The rain drummed steadily as the four hurried through the dark streets, each step splashing water onto their shoes. Rina tugged her jacket tighter, struggling to keep pace. Her mind churned with the weight of what Tigo and Shine had revealed—how could a simple watch predict disasters? And more importantly, what was it counting down to?
Ahead of her, Liam kept glancing at the strange watch in his palm. Its hands twirled erratically, the ticking growing louder with every passing second.
"It's getting faster," Liam muttered under his breath.
Tigo shot him a warning glance. "Don't stare at it too long. The more you focus, the more it pulls you in."
"Wait," Rina interrupted, her brow furrowed. "What do you mean 'pulls you in'? You're acting like the watch has a mind of its own."
"It kind of does," Shine admitted quietly, falling in step beside Rina. "We learned the hard way. Dad always warned us not to trust it completely. It's more like… a doorway, showing glimpses of possible futures."
"But the futures it shows," Tigo added, his jaw clenched, "are never good."
They stopped in front of the town's old clock tower, its stone walls weathered and forgotten. The ancient bell sat high above them, silent for years—until now. Liam pointed at the top, where a faint orange glow seeped through the tower's cracked windows.
"That's new," Rina remarked.
"We don't have time to stand around," Tigo said, stepping toward the entrance. "If the countdown ends when the watch and the clock sync, something bad will happen. And we have to stop it before it's too late."
The wooden door groaned as they pushed it open, the air inside thick with dust and dampness. Shadows clung to every corner, and the distant sound of ticking echoed through the hollow space.
Shine reached for Liam's hand, squeezing it gently. "Stay close, okay?"
Liam nodded but kept his eyes fixed on the watch in his hand. The erratic spinning of its hands made his stomach churn with unease.
As they climbed the spiral staircase toward the clock mechanism, a strange hum began to fill the air—low and vibrating, like a warning just on the edge of hearing. Rina ran her fingers along the walls, feeling the faint tremors ripple through the stone.
"The whole place feels... alive," she whispered, shivering despite herself.
When they reached the top, they found the massive gears of the clock grinding slowly to life. The hands on the clock face outside were inching toward midnight, matching the erratic movements of Liam's watch.
"We're running out of time," Tigo muttered, glancing between the watch and the clock.
"But what exactly happens at zero?" Rina asked, frustration bubbling in her voice.
"We don't know," Shine admitted, her voice barely audible. "Dad always stopped it before it could reach the end."
As if on cue, the watch in Liam's hand clicked, its ticking slowing to a steady rhythm. Midnight was seconds away. The air thickened, making it hard to breathe. Every instinct in Rina's body told her to run, but where could they go when time itself was the threat?
"Look!" Liam gasped.
The glow from the clock face intensified, casting eerie shadows that flickered like flames. Suddenly, the rain outside stopped mid-fall, each droplet suspended in the air as if frozen in glass. The streets below went silent—no wind, no sounds, just an eerie stillness.
"Oh my God," Rina whispered, her breath catching in her throat. "What's happening?"
"This is what the watch warned about," Tigo said grimly. "It's not just a prediction—it's a reset."
"A reset?" Rina echoed, her voice tight with panic.
Tigo's expression darkened. "When the watch reaches zero, time resets. But not everything comes back the same. It changes things. People. Events. Like it rewrites history—pieces of the past vanish, and others get... rearranged."
Liam's hand trembled as the watch's ticking grew deafening. "We need to stop it!"
"How?" Rina demanded. "It's a watch! We can't exactly throw it out the window!"
Suddenly, Shine grabbed Liam's wrist. "There's a way," she said urgently. "If we destroy the source—the clock tower—maybe the watch will stop syncing with it."
Tigo's eyes widened. "You mean blow up the tower?"
Rina blinked, stunned by the suggestion. "We don't even know if that will work!"
"We don't have a choice," Shine snapped. "Do you want to wait and see what happens when time rewrites itself?"
Tigo cursed under his breath, then looked at Rina. "There's dynamite stored in the basement. The town was supposed to demolish the tower years ago but never did."
Rina shook her head in disbelief. "This just keeps getting crazier."
Tigo turned to Liam. "Can you hold the watch steady? If it syncs before we're done, we might not make it."
Liam swallowed hard but nodded. "I'll try."
Without another word, the group scrambled back down the staircase, the hum of the clock growing louder with every second. Time itself felt like it was slipping through their fingers.
When they reached the basement, Tigo and Shine located the dusty crates of dynamite, their hands shaking as they worked quickly to set it in place.
"We only have one shot at this," Tigo muttered. "No mistakes."
Rina kept glancing at the watch in Liam's hand, the hands now barely a breath away from midnight. Her heart pounded in her chest, the fear threatening to choke her.
"Ready?" Tigo asked, lighting the fuse.
"Wait!" Liam cried out suddenly, his eyes wide with panic.
Everyone froze.
"What if… what if destroying the clock doesn't stop it? What if the watch rewinds everything, including this moment?"
Silence fell over the group like a heavy weight. Rina's mind raced, caught between fear and doubt. Could they really change their fate, or were they trapped in an endless loop, doomed to repeat the same moments over and over?
The fuse burned closer to the dynamite, sparks dancing in the dim light.
"We have to try," Tigo said quietly.
And with that, the fuse hit the dynamite.
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