I don’t know if I had fallen asleep that night, or if I had just sat there thinking, but I was awake when I heard the trapdoor creak open. Bright sunlight shined into the room through the stairwell, lighting the floor directly in front of where I was sitting.

“Daniel, right?”

It was him. But was he talking to me? The name “Daniel” does sound like my name. Maybe Angel had told him but he heard it wrong?

I didn’t move and I didn’t think. I had already stopped caring last night. If the school shooting didn’t kill me, then this would. It’s just fate: dodge it once, and it’ll come back.

He started walking down the stairs. Each footstep was loud and clear, echoing through the stairwell and the empty room. It sounded like a clock, with each tick bringing me closer to my doom. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, the ticking stopped.

That was when I remembered Angel. Was she going to come to save me again? To come to push me out of fate’s way? I slowly stood up, leaning on the wall behind me. If I could hold off for now, maybe she would get to me in time.

“Where’s Angel?” I frantically asked. “Is she doing well? You’ve treated her wounds, right? She’s not being locked in a room like I am, right?”

The man started walking towards me. I stood up straight and waited as the clock started ticking again.

“Daniel, I’ll tell you this here and now: It doesn’t matter how much you say or show that you care about the girl, I won’t change my mind about you.”

Now he was standing right in front of me. And with the little light reflecting off the walls, I could see the distinct look on his face. He was furious, but at the same time, he was calm. He sighed. “I don’t want to make this any more difficult for any of us, so it would be nice if you could answer all of my questions truthfully.”

I didn’t reply. I took my eyes off the man and looked at the ground. Why was this happening to me? What did I do wrong?

“Listen up, kid. First question: what did you do to the girl you were with?”

He patiently waited for me to respond, and I stood there silently, thinking about what to say. I wanted to tell the truth, but I didn’t know if he would believe me.

“I don’t know,” I whispered, “I only met her yesterday. I swear, I didn’t do anything. There was a school shooting. She saved me.”

His face grew suspicious, and he sounded even scarier when he replied. “Then tell me, why did she save you? You don’t look like someone worth saving.”

“I… She…”

I stopped, and the room became dead silent again. He was right. There was really no value in saving me. Why did she save me? Did she actually see any worth in me? Was it because I had helped her while going to school? Or because she felt bad that the teacher treated me badly? I shook my head. Those reasons were ridiculous. She must have chosen someone randomly to bring all the way here.

Then I heard another footstep echo through the room. I looked up and saw that the man had turned around, knees bent in an attack position. He had his right arm straight, with his fist in front of him, as if he had just sent a punch. I shifted a little to my right to get a better look. It was Angel. She had tilted her head, barely dodging the hit.

She already saved me once, and now she was going to save me a second time. Was I really just someone chosen by random? What did I mean to her? Why would she go all the way to picking a fight with the giant man in between us in order to free me?

I wasn’t able to think much more, as the rest all happened in a second.

First, Angel sent her own fist at the man’s stomach, but the man dodged just in time. However, It seemed as if she knew that would happen. Using her other arm, she wrapped herself around the man, avoiding another series of punches and kicks at the same time.

Angel crouched down slightly and was about to slam the man onto the floor and finish him, when he relaxed his muscles and said in defeat, “Okay, okay, I lost. I really don’t know why you just attacked me out of nowhere. So please, let me go.”

Angel released him and stepped back. The man fell backward and landed on the ground in front of me. He was covered in sweat and was breathing heavily, even though the short brawl had only lasted for a moment.

Angel looked towards me, and we locked eyes for a moment before the man stood back up, panting.

“So, you’ve recovered,” he exclaimed, now in a friendly tone.

“Yes. Though my muscles are still a bit sore.”

“Well, either way, that’s not how you should treat someone that saved your life!”

In that last word, the man swiftly turned, his foot heading straight towards Angel in a perfect kick. But Angel was faster. She ducked, grabbed the man’s leg and waist, and used the momentum to knock him over. The man landed hard on his back, making the ground tremble and small pieces of dirt fall from the ceiling. Angel walked over to him, stopping above his head.

“You really are stubborn, aren’t you.”

The man chuckled and replied, smiling, “Well, I guess I could never even come close to beating an experienced time walker like you.”

Angel smiled. She put a foot on the man’s right arm and reached into his pocket to produce a ring of keys.

“But seriously,” he continued, “who are you? Normally somebody would only be able to see half a second away. I’m already way above average, at one whole second. But you— you predicted all of my moves.”

“Me? My sight is just as bad as everyone else’s. But normally, I guess I could see about an hour?” She paused, smiling. “As for how, well, I’ll have to keep that a secret.”

The man didn’t say anything, but his face showed no sign of surprise. Angel walked up to me and picked a key from the many on the keychain, seemingly randomly, and inserted it into the lock on my wrist. There was a loud click that echoed through the room, and I was free. Was she just lucky, or did she have some supernatural power to just know everything? I opened my mouth to ask, but I was cut off.

“No, I am not lucky,” she said, “and I have no special power.” Then she turned back to the man and became serious again. “Now explain yourself. What were you doing with Damien?”

The man looked up at her, stood up, and looked at me.

“Huh, so you two really are together,” he exclaimed.

Angel crossed her arms and waited. “You still do not understand how disrespectful you have been, do you?”

The man thought for a while, examining Angel and trying to remember something. Then, he came to a realization and reached into a pocket to pull out a small metal pellet. He pinched it between his fingers, and there was a short beep. That was when his face became shocked and he quickly bowed.

“I am terribly sorry… I forgot to introduce myself. I am Arthur, currently serving as an observer, overseer, and supervisor of chronal sector 78434 world A002. Please forgive my rudeness, Milady. I did not realize you were a figure of such high importance.”

I kept my eyes on him, not knowing what to say, but Angel stepped in front of me, and we locked eyes, this time for a longer time.

When her face formed into a warm smile, a sting was sent through my chest. All those negative emotions I had accumulated last night seemed to wash away. As I gazed into her deep blue eyes, I suddenly had the urge to see tomorrow again. As long as Angel was with me, I told myself, everything would be fine.

We stood like that for a whole minute before Angel finally turned and started walking to the exit. “Come on, Damien, we should get out of this horrible place.”

I started following her, wondering where we were going. I wanted to get out of this cellar as soon as possible as well and get some fresh air. And some clothes. And food.

Arthur straightened up and started following as well. “Please, Milady, allow me to show you to a place I know.”

Angel ignored him, and she noticeably started walking faster. I didn’t try to catch up. My mind turned to think about the fight and conversation Angel had with Arthur. Time-traveling? Sight? Milady? All I could think of was that Angel was a time-traveling princess and Arthur was a servant who had, for some reason, forgotten her name. I shook my head. That couldn’t be true.

After pushing that thought aside, I quickly caught up to Angel, who was waiting at the top of the stairs. Then, she suddenly spoke up in an unwavering voice.

“They are coming. We need to go swiftly.”

I slowed to a stop. She can’t mean those shooters… right?

“What’s wrong?” Arthur asked from behind me. The stairwell was too narrow for him to get past us.

Angel turned around. “Arthur, could we borrow your wagon? We are going to need it.”