It's May 1st 2024.

Lucas stood at the window, breathless, watching the rain streak down the glass. It was May—there shouldn't have been a storm like this.

| Huh? |

Then the sky darkened, sudden and unnatural, as if someone had took out the sun.

The vortex tore through the skies, splitting it, making made the air vibrate.

Lucas's breath fogged the glass as he leaned closer, his heart pounding in his chest. 

"I—w-what is this?!" Lucas whispered

Monstrous shapes writhed in the distance, their forms indistinct yet terrifying. Buildings lay broken, their pillars crumbled to ash. Fires burned endlessly, and the cries of the desperate echoed through the wasteland.

BA-DUM-BA-DUM! The rift pulsed, a heartbeat that seemed to echo in his chest. Lucas staggered back, gasping as a deafening crack split the air.

The glass beneath his fingertips trembled violently before shattering outward, shards glittering as they flew into the chaos.

{ Yeah, I know what you're thinking. This is it. The end. But it wasn't always like this. It wasn't always a damn nightmare. My name is Lucas Steele and let me tell you my story before it all went shit. }

{ It was September 21. 2018 when I stumbled upon THAT thing. That damn vortex. }

Lucas lived in Forks, Washington, a town that bordered a dense forest.

The sun hung low in the sky, spilling its amber light over the field where they played. The ball zipped through the air, bouncing wildly as it slipped past one of the kids in their makeshift game.

"Over here!" Stephen yelled, arms flailing to get Lucas's attention.

"I got it!" Lucas shouted back, his voice cracking with the enthusiasm of a boy trying too hard to sound grown-up.

The ball landed with a dull thud a few feet ahead, bouncing once, twice, before rolling toward the edge of the field. Lucas sprinted after it, cutting through the laughter and shouts of his friends.

"Careful, Lucas!" another kid called out, half-joking, half-wary. The woods weren't exactly forbidden, but everyone knew there was something off about them.

Lucas waved dismissively over his shoulder. The ball had rolled just past the line where the grass ended.

He slowed as he approached the edge of the treeline. The sun was dipping lower now, its golden light fractured by the thick wall of trees. He crouched to pick up the ball, feeling the rough bark of a fallen branch beneath his hand.

But as he stood, a miscalculated toss sent the ball slipping from his fingers. It bounced once and disappeared deeper into the woods.

"Come on," Lucas muttered to himself, glancing back toward the field. His friends were still playing, too wrapped up in their game to notice his absence.

"Just grab it and get back," he told himself. He stepped into the shadows, the air suddenly cooler against his flushed skin. The woods seemed to swallow the light whole, leaving streaks of amber and deepening shadow in its wake.

The ball was there, just a few feet ahead, resting against the root of an old tree. He could see it clearly, but each step closer made the woods feel stranger, quieter. The cicadas, which had been buzzing in a relentless chorus moments ago, had gone silent.

Lucas slowed, his sneakers crunching softly on the dry leaves. He reached for the ball again, fingers brushing its surface, when the sound began.

As Lucas approaches the ball. The root of the tree snapped. The ball rolled again further inside the forest. Lucas decided to chase after it

"Hey! One sec!" he yelled, signaling his friends that he will fetch the ball that went deeper into the forest.

His friends were yelling at him to come back.

"Hurry up, man!" his friend, Brian shouted, their voice tinged with impatience. "You're gonna get eaten by a bear or something!"

"Hey, Lucas, where are you? It's getting dark!" another one of his friends, Stephen, he heard his voice called out.

{ I barely heard them. The forest felt.. wrong. }

The usual rustle of leaves was gone. Instead, there was this strange weight in the air, a hum that crawled under his skin, making every hair on his body stand on end.

"Guys?" he called, his voice barely above a whisper. No response.

{ And then, I saw it. }

Deep between the trees, something glimmered.

A vortex, no bigger than a beach ball, hung just above the forest floor. It pulsed with life, colors swirling inside it.

He froze, his eyes locked on the strange sight.

{ The colors… they drew me in. I couldn't pull myself away. I don't know what happened. My mind just... slipped. Then everything went dark. }

The hum grew louder, synced with the pulsing of the vortex. It wasn't just a sound—it was a vibration in his chest, like a heartbeat in the air itself.

{ I woke up to the sound growing louder. }

His instincts screamed at him to run, to get away from that damn thing, but his feet wouldn't move.

Then the vortex reacted.

The rhythm quickened. The colors burned brighter. A gust of air ripped through the forest, bending branches and leaves.

{ My instincts screamed at me to run. But I couldn't. Then— }

A thread of energy shot out from the vortex, striking him in the chest like a lightning bolt.

"UGHHhhhh…!" He staggered back, clutching his chest.

It hurt, but not like pain he knew—it was… something else.

A vision hit him, vivid and terrifying.

A ruined city that looked too much like the one he lived in.

Its skyline split open by jagged rifts of blackness. Monstrous creatures crawled out of the void, twisting the air around them.

Screams echoed in the distance.The vision faded as quickly as it came, leaving him gasping for breath.

When he blinked, the vortex was gone.

The forest was silent again. But in the distance, he could hear his friends calling for me.

Minutes later, they found him—hunched over, the ball clutched in his trembling hands. His wide eyes stared at nothing.

"You good?" Stephen asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

He blinked. The glow of the vortex lingered in his thoughts, but it already felt like a fading dream.

"Yeah," he muttered, his voice distant, even to himself. "I just thought I saw some lights... in the forest."

They laughed it off. "What are you talking about, dude?" Brian asked.

"Nothing.." he replied to them

But as we made our way back to the clearing, he couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed.

Deep in my chest, where the energy had struck, a faint warmth remained.