The Boy Who Remembered Tomorrow

Chapter 14: The First Memory

Darkness.

Elias couldn't see anything.

He couldn't move.

He couldn't even hear his own breathing.

Then—

Tick.

The silver watch.

Tick.

Another sound followed.

A heartbeat.

Not his.

Someone was standing close to him.

"Elias."

He knew that voice.

His mother's.

"Mom?"

"I'm here."

"Where?"

"Inside your first memory."

Elias opened his eyes.

He was standing in the same room.

But everything was frozen.

His mother stood beside the window, motionless.

The other Elias stood near the door.

Even the curtains had stopped moving.

Only three things were still alive.

Elias.

His mother.

And the boy who looked exactly like him.

Elias looked at the other boy.

"Who are you?"

The boy lowered his head.

"I'm you."

"That's what everyone keeps saying."

"Because it's true."

"Then why do you look different?"

The boy slowly raised his eyes.

"Because you forgot."

Elias stepped closer.

"Forgot what?"

The boy pointed toward his mother.

"Ask her."

Elias turned.

His mother looked frightened.

"Mom?"

She didn't answer.

"Tell me the truth."

She closed her eyes.

"The first timeline wasn't created by you."

Elias froze.

"What?"

"It was created by both of you."

He looked at the other boy.

"Both of us?"

His mother nodded.

"You and him were never supposed to be separate."

The room suddenly shook.

A c***k appeared across the ceiling.

The other Elias stepped forward.

"We were one memory."

Elias frowned.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that when you were born, you remembered something no human should have been able to remember."

"What?"

The boy looked at him.

"Tomorrow."

The silver watch began ticking faster.

Elias felt a strange pressure inside his head.

Images appeared.

A city that didn't exist.

A sky filled with silver light.

Millions of doors.

Thousands of versions of himself.

And one enormous clock floating above everything.

Then Elias saw his mother.

Standing before the clock.

Holding a newborn child.

Him.

She was crying.

A man stood beside her.

Elias couldn't see his face.

The man said:

"If he remembers tomorrow, the first timeline will collapse."

His mother answered:

"Then I'll make him forget."

The vision disappeared.

Elias stumbled backward.

"My father."

His mother looked at him.

"Yes."

"What happened to him?"

Silence.

The other Elias answered.

"He stayed behind."

Elias stared at him.

"Where?"

"Beyond yesterday."

Before Elias could ask another question, the front door slammed open.

A cold wind entered the frozen room.

Someone walked inside.

Black coat.

Silver eyes.

A silver watch.

The Keeper.

But he looked younger.

Much younger.

Elias stared at him.

"You?"

The younger Keeper smiled.

"I remember this day."

Mira's warning suddenly echoed in Elias's mind.

Don't let him reach yesterday.

Elias stepped backward.

"You were here?"

"Of course."

The Keeper looked at the other Elias.

"You weren't supposed to survive."

The other Elias clenched his fists.

"Neither were you."

The Keeper raised his watch.

The room began to change.

The walls disappeared.

The floor vanished.

Elias suddenly found himself standing above an endless ocean of memories.

Thousands of scenes floated beneath him.

Each one showed a different life.

Different friends.

Different cities.

Different versions of himself.

Then one memory appeared directly beneath him.

A small boy.

Elias.

Standing beside his mother.

The black door behind them.

His mother was holding his hand.

She whispered:

"If you ever see yourself standing on the other side of this door..."

Young Elias looked up.

"What should I do?"

His mother answered:

"Run."

The memory shattered.

Elias turned toward the other boy.

"You knew."

The boy nodded.

"I remembered."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you weren't ready."

"For what?"

The boy looked toward the endless memories.

"For the truth about tomorrow."

The Keeper laughed.

"You still don't understand."

Elias turned.

The Keeper pointed toward the ocean of memories.

"Tomorrow isn't a place."

He raised his silver watch.

"It's a person."

Everything became silent.

Elias felt a chill.

"Who?"

The Keeper looked directly at him.

"You."

The silver watch shattered.

Every memory beneath them suddenly began moving backward.

People walked in reverse.

Rain rose into the sky.

Doors closed before they opened.

Words disappeared from mouths.

Then Elias saw something terrifying.

The memories weren't returning to the past.

They were returning to him.

Every forgotten moment rushed toward his body.

Elias screamed.

His mother reached for him.

"Elias!"

The other boy grabbed his arm.

"Don't let them enter!"

"It's too late!"

The memories flooded through him.

He saw Mira.

Adrian.

Lyra.

The Keeper.

His father.

His mother.

Every timeline.

Every death.

Every choice.

Every version of himself.

And finally—

he saw the first moment.

The moment before the first timeline existed.

There was nothing.

No city.

No time.

No future.

No past.

Only Elias.

Standing alone.

And beside him—

another Elias.

The first one smiled.

Then whispered:

"Now you remember who created tomorrow."

Elias opened his eyes.

He was back in his childhood home.

His mother was gone.

The other Elias was gone.

The Keeper was gone.

Only the silver watch remained.

But it was no longer broken.

A message appeared on its face.

TOMORROW: 3:17 A.M.

Then another line appeared.

THE FINAL MEMORY WILL BEGIN.

Elias stared at the clock.

A sound came from behind him.

Footsteps.

He slowly turned.

Mira stood in the doorway.

But her eyes were silver.

She smiled.

And said:

"Elias... you weren't supposed to remember me."