It was night, and Álex walked through the streets of his city, still reflecting on his art and his apparent lack of direction.
He entered a nearby subway station, hurried down the stairs, and stopped in front of the tracks, waiting for the train that would take him home, absorbed in watching the flickering lights and the graffiti on the walls.
He took a worn guitar pick out of his pocket, an object of immense sentimental value, it had been a gift from his late father, the man who had taught him how to play the guitar.
He rolled it between his fingers as he waited for the train.
That pick was his only tangible memory of his father, it was his connection to the past, to his passion for music.
Suddenly, an accidental bump from a passerby sent it flying from his hands.
The pick fell, bounced against the concrete, and disappeared into the shadows of the tracks.
He felt something in his chest come to a halt.
That impact had been a random act, but it would trigger a chain of events that would change his destiny forever.
—No! I can't lose it —he told himself.
He quickly looked around and, ignoring the warning shouts of some passengers, crossed the barrier and climbed down onto the tracks.
Adrenaline consumed him as he frantically searched between the rails, illuminated by the intermittent flicker of the tunnel lights.
He didn't care about anything else. His decision, impulsive and desperate, pushed him to defy danger, to risk everything for a single, precious object.
As he moved forward, a strange sensation washed over him.
The smell of burnt ozone mixed with a metallic taste, it felt as if the air itself were poisoned.
He felt the hairs on his skin stand on end.
A little farther ahead, between the rails, a strange glow emerged from a crack in the ground, and he saw that the pick was there, right at the edge of the radiance.
He approached carefully, picked it up, and at that instant, a bolt of lightning descended like a furious serpent, striking the tracks as a blinding light filled the space.
It seemed as if the metal were vibrating, twisting in on itself.
The glow from the crack intensified, expanding like a flower, opening a luminous breach.
Many people in the station screamed.
A vortex of light, like a gigantic worm, wrapped around him completely before he could react.
Moments later, the thunder arrived, and an overwhelming roar shook the place.
The tunnel vanished.
Everything turned into chaos, light, noise, and emptiness.
Time stretched.
Each second felt like an eternity, then collapsed, as if folding in on itself.
The subway lights flickered in a strange sequence, shifting from a sickly green to an intense red.
Reality faded away completely.