The first thing that caught his attention was the silence…
A silence unlike any other.
It wasn't just the absence of sound. it was as if the world itself had forgotten how to breathe.
Then he saw the body.
Sara lay on the floor, her face tilted to one side, hair disheveled, hand clutching a crumpled piece of paper.
Blood stained the tiles beneath her like a fading memory of resistance.
as if she had tried to fight the end.
"Sara..."
He spoke her name with a voice fractured, as though it had splintered from somewhere deep inside him.
He stared at her, holding back the tears that no longer had a place in a world frozen in time.
Even the one person who came looking for him was now gone.
Adam had wished. hoped beyond reason. that if he returned to her apartment, he would find her smiling. Alive.
But that was not what he found.
He bent toward her, aching to hold her, but he couldn't.
He couldn't touch anyone outside the flow of time.
All he could do was watch.
Then he saw the paper in her hand.
He took it carefully, unfolded it, and began to read.
---
> "Adam,
I'm sorry. I knew they were going to hurt you.
I tried to stop them. I tried everything. But I failed.
Your family… they're not who you think they are anymore.
Jealousy has devoured their hearts.
They wanted me to be part of their plan… to betray you with them.
But I couldn't. I wouldn't.
I chose you, Adam. not their schemes, not their lies.
Please forgive me for leaving first.
I love you… and I will keep loving you, even after everything ends."
---
He finished reading, but the words didn't register.
How could his own family betray him?
He let the letter slip from his hands, fluttering to the ground like the last leaf of a dying season.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Adam stepped out of Sara's apartment as if sleepwalking.
His legs moved on their own, the world around him a blur of frozen streets and hollow silence.
Inside, a voice screamed:
"No… it can't be them. Not my family!"
He ran.
Ran faster than he had ever run, until he stood before his childhood home.
He paused at the door, chest heaving, heart racing.
He looked down at his wristwatch.
12:26 PM.
Half the time was gone.
He steadied himself.
Breathed in. Breathed out.
Then opened the door.
Each step into the house cracked something inside him.
In the living room, he saw them;
his mother, and Wael, his younger brother.
They were writing.
Working on something.
A document.
A report.
One meant to get Adam fired.
He froze.
"Sara... she was right."