Save Us

Chapter 9 : Repeated

To Hope, everything was perfect. Maya, Ember and Mallory were alive and well. Hope did feel guilty for not being able to save Ena. She had no clue to what had happened to her. She asked her friends but none knew the answer.

Ena just simply vanished into thin air. Hope was in her apartment. She was busy sorting out her photographs. After saving all of her friends, they went to the same beach again. It was a perfect day. Hope was happy. It felt as though things were in the way she thought it should be.

Ring! Hope's phone rang. Her eyes looked at the caller ID. Maya. Hope answered the call and put it on speaker mode. "Hey Hope~" Maya's voice could be heard through the phone.

"Hey," replied Hope who was still busy.

"Ember, Mallory and I are planning to meet up. You think you can make it?"

Hope stopped what she was doing and thought for a moment. "Er ... sure."

"Great! We're meeting at my house," said Maya.

"Okay."

"We're meeting up in an hour. Is that okay?"

"Yea no problem," said Hope as she cleared up her photographs. "See you there." She said before the call ended. Hope changed into different clothes before grabbing her phone. She left her apartment and was on her way to Maya's house.

Hope decided to stop by Ember's so they can go together. "Things are so perfect," she said to herself. She still couldn't believe she managed to change their fates. "But why do I still have to keep the horrible memories?"

She walked down the neighbourhood looking for the house. Black thick smoke caught her attention. Something was burning. She continued walking. With each step her eyes widen. It was a house that was on fire and not any house. It was Ember's. Seeing the flames, Hope sprinted and soon was standing in front of the burning house.

"What happened?" she asked a firefighter who was monitoring the operation.

"House on fire," said the firefighter.

"Was there anyone home?" asked Hope in a panic voice.

"I-" the firefighter's words were cut short when a few firefighters came out of the burning house with a dead body. Hope felt her heart broke. It was the same feeling as before.

Hope broke down on her knees. Tears were feeling her eyes. Clouding her vision. "No," she said. She felt the firefighter patting her back.

"Was that your sister?"

"No ... she was my best friend," said Hope.

"I'm really sorry," said the firefighter. He helped Hope up on her feet. Hope only looked at the house which was engulfed in flames.

"No ...," she said before turning on her heels and running away.

"No! No! No!" she shouted. She ran for awhile before stopping. She was at a pavement.

"Hope," called out a voice behind her. Hope turned her head and saw Mallory.

"What's the matter?" she asked in a worried voice.

"Ember," said Hope tears prickling down her face. "She's dead."

Mallory's eyes widen. "What? How?" she asked.

"A fire. A fire occurred at her home."

"She ... di-didn't make it?"

Hope shook her head. "N-no."

Mallory's eyes also started to tear up. "They were too late. The firefighters were too late," said Hope.

"C-come on," said Mallory. "We need to tell Maya."

Hope nodded. The traffic light turned red. The cars were stopping. A few people were crossing the road. Mallory crossed ahead of Hope. Hope was a few people behind Mallory.

Tears were still prickling down her cheeks. Her head was hung low. Hope was broken. She lifted her head but what she saw was what she feared. Her body tried to lunged forward to grab Mallory but all was too late.

A speeding car hit Mallory. Mallory's body fell to the ground hard. Hope felt dizzy. The same accidents were happening again. This time all at the same time. People started rushing to help out but it was too late. Mallory was also dead.

The car however, got away. "Maya," said Hope before running away from the accident scene. "Please. She couldn't die!" she told herself. "She died in a ferry accident."

Hope's legs ran as fast as she could. She soon stood in front of Maya's house. She rang the doorbell. "Maya!" she shouted. Hope waited but there was no reply. "Maya!"

Nothing. There was no reply no sound. Her hand reached for the doorknob and twisted it open. There was no one in the living room. She stood at the centre of the room and looked around. Tick. A drop of water hit her head. Her eyes went to the ceiling.

There was a big stain mark. "Water ..." Her eyes widen. She raced up the stairs to the bathroom. She tried to opened the door but it was stuck. Her eyes went down to the floor. The floor around the door was flooded with water.

"No! Maya!" she shouted. There was no reply. Hope took a step back before kicking the door repeatedly. Eventually the door broke open. Water flowed out of the bathroom. "Maya?"

Maya looked inside and found an unconscious Maya. Her body laid on the wet floor. The taps in the bathroom were still running. Hope rushed to them and turned them off. Hope looked at Maya.

"Maya?" she called out. There was no reply. Her heart raced. She inched closer to the body. The body didn't show any signs of her breathing. Hope checked her pulse and felt her heart broke even more. No pulse. Maya was dead.

More tears flowed out from her eyes. Maya was dead. Mallory was dead. Ember was dead. They were all dead again. "No!" she shouted. She got out of the bathroom and went back down. Hope ended up crashing down on the floor. Tears flowing uncontrollably.

"No! No!" she continued to shout. "I saved them only for them to die again."

She looked at her left wrist. She had wore the watch. "Maybe I can go back and save them ..." It was a tempting idea but then she thought about it.

"What if they die again?" she questioned herself. All would be worthless if they died again. Tears kept on rolling down. She laid there on the floor. After a lot of crying, Hope finally picked herself up.

Her body made her walked out of the house. Her eyes were puffy and her face was red. She started sprinting out. There was only one place she wanted to go. The place she met the witch.

"That's my only last hope," she said to herself. Her speed slowed down as she approached the alley. Hope turned into the alley and was met by the witch who seemed to be waiting for her. The identity of the witch still hidden under the mask.

"We meet again Hope," greeted the witch.

"I'll just get straight to the point," said Hope as she walked closer to the witch. "Why are my friends dying?"

"I don't see a problem," said the witch.

"No problem? I saved them only to see them die again later," said Hope. "I changed their fate in the past and now I had to watch them die again!"

"And?"

"And? What do you mean and?"

"I gave you what you wanted. You wanted them alive," said the witch.

"Yea alive not dead again."

"So what? They died again."

"They died the same way," said Hope. "Ember's house caught on fire again. Mallory died in a car crash ..."

"I bet Maya didn't die in a ferry accident," said the witch before laughing.

"No but she drowned in water. The same way she died in the accident. She drowned!" said Hope. The witch only looked at Hope before laughing. She started to laugh louder.

"What's so funny?" asked Hope mad.

"Your friends were meant to die."