There was nothing.

No walls.

No floor.

No ceiling.

No town.

No festival.

Just an enormous white space stretching in every direction.

Leo Butterfield looked at his hands.

They were still there.

He looked at Nina.

She was still there.

Bruno Waffles was still there.

Harold was still there.

And Herbert was somehow still a refrigerator.

Leo sighed with relief.

“At least the fridge survived.”

Herbert beeped.

“I am beginning to regret this friendship.”

Nina looked around.

“Where are we?”

Harold answered quietly.

“Yesterday.”

Leo frowned.

“Yesterday doesn’t look like this.”

Harold shook his head.

“This isn’t normal yesterday.”

Bruno raised his flashlight.

The beam disappeared into the white emptiness.

“So what is it?”

Harold swallowed.

“A time pocket.”

Leo stared.

“Is that bad?”

“Very.”

“How bad?”

“Imagine being trapped inside a clock.”

Leo thought for a moment.

“Can I leave?”

“No.”

“Can I sleep?”

“No.”

“Can I eat?”

Harold looked at him.

“You’re trapped in a time pocket.”

Leo sighed.

“So that’s a no.”

---

Suddenly, something appeared in the distance.

A door.

It stood alone in the white space.

There were no walls around it.

No building.

Just a door.

Bruno walked toward it.

“Don’t touch it.”

Leo grabbed his arm.

“Why?”

“Because strange doors are never good.”

Bruno looked at the door.

“That’s true.”

The door slowly opened by itself.

Behind it was a completely normal hallway.

Leo stepped closer.

“I know this hallway.”

Nina looked at him.

“Where?”

“Our building.”

Harold became pale.

“That’s impossible.”

“Why?”

“Because this is the hallway from twenty years ago.”

Everyone stared at him.

Leo pointed at the door.

“How can you know that?”

Harold sighed.

“Because I lived here.”

---

They entered.

Everything looked different.

The walls were clean.

The lights worked.

The carpet was new.

There were flowers on the tables.

And there were people walking around.

Leo looked at them.

“Are they real?”

Harold nodded.

“Yes.”

“Then why can’t they see us?”

“Because we’re outside their time.”

Leo waved at a man.

The man walked straight through his hand.

Leo screamed.

“I JUST GOT WALKED THROUGH!”

Nina laughed.

“You’re a ghost.”

“I don’t want to be a ghost.”

Herbert beeped.

“Technically, I have always been a ghost.”

Leo looked at him.

“What?”

“I am a haunted refrigerator.”

“Right.”

---

They reached Apartment 13.

The door opened.

Inside stood a much younger Harold.

He was twenty years old.

Beside him stood another young man.

Victor.

Leo stared.

“That’s him.”

Harold nodded.

“My old friend.”

Young Victor was holding a strange machine.

He looked excited.

“Harold, it’s ready.”

Young Harold smiled.

“What does it do?”

“It can send objects backward through time.”

Leo’s eyes widened.

“That’s the machine!”

Victor pressed a button.

A small metal box disappeared.

Then appeared five seconds later.

Young Harold laughed.

“We did it!”

Leo looked at the older Harold.

“You invented the machine.”

Harold nodded.

“And then?”

Victor suddenly looked toward the door.

Someone was standing outside.

A woman.

She held a baby.

Leo couldn’t hear what she was saying.

Harold’s face changed.

“Who is she?”

Harold looked shocked.

“My sister.”

Leo frowned.

“You never mentioned a sister.”

Harold looked at the woman.

“Because she disappeared.”

---

The woman entered the apartment.

She handed the baby to Victor.

Victor smiled.

“What’s his name?”

“Oliver.”

Leo smiled.

“He’s cute.”

Harold looked at him.

“That’s Victor’s son.”

Leo froze.

“Victor had a son?”

“Yes.”

“Where is he now?”

Harold looked away.

“I don’t know.”

Suddenly, the room shook.

The machine began glowing.

Young Victor shouted,

“Harold!”

The older Harold whispered,

“This is the moment.”

“What moment?”

“The moment everything went wrong.”

---

The machine exploded.

A wave of light filled the apartment.

Everyone covered their eyes.

When the light disappeared, the baby was gone.

Victor screamed.

“OLIVER!”

The woman cried.

Young Harold stood frozen.

The machine was smoking.

Leo stared.

“Did the machine send the baby through time?”

Harold nodded.

“Yes.”

“Where?”

Harold whispered,

“We never found out.”

Victor fell to his knees.

Then something strange happened.

The baby suddenly appeared again.

But he was older.

Much older.

A young man stood where the baby had been.

Everyone screamed.

Leo nearly fell backward.

The young man looked exactly like Victor.

But older.

He looked around.

“Where am I?”

Victor stared at him.

“Oliver?”

The young man nodded.

“Yes.”

Victor ran toward him.

But before he could reach him—

The room disappeared.

---

Leo opened his eyes.

He was standing in a different place.

A dark corridor.

