(Ayra's POV)
My breath came in ragged gasps as Kyle's fingers dug into my arm.
Every instinct screamed at me to fight, to get away, but his grip was unrelenting.
"Let me go, Kyle!" I shouted, twisting and yanking with every ounce of strength I could muster.
"You should've stayed out of the way, Ayra," he hissed, his face a cold mask of indifference. "This is all your fault."
Sasha stood to the side, her arms crossed, a smirk plastered across her face as though enjoying a private joke.
"Stop struggling, Ayra," she said mockingly. "You're only making this harder on yourself."
But I refused to give in. Every fiber of my being screamed for survival.
I kicked at Kyle's shin, stomped on his foot, and clawed at his hand.
I wrenched myself free and bolted toward the door. My heart thundered in my chest as I ran, the hallway stretching endlessly before me.
"Ayra!" Kyle roared behind me, his footsteps pounding like a predator closing in on its prey.
I barely made it halfway down the corridor before his arms wrapped around my waist, yanking me back.
"Where do you think you're going, Ayra?" he snarled, his voice low and menacing.
"Anywhere but here!" I shouted. "I won't let you do this to me!"
"You're not going anywhere!" he snapped, dragging me backward.
I elbowed him in the ribs, hard enough to make him curse, and managed to free one arm.
"You bitch!" he growled, his anger boiling over. With a violent shove, he pushed me.
I stumbled, my arms flailing for balance, but there was nothing to grab onto.
My foot slipped on the edge of the stairs, and then I was falling.
The world tilted and spun as I tumbled down the staircase. Each step slammed against my back, shoulders, and head. Pain exploded in every part of my body.
By the time I reached the bottom, I was too stunned to move.
My head spun, and my vision blurred. I tried to push myself up, but my limbs felt like lead.
I heard footsteps descend slowly down the stairs.
"Honestly, Ayra, why do you always make things so difficult?" Sasha's voice drifted toward me, smooth and mocking.
I blinked, struggling to focus as she approached.
My body ached, every inch screaming in protest, but I forced myself to move. My fingers scraped against the floor as I tried to crawl away.
"And where do you think you're going?" she taunted.
Before I could react, a sharp blow struck the back of my head. Pain erupted in my skull, and darkness swallowed me whole.
---
When I woke, my body felt heavy, my head pounding like a drum. My vision swam as I tried to make sense of where I was.
My wrists were bound, and my mouth gagged with a rough cloth that tasted of salt and dust.
Panic surged through me as I tried to move, only to realize I was completely immobilized.
I struggled against the ropes, but they bit into my skin, leaving it raw and bleeding.
Sasha's face appeared above me, her lips curling into a smile that made my stomach churn.
"Ah, you're awake," she said cheerfully. "Perfect timing. I just finished writing your suicide note." She said and held up a neatly folded piece of paper, waving it tauntingly in my face.
She unfolded the paper slowly, her eyes sparkling with malice.
"It says you couldn't bear the pain of your leukemia diagnosis and decided to take your own life. "Touching, isn't it?" she said, holding up the note.
I thrashed against my restraints, screaming against the gag, but Sasha ignored me.
"Your handwriting has always been so easy to mimic. All those years of practicing finally paid off.
And when they find your body in the sea, everyone will believe it was a tragic suicide."
Tears streamed down my face as I shook my head, pleading silently with my eyes.
"Don't blame me for this, Ayra," she said with a chilling smile.
"You should've stayed out of our way, you would have just quietly died of leukaemia. But you had to go around and cause a ruckus, now you'll pay for being such a pokenose."
She reached for a small bottle on the table and opened it.
"This," she said, holding it up like a trophy, "will make things easier. It'll paralyze you just enough so you can't swim.
The autopsy will chalk it up as a mild heart attack. No suspicion, no investigation. Brilliant, isn't it?"
I shook my head violently, tears streaming down my face as I struggled to break free.
But she wasn't asking for permission. Kyle held me down while Sasha pried my mouth open and poured the bitter liquid down my throat.
I gagged, trying to spit it out, but she clamped my jaw shut until I swallowed.
The effect was almost immediate. A heavy fog settled over my mind, and my limbs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds.
I couldn't fight anymore. I could barely even move.
"Good girl," Sasha cooed, patting my cheek mockingly. "With you gone, I'll finally have everything I have ever wanted."
Kyle untied the ropes, and together they hauled me to my feet. My body refused to obey me as they dragged me out of the house.
The cold night air bit into my skin as they carried me to the edge of a cliff.
The sea roared below, its waves crashing against the rocks like a cruel lullaby.
"Any last words?" Sasha asked, her tone dripping with mockery.
I glared at her, my eyes burning with a mix of fear and fury.
"No? Alright then," she said with a shrug.
"This is where it ends, Ayra," Kyle said coldly. "Say hello to my in-laws for me."
Sasha chuckled. "Goodbye, old friend. You will be missed," she scoffed.
Together, they pushed me into the icy sea.
The freezing water enveloped me, stealing the breath from my lungs. My body sank like a stone, the weight of the liquid pulling me down.
My mind screamed at me to fight, to swim, but my limbs refused to move.
As the darkness closed in, memories flashed before my eyes—childhood laughter, my parents, my Nana, years of friendship with Sasha, the day I got married to Kyle and shared our wedding vows.
How did it all go wrong? My perfect life had just fallen apart right before my eyes and there was nothing I could do.
I was dying, not from leukemia, but from the hands of those I trusted most and the pain of the betrayal was worse than the pain of death itself.
As I kept going deeper to the bottom of the sea I wished things had happened differently and I didn't meet such a dreadful fate.
But there were just mere wishes now.
Just before everything went black, I caught a faint glow from my ruby ring in the depths.
And then, nothing.
---
When I opened my eyes again, I was gasping for air, drenched in sweat.
Blinding white hospital lights greeted me. My heart raced as I sat up, taking in my surroundings.
I was in a hospital bed. Sunlight streamed through the window, warming the sterile sheets.
A nurse walked in, her eyes wide with surprise.
"Oh! You're awake! How are you feeling, Miss Miller?"
My mind spun, trying to piece it all together. I had drowned. I had died. I'm sure of it.
What was going on?
Then I see the TV it was President Valair. Wasn't he dead?
"Excuse me please where am I? What's going on? I asked the nurse still feeling dazed.
"You had a minor bike accident and was brought in. Your vitals are all good and I think you'll be discharged anytime from now." She smiled.
"No you don't understand? I'm not supposed to be still be alive, I should be dead by now. I was drowning—
Just then I noticed the calendar on the wall.
"Is that calendar up to date?" I stuttered, my trembling hands pointing at the calendar.
"Of course Miss Ayra. Today is a big day for Amoria. It's the Halu festival.
Anyways I'll be leaving now, I need to call the doctor to come check up on you." She said and quickly left before I was able to ask her another question.
The Halu festival was done years ago. What was going on.
I looked at the calendar again.
The date stared back at me.
Six years ago.
I wasn't just alive. I had gone back in time to six years ago.
Back to the moment when it all began.
I had been given a second chance at life. But how was that possible? What was going on?
Just then the door creaked open and I gasped in fear.
It was my best friend who had betrayed and killed me in the future.
Sasha Quince!