Wordsmiths Fiction Week 2: Season 24 – The Envelope

A plain white envelope. His name was written on the front in neat, block letters.

Lets Continue..

Night shits have a strange feel for all of us out there, The world feels quieter, slower than usual day time. Every night feels like as if time is holding its breath. Thats what Diego though when he took the job at the 24 hour gas station that too just outside the city. It wasnt really that amazing, but it was simple ringing up snacks, restocking shelves, and cleaning up beverage spills.

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BUT on the seventh night of his new schedule everything changed for Diego.

It was 2:17 A.M when he first saw the car. At that time Diego was standing behind the counter, fixing a rack, when all of a sudden car headlights washed over the glass doors. A rusted mysterious blue sedan just rolled into the parking lot. It didnt pull up to a pump. It didn’t park in front of the store. Instead, it just stopped under the dim streetlight.

From inside of the car, a man stared at him.

No blinking. No movement. Just a starry gaze.

Diego stepped closer to the glass thinking that the guy was lost or drunk maybe, But before he could react, the sedan started slowly reversed and all of a sudden it disappeared into the darkness.

Well now thats odd right but not alarming. At least, NOT YET.

The Envelope Scenario

That night, right after the car left, Diego went outside to throw away trash. As Diego passed the ice machine, something caught his eye. Something white. Something tucked just barely behind the machine. Out of the curiosity , he went down and pulled it out. It was a plain white envelope and on the front, in black block letters one word was written on the envelope "DIEGO".

His breath caught, with trembling fingers Diego opened the envelope and inside it was a single slip of paper which exactly said

“You are not the first. You won’t be the last. Do not trust the mirror.”

Now Diego’s hands began to shake, Who write this? Who was the guy in the car, and plenty of other questions popping in his mind.

Again that night the sedan returned, but this time Diego recognized the man inside the car. It was himself, only older, with hollow eyes, The Diego from the mysterious world, All of sudden the lights went out and in the dark dark, Diego started hearing some horror whispers and breathing which could be heard saying
“You opened it. Now it’s awake.”

Now doors were locked. The cameras showed some static visions except for the one, Which displayed the parking lot, where the blue sedan car was on fire, But the man inside the car sat calm and kept watching him.

Now remembering to what envelope said "Do not trust the mirror", Diego immediately went and smashed the mirror of the ice machine, following the last clue.

Behind the mirror Diego found a mystery tunnel, Diego started going through and then he discovered an impossible space, a circular chamber, filled with energy. Screens blinked. Strange machinery sounds. And he found surrounding himself with countless versions of himself. Some wore gas station uniforms while Some were disfigured.

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Then, his older self stepped forward and said “This place is real, It watches people like us. Each night at 2:17 A.M, it opens for just a moment. The envelope wakes you and then you’re marked.

“What is this place?” Diego asked from his older self

A gate. A loop. A test and we all are stuck between timelines, Every mirror you’ve ever looked in was a window. This gas station is one of many and something from the other side is watching.

The older Diego stepped forward and handed him a device - A strange black key with wires which was connected to a small screen.

Older Diego said “You can reset your life. Forget. Go back. But it means others stay trapped. Or you can break it. End the cycle. But it’ll cost you everything.”

Diego’s Final Choice

Diego looked at the device and then he looked at the other versions of himself, and he realized that this had happened before. Many times, Each version had made a choice and they failed to break the cycle.

He jammed the device into the machine core and turned the key, the lights flashed red. The walls rippled like water. The copies of Diego cried out some in fear and some in relief, as the entire chamber began to collapse.

“It’s done,” the older Diego whispered. “You’re free.. they’re all free now.”
.
Then, with a final surge of light everything went to white.

Real World

Diego woke up on the floor of the gas station now the mirror was gone. The security cameras were off he and the clock said 2:18 A.M.

Diego walked outside. For the first time, he heard birds. No sedan. No envelope. He looked behind the ice machine but nothing. He was free.

"OR Thats what he thought"

As he turned to go back inside, something in the station window caught his eye. It was his reflection, But but it didn’t move with him. It stood still and then it smiled.

Final Ending

Diego broke then never ending cycle for everyone else. He freed the others, destroyed the machine, ended the loop. But the mirror dimension the one that watching from the other side claimed him in the process.

Now Diego lives on but as the watcher now. A guardian, A Warning, Every night at 2:17 A.M., somewhere in the world, someone new sees the sedan. And the never ending cycle begins again.

The gas station’s still there.
But if you ever find a white envelope
Don’t open it.

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I invite @prakhar9675 , @alfazmalek , @muzack1