Children

Chapter 1: Different

(Okay so I did NOT like where this was going, so I decided to come back and rewrite most of it. Tell me if you like this better, because this is something I can work off of!)

Something was different.

I didn't know what my next move would be, or how I would proceed with my actions.

I was back.

I was back at the beginning again.

I didn't know how all of this was possible, or how it could happen—but it did. And at the moment—I could care less about leaving, about going back.

I could use it to my advantage.

I swallowed heavily—thinking of the others I left behind. Thinking of Kai and Ace and Alex and—

And Rosabeth...

They would be without me, and I didn't know if I would be able to get back to them or not. If I did manage to save them, if I managed to save all the ones I lost—how would I return to my original time?

My past me would live in the same time as future me, and everything would be repeated over and over again. After this was over, I would have to find a way back. I would need to.

A way back into the future.

A way back into a time, the same but hopefully different where future me is happy—and Anna and Carson are still alive.

My body shook as the feeling of the atmosphere ran over me. My shoulders hunched over with tremors, and my chest tightened with an odd, horrifying feeling. My eyes watered. It suddenly hit where I was, and how much danger I was in.

Mommy would be coming down the stairs any second—finished with greeting her new, precious child.

Greeting me.

I was suddenly grateful for my awful, traumatizing memories as I ducked behind the couch, swallowing a gasp of horror. I would know what to expect—I would know what would happen.

I would know how to get them out.

Right?

I've lived through this all before, so doing it once again--I would know what to do. I could get them out fast. I could avoid the dangers ahead--I could expect them...

Everything will be the same.

I winced and shook violently, holding my breath as I heard slow, creaky footsteps trailing back down the steps. My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt nauseous and so very scared. I forgot how terrifying this place was--she was.

But I knew I wasn't as scared as I should be. I should be so much more scared—but the adrenaline was still pumping through me. I was still in a daze, and I still believed that this wasn't real. This wasn't happening.

Something was different.

I could feel my legs tremble as I heard her pitchy and familiar giggle—and it took every ounce in me to not run away. To not scream. To not regret my decision of pushing Theo out of the time machine—

Theo.

Theo was here.

The fear that was in me flashed into a sudden anger as I realized the boy was here. The boy under the bed—Theo.

I silently squirmed around the couch, hiding  quietly in the shadows as I heard Mommy exit the stairway, seemingly heading towards the kitchen. I could feel my stomach twist in a knot with the horror rushing through me. My head spun, and my legs tingled with the lack of oxygen rushing through me.