Aria woke up to silence.
Not the peaceful kind she loved in the early mornings, but a silence so heavy it pressed against her ears.
She sat up, blinking. Something felt… wrong. The sunlight pouring through her curtains looked sharper, colder. The air smelled faintly different, like rain had just fallen though the ground outside was dry.
"Asher?" she whispered, though she knew he wouldn't be there. Still, her chest tightened when no answer came.
She got ready in a rush, heart pounding as if she were late for something she didn't remember. Grabbing her backpack, she ran outside—
And froze.
Her street wasn't the same.
The houses stood where they always had, but their colors were faded, as though painted decades ago. Some of the trees were smaller, others missing entirely. And the clock tower—her breath caught—it was cracked straight down the middle, its hands frozen at an unfamiliar hour.
A shiver ran down her spine. "This… this can't be real."
She hurried down the street, looking for anything familiar. People passed by, but they didn't look at her. Their faces were pale, blurred somehow, like old photographs losing focus.
Her voice trembled. "Hello? Can anyone hear me?"
No one responded.
Panic threatened to choke her, until she saw him.
"Asher!"
He was standing at the corner near the bakery. Relief flooded her, and she sprinted toward him.
But as she reached out, her hand went straight through his arm.
She gasped, stumbling back.
"Asher?" she whispered again, tears stinging her eyes.
He didn't turn. He didn't even blink. He was frozen in place, holding a basket of wood, as though time itself had stopped for him.
Her chest ached. "No… no, please…"
Before she could reach again, a sharp crack split the air. She whipped her head toward the sound.
Just beyond the clock tower, the sky itself had fractured. Thin glowing lines stretched outward, widening slowly, spilling a pale blue light across the town.
The ground trembled beneath her feet.
Aria clutched her chest, her breath shallow. "What's happening to me?"
And then she heard it—
a whisper.
Not in her ears, but inside her head.
You are out of place, Aria.
Her pulse raced. "Who's there?"
The whisper came again, calm yet chilling.
The clock has chosen you.
She staggered back, shaking her head. "Chosen? For what?"
No answer came. Only silence, thicker than before.
Her gaze darted back to Asher's frozen figure. Her heart broke at the sight of him standing so close, yet impossibly far away.
"I'll find you," she whispered, her hands trembling. "I don't care where—or when—you are. I'll find you."
The fissure above the clock tower split wider, flooding the world in blinding light.
And in the very last moment before everything went white, she swore she saw Asher's eyes shift—
just a flicker—
as if he'd heard her.