Vanilla Dusk ✓

Loop Part 10

Shayne wasn't one to give up. Erik was all he had. His life should have ended on the rooftop that day, but Erik, appearing out of nowhere, shone in front of him when all he could see was darkness. It was the first time someone noticed his presence and cared to shed a tear for his loss. His life was back to track after meeting Erik. He no longer felt the urge to play truant, to alienate himself from others and to brainstorm different ways of retributing himself. Erik saw the good in him when all he could think of were his estranged father, his absent mother, his deserted house, his pathetic social life and the non-existent life goals.

'You're so beautiful, so talented, so intelligent,' Erik used to tell him jokingly. 'You deserve all kinds of happiness in life, Shayne. Why do you always look like the world is ending?'

Erik was his motivation to live because he intrigued him in every single way, right from the beginning when he wept on the rooftop and invaded his life recklessly.

Shayne ran out for errands this time because Erik said he would like some smoked salmon and spaghetti. They were going to have dinner at Shayne's place as usual but Erik had to go back to the hall to pack a few things, preparing for their weekend trip to Brighton. Shayne was going to drive them there and they would get plenty of sunshine, some swimming and endless seafood.

When Shayne dropped by the hall to pick Erik up, the building was enveloped in smoke. A crowd had gathered below, kept away from the entrance by the firefighters. An electrical fire had broken out, starting from the seventh floor and Erik was right there, trapped inside his room at the end of the corridor. He was snoozing heavily, drained from a mid-term paper from the previous night, and when he eventually woke up, it was already too late. Smoke had begun to creep in through the door gaps. He grabbed all the towels he could find and soaked them with water before tugging them under the door. He tried to open the window but it wouldn't budge. There had always been a problem with the lock but the school never bothered to fix it. The flames spread as fast as the burning oil on the sea and they soon engulfed his room. When his body was rescued later, it was covered in soot and some of his skin had peeled off. Shayne hugged his head and growled in frustration. When he touched the watch again, his entire body burnt as if he himself had walked through the sea of fire.

It was a living hell.

Time got shorter and they savoured every moment together.

Once, a plank fell off a building and Erik pushed Shayne out of the way. He got ripped into half. Another time, they had picnic in the park and they ran out of water. Erik asked Shayne to refill their bottles from the fountain and the moment he was away, a vast hive fell on Erik and he got stung to death by hundreds of hornets. And then, there was this time they went camping and Erik slipped on a rock. He hit his head and bounced into the river before getting swept away by the speeding current.

It got gruelling and Shayne was slowly breaking down. It was as if he was in one of those video games where the character kept dying and being resurrected but they never got to move on to the next level because more and more opponents kept appearing out of nowhere and looming towards them.

Shayne used the watch a few more times and realised that he could actually go back to any days prior to Erik's most recent death. But no matter which day he went back to, somehow, Erik would die again shortly after and most of the incidents involved Erik trying to save him or die in his place, which only afflicted him more and haunted him incessantly with remorse. There was no preventing it and all he could do was watch Erik go through the same excruciating suffering and repeat the ordeal until the hand of the clock landed on the number X.

Shayne knew what it meant.

There were two more chances.

They were at the bank this time making some deposits. A few short queues had formed in front of the counter and the place was ghost-quiet, except for their occasional whispers and chuckles. Everyone was either focussing on their phone screens or glimpsing their watches with impatient grunts. They almost reached the counter window when a thunderous bang suddenly erupted in the air. The door was flung open and in barged five masked men in pure black, each armed with a gun. Screams ruptured their ears as people panicked and began darting in frantic directions. Another bang followed, causing people to leap in terror. Silence regained control as the men commanded that they freeze. They were forced to clear the path and squat down with their hands on their heads. Shayne and Erik crouched side by side in the front, watching as two robbers dashed to the counter demanding an entry to the vault, two others guarded the main gate and one held everyone hostage in the room.