Time Looped

Familiar faces filled the hallway. Many of them had been filming Will a few minutes ago—or were about to do so several minutes from now, depending on one’s point of view. Ignoring them, the boy rushed straight to the restroom.

“Guess you really have to go,” someone shouted. Laughter followed.

Idiot, Will thought.

The bathroom was in perfect condition: the mirrors were whole and there weren’t any traces of glass or blood on the floor. That was a relief. Or was it? Will still had no clue what was going on. The only things he knew were that he was trapped in a ten-minute time-loop and that the mirrors had everything to do with it.

“What did you do?” he asked the nearest mirror.

His reflection looked back. The staring contest continued for several seconds until both boy and reflection blinked. Clearly, that wasn’t the answer. Now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off, Will had regained the capacity to focus on the real issue. As the teachers in science class kept repeating, the first step always was to gather all available data.

Based on what had happened so far, an unknown force kept taking him back ten minutes into the past. This had occurred twice so far, and likely in another nine minutes would happen again. The event had appeared to have been triggered by the restroom mirror, yet Will had failed to replicate the experience. Finally, there didn’t seem to be any consequences to his actions. Each loop erased everything other than his memories. If that hadn’t been the case, he’d still have a bloody hand.

Those were the facts as he knew them. Now, he had to apply some logical thinking to figure out what was going on.

Think. Will paced about.

The initial mirror message had suggested that there was a way to escape this. That was what “hope you enjoy your stay” was supposed to mean… unless it was written in sarcasm. The second message had been the really interesting one, though. According to it, Will had discovered something called “the Rogue.” What was that, though? And how did it affect the time looping aspect of his life?

As he paced about, Will glanced at the mirrors. Was the Rogue something he had obtained? Or maybe—

The door swung open.

“Stone! I warned you about this!” The coach appeared, just as he had in the previous two times.

That was another part of Will’s new life—condemned to suffer the constant yelling of the man. Or maybe there was more to it? The coach was the first person to have appeared after the mirror messages. Could it be…?

Will looked at him. “Hello, Rogue,” he said with a smirk.

“Excuse me?” The large man crossed his arms.

Oh shit!

That wasn’t a mistake Will wanted to make. He might as well have cursed the coach to his face. Now that it was done, there were two courses of action: keep with it up in the hopes that he was right, or try to bullshit his way out of the situation.

“Aren’t people supposed to knock before entering a bathroom?” Will decided to go with the latter.

The question gave the large man pause. He wasn’t a fan of the new bathroom inspection policy, just as he wasn’t pleased with a great many things. As everyone else in the school system, he did his best to follow the rules, do as management demanded, look out for the kids, and try to remain sane in the process.

“Why? You feeling sick?” The question lacked any conviction whatsoever.

Score! Will thought. All he had to do now was press on.

“Why not check the stalls as well, coach?” he asked. “What if someone’s hiding there? Better check the girl’s toilets as well just in case.”

Frowns the size of trenches covered the man’s face. He took one look at the stalls, then back at Will, then stepped back, shaking his head.

Neat trick, Will thought. Now that he knew that this approach worked, he intended to use it in every loop. Of course, he strongly preferred not to have to. At least, with this he had eliminated one hypothesis. If the coach wasn’t “the rogue,” though, who was?

“I guess you think it’s funny?” Will asked the nearest mirror. He checked the time. With five minutes remaining, there wasn’t much he could do. Going to the sink, he splashed some water on his face. “Use additional mirrors to find out more,” he said, repeating the end of the second message.

With nothing left to lose, Will went to the right most mirror then slid his wet fingers along it. Other than a few wet lines, nothing had changed. Determined, he did the same to the next mirror. When he touched the third, the mirror reacted. A mesh of cracks appeared beneath the smooth surface, then quickly faded away, leaving the familiar message.

You have discovered THE ROGUE (number 4).

Use additional mirrors to find out more. Good luck!

Will froze, too shocked even to shout “yes.” So, it was the mirrors, after all.

