When Kendall returned to the 2017 timeframe, she couldn't believe it. The missions were swapped. Just as her mother had said, her two worlds have merged.

"Jo? Macy?" She flung her drawstring bag onto the ground and fell onto the beanbag chair. She squat, her "thinking position". Macy ran downstairs, her platinum blonde hair fashioned into a braided crown. Jo came from the kitchen, a frosted cookie in hand.

"Macy, this is news to you." She explained the hourglass bit by bit. She needed more help on this matter. Once she was done, Macy was taken aback.

She nodded, composing herself. "You're my best friend, you wouldn't lie to me. I believe you. Besides, you wouldn't say such things without making sure."

"I have more conclusions."

She explained what her mother told her and her encounters with the differing missions she received.

"So you're saying that if you can't change Blake's death, we'll die? Everyone you know? That doesn't make sense!" Macy said.

Jo commented, "Maybe it's just the way it is. I would believe something like that."

"But... you're special? Enhanced?"

"I still feel like there's a flaw in the logic, but what I have is definitely not ordinary. I need to find out more." Kendall sat down and made some notes. "Don't worry, you won't be dying on my watch. I'm going back."

Macy stood up. "But you'll go into that equilibrium thing! It sounds horrible..."

Kendall gave a comforting smile and replied, "I'm sure there's a way out." Even though she did not believe herself very much.

"You're brilliant, Kendall. You'll figure something out." Jo nodded encouragingly.

"Yeah. A way in which we can all live."

Once the conversation was over, the two headed out for school. Kendall quickly changed into a flowery get-up and got ready. She had a time-frame to change.

///

2016
School. The one thing Kendall never expected going back to. This would be one of the last days until her rushed graduation. It was weird to graduate at such an odd timing, but they had to a mission.

When Kendall walked into the campus, there were policemen interrogating several people. Blake was on the steps, answering some questions. Kendall wasn't surprised at all. At least this part stayed the same. A year ago, the exact same thing happened--someone tried to kill Blake.

Just as she walked past them, Blake called out to her. He nodded, excusing himself from the very confused-looking policemen and walking in her direction. Kendall stopped and allowed her eyes to drift to him. She missed his warm embrace...

"How's the analysis going?"

The analysis. She completely forgot. She spent so much time worrying about the babble of how she was special and the hourglass that she hadn't done much.

"Great. I just need a couple more touch-ups."

He nodded. "It better be good. Someone tried to kill me last night, so it could be whoever plotted the kidnapping. You should watch your back, too."

Kendall nodded. She didn't want to give any of her feelings away, so she quickly hurried off.

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what?" Kendall asked, keeping her head low.

"That look. Seriously though, do I know you?"

Before Kendall got a chance to reply, another police car pulled over. The policemen got out and they were walking towards Kendall.

"Miss Kendall Bloombury? You need to come with me. You're suspected of plotting the murder of Mr Blake."

"WHAT?" The policeman continued his babble. She was stunned.

"Get away from me, you got the wrong person!" She tried to shove him away. Macy was just coming out of the building, and dropped her books when she saw the sight. A crowd of students also gathered, pointing and whispering.

"So it's you?" Blake laughed sarcastically as they wrestled her into the car. Kendall knew she couldn't escape this one.

The circumstances have changed yet again and Kendall confirmed that there was someone else tampering with the time-frames, too.

///

The hourglass must be by random, then. She hasn't timed out yet, and was still stuck in 2016. There was a lot of questioning but Kendall had trouble answering them.

"Where were you last night?"

Of course, Kendall was in 2017. How could she explain that? This wasn't going to turn out well.

She made up lies, but there were always loopholes. Then, the door opened and Blake entered. The officer following him nodded, signalling to the other officers that they should let him enter.

"Please give us some time alone? I won't try anything funny. Like you, I want to find out if she really did it, too?" He said. Surprisingly, they listened. What kind of strings did he pull..?

"Please save me." She said desperately, sitting up very straight.

He sank into the seat and replied casually, "Well, if you're innocent, why do you need to be saved? You should be fine."

"I am! But I have...difficulties."

"Like..?" He lifted a finger with practised precision.

"I...I can't say." Kendall told him. She couldn't ruin everything by telling him the truth. She prayed for the hourglass to let her go back to 2017.

"Ha. Then why should I save you?"

"I can't tell you the details, but I... I know everything about you. If you want to know how, please save me."

"We only just met, Kendall. Unless you're a stalker."

"I'm not. Even a stalker wouldn't know your deepest secrets like I do." She took a breath and braced herself. "You're afraid of the water, because when you were eight, you were playing with your little sister and you caused her to drown and die. You aren't afraid of entering it, but you never want to go near such a dangerous thing. You're never close to your parents, because they were obsessed with money that they never cared for you. They left you in a hotel room alone for three days when they were meeting investors. You were only two... You never have a favourite colour, because what's the point of choosing such things when it's only a matter of how well they look together. And you told me... that you would never fall in love because it's surrendering. It's giving yourself away and it's too heavy a burden. You always felt that it was suicide."

