Corrupted Timelines

Try, Try Again

Amelia's living room rematerialized around her. She looked around her and didn't see any of the signs of searching from the police. Had she actually traveled back to before her family was torn apart?

A noise from beside her feet said otherwise. She froze and slowly looked towards the ground. Her crippled brother slowly came into view.

And he was laughing at her.

His eyes were open, but they were a deep purple. Amelia collapsed down beside him and held him tightly. The laughter grew in intensity until it was the only thing she could hear. This hadn't happened before.

Amelia began to cry again, her sobs mixing with the maniacal laughter of her brother. She swears she could hear the Priestess' laughter mixed in, too. This was so fucked up.

The trip to the hospital was similar to the last one, but she remembered her phone this time. Ina called her soon after she arrived at the hospital. It took a few rings for Amelia to make herself answer. Ina was in a small panic.

"Ame, are you ok?" Amelia tried her best to not sound ungrateful for her friend's concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My parents are missing and my brother is hurt," she replied stiffly.

"Oh my god, that's horrible. Where are you?" Ina was shocked by the news.

"I'm headed to the hospital. You can come by if you want. I'll be with my brother," she said before quickly hanging up. Amelia tried to keep her sentences short to keep her real emotions from showing themselves. She knew she shouldn't hate this Ina, as she'd done nothing wrong yet.

Yet. That was why Amelia was feeling this way. She needed to change things so that Ina wouldn't hurt her again. Maybe then she would go back with a healthier mindset...

Her resolve to stay in this timeline was already falling apart. It just felt so wrong. She wasn't even able to go back to before her family was torn apart. Did the watch run out of charge or something? Checking she confirmed it was true. The watch's indicator light was flashing red instead of its normal green. She remembered her parents mentioning something like that, but it had seemed so insignificant. It shouldn't have been an issue at all.

Had she just been so unlucky that she couldn't go back far enough now? Had she not been in an ambulance with other medical personnel, she would be swearing up a storm right now. Damn her luck. Fuck this whole timeline. Should she just leave now? The watch would need to charge a bit before she could, so maybe she would try and feel better about everything here before she left.

That was going to be an ordeal. Amelia fought back and forth in her mind. She didn't even know where to start if she wanted to make things better. The reality of the situation began to fully settle into her soul.

She had just run away from another one of her problems.

The ambulance slowed to a stop and the medical personnel hopped out. They carried her brother into the hospital room that Amelia was all too familiar with. She sat in the chair she'd broken down in the first time she'd been here. Ina had rescued her from her own thoughts back then...

Amelia wanted to cry again. How had her and Ina gone from best friends who'd do anything for each other, to a fighting mess over the course of one night? The answer was obvious, but Amelia felt like there was more to the story.

Her emotional decisions, Ina's own emotional decisions, their lack of proper communication throughout the last week of Amelia's impromptu break...

And especially them both having feelings for Gura.

The last thought made Amelia sick. She'd just fucked with time over a crush. How low could she sink?

There was a knock on the door. Amelia looked up at the clock in the room. She knew the doctor wasn't supposed to come in for at least another thirty minutes according to her last trip through here. That's when a familiar voice called out behind the door.