It was an ordinary day when everything changed—a simple lecture on quantum mechanics turned my world upside down. I never expected that one throwaway comment would unlock a door I had tried so hard to ignore.
The lecture hall was buzzing, the sound of whispered conversations blending with the hum of the projector. I sat in my usual spot—third row, slightly to the left, where the sunlight would hit just right around mid-morning. The professor, Dr. Yanez, stood at the front, droning on about quantum entanglement. I had heard it all before. Particles connecting across vast distances—cool, but not exactly life-changing, di ba?
“Okay, class, let’s go back to the idea of multiple dimensions. Hypothetically speaking, what if these dimensions weren’t just theoretical? What if they were accessible?” Dr. Yanez’s voice cut through my thoughts, making me sit up straighter. Wait lang… What? My pulse quickened, as if something had shifted in the air.
I blinked, trying to keep up. My mind raced back to the door in my house—the one I’d been trying to ignore for days now. A chill ran down my spine. “Accessible?” I whispered to myself, the word tasting strange on my tongue. Could the door be connected to this?
Dr. Yanez, seemingly oblivious to the ripple of curiosity spreading through the room, continued casually. “Of course, it’s all just theoretical. But imagine if we could step into those dimensions? What kind of discoveries could we make? What kind of risks could we take?”
My heart pounded in my chest as his words sank in. Discoveries? I thought, my brain scrambling to make connections. Risks. I glanced around the room, wondering if anyone else felt the electric charge in the air, but everyone seemed unfazed. How were they not freaking out?
I could feel the pull of the door again, stronger this time. Ano ba ‘to? I thought, shaking my head. Maybe I was overthinking it. But the more I tried to push the idea away, the more it gnawed at me. The door wasn’t just a random anomaly in my house—it was connected to something bigger, something that defied explanation.
The lecture ended, but my mind was still racing. As I gathered my things, I felt a strange urgency building in my chest, as if I needed to do something, to act. What if Dr. Yanez was right? What if there really were other dimensions, and I was standing on the edge of discovering one?
I couldn’t stop myself from approaching him after class. “Sir,” I began, trying to sound casual, kahit na my heart was pounding like crazy. “Yung sinabi niyo about accessible dimensions—do you think it’s possible? Like, for real?”
Dr. Yanez raised an eyebrow, studying me for a moment. “Ah, Rivera, right? Quantum theory opens up a lot of possibilities, but we’re still far from proving anything like that.” He paused, then smiled, almost conspiratorially. “But who’s to say there aren’t… anomalies? Unexplained phenomena? The world is full of mysteries we haven’t even begun to understand.”
I swallowed hard, my throat dry. His words felt like a challenge, like he was daring me to explore something that no one else dared to. “Right,” I muttered, nodding slowly. “Thanks, Sir.”
Walking out of the lecture hall, I felt the weight of his words settling on my shoulders. The idea of accessible dimensions wouldn’t leave my mind, and as much as I wanted to dismiss it as just another theory, something told me it wasn’t. The door in my house—the one that seemed to appear and disappear at will—was an anomaly. I knew it.
Back at home, I stood in front of the door, the air heavy with anticipation. “Ito na naman tayo,” I muttered to myself, hands on my hips. I had tried so hard to ignore it, to convince myself it wasn’t real, but after that lecture, I couldn’t deny it anymore. The door was there for a reason.
I reached out, fingers trembling, and brushed the wood lightly. A jolt shot through me, like static electricity, and I pulled my hand back in surprise. “What the heck?” I whispered, staring at the door. It felt alive. The energy around it was buzzing, as if it were waiting for me to do something.
“Ano ba ‘to?” I groaned, pacing in front of it. I was no longer scared—well, okay, maybe a little scared—but more than that, I was curious. I needed to know what was on the other side. Was it a different dimension? A parallel universe? A nightmare? The possibilities swirled in my head, each one more terrifying and exhilarating than the last.
I sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall across from the door, my mind spinning with questions. How long had it been there? Why me? What did it want?
