***
Night descended slowly, like a thin mist blanketing the entire Aerphine district. After the incident at the park, Aelion returned to his small apartment with heavy steps. He closed his bedroom door and leaned against the rough, cold wall, staring at the ceiling that had begun to crack in several places.
One day had felt like a full week of pressure. There were too many things he couldn't understand—too many signs appearing without explanation. The fractures of light, the unnatural winds, the electronic devices that died whenever he got close, and… that rhythmic sound.
Aelion gripped his hair.
"What's happening to me…?"
The question hung in the air, unanswered. Only a faint breeze slipped through the window, carrying the damp chill of night.
He decided to shower, hoping the cold water would calm his mind. But when the water touched his skin, a strange sensation rose along his spine. Not pain, but a subtle vibration—a resonance.
As if something inside his body moved along with the flow of the water.
Aelion closed his eyes and leaned against the bathroom wall.
The vibration grew stronger.
And along with it…
Dum… dum… dum…
The rhythmic sound returned.
This time it wasn't just audible—he could feel it. The vibration pulsed from within his muscles, from his bone marrow, from the core of his being. It wasn't loud, but it felt alive.
Aelion's eyes snapped open. The water hitting his skin deflected slightly, as if bouncing against a thin field before cascading to his feet.
That was not normal.
"I need to sleep…" he muttered to himself, voice trembling.
A few minutes later, he lay on his bed. The room lights dimmed on their own—as if they somehow knew he wanted rest. It didn't comfort him; it made his heartbeat race faster.
But exhaustion eventually closed his eyes.
And when he finally fell asleep…
The world changed.
---
He stood in an empty space. No ground, no sky, no boundaries—just a vast void illuminated by shimmering light that moved like waves. The glow wasn't white, nor blue, nor any color he recognized. It was a color that existed between being and non-being—a "color" one could only see in a dream.
Aelion looked around.
"Where is this…?"
No answer.
But in the distance, he saw it—a fracture of light. A thin glowing line pulsing slowly. It looked small, but its energy was immense, making the air itself quake.
Aelion stepped toward it. Each step felt heavy, as if he were walking through dense water. But he didn't stop. There was a tug inside his chest, a gentle push pulling him toward the fracture.
When he got close enough, the fracture moved—opening slightly, like an eye awakening.
Light burst forth.
A delicate cracking sound echoed.
CRKHH—
Aelion shielded his face, but the light didn't hurt. It felt… warm. Warm in a way that was familiar yet unremembered. Like an embrace he had never received. The light touched his skin, seeped into his body, fused with his bones and blood.
He slowly lowered his hand.
Inside the fracture, he saw something.
A nameless space—filled with threads of energy flowing like the veins of a planet. Geometric symbols floated, forming and dissolving, creating new patterns each second. The patterns pulsed in sync with the rhythm he had been hearing for weeks.
Dum… dum… dum…
The rhythm was clear now. Very clear.
As if the fracture was the source of it.
Aelion stepped closer. And when he touched the fracture with the tip of his finger—
The world exploded in light.
---
He crashed onto the hard floor. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he gasped for air. Sweat drenched his face, and his body trembled uncontrollably. The bedroom lights blazed so brightly the room looked like daytime.
Objects on the table shook. The cracked mirror chimed softly. The fan turned on and off by itself. The entire room felt filled with an unseen yet undeniable energy.
Aelion clutched his chest.
It was hot.
Scorchingly hot.
Beneath his skin, faint light flickered—light that moved like thin lines coursing along his breastbone. Like tiny streams awakened by some unknown source. It didn't burn, but it felt… alive.
Aelion staggered back, hitting the wall.
"I… what's happening?"
His breath hitched as he remembered something from the dream.
The fracture of light.
The shifting patterns.
The color he had never seen.
The rhythm that matched his heartbeat.
And… the pull from within the fracture.
As if something had been trying to speak to him.
Aelion looked at his hand. Slowly—very slowly—faint light appeared at the tips of his fingers. He flinched and lowered his hand, and the light vanished as quickly as it came.
He fell silent. His body was still trembling, but his mind was far more chaotic than any pain he felt. He tried to calm himself, but every time he closed his eyes, he saw the fracture again. The patterns. The rhythm.
Something was awakening inside him.
And it wasn't small.
Aelion wiped his face, stared at the ceiling, and whispered:
"If that was a dream… why did it feel so real?"
No answer.
But Aelion knew one thing:
He could no longer pretend all of this was just stress or hallucination.
Too many signs.
Too many incidents.
Too many "coincidences."
The energy was real.
The fracture was real.
And something inside him was responding to it.
He looked out the window.
Aerphine was still alive. Neon lights flickered, people walked, vehicles passed. The world looked normal.
But not to Aelion.
To him, the world suddenly felt like a blanket covering something much larger. Something long hidden. Something trying to awaken.
And somehow… he felt the fracture would return.
Bigger.
Clearer.
Closer.
Aelion took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and for the first time in his life. … he feared not the outside world.
But the thing awakening within him.