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Changes

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THE DARKNESS was not black. My eyes shot open and my mouth was taking in as much air as it could and letting out much less, like my lungs had been without the vital element.

It took a while to realize that it was the night sky that laid above me and I was on my back looking up at it. Then my eyes started taking in the trees.

Tall trees. It must be a forest. A twig snapped to my right and my eyes widened. I shuffled to get to my feet as I heard more rustling. I steadied myself, eyes wide with alarm as I called out, "Who's there?"

The rustling stopped, but then continued and I began making out someone in the shadows until their form emerged from the trees.

"Clara!"

Jane!

She rushed over and pulled me into a tight hug and my hands moved on their own to return it.

"Oh, my-how did you get here? I just passed this place and I could swear I found nothing here," she said and pulled back to look at me. "We were so worried. We thought someone kidnapped you and-"

"Am I... am I really here? Am I back?"

Though I said it more to myself, Jane replied. "Yes, yes, you are. The others would be so relieved."

She hugged me again in what I thought was for good measure before she pulled back to assess me again like I was some famed treasure.

"I'm so glad you're okay and alive," she said before turning around to call out, "Tony! Tony! I've found her!"

Just as soon as she did, I heard some rustling before Tony came bustling through the trees. His steps ground to a halt when he saw me and even in the darkness, I could see the tears in his eyes before he rushed to us.

Jane stepped aside in time for him to wrap his hands around me, just like I had done to him moments ago.

"Clara, I'm so glad you're okay! I was so scared that we had lost you. I thought it was the same thing all over again when our house burned down."

I stilled and almost didn't recognize my voice when I asked, "What?"

"I'm just happy that you're with us now."

Our house burned down. What was he talking about?

As soon as the question formed, a crackling shot through my head. It was the same one I had felt when I saw my scar on the second chance. Like something was stuffing itself into my head, trying to fight for space that was none existent.

I groaned before I fell to the ground with my hands gripping my head, willing for the incessant voices to seize their chattering. These voices weren't the worry-etched ones of Jane and Tony and my sight wasn't set on the concerned faces of both of them, but people and things I couldn't make sense of.

The world around churned before darkness took over.

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The dull throbbing accompanied by a constant beeping that woke me wasn't as painful as the one I experienced before I passed out. I opened my eyes to see white. White roof, white tiles, and I already knew before I looked down that I wore a hospital gown.

Then, I realized that the beeping was coming from the hospital monitor that was beside me. I moved to sit up and heard a movement as I did. That was when my eyes took in my dad.

"Dad," I called out, but my voice sounded weak and raspy. He stirred and once he realized I was awake, he rushed over to me.

"Clara, are you okay? Do you need anything?"

I shook my head no and hugged him instead, with my shoulders sagging in relief when his hands wrapped around me. We remained in an embrace for some while before the door opened and Jane walked in.

"I'll go call the doctor," Dad started. "And when you're better, the police would come in." He pecked my forehead before leaving me wondering what he meant.

"How're you feeling now? Is your head better?" Jane asked as she took a sip from her cup and sat on the chair Dad had just vacated.

"I'm okay now."

In this life, I was still mean to her, though I should correct that and apologize for real this time. That talk I had with her was all in my head or the cave. I would need to find out more about the place, but that could wait. Now, I had to make things right.

"You seem deep in thought," she said before I could start. "I know the police are gonna come along and ask you questions about what happened, but you know you can talk to me right, especially if you're not comfortable with them. They'll understand. It's like I've always told you, I'd love to be the right person."

What did she say?

"What?"

"You know, like I always say, it takes the right person at the right time for one to truly open up."

What was she talking about?

"I don't know if you remember. I think it was your tenth grade when we had our very first heart-to-heart. At least that's what it was to me." she placed her hand on her chest as she went on. "You know, it was when you came back home all sad and said you were having issues with your..."

No. No. No.

I zoned out as I realized what she was talking about. We did have that conversation, but it was while I was in my head, in the cave. So, what she was saying couldn't possibly be real.

Unless... Unless this was my third chance and that would mean I didn't make it. But I went through the portal in my room, which, according to Tony, seemed like the way back to my normal life. If this is my normal life, how does Jane know about that conversation?

