Chapter 5: Echoes of What Could Have Been
Evelyn felt the weight of the alien’s words settling in her chest. The reality they now occupied felt fluid, like water slipping between her fingers, impossible to hold or predict. With every step they took toward the distant towers, the air around them seemed to warp—shifting colors, flickering between familiar and foreign landscapes, pulling at the edges of her mind. She could sense that they were no longer just moving through space but through layers of time itself.
Max walked beside her, his gaze darting around as if trying to grasp something solid in this shifting world. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out at first. When he finally spoke, his voice was strained, tight with the anxiety they had both been carrying since they first stepped through the threshold.
“I don’t like this, Evelyn. This place—it’s not just alien, it’s wrong. Nothing feels… real.”
Evelyn glanced at him, her own unease mirrored in his eyes. But she knew there was no turning back. “I know,” she whispered. “But we have to keep going. There’s something here, something that can help us fix everything. We have to find it.”
Max nodded, though he didn’t seem convinced. They walked in silence for a while, each step echoing in the vast, empty space around them. The ground beneath them pulsed, like the beat of a heart, but every time they looked down, the surface was different—changing from grass to stone, from smooth earth to shimmering crystal.
As they neared the towering structures, the air thickened, as if an unseen force was closing in around them. The alien—who had been walking ahead—turned to them, its glowing eyes casting a soft light that reflected off the strange landscape.
“Not all worlds are as they seem,” it said. “Some dimensions hold more than just memories. They hold the echoes of lost possibilities. Be cautious. There are things here that could bring you face to face with your past.”
Evelyn frowned, her stomach tightening. The thought of facing her past in this place felt like a nightmare she couldn’t wake from. “What do you mean?” she asked. “What kind of things?”
The alien didn’t answer immediately. Instead, it continued forward, its steps leaving traces of light in the air. Evelyn and Max followed, but the weight of its warning lingered heavily between them.
After a few moments, they reached the base of one of the massive towers. It loomed over them, impossibly tall, its surface shifting in a way that made it appear as if it were growing and contracting. Evelyn reached out instinctively, placing her hand on the cool surface. The moment she made contact, the ground beneath them trembled. A low hum reverberated through the air, like the sound of an ancient machine powering up.
The alien turned toward them. “It is time. This is where your journey will take a turn.”
Before Evelyn could respond, the world around them split open.
One moment, they were standing in the shadow of the tower, and the next, everything vanished in a flash of brilliant white light. Evelyn’s heart skipped a beat, and she reached out instinctively to Max, feeling his hand clasp hers in the void.
Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the light faded, and they found themselves in a completely different place.
The landscape was familiar but twisted. It was her childhood home—a house she hadn’t seen in years—only this version was wrong. The house appeared both decayed and pristine, as if it were suspended in time. The windows were broken, but the curtains still hung, undisturbed. The grass in the yard was overgrown but perfectly trimmed in places, and there was an eerie stillness in the air.
“No,” Evelyn whispered, stepping backward. “This isn’t real.”
Max looked at her, his brow furrowed. “Evelyn, what is this place?”
Evelyn swallowed hard, trying to make sense of the scene before her. It was her home, yes, but it wasn’t. It was a distorted memory, like something that had been pulled from the depths of her past and stretched across the fabric of this strange reality.
As if in response to her thoughts, the alien spoke. “This is what I meant. The dimensions here don’t just overlap. They merge with your memories. Your regrets, your hopes, your past lives—they all exist here.”
A figure appeared in the doorway of the house—a woman with familiar features, her face soft with age and wisdom. It was her mother, standing there as if waiting for her to return. But Evelyn’s heart sank at the sight.
“You can’t trust this place,” the alien warned. “What you see may not be the truth.”
Evelyn’s throat constricted as she approached the doorway, torn between fear and longing. She hadn’t seen her mother in years—not since the accident that had shattered their family. The memories of that time—of the pain and grief—came rushing back, overwhelming her.
Her mother stepped forward, her arms open, a warm smile on her face. “Evelyn, you’ve finally come home.”
Evelyn froze. This was impossible. Her mother was gone. She had been gone for so long. And yet, here she stood, as if nothing had ever changed.
“No,” Evelyn whispered, her voice breaking. “You’re not real.”
But the illusion didn’t fade. It persisted, pressing in on her like a dream that she couldn’t wake from. Her mother’s smile only grew wider.
“Come inside, Evelyn. Come home. There’s nothing out there for you anymore. Only here, in the safety of your past, can you find peace.”
Evelyn’s heart ached with the pull of the memory, but she knew deep down it wasn’t real. This was not the home she had left behind. This was the echo of a life that could have been. A life that, for better or worse, she had moved on from.
Max stepped forward, pulling her gently by the arm. “Evelyn, we need to go. This isn’t real. You know it.”
Evelyn nodded, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. With one last look at the false reality of her mother, she turned and walked away. The illusion shimmered and rippled, as if the world was made of liquid glass, distorting with each step.
The alien watched them silently, its face unreadable. When they had moved far enough away, it spoke again, its voice softer this time. “In this place, you will be tested. You will face the things you’ve lost, the things you’ve regretted. But remember—what’s lost cannot be recovered. What’s gone is gone.”
Evelyn nodded, wiping her eyes as the landscape around them shifted again, this time leaving behind the remnants of her childhood. They had passed the first test. But Evelyn knew that there were more to come.
And each step, each choice they made, would take them deeper into the unknown.