Nina was beside him.

Bruno was on the floor.

Herbert was upside down.

Harold was missing.

Leo looked around.

“Where’s Harold?”

Nina shook her head.

“I don’t know.”

Herbert rolled upright.

“I have bad news.”

Leo sighed.

“What?”

“Your cousin is gone.”

Leo stared.

“Which cousin?”

“Bruno.”

Bruno shouted from somewhere behind them.

“I’m here!”

Leo turned.

Bruno was hanging from the ceiling.

“What happened?”

Bruno shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

“Why are you on the ceiling?”

“I was investigating.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

---

A door appeared at the end of the corridor.

A voice came through it.

“Leo.”

Leo froze.

It was his own voice.

“Leo…”

Nina whispered,

“Don’t answer.”

The voice came again.

“Leo, open the door.”

Leo shook his head.

“No.”

The voice laughed.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not stupid.”

Bruno nodded.

“Excellent decision.”

The voice suddenly changed.

Now it sounded like Nina.

“Leo, please.”

Leo looked at Nina.

She shook her head.

“That’s not me.”

The voice changed again.

Now it sounded like Bruno.

“Leo, help me.”

Bruno shouted,

“Definitely not me.”

The voice became Herbert.

“Leo, I have ice cream.”

Leo immediately ran toward the door.

Nina grabbed him.

“WAIT!”

Leo stopped.

“You said ice cream.”

“It’s obviously a trap.”

Leo looked disappointed.

“That’s a very convincing trap.”

---

The door suddenly opened.

A man stepped through.

He was wearing a white coat.

He had gray hair.

And he looked exactly like Harold.

Leo stared.

“Harold?”

The man smiled.

“No.”

Nina stepped backward.

“Then who are you?”

The man removed his glasses.

“My name is Oliver.”

Everyone froze.

Leo whispered,

“Victor’s son.”

Oliver nodded.

“I have been trapped inside this time loop for twenty years.”

Bruno looked confused.

“But you’re young.”

Oliver smiled.

“Time doesn’t work normally here.”

Leo looked around.

“Then why did you bring us here?”

Oliver’s expression became serious.

“Because I need your help.”

“With what?”

“Stopping my father.”

Leo frowned.

“Victor?”

Oliver nodded.

“He’s still alive.”

Harold suddenly appeared behind Oliver.

Everyone screamed.

Harold looked furious.

“Don’t listen to him.”

Oliver turned.

“You still don’t understand.”

Harold stepped forward.

“Victor destroyed everything.”

Oliver shook his head.

“No.”

He pointed toward Harold.

“You did.”

Everyone went silent.

Leo looked at Harold.

“Is that true?”

Harold’s face became pale.

He slowly lowered his head.

“I…”

Before he could finish, the entire corridor began shaking.

A giant clock appeared above them.

Its hands started moving backward.

11:59.

Oliver shouted,

“We don’t have much time!”

Leo asked,

“What happens at midnight?”

Oliver looked terrified.

“The loop resets.”

“And then?”

“We forget everything.”

Nina gasped.

“Again?”

Oliver nodded.

“Unless we reach the center of the loop.”

“Where is that?”

Oliver pointed toward the end of the corridor.

A huge red door appeared.

“The center is behind that door.”

Leo looked at everyone.

“Then let’s go.”

They ran.

The door opened.

Inside was a room filled with thousands of clocks.

In the center stood Victor.

He smiled.

“Welcome.”

Leo stopped.

Victor raised his hand.

Behind him appeared dozens of versions of the same people.

Dozens of Leos.

Dozens of Ninas.

Dozens of Brunos.

And dozens of Herberts.

Victor laughed.

“You wanted the truth.”

He pointed at the clocks.

“Now you can see it.”

Leo stared at the endless copies.

“What are you doing?”

Victor smiled.

“I’m building a world where nobody ever has to lose anyone.”

Nina stepped forward.

“But you’re trapping everyone.”

Victor’s smile disappeared.

“That’s the price.”

Leo shook his head.

“No.”

Victor looked at him.

Leo smiled.

“There’s always another way.”

Suddenly, Herbert rolled forward.

His freezer door opened.

Inside was a tiny machine.

He beeped.

“I found something.”

Everyone looked at him.

“What?”

Herbert replied:

“The original button.”

Leo stared.

“The button that started all this?”

Herbert nodded.

Victor’s eyes widened.

“Give me that.”

Herbert rolled backward.

“No.”

For the first time, the refrigerator sounded angry.

Victor raised his hand.

The clocks began spinning.

The room shook.

And Leo realized something terrifying.

The entire time loop was powered by one thing.

Not the machine.

Not the clocks.

Not Victor.

It was Herbert.

The refrigerator had been connected to the time machine from the beginning.

Leo stared at his strange mechanical friend.

“Herbert…”

Herbert beeped softly.

“I think…”

He opened his freezer.

“…I know how to end this.”

TO BE CONTINUED…