Author's Note: Ok, everyone, I've been on this site for years, now, and it's been great, and inspiring. This won't be my first work, but it is my first one here, and the first one to be put up for all to read and review(hint, hint). I hope you all enjoy. I'm writing this for my own entertainment, and even if I don't have anyone wanting me to continue, I'll just stop posting, but I won't stop writing. That said, I'll probably have a few chapters ahead of what's posted written. As of right now, I have no beta, and I'm not really looking for one at the moment.

DISCLAIMER: I own the idea of this story, and nothing else. My bank account shows this. Every character, world, piece of tech, and anything else recognizable is property of their respective owners. I am making no money off of this, nor do I want any. This disclaimer applies for all chapters linked in this story.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

The Rift

Chapter I

'Well, this sucks.' Anthony thought to himself as he walked his way down the street towards the town center. 'No job, watching my nephew all day, and not even a damn car...' Anthony Snyder figured at that moment, he had some of the worst luck in the world. Taking a drag off his cigarette, he continued on his way towards the main street, the list in his pocket his mother and sister had given him on what to get the furthest thing from his mind.

It was summer. Very summer. The walk wasn't that far, but in ninety degree heat and what felt like 200% humidity, it may as well have been miles. With his mother's fragile health, his sister watching her son, and his car sitting useless in the driveway, again, it fell to him to be both breadwinner for his little family, as well as pack mule to the stores and back home. He didn't mind too much, since he had, more or less, free room and board, but he couldn't help but feel that he had a higher calling somewhere else.

Working on ambulances were a love of his, able to help others in their times of need, but with the economy taking a nose dive, insurance companies being more and more stingy with paying out, and the slow drop of need for non-emergency ambulances, it was becoming harder and harder to keep a job for very long. Now was just one of several periods in the past few years where the order of the day was looking for a new company that didn't look like it would fold in the next few months.

'Maybe I should just finally cut my losses and get out of this state...there has to be a better chance somewhere else', he thought, shaking his head at the sorry state he was in. Looking at his watch, he wondered when his phone might ring, waiting on another job lead. Sighing quietly, he continued his trek toward the pharmacy.

Turning a corner down a side street, he stopped in his tracks. Standing there stunned, his half-smoked cigarette actually slipped from his lips, falling uselessly to the ground. Now, he liked to think himself a decent student of science, and an avid fan of sci-fi, but what stood before him simply defied all explanation. 'I must be seeing things,' he assured himself. About twenty feet in front of him, was what he could only describe as a...tear. A rip. Hanging in the air before him was a jagged line of light, only a few inches wide, it seemed, but about ten feet long, standing vertically a foot above the sidewalk. Quickly pulling out his phone, he opened the camera and snapped a picture.

Nothing was there in the photo.

'Ok, Anthony, get a grip. It's not there. Even if it was, it can't be there. Nobody has ever seen anything like this outside of a bad movie or video game, and of all places, showing up in the middle of a town in the middle of New Jersey?' His mind was racing with what this rip might be. His curiosity getting the best of him, he slowly approached. The light seemed to be growing a little brighter with every step, so he stopped. And took a step back. The light started to fade. 'It's...reacting to me? Like it knows I'm here?'

Once again stepping closer, and ignoring the hairs standing up on the back of his head, he reached his hand out, slowly bringing his fingertips closer and closer to the floating string of light. About five feet away from the rip, a bolt of energy arced like electricity from the light, striking his hand, sending a jolt of pain through his entire body. No matter how hard he tried, his muscles refused to answer to his commands to pull away. With a final flash, the pain intensified exponentially, and he had what he was sure would be his last thoughts in existence.

'Fuck, I'm going to die...'

When the light finally faded, the street was empty. A small breeze blew through, removing the traces of ozone left in the air, a small blackened mark on the concrete the only evidence of the rift. The only evidence anyone had been outside near that spot at all was a black cell phone laying on the ground, quietly ringing.