Chapter One: Ivan

2830 Words
He woke up screaming. Brushing up the hair that fell on his face, Ivan tried his best to regain his breathing. This was the fifth night in a row that he had the same dream. Actually, it was more like a nightmare. By the end of the nightmare, he always woke up screaming. This one started with him and the girl at the beach. They were lost in each other’s arms, lost in their love. Judging with their getup and clothes, it was more likely that they were in 1950. And they were helplessly in love with each other. Suddenly, everything turned dark. A man snuck up between them and separated the two lovers, looking at the girl with such fierceness and tenderness that Ivan didn’t believe was possible. But there was something in his look too, the look of anger and betrayal and it wasn’t just seen in his eyes. It was palpable. It could be felt. An argument arose and the two men fought for the girl but evidently, the man won and he pressed a dagger against the girl’s neck. Her lover could only watch in horror but could never tackle or do anything to save her. It seemed like he was frozen in the thin air, only left to watch as his lover dies. The worst thing was that the lover was him. It was Ivan and every time he woke up from the nightmare, he felt the fear and horror that his dream-self felt. But it didn’t make sense. Because for one thing, he didn’t know the girl. The blonde hair that resembled the color of straw and the eyes were liquid gold was surely something he could remember. But he never met anyone that had the same features as the girl did. And it wasn’t just those defining features that engraved themselves into his mind. It was the way she carried herself. The small, petite girl that had her head held high like she was the queen of the jungle. She wasn’t someone you could just simply forget. Ivan closed his eyes and cursed at himself. Here he was, awake during the early morning, and had been dreaming of a girl that wasn’t his girlfriend. If Grace could’ve just read his mind he would be in such big trouble. Because that was the thing, his heart belonged to someone else then how can his mind be dreaming of another? It was obvious that the blonde girl wasn’t Grace. Ivan rubbed his face with his hands and sat on the side of his bed. He glanced at the alarm clock and the glaring red digits read 3:04 AM. That was the other weird thing that kept on happening. Every time he woke up screaming from that nightmare, he woke up at the exact same time. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to fall back into sleep, he walked to his study table and opened the math homework he had left unfinished. Grace would kill him if she found out he was too busy working out than doing his homework. College was right around the corner and if he wanted to go to the same Ivy League college that Grace was prepping for, he better up his grades. The annoying ringtone he had for his best friend suddenly blared through his room. “Dre, it’s 3 AM what could you possibly want?” Ivan answered, sighing and rubbing his eyes. “Thank god you’re awake, Ivan. Listen. I’m in trouble.” Andre was whispering but Ivan heard his voice loud and clear. Andre had been his best friend since he was eight and although Andre moved to the rough side of town where drugs were rampant and thugs lurked. “What have you gotten yourself into?” “I drank too much,” Andre confessed. At seventeen, the guy already had a drinking problem. “But I can still talk. Look, I mentioned the car, Ivan. I practically bragged about it. And…and they want me to race.” The car that Andre meant was the one they were both restoring. It was a 1970 Dodge Charger that used to belong to Ivan’s grandfather. It’s been his and Andre’s project since summer. It was almost back in its glory, almost. “Ivan, they’re not letting me leave till you come with the car and race.” “It’s 3 AM on a school night!” Ivan growled on the phone. “What were you thinking? It’s not even done yet!” “Look, I know. But we tested it last weekend and it ran right? It’ll be good just for one race. Dude, please, save my ass today or else.” “You actually deserve it.” Ivan hissed before hanging up. He opened his bedroom window and climbed out of his room. Ivan asked Andre for the address. Once the address was sent, he put the Challenger into life and couldn’t help but smile when he heard it purr. Like every other guy in town, he was a sucker for his baby. He wasn’t surprised when he saw Andre standing beside a group of a burly looking man dressed in denim jackets and had tattoos and