Chapter 62: A Glimpse of the Future

Eldridge Falls was that sort of place-the kind of town that always clung to the past. The curving streets, the older buildings-even the waterfall itself appeared from another time. Not today, though. Today was going to be rather different. "You're sure it's safe?" Emma asked, standing outside a small workshop on the outskirts of town. Above the door, the creaking of a wooden sign in the light breeze held *Harper Inventions*, though few had paid it much mind up until now. Inside, young Harper Greene was hunched over a cluttered workbench, goggles perched on his head, his hands moving in a blur to adjust the final pieces on some strange machine. Gleaming, the metal whirred with spinning parts, soft blue lights pulsating to a weird cadence; it was nothing like anything Emma had seen. "It's more than safe," said Harper, exuberance spilling from his voice. "It's the future." He stood next to Emma, crossing his arms over his chest, furrowing his brow. "Yeah, well, the last time someone said that it didn't go so well for this town.". He might as well not have spoken; Harper was deep in the thing before him. She had known Harper for years: a quiet, brilliant kid, always fiddling with gadgets and dreams of a better world. Yet this was different, this machine could change everything, and that thought was as unnerving as it was intriguing to her. What does it do?" Emma said, moving closer. The workshop was thick with smells of oil and metal, the thrum of the electricity whispering against her ears. Harper stood tall and grinned wide. "It taps into the energy of the town." Emma furrowed her brow. "What do you mean? "I've read about the history of Eldridge Falls, about the paranormal, the freaky shit that's happened here," Harper said. "There's something about this place-something powerful. I think it's a type of energy-something that's been here for centuries. This machine harnesses it." Julian shook his head. "You're talking magic. Can you control that? Harper's eyes sparkled. "It's not magic. It's just science. The world just hasn't caught up yet." A shiver ran down Emma's spine. She knew altogether too well the history of this town-the dark forces that had played for so many years. Yet could it be possible that Harper might be right? Might there be some means whereby such a power could be harnessed for good? "What are you going to do with it?" she asked, caution a little more marked in her voice. "I am going to share it with the world," Harper said, a whip of defensiveness lacing her tone. "It can help solve almost every problem-energy deficiency, environmental catastrophes. It can change it all." "And it could destroy it all," Julian snorted. Harper shot him a glance. "Not if we use it right. This is a gift, something we've been given. We can't just ignore it." Emma bit her lip. There were sides to both arguments. Harper's invention had the power to do great things, but the risk was just as enormous. Eldridge Falls had already been through so much; could they afford to take another gamble? I wanna believe you, Harper," she said slowly. "But you gotta understand why people are scared. This town's got a history of. Things go wrong when people try to mess with forces they don't fully understand." Harper's face gentled. "I know. But it's different this time. I've been careful. I've studied every angle, and run every test. This is our chance to take charge of our future. Before Emma could respond, the door to the workshop burst open and Grace sprinted in, her face pink with urgency. "You guys need to come outside," she huffed, barely finding her breath. "Something's happening." Julian and Emma exchanged a concerned glance before running out the door, close at Harper's heels. As they emerged onto the street, Emma's heart simply stopped. Above Eldridge Falls, the sky seethed-dark clouds churning overhead, casting the town in strange, shadowed light. Whipped by the wind, the trees seemed to race and the distant roar of the waterfall sounded louder, angrier. "What is that?" Harper breathed. Emma swallowed hard. She had seen some weird stuff in her life, but this was somehow different. It was as though the town itself was responding to something powerful and ancient that had been disturbed. Julian swore under his breath. "It's the energy. Harper, whatever you've done-it's waking something up." "I didn't do anything!" Harper protested. "The machine isn't even turned on yet!" But this time, Emma was not that convinced. Timely, because poor Harper had been working on his invention for months now, and right when he's about to show it off, the town starts acting up like this. Was it his invention that somehow triggered something? They were standing right in the middle of the street, watching as townspeople began to gather, staring upwards at the sky in confusion and fear. Whispers ran through the crowd as people muttered about old legends and dark forces. "We need to shut it down," Julian said firmly, tugging Harper's shoulder. "Whatever you built, it's connected with this. You need to stop it before things get worse." He shook his head. His face was white. "It can't be. I haven't even turned the machine on yet. This. This is something else." Emma's mind reeled. Okay, so Harper hadn't caused the weird occurrences. But then what? And more importantly, what were they to do now? None had time for reaction; a deafening crack resounded through the air, and the earth beneath their feet began to jerk up and down with a sudden violence. Emma lunged and reached for her balance against a building nearby. The crowd gasped as panic tore through the streets-just when the shaking got worse. Then, in a blinding flash of light, the sky above town ripped open. Emma's eyes blinked hard as her mind scrambled to clutch at something the same as the scene unfolded before her. A huge churning vortex had yawned suddenly open in the sky and pulsed with some bizarre unnatural bluish light; the whooping wind roared through the streets while the earth kept shuddering beneath their feet. "What is that?" Grace whispered; it was hardly audible over the cacophony. "I don't know," Emma said, her heart jackrabbiting in her chest. "But whatever it is, it's coming." Harper's face was white as paper, staring up into the vortex, his voice shaking. "It's not supposed to happen like that," he muttered. "It wasn't part of the plan." "Harper!" Julian shouted, yanking on his arm. "We have to stop this. Now!" Yet Harper didn't budge, something seemed to freeze him in his tracks, his eyes nailed up into the churning vortex with near equal measures of terror and fascination. "We're too late," Emma whispered in a hushed tone. "It's already begun." The ground cracked beneath their feet, and a rumbling noise started to echo around the town. Emma felt her heart jump up into her throat as she recognized the sound-inhuman was the same sound they had heard in the town hall not such a long while ago. "It's here," she stammered, shaking. And then, as if at a signal from her words, a great shadow leapt from the centre of the vortex, falling like some evil dream across the town. From that came a great, dark shape over Eldridge Falls, its presence abhorrent as the dark pall fell across the town. And then the first flicker of light crackled the air, and Emma's breath caught in her throat as something beyond human comprehension arrived.