Two Months Later
The changes started slowly—so small and subtle that no one seemed to notice. No one except Elmore. Plants in his backyard seemed to grow overnight, their leaves larger, their colors more vibrant. The rose bushes, which usually bloomed modestly, were now sprouting wild and thick, as if fed by some unseen energy. Grass that had once been short and manageable now needed to be cut every few days, as if it were in a race to cover the earth. Elmore also noticed the animals. Birds were more aggressive in their singing, their calls louder, more urgent. He had watched a squirrel leap from one tree to another with an agility that seemed unnatural, its movements almost too swift for his eyes to follow. Even the family’s old dog, Ditzy, seemed to have a new vitality—running faster, her senses sharper, despite her age.
The electrical grid in town had become unpredictable. Some nights, the lights flickered, and the power surged, causing appliances to whir and overheat. Other days, entire blocks would go dark, only to have the power come back stronger than before. People muttered about bad infrastructure, or the heat affecting the wires, but no one really questioned it. Technology itself was starting to behave strangely—phones glitched, cars stalled or revved without warning, and Elmore's computer had started showing strange errors that vanished before he could investigate.
The events grew stranger by the day. Objects would occasionally move out of place, and Elmore swore he saw shadows shift when no one was near them. He tried to tell himself it was just his imagination, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something fundamental was changing. The world was on the edge of a transformation, and he seemed to be the only one paying attention.
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The State Capital Trip
It was a hot afternoon when Elmore decided to take his family into the state capital for a day trip. They needed a distraction from the oddities back home, and Ash suggested a visit to the museum near the capital building. The city was alive with the usual hustle and bustle, and for a few hours, it almost felt like everything was normal again.
Edward was perched happily in his stroller, babbling about the statues and fountains they passed. Ash pointed out old architecture, laughing as she narrated little tidbits of history for Edward, who was too young to understand but giggled along with her anyway. The crowds were thick, and the sun was high, casting long shadows across the stone streets.
As they approached the towering capital building with its gleaming gold dome, Elmore felt it. A strange tugging sensation at the back of his neck—like a hook pulling at him, urging him to turn around. He stopped mid-step, his hand instinctively reaching up to rub the spot as his heart quickened. It wasn’t painful, but it was unsettling, as if something just beyond his senses was demanding his attention. Slowly, he turned his head to look at the capital building.
For a split second, it shimmered—like heat waves rising from asphalt on a summer day, only more vivid. The shapes of the building warped and bent, the colors shifting in a surreal blur. The gold dome that capped the building seemed to stretch and twist, moving in ways that defied logic. It was so fast that even the cameras tourists held up would have missed it. But Elmore saw it. His breath caught in his throat, and his senses snapped into a sharp focus he had never experienced before.
Then, it happened. The dome shifted violently downward, collapsing into the structure below it. The stone walls began to crack and crumble, and with a deafening roar, the building began to fall.
Before he could think, Elmore was moving.
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The Rush to Safety
Everything slowed down around him. The world narrowed to a series of instincts, sharp and undeniable. He grabbed Ash’s arm, yanking her out of the way just as a large chunk of debris crashed down where they had been standing. "Run!" he shouted, his voice commanding in a way he hadn’t anticipated.
pulling Edward from his stroller clutched tightly to her chest, Ash stumbled but obeyed, following Elmore as he weaved through the chaos. The ground shook beneath them as the capital building continued to collapse, sending clouds of dust and stone fragments into the air. People screamed, cars swerved, and Elmore felt his senses heighten further.
He saw a route, his mind calculating faster than he thought possible. His feet carried him through moving traffic, dodging cars with an almost unnatural precision. The air was thick with debris, but he could see clearly. They needed shelter—something solid to protect them from the falling rubble. Ahead, he spotted a large corrugated drainage pipe, its rusted metal offering a possible refuge.
“This way!” he yelled, pulling his family toward it.
Without hesitation, they dove into the pipe, the sound of falling stone and concrete muffled as they crawled through to the other side. Elmore's pulse pounded in his ears, but his focus remained razor-sharp. He had no idea how he had moved like that—how he had known the exact moment to dodge or where to go. His body had acted on its own, guided by something deeper, something beyond instinct.
They emerged on the far side of the pipe, coughing and covered in dust. The chaos still raged behind them, but Elmore’s mind was already racing toward their next move. The silver car parked a few blocks away gleamed in the distance like a beacon.
“Come on,” he urged Ash as they made their way, stumbling but alive.
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That Evening
Later that evening, they sat around the dinner table, the soft glow of the kitchen light casting shadows across the room. The usual warmth of family mealtime felt distant, replaced by a tension that neither Elmore nor Ash knew how to break. The clatter of silverware was the only sound for a while, as Edward, oblivious to the day's events, happily picked at his food. Elmore barely touched his plate, the events from earlier still playing out in his mind.
Ash glanced at him repeatedly, her brows furrowed, eyes searching for something—an answer, an explanation, anything that could make sense of what had happened. She couldn’t shake the image of Elmore moving with impossible precision through the chaos, guiding them to safety as if he'd known what was coming. Finally, the weight of her thoughts became too much to hold back.
