Time Looped

“What happened yesterday?” Helen asked as they were opening the windows again.

“Didn’t you see them?” Will asked.

Given the commotion, he’d think it was impossible not to. At the very least, rumors would have filled the school, the town, and the entire online space within minutes. Even if one were to consider that he had managed to kill off the last wolf as he died, the bodies and devastation they had caused would still remain.

“The wolves?” She gave him a quick glance. “Sure. I’m asking what you did to get them active.”

“Nothing,” he said. That remained the weird part. He indeed had done absolutely nothing. “I just walked into Ms Stalter’s classroom and it happened.”

“Wolves always appear in corners,” the girl shook her head.

“What does that even mean?”

“The room is a corner room. Mirrors there are different. Daniel thought it was deliberate, so it doesn’t impede exploration.”

The wolves are a bonus? That made some sort of sense. That way, if someone wanted to level up, they had to make the decision to go there and do so.

“He was wrong,” Helen added. “Wolves can jump out from anywhere. It’s just a matter of time.”

“You mean they’ll start—”

“Loop time. You’ve got nothing to worry about. They start appearing after a few days. Did you level up?”

Will nodded.

“Will you try again?”

“What?”

“Will you fight the wolves again? You ended up quite the hero yesterday. Lots of people were talking about it. You were even on the news.”

That felt beyond disturbing. Will’s parents had often said he’d be late for his own funeral, but this was taking it a bit too far. Immediately, he tried to imagine how they had found him: shirtless, wet, rags wrapped around his hands, next to several large wolf bodies. Had the last one ripped him apart? Or had he acquired the cool wounded hero look?

“I almost got to hear an interview with your mother, but my loop ended.”

“How does that work?” he asked. “Don’t I vanish when my loop ends?”

“This isn’t sci fi. We’re not teleported back in time, just your conscious memory is.”

“So I just do things without having any memory of it?” Scary.

“Pretty much. Look at them.” Helen turned her head towards the people outside. Dozens of students were walking through the schoolyard, some more reluctantly than others. Here and there, groups had formed, chatting about some craze or another before the start of class. “They have a zero second loop. No matter what happens, they’ll have no memory of it, which is why they can’t change a thing on their own. I’ve seen people trip and fall hundreds of times and be surprised each time. It’s the same with loops. For you, when a loop ends, you’re back at the beginning. For me, you’re still here continuing what you’ve started. The only difference is that mirrors no longer work for you then.”

This was a bit mind boggling. The boy laughed, then whistled, looking at the people outside. It sounded terrible doing the same things over and over again with no chance of ever correcting them. From their perspective, everything happened for the first time. They had no notion of the loops, which also meant that they didn’t feel trapped. Maybe in the grand scheme of things that was better?

“Did we talk about stuff?” he asked. “When I was outside the loop.”

“You tried to help me get Daniel’s file,” she admitted.

So that’s why you haven’t pushed me to increase my loop length.

“It never worked. Outside the loop, you’re not the rogue. Quite good at making distractions, but if that was all, I could have made one on my own.” She paused. “And it’s not a matter of brute force, either. I trashed the office a few times and still couldn’t find the files.”

“But you’re sure they’re in there?”

“They have to be. I found the folder, but not what’s inside.”

“He could have given them to the cops. Something like that would—”

“They’re in there. I just need to find where.”

Students started entering the room. This time Helen didn’t move away, bringing birth to whispers and subtle glances in their direction. It was a well-established fact at school that if two people stood close to each other beyond a certain period of time, they had to be in a romantic relationship. By the start of class, people would be discussing how hopeless Will had made a go at Miss Perfect to begin with. The female part of the class would secretly wonder if this wasn’t the start of a good girl bad boy pairing, while the male part would hope he’d get rejected quickly so they could have their go.

“Don’t worry,” Helen said, still looking out of the window. “Zero loops. They won’t remember anything in a few minutes.”

That suggested that this time around, she had no plan of extending her loop.

“Then let’s make it interesting for them.” The boy smiled. “What’s your phone number?”

Helen briskly turned around, glaring at him with anger in her eyes.

“If something happens, I’d like to be able to call you.”

She remained silent for a long time, trying to determine whether this really had to do with the loops or was it just a clumsy attempt at getting her phone. Ultimately, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Hope you’re good at numbers. Two, eleven, fifty-five, nineteen, sixty-six, five, four, three, ten.”

“Hold on.”

The boy took out his phone out of habit. A few moments later, he put it back down again. He had definitely walked into that one. There was no point in writing it down. Like everything else, the number would be lost at the start of the next loop. The only way to have it was to remember it.

“So, will you fight the wolves?” the girl asked.

“Yeah.” He wanted to see what would happen if he got them all.

“Fine. I’ll help you.”

“You’ll join in the fight?”

“No. I’ll let you have the knight. In turn, once you get the wolves out of your system, you’ll stretch your loop till fourth period. Deal?”

Quite the sensible offer. For one thing, he had already promised to do so. For another, Will was also curious what Daniel had said during his therapy sessions. Any hint as to his death could prevent the same thing from happening to either of them.

“How do I get the knight, though?” He had tried dozens of loops and nothing had worked.

“Aaart!” Jace’s voice boomed from the entrance, as it did every loop. Like an early alarm, that meant that there wasn’t a lot of time left till the end of the loop.

