Chapter One

There are moments in life where a small twist of fate can lead to ripples that span across worlds. Unbeknownst to the young woman sleeping in bed, she’d just been put in the path of one massive wave.

Moira sprung up in bed, gasping for air. She fumbled for the lamp at her bedside, searching for the knob. Her heart beat faster as darkness encircled her, panic rising in her chest. Finally, she found the knob and twisted it on. Light flowed into the room, pushing back the shadows.

Duke lifted his head, squinting at the light that shone brightly in the room. He yawned before snuggling back up to her, resting his black snout on her waist.

She stroked his curly hair, playing with his floppy ears as she tried to slow her heart rate. The dream faded from memory. Just bits and pieces remained, a feeling of panic as some dark force swallowed her. She shivered at the memory. The nightmare had scared her to the bone, leaving the eerie feeling behind that something terrible was coming.

#

Moira sighed, turning away from her computer to face her coworker, Dan. He’d been standing behind her; arms crossed for several seconds.

“Yes? What can I do for you?” she asked.

“Can we touch base on Project Epsilon? We need to circle back to that timeline. Move the needle a bit.”

“Project Epsilon? Per my last email, that project’s already time constrained. If we push it up, we’re increasing risk.”

“This is an all-hands-on project. I think we can make it work.”

“Okay—well, we’ve discussed this as a team and with leadership several times. Leadership isn’t willing to take on that risk. We can meet as a team again, but we’re going to come to the same decision.” Moira replied, her eye twitching.

“Okay, great. Can you set that up for me? Thanks!” he said, smiling as he flicked some dust from his shirt and strode away.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Moira banged her head against the back of her chair. She couldn’t stand all this corporate bullshit. It was the same thing over and over again—the same conversations filled with corporate lingo that made her head feel like it was going to explode. Every meeting was laced with passive aggressiveness.

She’d only been here for two years. Her first job out of college. At first, it’d been exciting. Now, she just felt drained.

She’d been the realistic one, just like her mom had wanted her to be, but her dad’s voice wouldn’t stop whispering in her ear that she should be going after her dreams. The only problem, she didn’t have any dreams.

She looked back at her computer, her eyes beginning to water, and her chest tightened. Moira wiped her eyes and pushed away any thoughts of her dad. She finished off her last email and shut down her computer. Her slumped shoulders straightened as she left the building. A weight lifted off her. It was Friday. She was free.

Duke was waiting for her when she got home. His tail wagged frantically as she opened the door to her apartment.

“WooOOooOOoo!” Duke demanded.

He jumped up on his back legs to chastise her for leaving him alone. Duke was a large, black, standard poodle, whose strong personality took up a lot of space in the small apartment.

“Okay, okay. Just give me a second. Let me change, then we can go on your walk, jeesh.”

Moira dug through the pile of clothes lying in a heap on the ground, finding an athletic top and a pair of leggings, tugging them on quickly. She grabbed a hair tie from her wrist, pulling her wavy brown hair into a ponytail. Duke continued following her, huffing in displeasure. She yanked on her tennis shoes, grabbed Duke’s leash from the hook next to the door, and fastened it around his neck.

“So impatient.” she said as they walked out the door.

Duke barked at her, turning his nose up and pulling them both forward. Moira stumbled forward as he yanked her toward their usual walk through the neighborhood. The weather was turning, with fall right on the horizon. A pleasant breeze blew through the trees, rustling the leaves.

It was a beautiful day, but she didn’t notice. To her, the world felt like an overexposed picture, dulled and incomplete. It’d felt that way for some time. Really, everything felt that way, everything except Duke. He was the single bright light in her world.

Moira watched as a squirrel ran across the street, not paying attention, as something appeared in front of her.

Duke barked, and she turned, her eyes widening as she saw the giant blue surging portal in front of them.

She stumbled, her foot hitting the uneven edge of the sidewalk, and she tripped. Falling forward into the blue mist, dragging Duke with her.