He was indeed astonished, but quickly waved it off. "I told you..?" He stood up, flexing his shoulders. All of a sudden, he leaned in, too close for comfort. Kendall should be used to this, but she wasn't. She was shocked, too. "Who are you?"

She couldn't answer that question, so she averted her eyes.

"It's okay. You already told me how tightly sealed your lips were." Kendall couldn't help but flinch when he said the words 'lips', even when it probably didn't mean much. Blake continued, "This is all very interesting, I would say. However, this would do nothing but re-confirm that you are a suspicious person that could have a hand in trying to kill me. Besides, I can't do anything about this. What would I tell the police? The kind of thing they do in TV shows -- say that you're the girlfriend I love and have been hiding thus had nothing to do with this plan?"

Girlfriend? Where did that come from? Stupidly, Kendall shrugged. "That could work. Anything to get me out."

Blake laughed. "...No. As far as I'm concerned, you're staying here until you give a proper statement. That is, if you're truly innocent." He left.

Well, that plan backfired severely. What did I expect? In this timeframe, I'm nothing to him yet. Kendall thought to herself, bracing herself for the more severe questioning.

It didn't work out well. By 7pm, the police concluded that she was suspicious and had to be moved to a different station for detainment. They cuffed her and brought her to the car.

She fished out her hourglass necklace around her neck. The sand was taking it's time to fall into the second compartment. It wasn't even half-filled.Why can't I go back to 2017? She closed her eyes in hopes of opening them to see the 2017 world. She would take her time to go back to 2016 then...

When she opened her eyes, she was still in 2016. However, everyone was still. The mannequin challenge was so last year. What's everyone doing? Pretty much everyone froze. This horrified Kendall. Kendall saw the water cooler. The water wasn't dripping, and was frozen. She back-stepped and fell.

"What the hell is going on?" Kendall shrieked. Upon hearing this, a girl whipped around. She was the only one moving, apart from Kendall.

"Why are you moving? You shouldn't be!" That girl looked as horrified as Kendall. "Are you... like me? Wait... no way."

She walked towards Kendall and snatched the hourglass necklace off her neck. Kendall was too stunned by the stillness of everyone to move. "You're just like them! The people who killed my family to harness our power!" A ton of curse words left the girl's mouth. "How could you? I hear it in your mind. You're special too, aren't you? You have abilities too. Still, you shouldn't steal my family's one of controlling time!"

"Slow down! Why is everything still?" Kendall replied.

The girl folded her arms, huffing. "You're new to this, aren't you? Your family didn't tell you?" When Kendall kept silent as a form of consent, the girl continued. "Stand up." Her voice was as fiery as Kendall's would be on any other normal day. "I'm Laura Amelise. My family's ability is to control time, apart from the enhanced speed, reflexes and everything. What's yours?"

"Bloombury."

"Ah, the one that is not careful at all. Mother always told me of how careless you all are, giving away your secret like that. That's why you have the chain murders." She looked down at the hourglass necklace. "I'll take back what your family stole, then. You shouldn't tamper with time, unless you want to be in equilibrium."

"I can't give that to you! I need to successfully change what I intended to, or those I know die..." Kendall reached for the necklace, but this girl was 10 million times faster than her. Her family must be very powerful then.

"What did you intend to change? What was so important?" She said in a mocking voice, twirling the hourglass necklace around her fingers.

Kendall looked back and was thankful to see Blake. She nodded her head towards him. "Him. I need to save him."

Laura nearly dropped the necklace onto the ground. Her jaw dropped. "You know Blake? And what do you mean by 'save'? He died?"

"You know Blake? And yeah, in 2017." Kendall's eyes fell to the ground when she admitted this. Laura covered her mouth in shock and a tear threatened to fall.

When she righted herself, Laura's lips were pursed. "Fine. I'll help you, since it's Blake that you're trying to save."

"Thank goodness. But how do you intend to do that?"

Laura's eyes were still on Blake in sincere worry. Laura explained, "Look, all of us who have these abilities are called the enhanced. Not an official term, it's just our slang. So if someone ever hears your mind and asks you if you're enhanced, you know what they mean. I believe you know of the equilibrium concept. Let me re-emphasise that it's a scary fate that you do not want to end up with. If you want to back out, you could very well do so now." Kendall shook her head at this, indicating that she wasn't going to back out, not when so many lives were on the line. Laura continued. "You're in this time warp only because you have the power of controlling time, all thanks to your stolen hourglass." She said the word, 'stolen', bitterly.

