Chapter 1: The Storm
Evan Cross had spent the entire day looking forward to doing absolutely nothing.
It had been one of those Mondays.
His alarm went off at 6:30, he hit snooze twice, nearly forgot his homework, and spent most of first period trying not to fall asleep.
By lunch, he was already thinking about going home.
By the final bell, he was practically counting the seconds.
The only thing standing between Evan and his bed was baseball practice.
He didn’t hate baseball. Actually, he loved it.
He just didn’t love baseball on a Monday.
Especially after six hours of school.
“Cross!”
Evan looked up from his locker.
His best friend, Marcus Reed, was standing a few feet away, holding a baseball glove under one arm.
“You coming?”
“Unfortunately.”
Marcus laughed.
“You say that every day.”
“Because it’s true every day.”
“You’re the one who wanted to make varsity.”
Evan shut his locker.
“Yeah, and apparently past-me was an idiot.”
“You’re definitely an idiot.”
“Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
The two walked outside together.
The afternoon sky was gray, but neither of them paid much attention to it.
The weather app on Evan’s phone said there was a thirty percent chance of rain.
Thirty percent wasn’t enough to cancel practice.
At least, that’s what Evan thought.
Practice started normally.
Ground balls.
Fly balls.
Batting practice.
Running.
Coach yelling.
The usual.
Evan played right field.
He wasn’t the fastest player on the team, and he wasn’t the strongest hitter either. But he was reliable.
At least, that’s what his coach always told him.
“Don’t try to be the hero,” Coach Miller said during practice. “Just make the play that’s in front of you.”
Evan liked that.
Simple.
Do your job.
Don’t make things complicated.
It was a rule that seemed pretty easy to follow.
He didn’t know how badly he was about to fail at it.
By the time practice ended, the sky had changed.
The clouds were almost black.
Thunder rolled somewhere in the distance.
Coach Miller looked toward the sky.
“Everybody pack up. Storm’s coming.”
The team started gathering their equipment.
Marcus tossed Evan his water bottle.
“You getting a ride?”
“My mom’s picking me up.”
“Want to come over afterward?”
“Can’t.”
“Why?”
“Homework.”
Marcus stared at him.
“You?”
Evan laughed.
“Shut up.”
“Since when do you do homework immediately?”
“I don’t.”
“Exactly.”
Evan shoved his glove into his bag.
“I’ll text you.”
“Sure.”
Marcus started walking away, then turned.
“Hey, Evan?”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve been weird lately.”
Evan raised an eyebrow.
“Weirder than usual?”
“A little.”
Evan smiled.
“I’m fine.”
Marcus didn’t look convinced.
“Okay.”
He walked away.
Evan watched him for a second.
Then thunder cracked overhead.
He looked up.
“Yeah, I’m definitely getting home.”
His mom texted him.
Running late. Ten minutes.
Evan sighed.
He sat on the bench outside the field house.
Rain started falling.
At first, it was barely anything.
A few drops.
Then more.
Then a lot more.
Evan pulled his hood over his head.
Another message appeared.
Traffic is awful. Stay inside if you can.
Evan typed back:
I’m good.
Then the power went out.
The entire field went black.
Evan stood.
“Seriously?”
The lights around the baseball field had shut off.
The parking lot was dark.
Even the scoreboard was dead.
For a moment, everything was silent.
Then—
BOOM.
Lightning struck somewhere nearby.
Evan jumped.
“Okay.”
He pulled his phone out.
One percent battery.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
He tried calling his mom.
No signal.
He walked toward the field house.
Then stopped.
Something was glowing.
At the far end of the field, beyond the outfield fence, was the power station.
Evan had seen it hundreds of times.
Usually, it was just a fenced-off collection of electrical equipment.
Tonight, however, there was a strange blue-white glow coming from inside.
Evan stared.
Another flash of lightning lit up the sky.
The power station exploded with light.
Evan’s phone screen turned completely white.
He dropped it.
“What the—”
The sound came next.
A deep metallic crack that seemed to shake the ground.
Evan took a step backward.
Then the lightning came down.
It struck the power station.
For a fraction of a second, everything disappeared.
The rain.
The field.
The trees.
The buildings.
Everything became white.
Evan felt something hit him.
Not like being struck by a car.
Not like falling.
It was more like the entire world had suddenly pushed against him.
His feet left the ground.
He couldn’t hear anything.
Couldn’t see anything.
His body felt weightless.
Then came the pain.
A blinding flash.
And nothing.
Evan woke up on the grass.
Rain hit his face.
He opened his eyes.
The storm was still going.
He tried to move.
His arms worked.
His legs worked.
He sat up.
“What…”
He looked around.
The field lights were back on.
The power station was dark.
His phone was lying several feet away.
Evan crawled over and picked it up.
The screen was cracked.
He pressed the power button.
Nothing.
“Great.”
His head hurt.
He felt dizzy.
But he was alive.
That seemed like the important part.
His mom’s car pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later.
She jumped out.
“Evan!”
“I’m okay.”
She ran toward him.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I don’t think so.”
She looked him over.
His clothes were soaked.
His hair was dripping.