I couldn’t help but think back to Dr. Yanez’s words. “Anomalies… unexplained phenomena.” The door was definitely that. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be understood, not by the rules of science, anyway. But that didn’t stop me from wanting answers.
The next day at school, I couldn’t focus. My thoughts kept drifting back to the door, to the strange energy that surrounded it. I found myself distracted during lectures, zoning out as professors droned on about formulas and theories that suddenly felt so… irrelevant.
I was lost in my own world when I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Aelion, you okay?” Mira asked, her voice cutting through my thoughts. I blinked and looked up, realizing I had missed half the class.
“Uh, yeah. Just… thinking about something.” I forced a smile, trying to shake off the fog that had settled over me.
Mira raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. “About the door, right?” she teased, her tone light but her eyes curious.
I felt my stomach flip. How did she know? I hadn’t mentioned the door to anyone—not even Mira.
I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, she laughed and waved it off. “Joke lang! You’ve been spacing out a lot lately, kasi.”
I laughed awkwardly, feeling a strange sense of relief. “Yeah, medyo distracted lang,” I admitted, running a hand through my hair. If only she knew.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. I went through the motions, attended my classes, made small talk with friends, but all the while, the door was there—lurking in the back of my mind, pulling me closer with every passing moment.
By the time I got home, I was practically vibrating with anticipation. Tonight, I thought. Tonight, I’ll open it.
I stood in front of the door again, heart pounding in my chest. This time, there was no hesitation. I reached for the doorknob, feeling that same electric jolt as my fingers made contact. But I didn’t pull away.
I twisted the knob slowly, holding my breath as the door creaked open. The darkness beyond seemed to ripple, like the surface of a black lake disturbed by an unseen force. I stepped closer, peering into the abyss, my heart racing.
And then… I stepped through.
The air on the other side was cold, almost suffocating. I felt a shiver run down my spine as I looked around. The room was small, cramped, with walls covered in strange symbols I couldn’t recognize. My footsteps echoed softly, the sound swallowed by the oppressive silence.
“Where am I?” I whispered, my voice barely audible in the stillness.
As I moved deeper into the room, I noticed something strange—an object sitting on a pedestal in the center of the space. It was a small, ornate box, similar to the one I had found before, but this one seemed… different. More ominous.
I approached it slowly, my heart pounding in my ears. What is this place? I thought, reaching out to touch the box.
The moment my fingers brushed against it, I felt a wave of energy pulse through me, like a shockwave. I stumbled back, gasping for breath as the air around me seemed to thrum with life. The symbols on the walls began to glow faintly, casting eerie shadows across the room.
I stood frozen, my mind racing. What have I just unlocked?
The door behind me remained open, a faint breeze flowing through the gap. There was no going back now—at least not until I uncovered what this place wanted to reveal.
The box was glowing now, emitting a low hum that seemed to resonate deep within me. Ano ‘to? My thoughts raced as I knelt down, eyes fixated on the strange object in front of me. Para siyang… calling me, pulling me in.
I wiped my hands on my jeans, my palms sweaty as hell. Hindi ko alam kung bakit pero parang may something powerful dito, something na hindi ko dapat binabaliwala. Breathe, Aelion. I reminded myself, trying to steady my hands.
I glanced around the room again, my eyes adjusting to the low light, the glowing symbols casting an eerie vibe across the space. I couldn’t explain it, pero parang these markings were alive—shifting, breathing, waiting for something.
"Why am I here?" I whispered again, the sound of my own voice almost foreign in the suffocating quiet of the room. Hindi na ako makahinga ng maayos, pero hindi rin ako umaalis. My feet, stuck to the floor, parang they didn’t want to move kahit na my mind was screaming “Get out!”
I glanced at the door behind me, still slightly ajar, parang inviting me to leave, but there was no way I could. Not now. Not with the box calling me like this.
"Bahala na," I muttered, forcing myself to take a deep breath and reach out again. This time, my hand hovered just above the box, waiting for something—anything—to happen. And then… it did.
The moment my hand got closer, the box lit up, glowing brighter. A pulse of energy ran through the room, making the walls tremble. I stumbled back, my breath catching in my throat. Putek, ano na?!
