Return to Blood

By Harry Chong

An ordinary day turns into a nightmare when a young man goes to school, and becomes victim to a shooting. But for him death is not the end. The young man soon discovers that his nightmare of a day is more like a never-ending nightmare, and the only way to stop it is by defeating the evil that threatens him. Dying again, and again, he scrambles to find a way to halt the horrific time loop.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harry Chong
• Release date: May 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223417064

Book preview

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Day 1 - Monday Morning

Chapter 2: Day 1 - The Bus

Chapter 3: Day 1 - Officer Tim

Chapter 4: Day 1 - Pulp

Chapter 5: Day 1 - Protesters

Chapter 6: Day 1 - University

Chapter 7: Day 1 - Room 101

Chapter 8: Day 2 - Morning Mushrooms

Chapter 9: Day 2 - Seeing Things

Chapter 10: Day 2 - Waking Up

Chapter 11: Day 3 - Groundhog Day

Chapter 12: Day 4 - Alive Again

Chapter 13: Day 5 - Get Out

Chapter 14: Day 6 - Just the Two of Us

Chapter 15: Day 7 - Windows

Chapter 16: Day 8 - Toilets

Chapter 17: Day 9 - In the Middle

Chapter 18: Day 10 - Cool Muhammad

Chapter 19: Day 11 - Alarmed

Chapter 20: Day 12 - The Tape-nning

Chapter 21: Day 13 - Reasons Why

Chapter 22: Day 14 - K.B.

Chapter 23: Day 15 - More Mushrooms

Chapter 24: Day 16 - Rooftop Rumble

Chapter 25: Day 17 - Sympathy

Chapter 26 - Day 18 - Teamwork

Chapter 27 - Day 19 - Friendly Fire

Chapter 28 - A New Day... A Real New Day

Chapter 1: Day 1 - Monday Morning

This might be a cliche, but I awoke to the sound of a blaring alarm. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! it went. I hated that sound, especially considering I was not a morning person.

It sure showed. I shut off my alarm, and rolled the other way, sleeping for way too long. 7:00 AM became 8:00 AM. I opened my eyes, and realized an hour had passed.

Oh crap! I said to myself. I'm gonna be late!

I threw off my musty blanket, and got up. I had to be at school at 8:30 AM. It was going to be my first day of university. I barely had any time to prepare.

Why the hell did I go to sleep at 4:00 AM? It was a matter of nerves, I tell you. I was feeling so anxious about university that I comforted myself by eating chips, and watching funny videos online.

Waste of time that was. Still half asleep, I quickly went to the bathroom in the hallway while muttering to myself what an idiot I was.

I went to the bathroom, and had a pee, and washed up, making a mess of the counter. Then I got out my unironed, wrinkly clothes, including my Hunter S. Thompson shirt, and hastily put them on. I grabbed my backpack, and ran downstairs, leaving behind my way too messy bedroom.

As I got down into the hallway, and then in front of the kitchen, my dad barked at me. His name was Nelly. Unlike me, he was a real big guy. He was bald, and no less than 6 feet 7 inches tall. He was known in his younger days to be a tough guy. He was captain of his high school wrestling team, and he spent some time boxing.

Boy! said my dad, Nelly. You're going to be late for school!

I know, I said. Can't you see I'm in a rush?

Your breakfast is cold, said Nelly.

I don't have time for breakfast, I said.

Your mom's gonna throw a hissy fit, if she knows you went out there on an empty stomach, said Nelly.

I don't care what mom thinks, I said. She's still asleep.

I don't like this attitude, said Nelly.

Here's where my dad was going to begin lecturing me. He always did. About the same things. How hard he worked, his ups, and downs in life, and the importance of school, blah, blah, blah.

What attitude? I said. I don't have an attitude.

Don't get me started, said Nelly. You know what a tough life I had growin' up. I had to fight for a livin'. I was poor, because I had no education. I barely had food in my belly. If I was lucky, I'd get oatmeal with milk instead of water. But now you're here, with all these opportunities, and you're squandering it by being lazy. You know how important education is to me, don't you? It's how you get out of this craphole, and make something of yourself.

It's not too bad here, I said.

Nelly yelled, THERE'S A BULLET HOLE IN MY GARAGE! AND IT AIN'T FROM ME!

No need to yell, I said. I'm going to school, alright? All your talking is only going to make me more late.

