Time Is Frozen

Chapter 1

The first indication of anything wrong with the morning should have been the song Stitches playing as my alarm tone.

It had been almost a year since I had traded Shawn Mendes and Ed Sheeran for Coldplay and Imagine Dragons, but in my sleep-induced, coffee-deprived haze, I missed the absence of It's Time and headed towards my bathroom to freshen up for the day.

I almost slipped on a fallen bottle of shampoo, before steadying myself against the sink. I noticed how a similar thing had happened my first day of senior year, faintly smiling at my affinity for slipping on first days that are supposed to be new starts.

Today, I'd be moving to my college campus, where I'll be living for 3 years for my B. S. in Physics.
Dressed, I went down to the kitchen to see my mom eating from a batch of her signature red velvet cupcakes, desserts she reserved for holidays and new beginnings.

'So, ready for the new year?' she asked, handing me a plate of two red velvet muffins as I poured myself coffee.

'Yeah, I'm excited.' I replied, my mind filled with expectations for college and the desire to get away from the rollercoaster that was last year. Too much had happened, and I wanted to start anew.

She started towards the door, keys in hand, most probably already heading to her office, leaving only few words behind as she exited, 'Good, I hope you make the most of this time, senior year won't come a second time.'

I stilled in confusion, her words not making any sense. Before I could ask what she was talking about, the door slammed shut and I was left in silence, her words leaving behind an eerie sense of deja vu.

Thinking back, everything since the morning seemed extremely similar to what happened last year. The same almost-fall in the bathroom over the same shampoo, the same red velvet muffins, the same words from mom last year, even her exit was similarly timed. I noticed my actions had also been subconsciously the same as last year.

But the most surprising of all was my clarity in remembering events that happened a year ago.

I knew it shouldn't be logically possible to remember exact events from that long ago.

Brushing everything off at the moment as my overactive imagination and the paranoia I'd carried all of last year, something no amount of therapy had been able to disperse, I decided to discuss the matter with Caroline, my best friend since middle school, when she came for our ride to campus.

The two honks from outside, and hearing my neighbor's familiar words to Caroline only served to increase my suspicions and I could only hope this wasn't a twisted dream.

Or worse, the whole of last year was a long dream and I really was on my way to first day of school. That would be a really horrible dream then.

Confirming the date I already knew that I would see on my screen only reduced my optimism, and I rushed to be in the company of my friend. I hoped she could provide me some much-needed answers, or at least assuage my fears as baseless.

My stuff already sent to the campus, I took my shoulder bag I packed last night and entered the midnight blue ride.

We both hugged tightly and I settled down, trying to hold on to the familiarity of the moment a little longer. I didn't know if it would last long.

'I think either the world is playing tricks with me, or I've gone crazy' I started, looking for any abnormality on her face.

'Why, what happened? Did your mom say something?'

'Yeah, mom was wishing me luck for "senior" year. Like, weird right?' I asked, hoping against all odds that she'd agree.

'What's so weird about that?' And just like that, my bubble of hope was mercilessly popped open.

As she took a wrong turn, one leading to my high school instead of the campus, I tried explaining everything to her, how we were going to college, everything that had happened last year, about Sam, about escaping death and how we were going to leave all that behind. But Caroline just looked at me weirdly, saying I must have smoked up some serious stuff to have dreamed up something so elaborate.

This must be some seriously fucked-up prank my mom and Caroline were playing on me, I thought, still trying to spot one small ray of light in this darkness. But I knew they weren't the pranking type, and even if they were, there were too many things outside of them that were similar to my first day of senior year for it to be coincidence or prank.

Like the same old lady crossing the road. The same song playing at the same red light halfway between home and school. The same chatter from Caroline as she rambled on about her cousin that visited over summer. They were the exact same words.

'Hey Georgia, are you okay? Why are you so silent? First day of senior year, aren't you excited?' Noticing my silence, Caroline asked.

'You need to believe me Caroline, I'm telling the truth. Everything is just repeating itself for me. For you it's a new year, for me, its like watching a movie the second time. I already know what's going to happen. Like, in less than a minute we're going to stop at a red light, and Radioactive is going to play on the radio. Don't ask me how this is happening. It just is.'

And just as we stopped at the red light that came up, Radioactive began to play and Caroline turned to me, shock written on her face. So, I wasn't going crazy. And even though I had no clue what was happening, that was a relief.

But even as I was just going to throw a carefree I told you so, I saw to my horror the world suddenly go reverse. The red light turned yellow, but the seconds going backward. And the car was moving in reverse. Words were coming out of mouth without my control and I couldn't recognise any of them. Then I realised that the words were being spoken in reverse, and instead of air escaping my mouth, it was entering. And all too soon, I was back at my house, exiting the car, entering the house without the key to the automatic lock, and just slipping out of my shoes. Only when I was back inside the kitchen did time slow down to its normal pace and I regained control of my body.

As I looked around, my phone pinged and I saw a Google Check your daily quote notification waiting for me to view. Even as my mind was shaken, my hands went on auto pilot and clicked on the notification that had been a regular part of my life since I got this phone.

But today I was in for a surprise. Instead of a regular life lesson, today Google assistant read,

"We know you remember the past year. Don't say anything to anyone and you'll be safe. Live this year like you lived the last and you'll be safe. Otherwise, you just saw a small part of what we are capable of."
-The Time Tamers

And as I walked in those familiar hallways later in the day, listening to the same summer gossip and hearing the same class introductions, I was still lost in thought about that message from the morning.

Only three thoughts on repeat in my mind -

One, I was going to be repeating senior year, with all of its ugly details, all over again.

Two, I won't be able to change anything how much ever I wanted to. I would have to again watch my boyfriend die right before my eyes, knowing I could just do any small thing to change his fate; but my hands would be chained and I'd have to live through that pain all over again.

But the scariest thought was the last:

Someone was watching me.

And maybe all those times last year that I had brushed away the perpetual feeling of being stalked as paranoia, I was most probably being watched then as well.

And this thought kept me from peaceful sleep for weeks to come, swapping my la la land dreams for nightmares of men in midnight black robes holding glinting knives and waking me up coated in cold sweat.