Mystery of Elyria

IMANI’S POV Pop “Yeeehhhhhh,” everyone cheered as George, my closest work team, popped a bottle of Champagne in my office to celebrate my promotion, one I had fought so hard to achieve. I’m sure my boss was devastated while writing my promotion letter because he hates me, but who cares? “Congratulations, Imani, you deserve it girl, aww i’m jealous of you, I wish I could also have an office of my own—away from all the noise,” my seatmate Sharon said, her smile widening from side to side but I could tell she wasn’t happy for me. She wanted the promotion for herself for a long time but she kept getting declined. George poured me a drink and it tasted like victory and exhaustion the moment it touched my lips. I honestly couldn’t tell the difference. “To Imani!” George said, raising his glass into the air. The cheer exploded around my new conference table, loud enough to draw curious glances from half the open-plan office beyond the glass walls. My team didn’t care who was watching. Neither did I. I let a genuine smile stretch across my face without calculating the next deadline, the next quarterly report, or the next market projection hiding behind it. I raised my flute. “To all of us,” I said. The answering roar of applause filled the room like thunder. Director of Global Strategic Partnerships. That was the new name written on my table tag, I sat in my chair, still in disbelief. I picked up my phone and sent a quick text to my daughter. “Happy birthday darling, we’ve got two celebrations today, mummy got a promotion. Get dressed once it’s 6pm, I’ll get out of work early to take you out,” the message delivered within a second and I set my phone down again to join the celebration. My new title echoed in my head like a victory bell. Twelve brutal years had led me here. Seventy-hour work weeks. Skipped vacations. I even missed my birthdays, I canceled dates just to meet up with work the next day, and I never had a stable relationship. It had all been worth it. George popped another bottle. The cork rocketed across the room and Vanessa nearly spilled her drink dodging it. “Careful!” she laughed. “That’s coming out of your bonus, Director Lee.” The room erupted again. I leaned against the polished conference table and let the warmth settle into my bones. Tomorrow I would snap back into the relentless machine I’d built myself into. But tonight—this one night—belonged to me. Vanessa nudged my shoulder. “You deserve this more than anyone, Imani.” Several heads nodded in agreement. Heat crawled up my neck. I still hated compliments. They always felt like debts I didn’t know how to repay. “Thanks,” I managed. Ryan pointed at my laptop. “So, Director Lee—when do we start conquering the next project?” Laughter rippled through the group. I shook my head, as I lowered my flute from my lips. “Hm, probably right now, I have something already prepared.” A collective groan rose. “You’re evil, we are still celebrating imani at least wait till tomorrow,” someone called out softly. “I’m promoted now,” I shot back. “It’s literally my job. Alright, listen up y’all.” Everyone settled. I opened my laptop. The familiar company logo glowed softly on the screen. “We’ve got a major project coming in next quarter. This one could push us into three new international markets. Huge right?” I clicked open the presentation and the first slide popped up—clean, and sleek. Everything looked normal. until the screen flickered. Once and twice. I frowned. “That’s weird.” The projector blinked in sync. A glitch rippled across the display like digital corruption. Ryan leaned forward. “Technical difficulties on your first night as Director? This is unlike you, you’re a perfectionist.” “Don’t jinx it,” I muttered, trying to move the mouse around but the cursor froze. Thin black lines crawled across the screen like cracks. The room grew quiet before every light in the conference room died. Darkness swallowed us whole. A few people gasped. Someone cursed under their breath. Even the city lights beyond the glass vanished—as if someone had simply erased the entire world outside. My pulse spiked. “What the hell?” The hairs on my arms rose as I looked around. Every single person in the room had frozen mid-motion. Vanessa’s champagne flute hovered halfway to her lips. Ryan was leaning forward, mouth open like he was about to say something. Someone near the door was stuck mid-blink. No one moved. No one breathed. The silence pressed against my eardrums like a physical weight. “Guys?” My voice came out small but no one responded, it was as if time had frozen and I was the only one active. “Ryan? George?” They were stiff. Fear clawed up my spine, and my breathing grew thicker like I was forcing it. I shot to my feet so fast my chair toppled backward but it never crashed. The chair simply hung suspended in mid-air, frozen like everything and everyone else. My blood turned to ice. “What the—” I stumbled backward. Then a glow appeared from my laptop screen. I spun toward my laptop. The screen blazed with unnatural white and purple marble light, turning in swirls. A single point of brilliance burned at its center, growing brighter, larger, spinning. The laptop began to vibrate violently against the table. Then a low hum filled the darkness. The light expanded into a swirling circle. The center deepened into an impossible void like an ancient portal. Wind exploded outward from the screen, blowing papers through the air. Champagne flutes shattered against walls. The heavy conference table shuddered. The frozen people remained untouched, as if they existed in a completely different moment. I threw my arm over my eyes. “What is happening?!” I screamed but I was met with a strong pull that struck me without warning—an invisible force seizing every inch of my body. My feet left the floor and I screamed as the laptop dragged me forward like a magnet. My fingers scrabbled desperately at the table edge, but nothing held. I slid across the polished floor, closer and closer to the burning light. The portal swallowed my vision. Light seared through my closed eyelids. My stomach lurched violently. Then the world started to twist before everything disappeared. For a terrifying moment, there was only the void—no sound, no light. Just endless falling and screaming before I was slammed back into existence in a whole new different world. I crashed hard onto a cement floor. Pain exploded through my shoulder and ribs. I coughed violently as I rolled onto my back, gasping. The smell of smoke, blood, burning wood, and sweat hit my nose at once like a fist. The atmosphere was filled with fear and chaos. I wasn’t in my office anymore. Not even close. The room was dark, cramped, and suffocating. A single lantern swung from a wooden beam overhead, casting wild shadows on the wall. I heard distant screams echoing outside, metal clashing violently, and men roaring at themselves. Panic seized my chest. I scrambled backward on hands and knees. “Where am I?—” A deafening roar cut me off from the almost shattered window. Several enormous men were locked in brutal combat right outside it trying to kill each other. I choked back a scream, I dared not let it out unless I was ready to die. This looked like a scene ripped straight out of a dark fantasy nightmare. Another fighter smashed a blade through a man’s shoulder. His scream tore through the air. I stumbled back, breathing in short, frantic bursts. This couldn’t be real. I had to be hallucinating. I pinched myself to be sure I wasn't sleeping but it hurt, I was awake, and everything was real. I was accidentally zapped into a world that was currently observing a brutal war. I turned away from the window quickly before I could witness another cruel s***h, heart hammering hard against my chest. I needed a way out. My eyes darted desperately toward the only door. And I froze as my eyes met with a man standing right in front of me—silently, watching me. He looked nothing like the raging fighters outside. Dark layered robes adorned with strange silver runes clung to his frame. Leather armor reinforced his chest and arms. Curved blades, daggers, and unfamiliar metallic devices hung from his belts. His dark hair fell to his shoulders, and a jagged scar carved across one cheek. But it was his eyes that pinned me in place, it was cold and assessing. They locked directly onto mine, as if he had been waiting for me. As if he knew exactly who I was. My heart slammed against my ribs. I couldn’t move or think, neither of us looked away.