I swear, said Nelly, if I have to drag you there myself, I will.

No need to drag me, I said. I'm outta here.

Nelly let out a deep breath. Don't get yourself into any trouble.

I'll try, I said.

I put on my jacket, and then my backpack, and opened the front door.

Hey, said Nelly, pointing to a brown bag on the kitchen table. Don't forget your lunch. You always forget your lunch.

Not being a morning person, I wasn't really paying attention to everything my dad was saying.

Yeah, okay, I said.

Nelly glared at me. And when you leave the house don't slam the do—

I slammed the front door as I left.

Chapter 2: Day 1 - The Bus

At a steady pace, I began walking through my street. I kept my head down, because my street was uneven, and sprinkled with garbage, and dog crap. I tried to clean it up once, but decided not to afterward. Because when I cleaned the street, for several hours, the next day it just got dirty again.

It's a never ending battle. The people around here keep on littering like they don't even give a damn about anyone but themselves.

Never mind that, I found the pathway to exit my street. Walking past numerous cigarette butts, I got to the bus stop.

The bus stop like my street also looked like crap. One pane of glass was shattered, with a brick I presume, which was lying on the ground, and what remained was scratched up, and marked with swear words, knobs, random names of idiots, etc. It gave me such a headache looking at it.

Man, I said, waiting for what seemed ages, when's this damn bus gonna get here?

I folded my arms, and rhythmically tapped my foot on the ground. Why was I getting annoyed? I knew it would be like this. The buses were always late, and crowded.

But finally, I saw the bus. Spewing black smoke out its back, it came down the road, and with a screech barely stopped in front on the bus stop. A few people got off, and then I went on like it was some sort of exchange.

The bus driver looked at me with a scowl, and I dropped a single token into the token box. I stretched out my neck, and saw some space at the back. I squeezed my way through all the people, and got to the back of the bus.

Then the bus doors closed, and started moving. Aw, man. Maybe I shouldn't have gone to the back. There was a group of young Latino men dressed like thugs, spreading out their legs, taking up more room than they were allowed. As a skinny white boy it put me on edge.

I didn't want to be racist, and throw out any stereotypes, but really they did make me feel nervous. As I looked at them they looked back at me with a glare. Should I take the empty spot, and sit down? No, I decided to stand up, and I grabbed a bar to hold onto.

One of them started sniggering. I noticed he had a red bandana wrapped around his head.

Yo, white boy, he said. Why don't you have a seat? You look tired.

N-n-no thanks, I stammered. I'm not in the mood.

The hell does that mean? said Antonio. I'm not asking to have sex with you.

S-s-sorry, I said. I didn't mean it that way.

Sit, said Antonio.

What to do? I sat down beside Antonio. He smelled like heavy cologne. He had on some baggy jeans, a fake gold chain, and a red plaid shirt. He looked at me.

See, said Antonio. Not too bad, right?

Thank you, I said.

No need to thank me, said Antonio. I don't own this bus.

I didn't know what to say. I just nodded, and kept my head down. Man, I was so nervous. I was actually shaking. I wasn't good with people. Any people, I swear. But I was surprised that Antonio was so nice. Guess I was worrying about nothing.

As Antonio's boys chatted amongst one another in Spanish, Antonio went into his pocket, and took out a butterfly knife. Butterfly knives are illegal in my town.

Wanna see a trick? Antonio said to me.

Ummm, sure I said.

Antonio opened his butterfly knife, and twirled it around, and flipped it in the air, and caught it. Impressive.

Pretty good trick, right? said Antonio.

I nodded, I'm impressed.

Antonio grabbed me by my collar, and pointed his knife at my neck.

Give me your wallet, he said.

W-w-what? I said.

The blade of Antonio's knife started poking into my skin. I looked around, hoping someone would help me. My eyes darted, and I cried for help in my head, but nobody paid attention to me. In fact, the very opposite. It seemed all the people on the bus were intentionally ignoring me. They didn't want to get involved.

Give me your wallet! said Antonio. I won't repeat myself. I hate repeating myself. Don't you hate it when people repeat themselves?

I didn't know how to answer.

Answer me, Antonio said through his teeth.

Y-y-y-yes, I said, almost crying. I'll give you my wallet. J-j-just don't hurt me.

And I want your phone, said Antonio.

My phone? I said.

Hurry, said Antonio. I don't have all day long.

