About Time

[25th December]

"I'm you, from the future." Ethan blinked in bewilderment.

"W-what?" Silas voiced.

"Primarily, I am Ethan." I faced the eldest who was moving uneasily in his seat.

"I was killed and a guardian entrusted me back in time to analyze my death...something like that. I happened to have grasped Johnny's body and I couldn't do anything about it." the twins stared at each other in hysteria.

"I can even bypass my death," I added.

"Hold on! So, you're future Ethan," Nick glimpsed at Ethan then back at me. I nodded.

"How do we know you're not playing a prank on us?" he squinted at me. I was taken aback by his question.

"I'm not? Just shoot me any questions you hold, I'll answer 'em!"

"What transpires if you avoid your death?" he questioned. I paused, staring back at Ethan who glanced back at me with wide awaiting eyes.

"He and I will merge souls."

Silas gasped in madness. "How does that even go!?"

"I don't understand it either. That was what my guardian had informed me of." they required a moment to assemble the fresh information they were provided. For them, it was like something straight out of a movie.

"So, where's the real Johnny now?" Nick asked me.

"Somewhere. I visit him in my dreams and speak with him sometimes." this was all so unexpected for them.

"Since when did you...take over Johnny's body? For how long?" Ethan finally spoke, his voice unsteady and doubtful.

"Since the first day of the carnival." Nick sighed.

"No wonder," he then shifted to Silas who was gradually piecing the puzzle pieces together.

"Remember when I said Johnny was behaving unlike himself?" Silas nodded immediately.

"I was? How?" I tried remarkably hard to blend in, I was astounded to have been found out. Well, I was never cut out to be an actor anyway.

"For starters, you were the muscle pig of our group. That day, when that gang burst into our classroom and tapped you to the ground...it was very unusual," I furrowed my eyebrows.

"How was it unusual? I defended myself though?" I remembered booting that guy in his crotch. Nick stared at me; his expression indecipherable.

"Johnny would never let himself drop to the ground like that. Plus, he had the quickest reflex. Jay came a close second." my mouth was shaped an 'o' at that. And I thought Jay had the speed of Flash. I giggled embarrassingly.

"Also, that day when you confessed to Jay," Silas began, I turned to him.

"Johnny would've been brazen and declared his feelings right then and there." I blushed.

"Yeah! One time, Johnny announced that he skipped his underwear...in the hallway of our school!" I covered my mouth, feeling second-hand embarrassment from the daring body I had obtained over.

"It was the talk of the school for a while. Johnny had even been dubbed Captain No-Underpants!" we bellowed at that. I wiped a tear, calming down after a few laughs.

"So, does that mean you have recollections of the future?" Silas asked, I shook my head.

"Wistfully, I don't recollect anything ever since I succumbed. I came to this world with no knowledge whatsoever." Nick suppressed a laugh.

"Oh no. Jay would beat Johnny in the school ranking this term, then." I was immediately offended.

"Hey. I'm not an idiot!" I reached for a pillow to launch at Nick. He dodged it with no effort.

"What's twenty-one plus four?"

"Uh-"

"See! Johnny could have solved that before I had even finished the question!" the twins proceeded to poke fun at me.

"What rank was Rikki?" I suddenly questioned, reminiscing how he aced the Math worksheet.

"He and Jay were opponents always racing for the second place." they continued to speak about how interesting it would get after the new term commenced and their results would be published.

"Wait, if you don't remember anything," Ethan suddenly interrupted the twins.

"How do you know you're...me?"

"My guardian told me so?"

"Who's this guardian you keep speaking about?" Nick asked.

"Her name is Lilith. She was the first person I met in the afterlife. She assured me my name, my purpose, and-" I swallowed.

"-and how I died." they straightened up.

"How...how did you die?"

"...I was dangled on the carousel." the atmosphere got heavy.

"What the fuck..." Nick muttered. Silas gulped, looking away.

"Now, there's one more reason why we should not go to the carnival." Ethan looked extremely traumatized.

"W-when do I die??" his hands clutched onto the arms of the loveseat as he stared at me in dilemma.

"On your birthday."

Ethan immediately broke down. He was full-on sobbing in his chair. I hurried to him, rubbing his back. "Hey, hey! You can avoid it-I can avoid it." I fumbled with my words as his cries only remained.

"I will do anything to bypass it, alright?"

"And how are you going to do that?" he finally looked up at me, his eyes red and puffy.

"You have no idea who's going after me or what their motive is!" he added.

"I may not know, but I'd do anything to keep you safe. I'll need you close to me until the 28th of December passes. And Nick and Silas," I shifted to the twins who perked up.

"Can you support me?" they promptly nodded. There wasn't much to do for now but it would be advantageous if I requested their aid now. Especially when I still don't know what could occur the day before the 28th.

"Should we ask the others for guidance too?" I shook my head.

"I don't want to presume anybody but I'm thinking with a clear mind. The killer may be among us." the twins looked somewhat deceived but they were understanding.

"How do you know we won't hurt Ethan?" Silas abruptly interrogated.

"I've done some observation. You two appeared upright, for the most part. You even warned us of the carnival."

"Plausible." they hummed.

"Will I be able to survive?" Ethan asked, his voice croaky. I turned to him with a smile.

"You will."

-

"Thank you for the food!" the four of us hurried upstairs following our meal. Ethan and the twins ended up staying for our Christmas dinner to consider a plan subsequently. My parents were delighted to see my older friends visit. They said they'd be excellent examples for me.