Laura returned the hourglass necklace and Kendall put it around her neck. "Look, I only set up this time warp to stall for time. I had something to do, but now I see I have bigger problems to deal with. I'm going to remove the time warp now, and life will continue. Time will keep ticking again. So act as if nothing has happened, and this conversation never existed, because after all, to others, this indeed never existed. When time resumes, very soon I'll get my friend, Nikki. She's enhanced too, and her family is another powerful family like mine. They can convince people about things. When she unleashes her ability, whatever she says, others believe. She'll convince the police that you're not the culprit and to release you. I heard about Blake's near-encounter with death, and I assume you, his potential saviour, is the wronged one. I'll get you out of here."

"Thank you. I guess you're not so bad after all." Kendall smiled, and Laura gave a quick grin.

"Anytime, sista." She sashayed to her original position and put her hand on her lips. Kendall understood what she meant and nodded, imaginary-sealing her lips shut.

Time resumed. The passers-by continued walking and the policemen continued forcing her into the car. When Kendall turned back though, she saw Laura plant a kiss on Blake's cheek. She linked arms with him and whispered something. He smiled and they both laughed. Who was this girl? How did she know him? His ex? His friend? Now that Kendall thought about it, in the one year they spent together, Kendall still had a lot to learn about Blake.

///

By the next day, Kendall was free. The police were apologising and un-cuffing her. For the sake of it, Kendall dusted herself off in mock superiority. "You utterly wasted my time! You better expect the worst." She rolled her eyes before sashaying off.

From the corner, Laura and Nikki watched, laughing. Laura was a tall and slim girl with sleek blonde hair. She had sharp features. Nikki had toffee-coloured skin and her eyes had flecks of yellow, a mysterious colour that occasionally shined. The pair were wearing cashmere coats and dressed beautifully. Kendall suddenly felt inferior, something she didn't normally feel.

Nikki flicked her braids. "You're cool, Kendall." She had a thick accent that made it sound like she was almost purring.

"You must be Nikki."

Laura smiled. "You know our secret, Kendall." She winked. "Isn't Nikki's eyes amazing? And her voice? They can convince you to do pretty much anything."

The trio started moving towards the glass doors. "Isn't that a dangerous power?" Kendall asked, concerned that she will become a victim for such matters.

"Don't worry, I only do it when necessary. Besides, those who know are least likely to get affected. Consider yourself insured." Nikki snapped her fingers and the car pulled up at front.

"Wanna head to the mall with us?" Laura offered as a man opened the door for them.

Kendall paused and examined the hourglass. "My time is running out. I need to go."

Laura nodded. As Kendall turned to leave, Laura added, "That tricky thing can have a mind of its own. But just remember Kendall, you might do the impossible and master it. Learn to control its power. You'll need it if you want to save Blake."

Kendall nearly asked about their relationship until she was back in 2017, the exact spot where she came from.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

After telling Macy about Laura, Kendall fiddled with the hourglass once more.

"I don't know. I'm changing everything, so he might not like me back?"

Macy crossed her legs over, perfectly-shaped eyebrows furrowed. "You really want him, huh?"

Kendall sighed. "The thing is, I have no idea. I always thought I knew my heart, but I feel like my feelings started over, too. Along with his. Whatever happens now, is no longer something I know and have control over."

Kendall also went back to Tessa's and did her regular examinations. They discussed their moves, and plotted. When Kendall drew the deck this time, what she got was worrying. Tessa read aloud. "Your future is hazy. And dark. Be careful, Kendall."

When Kendall got back, she did a lot of thinking. She was well aware of the equilibrium thing, but she did it anyway.

She flipped the hourglass.

///

Kendall did not expect the first face she sees to be Blake's. Boy, he was mad.

"I don't know how you did it. How did you get out?"

"I was innocent." Kendall purposefully made eye contact, saying confidently.

He was skeptical. "You're not, are you? If you were, you would have told the truth and be released immediately."

Kendall was genuinely saddened that he did not believe her. "Well, are you faulting the police? They were the ones who let you out, remember?"

"Funny. Then explain. Why did I see Laura's friend speaking slowly to the police. They brought in another girl too. Both the girl and the police looked mesmerised. I can't explain it. Then the girl said she was guilty and the police took her in then let you out. No questions asked."

Kendall gulped. She did feel bad that a poor girl fell prey to Nikki's trap and had to be sent to atone the sins she never committed.

"Was that a gulp?" He leaned in close.

Kendall stepped back, folding her arms. "Cut that out."

Just then, a bicycle wheeled past, nearly knocking Kendall over. She nearly fell, but Blake caught her.

"Daniel!" She scolded. Not again!

