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Chapter 8: The First Experiment

I’ve always believed na science is the key to everything. Parang life hack siya—if you can explain something, you can control it, and if you can control it, then you're safe. But this time, ibang level. Wala akong control. And I was far from safe.
When I stepped out of the door last night, something shifted. Parang may naiwan sa loob ko, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Was it fear? Curiosity? Both?
I sat down in front of my laptop, fingers twitching above the keys. Let’s test this, Aelion, just like any other experiment.
The first rule of science? Collect data.
I gathered everything I could about the door—took photos, measurements, the works. Pero, lahat ng nakikita ko, lahat ng nasusukat ko, walang kwenta. None of it explained the feeling it gave me. None of it came close to unraveling what I saw behind it.
The answer couldn’t be found in traditional physics. Duh. Alam ko na ‘to from the start, but I didn’t want to admit it. Kaya I ventured into theories that no one else in their right mind would touch. Quantum dimensions. String theory. Parallel universes.
It’s all connected. Saan na tayo dadalhin nito?
The first few nights after my discovery, I barely slept. My mind was racing, my thoughts looping around the same questions.
I sat in front of the door again, notebook in hand. Okay, Aelion. Think.
I needed an experiment. I needed a way to prove na this wasn’t just in my head. Parang feeling ko, may something in the room—may "presence"—that I wasn’t catching, at least not with my normal senses.
Enter: Infrared cameras, temperature sensors, and motion detectors. My makeshift lab was set.
Day One: I set up the devices around the door. It felt silly at first, parang nasa horror movie ako. Pero hindi ako mapakali. Every time I looked away from the door, I felt it watching me, like it was waiting for me to mess up or give in.
The readings on my devices? Flatline. Dead. Walang movement. No temperature fluctuations. Nada.
“Ugh, bakit ganito?” I grumbled, frustrated. My notebook was filled with scribbles of useless data. “Maybe I’m doing this wrong. Maybe I’m overthinking.”
Pero alam ko na hindi. There was something. I just had to figure out how to measure it.
Day Two: The experiment continued, but this time, may napansin akong bago. The door wasn’t just there—it was like may sinasabi siya. Hindi literal, pero parang may energy. Alam mo yung pakiramdam when someone’s staring at you across a room? Ganun.
I adjusted the sensors. Set them higher, closer. Come on, give me something.
I was staring at the live feed from the camera, eyes glued to the monitor, when I saw it—a glitch. For a split second, parang nagflicker yung image ng door, as if the door shifted or blinked.
Napatayo ako. “What the hell?” I rewound the footage. No glitch.
What was that?
It was around 3 AM, the devil’s hour daw, sabi nila, when I woke up with a start. Something was different. The air felt thick—parang there was a hum in the silence, a low buzzing I couldn’t explain.
The door.
I grabbed my camera, bolting to the room.
When I got there, the door wasn’t just a door anymore. The wood looked darker, the carvings etched into it seemed to pulse. But the readings were still flat.
Pero ako? I felt everything—the pull, the hum, the energy that defied every scientific tool I had.
Day Three: I had to stop ignoring the other option—na maybe what I was dealing with couldn’t be measured. Maybe this was something beyond physics, beyond math, beyond everything I was trying to explain.
My grip on reality was slipping. This door, this box—it’s messing with me.
But I couldn’t stop. Instead of stepping back, I dug deeper. Why couldn’t I let it go? Parang there was something at stake, something bigger than me.
As the days blurred, I threw myself into research, kahit na every page I read seemed like a dead-end. Fringe theories, paranormal studies—hell, I was even reading about ancient mysticism. Anything that could explain bakit may ganitong klaseng door sa apartment ko.
“Hindi naman ‘to nangyayari sa ibang tao, diba?” I muttered to myself, frustrated, flipping through yet another useless book.
My notes were becoming more erratic, paranoid even. I kept writing down random ideas—some made sense, others felt like ramblings. Maybe this door is connected to other worlds. Maybe it’s a wormhole. Maybe it’s alive.
Alive. Could it be?
I was on the verge of quitting when something unexpected happened.
I was reviewing my notes, when a chill ran down my spine. May ibang tao sa room.
I looked around, expecting nothing. Pero may naramdaman akong kakaiba—may someone standing behind me, pero invisible. Hindi ko ma-explain.
I turned back to the door, and there it was again—the feeling. Something was there. A presence I couldn’t shake.
I had no proof. No data. But I knew.
Day Four: The first experiment ended in failure—or success, depending on how you looked at it. I had no concrete proof, but I had felt something.
This wasn’t science anymore. This was something else.
I sat down at my desk, staring at the blinking cursor on my laptop. What now?
My fingers hovered over the keys. I couldn’t bring myself to write down what I had experienced. Hindi siya logical. Hindi siya measurable. But I couldn’t ignore it.
By the end of the week, I had decided. I wasn’t giving up, but I was changing my approach. This wasn’t about data or measurements anymore. It was about the door itself—its purpose, its origin, its reason for being here.
I needed answers.
And if that meant stepping further into the unknown, so be it.
I wish I could say that things got clearer after those first few days. Pero, no. Everything just kept getting weirder. Like, what’s the point of doing an experiment if your tools don’t even work? Nakakafrustrate, promise. My sensors were dead as usual, and my notebook was filling up with useless scribbles. Parang nagtapon lang ako ng oras and effort, only to end up with more questions.