My parents did ask them if their parents were fine spending Christmas without them. The atmosphere for the twins became cumbersome in an instant. I tried covering up by affirming they were on a business trip, unfortunately. Then, Ethan attempted to stir away their attention by whining about how his parents decided to move Christmas over to his birthday.

The four of us consumed a little too much time downstairs conversing and finishing up the lamb my dad roasted for this particular meal.

"Isn't it eerie to live with people you hardly know and call them your family?" Silas was inquisitive.

"Like I have a choice. They are nice so I managed for the time being."

"So, what's the plan?" the twins took a seat on my bed; Nick on the edge while Silas laid down and behaved like he was in his own home. Nick slapped his legs, hissing at him about manners. I didn't mind. Ethan simply preferred to lean on my desk.

"Honestly, I don't know." I sighed, mindlessly arranging the books on my table.

"I just figured that I'd have to linger near Ethan until the 28th."

"What else did Lilith tell you?" Nick asked.

I took a seat on my swivel chair as I recalled. "I didn't quite believe it but she told me getting into a relationship with Jay might change my fate."

"Why is that?" Nick crossed his legs.

"She stated that Johnny had never dated before. Didn't he date that one girl pursuing Ethan right now?" I faced Ethan who seemed disturbed at the mention of her. The twins snickered.

"Maybe Johnny never thought of it as a date," Nick shrugged.

"Wait! Do you like Jay?" Silas suddenly squinted his eyes at me. I blushed as I brought a hand to my neck.

"N-not really? Maybe a little, though? But in my defense, he's so sweet and nice! How can one not like him?" I justified.

"But I only confessed as it was Johnny's request." I then added. Silas stared at the ceiling with a sigh.

"That's pretty messed up," he muttered before turning to Ethan.

"Do YOU like Jay?" Ethan stared at him, unamused.

"I'm straight."

"Same with spaghetti until it gets wet," Nick shot Silas a look.

"Irrelevant! Let's get back to the main topic. Johnny, Ethan will die on the 28th of December which will be on his birthday, right?" Nick queried.

"Don't word it out like that!" Ethan screamed at him. He was still rather irked. I prayed that he could sleep tonight.

"Well, how else do you want me to say it!? Will ze eldest perish from the surface of the Earth three rotations of the sun after the birth of Jesus which is too nine months following his conceivement?" Nick retorted.

"Guys, stop arguing! Yes, it's on the 28th of December, Nick." they promptly listed it down on their calendars.

"It's this Sunday," Ethan murmured in madness, discerning how close by the time was. I nodded with a somber appearance.

"I think it will be simple. We just need to avoid the carnival until the 28th, right? We've been doing that all along!" Silas exclaimed as if he solved world problems.

"Unless the murderer has tricks up his sleeves and the carnival might just be one of his killing spots," Nick muttered.

"And Ethan might just be one of the carousel victims."

Silence took over as we all thought about it. "While the four of us were at the carnival the day before yesterday," I began, they turned to me.

"I overheard one of the guards mention something about a leader...do you think someone may have commanded for them to do the killing?"

"Most likely. Why would the guards even murder people for entertainment?" Silas rubbed his chin.

"Well, we did bump into one of the guards while we had dinner. He was pretty nasty..." I pursed my lips, still quite annoyed.

"Whatever it is, our father is reviewing it. I'm positive he'll interrogate the guards in charge of the carousel now that we know," Nick reassured us both.

Ethan visibly swallowed next to me and I lightly laid my hand above his on the desk. He flinched but relaxed afterward. "You'll be fine." I smiled at him. He was unable to return it.

"I'm sure you'll be."

-

"See you guys tomorrow." I held the door open as they left one by one. Nick shivered at the loss of heat before turning around to wave at me. I suddenly recollected.

"Ethan!" I hissed at the eldest and gestured for him to come closer. He was confused.

"Did you remember the gift?" his eyes widened in realization.

"SHIT!!" he cursed so loud the twins spun around and my parents raced to the doorstep. Ethan promptly persuaded all of them he was fine but his face said otherwise. My parents still took his word and left.

"Crap! Is it too late if I give it to them tomorrow morning?" he asked with a hushed tone.

"Well, you have no other choice! Why didn't you bring it to school today?" Ethan whined.

"I literally came into class eight minutes late with my uniform messily put on! I almost got detention even, but you weren't there to see it." I snickered.

"It's okay, they'd understand. Give it to them tomorrow!" I patted his shoulders, he sighed.

"Okay, it's no big deal, right?" he asked, more like to himself though.

"Ethan, you coming?" Silas whistled at the eldest.

"Hey! It's not good to whistle at night!" Nick nudged his twin who seemed troubled.

"Why?" Silas glanced around.

"Did you forget? Grandma told us it will entice bad spirits!" Silas laughed at Nick.

"You believed that?" not even a second after he said that, he leaped out of his skin and grabbed hold of his twin. He rubbed his neck and shakily spun his head around.

"N-never mind..." he murmured. Nick rolled his eyes before motioning for Ethan to get going. They were going to take the bus together.

"Sure you can sleep tonight, Ethan?" I joked. He glared at me.

"Don't jinx me! If worse comes to worst, I'll force them to share a bed with me!" Ethan pointed at the twins.

"What-"

"We didn't agree to a sleepover!?" Silas was bewildered.

"You did agree to help out with this mission!"

"That isn't part of the mission!?"