Chapter 16 - Five Minutes to Live
Jack had four minutes and fifty-nine seconds left to live.
The countdown glowed crimson on his smartwatch, illuminating the trembling fingers of a boy who had just discovered that his entire existence was temporary.
00:04:59
00:04:58
00:04:57
He stared at the numbers.
For fourteen years, he had been afraid of ordinary things.
Failing an exam.
Disappointing his grandmother.
Being laughed at by his classmates.
Never discovering why his mother had disappeared.
Now he was afraid of something much simpler.
Not existing tomorrow.
"Grandma?"
Eleanor was already moving toward him.
Her brown cardigan fluttered in the unnatural wind rising from the Hourglass Engine. The silver pendant against her chest flashed as she reached for his wrist.
"No," she whispered. "No, not again."
Jack stepped backward.
"Can you stop it?"
She didn't answer.
"Grandma!"
Eleanor seized his watch.
Blue symbols appeared beneath her fingers.
RESTORATION STABILITY: 11%.
ORIGINAL EVENT LOCKED.
She pressed a command.
ACCESS DENIED.
Another.
ACCESS DENIED.
Her breathing quickened.
"Please," she whispered to the machine. "Just this once."
The Engine remained silent.
Jack watched her expression change.
He had seen Eleanor angry, disappointed, exhausted, and frightened.
But never like this.
Never completely helpless.
"Grandma," he said quietly.
She shook her head.
"Don't."
"Look at me."
"I can fix it."
"Grandma."
"I've done it before."
Her voice broke.
"Eight thousand times. I can do it again."
Jack felt tears rising.
"Then why are you crying?"
Eleanor froze.
For several seconds, she simply stared at him.
Then her face collapsed.
"Because this time," she whispered, "I don't know how."
The laboratory fell silent.
Behind them, the Hourglass Engine continued its reconstruction. The transparent walls revealed Brookfield and the medieval kingdom suspended between two realities, their boundaries flickering like reflections in disturbed water.
Julian stood beside Evelyn, his body still partially translucent.
Noah watched the countdown with growing horror.
Seraphine remained near the central console, staring at the woman who had spent thousands of timelines manipulating them all.
And the Forgotten Prince stood motionless beside the black doorway.
His expression was unreadable.
Jack looked toward him.
"You said this is the first time I survived."
The boy nodded.
"Yes."
"Then why am I dying now?"
The Forgotten Prince lowered his gaze.
"Because the Engine restored your consciousness, but not the original event that caused your death."
Jack frowned.
"The alley?"
"Yes."
The boy stepped closer.
"Every previous version of you was reconstructed after the fracture opened. Every previous version eventually collapsed because the original Jack Vale remained dead."
Noah's expression changed.
"Then the solution isn't another restoration."
The Forgotten Prince looked toward him.
"No."
Noah stepped forward.
"We have to prevent the original death."
Eleanor immediately shook her head.
"I tried."
Jack turned.
"What happened?"
She closed her eyes.
"The first time, I stopped you from entering the alley."
Hope flashed through Jack.
"And?"
"You died at the school gates."
Silence.
"The second time, I kept you home."
Eleanor's voice trembled.
"The fracture opened inside your bedroom."
Jack felt cold.
"The third time, I took you out of Brookfield."
She looked away.
"The Engine reached you anyway."
Noah swallowed.
"Because the original event wasn't tied to a location."
The Forgotten Prince nodded.
"It was tied to Jack's consciousness."
Julian stepped forward.
"Then what caused it?"
Nobody answered.
Jack looked at the watch.
00:03:48
Three minutes.
Forty-eight seconds.
He suddenly remembered something.
The voice in the alley.
Jack, don't let them—
The warning had always ended before he could hear the final words.
He looked toward Noah.
"You said you remembered the first experiment."
Noah nodded.
"Yes."
"Then tell me what happened in the alley."
Noah's face went pale.
"Jack..."
"Please."
His friend looked toward Eleanor.
She slowly shook her head.
Noah swallowed.
Then he spoke.
"The fracture wasn't an accident."
Jack felt his heartbeat accelerate.
"What?"
"The original Hourglass Engine detected a compatible consciousness at the exact moment you turned fourteen."
Jack looked toward the watch.
"Me."
Noah nodded.
"It tried to pull you into the system."
"And that killed me?"
"No."
Jack froze.
Noah's voice became barely audible.
