The End Of Beginning
1678 Words
# Part 3. The End Of Beginning
She started screaming, crying, and throwing everything inside the room around wildly.
Then, through the glass wall, she noticed a large board covered with photographs.
Every photo belonged to a dead person.
Beside each picture was a date of death.
Her eyes slowly moved and caught on a date.
**August, 2059.**
Lily’s body went numb.
“No…” she whispered weakly.
She slowly sat down on the floor in shock.
A few hours later, most of the doctors left for lunch.
Preet quietly walked toward Lily’s room.
The moment she saw Lily sitting broken on the floor, tears rolled down her face.
“Preet…” Lily said weakly. “Yesterday was 2056. I went to sleep yesterday. How is it suddenly 2059? What’s happening to me?”
Preet lowered her head and sat beside the glass wall.
Then softly, she said:
“You have dementia, Lily.”
Lily stared at her blankly.
“What…?”
Preet continued carefully.
“After the accident, your memory started getting worse. You began forgetting things.”
“What accident?” Lily asked immediately.
Preet hesitated for a moment.
“You had an accident while returning from your honeymoon.”
Lily looked completely lost.
“Honeymoon…? Whose honeymoon?”
Preet looked directly into her eyes.
“Yours, Lily.”
Silence filled the room.
“You married Ryan last year.”
Lily shook her head immediately.
“No. No, that’s impossible. This is another dream. I just need to sleep again. When I wake up, everything will go back to normal.”
Preet’s voice trembled.
“Look at your ring, Lily… and the pendant you’re wearing. Ryan has the matching one. Those are your wedding rings.”
Slowly, Lily looked down at her hand.
A ring.
A real wedding ring.
Her breathing became shaky.
Unable to process anything anymore, she closed her eyes again and forced herself to sleep.
Hours later, Lily woke up once more.
This time, she was lying in a bedroom.
For a brief moment, relief flooded her mind.
She thought she was finally back home.
But then she realized—
It was not her room.
She was inside Ryan’s bedroom.
Her eyes widened as she noticed a massive wedding photograph hanging across the wall.
It was a picture of Ryan and Lily together.
Both of them were smiling happily.
Both wore matching pendants and wedding rings.
The door suddenly opened.
Ryan walked inside.
Relief instantly appeared on his face.
“Thank God you’re awake,” he said softly. “You were in a coma for 10 days.”
Lily stared at him silently.
Ryan walked closer.
“We need to leave the city as soon as possible,” he said urgently. “Come on.”
Still confused, Lily followed him into the living room.
There, she saw her parents sitting quietly.
Something about them looked different.
Older.
Tired.
Then Lily accidentally looked at herself in the mirror.
Her breath caught in her throat.
Even she looked different.
Her hairstyle.
Her clothes.
Her face.
Everything felt unfamiliar.
Panicking, she grabbed Ryan’s phone and checked the date herself.
**2059.**
Her hands started trembling.
Slowly, Lily convinced herself of the only explanation her mind could accept—
She really had dementia.
And somehow…
She had forgotten years of her life.
They packed their bags quickly.
Ryan, his parents, Lily, her parents, and Ethan all flew to another city far away from Amsterdam.
Throughout the journey, Lily felt strangely empty inside.
Everyone around her carried memories she could no longer remember.
But for her, everything felt unfamiliar.
Even her own life felt distant.
After the plane landed, Lily quietly looked at Ryan.
“What about Preet… Arjun… Bright… Lisa?” she asked softly.
Ryan looked at her silently for a moment.
There was pity in his eyes.
Without answering immediately, he gently held her hand and brought her home.
Later, Ryan sat quietly on the couch while the others unpacked their belongings.
Lily slowly walked toward him and rested her head on his lap.
“I don’t know what’s real anymore,” she whispered weakly. “And what’s just a dream.”
Ryan gently took her hand and placed it against his chest.
“Can you feel that?” he asked softly.
Lily nodded.
“Yes.”
Ryan gave a faint smile.
“Then it’s real.”
Lily closed her eyes for a moment.
Then softly, she asked again:
“What happened to them?”
Ryan’s expression darkened immediately.
“Bright died during the inauguration of his hospital,” he said quietly. “He was shot by his uncle.”
Lily’s eyes widened.
Ryan continued slowly.
“Preet got infected… and she died.”
His voice started trembling.
“Arjun couldn’t handle losing her. She was his younger sister… his entire world.”
Ryan looked away, trying to control himself.
