Episode 4: Save Her

Mira couldn’t stop staring at the words.

“Time is paid in memories.”

They felt heavier now. Real.

Permanent.

She hadn’t touched the clock all morning.

Not after what happened yesterday.

Not after realizing it wasn’t just a strange object, it was something dangerous.

Something that took.

But even as she sat in class, pretending to listen, her mind kept drifting.

To one thing.

One moment.

One memory she couldn’t ignore.

Rhea.

Mira’s fingers tightened around her pen.

She remembered it clearly.

Too clearly.

The sound of brakes.

The scream.

The crowd.

Rhea getting hit by a bike outside school.

It wasn’t life-threatening, but it was bad enough.

Bruises. Blood. Fear.

Mira had stood there frozen when it happened.

She hadn’t done anything.

Her chest tightened.

“I can stop it,” she whispered to herself.

The thought wouldn’t leave her.

“I know when it happens.”

That meant she could change it.

Fix it.

The clock sat inside her bag.

Silent.

Waiting.

“No,” she muttered under her breath. “I shouldn’t.”

She remembered the rule.

The cost.

The way her favorite song disappeared like it never existed.

What if this time it took something bigger?

Something important?

“Mira?”

She looked up.

Rhea stood in front of her desk, smiling.

“Are you okay? You’ve been acting weird all day.”

Mira froze.

For a second, she just stared.

Rhea looked… normal.

Alive.

Happy.

Like nothing bad was about to happen.

“Yeah,” Mira said quickly. “I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Rhea tilted her head. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Mira forced a small smile.

“Just tired.”

Rhea laughed softly. “Then don’t fall asleep in class again.”

Mira nodded.

But her mind was already somewhere else.

Counting time.

Waiting.

After school, everything felt too familiar.

The sky.

The noise.

The exact way the wind brushed past her.

It was all the same.

Because it was the same.

Mira’s heart began to race.

“This is it…”

She followed Rhea from a distance.

Step by step.

Second by second.

There.

The road outside school.

The moment.

Rhea stepped forward, distracted, looking at her phone.

Mira’s pulse pounded in her ears.

She remembered this part.

Exactly this.

From the corner of her eye

A bike sped toward them.

Too fast.

Too close.

“RHEA!!”

Mira ran.

She didn’t think.

Didn’t hesitate.

She grabbed Rhea’s arm and pulled her back just in time.

The bike rushed past.

Missing her by inches.

Everything went silent.

Rhea stumbled slightly, eyes wide. “What was that?!”

Mira stood there, breathing hard, her grip still tight.

“You were about to get hit,” she said, her voice shaking.

Rhea blinked, confused. “How did you ?”

Mira didn’t answer.

She couldn’t.

Because at that moment

A strange feeling hit her again.

That emptiness.

That quiet, creeping loss.

Her grip loosened.

Her thoughts blurred.

Rhea’s voice sounded distant.

“Mira? Are you okay?”

Mira blinked.

“…Yeah.”

But something felt off.

Wrong.

Rhea smiled nervously. “You scared me back there. But… thank you.”

Mira nodded slowly.

“Of course.”

They started walking again.

Side by side.

Like always.

Rhea kept talking.

About school.

About something funny that happened earlier.

About a memory.

“Remember my birthday last year?” Rhea laughed. “You almost dropped the cake”

Mira stopped walking.

Her heart skipped.

“…What?”

Rhea turned. “My birthday? Last year?”

Mira stared at her.

Blank.

“I… don’t remember.”

Rhea laughed again. “Very funny.”

“I’m serious,” Mira said quietly.

The smile on Rhea’s face slowly faded.

“…Wait. You’re joking, right?”

Mira shook her head.

“No.”

Silence.

Something cracked inside Mira.

Not loud.

Not dramatic.

Just… quiet.

Terrifying.

She had saved Rhea.

She had changed the moment.

But the clock had taken something back.

A memory.

A piece of their friendship.

Gone.

Mira looked down at her hands.

They felt colder now.

“Time is paid in memories…” she whispered.

Her voice barely there.

Rhea watched her, confused, a little hurt.

“You’re acting really strange today…”

Mira forced a smile.

But it didn’t reach her eyes.

“I’m okay,” she said softly.

But for the first time

She wasn’t sure that was true.

Behind her, inside her bag

The clock ticked.

Slow.

Satisfied.

End of Episode 4

Thank you for reading

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