"You used this computer to call 2004, didn't you?" He gestured at the old computer beside us. "How does it work?"
I squinted through the pain, glancing at the clock.
One minute until midnight.
If he was the one who received that video call, everything was over!
32
"I'll never tell you..."
Searing pain.
His shoe was grinding my fingers into the floor, back and forth.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!" I screamed. "You have to plug in that webcam! The external webcam!"
"The webcam?"
I tried my hardest to look like I couldn't endure the pain.
The only thing I could do now was destroy that computer.
But I needed a chance!
"In 2004, you saw it in my apartment, remember? That old external webcam. The call isn't powered by the computer — it's powered by that! It's in my room, hidden in the bottom drawer of my wardrobe, there's a hidden compartment!"
He looked at me with suspicion.
30 seconds.
"If you don't believe me, take me with you to find it... Just promise you'll let me live," I said. "If I die, you'll never connect that video call."
I saw him rummage in his pocket and pull out a knife.
The cold blade sliced my neck. Blood trickled out.
He held the knife to my throat as I slowly stood up.
15 seconds!
I stood slowly, finding my balance.
My pupils contracted from tension.
My feet finally pressed against solid ground.
Now!
10 seconds!
I lunged with everything I had, throwing my body into him!
Blood spurted — the knife had sliced through the artery in my neck. But it didn't matter anymore. He lost his balance, stumbling back.
With every last ounce of strength, I roared, scooped up the computer tower, and hurled it toward the window.
A rush of wind behind me — he lunged.
5 seconds!
He was too late.
The tower went out the window. A series of crashes followed. The monitor was yanked violently toward the window.
He shoved me aside, his thick arms grabbing the monitor. But from below, I heard the sound of the machine shattering on the ground.
That was the tower disconnecting from its cables, smashing to pieces on the ground below.
In the chaotic study, I pressed my hand against my neck, face pale from blood loss.
0 seconds.
Deathly silence.
I smiled.
33
But my eyes flew wide with horror.
The black-screened computer erupted with the video call ringtone, echoing through the silent night.
Under our gaze, the dark screen glowed with an unnatural light.
The video call flickered, then connected automatically.
An adolescent boy's face appeared on the screen.
The 2004 version of me.
34
In the study, the man laughed.
"Time is reversible."
35
I was hauled up like a sack and dumped in front of the computer desk, covered in blood.
On the screen, my 2004 self was terrified by what he saw. He leaned down to pull the power cord, but the man barked at him.
"Kevin! Do you want to get this person killed?!"
I watched my 2004 self slowly straighten up, his face etched with terror and confusion.
A knife sliced my face, drawing fresh blood.
Then the blade pressed against my throat.
"If you don't do exactly what I say next, I'll kill this person," he said. "Kevin, be a good boy. Don't hurt anyone."
"We won't make this complicated. Our demands are simple."
"Go next door. Turn on the living room light. A man will come out of the bathroom. Don't worry about what he wants to do to you. Just tell him three sentences, as fast as you can."
No... please no...
I stared at my younger self on the screen, desperate to speak. But he clamped his hand over my mouth, and I could only make muffled sounds.
"Ma Juemin, your entire plan for tonight is full of holes," he said.
"In the future, you will definitely be caught."
"Don't want to die? Check under the bed in the bedroom, then follow me next door."
Please... Mia...
The knife at my neck pressed deeper.
On the screen, my younger self rose in terror and stumbled out.
36
Summer night, 2004.
Summer night, 2021.
Every second that followed was terrifyingly quiet.
I heard a brief scream from Mia, but it was cut off immediately.
I closed my eyes in despair.
Then came heavy footsteps from the screen.
37
My eyes were forced open.
Mia from 2004 lay unconscious on the floor in front of the screen.
I saw my 2004 self being held at knifepoint, a fruit knife pressed against his throat.
I never imagined that seventeen years later, we'd end up in the exact same situation.
"You're..." The man on the screen asked in disbelief.
He seemed to have a guess but couldn't bring himself to believe it.
The man beside me laughed.
"I'm the only person who knows the future," he said. "And the only one who can save you."
"Ma Juemin, listen up!" he said. "I know this is your first kill. Tonight, you left way too many things undone. You forgot to close the door because you were nervous, let a kid sneak in. You assumed his daughter was at a relative's house so you thought there was only one person inside. You just focused on moving the body, didn't even check the rooms..."
"Your mistakes are too numerous, and your planning is fundamentally flawed. You will absolutely get caught."
"Right now, only I can save you."
