The Time Capsule

Chapter Five.

       “They DIED?” Nadia’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “And you didn’t think to mention this before?”
       Roman frowned. “I told you. I didn’t see that you held the hourglass. One thing I must advise you against is-”
       The hourglass began to glow, and she started to wave her hands frantically. “Is what?” The sound was muffled as she succumbed to the darkness of the time loop.
      Her eyes opened slowly, and Nadia sat straight up, panicked. “Advise me against DOING WHAT?” Looking at her nightstand, she noticed a small note. It read, 'DO NOT DEFY THE HOURGLASS. YOU MUST FOLLOW THE RULES OF THE LOOP, OR ELSE YOU SHALL BE STUCK HERE FOREVER/DIE. I'M NOT SURE WHICH ONE WILL HAPPEN. TALK TO YOU IN A FEW WEEKS. BUSY. -THEKEEPEROFTIME'
       Nadia stared at the note, eyes watering. “I’m not supposed to ask anyone for help. I’m just supposed to figure it out for myself… Great. Just great. The only person who can help me out is Roman Adair, and he’s off doing who knows what for a few weeks…? I guess I’ll just have to find a way out by myself."
     Standing up, she didn’t even bother changing into different clothes. It wasn’t like she could ever mess them up… or if she did, it would just change her back into her normal clothes. With newfound determination, Nadia walked down the stairs. “Bye, Auntie.” Her aunt looked up from her novel. “Bye, sweetheart. Are you going out for the day?” Nodding, she started to go over to the front door but stopped when something caught her eye. The book that her aunt was reading: It was different than it normally was. And what’s weirder? It was the same time period when she should be reading her romance novel. Instead, the book’s title was labeled: ‘RUNNING OUT OF TIME. BETTER NOT FAIL. FATE IS AROUND THE CORNER.’
     Paling, Nadia decided to address this.     “Auntie, why are you reading that?”
      Her aunt responded, “What do you mean?” Looking back down at the cover, it was a regular old romance novel. The same one she had been reading for the past 6 months.
      “N-nothing… Just… thought I saw something strange. Anyways, goodbye.” ‘The light is playing tricks on my eyes. Or… Fate? Running out of time? I have plenty of time. I’m not going to fail. Fate isn’t even real. Actually… The Keeper of Time is real. So why wouldn’t Fate be? I’m overthinking this.’
       Rushing out the door, she decided to try something new: ‘Maybe Fate is giving me clues? Or just an end date. I need to focus on my surroundings. What if Fate has been giving me clues all along, and I just haven’t been paying attention? I’m grasping at strands.’
       Texting Carina, she asked if she wanted to hang out before the meet. Carina replied with, ‘YES!’. After working out the details, she decided to test Fate. Quite literally. ‘Yes, Roman Adair told me not to mess with the rules of the game, for fear of death or eternal entrapment, but I could push the boundaries. Maybe Fate would eventually give some kind of clue to help me escape. Or… Fate might get angry. Whichever. I’m tired of sitting around, getting a bunch of jobs, doing whatever I want. What I truly want is to escape this everlasting time loop.’
        About 10 minutes passed, precious time that could have been used to look around the town for clues, but, instead, Nadia decided she would focus on her best friend today. Carina pulled up in her car. “Hey! I was just about to drive over here and say,“hi”. You beat me to it. Are we inviting Niko?”
       Nadia shook her head. “No. I just wanted to-” A flash of light appeared on Carina’s t-shirt. Words formed: “Do not test me, child. I know all. I see all. You cannot escape the loop.” Then the words went back to normal. Just some band name or whatever.
       ‘Oh, snap! Fate is watching. Can it know my thoughts? Probably… Roman was right. I need to tread carefully. Fate, if you’re listening, I just want to find a way to escape. Help me or fail to keep me from escaping. No other options.’ Nadia smiled, climbing into the passenger seat of the car and turning the radio on to some weird EDM music. “Where do you want to go?” Carina shouted over the loud beats.
        Nadia watched almost in slow motion as a giant truck honked the horn, crashing into them at a high speed. Glass shattered. The music stopped. Silence enveloped the car as she was pulled out of it and onto a small lawn. She watched as the car flipped and spun, finally slowing to a stop. Shock paralyzed her. She barely registered what happened.
       Words flashed in the sky: “Do not test me. Your friends will only get hurt.” They disappeared, and so did everything. She closed her eyes, only to feel the sun brilliantly shining on her eyelids. “No… Carina!” She quickly grabbed her phone, sending her friend a text. Carina immediately responded with: ‘HEY! WHY ARE YOU TEXTING SO EARLY?’ Nadia let out a large breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “She’s okay. She’s not hurt. I…”
      ‘Looking back at the situation, how was I pulled out of the car and set down safely? Was it Fate? Like some cruel trick?’ A note was on her bedside table:  ‘I TOLD YOU NOT TO MESS WITH FATE. FATE DOESN’T TAKE KINDLY TO BEING MANEUVERED OR TESTED. YOUR FRIENDS ARE FINE. THEY’RE SAFE IN THE TIME LOOP. YOU ARE AS WELL. BUT YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL. THIS ISN’T A GAME. THIS IS YOUR LIFE. YOU DON’T WANT TO BE STUCK HERE FOREVER.’
      Nadia’s eyes teared up with sadness. “It wasn’t even signed. I assume it’s the Keeper of Time. Still… Carina might get hurt if I don’t become more careful! I was treating the time loop like a game. A game of life or death. And right now… it’s looking like a game of death to me.”