Elias didn't sleep that night.Every time he closed his eyes, the ticking grew louder — not steady like a clock but broken, uneven, like something trying to imitate time and failing miserably.
At 3:00 AM, the sound stopped. The silence was worse.
He got up, grabbed his coat, and stepped outside. The mist had thickened, swallowing the town whole. Streetlights flickered like they were gasping for breath. He followed the faint glow toward the church tower again, the same path as the day before — or was it? The road felt longer. The air colder.
When he reached the square, someone was already there.
A man stood beneath the clock, facing the tower with his hands clasped behind his back. He wore a long coat, soaked from the fog, and didn't move when Elias approached.
"Excuse me," Elias called softly. "Do you live here?"
The man didn't answer. Instead, he slowly turned his head — and Elias froze.
The man's face was his own.
Not similar — identical.
Elias stumbled back, his breath fogging in the air. The other him smiled faintly. "You're late," the copy said. "You were supposed to remember yesterday."
"Who are you?" Elias demanded.
The man tilted his head. "I'm what's left when you forget."
The clock behind them twitched again. Tick.Tick.Tick.
Elias stepped back. "This is a dream. It has to be—"
The other Elias cut him off with a whisper. "If it's a dream, why are you awake in it?"
The church bells rang — once.For the first time since anyone could remember.
And just as suddenly, the man was gone. The fog swallowed him whole.
When Elias staggered into the diner the next morning, Mira and two others were there — the grocer and the sheriff. They all looked shaken.
"Did you hear it too?" Mira whispered.
Elias nodded. "The bell."
The sheriff ran a trembling hand over his face. "That bell hasn't rung in over thirty years. The mechanism's broken."
"Then what did we hear?" the grocer asked.
No one answered.
The sheriff sighed. "We'll check the tower. Mira, you stay here. Elias—" He stopped mid-sentence, staring at Elias's coat. "Where did you get that?"
Elias looked down. His coat was torn at the sleeve — and smeared with something dark, like dried blood. He hadn't noticed before.
"I… don't know," he said quietly.
The sheriff's eyes hardened. "You should go home, son."
But Elias didn't move. Because outside, through the diner's fogged-up window, he saw someone standing in the street again — the same figure as last night.The same face.
And this time, the reflection raised its hand…and pointed at him.
To be continued…
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