Echoes of Time

Chapter 13 - Bloodlines of Time

Keith stood alone in the desolate field, the wind whipping through the golden grass like a thousand whispering voices. His green eyes glowed faintly, a reflection of the cosmic energy he had come to know all too well. The hourglass in his hands hummed with power, but it was a burden, not a gift. Every grain of sand that spun violently within it represented time slipping away, not just for him, but for Adeline as well.

She had no idea. No idea that the man she was so hopelessly infatuated with was her cousin, bound to her by more than just blood. Bound by a curse that had lingered for generations, a curse created by the very people who had loved them both the most—her parents and his.

Keith's thoughts drifted back to the day it all began. He had only been a child, barely old enough to understand the significance of the experiment his parents were working on. They were pioneers, brilliant minds who dared to challenge the universal laws of time. They believed they could travel through time—not just observe it, but alter it, change the course of history itself. The idea had been exhilarating, the possibilities endless. But it had cost them their lives.

Their experiment had failed, and in that failure, they had been swallowed by time itself, their souls trapped in a limbo of infinite timelines, unable to move forward or backward. Keith's parents were gone, forever lost to the void, and for years, the loss had gnawed at him. But he had learned to live with it. He had no choice.

Then Adeline's parents, fueled by guilt and love, had tried to bring them back. They, too, had sought to manipulate time, to rewrite the past. But in their noble attempt to save Keith's parents, they had met the same fate. The experiment, a mirror of the first, had gone wrong, and they had vanished, their souls scattered across time, leaving Adeline and Keith alone in the present.

Keith clenched his fists, the wind howling louder as if the universe itself were mocking him. He was forever grateful to Adeline's parents, even in their failure. They had tried to do the impossible—to undo the tragedy that had stolen his parents from him. But now, as the years passed, the consequences of their actions had become all too clear.

The lost souls of Adeline's parents lingered in the present, unable to move on, unable to rest. And as long as they remained, as long as they were bound to the threads of time they had attempted to break, Keith and Adeline would suffer. It was the law of the universe—immutable, unyielding. Time demanded balance, and the price of defying it was steep.

He could feel it creeping closer, the punishment for their disobedience. It was not just his parents or Adeline's parents who had broken the rules; their entire bloodline was tainted by the act. And soon, the weight of that defiance would come crashing down on them.

"The bloodline of the Monroes," Keith whispered to himself, his voice barely audible over the howling wind. "We're cursed."

The universe had a way of correcting itself, of restoring balance. Keith knew that better than anyone. He had spent years studying time, trying to understand the forces that had taken everything from him. And the truth was simple, yet terrifying: no one could defy time without facing the consequences. The longer Adeline's parents lingered, the worse those consequences would be.

He could already feel the effects—the strange fluctuations in reality, the moments where time seemed to warp around him, bending and shifting in ways it shouldn't. He had experienced the visions, the nightmares, the whispers of the past echoing in his mind. And it wasn't just him. Adeline, too, was starting to feel it. The closer she got to the truth, the more she was pulled into the same web that had ensnared their parents.

Keith looked down at the hourglass in his hands, the sandstorm inside swirling more violently with each passing second. He could stop it, he knew that much. He could travel back, find a way to fix everything, to save Adeline and himself from the fate that was slowly closing in on them. But that wasn't the answer. Time didn't want to be changed. It didn't want to be rewritten. And anyone who tried would pay the price.

"The universe won't let us live," Keith muttered, his voice trembling with frustration. "Not until they're gone. Not until they stop haunting us."

But the old man, Adeline's father, refused to leave. He was too stubborn, too tied to the world he had left behind. He didn't believe that his actions were what had trapped him in this purgatory. He thought he could still make things right. And as long as he remained, as long as he clung to the hope of changing the past, both Adeline and Keith were doomed.

Keith felt a surge of anger rise within him, a mixture of frustration and helplessness. He had spent years watching over Adeline, protecting her from the truth, from the horrors of their shared past. She had always been his priority, his reason for carrying on. But now, he wasn't sure if he could save her. Not without risking everything.

The punishment for their parents' sins was coming, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

Unless...