If I can start over: A new world

IV. When a door closes. Part 3

Everything turned gloomy. I was in darkness for a long time until I adjusted to the darkness and stopped feeling the passage of time for my being. My eyes opened then. A few beams of light came through the window. Sleepy, I doubled over, sitting on top of my bed, propped up with both arms behind me. "It was just a dream, a terrible dream. A nightmare of those that makes me lose my breath." I tried to convince myself.

"Ready?" The little voice inside my head returned. I was scared and even jumped in fright, hitting my skull against the ceiling.

"It wasn't a dream, then," I said to myself, rubbing the small lump that formed between my hair.

"No, it's not, I'm sorry." Her tone showed me that she was really sorry.

"Don't do it. Okay," I asked her. "So... now what?"

"Well... you only have two memories that have changed. They are just two events that for now will recreate the result of whatever comes next. I don't know if it's a good idea to witness it... but since someone is helping you, ok. Stay here and wait for the next order."

"Okay, let me check this device." I reached for my phone.

I took it from under my pillow and checked the messages I had uploaded. It was already ten forty-three at night. I had fallen asleep for a long time and I hadn't been able to tell either Fiorella or Ramcés that I was going to take a little longer.

I started writing to Fiorella, but she didn't answer. Then I did the same with Ramcés, the latter did start receiving messages as soon as I sent them, but he didn't answer the phone either. Suddenly, I found another text message among the notifications.

"At eleven o'clock, go to the second-floor kitchen in building four, go inside, and wait for my signal. When you have the delivery, go back to building five and hide in the maintenance room next to the men's room. Good luck."

"I have another message from the stranger," I told the voice.

"What did he have you do?"

I explained each message to her so that she had a more global vision of what was happening. She thanked me willingly.

"Yes, that's how the Alt to act." She blurted out when I finished my presentation of the messages. "An Uralt is an experienced Geist, a teacher, so to speak. The Alt are the elders, skilled in the matter that govern the order in the lines of the time. They must have sent a Vormund, to watch over you while you fix the rift."

"What is a >?" I uttered awkwardly.

"No." She laughed amiably. "A >," she said, pronouncing the word correctly. "It's a protector. A creature born with a corrupted Geist, brought by an Uralt from another reality, to put a novice geist to the test, as I said, while you repair what you must repair."

"But why don't they fix it, and risk the subsistence of the entire universe?" I asked the obvious.

"While each person is satisfied that they have different ramifications and each one of them leads to a different future where they can choose, for each of the Geists; or the Geister; in the plural, these ramifications do not exist. You live in a cloud that floats above time, hiding the decisions you can make, like the ones you have already made. And only you can choose well. Only one of them repairs the crack."

"What if I don't do so well?" I confessed that I was a bit nervous.

"It is very difficult for an experienced Uralt to intervene, but it is possible." The tone of his voice changed. "You will do fine, don't worry too much about it. That's what I'm for. Plus, you can always start over."

"Thanks." I looked at the clock on the phone: ten fifty-six, there was time for one last question. "You still haven't told me your name. I don't really know who I am thanking."

"Francesca. That's my name." She gave up.

"A pleasure, Francesca... and thanks for everything." I began to rummage through the things on the desk as I scanned what would be useful to me on the expedition to building four.

I took my backpack with what I might need: a bottle of water, gloves, my notebook, pens, a couple of snickers, my phone with its charger, and the kitchen knife that we use to cook every day that we can, just for if things got complicated.

I went down the three floors long, without looking around, without noticing who was and who wasn't inside the building. I went out the north door. I faced the cold wind coming from the cemetery and crossed the car park, which was now full thanks to the holiday that was celebrated in the residence.

I circled building one on one side and followed the straight path, past building three and leaving it behind. Building four was always dark. The only lights you could make out were the neon signs that indicate the nearest exits in case of an emergency. I stopped to think and suddenly remembered the girl who had appeared out of nowhere at the other end. The boy with the mask who wanted to hurt her. The door that I slammed so as not to involve them in any of it. Everything had already happened a few days ago, but I had only lived it a couple of hours ago.

I entered the corridor, in the dark. I turned on the flashlight on my phone to avoid tripping over any object blocking the way. I climbed the scandalous stairs that screeched with every step I took due to the lack of maintenance they didn't provide. I got to the second floor, opened the door to the outside corridor, and followed the path to the kitchen. My card could open all the doors of all enabled buildings. More students would be arriving soon, so buildings two and three had already been enabled. I had no idea if the same thing happened in four.

Luckily for me, or maybe unhappiness, the kitchen door was close together, the bolt pulled out of where it should fit, so I kept the door open all the time. I entered slowly, without making any noise, but it was of no use. The panels always worked, so the presence detector read my status and turned on the lights. I cursed under my breath as I momentarily revealed my position, but broke in anyway.