“He killed himself after her death.”
Lily covered her mouth in shock.
“And Lisa?” she whispered.
Ryan took a deep breath.
“She joined the military. She’s fighting to protect survivors… people like us.”
Tears slowly rolled down Lily’s face.
One by one, the people she loved were disappearing from her life—
And she couldn’t even remember the moments she had spent with them.
Ryan’s eyes also filled with tears.
Then suddenly, he held Lily’s shoulders tightly.
“Only you can save us, Lily,” he said desperately. “Only you can.”
Lily looked at him in confusion.
She didn’t understand what he meant.
Before she could ask more questions, Ethan entered the room.
“Lunch is ready,” he said quietly.
Lily immediately looked toward him.
“What does Ryan mean?” she asked. “Everyone is practically dead. How can I save anybody? He’s not in his right mind.”
Her voice broke slightly.
“We lost our childhood friends… and I don’t even remember them properly anymore. I barely got any time with Bright after he returned to the city.”
Ethan looked silently at Ryan for a moment.
Then he gently said,
“Ryan… go eat first. We’ll come after talking for a bit.”
Ryan hesitated, but eventually nodded and left the room quietly.
Ethan took Lily into his room.
The walls were covered with medical reports, brain scans, research papers, and handwritten notes connected with red strings across a large investigation board.
Lily stared at it in confusion.
“What is all this?” she asked.
Ethan took a deep breath.
“I’ve been trying to figure out what’s wrong with you.”
He pointed toward several brain scan reports.
“According to every medical test and scan… you really do have dementia.”
Lily’s chest tightened.
Ethan lowered his eyes.
“Your brain suffered severe damage during the accident after your honeymoon.”
Silence filled the room.
And for the first time—
Lily slowly began wondering if the nightmares had never truly ended at all.
“But what if…” Ethan said slowly, “you’re being teleported?”
Lily froze.
“What?”
She slowly sat down while her mind replayed everything that had happened so far.
The dreams.
The future visions.
The missing years.
The memories she couldn’t explain.
Slowly, the broken pieces inside her mind started connecting together like a puzzle.
Ethan sat beside her and spoke carefully.
“We came up with two possible theories.”
Lily looked at him silently.
“Either,” Ethan continued, “you’re somehow teleporting through time…”
He paused.
“Or you’re switching between parallel universes.”
Lily stared at him in complete disbelief.
“A parallel universe…?”
Ethan nodded seriously.
“Maybe there’s another version of reality, Lily. And somehow, you’re moving back and forth between both worlds.”
Lily looked overwhelmed.
“Ethan…” she whispered weakly. “Are you just trying to give me hope so I don’t completely fall apart after losing everyone?”
“No, dumbo,” Ethan replied immediately. “You already told me everything before.”
Lily frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“In the future,” Ethan explained, “you told me that you could see visions. You said you could predict things before they happened.”
Lily’s eyes widened slightly.
“You even predicted that Ryan would buy you those heart-shaped couple pendants.”
Lily unconsciously touched the pendant around her neck.
Ethan continued,
“You predicted lots of small things correctly. But from my point of view… I don’t think you were seeing visions.”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“I think you were traveling between timelines.”
Silence filled the room.
Then Ethan spoke again.
“And do you know why Ryan said only you can save everyone?”
Lily slowly shook her head.
“Because you already told him everything about the future,” Ethan said softly. “And trust me… he believed you.”
Ethan lowered his eyes sadly.
“He just didn’t believe enough to take action in time.”
Lily’s chest tightened painfully.
“If my theory is right,” Ethan continued, “then maybe we can still save everyone.”
His voice became firmer.
“Bright. Preet. Arjun. Lisa. Maybe even thousands of other people.”
Before Lily could respond—
A loud crashing sound echoed through the living room downstairs.
Both of them immediately ran out of the room.
And froze.
Every family member downstairs had turned infected.
Blood covered the floor.
Their parents were already dead.
Ryan was trying desperately to protect everyone while fighting the infected.
Then suddenly—
An infected person bit Ryan.
“Ryann!” Lily screamed.
Ryan immediately pushed Lily behind him protectively.
His breathing became uneven.
Slowly, his eyes began turning pale white.
Still struggling to stay conscious, Ryan looked at Lily one final time.
“Lily…” he whispered weakly. “I trust you.”
Tears rolled down his face.
“I know you can save us.”
And before he completely lost control—
Ryan jumped out of the building.
To be Continued...
- Writer
