The world didn't just glitch when she appeared.
It paused.
The wind froze mid-sway.
Dust hung suspended in the air.
The streetlight flicker stopped between on and off — like reality pressed a screenshot.
Everything waited for her.
Tomorrow.
She stepped forward, her feet not touching the ground.
Tall.
Elegant.
Eyes like sunsets trapped in glass — warm, but holding the kind of pain only a universe could understand.
Hair shifting color like passing days.
Skin shimmering faintly, as if made of clockwork light.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
Wrong.
I stood up slowly, still clutching the stranger's arm.
My voice cracked.
"You— You're… Tomorrow?"
She smiled.
"That's the name your species gave me.
The closest word you have for what I am."
Her voice didn't echo —
it vibrated, like time itself bent around her words.
The boy pressed himself into my side, gripping my shirt.
"Mama," he whispered, "don't let go of me."
"I won't," I said, squeezing his hand.
Tomorrow's eyes landed on the stranger.
He flinched.
Not like he was scared.
Like he was ashamed.
"I see your memories are damaged," Tomorrow said calmly.
He swallowed.
"I… don't remember her."
He gestured weakly toward me.
My chest hurt.
Tomorrow stepped closer and touched his forehead with one glowing fingertip.
A ripple shot through the air like a shockwave.
He gasped, grabbing Tomorrow's wrist.
"STOP—!"
His body convulsed.
Light flickered behind his eyes.
The boy whimpered.
I panicked.
"What are you doing to him?! STOP—LET HIM GO!"
Tomorrow released him gently.
He slumped to the ground, dazed, breathing unevenly.
Tomorrow turned to me.
"I did not return his memories," she said simply.
"I stabilized what remained."
"Why not return them?" I demanded.
"He deserves to remember— he deserves to know—"
Tomorrow tilted her head.
"Some memories are not lost…
They are rejected."
My breath caught.
"What does that mean?"
She looked directly into my eyes.
"He wants to remember you, Anshu.
But his mind refuses."
Pain stabbed my chest.
"Why?!"
Tomorrow stepped closer.
"You are dangerous to him."
That sentence broke me.
"I've never hurt him!" I snapped. "I've never—"
"No," she said softly.
"But another you has."
Her gaze sharpened.
"The part of you that sleeps inside.
The part that created her."
The other me.
The one with glowing eyes.
The one who killed.
The one who wanted my life.
My hand shook.
"I didn't create her."
Tomorrow smiled faintly.
"You did.
Just not intentionally."
I felt my knees weaken.
"How?"
My voice barely escaped.
Tomorrow lifted her hand and tapped my forehead — lightly.
A rush of cold light slid through my skull, making the world tilt.
"You were born with too many memories," she said gently.
"You are a glitch of time. A fragment of a timeline that should not have existed."
Her eyes softened.
"You weren't supposed to survive."
A tear fell down my cheek before I even realized it.
"But I did survive," I whispered.
"Yes," Tomorrow said, smiling.
"And that survival birthed her.
Your trauma.
Your fear.
Your grief.
Your death."
Her voice dropped.
"All the versions you abandoned when you were erased… formed her."
No.
No, no, no.
My breath shook violently.
"You're saying—
the monster trying to kill me…"
Tomorrow nodded.
"Was once you."
My stomach twisted.
"Then why does she want me dead?"
Tomorrow stepped closer, lifting my chin gently.
"Because you replaced her."
The boy whimpered softly, hugging my leg.
"She's coming back, Mama… I can feel her."
Tomorrow turned toward him.
"You should not exist outside your timeline, child."
The boy hid behind me instantly.
I stepped in front of him.
"DON'T TOUCH HIM."
Tomorrow blinked — surprised for the first time.
"You are protective," she murmured.
"A trait that stayed across timelines."
"Leave him alone," I growled.
"He's all I have left from a life you all erased."
Tomorrow studied me thoughtfully.
"You care for him… even though he is not truly your son."
My heart squeezed.
"He FEELS like mine."
Tomorrow nodded slowly.
"That may be why he survived the collapse."
Before I could respond, the stranger groaned and pushed himself to his feet, holding his chest.
"What… what do you want from her?" he asked Tomorrow weakly.
Tomorrow turned to him, expression neutral.
"I want balance."
"Balance?" I repeated.
"Yes."
She looked between the three of us.
"You — the glitch.
Her — the rejected self.
Him — the protector.
And the child — the orphaned memory."
She clasped her hands.
"One of you must be erased… so the others may live."
Silence.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
The stranger stiffened.
"No."
The boy whimpered.
Tomorrow ignored them.
Her eyes fell on me.
"You must choose again, Anshu."
I shook my head violently.
"No. I'm done choosing. I'm DONE."
Tomorrow smiled sadly.
"Time does not stop because your heart breaks.
Someone will die.
Someone must."
My throat burned.
"Why?"
Her answer was soft.
"Because tomorrow cannot come…
if today refuses to end."
The world trembled under her words.
And then—
A voice screamed behind us:
"SHE CHOOSES ME!"
We spun around.
The other me stood at the alley's entrance — alive, glowing, furious.
Eyes blazing white.
Veins burning light.
Hair floating behind her like a storm.
She pointed directly at me.
"If someone dies…
it's HER."
---