"Um, Jane," I interrupted her.

"Yeah?"

"What's today's date?"

"Oh uh," she paused, getting her phone from her purse and checking it before she said, "5th."

"What... what year is it?" I asked, and her eyes flashed with concern.

"2019," she drawled and regarded me with a wary look before she asked, "Don't you remember anything? Do you know who I am?"

I wanted to face-palm myself, but I didn't. It was a silly question and what more did I expect but I tried to play it off, so I cracked a smile and said, "I just called you Jane, didn't I."

"Oh, you remember me then," she replied and laughed. There was that nervous laughter again.

"No, I mean, I just lost track of... everything, I guess," I said, now regretting why I had asked. I could have waited a bit to find out for myself, but I'd gotten my answer.

"Including the year? Was it that bad?"

The honest answer? Yes. I was somewhere, in my head or the cave, going crazy out of my mind with memory gaps, so yes, it was that bad.

But 2019 meant I was back home. Then how did she know about that conversation? My eyes widened in shock as I started realizing what this meant.

If this wasn't my third chance and I was back to my real life and Jane knew about that conversation, then that only meant one thing...

There was only one way to confirm.

Instead of answering her question, I asked one of my own. "The fire at our house, in Kansas, it was on a Christmas day right, back when I was in tenth grade."

I had a feeling of what her answer was going to be and I knew exactly what it would mean, but I didn't know if I could believe it.

"Yeah, that was around the time our relationship got better," she said with a smile, but I could only sink back into the bed as realization dawned on me.

No. No. This couldn't be happening.

Her words had brought alive a fear I didn't know existed. All I did in this cave has now happened in my real life and that would mean other things would have changed. So many things would have changed.

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I never liked hospitals, so I didn't like docs. Anytime they spoke about my health, I was always with Dad, so I let him be the adult and do the listening. But now I was the adult, and I had to listen to every word. Not just for my health status update, but to find any clues to this never-ending mystery.

From what I could recall the doctor saying, it seemed like my body had just woken up from a deep sleep because of the type of brain waves they found on examination. I had also remained passed out for some hours after Jane found me in the forest.

Everything was fine, health-wise, and rightfully so because this wasn't a medical issue. I had been putting two and two together and concluded that the pain I had must have been an effect of the cave somehow stuffing my head with fresh memories, memories formed because of the things I did while in the cave.

They'd been coming at me, one after the other, like I was reliving my life without a sense of loss. It didn't feel like I was the one who lived through those memories, but, at the same time, I remembered everything as if I lived through it.

The period when Naomi and I weren't talking. The period I got closer to Lilly. When Rhys and Naomi started dating after trying to fight their feelings for each other because of Mariana, who never came back to Glory Bells Prep or graduated with us.

Because of my friendship with Lilly, I'd become friends, by extension, with Flora, Linda, and Rachel. I had to admit they were... Fun.

I remember having many midnight conversations with Tony, and our bond had grown stronger now. We both knew so much about each other's lives. How his relationship with Susan was on the verge of clocking one year. He always kept me up to date with the situation of things in his life whenever I got back for the holidays. But amongst all these fresh memories, there was an absence that I couldn't shake off.

Kai.

I couldn't remember anything new about Kai. I don't recall seeing him at school for a while, or worse, him asking me out. But it's weird because I still remember him asking me out in the library, just like he did before the cave, except now it feels like a hazy dream.

My mind was reeling with questions. If I had all these fresh memories, then why did I still have my old memories? It was like having two distinct memories of the same period. I had memories where Tony and I were close and memories of Tony and I didn't even talk to each other.

Were the old memories going to fade away with time, or would I always have before and after the cave memories?

It was all so strange and I hadn't been able to focus on anything since, even now, as Jane, Tony, and I were watching some show on the TV. But the words of the on-screen characters were the last thing on my mind when the door opened and two men in forest-green uniforms entered along with my dad.

"Good day, Miss Williams. How are you feeling now?" the first man asked, and I sat up straighter. Something about Miss Williams set the tone for the conversation. The way the man said it wasn't like teachers used to. He meant business, official business.

