The Time Capsule

Chapter One.

WARNING: CREEPINESS AND DEATH

         When Nadia Wolfe opened up the time capsule, she never expected to find a small hourglass with grains of sand the color of ebony. It was what you might expect a classic hourglass to look like. She had discovered it when she picked up the capsule, only to loosen something that had most likely been buried for at least seven years. When Nadia was 10, she decided one day to make something. After all, what could someone like her, with little to no creative talent, decide to create? A time capsule.. It didn't take much work, just a box resistant to decay and some sentimental things, like notes, a two-dollar bill, and a small toy she had cherished.
          The reason she had decided to open it on this exact day? This was the anniversary of her parents' death and the anniversary of her burying the Time Capsule. When they had passed away, her aunt had legally adopted her, moving Nadia into a different house.
          Now, as she sat in front of the beige-colored, two-story home, with marble steps leading up to an ebony wood door, she pondered something:    She hadn't thought to add an hourglass. Which was exactly why she was sitting here now, on the grass of her old house's lawn, next to a pile of dirt she had dug up to find the Time Capsule, confused about the curious object she now held in her hand. Was she destroying private property? Perhaps. But it was condemned to be destroyed soon enough, and she was convinced that they wouldn't care about her time capsule enough to notice it was missing.
          Standing up, brushing dirt off of her jean shorts, she packed up the box and carefully tucked the hourglass inside it. She was hoping to get home in time to eat dinner. Her aunt had made her special Fettuccine Alfredo, and she loved it. Quickly getting on her bicycle, Nadia tucked the box into her bike basket and began to pedal to her house.
          After 30 minutes of biking up and down hills, gasping for breath, and about ready to pass out from heat stroke, Nadia set her bike down, grabbed the container, and went inside.
        "I'm home." She whispered in case her aunt had taken a nap. Walking inside the kitchen area, she saw her aunt on the floor.
         "Auntie? Are you okay?" No sound came from her aunt. She bent down, reaching for her pulse. No heartbeat. The only thing that moved was the ticking clock on the wall, spinning rapidly. It seemed to be moving... backward? But how? Before Nadia could begin to freak out, she closed her eyes, almost against her will.
         After what felt like forever, she pried her eyes open. She was now in her bed, the sun just coming up through the window. Nadia jumped out of bed, running down the stairs, not thinking clearly. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins, and she didn't stop to consider the fact that... It was morning? Has she passed out? Or maybe she merely dreamt it all? The wooden floorboards creaked under her footsteps as she dashed down them, and all of a sudden... There was her aunt, sitting on the couch, reading a book. The clock in the kitchen read: 5:00.
          'Maybe I did dream it all? But... it felt so real. How?' "Nadia, darling. You're up early. Did you sleep well?"
She cautiously stepped forward, inspecting her carefully. "How are you feeling, Auntie?" Her aunt's puzzled expression caught her off guard.
          "Fine, dear. Why do you ask? Are you feeling alright?" Nadia was about to respond when the doorbell rang. She tensed up, treading slowly towards the door, ready to fight if need be. There was no peephole, which complicated matters.
         "Who is it?" She shouted at the person behind the door.
         "Just me... your neighbor?" Her next-door neighbor, Carina, responded.
        'Why is she here again? Didn't she just come yesterday? Or am I paranoid?' Very quickly, she opened the door. "What do you need?" The girl shifted from side to side, confused about Nadia's reaction. They hung out a lot, but today, her friend was acting off.
         "Just wanted to ask you if you're opening the Time Capsule today. I think today's the day! 7 years. Can you believe it?"
          Nadia nodded. "I just opened it yesterday." Her friend's face fell.
          "Why didn't you tell me?" Nadia stalled. "Oh, I didn't want to bother you. You had that cheer meet going on, and it seemed silly to text you."
        "Cheer meet? I have that today. Why are you acting so weird?"
          Nadia sighed. "Sorry. I haven't gotten much sleep. Just... thinking about the Time Capsule. Why are you here so early?"
          Carina shrugged. "I have a cheer meet in a few hours, and I just wanted to stop by and say hello."
         Nadia forcefully smiled. "Anyways, uh... good luck with your cheer meet." She then closed the door, pressing her back up against it.
'I opened the Time Capsule yesterday. I even promised Carina that I would tell her all about it. But for some reason, I didn't. Maybe I did dream it all? Otherwise.. Am I just going crazy? And her cheer meet! I thought that was today!'
          It was at that moment that she felt something in her pocket. Reaching for the object, she pulled it out, turning paler as seconds ticked away.
The small hourglass, with black sand leisurely spilling into one side, was held in her hand.
         'So I didn't imagine it all. But... What about Auntie dying? And... I didn't even put this hourglass under the time capsule! Why would it be there? I would have remembered it. What should I do? Okay, Nadia. Don't freak out... First off, look under your bed. Maybe you put the box there full of stuff from 7 years ago.' She ran back up the stairs, checking underneath her small twin bed.   Nothing was there.
          She sat down on her bed, staring off into space and trying to think. It almost seemed like time felt off... like it was both too fast and too short. Finally, she grabbed a trowel from her closet.
         She called out: "Hey, Auntie? "I'm going out for a bit." Nadia took each step two at a time, kissing her aunt on the cheek before running out the door. The clock read 2:30. She must've sat there for so long! Now, it really seemed weird to her that it had felt like she was sitting on her bed for only a few minutes, rather than several hours.
        "Oh, Nadia. I'm making your favorite tonight. Fettuccine Alfredo! Be back by 4:00, okay?"
         Nadia turned even paler, quickly nodding and tearing out the door like her life depended on it. Or her aunt's...
          Nadia looked at the front yard, trying to find her bike where she put it, then for some reason, she had a hunch to inspect the bike rack. There it was, clean and pristinely kept, no dirt on it. She hadn't ridden her bike in a long time, except for yesterday.
'I have the hourglass, no container under my bed, my bike is in the bike rack, Carina didn't have a cheer meet yesterday, my aunt didn't die, and I am insane.'
           She hopped on her bicycle, riding to her old house. 30 minutes later, she got off it, taking the shovel from her basket and striding over to the condemned home. A few minutes passed, and she found the spot where she had buried the time capsule.
          'No dirt pile. Not even a trace of what I did yesterday.' Feeling oddly conflicted, Nadia began to dig and found the container sitting in the exact same spot it was in for seven years, and yesterday, until she took it back home.
          "This is getting creepy." She muttered, picking the box up, her hands shaking ever so slightly as she opened it. Inside were her notes, money, and all of the other things she had put in it when she was ten. But no hourglass. Because the hourglass was in her pocket...
            She gasped for breath, trying not to panic. 'What is going on? Something is wrong. Really wrong. Oh no...'
          Nadia raced back to her bike, only to realize that she had forgotten the time capsule. Running back to grab it and the shovel, she got back on her bicycle, pedaling as fast as her legs could carry her. Thirty minutes later, she arrived back home.
         "No... no... no!" Opening the door, not even thinking about knocking at all or trying to be quiet, she sprinted into the kitchen, only to find her aunt's body on the floor. Again. Looking up, tears running down her face, she noticed the clock moving backward. "NO!" She screamed, right as her eyes closed.
            Light hit her eyelids, and she opened them groggily. "What time is it?" She mumbled. All her memories came rushing back. "OH NO!" She stumbled downstairs, seeing her aunt sitting there quietly on the couch. "NOT AGAIN!" The doorbell rang, and she didn't even answer it. "No. No." Clenching her teeth, she reached into her pocket and found... the hourglass.