Auburn Luckworth prepared her materials to leave the lecture room and gave a sigh, looking at the stack of new papers that gave her a summary of the course the professor had just given a lecture on. However, the flicker of exhaustion was immediately replaced with giddiness. She remembered the moment a couple months ago when she walked past the huge iron gates onto the sophisticated campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and grinned. Finally, after working so hard in academics and ranking in the top 5 of her high school, she was accepted into her dream college, MIT. The freedom she felt from leaving home and closer out into the big world caught up to her and left her feeling overwhelmed and somehow powerful. It was like she could do whatever she wanted with her life without needing the permission of anything. Of course, she wouldn’t dare disobey her dear grandfather who she had left at home in Maryland. He was the reason why she was where she was to begin with.

After her mother and father both died of a sudden outburst of scarlet fever and seeing Auburn traumatized in the hospital that night when she was only seven, Samuel Collins, Mrs. Luckworth’s father, decided to take the young girl under his care. He had the pleasure of watching her grow up and relive the experience of raising a child. Every time she had a cold, needed some cheering up, was desperate for some advice and other things her grandfather was always there for her. Feeling bad that she lost both her parents, Mr. Collins ended up spoiling Auburn sometimes. Despite this, Auburn stayed sweet and caring, never turning bratty or throwing tantrums. Watching Auburn grow up, he told her stories of places that awed her. Many of them were of things she could only imagine, like the mountains of Peru, the rice fields of China, and the winters of Sweden. Until she was grown, she wouldn’t be able to see them. He was the one who inspired her to go to MIT because he had said his very own grandfather went to MIT and he wished he could have too.

Realizing she was going to be late for her following seminar, Auburn abruptly stood and rushed out the swinging doors of the lecture room and across the halls into the next building. However, in the large hallway that joined the two buildings, she saw a figure move from the shady area not scattered with sunlight by the windows. Before Auburn could register what was happening, one of her fellow peers, Violet, grabbed her arm. Violet’s pale hand was odd against Auburn’s tan skin, but her grip was crushing. Auburn was frozen in place. She had never spoken to Violet, so if what was happening now was because of some grudge, Auburn didn’t know. If Violet was going do anything to her, she had no way to protect herself. Ideas of what was about to happen flooded Auburn’s mind. She had broken into a cold sweat, a few drops going down her back. Her mind’s inner raging was shattered when Auburn realized Violet let go and was giving her quite a creepy look. Then, Violet’s eyes casted down. She looked nearly demonic with her hood covering her dirty hair and crooked grin showing. Auburn was intimidated.

Violet mumbled something Auburn couldn’t hear.

“What was that you said?” Auburn asked timidly.

“There are unfortunate things in your future,” Violet repeated, the words dripping with an ominous foretelling. Auburn broke out into another cold sweat. “You have been warned.” Violet seemed to have nothing else to say and Auburn ran off, trying to forget what just happened.
~*~
Time passed and now it was close to winter break. Auburn was cheery in the prospect of visiting her grandfather again. She had sent word home a week ago saying she’d come visit. She still hadn’t gotten a reply, but it would be unusual to not let her go visit. In her dorm, she had most of her belongings packed and ready to go. It was only four more days until students could go home to their families.
Since the encounter with Violet in the hall, Auburn had only seen her twice and it was from a distance. Both times she looked distant and not aware of her surroundings. Each sighting brought back the moment of when they were in the hall. What made Auburn curious was that she never seemed to have a backpack or any school materials with her. She was starting to think Violet was insane.
But, Auburn thought with a shudder. As long as she leaves me alone, I’m fine with whatever she does.
The remaining days of class went by quickly and Auburn found herself caught up in a whirlwind of events such as reserving a train ticket, a before-break party hosted by one of her friends, an invitation to eat out with a couple classmates. Finally, she was free from her tight schedule and had some time to relax unlike her roommate who was still out at the park with some friends. There was still two hours left before her train arrived. She still planned to visit even though there was yet to be a reply. Auburn decided to make a cup of tea and read a book until then. She lounged in one of the cushiony reading chairs and got comfortable reading War and Peace. The steam from the tea wafted up her nose and she gave a pleased sigh, stopping her reading to imagine returning to her grandfather and both of them lounging by the heater drinking tea and coffee. It was a pleasant idea.
Forty-five minutes passed and Auburn decided to head on out to the train. She reached the train station fifteen minutes after leaving the dorms and gave the train master her ticket, allowing her to put her things in the storage hold. Waiting patiently, Auburn stared at her watch tick out the time. About thirty minutes later, the train departed the station.
~*~

Auburn stepped on the gravel road that led to her home. She was happy to be back in Maryland and couldn’t wait to greet her grandfather. The train had arrived late at night, much to her disapproval, but she decided to make the best of it. It also appeared to have rained earlier. A four minute walk down the gravel road would take her straight to the cozy apartment flat where she and her grandfather had lived ever since she was taken under his care. Auburn took confident steps onto the road. The air around her was still without the normal chatter of critters. Auburn barely took note of this, but it stored in the back of her mind. Everything in the scenery was the way it was she left it last. She had brought her grandfather a small copy of the original Grimm’s faerie tales as a present. She clutched the little book in her hands and held it close. It had some interesting stories in it and others weren’t very pleasant to read, but she guessed her grandfather would enjoy reading it.

With another series of steps, Auburn saw the yellow flat up ahead in the glow of the moonlight. Unable to contain herself, she ran towards the steps. The sound of the door hitting the wall echoed in her ears. Why had the door been open? Her eyes adjusted to the darker setting and she took a step into the flat. There was no noise in the flat and her wet shoes made squish-squish sounds on the wood floor. She slowly walked through the main hallway, wondering where her grandpa was. She had a terrible feeling something was wrong. Auburn came around the corner of the hallway that lead into the kitchen and froze. She saw her grandfather, figure in a splayed position on the floor, covered in blood. Then the nauseating smell of blood reached her and she retched, almost vomiting on the floor to mix with the fresh, deep scarlet blood that stained everything. She could see a gash across her grandfather’s chest where most of the blood was coming from. Tears then pooled in her eyes, so she couldn’t see anymore. She fell into her knees onto the bloody tiles and her pants were immediately soaked. What was going on? Who had done this? What had her grandfather done to deserve this?

In the dark, a standing figure moved from out of the corner. They moved out and in the dark light, Auburn recognized it as Violet. But how could it be her? She had no idea where Auburn lived. Was she the one who killed her grandfather? Blind rage seized Auburn and she stood to strike Violet, only to be pushed back down by an indescribable force. Violet looked down upon her and appeared to be sizing her up for something. Auburn, bewildered and bedraggled, glared at her in anger but there was also a hint of confusion in her eyes. What was she going to do?

Violet extended her hand and Auburn winced, thinking Violent meant to do her harm. However, in her hand was a miniature hourglass on a chain.

“Your grandfather died because of reasons I will not tell you,” Violet began. “But I’m allowing you the chance of restarting this and save your grandfather. It’s up to you. This gives you the power to go back in time,” she said, dangling the hourglass.

Auburn’s mind flew with questions for a second time, but she took the hourglass and asked her first question. “Who are you?”

Violet looked at her in annoyance. “It doesn’t matter who as am as long as you know that I’m not human.”

So confused at the moment, Auburn stared at the hourglass. It had the ability of changing the past, so that meant she could save her grandfather. Her mind clicked at that thought and she looked up at Violet.

“I’ll do it,” she said.