Morning sunlight was painful to Victoria's eyes as she woke from short sleep on the roof of the building where she had stood all night. She had spent the last three hours of night watching the mysterious light from a room in Midtown. Three hours full of reading, noting, and speculation. Three hours that made her even more convinced that something big was happening in Seattle.
Victoria rubbed her eyes and sat up straight on the edge of the building roof. She opened her investigation journal already filled with pages of notes. Pages containing data about the explosion in the alley this morning, about flashes of white and dark light visible in the afternoon, about mysterious light shining from an apartment room in Midtown last night.
Three different events. Three different locations. Yet there was the same pattern: unexplainable light, unexplainable explosions, and something moving behind the scenes of Seattle.
Victoria was 28 years old. She was a reporter for the local Seattle Times newspaper, and she was one of the few people who noticed strange anomalies occurring in Seattle over the past few days. Her coworkers thought she was crazy. The newspaper editor said her written news was too speculative and didn't have enough evidence. But Victoria knew something was there. Victoria knew there was a story waiting to be told.
She had years of experience as an investigative reporter. She had written about corruption, about crime, about scandals that made the city's elite tremble. And now, her instinct told her there was an even bigger story, a story involving supernatural power or science never known before.
Victoria stood and gathered her things: telescope, notebook, digital camera equipped with zoom lens. She put everything into her black backpack that already looked worn from years of use.
At 8:30 in the morning, Victoria arrived at the Seattle Times newspaper office. The office was located in the city center, in a 50-year-old skyscraper but still used for various business offices. Victoria walked to her desk, a desk full of files, with notes, with various investigative equipment.
Victoria's coworker named James immediately yelled from the desk next to her.
"Victoria! Someone was looking for you at the office yesterday," James said in a tone that tried to look serious but actually looked ridiculous. "Police. They said that there was a report of an explosion in an alley near..." he opened his notebook to read, "near the intersection of Pike and Second Avenue. They wanted to know if you had information about it."
Victoria raised her eyebrows. Police. Police had started to notice something. That meant the explosion in the alley wasn't just a normal accident. That meant something significant enough to make police come to the newspaper office.
"What did they say about the explosion?" Victoria asked while sitting at her desk.
"They just said it was an event that couldn't be explained. The alley walls were severely damaged, and there were signs of internal explosion. But no witnesses saw what happened. No one was injured at the scene. It was all strange," James answered while eating a donut he held in his hand.
Victoria listened carefully. No one was injured. That meant it wasn't a bombing or terrorist attack. That meant it was something... controlled. Something that was arranged well. Something that might be intentional but not intended to harm people.
Or maybe something that could protect people. Something that deliberately avoided hurting people while doing something in the alley.
"If I may ask, where are your friends who usually help with investigations?" Victoria asked James casually, but there was really a question behind her casualness.
"Oh, they're writing about a scandal at city government offices. Bossman gave that task to them. Why? Do you need help?" James answered while continuing to chew his donut.
Victoria knew that if she submitted an investigation proposal about mysterious light and strange explosions in the alley, her boss would reject it. The boss of Seattle Times was a very pragmatic man, only interested in news that had strong sources and real evidence. A story about mysterious light and shadow monsters would sound like science fiction, not journalistic reporting.
But Victoria had experience. Victoria knew how to investigate something without having to tell her boss first. Victoria knew how to find evidence before making an official report.
"James, if I go to the field to check something, can you cover for me?" Victoria asked with a tone full of persuasion.
James looked at Victoria with a suspicious gaze. He had known Victoria long enough to know that when Victoria spoke like that, it meant she was planning to do something not approved by her boss.
"What are you planning?" James asked while waiting for an answer.
"I'm going to find a big story that will make Seattle Times' reputation better," Victoria answered with a smile full of confidence.
James sighed. He knew Victoria wouldn't give him the details, but he also knew that Victoria was reliable enough not to do something really crazy. "Alright. But don't let your boss catch you. Last time he was interested, he almost got you fired."
"Thank you, James," Victoria said while grabbing her backpack and preparing to leave the office.
Victoria left the office by walking casually, as if she were just going for a lunch break or getting food. But once she reached the bus stop, her destination was very clear in her mind: the alley where the explosion happened. The alley where the golden light first appeared.
Victoria's journey took about 20 minutes. When she arrived near the alley area, she could see signs of the damage. The walls around the area looked damaged. Some bricks had already fallen from their places. There were scratches on the walls that looked like from internal explosions.
Victoria walked toward the alley slowly, carrying her camera already ready. She didn't know if police were still guarding the area, but she had to try.
When Victoria entered the alley, she was shocked by what she saw.
The alley was completely destroyed. More destroyed than she had imagined based on the police report she heard from James. The walls had almost completely collapsed. There were large holes in the walls. Brick debris was scattered everywhere. Signs of explosions were very clearly visible in every corner of the alley.
But the strangest thing was something in the darkest corner of the alley. Victoria saw something glimmering in the middle of the debris. Something strangely shaped, shaped like a crown. But with transparent crystals not gold. The light in the crystals was gone, but there were still traces of energy visible around the object.
Victoria brought her camera and started taking photos. She photographed the condition of the alley, photographed the signs of explosion, photographed the strange object in the corner of the alley. Each photo was evidence of something big happening in this place.
Victoria walked closer to the object. The object that looked like a crown radiated subtle energy. Energy that wasn't harmful, but energy that felt strange and different from anything Victoria had ever felt before.
"What is this?" Victoria whispered while drawing closer to the object.
She raised her hand to touch it, but suddenly a sound came from behind her.
"Don't touch that!"
Victoria spun quickly and saw a man standing at the alley entrance. The man had a muscular body, probably in his late 30s, and had a face that looked serious with his eyes sharpened on Victoria.
"Who are you?" the man asked in an unfriendly tone.
"I'm a reporter," Victoria answered calmly, even though her heart started beating faster. "I'm investigating the explosion that happened here. Who are you? Are you... police?"
The man stepped forward with slow but steady movement. "I am not police. I am someone assigned to guard this area. This area is very dangerous. You must leave here immediately."
Victoria looked at the man carefully. There was something strange about him. There was a certain energy radiating from him, the same energy that radiated from the crystal crown in the corner of the alley. Something abnormal, something supernatural, something that made Victoria's journalistic instinct scream that she was discovering a very big story.
"I won't leave until I get answers," Victoria said in a firm tone. "What happened in this alley? What is that object in the corner over there? And who are you really?"
The man stopped walking. He stared at Victoria with a long gaze, as if measuring whether Victoria could be trusted or not. "You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't see these things. It's for your safety, you must forget everything you see today."
"That's not your decision to make," Victoria said while raising her camera to show that she had already taken photos. "I'm a reporter. It's my job to find out about unexplainable things. If there's danger in this city, the public has the right to know."
The man sighed long. He looked like he was battling with himself, considering whether to tell Victoria the truth or force her to leave.
But before the man could make a decision, Victoria made her own decision.
"Alright. If you don't want to talk to me, I'll conduct further investigations on my own," Victoria said while walking out of the alley.
As Victoria was walking out, she whispered to herself: "I don't know who that man is or what object that is, but I know one thing: something very big is happening in Seattle. And I will find out what it is, no matter who tries to stop me."
Victoria left the alley and started walking back toward the main street. But in her mind, a plan had formed. A plan to investigate further about the mysterious light, about the explosion in the alley, about the strange man with supernatural energy.
A plan to find the mysterious hero, and discover the truth about what is happening in the city of Seattle that they call Home.