Claire wiped the tables a little more aggressively than usual.
If it’s not the house... then what is it?
Could it be—the world itself?
“No. It’s probably me.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbDAHCSAUO
She muttered to herself and scrubbed harder.
But if it was just her, then why only her?22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpNEK3QKIz
Was no one else noticing this?22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHcx6nMdTod
Or were there others like her, who just... gave up looking?
“If there is someone like me, how would I even find them?”
She stood by the espresso machine, steaming milk, her brow furrowed.
Then suddenly—smack—she hit the counter.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTKUA7U8q2
“Wait. Tonight’s the Easter Vigil.”
If anyone knew what to do about “a tomorrow that doesn’t exist,”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2scP2zN4D
it had to be that guy who came back to life after three days.
Jesus.
The Bible made Him sound like a full-blown sorcerer. Infinite power.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSvXMOG8rh
Maybe He could help.
“If I’m extra reverent tonight, maybe tomorrow’ll finally move on.”
Claire nodded to herself, decision made.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4vzc2BMWp
That evening, she closed up early.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbRMP4DP4r
She pan-fried two slices of ham, stuffed them into warm bagels.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRVEbWzp9t
Brewed one cup of coffee, one of milk.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFSoPgzbWu
Set them at the edge of her apartment’s balcony, just out of the wind.
The note was short:
For Nightwing and Robin.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5eVANFMt0
Hot food. The milk’s hotter.
P.S. Nightwing—Robin’s looking for you on Queen Street tonight.
And with that, she headed out.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63wHh7ZxdI
The vigil crowd was bigger than she expected.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmcJIO2hq1
Candles everywhere, flickering like they were breathing.
Claire sat among them, eyes closed, repeating quietly in her head:
“Please, Jesus. Help me figure out what’s wrong.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVV6AzTmAMT
“I don’t need much. Just let tomorrow… actually happen.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbyoZgKEeD
“Or at least… tell me what I’m supposed to do.”
Around her, people prayed, sang slow hymns.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfziqj47RWj
The candlelight felt like a soft sedative.
But Claire’s mind stayed razor sharp.
She didn’t believe in God.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7wqPpoZq8
But tonight, she was willing to pretend—22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASVUSON4hr
because facing an endless today alone was getting unbearable.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOIubIFSBl
Midnight struck.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQuPolmkwF
The vigil ended.
Claire walked home feeling... untethered.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEMW8BCe5hR
Not sure if it was exhaustion or just that hollow, post-hope ache.
She climbed to the third floor, switched on the lights.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFu93TDV7v
Jacket off, not even halfway to the bedroom—22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqibdWvEn8R
She looked up—
Two silhouettes on the balcony.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDZeoykr8d
One tall. One small.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrV37x1mCxK
Both watching her.
Nightwing. Robin.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImj7oHtsf8
Outlined by the indoor light,22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLqdxLE4LT
like guardian spirits who actually kept their appointments.
Claire froze.
"...Jesus," she muttered. "I asked for help, not a pickup."
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLR4LJIThG0
Her brain stalled.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOAiGgE274
For a few seconds, everything just...buffered.
Then she snapped out of it, walked over, opened the window.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtq0R5j0Nh
Seriously, what else was she supposed to do?22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvcx39fGMCO
Leave them standing there like weird bat-themed lawn ornaments?
The two shadows hopped in with practiced ease—22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGncHwm6gCu
Same moves as last night. Copy-paste.
Nightwing opened his mouth, looked like he was struggling for an opener.
"Uh… um…"
Claire cut him off: “I’m Claire.”
He blinked, then offered a polite half-smile.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6MlBg56dU
“Claire. Thanks for the food, by the way.”
Robin, meanwhile, had gone full wolf cub.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwIyJ4eIDHY
Eyes sharp, body tense, scanning her like she was a suspect.
“You’re the sorceress?”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHxdcwIiIp
His voice was high-pitched, suspicious.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ooYakX1v0
“The one who talks to spirits?”
Claire frowned. “What sorceress? What spirits?”
Robin stepped closer, voice tight:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHgynlZe7e
“Then how’d you know I was on Queen Street?”