"I'm fine..."

"Detective Wyatt. This is my partner, Detective Johnson," he introduced, and I nodded.

"You're eighteen now, so you don't need to have your parents present to make a statement unless you want them to," he said.

I shared a look at Jane, and I think she understood.

"C'mon guys, let's give them some privacy," she said to my dad and Tony before they left.

"Alright, shall we begin?" he asked when his partner set a device on the table, which I assumed was going to record the conversation we would have.

My eyes zeroed in as my mind raced to find a conclusion on what to do. One thing was obvious: I couldn't tell them what happened to me. Not because I didn't want to, but because he wouldn't believe me.

No one would believe me if I told them I found a cave in the forest and got mysteriously transported to my past to learn some lessons and now those events had played out and changed things in my real life.

If I hadn't just gone through it, I wouldn't believe it either.

"According to your parents," Detective Wyatt, "You all came from New York to spend time with your grandma. After your family dinner, you went out for some fresh air and you didn't come back. They went searching for you when some hours had passed and then they filed a missing person report 24 hours later," he said.

Two things were wrong with what he said. First, before the cave, we stayed in Kansas and fresh air?

I could clearly remember I didn't go out for fresh air. I went out because I had just found out that my mom was the one who cheated on my dad and was already an alcoholic before my dad started seeing Jane and that most of my hatred had been unjustified.

There are only two reasons they would tell the police that. Either they didn't want the police to know the real reason I left, which wouldn't make any sense. Why would they hide our family problems from them?

Or that was what happened.

"Can you tell me what happened after you left? Were you kidnapped? Did you get lost?" he asked.

So those were the options they had in mind.

"How long was I missing?" I asked instead.

"About five days."

Five days?

"Okay, um, I remember going out for some fresh air. It's been a while since we'd come here and I wanted to go around, but I got lost," Detective Wyatt nodded in my pause as his partner jotted down on his notepad. "I, um, tried to make sense of where I was, but it was the woods, and they're not my specialty. I couldn't call them 'cause I left my phone thinking it was going to be a short walk. Then I met a girl."

In case you couldn't tell already, I was making up a story, but that didn't mean I couldn't add a bit of truth. Plus, I was the only one involved, so they had to take my word for it.

"A girl in the forest," the detectives shared a look, and I caught a whiff of doubt in it before they masked it and Detective Wyatt asked, "Do you know how old she was?"

"Well, it was dark so I couldn't tell and I didn't ask her, but she was young with blonde hair, I think. She said she knew her way around the woods and that she was going to get me back to where there were more houses, so I could find a phone and call home. But as we walked, I think I fell, or someone hit me, then I passed out. I only remember a little of what happened, but..." I paused.

I could tell them about the cave, well, not every detail, but if they would search the forest for a certain cave and they found it, that would at least assure me that the place existed.

"But what?" he asked when I didn't say anything.

"I remember being in... some sort of cave. I can't recall much, but I'm sure they held me in a cave. There were people there. They kept me blindfolded most of the time and whenever they removed it, there wasn't much light around."

That was quite a tale. I shouldn't be doing this, lying to the police, but what choice did I have? No one would believe the truth if I said it.

"A cave? You believe some people who blindfolded you most of the time held you, hostage in a cave. Did they tell you what they wanted from you?"

"I... No, they didn't," I said. His bored look, lips in a thin line, and cynical tone led me to the conclusion that he didn't believe a word of my tale.

"Okay. Is there any other information you would like to let us know? Maybe a description of someone you saw?" he asked.

Allistair.

No, I couldn't give them his description. I couldn't remember much of his appearance. How much progress would they make with long black hair, dark eyes, and a bright blue robe? Plus, if they were to find the cave, I'm pretty sure they would also find him there, with him being the keeper and all.

"No, nothing. That's all."

He nodded and his partner pressed a button on the device before they both rose to their feet.

"Thank you for your time. We will try our best to find out who and why anyone would do this. For now, just take care of yourself and... stay out of the woods," he said with a shake of his head and a chuckle before they left.

I found nothing funny.

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Things see, different. Do you have any theories as to why things have changed for Clara?

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The Sparkling Authoress
Mis. A

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