Alfred and Matthew had recently got milkshakes to meet up with their friends at a bowling alley. It was just another summer day, bright, sunny with a bit of clouds. Typically the ideal day, a day you could imagine that nothing went wrong with.
It was lovely summer day, a girl was sitting on a swing with a boy, while petting a cat. They seemed content, and the boy seemed uneasy, watching the cat
Alfred smiled at his brother, and continued on. He sipped at his milkshake, not minding the weird bitter aftertaste, it was strange since he usually got the same flavor every day and there was never a difference. But this time, he knew why it tasted bitter.
Matthew turned around for a brief moment, hearing a bang. That girl had gotten hit by a truck! Good lord! There was so much blood, that he nearly felt sick. Gagging a bit, he then hurried Alfred along, so that his younger brother wouldn't see it. Matthew however couldn't, no wouldn't let his brother see another grim accident, not after what happened to their parents.
Alfred of course, being stubborn, wondered why, but went along with it, knowing his brother always acted weird every once in a while. He'd always acted like that.
After a while, they arrived at the bowling alley, Alfred still all smiles. He had to be, he was the sunshine friend, the friend you always counted on to be happy, no matter what.
"Hey Mat, you think I'll actually be able to beat Francis?" The younger said, looking up at his brother.
"Hm, maybe if you stopped doing all those weird poses, you'd get your form right." Matthew smirked before chuckling at Alfred's disgusted glare.
"The poses are awesome! They make me look more manly!" Alfred quickly replied, a blush making itself apparent on his face. It wasn't just his embarrassment.
Having arrived at the old and cheap bowling alley, with it's wonky sign light, and the slight smell of feet.
The twins found their closet friends, Arthur, a green-eyed, blond haired Brit with an attitude, and Francis, a teal eyed, wavy haired Frenchmen with a lust factor that could match that of Zeus himself.
The four were constantly called the 'F.A.C.E' family, because of how close they were. Also because of how they were from four different countries.
"Ah! Finally, thought you two wouldn't show up and leave me with this wanker."
Arthur sighed with relief as he saw them. He and Francis never really got along, but they were doing better in more recent years. Especially since what had happened all those years ago.
After the four of them had gotten the proper sized bowling shoes, and making sure they fit just right, they all went to a lane and chose a bowling ball.
"Next time Francis, don't flirt with the girl. Seriously, she's heard it a thousand times." Alfred spoke up to his friend who had a smug look on his face.
"Non, I'll win her over one day. For love!"
Francis basically shouted as Arthur and Matthew looked at eachother and sighed.
So soon enough they were all having a good time, and Alfred prepared to hit the pins and hopefully get a strike, when all of a sudden,he dropped the bowling ball and fell to his knees.
The others were already concerned as they saw this, but were even more alarmed as they saw blood.
Alfred was trying his best not to cry, he knew this is what had to be done. Blood poured from his mouth as his vision became blurrier by the second. He knew this was coming but, god, his throat burned, and his body wracked in pain.
Matthew screamed, and rushed over.
"Alfie? Al! Please, no, god no, I can't lose you. Someone call nine one one!" He yelled out and held onto his brother as more blood poured out.
"H-heh..."Alfred laughed, his vision blurring even more, before it all went dark.
'The world has faded away again for me, huh?' The boy thought, finally letting go.
Matthew could only watch as he brother's body go limp, as tears rolled down his face. His world was crashing down around him, and his heart was beating faster than his lungs could keep up.
The world stopped for a moment, stuck in the kink of two days. It was starting to chip away, but still, stuck in a never ending loop.
.•Loop Number 1500•.
Matthew woke up on August 14, eyes wide and dripping tears. 'Man, that dream was super vivid,' he thought to himself as his heart rate finally went back to normal.
He shakily got up, and checked the time on his phone. It was 12:22 afternoon. Matthew sighed, and got dressed.
Waking up his brother, Matthew smiled seeing his brother's happy face.
After walking out, Alfred began to complain, seeing as it was a hot day out, and he would be pretty thirsty.
"Matt! Can we pleeeeaseee go get milkshakes?" He begged, although something seemed different in his eyes, a look of tiredness, of utter pain and defeat.
Matthew flashed back to the dream he had, so vivid, as if he could feel blood on his hands. He looked at his brother, and shook his head.
"Sorry bro, you're gonna have to watch your weight! How about we go for something else? Maybe we should skip bowling night." Matthew quickly said, the reality factor of his horrifyingly detailed dream came back to him.
"Hmm...But why? Normally we never skip bowling night. What's the big rush?"
