One month earlier
1038 Words
Pain.
It was the first thing Evelyn felt.
A sharp ache tore through her chest, so real that she gasped and instinctively pressed both hands against herself. Her fingers searched frantically for the wound where the dagger had pierced her heart.
Nothing.
No blood.
No torn clothes.
No scar.
She blinked.
Instead of rain-soaked stone beneath her, she found herself lying on a neatly made bed. Soft morning sunlight streamed through white curtains, bathing the unfamiliar room in a warm glow.
Birds chirped outside.
For several seconds, she simply stared at the ceiling, unable to breathe.
“Am I… alive?”
Her heart pounded wildly.
The last thing she remembered was the cold steel slicing through her chest, the stranger’s whisper in her ear, and those haunting gray eyes watching her as darkness swallowed everything.
She sat up too quickly.
A wave of dizziness hit her.
The room spun.
“No…”
Her voice trembled.
“This isn’t possible.”
A suitcase rested beside the wardrobe.
Her suitcase.
Still zipped shut.
The room smelled of fresh paint and lavender, untouched by the panic and bloodshed of the night she had died.
Then came a knock.
“Evelyn?”
A cheerful female voice echoed through the door.
“Are you awake? Orientation starts in thirty minutes!”
Evelyn froze.
She knew that voice.
Impossible.
The door opened before she could answer.
A smiling girl stepped inside carrying two cups of coffee.
Brown curls framed her face.
Bright hazel eyes sparkled with excitement.
“I’m Lily,” she said with a laugh. “Don’t tell me you’re planning to sleep through your first day.”
The coffee slipped from Evelyn’s trembling fingers before she even realized she’d taken it.
The cup shattered against the floor.
Lily jumped.
“Whoa!”
“Evelyn… are you okay?”
Evelyn stared at her roommate.
She had watched Lily laugh just yesterday.
She had spoken to her.
She had—
Yesterday?
No.
That wasn’t yesterday.
That had been…
The night she died.
Tears welled in Evelyn’s eyes before she could stop them.
Without thinking, she grabbed Lily and pulled her into a tight embrace.
Lily stood frozen.
“…You’re scaring me.”
Evelyn slowly released her.
“I’m sorry.”
“I just…”
She couldn’t explain it.
How could she?
“I watched myself die.”
Lily placed a hand on her forehead.
“You don’t have a fever.”
“Maybe you’re just nervous.”
Evelyn forced a weak smile.
“Maybe.”
But inside, nothing made sense.
⸻
Half an hour later, Evelyn stepped outside Hawthorne Hall.
Students filled the campus exactly as she remembered.
The same orientation banners fluttered in the breeze.
The same music echoed through the courtyard.
The same groups laughed near the fountain.
Even the resident assistant, Mia, stood near the entrance handing out welcome packets.
Everything.
Everything was exactly the same.
Mia waved enthusiastically.
“There you are!”
“I was beginning to think you’d changed your mind about Blackwood.”
She handed Evelyn a leather-bound orientation booklet.
“Room 314 treating you well?”
Evelyn’s stomach tightened.
Every word.
Every smile.
She had seen all of this before.
Mia grinned.
“Only one rule around here.”
Evelyn answered automatically.
“Don’t go near Ashcroft Hall after midnight.”
Mia blinked.
“…How did you know that?”
Evelyn’s face drained of color.
She hadn’t meant to say it aloud.
“I…”
“I guessed.”
Mia laughed awkwardly.
“Well…”
“That’s oddly specific.”
As Mia walked away, Evelyn remained rooted to the spot.
She wasn’t dreaming.
She wasn’t imagining things.
Somehow…
She had returned to the beginning.
⸻
The entire morning felt like watching a movie she’d already seen.
Every conversation happened exactly as before.
The professor tripped over the microphone during the welcome speech.
A freshman fainted from the heat.
A flock of ravens circled the old clock tower at precisely eleven o’clock.
Even the cafeteria served the same tomato soup that Lily complained tasted like ketchup.
Every tiny detail repeated itself.
Evelyn’s pulse quickened.
If everything repeated…
Then tonight…
Someone would die.
And tomorrow…
She would.
⸻
That afternoon, she wandered toward the university library.
She stopped in front of the portrait gallery.
Her breathing became shallow.
Yesterday—
Or whatever yesterday had been—
She had seen a portrait of a woman who looked exactly like her mother.
Now…
The portrait wasn’t there.
Only landscapes and faded paintings decorated the walls.
She searched every inch of the corridor.
Nothing.
“Looking for something?”
The deep male voice startled her.
She turned.
A tall young man stood a few feet away.
Dark hair.
Sharp jawline.
Gray eyes.
Her blood ran cold.
Those eyes.
She knew them.
He was the man who had knelt beside her as she bled to death.
The one who had whispered,
“I’ll see you again.”
He looked at her curiously.
“Have we met?”
Evelyn couldn’t answer.
Her legs refused to move.
He stepped closer.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
No.
Not a ghost.
A killer.
Without another word, Evelyn turned and ran.
She heard him call after her.
“Wait!”
But she didn’t stop.
Not until she reached the courtyard.
Her chest heaved.
Her hands shook uncontrollably.
How could he be here?
If he had killed her…
Why didn’t he recognize her?
Unless…
This wasn’t after her death.
It was before it.
Before the murder.
Before everything went wrong.
A cold realization settled over her.
She had one month.
One month before the first body fell.
One month before she witnessed the murder.
One month before someone drove a knife through her heart.
She could change it.
She had to.
Because this time…
She wasn’t going to die.
Behind her, the ancient clock tower chimed once.
Somewhere on campus, hidden from sight, a figure watched her from an upper window.
A gloved hand slowly closed an old leather journal.
Across its cover, seven names were written in faded ink.
Six had already been crossed out.
Only one remained untouched.
Evelyn Carter.
The figure smiled.
“Let’s see if you survive this life.”
- Writer
