Chapter 12: The Drive Home
Emily leaned back in her seat, one hand steady on the wheel, the other tapping lazily against the dashboard. The early morning sun stretched across the horizon, casting long streaks of gold over the road. The radio played low in the background, some forgettable pop song filling the silence.
Her mother's call at 2 AM still echoed in her head.
"Come home. Now. Be careful on the road."
No explanations, no details—just her mother's voice, tight with worry.
Emily had barely taken the time to throw on a hoodie and jeans before grabbing her keys. The rush of the night had left her running on coffee fumes, hair messy, and mind foggy.
She yawned, blinking against the rising light.
Her family rarely called her for anything urgent. They had a habit of handling things quietly, especially when it came to her father's business. The fact that they'd asked her to come home meant something was definitely up—probably something annoying.
Still, if it were that serious, the security guys would've been the ones calling—not her mom.
It was probably nothing.
At least, that's what she kept telling herself.
---
Somewhere around dawn, the first gate appeared.
She almost missed it—just a ripple of faint blue light hovering in the distance, blending into the morning haze.
At first, she thought it was some kind of roadside tech installation—maybe a holographic ad or a malfunctioning billboard.
Weird, sure. But not world-ending.
As she passed, she spotted a couple of people standing nearby, taking photos and pointing at it. No panic. No police tape.
Emily arched an eyebrow, but her exhaustion shoved curiosity to the back of her mind.
"Probably some influencer stunt," she muttered, turning up the radio.
---
About two hours later, she saw another one.
Bigger this time—almost twice her height—hovering in the middle of an empty parking lot.
A handful of people stood around it, some recording, others keeping their distance.
Nobody seemed scared. Just… curious.
Emily slowed the car slightly, flicking her gaze between the shimmer and the crowd.
The way the light rippled reminded her of heat waves on asphalt—except the air around it felt colder, even from inside the car.
Her fingers tapped against the steering wheel.
Weird.
But not dangerous.
If this was some kind of PR stunt, it was definitely working.
---
By the time she reached the outskirts of her family's estate around 10:30 AM, she'd seen at least five more gates scattered along the road.
Each one was slightly different—some smaller, some shimmering brighter—but none of them were causing chaos.
No police blockades. No breaking news.
It was like the world hadn't quite decided how to feel about them yet.
The security guards at the gate barely glanced at her as she drove past, their expressions the same bored indifference as always.
If they knew anything, they weren't showing it.
---
Her mother was waiting in the living room, wrapped in a thin cardigan with her hair pinned back, a half-empty cup of tea steaming on the table beside her.
"You're late," she said without looking up.
Emily dropped her bag by the door, stretching out her stiff joints.
"I drove all night. You're lucky I made it without passing out."
Her mother made a small noise, flipping through the morning newspaper. The front page had nothing about the gates—just politics, finance, and some celebrity scandal.
Emily frowned.
"You called me home over nothing or…?"
Her mother finally glanced up, eyes flicking toward the window.
"You saw them?"
Emily blinked.
"The weird blue things? Yeah. What's the big deal?"
Her mother set the paper down carefully.
"No one knows what they are. They started appearing last night."
Emily leaned against the wall, crossing her arms.
"Okay…? So why are you acting like we're about to get invaded by aliens?"
Her mother sighed, rubbing her temple.
"It's not that serious. The government's saying they're some kind of natural phenomenon—magnetic fields or atmospheric anomalies."
Emily's eyebrow twitched.
"You're worried because of magnetic fields?"
Her mother shot her a look—the same one she'd been perfecting since Emily was a kid.
"People have been walking into them."
Emily tilted her head. "And?"
"They don't come back out."
The words hung in the air, heavier than she'd expected.
Emily's stomach did a little flip.
Okay… that was weird.
But there was no panic on her mother's face. No wild theories or doomsday nonsense.
Just quiet concern.
Emily shifted her weight, glancing toward the window.
"Maybe they come out somewhere else."
"Maybe."
Neither of them sounded convinced.
---
The rest of the morning passed in uneasy silence.
Her father was out—probably meeting with some business partner who definitely didn't pay taxes. Elijah was nowhere to be seen, which was both expected and a relief.
Emily sat by the window, phone in hand, mindlessly scrolling through the news.
Nothing.
The gates were barely making headlines.
A few social media posts, some scattered reports buried under politics and celebrity gossip. The official explanation was still natural phenomena—nothing to worry about.
Typical.
If the government didn't want people to panic, they'd pretend nothing was happening until it became impossible to ignore.
---
Her phone buzzed.
Bright: You alive?
Emily's lips twitched.
Me: Alive. Why? Miss me?
The reply came faster than she expected.
Bright: No. Just checking if I'm free from suffering.
She snorted, tucking the phone back into her pocket.
Even when he wasn't around, that idiot still managed to get under her skin.
---
Two hours past noon, the house was too quiet.
Her mother had disappeared into her study. The security guards patrolled the grounds like it was any other day.
But Emily couldn't shake the feeling that something was shifting beneath the surface—like the whole world was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.
She sat by the window, staring at the faint shimmer of blue light flickering on the distant hills.
People were still loitering around the gates.
No one was coming out.
And nobody seemed to know why.
Emily tapped her fingers against the glass, biting the inside of her cheek.
Whatever was happening...
It was just getting started.