Elara stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, hoping to find something that made all of this make sense. But all she found was her own face pale, faint eye-bags, and a stare that refused to cooperate. Water flowed from the faucet, creating a gentle trickling sound that was usually calming, but this morning it sounded like the ticking of a clock forcing reality to move.
She splashed water onto her face, bracing against the cold. "Okay. Calm down. Elara. Think."
Logic forced her body to stay sane, but her instincts… her instincts screamed.
She had just experienced something.
And it wasn't a dream.
Dreams didn't make someone wake up with fear still stuck to their bones.
She wiped her face, turned off the faucet, then leaned against the counter.
"If I really… died last night…"
The word felt absurd when spoken aloud, yet her tongue felt lighter after saying it.
"…why am I still here?"
A question that should have paralyzed her only made her want to move. To know. To demand an answer.
But what answer?
And from whom?
Her mind replayed everything from last night the knocking on the door, the voice calling her name from behind the darkness, the door nearly breaking down. She tapped her head lightly, frustrated that she couldn't remember the ending exactly. That white light… too bright. Too blinding.
"If I tell the police, they'll laugh. If I tell my friends… they'll say I need sleep. Great."
In the end, all she could do was stare at the same mug of coffee the same rising steam and the cold fact that she was starting Tuesday… again.
The worst part?
Her body knew 23:59 last night wasn't a hallucination.
The body cannot be fooled.
As she stepped out of her apartment, the hallway of the building usually just ordinary now felt too quiet. The neon lights cast a pale yellow glow that made the walls look older than usual. She walked quickly toward the elevator, hoping for a moment of normalcy.
But the moment the elevator doors opened, normalcy collapsed.
Aiden was already inside.
He stood in the corner of the elevator, one hand holding his phone, but his eyes weren't actually looking at the screen. His face looked colder than yesterday, like a man trying to hide exhaustion no one should know about.
The doors were about to close when Aiden stopped them with his arm a reflex he rarely showed. His eyes met hers.
"Elara." His voice was flat. "Get in."
The tone was the same as yesterday.
Too much the same.
Elara hesitated, but stepped inside. The doors closed, trapping them in a small space filled with air that somehow felt heavier than usual.
Aiden pressed the button for the seventh floor. No conversation followed.
But Elara sensed something about him not cologne, not aftershave.
But… a man who hadn't slept.
She swallowed hard. "Mr. Vale… yesterday, at the office"
"Don't go home late today."
He cut her off without looking at her.
The same words as the day before.
Elara froze. "You… already said that yesterday."
Aiden stared straight at the glowing number seven.
"And I'll say it again tomorrow, if I have to."
"What is"
"Not now."
The tone wasn't angry. Not scolding.
But there was tension like a wire ready to snap.
Aiden looked like a man hiding a mountain behind his expressionless face.
Elara exhaled sharply, frustration mixing with fear.
"Why do you keep saying that? Do you know something?"
This time Aiden turned. His gaze was piercing not to intimidate, but as if trying to check… whether something inside her was cracking.
"Elara…" His voice dropped lower. Halt.
"…how did you slee"
The elevator chimed.
Seventh floor.
The doors opened.
Aiden stepped out first. But before walking too far, he stopped and said quietly, almost only for her:
"If you feel something strange… don't tell anyone."
Elara froze.
Aiden was usually like a robot: firm, concise, all-business.
But that sentence…
it wasn't something a superior said.
It was something someone said when trying to protect someone.
And stranger still?
He said it exactly the same way as in the strange flash of memory Elara saw when they touched.
There was a connection. Something Aiden knew.
And Elara hated that.
Work went on as if her guardian angel was playing a joke.
Everything felt like extreme déjà vu.
Her coworker said the same sentence as yesterday.
Her laptop froze at the same second.
Even the broken printer made the same ugly noise.
Elara stiffened every time the familiar patterns appeared. She tried to type, but her fingers were rigid, her mind spinning around one conclusion she dreaded more and more:
"I'm looping. This isn't coincidence."
She opened her notes. Then typed:
TUESDAY (loop 2?)
– knocking sound
– 23:59
– dead?
– Aiden??