I took out my wallet, and my mobile phone. Antonio lowered his knife, and grabbed both items. First, he took my phone, and then my wallet. He took out the $5.00 I had in it, and stuffed it into his pocket. He threw the rest onto the floor.

What did you do that for? I asked in a sheepish voice. Aren't you gonna take the whole thing?

I'm not not an animal, said Antonio. I know it's a pain in the ass to replace your IDs, and library card, and stuff. You can keep those.

So, I picked up my wallet without my $5.00 for lunch. Gotta say I was pretty damn pissed, but at least I was physically unharmed, and only my money, and phone got stolen...and my dignity.

Chapter 3: Day 1 - Officer Tim

Finally, the bus stopped. I quickly hopped off, and didn't look back. I was so close to school. I only had a bit of road to walk.

I kept my head down, once again, and walked. I debated with myself whether or not to call the police to report what happened. If I did report that thug to the police, I was going to be way too late for school. And what would the police do, anyway? It seemed like they barely did anything in this town. Crime was rampant.

Okay, I told myself, if I see a police officer on my way to school, I'll report what happened. If not, forget about it. Right...

That was my brain's way of not taking responsibility, and doing the right thing. But as luck would have it there was police officer sitting in his car, waiting to catch people speeding. Oh, no... Wait, actually, he was a police officer that I liked. I knew him from around town. He was involved with the community. He was the dad of my friend Taylor.

Officer Tim was his name, no less. I stopped by to say hello to him. I waved.

Hello, Officer Tim, I said with a stupid grin on my face.How are you?

Officer Tim put down his radar gun, and looked my way with a smile.

Wa-hey, said Officer Tim. I'm doing good. Ummm, you're friends with my son, right?

Yes, I said. I'm Taylor's friend.

I know my own son's name, said Officer Tim. Ha. What can I do for you? Or are you just dropping by to say hello?

Actually, I said, hesitantly, I have to report a crime. I was on the bus today, and someone robbed me.

One of them Latinos? said Officer Tim.

What? I said. How did you know?

It's obvious, said Officer Tim. Them Latinos, and blacks, and Muslims are the main cause of crime in town. But each has their own style of crime, you know.

I was flabbergasted. I did not know Officer Tim was racist.

That's racist! I blurted out.

Not racist, said Officer Tim. This is all based on fact. I'm collecting the data every day, and, boy, the non-whites folks are real trouble makers.

Not true, I said.

Who says? said Officer Tim.

I tried to checkmate Officer Tim.

What about the Jews, and Asians? I said.

You got me there, said Officer Tim. But those guys look pretty white, don't they? Asians are the palest. Like ghosts.

Officer Tim, I said in a firm voice. If you're saying that people of color are worse than everyone else, I can't... I just can't agree with that. That's racism.

Officer Tim lightly patted me on my shoulder.

Heh, I'm only pulling your leg, he said. I like everyone. Of any color. Color matters not. Call me a dog, I'm color blind.

I knew Officer Tim was lying. But why would he lie? Maybe he didn't want it to get around that he didn't like black, and brown people. He could be fired for his views. I cut him some slack, but I was outraged at what he said. Yet I had no choice but to hold it in.

Okay, I said, I gotta get going.

I stood up, and turned around. I couldn't give Officer Tim the satisfaction of being right.

Wait, said Officer Tim, I thought you wanted to report a robbery.

No, I said. There was no robbery.

Officer Tim knew I was lying, but let it go, because he didn't want to deal with the paperwork in reporting a crime.

Alright, said Officer Tim. But I want you to stay safe. If you see anyone suspicious you cross the street, eh. You know the type I'm talking about.

That won't be necessary, I said. Bye, Officer Tim.

Yah, bye, he replied.

Officer Tim went back to his business, and I continued walking on, headed for my university.

Chapter 4: Day 1 - Pulp

As I got near the end of the sidewalk, a construction sign said, Use other sidewalk. That's what I did, but then another sign said the same thing, telling me to use the other sidewalk. Which damn sidewalk was I supposed to use?

I decided to take my chances, and just go ahead. When I did, a guy sitting in a truck, yelled at me. I could see behind him there were a bunch of other construction workers standing around a pothole, chatting.

Huh? I said.

What the hell do you think you're doing? said the construction worker through his big, black beard. You can't use this sidewalk!

The sign told me to use the other sidewalk, I said. This, this is the other sidewalk.

