BACK TO THE PAST(FIVE YEARS AGO)

~ELENA~

The blaring alarm beside me pierced my eardrums, jolting me awake. I groggily reached out to the alarm, fumbling for the button until I could silence it.

And that was when I realized that something felt off. I was not supposed to be able to touch anything since I was a ghost.

My eyes fluttered open to the Chandelier above my head. The room seemed…different yet Familiar. The first thing that caught my eye was the old poster of the Backstreet Boys I had since I was a teenager and the purple-colored room that used to be mine before I married Owen.

   " This couldn’t be," I thought as I felt the softness of my bed with my hand.

Panic set in as memories flooded my head. I shouldn’t be here except if this was paradise, and I was returned to my memory because I could clearly remember how I had died. I remembered that much, but now, I could touch things, meaning I was either dreaming or in paradise.

But how could I have ended up here in my childhood home if I was in paradise, or how could I have been dreaming if I was already dead? I looked towards my left, where my alarm clock read 7:00 AM, but the date caught my attention: May 16th, 2019.

  Five years earlier.

I gasped, threw off the covers, and swung my legs over the side of the bed.

It couldn’t be.

There was no way I could be back in the past.

How? Why? I have only seen it happen in books and movies; it could not happen.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, hoping I wouldn’t be in my room when I opened them. However, when I did, I was still in the room.

My old portraits as a teenager stared back at me at the wall's center, but that wasn’t all. On the shelf on my right side was the porcelain jug I had made when I was 18 years old, and next to it were my favorite books that my sister had burnt when I was getting married.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I placed a hand on my mouth in disbelief as I continued to stare around. It felt like I had stepped into a time machine because everything was exactly how it was five years ago.

There were no changes at all.

My gaze fell on the mirror behind me, and I saw my reflection staring back at me, wearing my favorite pajamas that my grandfather gifted to me when I graduated.

''I...'' I slowly approached the mirror, reaching to touch it.

My first thought as I approached the mirror was being a ghost, but according to myths, ghosts are not supposed to be able to see their reflection or touch anything. My heart raced with so many emotions, and I didn’t know why this was happening.

Had I somehow traveled back In time?

‘’This shouldn’t be…’’ I touched my reflection in the mirror, and it felt real.

I was here.

In the past

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, mesmerized by my dark, full hair. I remembered how I had been losing it in clumps after I fell sick. But now, it was thick and luscious, framing my face with a healthy glow. My cheeks were also different, chubby, and beautiful. I couldn’t help but marvel at how different I looked. I didn’t appear sickly or gaunt like I had when I first fainted and discovered I had glioblastoma.

I was still staring at myself when the sound of my phone ringing jolted me out of my thoughts. Backstreet Boys' ''Shape of My Heart'' blared from my bed stand, making me jump in fright. I looked around, searching for the phone, until I spotted it. I walked towards the bedstand, picked up the phone, and dropped it immediately on the bed when I saw the display name "Owen" with a heart emoji next to it.

Owen

Even his name made me shiver, and seeing it again on my phone made me frown. I wished that I could destroy the phone and stop him from calling me, but knowing how persistent Owen of the past was, I knew that he was going to keep calling me.

My eyes caught something written at the center of the alarm clock. It was writing, and when I read through it, I gasped, wondering why I had not noticed it the first time I looked at the alarm.

‘A chance to live again.’

That was the writing on the clock, and I wondered what it meant or why it was written like that. Could it be that it was sending a message to me? Or was it always written there, and I had not paid attention to it?

I didn’t even know what to believe and not believe anymore.

Just then, my phone beeped repeatedly on the bed, and at first, I wanted to ignore it, knowing that it was Owen. However, the continuous beeping made me pick up the phone, and I frowned at the picture of Owen and myself as the display picture. We were both smiling, grinning from ear to ear, not knowing that he was later going to murder me in five years. Who would have thought that a man like Owen would turn out to be someone cruel?

Looks can be deceiving, which killed me the first time. Now, I was never going to allow that to happen again.

I read through his messages, gripping the phone pretty tight as they brought back memories of the day we had first met. Owen had helped me with one of my books that had dropped to the ground, and I had fallen for him, thinking he was a good man. It was not until I married him that I realized he was a Wolf in Sheep's clothing.

Owen: Where are you? I am at Savory Haven.

              I have been calling you, but you are not answering my calls.

             I have a surprise for you.

            Babe, where are you? Please pick up my calls.

            Do you remember that we were supposed to meet today? Call me once you get this; I love you.

I dropped the phone on the bed and lay beside it, remembering that today, May 16th, 2019, was the day that Owen had proposed to me. Today was the day I said yes to suffering, and for five years, I lived a terrible life and then ended up dying because of Owen’s greed. But now that I was given the chance again, everything taken away from me would be recovered.

My phone started ringing, and in an attempt to stop the sound, I mistakenly picked it up, and Owen’s voice sounded through the phone.

It was a voice I had not heard in years after I had married him. He sounded so soft, like the perfect gentleman who was not capable of murder.

‘’hello Babe, did you get my texts? I am at Savory Haven waiting for you. I have a surprise for you, so please head over here.’’

I didn’t respond because hearing his voice again brought back memories, and tears welled up in my eyes because I had died brutally at the hands of the man that I had thought loved me.

‘’Elena,’’ he called. ‘’Are you there?’’

‘’Here,’’ I responded with my voice shaking with emotions.

‘’Oh, Thank goodness,’’ he sounded truly happy for me. ‘’Great. I will be waiting for you at the restaurant. Dress beautifully!’’ he chuckled, and the line went dead.

The phone dropped to the bed, and I heaved a deep sigh, knowing what would come next. Still, now that I know, I was going to rewrite my destiny because not everyone gets a second chance, and this time, I intend to put myself first and get revenge on my sister and ex-husband, who had murdered me in the future.