Author's Note

And so it begins! I'll try to post as soon as chapters get completed, but don't expect quick updates. That being said, please give me feedback and call out any spelling mistakes I make! I don't have an editor yet and this is the first time I've actually shared anything I've written.

Prologue

The rain came down hard as he looked out the slowly closing garage doors, walking forward to the regular door just off to the side. There were many things Elias Thorneshade liked about his job, and many more he didn’t, yet this was by far the greatest perk. Walking out the door he stepped to the side and breathed a deep sigh, the pattering on his hard hat drowning out the world as he took a moment to simply exist. The scorching heat of the foundry bled off him and dispersed into non-existence, while the rain hurriedly soaked into his long but thin sleeves. The chemical stench he’d long since grown accustomed to steadily became muted. The sting of minor burns dotting his arms flaring momentarily before being eased by the water’s gentle coolness.

Moments like this are what life is all about. Between all the hurry up and wait nonsense that the country seems to be addicted to, his unhealthy lack of meaningful relationships, and the hair-pulling frustration of his coworkers. Just taking a moment to exist in the rain is what makes it all worth it, soaking into all of life’s worries and simply washing them away in rivers like blood in a clear stream. He shook it off, deciding that he’d wasted enough time. Though it was Friday, Elias still had things to do tomorrow. There’s always something that needs doing, he thought morosely. Walking across to his car at the end of the parking lot, putting away his equipment, switching the hard hat for a ball cap, and finally beginning the short drive home.

Lightning cracked across the sky, shining in lethal beauty. Thunder rolling in moments after in a furious roar, screaming its defiance against an increasingly mechanical world. As the aging SUV rolled through the town, turning off to an old road, he envied the sight. Burning brighter than the sun, yet gone in an instant. It’s a beautiful sentiment, but I’d wager it wishes it could stay longer, He thought. The wind steadily picked up, faster, and faster, forcing him to slow down to stay on the road. There hasn’t been a tornado warning, but I get the feeling that one might be forming. I should find somewhere to hunker down, he thought as he pulled onto a gravel road. He drove to an old clearing his family used to gather and parked, knowing that this hill won’t get flooded and lightning won’t be likely to hit him with this many trees.

He parked and turned, climbing to the rear of the vehicle. He instinctively lowered his passenger seats to give him space to lay down. This old BMW may have been a bit pricey, but it’s worth it for this, he thought as he pulled out a thin blanket and pillow. Laying down, he readies himself for a damn good nap. Right as he’s drifting between consciousness and dreams, he feels something is very wrong. He shoots up, fully awake, the hairs all over his body standing on end with static electricity. A loud buzzing screams around him and he looks outside to see something insane.

Bolts of electricity seemingly reach out from his car, scorching the earth around him and igniting nearby trees and plants. He looks to the car’s dashboard, and the electronics are cycling as if it was short circuiting. “What the fuck!” he shouts as it continues, “Wait, did I just get struck with lightning? Why is it still going? It should’ve stopped by now! Did Top Gear lie to me?!” The car just keeps getting hotter and hotter, physics seemingly uncaring for his knowledge of popular media based science nonsense, until something finally breaks. Elias almost missed the first second his body started burning, the voltage surging through him in galvanic glee. He felt nothing… he felt everything… perplexed understanding and stupefying comprehension of what was happening bounced within his storm seared mind. Then quick as it had begun, there was silence.