The Butterfly Effect. (ON HOLD)

Chapter 3

My eyelids fluttered slowly before opening up to their full potential, exposing my eyes to view the world around me. Once they had adapted to the room that I was in, I sprung up into a sitting position to get a better look.

I couldn't help but smile as I stared from wall to wall of my old bedroom. Some sort of gaming system crammed in one corner, random posters of video games I used to be so obsessed with back in the day, like Tekken and Crash Bandicoot, scattered along the width of the wall opposite from me.

"I'm eighteen again." I said, hoping that maybe saying it out loud would make it sound a little less crazy but boy, was I wrong. My eyes traveled around the room, nostalgically absorbing all the random memories those four walls had contained throughout the years.

Remembering Neets' promise to come back after school, I checked the digital clock that had somehow managed to find itself jammed between my bed and the nightstand. I freed it from its strange position and placed it back where it belonged. It read two on the dot, which meant that I had an entire hour before the end of the school day.

More than enough time to think.

I lied back down on my bed and decided to get everything in order. "Okay," I sighed, wiping my face with both hands. "I had dinner at Lin's after work and then The Cascade brought me back to high school?"

I was used to The Cascade's affect on time travel, the only difference was that it always took me back in time for no longer than a few minutes, let alone years. I ran a hand through my hair in frustration as I took another deep breath. I had no theoretical explanation to ease the tension building up in my head.

"I was stabbed." I recalled, looking down at the hand I had subconsciously placed on my chest, the image of the crimson stained object shooting out of it fresh in my mind.

As I lied down there, staring at the ceiling and silently fumbling for coherent thoughts, the sound of someone opening the front door and entering the house caught my attention. I immediately turned to the digital clock again, noticing that not even ten minutes had passed from when I last checked it. It couldn't be Neets.

Getting up and grabbing the closest thing that I could use as a weapon of self defense, in this case, being a wooden ukulele that had collected dust over the years under my bed, I made my way silently out of my room, towards the staircase.

The sound of something similar to the rustling of plastic bags coming from the kitchen was all I could hear as I slowly walked down the stairs, ukulele high above my head. I turned and tiptoed my way towards the source of the ruckus.

Once I had finally reached the kitchen, ready to unleash the wrath of my musical instrument upon the intruder, I noticed that there wasn't anyone there. I had failed to notice the open refrigerator door until someone, who was bending behind it stood straight, revealing themselves.

"AHHHH!!"
"AHHHHHHH!!"

My mind wasn't fast enough to process the sight in front of me. "Eomma?"

"Vincent, you scared me." She sighed, closing the refrigerator door. "And why are your holding that like you're going to whack me in the head with it?"

Tears began to collect in my eyes, blurring the image of the mother whose face I'd only been able to see in my sleep. "And why aren't you at school? I could've sworn you left early th.." She was cut off by a surprise hug. Her slow reaction reflecting how I had caught her off guard. It didn't take long for her to wrap her arms around me just as I began sobbing, my chin resting on her right shoulder.