The Ascension.

THE ASCENSION

THE ASCENSION

Chapter One — The Man Nobody Saw

Lewis stood outside the house long after everyone had gone to sleep.

The neighborhood was quiet, but his mind wasn't.

For twenty-one years, he had watched people move forward while he seemed trapped in the same place. Friends found jobs. Others went back to school. Some built relationships, bought phones, started businesses.

Lewis had nothing to show.

At least, that was what everyone believed.

He looked down at his hands.

They were empty.But for the first time, he didn't see weakness in them.

He saw possibility.

Behind him, his phone vibrated.

One message.

You really think you can become something?

Lewis stared at the screen.

For a moment, anger rose inside him.

Then he smiled.

Not because the message was funny.

Because it reminded him of something.

Everyone had already decided who he was.

A failure.

A disappointment.

A young man who had wasted every opportunity given to him.

Fine.

Let them believe it.

Lewis locked the phone and slipped it into his pocket.

He wasn't going to explain himself anymore.

He wasn't going to beg anyone to believe in him.

If he wanted a different life, he would have to build it quietly.Brick by brick.

Day by day.

And if the world refused to give him a place—

**he would create one.**