Resonant Echoes

Chapter 4: Testing the Power

Later that night, Chandra lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. The hum of the resonator still buzzed faintly in her mind, like a distant melody she couldn't quite shake. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw flashes of the ancient city—its towering stone structures, the people moving with purpose, the air alive with energy. She felt the weight of their power as if it had been placed in her own hands.

She couldn't sleep.

Sighing, she rolled over and grabbed her phone. A message from RJ lit up her screen.

*You sure about this? We should at least try using the power. See what it can do.*

Chandra frowned, her thumb hovering over the reply button. Could they actually use the power? She had felt it—there was no doubt about that—but she hadn't tried to tap into it again since the vision. Part of her was curious. The other part was scared.

She sat up, chewing her lip as she considered. They hadn't told anyone about the resonator yet, but she and RJ had made plans to meet up the next day to test it, to see if they could figure out what it really was. But the thought of using it—of what it might do—made her chest tighten with unease.

Her phone buzzed again.

*You okay? We'll figure it out.*

Chandra smiled faintly. RJ's cocky confidence was reassuring in moments like this, even if he didn't fully understand the weight of what they were dealing with.

*Yeah,* she typed back. *We'll figure it out.*

---

The next morning, Chandra and RJ met at the clearing, the resonator still sitting where they had found it, half-buried in the ground. The air was thick with humidity, and the sound of cicadas buzzed through the trees, the oppressive heat of Louisiana pressing down on them like a blanket.

Chandra felt a knot of anxiety in her stomach as they approached the object. It looked so ordinary—just a piece of metal in the dirt. But she knew better. There was nothing ordinary about it.

RJ knelt down beside the resonator, tapping it lightly with his knuckles. "So, how do we use it?"

"I don't know," Chandra admitted. She crouched beside him, staring at the intricate patterns on the metal. "Maybe we have to... speak to it?"

RJ raised an eyebrow. "Speak to it? Like, what, say magic words or something?"

Chandra shrugged, though she wasn't sure if she was joking or serious. "I don't know. When I touched it last time, it was like the power came through me. Maybe we can use it by focusing on what we want?"

RJ looked skeptical, but he leaned forward, placing his hand on the metal surface. Chandra followed suit, her fingers brushing against the cool metal.

For a moment, nothing happened.

But then, she felt it. A pulse, faint at first, but growing stronger. Her heartbeat quickened as the energy flowed from the resonator into her, tingling through her skin and racing through her veins.

"Whoa," RJ muttered, his eyes wide. "You feel that?"

Chandra nodded, her breath shallow. The power thrummed inside her, like a river of electricity just beneath the surface of her skin. She could feel it responding to her, waiting for her to speak.

Without thinking, she whispered, "Move."

The ground beneath them trembled, and Chandra gasped as a small rock nearby shifted, rolling a few inches across the dirt.

RJ's jaw dropped. "Did you—did you just do that?"

"I think so," Chandra whispered, her heart pounding. She hadn't been sure it would work, but now that it had, the realization hit her like a tidal wave. They weren't just dealing with some ancient artifact. They were dealing with real power—power that could change the world.

RJ grinned, his excitement contagious. "Okay, my turn."

He placed both hands on the resonator, his face scrunched in concentration. "Move!" he commanded, his voice louder than Chandra's had been.

For a moment, nothing happened.

But then, the ground shifted again, this time with more force. A rock the size of a fist rolled across the clearing, skidding to a stop a few feet away.

Chandra and RJ stared at each other, both stunned into silence. The air around them seemed to buzz with energy, as if the resonator itself was waking up.

RJ broke the silence first. "Okay, this is insane."

Chandra nodded, her pulse still racing. "We need to be careful. This power—it's not something we can just mess around with."

RJ's grin didn't fade, but Chandra could see the wheels turning in his mind. He was excited, maybe too excited. And that worried her.

"We'll be careful," he said, though Chandra wasn't sure if he meant it. "But come on, Chandra. This is incredible. Think of what we could do."

Chandra wanted to be excited too, but the weight of the vision from the day before still lingered in the back of her mind. The people in the ancient city—they hadn't been using the power lightly. There had been a seriousness to their rituals, a kind of reverence that she wasn't sure they understood yet.

"We should stop for today," Chandra said, standing up and brushing dirt off her jeans. "We need to figure out what we're dealing with before we do anything else."

RJ sighed but nodded. "Fine. But we're coming back tomorrow. There's so much more we can do."

Chandra wasn't sure if that was a promise or a threat.