Glitch in Time

BitterBerry

@BitterBerry

Hey guys 

I hope you are all fine and safe.

So I am back with a new OS. 

And it's not something usual Its kind of a psychological drama or thriller you can say but I am warning you, this story is gonna play with your mind 

So are you excited?  here it goes. . .

Glitch in Time

You always go back in time,

Out of habit,

Out of desperation

And sometimes out of longing.

Because at some point it was better in the past.

You wanted it to last.

It didn't. 

Yet, it lingers there in your subconscious.

And it always overpowers your reality.

That's how you go back in time.

《《《《《》》》》》

(Cover : By me)

“What the hell?” He screamed aloud, frustrated with everything that is happening with us for half an hour. Its like we are stuck in this place. I looked outside through the glass window and life outside looked normal. And inside a bizarre situation. 

I don’t know how to put this in words. Shree, the technical expert of our team and my dear best friend, sent us in this location, a possible hideout of our latest suspect. He sent me the coordinates directly on my phone. We were retuning by the same route when I informed ACP Arjun Rawte about this possible lead. And my dear senior, ACP Arjun Suryakant Rawte suggested we should check this place. The rest of what happened is not over. . . Not yet and for how long it will continue, I have no freaking idea.

“I am telling you, this wont work. We should ask for help. Let me call Shree.” I told him.

“What made you think I haven’t tried? We’re in a dead zone, there’s no network.” He snapped at me.

I stood near the window as I saw a person outside standing on the footpath talking through a phone. I instantly pulled out my phone in hurry to check. I saw two bars up. I quickly dropped a text to Shree for help.

“I sent a text to Shree. Let’s just wait until they arrive with back up.”

And yet, he wouldn’t listen. That’s his problem. He doesn’t listen to anyone. Not to the chief, not to the doctor and not even to his father. 

I have never seen him this frustrated with anything in my entire time with him in ETF. However, his frustration is fully appropriate in this situation. I mean, who wouldn’t be frustrated with such a situation?

When we entered this house almost an hour ago. It looked like some sort of antique house. It didn’t look like a hideout of any criminal. We divided and checked each room individually until we landed in this room together. 

This room is a modern blend of interior with antique furniture. The furniture looked age old and way more bizarre and straight out of some steampunk movie. 

Arjun sir was pissed, not finding anyone or any trace of human life in this house. So we decided to leave. And that’s when the problem arose.  We couldn’t leave. We are still trying . . .

First, the door through which we entered vanished. Its strange but I could see it from a four feet distance but step one inch closer than that, it just vanished. 

This was his fifth try to get closer to the door and he just comes back meeting with a wall instead. I tried too, while he watched me. When I came back, he told me I looked like walking straight into a wall.

He stared at me with confusion. I still have no idea what is happening with us. He asked me to move aside. As he picked up the age old wooden chair, I could guess he’s gonna smash the window. That sounds like a good idea. But with the bizarre things happening around, I couldn’t just pray for any luck.

He threw the chair straight into the window. I heard a smashing sound of glass scattering as a gush of hot wind swished into the room. There was no sign of the chair he threw out, however I could see the window open. 

That’s it. Finally we’d get out. He straightened his shirt, rolled down his sleeves as I let my hair loose and fall upon one side. 

“Come on. Let’s go.” He said as he inched closer. I was looking into my phone trying to connect to Shree and tell him that we are safe, and finally found our way out and that’s when I heard him curse. 

I found myself standing near the window. He beside me. The glasses of the window intact. Not even a sign of any scratch. I looked down the floor, not even a tiny trace of a glass piece. 

What in hell is happening?

I was tired of trying this again and again, so I decided to take some rest for a while. I slumped to floor and leaned my back over the wall. Without having any choice he too sat beside me.

After a few minutes of silence I said to myself, “its like we are stuck somewhere. Like in a loop.” But I guess I wasn’t that feeble to say it and he listened.

“We are always stuck somewhere Riya.” He spoke that sounded like a mere whisper.

“sometimes you will find yourself wandering into a memory long back. Maybe because it has made a home within you. Same with nightmares. Your demons who wouldn’t leave you.”

“Sir. . .” of all things, I have never expected him to say anything like this. This deep, as if he is trying to get out of a trance but being pulled back into the same nostalgia he was talking about. 

When I joined ETF I wasn't hoping to meet someone like ACP Arjun Ratwe. They say he has a troubled past that made him like this. His wife was murdered right in front of his eyes. For a long time he was in trauma and now he's back in the force. I didn't know how my little heart always sets itself on a race everytime he comes near me. I wasn't hoping to fall for this guy. 

“Sometimes we want things to last. For things to never end. And that longing gets imbibed so much into ourselves that our subconscious starts wandering into them, to relish it again and again. You are true. . . We are just stuck somewhere.” She said looking straight into my eyes. His eyes so intense that I couldn’t pull him out of the trance, nor could I get myself out of it.

Almost two years of working with this man in the same team, and I still hesitate to look into his eyes. His eyes always unnerved me. Always sends me to illusions. Illusions of him. 

When he talked about longing , I knew where my subconscious always drags me. To him. Always to him.

“my subconscious always takes me back to you . . .” I whispered. And realised what the hell did I say. He wasn’t supposed to know.

