Through blurry eyes, I force myself to look at photos of the crime scenes and of the bodies. The police reports say the gun that killed us was a Glock 9mm with the serial numbers filed off. A photo confirms it for me—it’s the same gun as the one in my backpack. The police also have witnesses, fingerprints, and even strands of my hair, all tying me to the crime scenes.

The papers flutter to the floor. I slide down the wall and cover my face with my hands, trying to block out the horrible images that are now carved into my memory like into stone. All the bodies, bent at awkward angles, covered in blood. My own corpse, bloated and pale.

Any questions I had in my mind are gone. We’re going to die tomorrow, and all evidence points to me as the murderer.

“Elena?” Zoe calls from the other side of the door. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, fine.” I should show the others everything in this file. They need to know about their own deaths, to know the facts about what is going to happen to us. They’ll discover I’m the killer, but maybe they can figure out why I’d do this or how to stop me. And if they do something to me…well, at least I won’t kill anyone tomorrow.

I start to collect the papers but pause when I see the unfolded origami unicorn on the floor, where I must have dropped it. Future-Adam told me to open it alone. He left this folder for me, and only me. Not the others. Not his younger self. Me.

He trusts me to be able to figure this out on my own. Or else he has a damn good reason for keeping the truth from the others. All I can do is hope that he’s right.

I shove everything back inside the safe and slam it shut.

10:29

10:29

I wander around in a haze until I find myself on a wide lawn of grass trimmed with rosebushes and thick hedges. The sky has grown dark, and the sun dips into the ocean in the distance. We’ve run out of daylight.

There’s an amazing view of Los Angeles from up here, all twinkling lights and cloudy skies. The city of the future doesn’t look much different from the city I know. Downtown is wider and the buildings seem taller, but the residential areas all look the same, with a few pockets of high-rises scattered on the path to the coast. From Future-Adam’s backyard I can see it all.