00:04:30
Ryan stared at the red numbers above Arjun's head as they continued to count down.
00:04:12
00:04:11
00:04:10
His mind was moving fast, trying to understand.
"We stopped the truck," Shaan said quickly. "So the original event is gone. That means the next event is happening in five minutes."
Ryan nodded slowly. "Yeah… Fate corrected itself."
Arjun looked between them. "What are you two even talking about?"
Ryan grabbed his shoulders. "Listen to me. For the next five minutes, you do exactly what I say. Don't argue. Don't ask questions. Just stay with us."
Arjun pushed his hands away. "Are you crazy? First you drag me off the road, now you're acting like some movie hero."
00:03:40
Ryan looked around the street.
Cars. Bikes. People. Shops. Electric poles. Street dogs. Construction site across the road.
Too many variables.
Too many ways to die.
"We need an open space," Ryan said. "Less objects. Less danger."
Shaan pointed. "The park. 200 meters."
Ryan nodded. "We go there. Now."
Arjun crossed his arms. "I'm not going anywhere with you guys."
00:03:05
Ryan looked at the timer again, then back at Arjun.
Then he said something that made Arjun freeze.
"If you don't come with us," Ryan said, "you're going to die in three minutes."
Silence.
Arjun stared at him.
"…What?"
Ryan didn't explain. He just said:
"Look, you can think I'm crazy later. But right now, just come with us."
00:02:44
Arjun looked at Ryan's face.
Ryan wasn't smiling.
He wasn't joking.
He looked… terrified.
"…Fine," Arjun said. "But if this is some kind of prank—"
"It's not," Shaan said. "Trust me. We don't joke like this."
They started walking quickly toward the park.
Ryan kept looking around constantly.
Every car looked dangerous.
Every sound made him nervous.
00:01:58
They entered the park. It was relatively empty. Just a few people walking and an old man feeding birds.
"Stay in the middle," Ryan said. "Away from trees. Away from poles. Away from everything."
Arjun was now getting nervous too. "What is going on?"
00:01:20
Ryan kept scanning the area.
Nothing.
No truck.
No attacker.
No obvious danger.
00:00:58
"This doesn't make sense," Shaan said. "There's nothing here."
Ryan's heart was beating faster and faster.
"Fate doesn't need something obvious," Ryan said. "It just needs something possible."
00:00:40
A dog barked loudly somewhere.
A cyclist passed by them.
Two kids ran across the path.
Normal things.
Normal world.
00:00:25
Ryan felt sweat on his hands.
"Maybe we did it," Shaan said quietly. "Maybe nothing happens this time."
Ryan didn't reply.
Because the timer was still moving.
00:00:10
Ryan looked around one more time.
Then he saw it.
Above them.
His eyes widened.
"…Move," Ryan whispered.
"Why?" Arjun asked.
"MOVE!" Ryan shouted.
00:00:05
Ryan pushed both Shaan and Arjun forward with all his strength.
00:00:03
A loud cracking sound came from above.
00:00:02
A huge tree branch broke and fell exactly where they had been standing.
00:00:01
The branch hit the ground with a loud crash.
00:00:00
Silence.
Dust filled the air.
Ryan was on the ground, breathing heavily.
Shaan slowly stood up. "Holy…"
Arjun looked at the massive branch behind them, his face completely pale.
"That… that would have crushed us," he said.
Ryan slowly looked up.
At the place above Arjun's head.
The timer was gone.
Completely gone.
Ryan felt relief for the first time since this started.
"…It disappeared," he said.
Shaan looked at him. "So this time we actually saved him?"
Ryan nodded slowly. "Yeah… I think we did."
Arjun looked at them both. "…Saved me from what?"
Ryan and Shaan looked at each other.
Then Shaan said, "Long story."
That night, Ryan couldn't stop thinking.
They had learned something very important.
Rule 6: If you interfere at the exact moment of fate, you can break the timer.
But that wasn't the only thing on his mind.
He kept thinking about Demo.
The girl with no timer.
The girl Skye said "is not supposed to exist in this timeline."
The next day at school, Ryan decided to talk to her.
Shaan walked with him through the hallway.
"So what's the plan?" Shaan asked.
"I talk to her," Ryan said.
"And say what?" Shaan asked. "'Hi, I can see death timers and you don't have one, are you a ghost?'"
Ryan sighed. "I'll figure something out."
Demo was sitting near the window in the classroom, wearing headphones like always, drawing something in her notebook.
Ryan stood in front of her desk.
She looked up slowly and removed one side of her headphones.
"…Yes?" she said calmly.
For a moment, Ryan didn't know what to say.
Then Demo spoke again.
"You can see them, can't you?" she said.
Ryan froze.
"…See what?" he asked carefully.
Demo looked directly into his eyes.
"The timers," she said.
Ryan felt a chill run down his spine.
Shaan, who was standing behind Ryan, went completely silent.
"How do you know about that?" Ryan asked quietly.
Demo stared at him for a few seconds.
Then she said something that made Ryan's world stop.
"Because," Demo said, "in the last timeline…"
"I was the one who could see them."