piercings. They were most likely men from the other side of the tracks, where Andre lived. Andre looked relieved when he saw Ivan. He waited for Ivan to get out and meet him and Ivan was ready to beat him to a pulp. Ivan looked at the men surrounding the two of them. “What are the rules?” “We win, we get your car. You win, you get ours.” It was that simple but Ivan knew of the risks. But when his eyes rested on the gleaming Plymouth Barracuda, he knew it was a done deal. “Game on.” Both Ivan and Andre got in their car and Ivan revved the engine. They were told where the race would finish, just after the sharp turn on the Blue Valley River, before the intersection. Ivan knew if he failed the sharp turn, it would mean that they lose. There was no way they were losing. “Go!” Ivan hit up his gas and was relieved that they had a head start against their opponents but then the guys didn’t play fair and they were bumping up on him. “Dude! Floor it! Or we’re gonna lose this car!” Through gritted teeth, Ivan stepped onto his gas harder. “The bridge! The bridge!” It was a good thing that Ivan was an excellent driver. Sheriff Daniels taught him well. Andre was cheering beside him. “We’re getting that Barracuda!” Ivan stepped on the brake and clutch, trying to slow down the car but realized something was wrong. Andre stopped cheering beside him. “Ivan, you can slow down now. We’re near the finish line.” A crowd of people was cheering at the makeshift finish line and they were almost near it, and they were coming onto it, fast. “I can’t get the brakes, Dre!” From the corner of his eyes, he saw Andre dive for the handbrake but it didn’t work, the car was still coming full speed and thankfully, everyone cleared the way. But the thing was, despite everyone else being safe and out of harm, Ivan and Andre weren’t. Both of them were screaming. A truck running at its full speed, ready to cross the usually deserted intersection. At 4:17 AM, they collided. At 4:21 AM, Ivan could hear all the witnesses screaming. At 4:23 AM, he saw Andre on his side, his head turned in a sick twisted way. At 4:25 AM, Ivan lost consciousness. He woke up screaming. “Ivan? Ivan! You’re awake. Oh my, thank you God!” There was girl hovering over Ivan and he couldn’t recognize her through his blurry vision. “I’ll get the doctor.” When his vision finally cleared, he watched as the girl ran out of the room. He took the moment to look at where he was. The white walls, the machines connected to him. He was in a hospital and he knew that he must’ve gotten into something serious because his entire body was sore and he couldn’t feel his right leg. People burst into the room and the girl was back hovering over him again, this time, with doctors and a man in a sheriff uniform. “Son! Son, thank you, thank the Lord you’re awake.” He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Son? He didn’t look anything like his father. The doctors kept fussing over him, checking his temperature and having the nurses check his vitals. “Well, he’s okay. But we’ll have him put in MRI later to make sure that nothing’s wrong with him, Sheriff Daniels.” “I’m glad you’re awake, son.” The sheriff muttered again. Ivan knew that if there weren’t any tubes and wires connected to him, the big man would engulf him in a bear hug. “Ivan Daniels.” The doctor spoke the name and looked at him, expecting him to do something. Ivan tried to see his name on his white gown. Dr. Peterson. “How are you?” “Why am I here?” He asked, surprised at how hoarse his voice is. “What happened?” Everyone looked at each other and it was clear that they were hoping he wouldn’t ask. The sheriff, or his father, took his hand and held it tightly. “You’ve been in a car accident.” “What happened?” Fear suddenly crept from his toes and to his heart. He recalled what he had dreamed before he woke up screaming. He was in a car with her. And he swerved too much to the right, damaging her side. “Where is she?!” Ivan demanded, frantic and ready to pull out everything he was hooked into. “Where’s Hannah?” Everyone stared at him confused. The girl he had seen earlier stepped forward, closer to him. “Don’t you mean me? I’m Grace, love. It’s me, your girlfriend.” His eyes scanned the girl’s features. She was tall and had long brown hair and striking green eyes. It wasn’t her. “You’re not Hannah.” “Son.” Sheriff Daniels said cautiously. “The only Hannah registered in this town is four years old. There’s no other Hannah here than her.” Grace took a step back, the pain evident on her features. But he didn’t care. He