STARLIGHT UNBOUND by Deus Ex Machina - HTML preview

STARLIGHT UNBOUND

like... I was floating, outside of my body. Everywhere and nowhere. And then... it came back. It shot back into me like a shockwave.”

His voice cracked, frustration creeping into his tone. “I don’t know what’s happening to me, Lyra. I don ’t...”

His words trailed off, his hands trembling. Lyra measured her thoughts, searching his face. “Is this the first time it’s happened?”

Lucien hesitated, his throat tight. He shook his head. “No.”

“Then start from the beginning. What else aren’t you telling me?”

Lucien let out a sigh, his head dropping into his hands. He didn ’t want to say it out loud. Saying it made it real – made him feel even more unstable.

But he didn ’t have a choice. Not now. “It started after the exhibition. After I met you.”

Lyra ’s brows knitted together, but she didn’t interrupt. “It started with some kind of energy experience the day after the exhibition. After meeting you. It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. Then the visions. Experiences. It’s like... the world isn’t solid anymore. Like there’s something underneath it, something I’m supposed to see.”

He tried to steady his breath. “I’ve felt it more and more, especially when I close my eyes. Like... I’m not supposed to be here. Like the universe is trying to draw me somewhere else.”

Lyra stayed quiet as she processed his words. “Somewhere? Like what?”

Lucien shook his head, his voice just above a whisper. “I don’t know. But I’m afraid it’s somewhere I can’t take you.”

The silence that followed was charged with unspoken fears.

Lyra shifted closer, taking his hand in hers. “You don’t have to take me anywhere. But whatever this is, you’re not going it alone. Don’t hold out on me.”

Her words settled over him. He squeezed her hand. “I’ll try.”

Lucien lay back down, his body still trembling from the experience. Every now and then his body tensed as an aftershock took hold.

Lyra stayed close, her hand caressing his arm as though to anchor him.

As he drifted into an uneasy sleep, the voice from earlier returned – gentle and distant, but unmistakable: “The cracks are opening. Step through.”

Lucien was aware of his breathing as the words echoed through his mind. What happens when I do?

His breathing slowed. The event that had gripped his body moments ago seemed to melt away, leaving him sunk deep into the mattress. Lyra kept her hand on his arm, feeling the rise and fall of his breathing beneath the blanket.

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