Get your white ass out of here, said the construction worker.

I'm late for school, I said.

The construction worker spit in my direction.

This is why you white people don't rule the world anymore, said the construction worker. You can't follow simple instructions!

What was this guy going on about? What's any of this got to do with me being white? I got angry, even angrier than when I was robbed.

That's racist, I said.

It's not racist, said the construction worker. You're white. You can't be racist against white people.

Again, what was this guy going on about? I swear I was going to explode.

Not true, I said.

What do you know about anything? said the construction worker, You're an over-privileged white boy. But let me tell you, we Muslims will take over the world soon, and you Christian scum, and Atheists, and Jews will be slain by Allah.

Holy crap, was this dude literally insane? I've never heard such nonsense in my entire life.

Whatever, I said.

I turned around, and started going in the opposite direction. I could hear the construction worker laughing at me. He was having fun at my expense. What a jerk.

After walking around for a bit more, I got lost, and ended up on a small, dirty street. Even though I didn't know exactly where I was going, I thought this route would get me to my university. Call me stupid, but I felt it in my gut.

I got onto Oxnard Street, and went ahead, staying close to the curbside. As I was doing so, I spotted a familiar looking face. It was my friend Taylor. Taylor was like the ultimate white dude. Not just tall, and lanky, he had stunning blond hair, and blue eyes. He was a bit awkward, and not physically intelligent, but we were pals 'cause he made me laugh with his silly jokes.

I wondered what he was doing here. Was he going to school, too? No, he chose not to go to university. He told me he was gonna be a rock star, or something of that nature. I noticed he was surrounded by six other people. Were they his friends?

I walked ahead a bit more. No, I don't think they were his friends. Taylor looked like he was afraid of them. He was in a stiff pose with his hands out as if to say stop.

The six people encroaching on his personal space, I noticed, were black. But I didn't want to assume the worst of them... Maybe they were making a video? A music video? This is the strangest music video I've ever seen.

As I observed, I could hear the six black men talking to Taylor.

What are you doing on our street? said the thick, stocky black guy named Michael. You have  to leave.

I'm looking for my missing dog, said Taylor.

I don't care, said Michael. You're not allowed here.

Why not? said Taylor.

Gerald yelled, Cause you's a white devil!

Listen, fellas, said Taylor. I don't want any trouble.

You gonna get trouble, said Tyron.

Oh, crap. I had to help. But what could I do? Call the cops? I went into my pocket, and reached for my phone. I was confused for a moment. Where was it? I then remembered that gangster named Antonio had stolen it.

I had nothing to help, and I was scared. I couldn't take on six black dudes, even with Taylor by my side. It would still be three to one against some lame white people.

Think, I told myself. Maybe I can cause a distraction?

I looked on the ground, and picked up a stone. As I was about to throw it the six men around Taylor pounced on him. They grabbed him, and started beating on him with their fists, and feet. Taylor was screaming, and groaning in pain.

Stay out of our territory, white devil! one of them yelled.

Help, Taylor said in a weak voice. Help me. Someone help.

No one's gonna help you, Michael replied.

It was then that I threw my stone, and hit Michael in the back. He turned around, and so did the others. They stopped, and turned around to look at me, standing still, not knowing what to do next. I pointed my finger, and my voice cracked.

L-l-eave him alone, I said.

You white son of a bitch! said Michael.

Michael, leading his pack, chased after me. I started running in the opposite direction, but I tripped on my own shoelaces. As it looked like they were about to catch me, I got onto a tree, and climbed up it. I got to the very top.

Get down from there! said Michael.

No way! I said.

You'll only make it worse! said Michael. Surrender now, and receive a quick death, instead of a long, painful, drawn out one!

You're crazy! I said.

Michael tried climbing up the tree. But I put a foot on his head, and pushed him down. This was a bad idea, because it made him even angrier. He started swearing at me, and he grabbed a large stone on the ground, and threw it at me. Then his buddies joined in, and they all started pelting me with stones, and whatever they could find on the ground.

I covered my face with my arms, trying to not get knocked out. I could feel the sting of the stones hitting my arms, and other parts of my body. I knew I shouldn't have thrown that stone in the first place to distract them. They probably learned it from me.

He's going to drop! said Gerald. Get ready for a fresh meal!

I was feeling dizzy. Even though I tried my best to defend myself,