Chapter 4 – The First Fracture
The first sound wasn’t from the engines.
It wasn’t from the ship.
It came from outside.
A deep, rhythmic thud reverberated through Echo-1.
Elise’s breath hitched.
She turned toward the viewport... and her stomach clenched.
The stars were wrong.
Not drifting. Not shifting.
Breaking.
They twisted unnaturally, like reflections in shattered glass warping, distorting, reforming in ways that defied logic.
Noah’s voice was tight with disbelief. “That’s impossible. Space doesn’t… move like that.”
Ren’s weapon was already in his hand. He knew it was useless. He held it anyway. His grip steady. His jaw locked.
“Tell me this is some kind of optical illusion.”
It wasn’t.
Elise felt it before she saw it.
A weight pressing against her chest..not physical, but something deeper. It crawled beneath her skin, settling into her bones, her mind.
Then...
A sound.
A crack.
Sharp. Hollow. Wrong.
A jagged fracture split across the viewport.
But it wasn’t in the glass.
It was in space itself.
A thin, black tear. A wound in reality.
Its edges pulsed, veins of dark fire flickering like a dying heartbeat.
Noah whispered, “My God…”
Then...alarms.
Echo-1’s systems screamed. The ship lurched. Lights flickered. Panels stuttered.
Elise took a step forward. Drawn in. Despite herself.
The fracture widened.
Pulsing. Expanding.
Something stirred within it.
Not a ship. Not a planet.
Something alive.
Her breath caught.
Her instincts screamed...Don’t. Don’t look.
But she couldn’t move.
Because...
It was looking back.
The Rift had opened.
And something was coming through.
Tease Echo:
The first fracture was only the beginning.
The Rift had opened its eyes.
And now, it had seen her.
The Rift had opened its eyes.
And now, it had seen her.