There was dirt on his face.
But no obvious injuries.
His mom hugged him.
Evan stood there, confused.
“Mom…”
“I thought you were inside!”
“I was.”
“Then why are you out here?”
Evan looked toward the power station.
“I…”
He couldn’t explain it.
He didn’t remember moving.
His mom grabbed his arm.
“Come on. We’re going home.”
Evan looked back one more time.
For just a second, he thought he saw something glowing behind the fence.
Then it disappeared.
That night, Evan slept for almost fourteen hours.
When he woke up, his room was freezing.
He sat up.
His head still hurt.
He checked his phone.
It was at 3%.
He plugged it into the charger.
The screen immediately jumped to 87%.
Evan frowned.
He unplugged it.
87%.
He plugged it back in.
100%.
He stared.
“What?”
He unplugged it again.
99%.
Back in.
100%.
Evan slowly lowered the phone.
That was weird.
Really weird.
But he had a more immediate problem.
School.
By second period, Evan felt mostly normal.
Almost.
He noticed little things.
He could hear conversations from farther away.
He could see the teacher’s computer screen from the back of the classroom.
He could hear the clock ticking.
Loudly.
Really loudly.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Evan rubbed his eyes.
Maybe he was just tired.
At lunch, Marcus dropped into the seat across from him.
“You disappeared yesterday.”
“Yeah.”
“What happened?”
“Power went out.”
Marcus stared.
“That explains everything.”
“It does?”
“No.”
Evan laughed.
Marcus opened his lunch.
“You look weird.”
“Thanks.”
“I mean tired.”
“Didn’t sleep much.”
“You literally weren’t at school this morning.”
Evan froze.
“What?”
Marcus looked confused.
“Dude, it’s Wednesday.”
Evan stared at him.
“No, it’s Tuesday.”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
Evan pulled his phone out.
Wednesday.
He had slept through an entire day.
His eyes widened.
“Wait…”
Marcus leaned closer.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Evan put his phone away.
He had no idea what was happening.
Baseball practice that afternoon was the strangest practice of his life.
Evan was standing in right field when Coach Miller hit a fly ball.
Normally, it would have taken him several seconds to judge where it was going.
This time, he knew immediately.
He ran.
The ball seemed to slow down.
Evan could see the stitching.
He could see the exact angle it was traveling.
He jumped.
His glove snapped shut.
CRACK.
The force knocked him backward.
He landed.
Everyone stared.
Evan looked at his glove.
A thin line had appeared across the leather.
Coach Miller walked over.
“Nice catch.”
Evan stood.
“Thanks.”
Coach looked at the glove.
“What happened to that?”
“I don’t know.”
Marcus walked over.
“You caught that way too early.”
Evan laughed.
“Lucky.”
Marcus shook his head.
“That wasn’t luck.”
Evan didn’t answer.
Because he knew it wasn’t.
That night, Evan went into his backyard.
He wanted to test something.
He picked up a tennis ball.
Held it.
Then threw it into the air.
It went up.
Evan reached for it.
And everything changed.
The ball seemed to move through syrup.
Evan could see every rotation.
Every tiny movement.
He caught it.
The world snapped back.
Evan dropped the ball.
“What…”
He tried again.
Toss.
Catch.
Nothing.
Again.
Toss.
Catch.
Nothing.
He tried throwing it higher.
Nothing.
Then he concentrated.
The feeling returned.
The world slowed.
Evan’s heart started pounding.
He moved his hand.
The ball stopped in midair.
Not completely.
But almost.
Evan stared at it.
He slowly moved his hand around the ball.
The ball continued falling.
He caught it.
His breathing became heavier.
He tried again.
This time, he pushed harder.
The tennis ball shot upward.
It disappeared over the roof.
Evan stared.
“Oh.”
He ran inside.
Over the next hour, Evan tested everything.
He discovered he could move faster.
He could react faster.
He could jump farther.
He could absorb the force of moving objects.
But he couldn’t control it perfectly.
When he caught a baseball thrown at him, the ball lost almost all of its momentum.
When he touched his skateboard while it was rolling, it stopped immediately.
When he punched a tree—
He immediately regretted that one.
Evan grabbed his hand.
“OW!”
He stared at the tree.
A small crack had appeared in the bark.
His hand hurt.
But not nearly as much as it should have.
He stepped backward.
“What am I?”
His phone buzzed.
Evan froze.
Unknown number.
He opened the message.
Stop testing them.
Evan stared.
Another message appeared.
You don’t understand what happened to you.
Evan typed:
Who is this?
The response came almost immediately.
Someone who was there.
Evan’s heart started beating faster.
He typed:
At the power station?
Three dots appeared.
Then:
Yes.
Evan looked toward his bedroom window.
The backyard was dark.
Nobody was there.
Another message appeared.
You weren’t supposed to survive.
Evan stopped breathing for a moment.
Then another message.
Neither was I.
The phone went silent.
Evan stared at the screen.
He didn’t know who was sending the messages.
He didn’t know what had happened to him.
And he definitely didn’t know what was coming next.
But one thing was suddenly clear.
His normal life was over.
He just didn’t know it yet.
