Chapter 4

Something about the shape of her face looked familiar, but no matter how hard I glared at her, I could not remember who she was.

Her eyes widened above her mask, then filled with mockery. "So, it has started for you?"

She knew something! She had to know why I was trapped in this loop!

Being murdered twice was more than I could bear. I gritted my teeth and growled, "Who killed me? What do I have to do to stay alive?"

She did not answer.

Rosa jumped off the building again.

The woman looked toward the spot where Rosa had died, smiled, and shook off my grip. She disappeared into the panicked crowd.

It took me a long time to calm down.

Was she hinting that Rosa was behind my deaths and the time loop? Every time I came back to life, I returned to the moment Rosa died. And whoever kept killing me wanted revenge for Rosa.

Two terrifying deaths and another bizarre regression had left me close to breaking down. Nothing mattered except ending the loop and getting my normal life back.

This time, I told the police everything.

"Jaina drove Rosa to her death. Fiona, Wendy, and I helped her..."

I had not had a choice. My family was barely better off than Rosa's. I had to finish college. How could I face my parents if I did not? If I refused to do what Jaina said, she had plenty of ways to force me to drop out. I had been forced to give in.

Over and over, we had put rats and dead snakes in Rosa's bed and smeared her clothes with foul-smelling chemicals that would not wash out.

She had been too afraid to report us. Jaina knew which hospital her mother was in and had enough influence to arrange a "medical accident" there.

Her mother was the only family she had. Rosa had endured three years of humiliation just to protect her.

But she had refused to fall. She still had excellent grades and held her head high. Her strength only made Jaina hate her more.

Jaina wanted to destroy her.

One rainy night a month earlier, Jaina had hired people to hurt Rosa on her way back to campus from her part-time job. Rosa had returned to the dorm with her clothes in tatters and a vacant stare, barely aware of her surroundings. She had not said another word for the next month.

We had thought she was strong enough to get through it on her own. But without warning, she jumped from the seventh floor...

When I finished, the officer clutched his fists and stared at me with cold disgust. "Do you realize what you've done? An innocent person died because of you!"

I knew.

I also knew they would arrest Jaina soon. Whatever happened to her, her family would take brutal revenge on me. But at the very least, I could save my life. I would be alive.

I could not bear dying horribly over and over again. I could not take this loop anymore...

"It had nothing to do with me! I swear! I hired those men to teach her a lesson. They never sexually assaulted her! Besides, I haven't even bothered her in a month! Why didn't she kill herself then? Why now? Something else made her do it. It had nothing to do with me!" Jaina struggled, but it did no good.

She was handcuffed and put in a police car. Fiona, Wendy, and I were taken to the station for further questioning too.

We were accomplices. Even though we had not directly caused Rosa's death, we were still legally responsible for it and could face prison time and fines.

I had no regrets. All I felt was relief and freedom.

Rosa had not died for nothing. Now that the truth was out, surely the killer would stop trying to get revenge? Besides, I was locked up at the police station. He could not kill me there.

The holding cell was miserable, but I slept soundly.

Suddenly, a sharp click stirred me from sleep and I opened my eyes in grogginess.

Then I jolted fully awake!

He was here!

I recognized his physique! He was the man who had killed me twice! I did not deserve to die! Why did he still want to kill me? How had he gotten into the police station?

There was no time to think and nowhere to hide.

He slammed a heavy, blunt object into the back of my head. I screamed in pain and collapsed. I tried desperately to crawl away by instinct.

But I was still too slow. He straddled me and struck again, and again, and again…

Blood ran down my face, turning everything I could see into red. Just as I was about to pass out, several police officers rushed in.

But… It was too late.

By the time they restrained him, I was barely conscious. All I could see was a document that had fallen to the floor in the struggle.

What I read surprised me.

I finally knew who the culprit was. And I finally knew how to break the loop!