“What did you say?”

“it takes me back to the time when you told me not to give up on you. I can’t. I can’t give up on us.” I don’t know how my lips started playing with me and my mouth suddenly started voicing out whatever that’s in my mind. 

How do I stop myself from thinking?

 “Stop there brain. He can’t know. Don’t just spill that I love him.” 

“Its spilled".  I heard him correctly. 

Fcuk.

I just confessed that I love him and without my voluntariness.  But then it was not just my words I was listening.

He was struggling, struggling to get past from his demons as he said.

I cant forget her. He said.

A lone tear escaping his eyes.

They won’t let me forget her.

And I realized, we are in each others mind.

He was chained to the void, his features clearly showing that he was trying to get out of something but he was being held up. 

I slowly mouthed, embrace them. 

His bloodshot eyes stared blankly into mine. His struggles fainted, and his movements halted. He breathed heavily saying, I can live with this. 

You’re not alone. I told him. He smiled. A faint smile and a glimmer of hope slowly bubbling through him.

I don’t want to be alone, he said.

You finally said it. 

Now I saw him in the light.  He is smiling. He’s lifting his hands up towards me. 

I tried to reach for him too. But suddenly I am lying on a floor. My head felt heavy and a sharp pain shot through my arms. Now I know I am bleeding. I am hit by a bullet. 

I saw him outside of the van,  through the glass door where I am locked now.

He was screaming.

Dont give up Riya.

Shoot.

Dont give up on me.

I remained on the floor immobile as my eyes travelled to the glock 19 lying beside me. My memories got the worst out of me. This is not the time to be afraid. I have to act fast. I have to save him. It isn’t my gun, but it is my only solution now. 

I heard gunfire as I saw him being attacked through the glass door. He knocked furiously at the door. A bullet pierced his left hand.

Riya shoot.

He screamed again. This time with pain.

My bloody hand reached towards the Glock 19 as I grabbed a hold of it. I aimed at his attacker and pulled the trigger closing my eyes.

Something snapped me out as I opened my eyes. 

“Riya"! He whispered. I am not anymore bleeding. His left hand isn’t shot. He is sitting right in front of me, in blood and flesh. We are still in the same room. 

I couldn’t anymore hold myself and I hugged him. His eyes had the same hollowness I noticed moments ago when he was telling me not to give up.

I couldn’t differentiate what’s real what’s imagination. I couldn’t  think how much I have spilled and how much he has listened. He was taken aback with my sudden movement but he held me tight as I suddenly felt breathless. 

"Its fine. We will get through this." he reassuringly whispered into ears. I believed him because he said it. 

“And sometimes we are stuck in time because, we want to change something of our past. To act in a way we didn’t in  the past, knowing very much that its impossible.” I told him. He looked me in the eye once again and nodded. For the first time in life ACP Arjun Rawte agreed to something I said.

A sudden shrill of my phone broke our trance. A notification popped up. 

“Let’s see where exactly we are stuck.” I told him. I have an app of the world map, and it will tell about any location in this world with proper coordinates. How the hell did  forget about this app. I should have checked it before.

I typed the coordinates Shree has sent me into this app. 

“Location not found.” It said.

Shock would be an understatement. Where the hell are we? This location isn’t present anyone on this whole planet. How the google map took us here at this address whereas such an address doesn’t even exist. 

At the same time, the door burst open as Shree and Rathod sir entered inside. My phone slipped from my hand as we got up. Finally they came to rescue us.

“How did you get in here? And who locked you?” Rathod sir asked. I looked at Arjun sir as he looked at me with the same expression.

“Probably the door was jammed and we couldn’t open it.” Arjun sir said. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to explain this to Rathod sir. I am not even sure if he will believe me or not. Whatever I experienced, Arjun sir was also a part of it. I don’t know how he must be feeling, but this is something I’d never want to experience ever in my life. Both of us hurried out not wanting to spend a split second in that room.

As we got into the SUV, shree said probably he sent us the wrong location earning a glare from, Rathod sir. He checked into the location once again.

“This location doesn’t exists anywhere in this world.” Shree said, with his mouth hanging open. 

“forget it Shree. Probably there was some glitch.” I told him.

“what time it is?” Arjun sir asked.

“Just fifteen minutes since I’ve send you the location. I too wanted come and check the location as soon as I sent this to you but when we reached hear, I just saw the SUV and you were nowhere to be found. So we went inside and checked every room. There we found you.”

“You mean you didn’t get any text from me?” I asked surprised. Fifteen minutes? That felt like forever. 

“No. I actually came here out or concern. This house, you know belongs to some scientist.”

“a scientist?”

“yeah. He’s working on some parallel universe and other dimension stuff you know. People say his house is no less than a laboratory. However we didn’t find any of such.” Shree continued as it finally made sense to me. Whatever that  was happened in that house it was real. Very real, something that stripped me right in front of my imagination. 

“Do you believe in such stuff? I mean parallel universe and all?” shree asked casually.

I looked at Arjun sir as he looked back at me.

“No". We said in unison. 

《《《《《》》》》》

Still here guys? 

So that's it.

Let me know how was it. 

Stay safe everyone 

Love,

Anki