Two years had flown by, and Arden, now sixteen, felt more at home in his new life. He still drew a blank when he tried to remember his past, but the emptiness in his heart wasn't so bad anymore. Auntie Mei's love and his growing friendship with Meilin filled that space. He even kinda enjoyed school now, especially when he could make fun Meilin about a tough equation or bounce ideas off her.
Auntie Mei's work as a photographer often took her away for weeks, leaving Arden on his own. Luckily, Meilin basically lived there, with her own key and everything. They fell into a routine – studying, sharing meals, and sometimes getting lost in Arden's video games.
One warm Friday evening, the smell of cooking filled their small apartment. Meilin, humming to herself, stirred a pan of noodles, her sleek black hair tied back.
"Food's almost ready!" she called out. "You beat that level yet?"
"Almost," Arden's voice drifted back from the living room, headphones on, completely absorbed in his game.
Meilin smiled to herself. Even after two years, she still thought it was cute how much he loved his games. She'd tried playing a few times because he got so into it, but all the flashing lights and crazy action stressed her out. Give her a good book or a tough math problem any day.
"Alright, hero, time to pause the dragon slaying," she said, setting two steaming bowls of noodles on the coffee table.
Arden pulled off his headphones, a sheepish grin on his face. "Wow, Mei, smells delicious. You're spoiling me."
"Someone has to," she teased. "Besides, your aunt practically lives on instant ramen when she's traveling."
They ate, the only sounds the click of chopsticks and the city noises outside their window.
"So," Meilin asked, breaking the silence. "Ready for that physics exam Monday? Professor Lee's questions are getting impossible."
Arden groaned dramatically. "Don't remind me. I swear he writes those exams just to torture us."
He stretched, his t-shirt riding up a little. Meilin quickly looked away, her cheeks warming for some reason.
"We could always skip it," she joked, trying to ignore the weird fluttering in her stomach. "Hit up the arcade instead, pretend exams don't exist."
Arden laughed. "Yeah, right. Your parents would kill me. And you."
They finished eating, the conversation flowing easily between them like always. They'd been through so much together, these two.
Later, while they were walking down the street, the sky turning that cool purplish color it gets right before dark, the ground rumbled. At first, it was just a faint tremor. Then it hit again, way stronger this time, so strong that cracks spread out from their feet like spiderwebs on the pavement.
The air crackled with this weird energy, the streetlights flickering from their normal orange to an eerie green. People stumbled, grabbing onto each other, their faces confused and scared.
Car alarms blared, horns honking as drivers tried to control their swerving cars. A nearby trash can tipped over, spilling garbage everywhere as the ground shook again.
Arden grabbed Meilin's arm, pulling her back just as a chunk of concrete crashed down from a building.
"What the…" he started, but his voice was lost in all the noise.
Before he could finish, this blinding white light flashed, plunging the street into darkness. When Arden opened his eyes, blinking against the green afterimages, the world felt… off.
Meilin lay next to him, her chest rising and falling quickly. She was okay. Relief washed over him, followed by a wave of nausea as the ground continued to tremble.
He pulled himself up, instinctively reaching for Meilin's hand. "You okay?" he asked, his voice tight with worry.
Meilin nodded, pushing herself up. "What was that?" she whispered, her eyes scanning the street, now bathed in that creepy green light.
"I have no idea," Arden said, his voice barely a whisper.
That's when he noticed it – this tingling feeling in his hands, this warmth that spread through his body, leaving goosebumps in its wake. It felt strange, almost like… energy.
He looked down at his hands, expecting to see something different, but they looked the same.
He looked up at Meilin, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Do you… do you feel that?"
Meilin had been staring at her own hands. She looked up sharply. "Feel what?"
Before Arden could answer, a horrifying scream ripped through the air. A man stumbled out of an alley, clutching his head, his face twisted in pain. He collapsed, his body shaking uncontrollably as a wave of that same green energy pulsed from him.
People around them cried out, scared and confused. Some backed away, others just stood there frozen, their eyes glowing with the same eerie green light as the man on the ground.
And then it hit Arden, a wave of dizziness so strong that he dropped to his knees, his vision going blurry. He grabbed his head, a scream building in his chest.
"Arden!" Meilin shouted, fear in her voice. She reached for him, her hand inches from his face.
But before she could touch him, another wave of pain tore through him, and everything went black.
The hospital room felt like a prison with its boring white walls and the constant beeping from the machines. Arden lay in bed, his head pounding like it was about to explode. He tried to remember what happened after that second wave of pain, but all he got were these messed-up flashes of green light, Meilin's terrified face, and people yelling. Then nothing.
A hand on his arm brought him back. He opened his eyes and saw Auntie Mei. She looked totally worn out, her usual cheerfulness gone, the lines around her warm brown eyes deeper than usual.
"Arden, you're awake," she sighed, relief flooding her face.
His throat felt like he'd swallowed sandpaper. "Auntie Mei? What happened?" he croaked.
She squeezed his hand. "There was… some kind of crazy event. They're calling it a tremor. You passed out."
He tried to sit up, his messy dark hair falling into his eyes, but a wave of dizziness slammed into him, forcing him back against the pillows. "Is Meilin okay?"
A worried look crossed Auntie Mei's face. "She's fine. A little freaked out, but not hurt. She's been super worried about you."
"But what happened to me?" Arden pushed, frustrated. "Why am I stuck here? What's wrong with me?"