Claire blinked. Then smiled—slow, smug, maybe just a little evil.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxLVzQ5JUA
“I also knew you skipped dinner. Still hungry, right?”
Robin’s whole face crumpled, like a police dog catching a bad scent.
Nightwing quickly ruffled his hair, like calming a pet.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJIzuVQWVp
“Sorry,” he said. “We really just came to say thank you.”
Claire nodded. Didn't say a word.
Nightwing started nudging Robin toward the window.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6FbOHY25L
Robin protested: “Don’t push me! I’m serious—we need to know if she’s psychic!”
Claire paused.
Something mischievous slithered up from her boots to her spine.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3BwZ7WCTq
A familiar itch.
She called out, loud and clear:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2HXZS06TF
“Hey!”
Both turned.
Claire tilted her head, voice calm, cryptic.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUJJ8HkN83
“Batman’s looking for Robin. Somewhere in the city. Tonight.”
They froze.
Nightwing immediately touched his comms.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7x84rkXi9n
Robin snapped his head sideways, like picking up a signal.
And then—
Their eyes widened. In unison.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzk9lwDRwH
They turned to her.
Claire grinned. That kind of grin.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMTwMSmkv5
The “gotcha” kind.
Then she stepped forward.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWQeilIvF9
Clunk —window locked.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTgJypEjzs
Shhk —curtains drawn.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeqlXbTdDM
Clean. Final.
She stood there for a moment…22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfrl9qhoJzW
And then started laughing.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jj8PYExV4
Claire sat down and let out a long, tired breath.
She twirled her pen between her fingers, then started drafting.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHE3cEdTP7A
There was no guarantee she’d have time tomorrow morning—22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtl6j3KVvw
or that her freaky “remember last night after a reset” skill wouldn’t just crap out again.
Better to write now. While her head was still clear.
She needed to know.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXDC73crIlX
Was there anyone else out there,22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLkQ2v9P8d
living the same day, again and again?
At first, the letter got way too long—22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqVGL6vj6H
Like something you'd submit to a conspiracy blog with a flashing GIF header.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxibgCbpl3
Halfway through, she couldn’t even read her own nonsense.
Nope. Start over.
It had to hit fast.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZg01BSlMwT
One glance, and the right person would know.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8neX5uMgCP
This wasn’t a prank.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTlnnWGzsg
Wasn’t a dream.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpnhKofVrn
This was real.
She cut ruthlessly.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakdRV4oOhP
Trimmed the fluff.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQTvCqFAqh
Boiled it down to just the facts:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfArube8we0
Time’s stuck.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb9WhLelEWg
You always wake up at the same moment.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUZ7LIQAmW
No one remembers yesterday.
Then, as a final touch, she added something that read like a coded whisper:
“Have you ever felt the sun today won’t reach tomorrow?”
Yeah. That felt right.
She read the note out loud. Again. And again.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzljLigrs4
It wouldn’t survive the reset. But she still wanted to remember it.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjuMoQeCHGZ
She wanted to remember that she’d tried.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmbx8Jg7eTt
Even if no one else ever saw it—she wanted to know she hadn’t given up.
Then—
A knock on the window.
She flinched.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡitpVPfENZS
Like a nerve snapped.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlX24cgHN7
Froze in place.
...Again?22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZsiYvn3oJ
What now?22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpNvyLCq9k
Was it Nightwing? The kid?
She didn’t go right away.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD26s3HQaOd
Her eyes flicked to the note.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Y9fJCEBc9
Then to the clock.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZhEnI5hyg
It was late. Way too late for casual drop-ins.
Slowly, carefully, she moved to the window.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyyXfWeDQG
Lifted one corner of the curtain.
And saw—him.
Tall.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkvwqu3m7u
Cloaked.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuqRFmovSF
Cut from shadows.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuOOYzATVy
Standing on her balcony like a statue carved from myth.
Batman.
Claire’s brain went silent.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOXNnyYknH
Two full seconds of white noise.
She couldn’t hear her own heartbeat.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMy24PtpKc
Or maybe she could—so loud it drowned out everything else.
He was here.
Why?
She didn’t open the window. Not yet.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kf63gwVcE
Just stared.
At the living legend.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYbFJklLGd
At the ghost of Gotham.
and then Add to home screen.