Ryan couldn't speak.
His brain felt like it had stopped working the moment Skye said those words.
"Last time, I died when it reached zero."
The sounds of the street, the cars, the students talking around them — everything felt distant, like Ryan was underwater and the world was happening somewhere far away.
"…What do you mean?" Ryan finally managed to say.
Skye looked at him for a few seconds, as if deciding whether she should say more.
"Not here," she said. "Too many people."
She turned and started walking toward the park across the street.
After a few steps, she stopped and looked back at him.
"Are you coming?" she asked.
Ryan looked at Shaan.
Shaan shrugged. "Well, if she says she died before, I think we should hear the full story."
Ryan nodded slowly, and the three of them walked to the park.
The park was called Silent Garden. It was a quiet place with long trees, green grass, and a small lake in the middle. In the evening, there were not many people there — just a few joggers and some elderly people feeding birds.
They sat on a bench under a tall tree.
For a few seconds, no one spoke.
Ryan kept looking at the timer above Skye's head.
27:11:03
27:11:02
27:11:01
The numbers kept moving, completely indifferent to their conversation.
"…Start from the beginning," Shaan said. "You said this isn't the first time. Explain."
Skye looked at the lake, her expression calm but her eyes slightly distant, like she was remembering something she didn't want to remember.
"A few months ago," she said slowly, "I started seeing a timer above my own head."
Ryan's eyes widened. "You could see it too?"
Skye shook her head. "No. I couldn't see it myself. But someone else told me."
"Someone else?" Ryan asked.
Skye nodded. "A boy. I didn't know him very well. He came to me one day and told me that I was going to die in 18 days."
Ryan and Shaan looked at each other.
"…What happened then?" Ryan asked quietly.
"At first, I thought he was crazy," Skye said. "But he kept following me, watching me, warning me about small accidents before they happened. Falling objects. A bike that lost control. A loose wire near a shop."
Ryan felt his heart beating faster.
"That means… he could see timers too," Ryan said.
Skye nodded. "Yes. Just like you."
Ryan looked down at his hands.
"So what happened when the timer reached zero?" Shaan asked.
There was a long silence.
Skye's eyes moved slowly to the lake.
"I died," she said simply.
Ryan felt a cold wave run through his entire body.
"How?" he asked.
"There was a car accident," Skye said. "A truck lost control near Noctis Bridge. The boy pushed me out of the way."
Ryan's chest tightened. "He saved you…"
Skye nodded slowly. "Yes. He saved me."
"Then how are you here?" Shaan asked.
Skye looked at them again.
"Because he died instead," she said.
Silence.
Ryan felt like he couldn't breathe for a moment.
"The timer reached zero," Skye continued. "But I didn't die. He did. And after that…"
She stopped speaking.
"After that what?" Ryan asked.
"…Time reset," Skye said quietly.
Ryan frowned. "Reset?"
"When I woke up, it was morning," Skye said. "The day the accident was supposed to happen hadn't happened yet. The boy was gone. No one remembered him. No records. No photos. Nothing."
Ryan felt a chill run down his spine.
"But I remembered," Skye said. "I remembered everything. The timer. The accident. His death."
Shaan spoke this time, his voice more serious than Ryan had ever heard before.
"So you're saying… when the timer reached zero… you didn't just die…"
He looked directly at Skye.
"…You went back in time."
Skye didn't answer immediately.
But her silence was already an answer.
Ryan felt like his mind was breaking.
"So this is the second time," Ryan said slowly. "That's why you said 'it started again.'"
Skye nodded.
Ryan looked up at the red timer above her head again.
27:02:44
"So in the first timeline, you died," Ryan said.
"In the second timeline, that boy died and time reset."
"And now… this is the third timeline."
Skye looked at him, slightly surprised.
"You understand quickly," she said.
Ryan didn't feel smart.
He felt terrified.
"Where is that boy now?" Ryan asked.
Skye shook her head. "I don't know. After the reset, he disappeared. It's like he never existed."
Ryan thought about that.
If someone died when the timer reached zero… they might disappear from existence.
Not just die.
Disappear.
Like they were erased.
Ryan's hands started shaking slightly.
"…What if," Ryan said slowly, "the timer doesn't show when you die…"
Skye and Shaan both looked at him.
"…What if it shows when you disappear?" Ryan finished.
No one spoke for a few seconds.
Because that idea was much more terrifying than death.
"So the question is," Shaan said, breaking the silence, "why is this happening to you? And now to Ryan too?"
Skye looked at Ryan.
"Maybe," she said, "because he's the next one."
Ryan frowned. "Next one?"
"The next one who can see the timers," Skye said. "The next one who tries to save me. The next one who might disappear when the timer reaches zero."
Ryan felt his chest tighten.
He looked at the timer again.
26:58:03
"So if I try to save you…" Ryan said slowly.
"You might die instead," Skye finished calmly.
Shaan ran a hand through his hair. "This is getting crazy."
Ryan looked at Skye.
"Then what am I supposed to do?" he asked. "If I do nothing, you die. If I try to save you, I might die. And if I change the future, the timer becomes shorter or something worse happens."
Skye didn't answer immediately.
She just looked at the lake again.
"…In the last timeline," she said quietly, "the boy said something to me the day before the accident."
Ryan waited.
Skye's voice was almost a whisper when she spoke.
"He said… 'The timer is not counting down to your death.'"
Ryan felt a chill run down his spine.
"Then what is it counting down to?" he asked.
Skye looked at him.
Her eyes were calm.
But the words she said next made Ryan's blood run cold.
"…It's counting down to the moment your existence gets erased."