Sarah groggily shifted her gaze toward the beam of sunlight as it stretched out from the windowsill onto her bed. She was lying on her back, her legs sprawled out across the bed, clad in only her favorite black lace underwear. It was abnormally warm for October, and she had kicked off her blanket during the night. Her head felt heavy as it rested against her pillow. She brought a hand up to rub at her forehead before her mind cleared on the events of the previous day.
"Oh god." Her eyes shot open, quickly sitting straight up.
Instantly the feelings of guilt and resentment started to flood in. A small panic settled in. It was a dream; it had to be. It's nonsense to be able to stop time. To her, it felt so real.
There was one way to confirm, she thought, desperately wanting the locket to not be on the dresser. Slowly turning her head, she already could see it out of the corner of her eye.
Sarah's heart sank as she grabbed hold of it, it was exactly as she remembered it the day before. She analyzed the dry gritty handle with the clear button at the top. There were no words that she could see.
Holding her breath and closing her eyes, she pressed the button anxiously as if expecting it to explode. Peering with one eye, she looked around for signs that she was crazy. The button did nothing.
Reaching out to her phone on the nightstand, she pushed the side button. Nothing. Again, and still nothing. She then pulled up the charging cable and connected it to the phone. Nothing. No sign of life.
She got up to look out the window. There were people outside but motionless. She bit her lip as she pushed the locket again to restart time. There was no denying it, that it's all true.
She swallowed hard as it meant the gravity of her actions were real. The guy at the bar and outside, she took advantage of them. It couldn't have been the alcohol; she's never taken advantage of anyone, especially while drinking. That wasn't who she was, it wasn't! She tried to rationalize herself.
She peered down to the steps in front of the building as if she could expect the guy from last night still being there, but of course there wasn't. That's when something else caught her eye, a guy not far from the steps waving his hands right in her direction.
He seemed to be saying something, but she couldn't make it out through the window. Lifting the seal, immediately made it clear that he was cheering and clapping. "Wooo! Nice!"
It was then she snapped back to reality and realized that she was without a shirt or bra and showing her bare chest to the world. "Shit!" She cursed loudly. Immediately she used one arm to cover herself and the other to pull down the curtains.
She sat down, feeling defeated on the bed. What a hell of a way to start the day. She just wanted to curl up on the bed and wither away from embarrassment, but knew she had to eat eventually.
Maybe she could just stop time, run down and kick that guy is the nuts. She chuckled to herself at the thought, finally able to lighten her mood.
Through the rest of the weekend, she largely stayed indoors. Between binging some shows on various streaming services, she did spend some time on the internet more often than not researching on the device.
Unfortunately, most results ended up as dead ends or crack pot websites. She was amused by some social media posts where people pondered what they would do with the ability to stop time. A lot of people said they would rob a bank. Admittedly she did think of that. Others, mostly guys, detailed all the sexual things they would do, which mostly disturbed Sarah but quickly realized how guilty she was of that already. Although walking around naked in public seemed like a really exhilarating thing to do.
As Monday rolled around, she told herself that school was more important, and she needed to focus on her studies. That locket would consume her if she let it. It was difficult, but she found it much easier by leaving it at her dorm to avoid the temptation.
While the week was mostly normal, there were a few days that spooked her. During first class on Tuesday, she distinctly heard the words "Tick...tock" in a gravelly voice.
The sound was faint but enough to startle her. Her breathing quickened as she looked around. No one else seemed to react and the professor didn't stop with his lecture. At first, she thought it was a prank. Slowly she calmed herself. Must have been the jitters of stress. Yeah, that's it. As the day drew on, it was already forgotten.
Thursday seemed like a normal day. That is until after the last class, she was walking through the courtyard when she heard it again. "TICK TOCK" She could hear it more clearly as if it was a gravelly voice belted it out. It sounded like it echoed as if she was in a stadium. To say she was scared would be an understatement. She hurried back to her room, locked the door and ran towards her bed. She felt like a scared child, but it was the safest place to be.
She considered calling her parents. Her dad was the toughest person she knew, but she already knew he wouldn't take her seriously. She thought if she was going crazy. It was tough to go to sleep that night, but she did manage.
Friday seemed like a fresh start. Sarah woke up feeling refreshed and ready to put the past few days behind her. She convinced herself that it was all in her head. She needed to move on, she told herself, or if all else get a therapist after the school year was over. But just in case, she was going to take the locket with her should there be someone actually stalking her. That way, at least she could get away.
She was right about one thing. Having it with her was a distraction. She kept thinking about all the things she could do with it. People that annoyed her, what she would do to them. Especially Flash and Mary -- she swore at how braindead they were. Some fantasies about stopping time amused her.
Then the bell rang. "Oh god" she said to herself, she didn't pay attention to anything the professor said. Frantically she reached into her pocket and retrieved the locket and pressed the button. Immediately, all movement stopped as she sighed deeply in her chair. "Goddammit" she said as she knew she was going to have to spend some time to copy the notes down and try to get an idea of what the heck they talked about during class before she could restart time again.
That afternoon as she walked back to the dorm, she felt the enormous weight of school and all the work it put on her. She groaned, mentally preparing herself for a long weekend of studying ahead. Plus having this locket that could stop time, what the hell was she supposed to do with it. It felt like it was too much that she could cry. It had been a long week.
