someone for answers, I glanced at the clock and saw that it was already 10:37. It was likely that everyone was in class by now, so I figured it wouldn't be worth trying to contact anyone.
Wait. This was when it clicked.
Noon
Those monsters. I remember they both appeared just after noon had struck, but was it a coincidence or an actual occurrence? I needed to test it to be sure.
In the hopes that I would have some answers by then, I chose to set an alarm for noon. I contemplated taking a nap in the meantime and set my phone alarm, placing it beside me. Even though my thoughts were still dominated by what I was going through, I eventually closed my eyes and fell asleep.
—
The constant ringing caused my eyes to flutter open as I groaned loudly. My hand reached for my phone and turned off the alarm.
It was noon.
I got out of bed and headed downstairs. My mother was apparently asleep as she lay on the couch as I made my way down the stairs. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of her looking so peaceful. After the panic attack I had earlier, I knew that she must have been worried and troubled.
I stepped outside and scanned the street, my gaze fixed on the direction of the school, a kilometre away. Though it was out of sight, I felt comfort in the fact that if anything were to happen, I would be aware of it.
I waited.
The silence was tense.
Each second felt like an eternity.
Then it happened.
A sudden tremor shook the ground beneath my feet, lasting only a second but sending a shiver up my spine. This time, the ground shook and was accompanied by a booming sound coming from the direction of the school. Something in the distance caught my eye, but it was a bit too small to see.
Running back into the house, I saw my mom coming down the stairs, as she was probably looking for me in my room. She called out my name as I ran right past her, ignoring her and going into my brother’s room. Without hesitation, I went to his wardrobe and started clearing out some boxes that he used to store his toys.
“Elisa, what is going on?”
“I am not sure, but I am trying to find out.”
After opening and searching inside most of the boxes, I found what I was looking for: a pair of binoculars. It was a gift my dad got for Omar about a year ago. What if that memory was fake, though, and that never happened? I was unsure of what to believe since I could not trust my own recollection.
I quickly grabbed the binoculars and went back outside, this time with my mom following right behind. There were now a number of people outside, drawn by the strange event and pointing at the sky, which, despite me being terrified and freaked out, was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
The clouds were swirling over the area I assumed was just above where the school was. Blue and purple colours complemented the green glow emanating from the sky, with flashes of lightning happening within the clouds as they beautifully created an amazing visual spectacle. Despite this, there was one thing that I was focused on, and that was the thing that was moving around in the air—the sole reason I had brought out the binoculars.
I placed the binoculars in front of my eyes, adjusting the magnification until I could clearly see what the object was. What I saw was reminiscent of oak wood, but it had green patches of moss growing on its surface. It had four appendages that resembled hands, each tipped with sharp claws, and three heads that resembled skulls. It was clear that this thing had some sort of power over the weather, as evidenced by the thunderstorm that seemed to be emanating from it.
What was more interesting, however, was that someone else was in the air as well and was fighting it; the person had some kind of white blade that he used against the creature. It was just like the other two times: whoever this person was, they must know what is happening here, and I needed to find them.
“Elisa, can you see what is happening?”
I had completely forgotten that my mom was standing right next to me.
“I can; it's crazy.”
The fight continued, and the weather became even crazier as lightning bolts started firing across the clouds. I bore witness to what I assumed was the final blow as the person ripped something from one of the monster’s skulls, and a massive explosion of energy tore through the sky. The resulting shockwave was so powerful that it shattered windows. I would have lost my eyes if not for my quick thinking and reflexes to get the binoculars off my face before the lens shattered.
There was still some residue visible in the sky from the explosion, which had cleared out the clouds as well. A lot of ongoing chatter and noise was made by the people around, but that was drowned out by my conclusion. Those so-called dreams that I had were real.
This realisation sent shivers up my spine since every emotion—scream, blood, and death—was real. I had experienced all of that. The lingering questions were "how" and "why." I needed to figure out the answers to these questions, and to do that, I was going to have to find that person since they were my only clue at the moment.
But wait, I did not die this time, so what will happen tomorrow? That was a possibility that I had not thought of; maybe I just needed to survive the day to cause all this to stop.
“I TOLD YOU ALL, ALIENS ARE REAL!”
I jumped in dread at the old man's cries of impending doom. He appeared to be in his eighties and appeared to be convinced that aliens were real and the end was near. I mean, who would not after having witnessed that firsthand?
“THE END IS COMING.”
As he continued his tirade, a young man approached him and spoke to him in a hushed tone, taking advantage of the loud murmuring from the crowd to keep their conversation private. I knew it was not my business, but I moved closer to them without drawing any suspicion as I was trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“Dad, stop this; we don't know what is going on.”
“DID YOU NOT SEE THAT?”
The old man said this as he grabbed his son by the collar of his shirt and pointed erratically at the residue in the sky, which had started to dissipate.
