Chapter 11: The First Memory
1658 Words
Echo's POV
"Vivienne Crowe is starting to remember."
The words followed me for the rest of the day.
They echoed through every classroom.
Every hallway.
Every conversation.
Every heartbeat.
By the time lunch arrived, I was convinced I was losing my mind.
Because there was no way this could be happening.
No way.
I was the one trapped inside the loop.
I was the one carrying memories from another life.
I was the one who remembered blood in the rain.
Remembered dying.
Remembered my baby's heartbeat.
Remembered Kieran's scream.
Not Vivienne.
Not the girl who murdered me.
Not the girl who was supposed to know nothing.
Yet Elder Voss had looked genuinely afraid.
And that terrified me more than anything.
Because Elder Voss wasn't easily frightened.
Not by prophecies.
Not by Alphas.
Not even by death.
If he was scared...
then I should be too.
I pushed my lunch around my tray.
Completely untouched.
Across from me, Kieran watched with growing concern.
"You haven't eaten."
"I'm not hungry."
A lie.
Pregnancy had turned me into a bottomless pit.
I was starving.
I just couldn't stomach food right now.
Kieran frowned.
"You skipped breakfast too."
I blinked.
"You noticed?"
His expression suggested I had asked something incredibly stupid.
Of course he noticed.
Kieran noticed everything about me.
Always had.
A strange ache settled inside my chest.
Because in this timeline, he still looked at me the same way.
Still smiled when I entered a room.
Still reached for my hand without thinking.
Still loved me publicly.
The rejection hadn't happened.
The treaty hadn't happened.
The public humiliation hadn't happened.
None of it.
Only I remembered.
Sometimes that felt like a blessing.
Other times it felt unbearable.
His fingers brushed mine beneath the table.
The contact sent warmth through me.
Comfort.
Safety.
Home.
"Echo."
I looked up.
His golden eyes softened immediately.
"What happened after class?"
My stomach tightened.
Because he wasn't asking casually.
He knew something was wrong.
He'd known since finding me with Elder Voss.
"I'm fine."
His eyebrow rose.
Again.
That look.
The one that said he knew I was lying.
"You just keep lying this week, don't you?"
I almost smiled.
Almost.
Before I could answer, movement across the cafeteria caught my attention.
The room suddenly grew quieter.
Students shifted.
Whispers spread.
And then I saw why.
Vivienne Crowe had entered the cafeteria.
The future ruler of Crowe Territory moved through the room like she owned it.
Maybe she did.
Silver hair.
Emerald eyes.
Perfect posture.
Perfect smile.
Beautiful.
Dangerous.
Deadly.
Nobody else saw the monster.
Only me.
Only I remembered the knife.
The blood.
The rain.
The darkness.
My pulse spiked instantly.
Vivienne laughed at something one of her friends said.
The sound carried across the room.
Normal.
Completely normal.
Not a murderer.
Not a villain.
Just a girl.
And somehow that disturbed me more.
Because what if Voss was wrong?
What if she remembered nothing?
What if I was preparing for a war that hadn't happened yet?
Then—
Vivienne stopped walking.
Her smile faded.
Slowly.
Her gaze lifted.
Directly toward me.
The cafeteria disappeared.
Noise vanished.
Time froze.
Our eyes met.
And something changed.
I felt it.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
Something wrong.
Vivienne's expression shifted.
Confusion.
Recognition.
Fear.
Gone within seconds.
But I saw it.
I knew I did.
The tray slipped from her hand.
It crashed onto the floor.
For a second nobody moved.
Not Vivienne.
Not me.
Not the dozens of students surrounding us.
The cafeteria seemed trapped inside a strange pocket of silence.
Vivienne's face had gone completely pale.
The color drained so fast it looked unnatural.
Like she'd suddenly seen something impossible.
Something terrifying.
Something familiar.
A boy beside her bent to pick up a fallen fork.
"Vivienne?"
She didn't answer.
Her eyes remained locked on mine.
Unblinking.
Searching.
My pulse hammered against my ribs.
Because I knew that look.
I knew it.
Not from this timeline.
From the other one.
The night she killed me.
The night rain mixed with blood beneath my feet.
The night she looked at me exactly like this.
Not with hatred.
Not at first.
As if she finally understood something she wasn't supposed to understand.
The memory slammed into me.
Cold mud.
Sharp pain.
Blood.
So much blood.
My stomach clenched violently.
Instinctively my hand flew to my abdomen.
Protecting.
Shielding.
Guarding.
The movement seemed to snap Vivienne back to reality.
Her gaze dropped briefly to my hand.
Then to my stomach.
Then back to my face.
Confusion flickered across her expression.
A strange frown formed between her brows.
Like she was trying desperately to remember something.
Something just beyond reach.
Something hidden beneath the surface.
And then—
fear.
Pure fear.
It flashed across her face before disappearing.
Gone so quickly nobody else would have noticed.
But I noticed.
Because I was watching her.
Because I knew exactly how dangerous she could become.
Vivienne took a single step backward.
Then another.
The movement looked almost unconscious.
Like her body wanted distance.