“How did you do that?” she asked quietly, breaking the heavy silence. Her voice was soft but insistent. “How did you know where to go? It was like… like you could see everything before it happened.”
Elmore looked up at her, then back down at his plate, pushing his food around with his fork. He didn’t have an answer—at least, not one that made sense. His heart raced as he tried to make sense of the experience himself. The way his senses had sharpened, the way time had seemed to slow down, it was unlike anything he'd ever felt before. He hadn’t been thinking in the moment; it was like something else had taken over, something instinctual, beyond reason.
“I don’t know,” he finally said, his voice low and uncertain. “It just… happened. I didn’t think, I just moved. It was like I could feel everything around me, like I knew exactly what to do.” His words trailed off, and he glanced up at her, hoping for some reassurance, but Ash’s expression remained a mix of confusion and concern.
Ash shook her head slightly, her lips curving into a faint, uneasy smile. “You always did have good instincts, Elmore. Growing up in the woods, hunting, hiking… maybe it’s all those years of being out there, or…” She hesitated, her eyes briefly darkening at the thought of his past. “Maybe it’s what you went through. In jail, I mean. You had to survive, right? Maybe that’s all this is—survival instincts kicking in.”
Her words were meant to be comforting, but they didn’t settle the disquiet in Elmore’s chest. He wanted to believe it was that simple. Wanted to believe it was just muscle memory from his childhood, or hard-earned instincts from his time behind bars. But deep down, he knew it wasn’t that. It couldn’t be.
“I don’t think that’s it,” he said quietly, almost more to himself than to her. His mind raced back to the moment the capital building had shimmered—how everything had warped for just a split second, how reality itself had seemed to bend before the building collapsed. And then there was the tug, that strange pull at the back of his neck, like a signal from somewhere deep within him. He didn’t want to admit it, even to himself, but he knew something else had been at play. Something beyond survival skills, beyond instinct. “It felt… different,” he added, searching for the right words. “Like I was… tuned in to something else.”
Ash frowned, clearly unsettled by his tone. She looked at him for a long moment, trying to gauge his seriousness, then laughed softly, though there was no humor in it. “You’ve always been able to sense things that other people don’t. Maybe it’s nothing more than that.” Her voice was light, but there was a crack in her composure, a hint of worry she couldn’t hide. “I mean, we’re safe now, right? That’s all that matters.”
Elmore nodded, though her words didn’t bring him the reassurance he needed. They fell into silence again, the clink of Edward’s spoon against his plate the only sound as the toddler continued his innocent babbling, unaware of the weight of the conversation between his parents.
Ash sighed, reaching across the table to place her hand over his. “Look,” she said softly, “whatever it was, you kept us safe today. You always do. Let’s just chalk it up to that. You’ve always had good instincts, and they kicked in when we needed them.”
Elmore forced a smile, squeezing her hand gently. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Maybe you’re right.”
But even as he said the words, the tug at the back of his mind returned, faint but undeniable. It wasn’t just instincts—it couldn’t be. He could still feel it, that strange hum beneath the surface of his consciousness, like something waiting just out of reach, tugging at the edges of his perception. He didn’t understand it, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to.
Ash stood, gathering the plates and breaking the tension with the mundane sounds of cleanup. Elmore watched her, the unease in his chest deepening. She was trying to brush it off, to rationalize what had happened. And maybe she needed to—maybe they both needed to, just to get through the night. But Elmore couldn’t shake the feeling that what had happened today was just the beginning.
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Later That Night
As the house settled into the quiet hum of night, and Ash and Edward slept soundly in their beds, Elmore found himself wide awake, staring at the dark ceiling. His mind buzzed with the strange sensations from earlier—the way his senses had sharpened, the way time had stretched and slowed, allowing him to move with precision through the falling debris. He hadn’t been scared in the moment, only… aware. Hyper-aware, as if every nerve in his body had been finely tuned to the chaos around him.
He slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Ash, and padded softly into the living room. The TV was still on, the volume low. A news anchor droned in the background, her voice calm but the images on the screen stark and unsettling.
“Reports of major building collapses have been confirmed in cities across the globe,” the anchor said, her tone measured. “Authorities are investigating the causes, with some experts suggesting structural failures, while others point to potential seismic activity. No major earthquakes have been reported, however, leading some to speculate about other possibilities, including acts of terrorism or even divine intervention.”
Elmore’s eyes narrowed as he watched the screen. Images of crumbled buildings flashed across the screen—London, Tokyo, New York, all marked by inexplicable devastation. The world was grasping for explanations, trying to pin the blame on something they could understand. But Elmore knew better. He didn’t know how, but something deeper was at work here. Something beyond what anyone could see.
The anchor continued, “While no official cause has been determined, experts are urging the public to remain calm. Investigations are ongoing.”
Elmore turned off the TV, plunging the room into darkness. The hum returned, faint but ever-present, like a low vibration beneath his skin. He stood there for a long time, staring into the void, trying to make sense of the chaos that seemed to be creeping into his world. This day marked the beginning of something.
And whatever it was, Elmore knew it wouldn’t stop.