The Time Capsule

Chapter Three.

         As the days began to blur together, she spent day after day after day of waking up. Nadia did anything at all during the morning and early afternoon and went back home, only to find her aunt on the ground. Even if she tried not to go back home, the day would still reset. One day, Nadia decided to just go to the grocery for a couple hours, and right on the dot, at 3:30, she woke up again.
         What she couldn’t wrap her head around, however, was the fact that… she might be trapped in this time loop forever. The hourglass had begun to make her mad, and so each time she woke up, she had started to break it. Smash it, crush it, throw it out the window, only to find it fully intact and in her pocket. Finally, after who knows how long (probably about a month total in the time loop), Nadia decided to look at any clues she might have missed. Unfortunately, the hourglass didn’t want her to talk to anyone about what she was experiencing, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t WRITE it.
           So… right when the light hit her eyelids at 5:00 in the morning, sitting up, she reached for her phone, starting to type in the group chat. The problem? How on earth could she phrase it without sounding crazy…? Sighing, she set her phone down on the nightstand, thinking. Finally deciding to get it over with, because it’s not like she has any time to lose, she began a text:.
                ‘I’M STUCK IN A TIME LOOP. I CAN’T GET OUT OF IT. I’M NOT INSANE. I NEED YOUR HELP. I CAN ONLY TEXT ABOUT IT, BECAUSE THE HOURGLASS THAT I FOUND IN THE TIME CAPSULE THAT I DIDN’T PUT IN THERE DOESN’T WANT ME TO SPEAK ABOUT THE LOOP. I’M NOT CRAZY. I NEED YOU TO BELIEVE ME. EVERYDAY I WAKE UP TO THE LIGHT SHINING ON MY FACE, AND EVERY AFTERNOON I FIND MY AUNT DEAD ON THE FLOOR. I NEED YOUR HELP.’ She finished the text, sending it to Niko and Carina. She quickly added, 'I EVEN TRIES TO SPEAK TO YOU ABOUT IT THE OTHER DAY, AND THEN THE HOURGLASS TRANSPORTED ME BACK TO THIS MORNING.'
            No response. For about an hour, Nadia sat there. Silent. Waiting. Pondering when or if they’d even respond. Finally, Niko responded with: ‘ARE YOU JOKING?’ She quickly texted back, saying that, no, she wasn’t. ‘ALRIGHT, THEN. I SUPPOSE I BELIEVE YOU. HOW DO YOU ESCAPE THE TIME LOOP, THEN? OR DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW?’ Carina then began to type: ‘I DON’T THINK YOU’RE IN YOUR RIGHT MIND. HAVE YOU FALLEN AND HIT YOUR HEAD?’ ‘NO!’ Nadia thought angrily, only to see a light glowing from within her pocket. ‘Once again… any communication with anyone about this time loop sends me back. Again.’
           The early morning light hit her face. “Seriously, hourglass? You only sent me back an hour. Not cool.” The hourglass glowed in response. “Oh, so NOW you decide to respond?” Nadia glared at it, standing up. “I wish I didn’t have to be here. Why did it have to send me to this boring, annoying day? Except, of course, for Auntie dying. Who even killed her? Or did she die of natural causes? She was healthy, and only 55. No recent medical problems. And it seems she dies within an hour's window every day.”
            She stretched, hopping off her bed. “You know… why don’t I do something fun today? I can make the day less boring! I could even… get a job. Or eat a bunch.” With new rejuvenation, Nadia rushed out the door, deciding to apply for a job at a bakery near here. Nadia figured that if she was going to be stuck in a time loop forever, she could at least pick up some cool skills. Once she went over everything with the manager, she started work.
           Since her town was more like the suburbs in a city, tons of jobs were available. Months passed, and every day, she would apply for a different job, gaining more and more experience about specific subjects. She even enrolled in a different class each day at the college. Between different jobs and different classes, waking up every day at 5:00 and going back in time at 3:30, she was quite preoccupied with her life.
         Nadia almost seemed to forget that she was in a time loop. Until one day… She had started her job in a clothing store, standing in a part of the store while folding t-shirts and pants very swiftly and efficiently. The bell rang, signaling that a person was coming inside, so she set her stuff down, hurrying over to the desk. 
          “Hello, Nadia. I’ve been wanting to meet you. Anything of value here?” A tall man in a business suit and sunglasses stepped into the store, surveying the area with distaste in his eyes. He appeared to be Hispanic, with a very slight accent and hair the color of midnight. Towering over her at a height of about 6’5”, he pulled up his sleeves, buttoning them at the wrist, and her eyes caught his palms. They both had giant hourglasses tattooed on them, with ‘black sand spilling into the bottom of it!’ “Who are you? And how do you know my name?”
              Nadia began to back away, looking around to try and find a weapon to defend herself if the need arose. The man took off his sunglasses, his eyes were fully black, no white visible from where she was standing. It was absolutely terrifying. If he wasn’t so scary, he might have been considered mildly attractive. However, a random person standing in this shop with eyes the color of death and the hourglass tattooed on his palms, Nadia would definitely never tell him that. “You wound me. I’m Roman Adair, the Keeper of Time itself. However, it seems to me that you have been struggling to get out of the loop.”
          Nadia narrowed her eyebrows. “Did you put me in here?” She asked accusingly.
       “No, no, I did not. You got yourself trapped here. Or maybe someone else put you in the loop. Maybe to teach you a lesson? Or to enact revenge? Or to-”
       She huffed in frustration. “Stop with all the questions. I have no idea why I’m here.”
         Roman Adair crossed his arms.     “Think very carefully. The only reason people get stuck in time loops is if they have an enemy, a reason to be here, or they want to be here. And you don’t know which one that is?”
          Nadia ran her hands through her hair. “No! I don't. And what on earth is the “Keeper of Time”? Ridiculous title, by the way.”
      “You have to figure out which of the three reasons you’re here, or else you’ll never leave. Good luck, Nadia Wolfe. Hope to see you soon.” With a wave of his hand, the Keeper of Time disappeared, almost as if he had never even existed.
         Nadia felt her eyes begin to close, only to wake up to the sun streaming through the window. A note was on her bedside table. “Think. The answer might not be too far off…” Nadia’s eyes widened. “So the Keeper of Time was the one sending me these messages!”