Chapter 5: Changing Fate

5.

1:50 a.m., October 20.

News report: "A murder occurred in Maple Heights Apartments, Savannah. Two victims were stabbed more than ten times and died at the scene."

Once again, I woke up in the pitch-black bedroom at midnight, back to ten minutes before death.

This time, I discovered something:

The first murder news I read had only one victim—myself.

But the second report became "two victims."

Just one word different, but the process and outcome of the crime changed drastically.

Originally, Derek could have survived, but because I didn't lock the door, his fate was rewritten.

A thought came to me:

If I treat the news as the "ending" of this case, could I use the ending to deduce the process?

Wouldn't that be like having the answer key to solve the problem?

All I had to do was try different escape methods to change the fatal outcome.

When the news says, "The killer attempted murder but failed and was arrested," that means I survived, and the loop should end.

I tried to suppress my panic and sent a text to Derek:

"Someone is in the house, he has a knife, don't come in, go get the police!"

After sending it, I switched back to the news page. The content had changed:

"A murder occurred in Maple Heights Apartments, Savannah. One victim was stabbed more than ten times and died at the scene."

It really works!

But I wasn't happy, because the murder still happened and there was still a victim.

This meant I still hadn't escaped.

Each time I died, the headline changed—like the universe was keeping score.

The sense of control, so close, slipped right through my fingers. I wanted to smash my phone, to scream, but all I did was squeeze my eyes shut, holding back tears and clinging to a shred of hope. Somewhere out there, police sirens might already be cutting through the Southern night.