Alfred put his hands on his hips, staring at his older brother with concern.
"Ok, so I had this weird dream. You kinda uh...died in the bowling alley after drinking a milkshake." Matthew looked at his younger brother, trying not to cry.
"Oh..." The twins walked right past the milkshake stand, and headed on forwards.
"Oh god, it's this again. Please end this fucking loop..." The man standing at the stand said. He was so close to losing it. These loops had been going on for decades. He knew because he'd been counting. In a way, the loops were his own fault too.
Matthew turned to look again, that couple was out here, and then-
Alfred and Matthew could only stare as that girl got impaled by metal beams, god it was gruesome. She was being split in two, blood seemed to splatter everywhere as people screamed.
Alfred stood silent, and didn't seem to show any emotion, he looked at his brother who was staring in horror.
"We're leaving, now." Matthew grabbed Alfred by the shoulders and pushed him far away from the scene. Alfred was just numb to the sight of blood. He didn't care, he'd seen it too many times.
After leaving, they stood at a an elevator for a mall, having fled far away, and Matthew stepped inside. Alfred, having been sweating stayed behind to catch his breath, but it was a little too late, and the elevator doors closed. Alfred sighed, distraught. 'No matter what I do, I'll never be able to get there in time so I can at least die with him.'
Once the elevator started moving upwards a bit, Matthew tried his best to go back down, pushing the ground floor button rapidly. God he was an idiot! He just left his brother there!
Then, the lights shut off, and the elevator froze where it was. "Huh? What's going on?" Matthew wondered aloud, and raised an eyebrow. He was confused for a few minutes, until he heard something from above snapping. "OH SHIT-" He swore aloud before-
The elevator started falling downwards as Matthew screamed. Since his sense of gravity was thrown off, he fell towards, and since he couldn't get back up in time the floor beneath him crashed into the ground. Matthew could feel his skin being ripped open as metal pierced straight through him. He screamed at the top of his lungs, pain racking his body.
Alfred backed away at the blood, and just sobbed as people began dialing emergency services. He could feel the reset going back, it was his turn this time most likely. He was so tired, so sick of it. Why couldn't he just save his brother once?
.•o•.
After 30 years of nonstop work, a 46 year old Alfred laughed insanely. "AT LONG LAST! I can finally do it. I can reverse the effects of time! I'm going to save him!" His laughter grew more intense as his eye twitched.
"Alfred? You really need help, it's been three decades mom ami, please, open the door, let us speak to you..." A much older Francis said opening the door to the very old apartment.
"I'm going to fix this! Don't worry!" Alfred picked up the small remote, before stepping inside his machine. The man had a twisted smile on his face as he waved goodbye to his long time friend.
Francis ran forward, but it was too late, Alfred giggled as he pressed the button, and set the world on its path for true insanity.*
.•Loop Number:???•.
Alfred sighed as he drank another poisoned milkshake, glaring slightly at the vendor, who was guilty of causing this mess. He walked with his brother, as his body began to grow weak and tired. He was sure Matthew knew what came next, it wouldn't stop, it never would. *and it was all his fault.*
So many loops, so many deaths, when could they finally be free? They could sense it, everyone around them was going to snap. The repetition, and the isolation was getting to them. After all, the true definition of insanity was repeating things even though they have the same outcome each and every time.
By the time they got to the bowling alley, and met with Francis and Arthur, Alfred and Matthew could see it on their faces too. The four just wanted this damned bowling night to end.
Alfred of course picked up his bowling ball, and...he rolled it, just like normal. This meant that maybe, he'd be ok! At long last, he saved Matthew and he wasn't gonna die!
Francis, Arthur and Matthew looked relieved, finally, the time loop had ended and all four of them were alive. They quietly celebrated and let Matthew have his turn.
Alfred then began to question why he felt so fine all of a sudden. It was only then that he looked at his hands. His pores were gushing blood, and his eyes widened. His heart was speeding up, and he remembered that a couple thousand loops ago, something like this had happened. Time was still trying to fix the kink, and it seemed like it was running out of options.
'Only boomslang snake poison could do this'*
Alfred thought as he heard Matthew's scream of terror. He could feel the start of reset, knowing he would start from scratch again.
.•Loop Number:000•.
Matthew awoke on August 14th, 12:22 in the afternoon, with tears in his eyes.
Still crying, he walked to Alfred's room, to check on him. Until he remembered, Alfred had died with their parents years ago, and that he needed to work a little harder with his machine.
Then maybe he could fix things, and finally get his brother back.