"Whoa, whoa." Daniel got off his bicycle. "Sorry, I thought it would be a scare. As a reference for what happened, get it? I was aiming to miss, but looks like I took it too far. I'm sorry."

All of a sudden, now that she did not feel in danger, Kendall's body temperature shot up. She was still in Blake's half-embrace. He had one hand around her, the other at the front to block the imminent danger. Blake was fuming and didn't let go.

Daniel looked at Blake. "And... you are?"

"We have that mission, remember?" His lips were right next to her ear. Kendall swore she could hear her heart beating, amidst the city noise.

"Yeah." She pulled away awkwardly, while Blake placed a hand on her back, motioning her forward. He shot Daniel a death glare.

Once out of earshot, Kendall stole a glance at him. "You're angry. At Daniel..? I thought a minute ago, we were enemies."

"No, I'm angry at you." He huffed.

If he's angry at me, why is his hand on my back?

He explained, quickly putting his hands in his pockets. "I was motioning you forward. We need to hurry."

"Whoa. You can practically hear it in my mind." After saying this, Kendall concluded that she wasn't very good with keeping secrets. Blake raised an eyebrow.

"You're so... peculiar." Blake had to force that last word out. He turned right.

"That isn't the right way." Kendall pointed out, but Blake had no intention of stopping. Kendall felt the urge to follow, so she did.

"I need to go somewhere real quick." He said, silently motioning for her to follow him.

They took the lift to the highest level of a high-rise building. He took the steps to the rooftop, breaking into the entrance. This spelled trouble, but Kendall followed, worried.

"What?"

He immediately wheeled onto her. "I knew from the start that something wasn't quite right about you. And now? It's confirmed. How do you know my deepest, darkest secrets? How did Laura's friend pull that off? Why does it seem like you know me, when I never met you before? And, and..."

Suddenly, he reached for her neck. Kendall was stunned and sidestepped him, but he pushed her back. "Stop!" She cried. The railings were low, and this was like playing with fire--dangerous in every way.

"If you want to fight, let's do it somewhere else!" She pushed back, but held herself back when fighting.

"See? That's what I mean." He grabbed both her arms and they were pinned. She was trapped. "You just met me, but you worry about me. You're fiery, Kendall. Even an idiot would realise that. Then, when it's me, things change. Even now, you're holding back." His gaze was terrifyingly intense. He had her cornered.

Kendall surrendered. It could have been the staring she did, into his deep eyes. "I forget that you are smart. I'll tell you, just not now, or all will be ruined."

He shoved her roughly and she hit the wall. It was painful, and she held her shoulder. She remember what Macy told her, and she shuddered. This wasn't the Blake she knew. He was frightening. He yelled, "I don't want cheap talk! I need the answers now!"

She concluded that this was a Blake she could not succumb to. Decisively, she forgot all her feelings for him. She sorted them cleanly. "Shut. Up."

It was too late. He grabbed the hourglass necklace. She feared that he would take it away, and she shifted away. But he didn't want it, he just touched it briefly.

"I noticed you always touch this. What's..." Then, Blake yelled in pain. Suddenly, he was crouched on the floor, grimacing.

"Blake?" Kendall forgot all her earlier talk and rushed forward, bending down to tend to him. "Blake, are you okay? Look, it's me." He couldn't hear her, and clawed. He was in intense pain. After what seemed like eternity, he looked up, dazed.

"How did you make time stop?"

"What?"

"That... last part. How did you do that time warp thing? When only you talked and everyone else stopped..."

His earlier anger returned. He pushed her roughly. She retaliated, but he turned quickly and shoved. Now, she was dangling, half her body over the edge of the railing. His hand was on her back once more.

It was a high, high building. Kendall could hear the cars below, honking. She screamed. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"You have to tell me. I saw it all. From how you flipped the hourglass, to that time warp and I saw two worlds, merging. Then I saw myself die, and I know that it was all because of you!" He spat that last word out. "I don't know who you are. But I know that every time I touch an hourglass, I remember bits and fragments like those." Blake remembered how he had remembered that time after exiting Detective Harrid's office, before meeting her for the first time. The same happened that day, when he encountered an hourglass on the street and picked it up. Now, as well. All three times left him in immense pain and a new memory that he could not quite comprehend.

His eyes were like dancing fireballs, raging. Kendall glared back. She did not allow herself to die, just like that. She was challenging him, abandoning all her feelings for him. He was a monster now. Her enemy. Yet, she knew that anyone in their right mind would react that way, including her...

She couldn't tell him. If the circumstances changed like that again, she could never get to save him, and those she know would die too. Give and take. So which was more important--his life, those of the people she knew, or her own?

He played the final card, completing the challenge he had for her. Everything was up to Kendall now. One wrong move, and she dies.

He said, quietly, but threateningly,

"So, you tell me now. Everything. Or I let go and you fall to your death."