As he shut off the faucet and dried his hands, the faint hum of the refrigerator filled the silence. Lucas turned away from the window, the reflection lingering in his mind like a shadow. The house felt unusually still tonight, as if holding its breath along with him.
He walked toward his room, the faint creak of the wooden floorboards beneath him a familiar rhythm. Pushing open the door, he stepped inside, greeted by the soft glow of his computer monitor resting in sleep mode.
With a quick press of the mouse, the screen flickered to life, illuminating the clutter of notebooks, stray pencils, and a few comics he'd abandoned weeks ago.
The desktop was still open to a tab he had searched earlier: unexplained energy phenomena. He hadn't found much then, just the usual pseudoscience and conspiracy forums.
But something gnawed at him—an itch he couldn't scratch, a feeling that he was missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.
Lucas sat down, the chair's worn leather creaking under his weight. He flexed his fingers, hovering over the keyboard before typing the word again: vortex.
The search results populated the screen in an instant.
The first link read: "Vortex Phenomena: Natural Energy Spirals in the Environment."
Clicking on it, Lucas was met with pictures of scenic locations—Stonehenge, the Bermuda Triangle—all tied to some mystical energy people claimed could heal or transport them to other dimensions.
"Great. More tourist traps," he muttered, scrolling past mentions of rune alignments and spiritual awakenings.
He clicked back to the results page and tried again: "uncontrolled energy vortex."
This time, a forum popped up. The title caught his eye: "Unexplainable Energy: Has Anyone Felt This?"
The thread was a mess of wild speculation and ramblings about government experiments.
One user wrote, "I once saw a spiral of light in the sky. My dog wouldn't stop barking all night. Pretty sure I got zapped with alien tech."
Lucas frowned, shaking his head. "Yeah, because aliens are the obvious answer," he muttered under his breath.
Still, he couldn't ignore the familiarity in the descriptions of swirling lights and strange sensations. His fingers hovered for a moment before typing:
"Has anyone experienced a force inside them that feels like… a storm? Like it's trying to escape?"
He hit post and stared at the screen. Almost immediately, responses came in:
"Sounds like you're watching too much sci-fi."
"Have you tried grounding crystals? Works wonders for me."
Lucas closed the tab, his frustration growing.
"What's the point if no one knows anything real?" he muttered.
Determined, he refined his search: "scientific explanation for internal energy surges."
This led him to an article on rare neurological conditions.
The phrases "electrical misfires in the brain" and "unusual bioelectric activity" stood out.
Lucas read every word, even though it didn't completely match what he was experiencing.
Another link detailed studies on people who claimed to generate static electricity beyond normal levels, their bodies becoming charged enough to disrupt electronics.
Lucas glanced at his computer tower and remembered the time last week when it had inexplicably shut off while he was nearby.
He leaned closer to the screen, his pulse quickening. "Is that what this is? Just electricity?" he wondered aloud. It felt… wrong.
The vortex wasn't just static or a misfire. It was alive, moving, like it had a will of its own.
Finally, he searched: "ancient myths about internal power."
A long-forgotten text popped up, archived on a barely functioning university website. The translation was crude, but the story it told hit closer to home than anything else:
"There is a storm born within the chosen, their veins coursing with the rage of the gods. This storm may create, destroy, or consume, depending on the bearer's will—or their lack of it."
Lucas sat back, his chest tightening. The page didn't explain where the story came from or how much truth it held, but the parallels were undeniable. His heart thudded in his ears.
The faint hum of his computer seemed louder now, almost electric. He closed the tab and stared at the dark window once more. His reflection stared back, and for the first time, he let the fear seep in.
What if this wasn't just something inside him? What if it was something waiting?