The way she couldn’t change it, no matter how hard shetried. Am I being unrealistic for thinking I can? What if I only make it worse? Or what if I lose her in every version of time? What if I fell in love with the one person I can never truly have? The one person who’ll always be just out of reach.
I run toward the main road, sweat on my brow and a cramp in my leg. It doesn’t matter though. The adrenaline pumping through me has my body on fire and I push forward.
There’s so much I still don’t know, like the exact time Emma fell off the bridge or where she was before that point. But what I do know is that if anyone is going to save her, it’s going to be me.
I’m going to fix this twisted mess even if it’s the last thing I do. I refuse to accept a life without her. I can’t. Not when I know it’s possible to go back in time and correct the past.
Dark clouds loom overhead and the crisp promise of rain lingers in the air. Sunlight is nowhere to be found.
A car on the horizon speeds closer and it takes me a moment to let my eyes adjust.
It’s an older silver sedan with black rimmed tires, and it’s too familiar for it to be a coincidence . . .
It’s my car.
It skids to a stop in front of me, and before I have time to figure out what’s going on, the driver leans over the center console and props the door open for me.
But I can’t move.
I’ve seen his eyes a million times before in the mirror.
It’s me.
My chest tightens and my mind spins. Why is he here? He must be from the future. Does that mean he jumped?
“Get in,” he says. It isn’t a suggestion. It’s an order. “We don’t have time to waste.”
I’m panting like a dog as I get into the passenger seat. This is even more jarring than seeing two Emmas.
“How?” I mutter.
He tilts his head. “Come on, you’re smart. You know what I did. I jumped.”
My hands are clammy as I reach for the seatbelt.
He doesn’t wait for me to buckle. Tires skid as he drives off.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
“Because you won’t make it in time.”
I cough, beating my chest with a fist. That can’t be true. I did everything I could to be released in time to save her.
“I won’t?” I ask, heart dropping.
“Not without me,” he says. “Now listen very closely. We’ve done this before. I’ve been where you are and nothing works. No matter how hard you try, you don’t get there in time to talk to her. You can’t tell her about Mallory. The only way to stop this is to break the cycle. You have to stop her from falling into the water.”
I touch my head with both hands, trying to process all of this information. “We’ve done this before?”
He nods. “A year ago I was in the passenger seat of this car instead of you, so trust me.”
“What do I need to do?”
He takes a sharp turn and I hit my head against the window. He’s driving too fast.
“You’re going to emerge from the water downstream, and you’re going to be in shock. Start swimming as soon as you can. You have to get out of the water before you pass the river bend. Get out of the water and hike up to the main road.There’s a bike leaning against the first gray house you see. Take it and go.”
“Just take it?” That seems wrong. I’d never walk up to someone’s house and take something without asking.