“What’s the rogue?” he asked.

The massage faded away, providing no answer. Unwilling to accept that, Will tapped on the surface once more, yet to no avail. Apparently, once activated, a mirror stopped “functioning.” That was only true for this particular mirror, though; three more remained.

After playing a bit, Will found that more mirrors provided snippets of information, as long as he activated them in the correct order.

The rightmost mirror—dubbed “mirror 4” by him—was second in the sequence, presenting Will with a definition of “the Rogue.”

THE ROGUE (number 4)

Considered one of the most versatile classes, the ROGUE focuses on stealth, nimbleness, and subterfuge. The class grants its finder with twenty-three skills throughout its full progression.

Eager to discover what those skills were, Will checked the remaining two mirrors. The answer emerged in “mirror 1”—the same that he had smashed up in the previous loop—in the form of a short list. If there were twenty-three “skills” there had to be other ways of obtaining them, for all he could see now were three.

ROGUE’s SIGHT

Locate the weak spots of a device or living target.

FAST REACTION

React and perform actions faster than the human eye.

QUICK JAB

Perform a fast, but weak, attack with a sharp weapon.

Will kept on staring at the mirror until the messages eventually faded away.

What’s this geek shit?

Will liked games just as much as the average person, but his genre of choice had always been first-person shooters. It didn’t help that the explanations were completely nonsensical. They didn’t provide any specifics, just a general guideline anyone could figure out based on the names alone. Besides, if that was true, he wouldn’t have experienced the humiliation in class two loops ago. When Jace had punched his backpack across the room, Will had barely seen it. If that was the level of “fast reaction” he was better off—

Restarting eternity.

No! No! No! Had ten minutes passed so fast? Will reached in the direction of the last unactivated mirror, but all he reached was air.

“Cool move, weirdo,” a pair of girls passed by as he stood in front of the school’s entrance. He had been too late.

“Hey, Will!” Alex rushed up to him. “Heard ‘bout the muffins?”

“Not again,” Will groaned.

“What? You don’t like muffins, bro?”

It wasn’t about the muffins, but explaining it would take too long. Ten minutes was barely enough time to get anything done, even without a goofball asking silly questions.

Rushing past his friend, Will directly went straight into the restroom. Stopping at the second mirror from the door, he held his breath and tapped it with his finger. Surely enough, a message appeared, informing him he’d found the rogue.

Four, one, three, the boy thought as he tapped the remaining three mirrors in order. Knowing the contents of the messages, he didn’t bother reading the familiar messages, focusing on the last.

HINT

Defeat opponents to increase your level.

Will’s heart sank. According to the hint, not only would he have to fight against something for questionable benefits, but he’d have to do so in the next nine minutes. The first thought that came to mind was to have a go at the coach who’d pop up behind the door any moment now. Even putting the whole moral aspect aside, the boy wasn’t convinced he could win.

Athletic by nature, Will hadn’t gotten into a real fight since middle school. He’d had his share of shouting matches along with the occasional shove, but that was it. Too large to be picked on, too average to pick on others, he had spent most of his life in the uneventful in-between. He felt confident that he had the chops to take on someone his own size, but anything more would be pushing it.

The door swung open.

“Stone! I warned you about—”

“On my way out, coach,” Will decided not to tempt fate. Twisting his body, he squeezed through the gap between the man and the doorframe, making his way into the hallway. “Oh, and tell someone to unclog the toilets.”

The combination of the unusually agile motion and the blood freezing comment rendered the coach speechless. Still holding the door with one hand, he stood there, unable to utter a word or move a muscle. Any other time, Will would have stopped to admire the result of his work. Right now, he was running out of time. According to his phone, seven minutes remained till the next loop.

There were a handful of people in the classroom when he entered, all of them busy opening windows. That wasn’t going to help with the stench. During the first loop, the pungent smell had lasted all the way till the start of class. The smell of things was the least of Will’s worries. With all the mirrors in the boy’s bathroom activated, the nearest place for more information was the girl’s room.