Suddenly, a low voice echoed through the space, almost like a whisper but with a strange, ancient cadence to it. "Aelion."
My blood ran cold. WHAT. THE. HELL.
"W-Who’s there?" My voice came out shakier than I wanted, pero sino bang hindi kakabahan in a room that’s alive and glowing, diba? Aelion, get it together.
The box didn’t respond. Of course, it wouldn’t. Objects don’t talk—well, except ngayon, apparently.
My legs felt like jelly, pero my curiosity was stronger than my fear. I inched closer again, eyes scanning the box, trying to understand ano ba talaga ‘tong harap ko. The symbols on it looked like they belonged to some ancient civilization, pero hindi ko matukoy kung saan.
Then, before I could stop myself, I lifted the lid.
Inside the box was something strange—something shimmering, almost like a liquid but not quite. It was suspended mid-air, defying all logic. I reached out, fingers trembling, and the moment I touched it, the world around me seemed to shift.
Parang yung paligid ko nag-split. Like, literally. I saw multiple versions of the room flash before my eyes, each one slightly different. Sa isa, the walls were crumbling. Sa isa pa, the symbols were glowing red instead of blue. Everything was changing, shifting, like I was seeing different realities all at once.
My head started pounding, like someone was driving a nail through my skull. I groaned, clutching my temples. Damn, this is too much!
Pero I couldn’t stop. I was trapped in this loop, seeing different worlds, different possibilities, and I couldn’t even make sense of it all. Sobra, sobra na ‘to.
And then, just like that, it all stopped.
The room snapped back into place, the symbols dimming, the box returning to its ordinary, glowing state. I staggered backward, feeling like I’d just run a marathon. Ano yun? My mind was reeling, trying to process everything that just happened.
The box lay there, quiet now, as if nothing had happened at all. But I knew better. This was just the beginning.
The next few days passed in a blur. Every time I tried to focus on my work, my mind drifted back to that room, to the box, to what I had seen.
Parang yung mundo ko biglang nag-shift. Everything I thought I knew about reality—about dimensions, time, everything—was now in question.
I tried talking to some of my classmates about it, hoping someone might have heard something similar, pero wala. They didn’t get it. No one ever does. So I kept quiet.
But the more I stayed silent, the more the thoughts gnawed at me. My nights became sleepless, my days unfocused. Bakit ganito? Why couldn’t I just leave it alone?
One night, while I was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, something clicked. It was like all the pieces of a puzzle I didn’t know I was trying to solve suddenly snapped into place. I bolted upright, reaching for my notebook beside the bed.
The box—the door—it wasn’t just a coincidence. It was a catalyst.
It triggered something, a chain reaction, opening doors to realities I didn’t even know existed. And if that’s true… then that means there’s more. More doors, more possibilities, more secrets just waiting to be uncovered.
The thought excited me and terrified me at the same time. Where does it end?
I scribbled down everything I could remember from that night in the room, hoping to make sense of it later. But one thing was clear—I couldn’t stop now. Not when I was so close to something bigger than myself, something that could change everything.
The next morning, I found myself standing in front of the door again. This time, there was no hesitation. I have to know.
I reached for the knob, feeling that same electric jolt, but I didn’t pull away. I turned the knob, stepping through the door without looking back.
I was ready.
Or so I thought.
The moment I stepped inside, the air felt different. Heavy. Charged. The box was gone, but the symbols on the walls were glowing again, flickering like they were alive. What now? I thought, heart racing as I moved deeper into the room.
And then I saw it.
Another door.
This one was different, older, with intricate carvings that seemed to twist and writhe the longer I looked at them. My pulse quickened as I approached it, my mind racing. What’s on the other side?
I hesitated for a moment, my hand hovering over the doorknob. Then, without thinking, I pushed it open.
The door swung open slowly, revealing a vast, dark expanse beyond. I could feel the pull again, stronger this time. Ano ‘to? It felt like the universe itself was beckoning me forward, calling me to step into the unknown.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry, but I couldn’t stop now. Not when I was so close to uncovering the truth.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the door—and into the darkness.