She stared at the words for a long time, then erased the last three question marks. Too suspicious.
But when deleting "Aiden," she accidentally caught the reflection of her own face on her laptop screen. Not a scary reflection just a tired one.
Tired in a way she didn't feel.
"I need air."
She stood, walked to the pantry, filled a glass of water. As she took a deep breath, someone entered the room.
Aiden.
He stopped at the doorway, noticing Elara.
But this time, instead of glancing briefly and walking away, he stood there long enough for it to become awkward.
"Elara."
His tone… cautious.
"Yes?"
Aiden stepped closer.
Not too close, just enough for Elara to feel his presence like gravity.
"Did…"
He paused, weighing whether the question was safe.
"…you sleep well last night?"
A question way too inappropriate for any boss.
And Aiden knew it.
A kindergarten student would know it.
But his expression was too sincere for it to be flirting or any misconduct.
It was worry.
Elara swallowed. "Why are you asking me that?"
"Because you look different."
"Different how?"
Aiden stared at her eyes for a long time.
"Like someone who remembers something she shouldn't."
A chill ran up Elara's spine.
"What do you mean?" she whispered.
Aiden didn't answer immediately.
He looked away, as if regretting speaking too much.
"Don't go home late today. Please."
Please.
That word was new.
That word wasn't there yesterday.
"If you know there's danger, you should tell me."
Aiden shook his head slowly, almost imperceptibly.
"If I tell you… you won't believe me."
"I want to try believing."
Aiden looked at her like someone hearing a sentence too dangerous to accept.
His lips parted slightly, as if to say something forbidden.
"Elara… I"
BRRRRTTT.
The office lights flickered.
Just like yesterday.
Aiden changed instantly. His eyes sharpened in a heartbeat.
"Go. Now."
"Aiden, what"
"Now!"
Elara froze.
Aiden never raised his voice.
He never commanded like that.
But he wasn't lying.
He was terrified.
"If you stay here, you will"
BRAKK.
A loud noise from the hallway.
Louder than yesterday.
Not like something falling.
Like something hitting the wall.
Aiden moved faster than she had ever seen. He grabbed her wrist his touch burning terror into her spine, yet somehow making her feel safe.
"Elara, please listen to me this time."
His voice was a desperate whisper.
"If you die again, I"
He bit his tongue, cutting the sentence short.
"What? You what?" Elara demanded.
But Aiden didn't answer.
He pulled her out.
Elara didn't remember how they reached the underground parking garage. Everything was blurred, as if her survival instinct took over her body without her mind's approval.
Aiden pushed the door open, and the cold night air hit them. The lights were dim, some flickering. Every shadow felt darker than it should.
"Elara…" Aiden held her shoulders, his eyes intense.
"I need you to listen very carefully."
Elara held her breath.
"Whatever happens later…"
Aiden inhaled sharply, as if swallowing pain.
"…don't open the door at 23:59."
Elara froze.
"You know about that?"
Aiden closed his eyes briefly, as if regretting the words.
"I know too much."
"Why am I reliving the same day?!"
"There's no time to explain."
"Aiden!"
Footsteps echoed from inside the building.
Not the steps of an employee.
This rhythm was cold, heavy, patient.
A sound that felt like knives of air slicing across her skin.
Aiden looked at her like a final look before doing something reckless.
"Run."
"Elara run now!"
He pushed her hard enough to make her stumble toward the parking exit.
Aiden turned back toward the sound.
The sound that was getting closer.
Elara screamed. "Aiden!"
But before she could run to him
the lights went out.
Dark.
Silent.
The door shook again.
Her phone lit up by itself.
23:59
Elara's body froze.
Cold seeped up from the floor, crawling into her bones, squeezing her heart.
Something touched her shoulder.
And the world
collapsed again.
Morning.
06:42.
Elara's breath caught.
She didn't need to check the clock.
Her body knew.
She was looping.
For the second time.
And the most devastating part?
When she opened her eyes, she felt something on her cheek.
Wet.
A tear.
She had lost someone last night.
Someone who died in the dark.
Someone named Aiden Vale.
And she felt it…
…without knowing how to save him.