The next morning, the city acted like nothing had happened.
No news reports. No sirens. No mention of a battle that leveled half a street and lit up the sky like fireworks. Elena scoured every channel and forum she could find before school. Still nothing. Not even a tweet.
She wasn't crazy. She saw it.
Her hand still trembled when she thought about the blast — the shimmer, the energy that rippled through the air like liquid lightning.
And the way one of them looked at her, just for a moment. Like he'd seen something in her.
She tucked the thought away as she walked the cracked sidewalk toward school, wind tugging at her jacket. Around her, people shuffled past, eyes on phones or the pavement. All too normal.
Too silent.
________________________________________
Southridge High was a place where dreams came to get graded, then sent home with a warning slip. Elena barely made it through first period. She couldn't stop bouncing her knee under the desk, couldn't stop replaying the fight in her head — every crackle of energy, every deflected blow.
By lunch, she couldn't take it anymore.
She left campus through the back fence, skipping school for the first time in months.
Not because she wanted to run away.
Because she needed answers.
________________________________________
✦✦✦
The local public library was nearly empty. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead as she sat hunched at one of the old computers, searching everything she could think of:
"Strange energy fight last night."
"Blue explosion downtown Southridge."
"Shimmer in air / people glowing?"
Nothing. The algorithm buried it.
But one link — on page 9 of results — caught her eye:
"What They Don't Want You to Know About Flux: Unregistered Abilities, Hidden Factions, and Echo Incidents Explained"
Posted by user: N3xusDrop
Elena hesitated. It looked sketchy. But her pulse quickened.
She clicked.
The page was dark, plain text on black. No ads. No fluff. Just a list of files, article titles, and one message pinned to the top:
"If you're here, you've probably seen something. You're not crazy. But now you're in it."
She opened the first file:
"Flux 101: What It Is and Why It Matters"
Flux is the current of universal energy that flows through all living things.
Most never tap into it beyond instinct: adrenaline, instinct, gut feelings.
But some learn to channel it — enhancing their bodies, sensing danger, deflecting force.
And the rare few awaken their Flux into something more — unique, personal abilities tied to emotion and identity.
Elena's breath caught. So it's real.
Flux doesn't appear on cameras. It disrupts tech and wavelengths we don't fully understand.
That's why there's no footage, no media. Flux fights don't go viral.
They vanish like they never happened. But they're real. We see them.
And if you're starting to see them too, it means your Flux is waking up.
She leaned back, heart pounding. Waking up?
It wasn't just adrenaline that filled her during the explosion. It was something… deeper. Like part of her was reaching toward the chaos — not with fear, but with recognition.
________________________________________
"Looking for ghosts?"
The voice startled her. Elena spun in her chair.
An old man stood by the graphic novels aisle, wearing a battered gray hoodie and a crooked smile. His eyes, though — they were clear. Too clear.
"I—sorry?" she asked.
He walked closer, slowly. "You're not the first one to come looking. After the first shimmer, they always come here. To learn."
"You're… talking about Flux."
His smile didn't fade. "I'm talking about you. You've started seeing the current, haven't you?"
Elena stood up, instinctively placing the chair between them. "Who are you?"
"Just a dusty man with nothing left to lose," he said. "But I know what you saw. And I know that feeling. Like the world doesn't fit anymore. Like something inside you is bending."
She stared at him. "What do you want?"
"To offer you something no one else will," he said, his voice low now. "Truth. Training. A way to survive what's coming."
"Why me?"
"Because you saw the shimmer and didn't look away."
He turned to leave. "If you're serious, come to the abandoned gym on Birch Street. Midnight. But come alone. And leave your fear at the door."
Before she could respond, he vanished behind the shelves.
Elena stood there for a long time, the sound of her heartbeat louder than the library buzz.
________________________________________
✦✦✦
That night, Elena lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
The world outside her window looked the same.
But she didn't.
She felt it now — a hum beneath her skin, like static. A low current waiting to surge.
She thought of Marco. Of how powerless she'd felt during the explosion. How she'd frozen while others fought. How she couldn't let that happen again.
Midnight.
Her phone chimed once. A message from a number she didn't recognize:
"Awakening begins when the lie ends."