"You survived the crossing."
The Forgotten Prince slowly raised his head.
Eleanor went rigid.
Jack stared at Noah.
"Then how did I die?"
Noah looked toward Seraphine.
The woman closed her eyes.
Jack felt cold.
"Mom?"
Seraphine didn't answer.
Noah continued.
"Someone activated the termination protocol while you were inside the fracture."
Jack stepped backward.
"The execution order."
Noah nodded.
"Yes."
Jack looked toward the woman in the white coat.
"You?"
Seraphine opened her eyes.
Tears streamed down her face.
"I didn't know it was you."
Jack stared.
"What?"
"I thought the Engine had created another unstable vessel."
Her voice cracked.
"Voss told me the consciousness entering the system was a threat."
The Forgotten Prince laughed bitterly.
"And you believed him."
Seraphine lowered her gaze.
Jack felt something inside him go numb.
His mother had not merely failed to save him.
She had authorized the command that killed him.
The same command that had followed every prince through eight hundred years of executions.
Jack looked toward Eleanor.
"You knew."
She began crying.
"Yes."
"And you kept bringing me back."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Eleanor reached toward him.
"Because I couldn't bear to see you look at her the way you're looking at her now."
Jack stared at Seraphine.
The woman who had created the Engine.
The woman who had destroyed worlds trying to save her children.
The woman who had unknowingly killed him.
For a moment, he wanted to scream.
Instead, he whispered, "I trusted you."
Seraphine covered her mouth.
"I know."
Jack turned away.
He couldn't forgive her.
Not now.
Perhaps not ever.
But he had no time to hate her either.
00:02:59
Two minutes.
Fifty-nine seconds.
Jack looked toward the central console.
"If the termination protocol killed me, can we stop it?"
Noah hesitated.
"The original command is embedded in the Engine's core."
"Can we delete it?"
The Forgotten Prince shook his head.
"Not from this timeline."
Jack swallowed.
"Then we go back."
Eleanor stepped forward.
"No."
Jack turned.
"Grandma—"
"No!"
Her voice thundered through the laboratory.
"I will not watch you die in that alley again!"
Jack stared at her.
"You said this is the first time I reached the final chamber."
She nodded through her tears.
"Yes."
"Then this is the first time I know what killed me."
Eleanor froze.
Jack stepped closer.
"You kept trying to save me by changing everything around me."
His voice trembled.
"But the problem was never the alley."
Noah slowly raised his head.
"The termination protocol."
Jack nodded.
"If we stop the command before it reaches me, I survive."
The Forgotten Prince looked toward the watch.
"Possibly."
Julian gave a bitter laugh.
"There's that word again."
Jack smiled faintly.
Then the Forgotten Prince continued.
"But the original event is protected by a chronological lock."
Jack frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"Someone must remain inside the Engine and hold the original timeline open while you travel back."
Evelyn stepped forward.
"I can do it."
Julian immediately shook his head.
"No."
She looked at him.
"Julian—"
"Absolutely not."
Evelyn touched his hand.
"I'm the only one who can exist outside the Engine's rules."
The Forgotten Prince looked toward her.
"Not the only one."
Everyone turned.
He stepped toward the black doorway.
"I can hold the timeline."
Seraphine went still.
"No."
The boy looked at her.
"Mother."
She shook her head.
"You'll be trapped again."
He smiled sadly.
"Perhaps."
Jack stepped forward.
"Then we find another way."
The Forgotten Prince looked at him.
"Jack, you offered me a partnership."
Jack nodded.
"I meant it."
"Then trust me to make my own choice."
The words struck him.
Jack remembered everything he had said to Eleanor.
People deserved to choose.
Even when their choices were frightening.
Even when those choices carried consequences.
He swallowed.
"Are you sure?"
The Forgotten Prince nodded.
"For eight hundred years, I tried to find a world without suffering."
He looked toward Evelyn.
"Maybe the answer was never to erase suffering."
His eyes softened.
"Maybe it was to stop creating more."
Evelyn began crying.
The boy smiled at her.
"Don't worry, Evie."
She shook her head.
"Don't say goodbye."
He stepped closer.
"I'm not."
He touched her forehead.
A soft blue light passed between them.
"I'm finally going to do something that belongs to me."
The Hourglass Engine began trembling.
The Forgotten Prince raised both hands.
Silver rings descended around him.