Pero ako? I wasn’t backing down.
Day Five: I woke up feeling different. Parang may tumatawag sa akin from the door—like, real talk, it felt like it was alive. And yeah, I know, sounds crazy right? But I couldn’t shake off the feeling that this thing wasn’t just an object. It had intentions. I didn’t understand it yet, but I was sure—may gusto siyang ipakita sa akin.
I went back to my little lab setup, determined to approach this like Aelion the Scientist and not Aelion na medyo praning. I focused on being logical, pero alam mo yun, you can’t just ignore something this weird. It’s like trying to be chill about hearing whispers in the middle of the night—you just can’t.
I set up everything again. Infrared camera? Check. Temperature sensor? Check. Motion detector? Check.
And then I sat there, staring at the screen, waiting for something. Anything.
The first few hours? Wala. Zero readings. As in, dead air. I started to get annoyed. “Ano ba ‘to?” I muttered to myself. “Do I have to beg for something to happen?”
I stared at the door, trying to will something to occur. Kahit konting flicker man lang!
But it was like the door was mocking me, challenging me to do more. Nakakabaliw.
Around 2 AM, my eyes were heavy, parang ginugulo na ako ng antok. But something snapped me out of it.
A sound.
I heard something—like, a faint rustling behind the door. Akala ko guni-guni ko lang, pero it was there again.
I leaned closer to the door, heart racing. "Ano yun?" I whispered, kahit ako lang mag-isa. The hairs on my arms stood up. Totoo ba ‘to?
I stepped closer, almost touching the door. The sound stopped, as if it knew I was listening. Then, I felt it again—that hum, that energy na parang static electricity na dumadaan sa katawan mo, like the moment before a lightning strike.
May nagbabago talaga.
I didn’t know what came over me. Maybe I was tired. Maybe sobrang desperate na ako for results. But I reached out—my hand hovered over the knob, and for a second, I thought about opening it again.
Don’t, Aelion. My brain screamed at me, reminding me of what happened last time. But my body moved on its own. My fingers brushed the cold metal of the knob.
The second I touched it, the temperature dropped. Bigla akong nilamig, as if the air itself was frozen. My breath came out in visible clouds, and my sensors went nuts—temperature readings hit rock bottom, motion detectors were off the charts.
I yanked my hand back, almost stumbling away. "Holy sh*t!" I gasped, looking at the monitor. Finally, I had proof. But at what cost?
Day Six: I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened. Parang hindi ko na kayang ibalik sa normal yung buhay ko. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the door—taunting me, daring me to open it.
My senses were heightened. Every sound, every shift in the air felt amplified. Parang may nagbabantay sa akin, silently observing. Every time I walked past the door, my stomach twisted into knots, and I’d feel this overwhelming urge to look—just a glance, but I forced myself to stay away.
“Kaya mo ‘to, Aelion,” I muttered to myself, but even my own pep talks were starting to sound hollow.
I turned to my research again, this time diving deeper into fringe science. Quantum consciousness, metaphysics, even occult theories—I devoured them all. I wasn’t looking for conventional answers anymore. I knew this wasn’t something I’d find in a physics textbook.
The door had become an obsession. It was always at the back of my mind, kahit saan ako pumunta. Every lecture, every conversation—it all seemed meaningless compared to the pull of that thing.
Even my professor noticed my distraction. “Aelion, you seem… out of it these days,” sabi niya, voice tinged with concern. I just gave him a half-hearted smile, too preoccupied with my own thoughts. How could I explain something na even I didn’t understand?
I started to experiment again, but this time with a different approach. If science can’t explain this, maybe I can use something else.
I set up a sound recorder near the door, thinking maybe I could capture something that wasn’t visible. White noise, EVP, ghost frequencies—lahat na lang pinuntahan ko. Kasi, what did I have to lose?
As I reviewed the recordings, there was a part where the sound cut off. Static filled the room, like interference from a broken radio. My heart raced again. Was this it?
And then I heard it—a faint whisper, just barely audible.
“Aelion.”
Napatayo ako agad. Was I imagining it? But no, I played the recording over and over again. It was there. Someone, or something, had called my name.
For a moment, I froze. Was I losing my mind? Parang hindi na logical to pursue this, but there was no turning back. My entire life was revolving around this one mystery now. And it felt like... I was finally getting closer to an answer.
I stared at the door again, my heart racing. What was on the other side? I knew I had to find out, kahit na anong danger ang naghihintay. I needed answers. This was my first real experiment, and failure wasn’t an option.
I was going to figure this out—one way or another.
I didn’t stop experimenting after that night. It was as if something had awakened in me—an obsession, a thirst for understanding, even if it meant venturing into the unknown. I had to keep going.
For now, I could feel the door’s presence growing stronger. It wasn’t just waiting anymore. It was calling.
And this time, I was ready to answer.

Book Comment (8)

  • avatar
    Let Let Naga

    i love this story

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  • avatar
    SangVan Nei

    123

    11d

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  • avatar
    HaliluAbubakar

    very nice

    11d

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