Auntie Mei hesitated, glancing at the door like she was afraid someone would hear. "The doctors… they don't really know. They did some tests, but…"
She stopped, but Arden could tell she was scared. They both knew this wasn't a normal hospital visit. Something seriously messed up had gone down on that street, and it had messed him up too.
"Auntie Mei," he said seriously. "Just tell me what's going on. What aren't they saying?"
Before she could answer, the door flew open, and a tall, serious-looking doctor strode in. He had kind eyes and graying hair that made Arden think of a wise wizard from one of his games.
"Mr. Kane, you're finally awake!" he said, a warm smile spreading across his face. "I'm Dr. Chen. How are you feeling?"
Arden tried to smile back, but it probably looked more like a grimace. "Like I got hit by a bus," he admitted. "Except… I don't remember any buses."
Dr. Chen chuckled. "The human brain can be weird like that, especially after a trauma." He glanced at Auntie Mei, and they shared a look. "We're still running tests, Arden, trying to figure out what happened."
"The tremors," Arden stated, already knowing the answer.
Dr. Chen nodded slowly. "Yes, the tremors. They seem to have… set something off. In some people, at least."
"Set what off?" Arden demanded, his frustration growing.
Dr. Chen chose his words carefully. "We think the tremors… unleashed some kind of energy. A new kind of energy. And this energy… it messes with people's brains and bodies in weird ways."
He paused, letting it sink in. "Some people, like your aunt, are totally fine. Others… they've developed… powers."
"Powers?" Arden repeated. It sounded crazy, unreal. Like something straight out of one of his games.
"Some can control electricity now," Dr. Chen explained. "Others can move stuff with their minds. We're still trying to understand it all."
He turned to Arden, his expression serious. "We think this energy… it amplified something inside you, Arden. A sensitivity, maybe. But your tests… they're confusing. We've never seen anything like it."
Arden felt a shiver run down his spine. He wasn't imagining things. The tingling, the headaches, the green light – it was all real. But what did it mean? What was happening to him?
"What about the guy who screamed?" Arden asked, his voice tight, remembering the horrifying scene in the alleyway. "The one with all that green energy around him."
Dr. Chen's face clouded over. "There have been...incidents. People reacting badly to this energy, losing control. We think the man you saw was one of them."
A wave of nausea washed over Arden. He thought about the raw terror on the man's face, the way his body convulsed as if possessed by something evil.
"But why?" he whispered, a fear he couldn't place gripping his chest. "Why is this happening?"
Dr. Chen sighed, running a hand over his gray hair. "That, Arden, is the million-dollar question. One we don't have an answer to...yet."
The next few days were a blur of tests, scans, and doctors who seemed more baffled than helpful. Arden felt like a lab rat, poked and prodded, but no closer to understanding what was happening to him.
Meilin, with her sharp eyes and ever-present air of confidence, was his one bright spot. She visited every day after school, her presence a soothing contrast to the sterile hospital room. He loved how easily her sleek black bob swayed when she laughed, how her dark eyes sparkled when she got fired up about a particularly challenging physics problem.
They talked about everything and nothing. Her easy banter helped distract him from the growing unease inside him. She told him about the chaos outside the hospital walls - the government struggling to keep things under control, the fear spreading through the city like wildfire. Rumors flew about people with strange powers, some using them to help, others using them to hurt.
Arden listened, his gamer mind drawing comparisons to his favorite fantasy worlds. But this wasn't a game. This was real life.
One afternoon, while Auntie Mei was out getting food, Arden was alone with Meilin.
"How are you doing?" he asked, his voice softer than he intended.
Meilin shrugged, attempting a smile that didn't quite reach her dark eyes. "It's… a lot," she admitted, her voice unusually quiet. "My parents are freaking out. They want to get out of the city, maybe even leave the country, but…"
She trailed off, her gaze dropping to her hands. Arden noticed a slight tremor in her fingers, a rare sign that even the usually unflappable Meilin was shaken.
He reached out, his fingers brushing lightly against hers. She looked up, startled, her eyes widening slightly at the contact. He pulled his hand back quickly, feeling his face heat up.
"Sorry," he mumbled, hating how awkward he felt.
"It's okay," she said softly, holding his gaze for a beat too long. "It's just… weird, you know? Everything feels… different."
Arden nodded, understanding exactly what she meant.
He wanted to tell her about the strange dreams he'd been having - swirling green energy, whispers in a language he didn't understand, this feeling of something huge and ancient reaching out to him. But the words wouldn't come out. What if he sounded crazy?
Instead, he said, "Maybe… maybe we just need to figure out our own rules."
"Our own rules?" Meilin echoed, tilting her head, that familiar curious glint in her eyes.
Arden hesitated, unsure if he was ready to say what he was thinking. "Yeah, like… if this energy, this… power… is real, maybe it has its own system. Like… like in a games."
He took a deep breath, the words spilling out now that he'd started. "Maybe the tremors were like… unlocking a new level of reality. And now we're all players in this new world. And like in any game, some people are stronger, faster, more skilled. But there are rules. Strategies. Ways to level up, to control your powers."
He looked at Meilin, his gaze intense. "We just need to figure out what those rules are. Before someone else makes them for us."
Meilin stared back at him, fear and excitement battling in her dark eyes. For the first time since that day on the street, Arden saw a flicker of hope in their depths.