Like some instinct deep inside her was screaming that I was dangerous.
Or maybe that she was.
Then one of her friends touched her shoulder.
The moment shattered.
Vivienne blinked.
Looked away.
And the cafeteria began moving again.
Talking again.
I was motionless.
Kieran immediately noticed.
"Echo?"
I couldn't answer.
Couldn't breathe.
Couldn't look away.
Someone laughed.
Someone helped collect her tray.
Life continued.
But I knew.
Something had happened.
And judging by the fear in Vivienne's eyes—
she knew it too.
---
That night I couldn't sleep.
Again.
The loop had ruined sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, memories waited.
Blood.
Rain.
Death.
Kieran screaming my name.
I rolled onto my side.
Then onto my back.
Then onto my other side.
Nothing helped.
Finally I gave up.
The clock read 2:17 a.m.
Moonlight spilled across my room.
The house was silent.
Everyone asleep.
Except me.
My hand drifted to my stomach.
A habit now.
Protective.
Comforting.
Necessary.
Seven weeks.
Still alive.
Still here.
A tiny heartbeat fighting against fate itself.
I swallowed hard.
"I will never let them take you."
The whisper disappeared into darkness.
No answer came.
Of course not.
But somehow saying it helped.
A little.
My bedroom window rattled.
I froze.
Then smiled despite myself.
Only one person climbed through my window at two in the morning.
A moment later Kieran landed quietly on the floor.
Dark hoodie.
Messy hair.
Golden eyes.
Definitely not dressed like the future Alpha.
More like the troublemaker I'd fallen in love with.
"Your grandmother is terrifying."
I laughed softly.
"Did she catch you?"
"She looked directly at me."
He shuddered dramatically.
"I've fought wolves bigger than me."
"Grandma is bigger than all of them."
"Agreed."
For the first time all day, the tension eased.
Just a little.
Kieran sat beside me.
The mattress dipped beneath his weight.
Comfortingly familiar.
Neither of us spoke immediately.
The silence felt easy.
Safe.
Until he broke it.
"You looked scared today."
My smile disappeared.
Of course he'd noticed.
"Echo."
His voice softened.
"What happened?"
I stared at the blanket.
Searching for words.
Finding none.
Because how exactly was I supposed to explain any of this?
Hey Kieran.
I died.
Then I woke up.
Also the girl who murdered me might be remembering.
Normal conversation.
Totally reasonable.
I sighed.
"I'm just worried."
"About what?"
Everything.
Fate.
Prophecies.
Murder.
Time loops.
Babies.
Death.
Instead I said:
"The future."
Kieran was quiet.
Then—
"We'll figure it out."
My eyes burned unexpectedly.
Because he sounded so certain.
So confident.
Like nothing could touch us.
Like the future hadn't already destroyed us once.
He reached over.
Tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
The simple gesture nearly broke me.
"Whatever happens."
His thumb brushed my cheek.
"I'm not going anywhere."
The promise hurt.
Because I'd heard promises before.
And fate hadn't cared.
Still—
I wanted to believe him.
God, I wanted to believe him.
So I nodded.
And for a little while, I let myself pretend.
Pretend the loop didn't exist.
Pretend prophecy wasn't real.
Pretend our baby wasn't in danger.
Pretend we had a future.
---
The dream came just before dawn.
Rain.
Always rain.
Darkness swallowed the forest.
Thunder shook the sky.
Blood stained the ground.
My blood.
I looked down.
My hands trembled.
Red.
Everything red.
Pain exploded through my stomach.
Agony.
Loss.
Death.
Then a voice echoed through the storm.
A woman's voice.
Soft.
Familiar.
Wrong.
"Find the First Memory."
Lightning flashed.
A figure stood among the trees.
Silver hair.
Emerald eyes.
Vivienne.
Except not Vivienne.
Older.
Ancient.
Powerful.
The woman pointed deeper into the forest.
"Before she does."
The rain intensified.
The world cracked.
And I woke screaming.
---
I bolted upright.
Heart hammering.
Breathing hard.
Sweat covered my skin.
The room was dark.
Silent.
Safe.
But the dream lingered.
Every detail.
Every word.
Every image.
Find the First Memory.
Before she does.
The phrase repeated inside my head.
Again.
Again.
Again.
I glanced at the clock.
4:03 a.m.
Too early.
Too dark.
Too quiet.
Yet one thing felt certain.
The dream wasn't random, couldn't be.
The loops never were.
Neither were prophecies.
And neither, apparently, was fate.
Somewhere inside Blackthorn territory—
something existed.
Something important.
Something connected to the loops.
The First Memory.
Whatever that meant.
My pulse quickened.
Because if I was right—
this might be the first real clue.
The first chance to understand why time kept resetting.
The first chance to save my child.
And maybe
just maybe
the first chance to stop Vivienne before she remembered everything.
I have to find out what the First Memory is.
Before Vivienne does. Because if she reaches it first.
My son dies for real this time.
Because one thing was becoming painfully obvious.
The next loop wasn't waiting in the future.
It had already started.
And somewhere in the darkness—
fate was waiting.
- Writer