"You there, what year is it?" the 2004 version of Ma Juemin asked.
He already had his answer.
"2021. Seventeen years in prison... the best years of my life, locked in a cell," he said. "And I might get sent back any day, and I'd drag my sister down with me..."
"So, what should I do?"
The Ma Juemin beside me laughed.
"Commit this to memory — don't bother trying not to get caught. I met plenty of people inside, and no matter how perfect the crime, they all got caught in the end."
"I'll give you some numbers. Before the crime happens, use these numbers to get money at the places I tell you. It'll be a fortune. Give some to your sister. Then go to Myanmar, go to Vietnam. It's enough to make you a local kingpin. You have three days to get this done."
"Old Yu stashed two containers of gasoline in his storage room for his escape plan. I've calculated — from the time the fire starts, to the forensic investigation, to the case being opened and them identifying you — roughly five days. More than enough."
I gave a bitter smile.
I already knew what they were going to do.
"Tonight, neither of these kids can live."
On the screen, I watched my 2004 self begin to tremble visibly.
38
On the video, my 2004 self tried to scream for help, but his throat was immediately clamped shut.
I watched him thrash, even knocking the knife from his captor's grip. But that only infuriated the man — both hands went for his neck, veins bulging on his arms, and the boy's young face distorted with terror as blood poured from his mouth.
I was thinking with every ounce of my being. Every possibility, every scenario ran through my mind.
But nothing.
I had no way out.
39
"Don't worry, your little girlfriend is next."
He patted my shoulder. This was his torture — making me watch it all happen.
My eyes were bloodshot as I thrashed wildly, finally getting my feet against the desk and throwing myself and the chair to the floor with all my might.
He crouched down to haul me up for the show.
I lunged, wrapping my arms around his head, biting down on his ear like a wild animal.
He screamed.
We struggled on the floor — it was a death match. He kicked wildly, nearly throwing me off.
A massive crash — his flailing foot knocked over the computer desk. The monitor hit the floor hard, sending shards flying. Even in the broken screen, the 2004 version of him looked over, distracted by our struggle.
"Let the girl go!" I howled, half his ear in my teeth, screaming at the screen. "I'll bite him to death! I'll kill him!"
But what answered me was a stabbing pain in my gut.
The knife had driven deep into my abdomen.
I could feel my heart, beating frantically from the struggle, growing colder by the second.
But in that instant, I saw it.
40
Summer night, 2004.
My 2004 self, held in a chokehold, had stopped breathing.
The man stared unblinkingly at the screen.
Behind them, a little girl shakily got to her feet.
She looked at the dead boy, and in her despairing eyes, a spark of final resolve ignited.
It was the last ounce of strength in my life.
I absolutely could not let them find Mia.
In the shattered screen, Mia picked up the fruit knife from the floor and swung it with everything she had.
My hands were finally thrown off.
In both timelines, the man turned in shock!
Mia's knife plunged straight into his throat!
41
Summer night, 2021.
I lay on the floor, waiting for death.
The man clutched the broken screen, cursing the Mia of 2004. Then he switched to pleading, begging her to call an ambulance.
Summer night, 2004.
The boy's body lay on the floor.
The man, gripping his throat, convulsed on the ground as he suffocated.
"Mia, your name is Mia, right?" The man held the screen, shouting. "In 2021, you can use this computer to call your past self! Then you can save that boy and your father! You want to save them, right? So you have to let me live! Call an ambulance! Only I can make this computer work! It's just scrap metal in your hands! Let me live, you have to let me live!"
Even now, he was calculating everything.
On the 2004 screen, Mia clutched her arms, trembling.
Her gaze passed through the man and landed on me.
I wanted to tell her not to believe a single word.
I wanted to tell her that if I died in 2004, I'd have been a hero.
I wanted to tell her...
But I couldn't make a sound.
"Puppy birthmark..."
The words traveled through seventeen years, through the screen, and finally reached my ears.
She was looking at my ankle.
My vision was dimming.
The man kept bellowing, "There's no time! Only if I'm alive can you save them!"
"Is that true?" Mia's voice.
I lifted my weakened fingers.
Gently, I tapped three times.
"No..." she whispered.
"I'm not lying to you! You bitch, I said call an ambulance, do you hear me!!"
"What about the computer?" she asked.
"I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you! You have an aunt, right? She won't escape either! Do what I say!!"
But he would never understand the language Mia and I shared.
Weak fingers tapped twice.
The broken screen went dark.
But I heard it — her last words, from 2004.
"Kevin, wait for me. Seventeen years."
—end—