Strings of Fate: The First Loop

PROLOGUE

And then he blinked, and she was gone.

Every time.

He could never hold onto her.

That was the most agonizing part.

I think I lost her. I think I lost all of them.

The memories weren't just of that girl. There were others. Names whispered like prayers in his dreams: Matt. Drake. Inez. Olive. He knows these people, they are his friends, acquaintances from school. Each carrying a different kind of pain. Each a mirror reflecting some part of himself he didn't want to see.

He had loved them.

He had hurt them.

He had failed them.

Again and again and again.

But this time, something felt different. There was a pressure building in his chest. A pull.

Like a string.

Tugging at him from somewhere deep inside the universe.

He didn't understand it, but it felt real. Tangible. Like if he just followed it long enough, it would lead him back to her.

Back to all of them.

But maybe this time... maybe this time it will be different.

The wind picked up, carrying with it the faintest whisper. He turned, scanning the shoreline, but there was no one there.

Still, he felt watched.

Not in a threatening way.

In a way that said: You're not alone. Not yet.

He dropped to his knees in the sand, staring at the water as it pulled back, then surged forward. Again. Again. Predictable. Endless.

How many times had he stood here like this? A thousand? A hundred thousand?

Each loop felt new, but the ache was familiar.

He picked up a smooth stone and turned it over in his hand. There was a name etched into it. Faint. Nearly worn away.

James.

His.

He dropped it.

And suddenly, he remembered something. Not a full memory, but a feeling.

A hallway. A letter in his hand. Someone yelling his name. A choice he didn't make in time.

And the consequences that followed.

A hallway filled with silence.

A girl with eyes full of betrayal.

A second chance, wasted.

He stood up, breath catching in his throat.

There was more. It was coming back to him. Slowly. Painfully.

A car. A fight. Rain.

Blood.

A hospital room with too much white and not enough life.

And her.

Always her.

Looking at him with both love and devastation in her gaze.

And then nothing.

He sucked in a breath, nearly doubling over with the weight of it.

He didn't just lose her.

He destroyed her.

And the universe kept making him remember. Over and over. A punishment, maybe. A warning.

Or a test.

This time... he whispered to himself. This time I won't mess it up.

But could he really change anything?

Could he be someone different?

The wind shifted again. This time carrying a melody. Soft. Faint. Familiar.

A song he once sang with someone.

A song that meant home.

"Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain... kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain..."

And just like that, the ocean began to recede. Not literally. Emotionally. The fog in his mind began to thin.

He turned away from the sea, looking back at the shoreline.

There were footprints in the sand now. Not his.

Someone had been here.

Or would be.

He followed them, heart pounding.

And in the distance, past the dunes, he saw something flicker. A green ribbon. A flash of eyes. A silhouette.

She was waiting.

He knows her name.

He knows her soul.

He would always know her soul.

This was the beginning.

Or maybe the end.

Or maybe, just maybe, the place where fate paused long enough to let him try again.

"James, are you ready?"

She beamed a smile but, she is not Her.