CHRONOLOGICAL LOCK OVERRIDE AVAILABLE.
CUSTODIAN TRANSFER REQUIRED.
Eleanor stepped forward.
"I'll do it."
Everyone froze.
Jack stared at her.
"Grandma?"
She looked toward the Forgotten Prince.
"You've spent eight centuries imprisoned because of choices made by my family."
Her voice trembled.
"I won't ask you to spend another."
The boy studied her.
"You were my jailer."
Eleanor nodded.
"Yes."
"You erased worlds."
"Yes."
"You used Jack."
Her face crumpled.
"Yes."
The Forgotten Prince's expression hardened.
"Why should I trust you?"
Eleanor looked directly at him.
"You shouldn't."
Silence.
She continued.
"But you can watch what I choose to do now."
She removed the silver pendant from her neck.
The unbroken hourglass.
Seven stars.
She placed it against the central console.
ORIGINAL CUSTODIAN AUTHORITY CONFIRMED.
The Engine roared.
Noah stepped backward.
"Eleanor, what are you doing?"
She looked toward Jack.
"For fourteen years, I taught you that every mistake could be fixed."
Tears filled her eyes.
"I was wrong."
Jack shook his head.
"Grandma..."
"Some mistakes cannot be erased."
She smiled sadly.
"But they can be answered."
The pendant began glowing.
CUSTODIANSHIP TRANSFER INITIATED.
NEW CUSTODIAN: ELEANOR VALE.
The Forgotten Prince staggered.
His silver eyes widened.
"You..."
Eleanor looked toward him.
"You're free."
A brilliant pulse erupted from the Engine.
The boy collapsed.
Evelyn caught him.
His eyes returned to brown.
Ordinary.
Human.
For the first time, the ancient being looked fourteen years old.
No more silver eyes.
No more thousands of voices.
No more prison beneath his skin.
He looked toward Eleanor.
"Why?"
She smiled through her tears.
"Because someone should have given you a childhood."
Jack felt his throat tighten.
"Grandma, come with us."
Eleanor shook her head.
"I can't."
"No!"
"Jack."
She stepped closer.
Her body was already beginning to dissolve into silver light.
He rushed toward her.
"Please!"
She caught his face between her hands.
The same hands that had bandaged his scraped knees.
The same hands that had packed his school lunches.
The same hands that had held him when he cried.
"My beautiful boy."
Jack began sobbing.
"I don't want you to go."
Eleanor's expression broke.
"I know."
"Then don't!"
She kissed his forehead.
"I have spent thousands of lifetimes refusing to let go."
Her voice trembled.
"This time, I have to."
Jack clung to her.
For a moment, he was seven years old again.
A frightened child holding the only family he had ever known.
Then Eleanor whispered:
"Live, Jack."
The Engine flashed.
A doorway opened behind him.
Beyond it lay a rain-soaked alley.
Brookfield.
October 11, 2026.
One minute before midnight.
Jack stared.
"The original timeline."
Noah grabbed his arm.
"We have to go!"
Jack turned toward Eleanor.
"Grandma—"
She smiled.
"Go."
Julian stepped forward.
"What about the kingdom?"
Eleanor looked toward the central display.
"The timelines will remain separate."
Evelyn stared at her.
"And the people?"
"They will live."
Hope flashed through Julian's face.
Eleanor continued.
"The Engine will no longer steal time from Brookfield. Each world will continue independently."
Noah looked toward the console.
"Can you sustain that?"
Eleanor nodded.
"With the prison's stored energy."
The Forgotten Prince slowly stood.
"That energy will eventually run out."
Eleanor smiled sadly.
"Then the people of the kingdom will have to learn to live without borrowed time."
Julian looked toward the image of his home.
For the first time, the medieval kingdom appeared peaceful.
The castle stood beneath a clear night sky.
The invading army had lowered its banners.
The soldiers were no longer fighting.
Mara stood in the courtyard, looking upward.
Julian swallowed.
"Will I be able to return?"
Eleanor looked at him.
"Yes."
His expression softened.
"Then I'll go home."
Jack turned toward him.
"Julian..."
His brother smiled.
"Don't look like that."
Jack laughed through his tears.
"Like what?"
"Like you're never going to see me again."
Jack swallowed.
"Will I?"
Julian hesitated.
Then held out the broken toy soldier.
Evelyn's gift.