“Think anyone will sit there?” Alex leaned over him, almost making will jump out of his skin. “Hey, chill, bro!” The goofball took a step back, hands defensively in front. “It’s all good.”

“Sorry. I didn’t hear you get here.”

“No shit!”

“Sorry, Alex. I just have a lot of things on my mind.”

“I feel you, bro.” Alex leaned in again. “I heard Daniel had volunteered for some new study drug,” he added in a whisper. “The heavy shit that lets you function with half an hour sleep per day.”

If only it were so simple. “Come on.”

“Think about it! His fam didn’t know because of the NDAs. And the cops wouldn’t dare meddle to avoid a lawsuit.” He looked about the room, then continued in a hushed voice. “I bet they didn’t even search his desk.”

“You know what? You might be right.”

Alex blinked. Having someone believe his theories was a definite first. Normally, people would either move away or get him to do so. Getting something right, for a change, severely risked ruining his reputation as a hundred percent bullshitter.

“I’ll go check it later.” What Will had in mind was that he’d do that during his next loop. There was too little time now, not to mention too many people.

There was no firm evidence that Daniel knew anything about the time loops, but given he’d been acting weird for the last few months, it was worth checking it out. At worst, Will would lose a loop. At best, he might find a clue as to what was going on.

“Aaart!” a shout filled the room.

Glancing at the entrance, Will saw the group of jocks come in.

Right. It’s this part, he told himself.

Doing his best to avoid attention, the boy put his phone in his pocket and took out his art materials from his backpack. The hope was that if there wasn’t anything for Jace to punch, he wouldn’t bother. All Will needed was for the jock to leave him alone for a few more minutes. After that, it wouldn’t matter.

“What’s up, Stoner?” Jace sat next to him. “Ready for some art.”

“Pretty much,” Will replied.

Without warning, the other swung at him, going directly for his face. This wasn’t an innocent slap, either. Jace had clenched his fist, aiming for maximum pain. Will could see the trajectory long before it reached him. What was more, he knew all he had to do was hit the elbow of his attack to keep the strike from landing.

Will’s right hand darted up, hitting its target, pushing Jace’s arm away from him.

Wow, he thought. He’d never been able to do anything of the sort before. Both the speed and precision were out of this world. Maybe the rogue class wasn’t useless, after all. Keeping the momentum, he pulled back, then sent another jab straight at the side of Jace’s face.

Knuckles hit jaw, throwing the jock out of the seat and onto the ground. Several people jumped up, Will among them. If this would turn into a fight, he didn’t want to be caught sitting down. Four jocks glared at him, eyes filled with hatred. If they had no interest before, they definitely did now.

Restart, Will said to himself. Come on, loop, restart.

“What’s going on here?” a voice came from the door.

The art teacher—Matthew Hoch—had just entered his classroom to witness the most horrifying sight. From his point of view, there was one student unconscious on the ground, and another, a few steps away, clenching his fists. It was obvious what had happened, just as it was obvious what he, as a schoolteacher, should do about it.

“William Stone, come with me to the principal’s office,” he said in a stern voice.

William gave the teacher an annoyed glance, then shrugged. With a new loop about to start, it really didn’t matter what he did. No one but him would remember this, which was both good and bad. Any punishment would be ignored but, at the same time, Jace would continue being a jerk.

“You, take him to the nurse’s office,” the teacher told the group of jocks. “Will. I’m waiting.”

All the excitement ended there. A few students snapped some photos with their phones, even if all the interesting moments were gone.

Meanwhile, Will accompanied the teacher down the hallway.

“I didn’t expect this from you, Will,” the man said. “You used to be such a good student.”

That was a lie. Will had never been a troublemaker, but had never been particularly good at art, either. All his creations ranged from passable to outright terrible.

“Do you think that violence solves everything?”

Do you want an honest answer? “He attacked first,” Will replied. He was just coming up with a plausible lie when the school bell rang.

Shit!

No new loop had started.