LIFE - BLOOD

Episode 5

6:04 AM.

Kaius's alarm clock pierced the silence. He groggily reached for it, but his hand swiped empty air.

Suddenly, the room darkened, like ink spreading through water. The air thickened, heavy with an otherworldly presence.

Kaius's eyes snapped open. He wasn't in his bed anymore. A vast, eerie expanse stretched before him, like a liquid mirror reflecting the cosmos.

Planets coalesced from the void, orbiting each other in a hypnotic dance. The sun burst forth, casting an ethereal glow.

Kaius stumbled forward, his feet sinking into the liquid-like surface. It rippled and undulated beneath him, like a living entity.

"Mortal!" a thunderous voice boomed, shaking Kaius's very core.

He trembled, his voice barely above a whisper. "W-Who are you?"

The voice replied, its authority crushing. "Mortal!"

Kaius spun around, desperate to locate the speaker. The darkness seemed to swallow all sound.

A fiery phoenix blazed across the void, leaving trails of flame in its wake. Kaius's eyes widened in awe.

"The phoenix! I thought it was just a myth!" He recited, his voice filled with wonder. "The cycle of Life and death, the immortal bird that obtains new life by rising from its ashes.

The spark that gave life to the universe and the flame that will ultimately consume it."

The phoenix vanished into the darkness. Kaius followed, his feet carrying him toward an invisible barrier.

"The cosmos aligns..." the celestial voice declared.

"...to facilitate your ascension ," it continued, the words echoing through the void.

Kaius bumped into the invisible surface. Stretching out his hand, he touched an unseen barrier.

The phoenix screeched, its cry echoing through the emptiness. "Hey, wait!" Kaius called out, but the bird disappeared.

A reflection of Kaius appeared on the invisible surface. He stumbled back, startled.

The voice boomed again, its authority peaking. "
"Heed the call, Mortal... or"

The reflection smiled sinisterly and punched the surface. Cracks spread like a web.

Kaius panicked, his breath catching in his throat. "No!"

The voice declared, "you will BLEED!"

The surface shattered, shards raining down toward Kaius.

He screamed, jerking awake in his bed.

Breathless, he surveyed his room. Normalcy reassured him.

"Just a dream," he whispered, his heart rate slowing.

But the memory of that strange, otherworldly realm lingered, haunting him.

Kaius's phone rang with a notification. He took it and unlocked his phone, revealing a screen illuminated by the TikTok logo.

He read the notification: "Your friend Daisy commented on a video posted by Dax."

A shocked Kaius spoke to himself, "Dax posted on TikTok? That's very unlike him...

He's on all social media platforms but has never posted anything."

Kaius tapped on the notification, sending him straight to Dax's account. Kaius shouted, "What?!? Twenty thousand followers... When?"He checked and saw the video posted had 33.9 million views.