"Keep this."
Jack stared.
"Julian—"
"Consider it a promise."
Jack took the toy.
Julian smiled faintly.
"Brothers don't need to live in the same world."
Jack felt tears rising again.
He embraced him.
Julian stiffened.
Then slowly hugged him back.
"Don't die," Julian whispered.
Jack laughed weakly.
"I'll try."
Julian pulled away.
"No."
His expression hardened.
"Promise."
Jack looked into his silver eyes.
"I promise."
The doorway began flickering.
Noah grabbed Jack's sleeve.
"Now!"
Jack turned toward Evelyn.
She stepped forward.
For a moment, she simply looked at him.
Then she hugged him tightly.
"Thank you."
Jack swallowed.
"For what?"
"For believing we were real."
He held her.
"You are."
Evelyn smiled through her tears.
Then she stepped back.
Noah pulled Jack toward the doorway.
The laboratory began dissolving around them.
Jack looked toward Seraphine.
She stood alone beside the central console.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then she whispered, "Jack."
He stopped.
Her face was wet with tears.
"I'm sorry."
Jack stared at her.
He wanted to say something.
Something kind.
Something forgiving.
But the words wouldn't come.
Finally, he whispered, "I know."
It wasn't forgiveness.
Not yet.
But it was the truth.
Then he turned away.
Noah seized his hand.
Together, they jumped through the doorway.
Rain struck Jack's face.
Cold.
Real.
He stumbled onto the pavement behind Westbridge School.
The alley was exactly as he remembered.
The overflowing trash bins.
The cracked brick wall.
The flickering streetlight.
And above him, the dark October sky.
No fracture.
No blue lightning.
No castle.
Jack gasped.
"We made it."
Noah landed beside him.
He looked around.
Then checked the small device in his hand.
"October 11, 2026."
Jack stared at his watch.
00:00:43
Forty-three seconds.
His restoration was still expiring.
"Noah!"
His friend grabbed his wrist.
"Don't panic."
Jack stared.
"Don't panic?"
Noah pressed several commands.
"The original termination signal hasn't been sent yet."
Jack looked toward the sky.
"Then stop it!"
Noah's expression changed.
He stared at the device.
"No."
Jack felt cold.
"What?"
"The signal isn't coming from the Engine."
Jack froze.
"Then where?"
Noah looked toward the school.
His face drained of color.
"From inside Westbridge."
Jack stared at the dark building.
The windows were black.
The gates were locked.
Noah grabbed his arm.
"We have to get inside."
They ran.
Jack's sneakers splashed through puddles.
The countdown continued.
00:00:29
Twenty-nine seconds.
They reached the rear entrance.
Locked.
Noah slammed his shoulder against it.
Nothing.
Jack grabbed the handle.
"Move!"
He raised his smartwatch.
ADMINISTRATOR ACCESS: PARTIAL.
LOCAL TIME SUSPENSION AVAILABLE.
Jack pressed the command.
The rain froze.
The streetlight stopped flickering.
Noah stood motionless beside him.
Four seconds.
Jack stepped through the door as its lock briefly disengaged under the temporal field.
Three.
Two.
One.
Time resumed.
Noah stumbled through behind him.
They raced down the corridor.
The school was empty.
Their footsteps echoed against the tiled floor.
Jack's watch flashed.
00:00:16
Sixteen seconds.
Noah stopped outside the science laboratory.
"Here!"
Jack grabbed the handle.
The door opened.
Inside, a single computer monitor glowed blue.
A familiar symbol appeared on the screen.
An unbroken hourglass.
Seven stars.
Jack rushed toward it.
The monitor displayed:
ORIGINAL TERMINATION PROTOCOL.
TARGET: JACK VALE.
AUTHORIZATION: PENDING.
Jack stared.
"Pending?"
Noah froze.
"What?"
Jack pointed.
"The command hasn't been authorized."
Noah's face changed.
"Then someone still has to activate it."
A floorboard creaked behind them.
Both boys turned.
A figure stood in the doorway.
Tall.
Dark coat.
Silver mask.
The same masked attacker who had tried to kill Noah.
Jack stepped backward.
"No..."
The figure raised a narrow blade.
The countdown flashed.
00:00:09
Nine seconds.
Noah moved in front of Jack.
"Stay back!"
The masked figure ignored him.
It reached toward the computer.
Jack lunged.
"NO!"