Mara Voss had spent years buried in dusty archives, piecing together the remnants of lost civilizations. She had always been drawn to the forgotten, the stories buried beneath layers of time. Her latest research had led her to a civilization few had ever heard of—one that had vanished without explanation.
Her small home, nestled on the outskirts of a quiet town, was filled with books, scattered notes, and maps marked with faded ink. The world outside barely intruded on her solitude, and she preferred it that way. She lived in a rhythm of research and routine, diving deep into the past while keeping the present at bay.
Then, one evening, as she was reading an old manuscript, something changed.
At first, it was subtle. The text she had been poring over, a historical record from the 1700s, contained a passage she had memorized. She had read it a dozen times before, but now—now it was different. A name had changed. A key event was missing.
She blinked, shaking her head. She must have been tired.
Yet, when she compared it to her notes, the shift was undeniable. The text had rewritten itself.
A chill ran down her spine.
Mara tried to rationalize it. Maybe she had misremembered. Maybe there was another version of the text she had overlooked. But no—every copy, every note, every record had shifted.
And then, just as she was beginning to question her own mind, the accident happened.
She had gone out to clear her thoughts, taking her car along a familiar winding road. The headlights carved a path through the darkness, the world outside blurred by light rain.
Then—
A flicker.
It was as if time itself had hiccuped. One moment, she was gripping the wheel, the road stretching ahead. The next, something was in front of her. A shape. A presence.
Her instincts screamed, and she swerved—too late.
The impact sent her world spinning. The screech of metal, the shattering of glass. And then, just before everything went black, she saw something impossible.
The trees around her flickered. The road shifted. Shadows stretched unnaturally, bending into forms that shouldn't exist.
And then—nothing.
Mara Voss lost consciousness.
When she woke, everything had changed.
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