Anomaly

Chapter 20 -Resonance

Elias woke with his heart pounding, the air trembling faintly around him.

It wasn’t a dream. He knew the difference now — nightmares left sweat on his skin, but this… this left the world itself shaking.

The hum roared through his chest, louder than it had ever been, pulling him upright against the alley wall. His breath came fast, ragged, his hands trembling as if some invisible current ran straight through them.

And beneath it, sharper than panic, clearer than fear:

Mara.

He felt her as if she were beside him, whispering his name. Not memory, not imagination. Real.

The connection cut deep, threading through his bones. He pressed a hand to his chest, trying to smother it, but the resonance pulsed harder, matching the rhythm of a heartbeat that wasn’t his own.

He staggered out of the