After that kiss, a subtle change appeared between Jack and me. Our eyes met with a new understanding, occasional touches during research would make us both pause briefly, and the silence between us no longer needed to be filled with words.
That night, lying on the small bed on the middle level of the lighthouse, listening to the waves crashing against rocks outside, my thoughts were in turmoil. What would happen in six days? Could we change history? If so, at what cost? If I stayed in this era, with Jack, what would become of my research, my family, my entire modern life? But if I returned to 2025, Jack would become just a page in history, and I would live alone with these memories.
The pocket watch on my chest grew slightly warm, as if responding to my thoughts. I held it in my hand, watching the hands move slowly in the moonlight, and finally fell asleep with these unresolved questions.
The dream began in the lighthouse.
I stood at the top level, but the lighthouse was no longer the one I knew. It was taller, more magnificent, its light brighter than any I had ever seen. I realised this wasn't the lighthouse of 1925, nor the ruins of 2025, but some more primitive, more pure form of existence.
The light kept rotating, and with each turn, the scene outside the window would change. Once a bustling modern city, once a primitive wilderness, once a future landscape I didn't recognise, once an ancient past. The lighthouse seemed to be a tower standing in the river of time, connecting all possible moments.
'Ella.'
I turned to see a blurred figure standing behind me. Her face constantly shifted, sometimes resembling my young grandmother, sometimes the mysterious woman in the photographs, sometimes even my own reflection.
'Who are you?' I asked.
'I am you, you are me, we are all guardians,' she answered, her voice sounding as if multiple people were speaking simultaneously, 'Guardians of time, guardians of the lighthouse, guardians of balance.'
She extended her hand, in her palm a miniature model of the lighthouse, precise in every detail. 'The lighthouse is not merely a building; it is an anchor point of time, the key to maintaining balance. Without it, fractures would widen, timelines would collapse.'
'How can I protect it?' I pressed, 'How can I prevent the accident on 21st September?'
The figure shook her head, the model lighthouse emitting a blue light in her hand. 'You're asking the wrong question. Not how to prevent, but how to guide. Some events are destined turning points; they cannot be prevented, only guided in the right direction.'
Her words left me confused and uneasy. 'What is the right direction?'
The figure didn't answer directly, but turned her gaze towards the window. Following her line of sight, I found that outside was no longer the rotating changing scenes, but pure darkness. Then, in the darkness, countless tiny points of light appeared, like stars, forming a vast network.
'Each point of light is a choice, a moment, a possibility,' the figure explained, 'They are all connected. Change one point, and the entire network changes with it. 21st September is a node, an inevitable convergence, but there are multiple possible paths after the convergence.'
I saw one light point that was particularly bright, with lines rippling outward from around it. 'What is that?'
'That is the moment of choice,' the figure answered, 'When the two watches become one, when the lighthouse light goes out twice, when past and future meet in the present. That is the moment you must make a decision.'
Suddenly, the scene changed, and we stood on the cliff outside the lighthouse. A storm raged, waves crashed against rocks, lightning sliced across the sky. The lighthouse beam wavered in the storm, in danger of going out at any moment.
The figure pointed to the top of the lighthouse, and I saw two silhouettes—Jack and... another me? They seemed to be arguing, then there was a blinding blue light, and then the lighthouse light went out.
'The first extinction,' the figure said softly.
The scene changed again, this time we were inside the lighthouse. Jack lay on the floor, seemingly injured, while my other self knelt beside him, holding two pocket watches. Both watches emitted an intense blue light, almost illuminating the entire room.
'You must choose, Ella,' the figure's voice became urgent, 'Not between times, but between responsibilities. A guardian's responsibility is not to protect their own happiness, but to protect the integrity of time.'
'I don't understand,' I felt anxious and confused, 'How should I choose? What is right?'
'Ask your heart,' the figure pointed to my chest, 'Ask the watches. They know the answer.'
Just then, the light from the two watches merged, and the lighthouse light went out again. This darkness was more complete, as if it had swallowed everything.
'The second extinction,' the figure's voice echoed in the darkness, 'Only one can be relit.'
I felt myself floating in the void, surrounded by endless darkness, the only light source being the pocket watch in my hand, emitting a faint blue glow.
'Ella Morrison,' a new voice came from the darkness, familiar and warm, 'Time Guardian, the moment of choice is approaching. Remember, the real choice is often hidden deeper.'
I recognised this as Jack's voice, but somewhat different, as if it had traversed the river of time, both ancient and young.
'Jack? Where are you? What should I do?' I called into the darkness.
The response was the suddenly intensified light of the pocket watch, in its dazzling blue glow, I saw countless images flashing by: Jack and I kissing beneath the lighthouse, the mysterious woman in the photographs, my grandmother's deathbed words, the Prophet on the beach, and... a scene I had never witnessed—a young man in modern clothes standing before the lighthouse ruins in 2025, holding a pocket watch identical to Jack's.
'The cycle must be completed,' that voice said, 'But completion does not mean ending; it means a new beginning.'
Just as I was about to see the young man's face clearly, the dream began to dissolve. The images shattered like broken glass, and I felt myself falling into an endless abyss, until...
I awoke with a start, drenched in sweat, heart pounding. Outside, dawn was just beginning to break, the lighthouse beam still rotating, everything looking so normal, yet made foreign by the dream.
I looked down at my hand and found I had been tightly gripping the pocket watch, my nails leaving deep marks in my palm. Even stranger, the face of the watch had a thin layer of frost, as if it had been frozen, though the room temperature was normal.
I tried to recall the details of the dream, but they were like footprints on the beach, becoming blurred as the tide receded. Only a few fragments remained clear in my memory: the lighthouse is an anchor point of time, 21st September is an inevitable convergence point, two extinctions but only one can be relit, a guardian's responsibility is not to protect their own happiness but to protect the integrity of time.
And that young man, standing before the future lighthouse ruins, holding a pocket watch identical to Jack's. Who was he? Why did he appear in my dream?
I got up and walked to the window, looking at the gradually brightening sky and the calm sea below. If the dream truly had some prophetic quality, then Jack and I would face not just personal fate decisions, but also the significant responsibility as 'Time Guardians.'
I needed to tell Jack about this dream, though I wasn't sure of its meaning myself. But deep down, an intuition told me that the information in the dream was crucial, possibly the key to unlocking the secret of the time fracture and changing the fate of 21st September.
I gently stroked the pocket watch, feeling its temperature returning to normal in my palm. 'Time Guardian,' I softly repeated this title, feeling it resonate in my heart, like recognising a long-forgotten identity.
Outside, the sun finally rose, and a new day began. Five days remained until 21st September.