wanted to know if Hannah was safe even if they had no idea who he was talking about. “Was someone with me in the car?” There was silence for a moment and it was uncomfortable for Ivan to bear. “Well?” Sheriff Daniels sat on his bed and cleared his throat. “The accident. You were in a car race. I’ve talked with your opponents. They’ve said that they egged Andre to do it so he called you.” “Where is he?” Sheriff Daniels sighed and rubbed his hands on his temples. “You won the race, Ivan. But when you neared the finish line, you had trouble with the brake. You couldn’t stop.” “Did I crash into a tree?” Sheriff Daniels shook his head. “No, son. There was truck running on full speed. He hit you at the intersection. Andre died on the spot.” All he could do was stare at the sheriff that was claiming to be his father. He didn’t know what he was supposed to feel. So a person was dead and he just happened to be in that accident too. But he couldn’t even remember who Andre was let alone what he looked like. He knew he shouldn’t feel relieved but he couldn’t help it. Nothing happened to Hannah. She was safe, wherever she was. But still though, someone died and that was on his shoulders. Andre died because of him. “Don’t you remember anything?” Grace asked, ruining his train of thoughts. He looked at the brunette that was fussing over him a moment ago. He simply shook his head. “I don’t remember anything.” Grace stared at him in horror. “What about me? Don’t you remember me?” He could see the pain flashing in her eyes and he knew that his answer would hurt her. But his answer was the truth. He didn’t know who she was. “I’m sorry.” Grace took a step back and suddenly sat down on the couch, staring at him with a mixture of disbelief and hurt. Dr. Peterson stepped closer to him and looked at him with such caution. “Do you remember your name? Your birthday?” He couldn’t remember anything other than Hannah. “You called me Ivan Daniels but I’m not sure that it’s actually me. I can’t remember anything.” He saw the sheriff pinched the bridge of his nose and sigh in exasperation. “What’s going on with him, Arthur?” “Memory loss due to the accident and the concussion he received. We’ll run some tests on him.” Dr. Peterson stated, writing something on his chart. And then the doctor turned to sheriff and Grace. “For the time being, let’s pray that this isn’t something permanent.” Grace moved closer to him again. “Ivan, love, are you sure you can’t remember anything? You said someone’s name earlier. Hannah.” Grace was testing the waters, seeing if there was at least something he remembered. But that was it. “Before I woke up, she was by my side. We were in a car and I swerved to the right too much and hit a tree.” Grace closed her eyes. “So she was just someone in your dream then.” “She’s all I can remember.” He said softly, looking at her and seeing how hurt she was. “I can’t even remember what date it is today.” He also wanted to add that all he knew was that the year was 1987 but judging by how technological-savvy the hospital was, it would be a mistake to say it. “It’s November 9, 2016.” November 9, 2016. He stared at her in shock, unable to comprehend what she just said. He remembered that last night, he went in a car with Hannah even if that’s the only thing he could remember, even when he and everyone else could deem it as just a dream. But he was sure that he was in year 1987 last night. “What?” He said and all they could do was stare at her in confusion. He was sure that he must’ve looked incredibly shock at the moment but that was true. Those four words seemed to have frozen him in that state. “It’s November 9, Ivan.” “No, the year.” He said, still unable to believe what was going on. But rather than responding, Grace showed him a black device that looked like a miniature TV that could fit in her hand. There was a part of his brain that whispered to him what it was, a part that was slowly waking up and telling him what was going on. But the shock still rooted him to his frozen state. Grace pressed something on the side, it glowed and there it was. Under the harsh lighting of the black device, a picture materialized. It was a photo of Grace and a boy with black hair and bright blue eyes. He knew that the boy must be him since he could still remember what he looked like. But it wasn’t the picture that confused him and caused his heart to erratically beat faster. It was the date and time. The white glowing numbers written on the screen. 3:04 PM. November 9, 2016.
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