Aliens. He was probably right about that, and it would explain what was going on, but were they responsible for the loops I was experiencing, or was something far greater and supernatural at play here?
“Maybe you are right, Elisa.”
What?
As I slowly turned around, I saw the old man staring at me with dead eyes. A wave of discomfort passed through me, and shivers went up my spine. I couldn't help but wonder how he knew my name. Before I knew it, everything had faded away, and it was just me and this old man.
“You do have the right idea; I’ll give you that.”
His voice was calm and echoed in the seemingly empty space we were now in. Meanwhile, I was still perplexed, trying to understand what was going on. What was he talking about?
“What are you talking about, and how do you know my name?”
“At this point, I can’t tell you anything, but maybe when I am able to confirm that you are totally free, unlike the other one, then I can tell you more.”
The old man's words kept replaying in my head. What did he mean by “totally free”? Did he think I was trapped in this loop? And who was he referring to as being before me? There were too many unanswered questions, and my mind was racing to make sense of it all.
“Who are you?”
“I am unable to answer that at the moment. Just be aware that I know everything about you and I will be watching you, Elisa.”
I stretched out my hand in an attempt to grab the man, but I felt something on my shoulder. Spinning around nervously, I saw my mother behind me, and I was now standing outside once more, surrounded by the same group of onlookers as before. The old man was looking toward the sky and shouting loudly as his son was trying to get him quiet.
What had happened? Was that all real or just some sort of hallucination?
I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my head, causing me to instinctively rub my temples in an attempt to soothe the discomfort. There were questions just popping in and out of my head, but I decided to consider what had just occurred as real given all the crazy things that were already happening.
“Elisa, are you okay?”
My mom said this as she placed her head on my back.
“I am okay.”
“Come on, let us go inside.”
I felt her tug gently on my arm as she led me away from the crowd and back into the house. I could feel her shaking, despite her best efforts to hide it.
“My phone, do you know where it is?”
She said this as she searched the couch frantically, and I helped her look.
“Found it.”
I said this as I pulled it from between the cushions and handed it to her. She immediately began dialling a number, which I assumed was my dad’s. With what we both had just witnessed, I could not blame her for acting this way, as she hoped they were safe. I hung around, waiting for confirmation that they were okay as well.
“Hello, are you both fine?”
She waited for a response but breathed a sigh of relief, which told me everything already. They were safe, but what about Louis and Briana?
They were right at the school, so I needed to make sure they were okay as well. My phone was still upstairs, so I climbed the stairs, leaving my mom behind. Entering my room, I immediately spotted my phone on the bed and dialled Briana first.
“Come on, pick up.”
I mumbled to myself as her phone continued ringing, but there was no response. This made my thoughts run wild, but I decided to hold on. I tried Louis as well, but it was the same: no response. I tried them both multiple times to no avail.
“Please be okay.”
Despite me saying this, I had a feeling that the worst had occurred, but I was not as emotional as I normally would have been because my experiment was successful and I had confirmed I was in a loop, so they would come back. However, I was not sure what would happen if I survived until the end of the day.
Would I be free from the loop? Would these events be permanent? I was anxious and nervous because if it was, then I would really lose them.
—
I stared in awe at the television as the news was on and currently covered the incident. The report included a number of those confirmed dead, which was 90, with many still missing as the school and the surrounding area were destroyed during the incident. My eyes were dry from crying earlier, as I had confirmed that Louis and Briana were among the dead.
“Elisa.”
The time was around 10 or so, and I was alone with my dad in the living room. He had arrived back home with my brother a few hours ago. Omar was sleeping in my parent’s room with my mom because she wanted us close by. Meanwhile, I and my dad have been glued to the screen for about three hours now, not moving or saying a word. I shifted my body to face my dad.
“Yes dad.”
“Are you doing okay?”
“I am, thanks.”
He seemed like he wanted to genuinely talk to me and discuss, which was something he rarely did. I did appreciate that greatly, but I was not in the mood for such conversations now. I looked over at him, and he was perplexed, unsure of what to say and do.
“You saw it happen, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did; mom told you already.”
After a brief pause, I stayed quiet, contemplating my next words.
“The future really is scary, isn’t it?”
I said this with regard to the loop and what happens after this day passes.
“It really is, but we have to just be strong enough to handle it when it gets tough.”
From the way he spoke, I could tell he did not want to talk about something that would make me emotional, which I was happy about.
“Despite the fact that I am unsure of what lies ahead, I must have the strength to overcome any obstacles that may arise.”
I told myself this before giving my dad a soft smile and resigning back into the comfortable position I was once in. There was a lot that needed answers and that I had to figure out, but I hoped that over time I would come to learn all of these things.
Time continued on as normal, and I stayed where I was, waiting for the next day to come, but slowly, everything went black.