Chapter 5: Threads of Fate
The ground beneath us gave way as the fracture expanded, pulling us into a whirlpool of swirling light and shadow. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t scream. I clung to Henry’s hand, the only anchor I had in the chaos.
For a moment, it felt like time ceased to exist. We were weightless, suspended in the eye of the storm, and I could feel the pull of every timeline tugging at me, trying to drag me in different directions.
And then, with a sudden jolt, we crashed back to the ground.
I gasped for air, the impact knocking the wind out of me. The world around us was different, unfamiliar. The trees were gone, replaced by a vast, rolling landscape, the sky above painted with hues of deep purple and red. It looked like no place I had ever seen, like a dream—or a nightmare.
Henry groaned beside me, his hand still gripping mine tightly. I sat up, my body aching from the fall, and looked around. The air was thick, heavy, as if it carried the weight of the fractured timelines. But there was no sign of Callum.
“Where are we?” I whispered, my voice shaky.
Henry struggled to sit up, his face pale. “We’ve fallen deeper into the fracture. This place—it’s the space between timelines. The threads of time converge here, but it’s unstable. We can’t stay long.”
I shuddered at his words. The idea of being trapped in this place, where time itself was unraveled, sent a chill down my spine. “How do we get out?”
Henry hesitated, his gaze dark. “The pocket watch. It’s still connected to the timelines. If we can find the right thread, we might be able to trace our way back.”
I glanced at the watch in my hand, its hands spinning wildly, glowing with an eerie light. But something about the way Henry said “might” made my heart race. There was uncertainty in his voice—doubt. Could we really make it out of here?
Before I could ask more, Henry’s eyes softened, and he reached out, brushing a lock of hair from my face. “I’m sorry, Olivia,” he murmured, his voice low and full of regret.
“Sorry?” I echoed, my heart sinking. “Why are you apologizing?”
Henry’s hand lingered on my cheek, and I saw the conflict in his eyes—pain, longing, and something else, something darker. “I brought you into this. I thought I could keep you safe, that I could protect you, but I’ve only made things worse.”
My breath caught in my throat, a tightness forming in my chest. I reached up, taking his hand in mine, holding it against my cheek. “Don’t say that. This isn’t your fault. We’re in this together.”
Henry’s jaw tightened, his gaze flickering away. “But you don’t understand. You’re caught in the middle of a war between me and Callum—a war that never should have involved you.”
“Why? Why are you fighting him?” I asked softly, searching his eyes for answers. “What happened between you two?”
Henry looked away, his hand slipping from mine. He stood, pacing a few steps away, as though the weight of the truth was too much to bear. For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer, that he’d shut me out again like he had so many times before.
But then he turned back, his eyes filled with sorrow. “Callum and I—we were once like brothers. We both discovered the secret of time, the power to manipulate it. But while I wanted to use it to protect people, to correct small injustices, Callum saw it as a way to reshape the world to his liking.”
I frowned, the pieces of the puzzle starting to fall into place. “So you tried to stop him?”
Henry nodded, his expression grim. “I had to. He wanted to bend time, to control it, and that’s how this fracture started. Our battle for control tore the timeline apart, and now… now it’s unraveling. And I’ve dragged you into it.”
I swallowed hard, the enormity of the situation pressing down on me. But more than fear, I felt a surge of anger—at Callum, at the situation, at the way Henry blamed himself. I stood, crossing the small distance between us, and grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at me.
“I don’t care,” I said, my voice firm. “I don’t care about the past, or about your fight with Callum. All I care about is right now. We’re here, together, and I’m not leaving you.”
Henry’s eyes widened in surprise, and for a moment, he just stared at me, as though he couldn’t believe what I was saying. Then, without warning, he pulled me into his arms, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe.
“I don’t deserve you,” he whispered into my hair, his voice thick with emotion.
I pressed my cheek against his chest, my heart pounding in time with his. “You don’t get to decide that.”
For a long moment, we stayed like that, wrapped in each other’s arms, the weight of our predicament hanging over us like a dark cloud. But in that moment, with his arms around me, the rest of the world faded away. It was just the two of us, standing on the edge of time, connected in a way that went beyond words.
Henry pulled back slightly, just enough to look down at me, his eyes soft and full of something unspoken. He lifted his hand, gently tracing the curve of my cheek with his thumb, and my breath hitched in my throat.
“Olivia,” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve never felt like this before.”
My heart fluttered in my chest, and for a moment, all the fear, all the uncertainty, melted away. “Neither have I,” I whispered back.
Henry’s gaze flickered down to my lips, and my pulse quickened. Slowly, hesitantly, he leaned in, his lips brushing mine in the gentlest of kisses. It was soft, tender, like a promise. And in that moment, I knew—no matter what happened next, no matter how dangerous the path ahead was, I wasn’t going to lose him. Not now. Not ever.
But just as our lips parted, the air around us began to hum with a strange energy. The ground trembled beneath our feet, and the sky above shimmered with an unnatural light.
Henry tensed, pulling me closer. “We need to move. Now.”
I looked up at him, confusion and fear flooding back. “What’s happening?”
“The fracture,” he said, his voice tight. “It’s collapsing. We’re running out of time.”
Without another word, he grabbed my hand and pulled me forward, running across the strange landscape. The watch in my hand pulsed with energy, its hands spinning faster and faster, the glow intensifying.
“Follow the light!” Henry shouted over the rumbling ground. “It will lead us to the right thread!”
We ran, the ground shifting and cracking beneath us, the air growing thicker with each passing second. I could feel the timeline unraveling around us, the threads of fate tangling and snapping as the fracture widened.
Suddenly, the watch’s light flared, blindingly bright. I stumbled, nearly falling, but Henry caught me, pulling me toward a glowing rift in the air ahead of us.
“There!” he shouted. “That’s our way out!”
But just as we reached the rift, a figure stepped out from the shadows, blocking our path.
It was Callum.
His smile was cruel, his eyes glinting with malice. “Going somewhere?”
***
Before either of us could react, Callum raised his hand, and the air around us shattered like glass. The rift flickered, then disappeared, leaving us trapped in the collapsing fracture, with no way out.