The Wrong Time
1049 Words
The fall didn’t feel like a fall this time.
It felt like being pulled apart.
Lila gasped as the world twisted around her
Then silence
She hit the ground hard, air rushing out of her lungs.
For a second, she couldn’t move or think.
Then she forced herself up.
“Ethan?”
No answer.
Her heart jumped.
“Ethan!”
“I’m here!”
Relief flooded her as she turned and saw him a few feet away, pushing himself up from the ground.
“You okay?” he asked.
Lila nodded quickly. “Yeah. You?”
“I think so.”
They both looked around.
And immediately knew something was wrong.
The forest was still there.
But it didn’t look like the one they’d just left.
The trees were taller and older.
Their branches stretched like twisted arms, blocking out most of the sky.
The air was colder, sharp against Lila’s skin.
And the silence…
It wasn’t empty anymore.
It felt watched.
“This isn’t 1979,” Ethan said quietly.
Lila shook her head. “No.”
She took a slow step forward, her eyes scanning everything.
“We didn’t go back…”
Ethan finished the sentence for her.
“We went somewhere else.”
A faint sound drifted through the trees.
Not loud but clear.
A voice.
Lila froze.
“Did you hear that?”
Ethan nodded slowly.
“Yeah.”
The voice came again...soft.
Almost like a whisper carried by the wind.
“…hello…?”
Lila’s breath caught.
“That sounded like...”
“Savannah,” Ethan said.
They didn’t hesitate.
They moved toward the sound, carefully but quickly, stepping over roots and branches as the forest seemed to close in around them.
The voice came again.
Louder this time.
“…is someone there…?”
Lila’s heart pounded.
“She’s here.”
They broke through a cluster of trees and stopped.
The building stood in front of them.
But it wasn’t abandoned.
Not exactly.
It looked… different.
Older, yet somehow more intact.
The windows weren’t completely broken.
The walls weren’t as collapsed.
It looked like a version of the building caught between time, not fully past or present.
“What is this place?” Lila whispered.
Ethan shook his head slowly.
“I don’t think this is a place.”
He looked at the building.
“I think it’s a moment.”
The door creaked open on its own.
Both of them froze.
Then the voice came again.
Clearer now.
“…please…”
Lila didn’t think.
She ran forward.
“Lila—wait!” Ethan called, rushing after her.
Inside, the air felt heavier.
The same energy.
But stronger.
Like it had been building for years.
Lila’s chest tightened as she moved deeper inside.
“Savannah?” she called.
No answer.
But the feeling…
It was guiding her.
Pulling her.
Toward the basement.
The stairs were already open.
Waiting.
Lila swallowed.
“She’s down there.”
Ethan nodded, though his expression was tense.
“Yeah… but something else might be too.”
They descended slowly.
Each step echoed louder than it should.
The glow below flickered, unstable, uneven.
And then they reached the bottom.
Lila’s breath caught in her throat.
The chamber was different.
The walls were covered in symbols, more than before.
Layer upon layer, carved deep, glowing faintly.
The capsule stood in the center.
But it wasn’t calm anymore.
It pulsed wildly.
Like a heartbeat out of control.
And next to it
Someone stood.
Savannah.
But not the girl they saw before.
This Savannah looked older.
Not like an adult… but not like a child either.
Her clothes were worn.
Her hair slightly messy.
Her expression were tired and confused.
And when her eyes landed on them...
Hope.
“You’re real…” she whispered.
Lila stepped forward slowly.
“Savannah?”
Savannah nodded, her eyes wide.
“I thought I was imagining things again.”
Lila’s chest tightened. “Again?”
Savannah swallowed.
“I’ve seen people before… shadows… voices… but they always disappear.”
Ethan stepped closer, careful.
“We’re not shadows.”
Savannah studied them, like she was trying to decide if she believed that.
“How long…” Lila started, her voice shaking slightly. “How long have you been here?”
Savannah hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Her voice dropped.
“It doesn’t feel like time moves normally.”
Lila exchanged a look with Ethan.
Savannah took a small step closer.
“Did they send you?” she asked.
“Who?” Ethan said.
Savannah’s expression darkened slightly.
“The place.”
A chill ran down Lila’s spine.
“What do you mean?”
Savannah looked at the capsule.
“It changes things,” she said quietly. “It shows me things. Different versions… different moments.”
Her voice trembled.
“Sometimes I see my friends. Sometimes I see… older versions of them. Sometimes they don’t exist at all.”
Lila’s heart skipped.
“It’s not just a machine,” Savannah continued.
“It’s… something else.”
The capsule suddenly pulsed violently.
All three of them flinched.
The symbols on the walls began to flicker rapidly.
Ethan stepped back. “That’s not good.”
Savannah’s eyes widened.
“It’s reacting.”
“To what?” Lila asked.
Savannah looked straight at her.
“To you.”
The ground trembled.
The glow intensified.
The air warped slightly, like reality itself was bending.
Ethan grabbed Lila’s arm.
“We need to leave. Now.”
“But we just found her!” Lila protested.
Savannah shook her head quickly.
“You don’t understand,” she said urgently. “Every time something changes, it gets worse.”
“What gets worse?” Ethan asked.
Savannah’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“The loops.”
Everything went still for a second.
Then—
The capsule let out a sharp, piercing sound.
The light exploded outward.
And for a brief, terrifying moment—
Lila saw it.
Dozens of overlapping images.
Different versions of the same room.
Different versions of Savannah.
Some alone.
Some screaming.
Some… gone.
Then it snapped back.
Silence.
Heavy.
Terrifying.
Lila’s hands trembled.
“What… was that?”
Savannah looked at her, fear clear in her eyes.
“That,” she said softly,
“is what happens when you try to escape.”
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