The Chronicle of The Reincarnator's Fate

As the autumn chill fell fell in the downtown area, alongside the Saturday bustle, various couples could be seen strolling hand-in-hand, buskers strumming melancholic tunes, and the smell of roasted chestnuts and pumpkin spice lattes hung heavy in the air, among many others.

Among the couples having a lovely time in the nearby park, a couple was sitting on one of the benches, in a different kind of mood than their surroundings. The woman, Amelia, was staring at the cup of coffee that they had bought earlier with a pretty difficult expression.

'Yeah, I think it is time,' She nodded quietly, glancing at her boyfriend, Victor who seemed to be really focused on playing a game on his phone. She then took a deep breath before quietly exhaling and turning her body toward him after putting the coffee aside.

"Hey honey," she began, sounding a bit tight. Victor immediately looked up in response, a flicker of surprise crossing his face before being replaced by curiosity as he responded, "Yeah?"

"We need to talk," Amelia said, her smile faltering as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. In that instant, Victor furrowed his brow feeling a knot forming in the pit of his stomach. 'What does she want to talk about? Did something happen while I was away a few days ago?'

'Or did I do something again?' Victor could somehow feel a bead of sweat trickling behind his back despite the coldness in the air because he knew this was her habit when she felt nervous about telling him something important. 'Oh please don't tell me, she's pregnant.'

"Talk? About what? Are you pregnant or something" He asked, secretly forcing himself to calm down and with a little annoyed tone, Amelia then said, "Before you can say anything more stupid than that, please listen to what I'm trying to say first, ok?"

"O…k?" Victor replied while nodding after putting his phone aside, becoming more concerned yet confused at the same time, trying to understand the reason causing Amelia to be nervous after his prediction. While Amelia then took a slightly deep breath and said, "It's about...us."

Victor's eyes widened in complete shock and his mouth was slightly ajar with the bustling sounds of the city faded into the background in his ear as the weight of those words hung in the air

'Us.'

'Us.'

'Us.'

'Us.'

'Us.'

"Hello? Are you ok? Hellooo," Amelia said, waving her hand toward Victor's face who remained silent but it didn't take long before he finally snapped himself out and immediately grabbed her shoulders. With a sharp tone, Victor asked, "Us? What about us?"

"It's just…" Amelia said but trailed her words, feeling a little hesitant. Recalling the doctor's words in her mind, she took a deep breath and exhaled softly, "How do I put it?"

"We haven't been… really happy." She then said, her voice barely above a whisper. Despite feeling like she was tasting ashes in her mouth, she continued, "For a while now, I think we're heading in different directions with our life, and I felt that I needed space to figure things out for myself, Victor."

"What.." Victor gasped, letting his hands from her shoulders with his widened eyes, feeling the disbelief settling in before finally opening his mouth, "B-but we've been through so much together. Can't we work through this?"

"No, Victor. Not this time," She said, shaking her head with strands of her chestnut hair falling across her face before turning toward the crowd that seemed to have thinned around them and continued, "I think it's better to do it now before things get too complicated, you know."

"I just hope… you understand." Was she then said, tilting her head toward and smiling softly which caused a feeling of desperation etched across Victor as he reached for her hand and said, "No, please. We can make it work somehow."

"Just give me a chance," he pleaded desperately causing Amelia to hesitate, feeling torn between her decision and the emotions bubbling within. Before she could respond, a distant sound grew louder, a low rumble filling the air. Their eyes widened as they turned their head toward the noise source.

"What was that?"

"What the fuck?"

Suddenly, a surreal sight unfolded before them – a massive trunk appeared out of nowhere, hurtling towards them with surprising speed.

*vroom~*

Due to the shocking sight, both of them felt panic immediately. In that split second, the world around them seemed to have slowed down and out of nowehre Amelia suddenly shoved him to the side with all her might while simultaneously screaming, "Victor, move!" 

While stumbling backwards, in his line of sight, he saw the monstrous trunk of the car slam into Amelia with the force of the impact throwing her off the bench in a sickening arc. 

Time seemed to stop completely as Victor, frozen in a state of horrified disbelief, witnessed Amelia's body collide mid-air with a nearby lamppost before crumpling lifelessly onto the ground.

The screech of metal on metal finally ended as the runaway truck, its momentum spent, shuddered to a stop. The city noises returned in a deafening rush—sirens wailing closer, shouts of panicked witnesses, and the frantic honking of horns.

But for Victor, the world seemed to have muted with him stumbling forward, his legs shaky, disbelief battling with a rising wave of nausea. 

"No! Please! This can't be!!!" He screamed. reached Amelia with his hand hovering over her body as he couldn't bring himself to touch her followed by a choked sob that escaped his lips when he saw the unnatural angle her arm twisted at, the blood stain blooming on her formerly vibrant jacket.

"AAAMMMMEEEEEE..."

