Amara woke with a gasp, her heart pounding as if she had run a marathon. She was back in her apartment—at least, it looked like her apartment. But something felt off. The air was heavy, her furniture seemed slightly rearranged, and the photographs on her wall…
She stumbled toward the framed photo of her family from last Christmas. Her parents were smiling, her brother holding up a lechon, but… she wasn't in the picture. Her spot—where she knew she had stood—was empty.
"No, no, no…" Her trembling hands ran over the glass frame as if touching it could bring her back into that moment.
Kailan materialized behind her, his usually serene face tense and shadowed.
"It's begun," he said quietly.
Amara turned to him, panic clawing at her chest. "What's happening to me? Why am I… gone from that photo?"
"You crossed the line," Kailan replied. "When Cortez spoke to the chieftain, the timeline shifted. Threads you were tied to began to unravel. Every ripple echoes forward and backward through time."
She staggered back, shaking her head. "So I'm just… fading? I'll disappear?"
"Yes," Kailan said, his tone heavy. "And if you don't fix what was broken, your existence will be erased from every timeline. Your family will never have known you. You will become a shadow without memory."
A sharp knock on her door made her flinch.
"Amara!" It was Jun. "Open up—it's about Dr. Cortez!"
She opened the door, barely holding herself together.
Jun's face was pale. "He's gone. He broke into our storage unit last night. I think he took something. I saw the surveillance… he was holding something glowing."
Amara's heart sank. "The Veil?"
"No, you still have it, right?" Jun asked, his eyes darting to her bag.
She unzipped the bag. The Veil was there… but weaker, its glow dim and unstable. It pulsed like a dying heartbeat.
"He must have stolen fragments of its power," Kailan whispered, only for Amara to hear. "The Veil has cracks now. He's using it, but without its guidance… he'll rip holes in time."
Amara felt dizzy, clutching her head. Faces of people she knew flickered in her mind—friends, mentors—but some were blurry now, like fading ink on old paper.
"Kailan, I can't… remember my brother's laugh," she whispered, horrified.
"Then you must act now," the spirit urged. "You need to mend the thread. Find Cortez before he causes more fractures. Every jump he makes will erase more of your existence."
Jun looked at her, confused. "Doc, who are you talking to?"
Amara blinked. Kailan was invisible to him. She couldn't tell Jun everything—not yet. "I… I have to go," she said, grabbing her bag.
"Where?" Jun called after her.
"To fix a mistake," she muttered under her breath.
The Veil flared unexpectedly, forcing Amara to her knees. Her apartment dissolved into light, and once again she was hurled through time.
When her vision cleared, she was standing on the same ruined streets of Manila she had seen before—but this time, it was worse. The skyline was fractured, entire districts in flames. Digital billboards flickered with Cortez's face, proclaiming "A Future Forged by Power."
Kailan appeared beside her. "Do you see now? This is no longer a possible future. This is what will come if the Veil remains unstable."
Amara clenched her fists. "Then I'll find him. I'll stop him. Even if it means…" She trailed off, realizing what Kailan's warnings truly meant. "Even if it means erasing myself?"
Kailan's expression softened. "The threads demand sacrifice. But there may still be a way to save both your world—and your existence—if you are willing to risk everything."
to be continued...