"What could the signal be?" I asked Francesca.

"He only mentioned that you go in and wait. Following the instructions to the letter seems to be the most sensible thing to do."

I walked to the middle of the room, turned to the left, where there was space provided for the entrances to the dressing rooms. I crouched down and waited for something strange to happen, something that caught my attention enough to call it a 'sign'. In the distance, or closer than I could imagine, I heard a groan, like a guttural rattle that came from I don't know where and I didn't dare to snoop.

Suddenly, the light went out. A click on the ceiling and everything was in total darkness. Minus one part, a small part under the men's room door. Inside, each bathroom also had a sensor, so if something or someone moved inside, it turned on. I hadn't noticed it before, but the men's room was emitting a little beam of light from under its skirts. I walked over to the dresser and threw the door open. Freddie, the security guard, was on the ground almost unconscious. He breathed evenly and tried to get up without success.

"He was the one complaining a moment ago," Francesca said.

"Can he hear you?" I asked, as I walked over and helped him collect himself.

"No, only you can."

"You were listening to him too and didn't say anything?" He was still gone, apparently, he didn't understand what was going on around him.

"I didn't want to scare you more than you are," Francesca replied.

. My phone vibrated. A new message had been received from the unknown contact. I unlocked the cell phone with my thumb and opened the messaging tray.

"Leave the guard there, it'll be fine. Take his key. It's stuck in the oven closest to the kitchen portico. Go to the maintenance room I mentioned before eleven-thirty and hide until I knock on the door. "

"You said it was a delivery, you didn't mention that you would hurt someone for a stupid key," I answered back.

"Thank me later. Good luck."

I texted Ramcés telling him that Freddie was injured and nearly unconscious in the second-floor men's room in building four, but he didn't answer, and he didn't even check messages anymore. It was already almost eleven-thirty. Strangely, Fiorella had just told me that Ramcés wasn't answering her either.

"What does the message say?" Asked Francesca.

"Have me hide in the cleaning room of building five before eleven-thirty," I replied casually. "And Ramcés doesn't answer... it's strange."

"He's probably dead of sleep, the usual. Revive him by giving it a call."

"He sends me to the mailbox ..."

"Benjamin, you don't have much time, it's almost eleven-thirty."

"No one answers..." Concern swelled in my chest.

"If you don't go now, you'll lose this opportunity," Francesca warned me.

"Well... okay," I agreed, still with doubts running through my conscience.

Fast, I took the key into the oven and left the building. I walked around the three and the one taking the same way out, breaking the fresh snow, listening to their crunch with every step I took.

I entered building five when suddenly, a sound escaped my body. At first, I thought it was a tire that had blown outside or some i***t that had set off a lower-range explosive. But then the screaming gave me enough clues to know what was happening.

Someone was shooting an immense amount of bullets without stopping, apparently inside the lobby, where most of the students were. I ran to the cleaning room, leaving behind the curious faces of the few non-partygoers as I left their rooms or down the stairs, and walked, terrified by the bustle and groans of pain, to the maintenance office that keyed me.

For an instant, the darkness blinded me completely. There was not a spark of light within the place, and the atmosphere was almost completely isolated from the macabre commotion outside. I went into the room breaking the darkness with the light from the telephone.

"What's going on outside?" I asked Francesca.

"Probably the final destination. Perhaps you should prevent this from happening, through the other two memories."

"How do I know this is the main event?"

"You don't. You just have to avoid it. Future events are constantly changing with the decisions you make to slow them down. This can be the first main event, as well as the last."

"Ok, ok, ok, ok." I was nervous, almost in shock from what I had just witnessed.

"You must survive here, do you understand me?" Her tone was the most serious I had ever heard from her. "Your Geist does not perish, I already told you. But this is your present, you are the one who lives here, if you die, I won't be able to do anything."

"Understood. Not dying while I'm not asleep is good."

It didn't take long for the handle to turn and the door to rattle. I thought I heard Ramcés on the other side of the door. I stopped, and without seeing exactly where he was stepping, I approached intending to open it and let him pass. As I unfolded it, I noticed that he was not alone, he was with the rest of the guys we used to hang out with. They were confused, more than terrified.

"Ramcés, Tomas... why are you looking at me like that?" Come in!" I yelled, trying to make them see reason and into the room.

"Hey, how did you do that?" Camilo said, turning his head exaggeratedly, looking from front to back. I noticed it stirred, I think reality shook them all at once.

"How did I do what?"

Without finishing asking the question, I saw a flare of bullets that knocked each one of them to the ground. An icy beam shocked my spine. The greatest terror I have ever felt in my short life suddenly invaded me and I held out my hand. I couldn't resist it. They all lay on the carpet and stained it red. I could not stand it. I entered the cleaning room as fast as I could, and I wished I was somewhere else, in another space, anywhere would be better than that version of my life.