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

"LLLIIIAAAAAAAA!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" 

Victor screamed as he bolted upright in his bed with his eyes snapped wide open and his chest heaved before gasping with each breath rugged and uneven as he looked around his room while sweat beaded on his forehead, trickling down into his hairline.

"Oh my goodness…" he muttered, covering his face with his right hand. He could feel his heart beating frantically inside his ribs, and the sweat clung to his skin, feeling cold and clammy despite the room's warmth. 

Victor then took a deep breath and exhaled a couple of times, trying to force his breathing under control. It took some time before he finally managed to put his breathing under control and there was a brief moment of silence before he let go of his right hand from his face.

"Man, I'm so sweaty it looks like I got hit by a tsunami." Victor chuckled as he somehow noticed that the sheets tangled around his legs were slick with moisture but the feeling immediately died down at the same moment it came with his expression soon becoming solemn.

"Just why…." He soon groaned, covering his whole face with both hands. Looking through the gaps in his fingers, he stared absentmindedly at the air and continued, "Why did this nightmare have to appear again?"

"It's almost been 20 years since that day. So why?" he muttered, feeling his emotions slowly yet gradually getting darker and depressing. Before his emotion worsened, Victor lightly yet quickly rubbed his face a few times, trying to calm himself down before removing his hand from his face and sighing heavily, "Forget it."

"I wouldn't understand anyway," Victor muttered before quickly shaking his head, pushing that thought to the side in his mind while continuing, "And besides, if I dwell into this any further, it wouldn't change anything at all."

After letting out a sigh that carried the weight of the past, Victor threw back the covers as he felt that sleep was a luxury and that he wouldn't indulge it for a while.

"Hmmmmm…."

Feeling a little bored, Victor absently scanned his bedroom. It was a surprisingly modest space, adorned with a simple mix of furniture and a scattering of his belongings. He then glanced at the faint glow of his digital clock which displayed 6:12 AM, and a long sigh soon escaped from his mouth.

"It's still way too early…" Victor muttered quietly, tossed himself back onto the bed, and then stared at the ceiling as his mind wondered what his next steps would be. "What to do? What to do?"

As he immerses in the question, Victor soon notices some kind of smell coming from his body and takes a small whiff of himself which immediately causes his face to crumple almost instantly. "Urghh…"

"I definitely need a shower right now." He groaned, immediately got up and swung his legs over the edge of the body after throwing the covers to the side. 

As he got up from the bed, he could feel the cool touch of the hardwood floor beneath his feet but his attention was focused on the stiffness he experienced from his shoulders.

"Did I sleep in the wrong position or something?" Victor muttered, strongly stretching his arms over his head followed by a low groan as his spine popped. 

"Honestly, getting old is no joke," he continued, rolling his shoulders back and forth to loosen the tension even more followed by another groan escaping from his lips while navigating through the dimly lit room, trying to find the switch for the lights. 

It took a moment before he found the switch, which he immediately flicked on. The bedroom was suddenly bright, startling Victor. He forced his left arm to shield his eyes while groaning, "Goddammit, my eyes." 

After his eyes finally felt more comfortable with the brightness, he quickly approached the door and as he reached for the doorknob, he paused as a strange heavy feeling settled in his chest. A nagging feeling that has been screaming in the back of his head 

'What if the dream meant something? What if it was a sign of bad things to come? What if…'

He usually would scoff at the superstitious thought, but due to the reappearance of the nightmare after a long time, it clung to him like a burr.

"Even though it has been so many years and investigate the incident from all angles," he muttered furrowing his brow deeply, gripping his shirt before realising that he inadvertently clutched the shirt too tightly to the point that his palm got red and immediately loosened his grip while continuing, "Why is my instinct screaming to me, saying that there is something that I am not seeing?"

"I probably should look into this case once again when I have the time but for now," He said, taking a deep breath and shaking his head, forcibly pushing the thought aside in his mind while sighing, "Let's just not think about it."

After finally managing to calm his feelings and instincts down, Victor grabbed the doorknob and immediately left the room when he opened the door. As he was heading to the bathroom, he caught a small soft glow in his eyes.

"Eh? Why not?" Victor said, shrugging his shoulders and immediately went toward the hallway mirror, knowing that its soft glow came from it. Standing in front of the mirror and looking at its reflection, he saw a reflection of his tired, dishevelled self and couldn't help but sigh, "What a great morning view"

"I look like a hobo that got into a drunken fistfight with a firefighter who blasted an ungodly amount of water at me," he groaned, unimpressed by his own appearance while rubbing any remnants of sleep from his eyes that remained with a tired hand. He took a moment to assess his appearance in the mirror and muttered, "Huh? I guess I forgot to use my skincare last night." 

After feeling he had inspected himself enough, Victor then let out a resigned sigh and continued his journey to the bathroom, his movements accompanied by a quiet, mumbled commentary, "Why do mornings have to be so tiring?"

To Be Continued