He Called Off Our Forever

Amanda POV:

A shrill scream ripped through my sleep, dragging me violently back to consciousness. My roommate, Chloe, was shaking me. Her face was pale, eyes wide with terror.

"Amanda! Wake up! It' s Derek! He' s… he' s on the roof of the South Tower! He' s threatening to jump!" Her voice was a frantic whisper.

South Tower. The tallest building on campus, where the architecture department held its studio classes. My stomach dropped. Derek. The obsessive stalker who had cornered me in the design studio weeks ago.

"What? Why?" I scrambled out of bed, my mind racing.

"He' s saying… he' s saying he' ll do it if you don' t go up there!" Chloe wrung her hands. "The police are here, campus security. They' ve been trying to talk him down, but he just keeps screaming your name! He says you' re the only one who understands him!"

My blood ran cold. This was insane. I had barely spoken to Derek, let alone given him any reason to believe I "understood" him. But his words, the ones he' d screamed at me about Benjamin, about me being "free," now echoed in my ears with a chilling new meaning.

Before I could fully process it, my phone vibrated. It was Professor Davies, my program head.

"Amanda, you need to get here now," her voice was strained, urgent. "Derek' s demanding to speak with you. He' s unstable. The police think your presence might de-escalate the situation. We' ve tried everything else."

My mind screamed no. This wasn' t my fault. I didn' t ask for this. But the thought of someone dying, and my name being the last one on their lips, was a heavy burden. "I' m coming," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

Chloe drove me, her hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel. The campus was swarming with flashing lights – police cars, ambulances. A crowd had gathered, their faces upturned, morbidly fascinated. My heart pounded with a mixture of fear and dread. This wasn' t happening.

We arrived at the base of the South Tower. Professor Davies rushed towards me, her face a mask of worry. "Amanda, thank God you' re here. He' s getting more agitated."

"Professor, I don' t understand this," I said, my voice trembling. "I barely know him. He… he was harassing me."

She sighed, touching my arm. "I know, dear. But he seems to have fixated on you. He' s convinced you' re the only one who can help him. Please. Just talk to him." Her eyes pleaded with mine. The weight of responsibility settled on my shoulders.

A police officer, a stern-faced woman, approached. "Ms. Stevens. We need you to go up. Slowly. Don' t make any sudden movements. Just listen to what he has to say." She handed me a tiny earpiece. "We' ll be listening. We' ll guide you."

The elevator ride up felt endless. Each floor clicked by, a countdown to something terrifying. When the doors opened, the wind howled, whipping my hair around my face. The rooftop was stark, concrete and metal. And there, at the very edge, stood Derek.

He was a silhouette against the stormy sky, his arms outstretched, his body swaying precariously. His clothes were disheveled, his hair wild. He looked utterly desperate.

"Amanda! You came!" he shrieked, his voice raw, echoing across the rooftop. "I knew you would!"

My heart hammered. "Derek," I said, trying to keep my voice calm, even though my insides were quivering. "Please, come away from the edge."

He turned, his eyes glazed, bloodshot. "They don' t understand! No one understands! But you do, Amanda. You' re just like me! Tossed aside, abandoned!"

"No, Derek, I' m not," I said, slowly walking towards him, following the officer' s instructions through the earpiece. "I know things are hard, but this isn' t the answer."

"He abandoned you! Just like they abandoned me!" he yelled, his gaze wild. "But we can be together, Amanda! We can start over! Just you and me!" He took a step towards me, away from the edge, but then another step, and another, too quickly.

"Derek, stop!" I yelled, my heart leaping into my throat. But he was too far gone. He lunged, not at me, but past me, towards something unseen.

In that split second, a commotion erupted behind me. A police officer, moving too fast, too suddenly, bumped into me. I lost my footing. My body lurched forward, off balance.

A scream tore from my lungs as the ground beneath me vanished. I felt the awful, sickening rush of air, the terrifying sensation of falling. My hands flailed, grasping at nothing.

Then, a searing pain exploded in my right arm as I hit something hard-an awning, a ledge, I didn' t know. My momentum shifted, but the fall didn' t stop. I tumbled, hitting the ground with a sickening thud. The world spun. My head slammed against the concrete.

A sharp, unbearable pain shot through my arm, followed by a dull, throbbing ache that spread through my entire body. I tried to move, but I couldn' t. My vision blurred, sounds became muffled. I was lying on the cold, hard ground, looking up at the sky, which was now a swirling canvas of black and grey.

Faintly, like an echo from another dimension, I heard voices.

"Benjamin, what have you done?!" It was a man' s voice, filled with furious accusation. It sounded like Benjamin, but older, harsher.

"What are you talking about? I didn' t do this!" It was Benjamin' s voice, raw with panic.

"This was her fate, Benjamin! Jenna' s! The fall, the injury, the stalker! It was all meant for Jenna! But you had to interfere, didn' t you? You had to shift your affections, change the timeline!" The older voice was a growl of frustration. "You diverted her suffering onto Amanda!"

My mind, already fading, grasped at the words. Her fate… Jenna' s… diverted onto Amanda. The caller. The "future self." This was what he had meant? This was the "evidence"? My suffering was a transfer? A karmic swap? Because Benjamin had chosen Jenna?

"No! That' s not true! I love Amanda!" Benjamin' s voice was filled with a desperate denial.

"Love her? You call this love, Benjamin? You abandoned her when she needed you most. You believed the lies about her. You pushed her away, right into the path of this twisted fate." The older voice was cold, unforgiving. "You sealed her suffering the moment you chose Jenna."

Tears streamed down my face, mingling with the rain that had started to fall. It wasn' t a misunderstanding. It was worse. Far, far worse. Benjamin' s insecurity, his easy belief in a stranger' s lies, his shifting affections… they had broken me. Not just my heart, but my body. I was bleeding for Jenna' s sins. I was dying because Benjamin was a fool.

The pain intensified, a roaring storm inside me. My vision darkened. The voices faded into a distant hum. Blackness consumed me.