Wake Up Call

Maya's POV

I was falling.

Wind whipped around me as I fell through the darkness, Marcus's cruel laughter echoing in my ears. The ground rushed up to meet me, and I opened my mouth to scream

"Maya! Breakfast!"

My eyes snapped open. I was lying in a bed, looking at a ceiling covered in glow-in-the-dark stars. Stars I hadn't seen in ten years.

My heart was still beating from the nightmare. Except it wasn't a nightmare, was it? Marcus and Lisa had really pushed me off that cliff. I remembered the cold wind, the pain, the terrible moment when I realized I was going to die.

But I was living. And I was in my old bedroom at my folks' house.

"This is impossible," I whispered, sitting up fast.

Everything was exactly like I remembered from when I was eighteen. My old desk

with all the scratches from where I'd done homework. The bookshelf full of romance titles. Even my pet bear, Mr. Cocoa, sitting on the windowsill.

I grabbed my phone from the table, and my hands started shaking when I saw the date.

December 23rd.

The day before my wedding.

"No, no, no," I said, jumping out of bed. "This can't be happening."

But when I looked in the mirror, I saw my face my twenty-eight-year-old face, not my eighteen-year-old face. So I wasn't a youngster again. I was me, just... back in time somehow.

"Maya! Your wedding dress fitting is in an hour!" Mom called from downstairs.

Wedding dress fitting. The same setting where Mom would cry happy tears and tell me how beautiful I looked. The same fitting where I'd felt so excited about marrying Marcus.

The same Marcus who had killed me last night.

Or was it last night? My brain hurt trying to figure this out.

I stumbled to my dresser and pulled out clothes with shaking hands. How was this possible? People didn't just go back in time. That only happened in movies and fairy tales.

But here I was.

"Maya! The date!"

"Coming!" I yelled back, my voice cracking.

As I got dressed, memories flooded back. In a few hours, Marcus would call and

ask me to meet him for lunch. He'd be extra sweet and romantic, telling me how

excited he was for our wedding. Tonight, we'd have the practice dinner where he'd give a speech about how much he loved me.

All lies. Every single word.

I ran downstairs, and there were my parents sitting at the kitchen table like always. Dad reading his newspaper, Mom making her famous Christmas morning pancakes even though it wasn't Christmas yet.

"There's my beautiful bride-to-be!" Mom said, smiling at me.

Looking at her happy face made my chest tight. In my original reality, I'd never seen my parents again after Marcus killed me. They'd spent Christmas morning planning my death instead of celebrating my wedding.

"Mom," I said, my voice breaking.

She looked at me closer. "Honey, are you okay? You look pale."

I wanted to tell her everything. I wanted to explain that Marcus was evil and Lisa had deceived me and that I'd somehow come back from the dead. But how could I explain something I didn't understand myself?

"I'm just nervous about the wedding," I said instead.

"That's completely normal," Dad said, putting down his paper. "I was a wreck before I married your mother."

"But you loved Mom," I blurted out.

They both stared at me.

"Of course I did," Dad said slowly. "Just like Marcus loves you."

No, he doesn't, I wanted to scream. He wants to kill me for my legacy money!

Instead, I faked a smile. "Right. Of course."

My phone rang, and Marcus's name popped up on the screen. I stared at it, my heart racing. In the original timeline, I'd answered this call with a big smile, excited to hear from my future husband.

Now, just seeing his name made me want to throw up.

"Answer it!" Mom said excitedly. "It's Marcus!"

I let it go to voicemail.

"Maya!" Mom looked shocked. "Why didn't you answer?"

"I'll call him back later," I said quickly.

But the phone rang again immediately. Marcus again.

"He must really miss you," Dad said with a chuckle.

Miss me? He'd physically pushed me off a cliff twelve hours ago. Or twelve hours in the future. Or whatever this was.

I refused the call again, but it started ringing a third time.

"Just answer it," Mom said. "He's being romantic!"

Romantic. Right.

With shaking fingers, I swiped to answer. "Hello?"

"Maya, baby!" Marcus's voice was warm and caring, just like always. Just like it had been before I found what a monster he really was. "I miss you already!"

"Hi, Marcus," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

"You sound weird. Are you okay?"

Was I okay? I'd died and somehow come back to life, discovered my fiancé was planning to kill me, and learned my best friend had been plotting against me for years. Okay wasn't really the right word.

"I'm fine," I lied.

"Good! I was calling to confirm our lunch plans. One o'clock at Antonio's, right?"

In the original scenario, I'd gone to that lunch. Marcus had been extra sweet, holding my hand and talking about our future. He'd even given me a beautiful necklace as an early wedding gift.

Now I knew he'd only been nice because he was going to kill me right after the honeymoon.

"Actually, I need to cancel," I said.

Silence on the other end. Then: "Cancel? Maya, we planned this weeks ago."

"I know, but I have a lot to do before tomorrow."

"What's more important than spending time with your future husband?" His voice had an edge to it now. The same edge I'd heard right before he pushed me off the cliff.

My parents were watching me with confused faces. I turned away from them.

"We'll see each other tonight at the rehearsal," I said.

"Maya." Marcus's voice was dangerously quiet. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Yes, I wanted to say. I'm telling you that I know exactly what kind of person you are. I know you're trying to steal my family's business and murder me for the inheritance.

Instead, I said, "No, nothing. I'll see you tonight."

I hung up before he could reply.

"Maya, what was that about?" Mom asked, looking worried.

"Nothing," I said quickly. "Just wedding jitters."

But my mind was racing. If I was really back in time, if I really had a second chance, what was I going to do with it?

I couldn't marry Marcus. I wouldn't give him the chance to destroy my family and kill me. But how could I stop a wedding that was meant to happen tomorrow? How could I expose him without sounding completely crazy?

And what about Lisa? In a few hours, she'd call and offer to come over and help me get ready for the practice. She'd sit in my room and pretend to be my best friend while quietly planning my death.

My phone buzzed with a text message.

*Can't wait to see you tonight, beautiful. Wear the red dress - the one I love.

The red dress. I'd worn it to the rehearsal dinner in the original scenario. Marcus had complimented me on it all night, and I'd felt so happy and loved.

Now I knew the truth. He'd wanted me to look pretty for what he thought would be one of my last nights alive.

I stared at the text message, and suddenly I knew what I had to do.

I wasn't going to run away or hide or try to explain this impossible situation to anyone.

I was going to fight back.

But first, I needed help. And I knew exactly who to ask.

The one person in town who hated Marcus as much as I now did. The one person who had the power and means to help me take him down.

Jake Winters.

The problem was, Jake Winters hated everyone and everything, especially Christmas and especially people who bothered him with their issues.

But I was about to become the biggest problem he'd ever faced.

And maybe, just maybe, I was about to become his savior too.