“Get the rogue and meet me in the corridor,” Helen whispered. “I’ll take care of things from there.”

A minute later, the loop ended.

Restarting eternity.

Will immediately went to the school entrance, paying specific attention not to run, pause, or bump into anyone. His efforts were rewarded, for the usual pair of girls made no comments. Once inside, he rushed into the bathroom, only tapping on the rogue mirror. If everything worked out fine, he could tap the other ones later.

Not wasting time, Will went towards the girl’s bathroom. There was no sign of the coach this time. Instead, Helen was there, standing impatiently in front of the door. Seeing him, she waved for the boy to hurry up.

“Come on,” she said beneath her breath as he got near. “The one closest to the door.” She held it open, standing aside for him to pass.

So easy, the boy thought. This was more than a shortcut. It outright felt like cheating. All this time he had tried whatnot to get to the mirrors without result, just to get it for two seconds flat thanks to an assist from Helen.

You have discovered THE KNIGHT (number 15).

Use additional mirrors to find out more. Good luck!

Number fifteen? That meant there were at the very least fourteen other classes out there.

Unable to help himself, the boy used the fast reflexes provided to him by the rogue class to tap through the other mirrors in the room. It was a good thing that he did, because all the information, including the hint, was different.

THE KNIGHT (number 15)

Considered the strongest class, the KNIGHT focuses on strength, endurance, and honor. The class grants its finder with a total of nineteen skills throughout its full progression.

Only nineteen skills? That was a lot less than the rogue. Once he got to the mirror that told them what the first three were, the boy could see why.

KNIGHT’s BASH

Perform heavy attacks that can shatter stone.

SUPERIOR STRENGTH

Lift, carry, and move objects far more than the average person without effort.

ENDURANCE

Ignore the effects of pain, fatigue, and minor ailments.

The last completely made up for the pain and fragility that came with the loops. No wonder she was handling it so well. And that wasn’t all. The moment he had gotten the class, Will felt that he had to protect the whole world if he could. The desire to explore was still there, but severely toned down.

It’s the polar opposite, he thought.

If the rogue could be described as a sneaky, curious explorer, the knight was the motionless rock set on sheltering the rest. The class also provided a deep sense of duty. Even if he knew that it had occurred the previous, the boy felt a burning desire to defeat the wolves that had killed Ms. Stalter and her class.

HINT

During eternity, all pain is significantly amplified, so be careful at all times.

That would have been good to know a few dozen loops earlier. For one thing, it would have saved a lot of suffering during the early trips to the nurse’s office. Yet, what was done was done. All the information acquired, Will rushed out back into the hallway.

“Took your time,” the girl said, shoving the door closed behind him.

“Wanted to get an idea of the skills,” he replied.

“I told you. You guard and break stuff. Good luck.” She headed in the direction of the art classroom.

Will checked his phone. Nine and a half minutes remained until eight. With a bit of luck, no one had arrived at Ms. Stalter’s room. After several flights of stairs, and a dash along the third-floor hallway, he unfortunately found that to be half true.

Indeed, no students were present. The teacher, though, was already at her desk. It would be too much to hope otherwise. The old woman hadn’t been late a day in her life. As far as anyone knew, she had never been sick or gone on vacation. Her entire life was focused on teaching students in the strictest way possible. It was exactly these qualities that now put her in danger.

“Ms. Stalter.” The boy rushed into the room. “The vice-principal wants to see you!”

He knew from past loop experience that only the vice-principal was at school. That gave some credibility to his story, though not enough.

“Mister Stone?” The teacher glared at him, annoyance oozing from every pore on her face. “Before entering a room, it’s customary to knock.”

“The door was open.” Will went on the defensive. Spending years in her class had engrained the notion that no matter what happened, it was always the students that were at fault.

“If that happens, then you knock on the doorframe, letting the occupants of the room be aware of your presence.” The woman wasn’t having any of that. “You don’t rush in here shouting.”

Keeping his back to the display cabinets in the room, Will nodded.

“So, what’s this big emergency that couldn’t w—”

The sound of shattered glass interrupted the woman.

Oh, shit! The boy thought. His hunch had been completely wrong. It didn’t matter whether he was looking at the mirrors or not. His mere presence in the room was enough to get the wolves to emerge.

Not looking back, he grabbed the teacher by the shoulders, then tossed her out of the room. Given that she was a rather small woman, he knew that would cause more than a bit of discomfort. Then again, it was a lot better than being devoured by wolves.

“Get help!” he yelled, then slammed the door shut.

Same as before, four wolves had entered the classroom. The lack of people had made them a lot less aggressive; it also helped Will notice several details he had missed in the previous loop. For starters, while all models and jarred specimens had been thrust out of the cabinets, along with the glass doors themselves, the mirrors behind remained untouched. There wasn’t a single crack or speck of dust, as if they were a portal for the beasts to leap through.

All four wolves growled, their teeth bare as they remained at the back of the room. At first, the boy thought they too remembered the events of the last loop. Moments later, a more logical answer became apparent: the nearby desk he was holding onto was no longer touching the ground. It was outright scary how much strength the knight came with. Holding a desk felt no different from holding a pencil; and just like a pencil, it could be used as a weapon.

Strength and speed, eh? The boy said to himself.

“Come at me!” he taunted the wolves. And surely enough, they did.