"You already died."
The words hung in the cold air.
Aria stared at Kael.
"No."
Her head shook before the thought even finished forming.
"That doesn't make sense."
Kael didn't argue.
He simply watched her.
Calm.
Too calm.
"You're lying."
Aria's voice rose.
"You're some kind of creep with a broken watch."
Kael stepped closer.
One step.
Nothing dramatic.
Just quiet certainty.
"You died yesterday."
Aria laughed.
A short,
sharp
sound.
"I was at home yesterday."
"Alone," Kael said.
Her laughter stopped.
"You were crossing Pine Street at 7:42 PM."
Aria felt something twist in her chest.
"You were looking at your phone."
Her fingers tightened slowly.
"A black car."
Kael's voice was steady.
"Ran the red light."
The world felt suddenly distant.
"You didn't see it."
Aria's breath slowed.
The street around them blurred for a moment.
"That never happened."
But her voice had changed.
Softer.
Uncertain.
Kael didn't respond.
Instead he pointed behind her.
Toward the clock tower.
Aria turned.
The frozen second hand moved.
Tick.
Then again.
Tick.
But the people walking beneath it…
weren't moving.
A woman stood mid-step.
A man held a coffee cup frozen in the air.
A dog hung in the middle of a jump.
Everything
stopped.
Except them.
Aria's heart slammed in her chest.
"What is this?"
Kael's voice came quietly behind her.
"The first crack."
She turned slowly.
Fear was finally visible in her eyes.
"What crack?"
Kael looked up at the silent sky.
"At the moment," he said,
"when time realizes you're still alive."