February 10, 2027 — 5:14 AM
Unknown — Underground
The light was dim.
A bare bulb dangled from a concrete ceiling, casting twisted shadows on the walls.
No windows. No sounds. No sense of time.
The killer sat on a simple wooden chair, sharpening a long knife with an old whetstone.
The movement was mechanical… as if he had done it a thousand times before, without urgency.
Before him stood a wall covered in photographs.
Pictures taken from angles the police would never know…
Raen's face, his wife, his two children… even bystanders in the background.
Each photo had a red pin stabbed through its center, with neat, handwritten notes.
"Time cannot be fixed. Only repeated."
"The end is not death. The end is a choice."
The killer stood.
He walked toward a cracked mirror in the corner and slowly removed his mask.
His face?
Unclear, even in the mirror's reflection.
As if mirrors themselves refused to register his features.
Then he muttered to himself, voice like a low growl:
"Time returned… not for me. For him."
He pulled out a small pocket watch.
He opened it, revealing an old black-and-white photo of a child holding the hand of a faceless woman.
He pressed a hidden button.
The image shifted—replaced by a digital display showing a live location…
Raen's location. In real time.
The killer smiled for the first time.
Not a smile of joy, but of promise.
"Now… let's see if you choose the end—
or betray it."
The light bulb went out.
And the darkness swallowed everything once more.