Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

A Few Minutes to Spend While the End Descends

A short horror by Matthew Tonks

Time folds, snaps, and rewinds in David’s world—where mirrors reveal more than reflections and truth bleeds faster than lies. When the clock strikes, will it end, or simply begin again?

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He grips his head with both hands, pushing against the throbbing, clenching his teeth—spitting a sea of saliva with every desperate breath. He squeezes his eyes shut, then screams as he rips them open—his face flushed red, veins throbbing at his temple. 

Her trembling hand grips his arm, and she smiles nervously as a quiver ripples over her bottom lip. 

“I-I-It’s okay, David. Y-Y-You’re safe. S-See? The world is still here—and so am I,” she says. A calmness flickers, hidden beneath her worried tones. 

He pulls away and looks at her with wild eyes as a sea of sweat pours down his brow. 

“T-T-This isn’t it—this isn’t right!” he stammers through desperate lips. His eyes search the room, blinking in frantic succession. “T-T-This isn’t right. I-I-It’s never done this before—never,” he adds. 

“M-Maybe it’s because it never really happened in the first place. Maybe—finally—we’re making p-progress?” she says, fumbling her words at the end. 

An eyebrow rises. He sniffs the air like a wild animal, and a smile snakes across his lips. 

“You were so desperate, weren’t you? But I didn’t think you’d be the one to lie to me—not like this. Not now,” he says. 

“I-I-I—” she stammers. 

He slaps the desk and snarls like a madman. 

“I wasn’t talking to you!” he spits, turning to the mirrored wall. “I was talking to my dear brother.” 

The lights fall low, and the mirror fades, revealing three figures on the other side—each dressed in laboratory coats. 

“Thank you, Rosa. You may go now,” one of them says. 

But David grabs her arm and pulls her to him. 

“David, you don’t want to—” 

“The time, Charlie!” he roars. “Show me the time—the real time. Not this pathetic melodrama you’ve built around me. Then she can go!” 

“That will not happen, David. Let Rosa go, and allow her to leave the room. Do that—show me you can still rationalise the truth—” 

He doesn’t get to finish, as David twists Rosa’s neck with a suffering snap. She drops limply to the floor. 

Charlie’s head dips forward. He stares at the floor, brow furrowed. 

The other two doctors stand bewildered, before one of them goes to punch the alarm—only for Charlie to put a bullet in his head. He turns to the other and fires a second shot into his skull, then turns back to David. 

He presses a few buttons on a keyboard, and a clock appears in the corner of the glass. 

“T-T-That’s the real time?” 

Charlie nods. “Exactly.” 

“T-Then it’s already begun,” he whispers softly, staring into his brother’s tear-filled eyes—his chin quivering as the tears run down his cheeks. 

“Y-Y-You better be right—otherwise I’ve just thrown everything away for you. For nothing,” Charlie stammers through trembling lips, then raises the revolver to his head and fires. 

A cold shiver rides down David’s back, and a tear tumbles down his cheek. 

He drops to his knees as his eyes fix on the time glowing in the corner—a circular bar curling around it, quickly filling with each second before it ticks up to the next minute. 

His breath catches in his throat as it ticks closer to three fifteen. 

The air in the room turns stagnant and stale. 

He stutters a breath—laboured, tight. 

The seconds continue to count, and the room gently ebbs as time begins to unwind. The seconds slip back and forth before everything around him is torn asunder. 

He grips his head as chimes gong relentlessly inside his skull. 

He screams as everything is ripped away. 

And then—he feels her hand gently grip his arm. 

“I-I-It’s okay, David. Y-Y-You’re safe. S-See? The world is still here—and so am I,” she says. A calmness flickers—buried in words she doesn’t realise she’s said before, as the clock strikes three thirteen and the world finishes rebooting. 

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💬 Did this one echo?
Tell me—before it forgets your name.

—
Written by Matthew Tonks
→ Read more nightmares at mtonks.com

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