AN: Inspired from “My house is a magic power spot” and “The Merge”

******************************

A young man was running on a dirt road at a moderate pace. Black short hairs, a charming face, bright brown eyes that almost looked golden, a roman nose and a slightly square jaw, an athletic body with a height of 178cm. He was earing a black shirt with 2 bright yellow strips on the front and the back, a black short with the same kind of strips on the side, and white running shoes.

He was running in a wooden area. The sun was disappearing in the horizon when the view in front of him started to clear up. Within a few minutes, he reached a stone fence around 130cm tall, with a wooden gate wide open. There was a path that led to a 2 story house nearly 400m away, on top of a small hill. The area of the property was around 502400m square.

“Finally home” he said as he slowed down and walked toward the home. “I came back right on time, it would have been troublesome if it got completely dark before my arival. It would be nice if the lights outside could turn on on their own...”

He reached the door and unlocked it with his key and went into the house. In the entry hall, he got rid of his shoes, and walked with his socks on toward the kitchen after turning the lights on. There, he took a can of schweepes citrus in the fridge and slowly drank with half of his butt on the table. As he was recovering from his run, he looked around the room.

“Really, uncle. You left me a nice house... A mysterious one, but still really nice.”

The young man, Marc, had inherited the proprerty from his uncle 2 years prior, at the age of 18. His uncle had died from a strange illness. His body started to deteriorate for a reason the doctors couldn't find. After a few years, his life finally came to an end.

It was a sad event for him. He had already lost his parents at the age of 15. His uncle was the only family he had, and he was also the one who supported him despite the fact that they lived quite some distance appart and couldn't communicate much or see each others. Marc had to study, and he also worked part time to try and lessen the burden on his ill uncle.

Because of that, he had come across some people that got him into trouble. He almost became a criminal once because he got involved in some illegal business and almost got caugh. Due to those bad acquitances, the shop where he worked got shut down and he lost his job. Without a job, paying a rent would be too trouble some, so he decided to move into the house his uncle had left.

There, he found out that his uncle had also left a hefty sum of money, so for a year he had been living there without working or studying. He spent his days doing some physical activities, playing online on his console, or on the internet. He had found a lot of reading materials there, translated mangas and novels, some nice web novels. He could also watch a lot of videos, movies, series, cartoons and animes.

Everything he needed was there. Food and other consummable necessities were delivered once a month, the home was away from the city so it was really calm. The air was clean, and there were no farms nearby so no problem with the smell of cow dung and the likes. He was still close enough to have access to electricity and internet.

“... And I've gotten stronger... Really, what a mysterious place...”

When Marc settled in this home, he got ill during the first few days. Each days he got headaches and tummy aches. He would always throw up or have diarrea once a day. He had to force himself to eat and drink to keep up. He had wasted 2 weeks of food in 6 days because it would always quickly come out one way or the other.

Thankfully, the effects lessened with each passing day. At the end of those 6 days, he could finally live normally, though there were still occasional headaches and nausea. As the weeks and months passed, he realised that his physical condition had improved to an astonishing degree. He first noticed it when he made a key fall behind a heavy cabinet.

He though he would need a lot of efforts to move it, but to his surprise, it was not. He knew how heavy it was because he had once tried to move it before. His regular physical activity didn't include a lot of push up or something similar, so the increase in strenght he felt was unsettling. He tried to move other furnitures he knew were very heavy, and was once again surprised by the result. The fridge that he couldn't move before, he could actually lift it, though not without a lot of effort, but it was still impressive.

“... I wonder if it's because of that strange effect that my uncle gave me this home? His illness had slowed down after he started to live here after all. According to the doctors, he lived a year longer that what they had expected. They were impressed by his resilience...”

Suddenly, all his attention was focused on the ground. He felt something amiss. After a few seconds, a small vibration could be felt, and it increased in intensity, turning into a full earthquake. The ground was moving so much he couldn't keep his balance. He could hear things shaking and banging in the various drawers and cupboards, and was thankfull for the opening and closing system used.

“What the fuck is going on? This place isn't supposed to have such strong seismic activity!!”

The rumbling sound accompanying the earthquake got louder and louder. Then a loud bang was heard, which almost knocked Marc unconscious. He was dizzy and his ears were ringing. His dimed vision was shacky because he was lying on the moving ground. From the window, he could faintly see weird flashes of light and weird shadows. There was a second loud detonation and he completely lost consciousness.

When he woke up. He found himself still lying on the ground. His head was buzzing and his body was numb. He also got a bit of nausea. The room was dark, there were no light, aside from the moonlight coming from the window. Considering the loud noise from before he was surprised the glass wasn't even craked.

The whole house was incredibly silent. Even the very low humming sound of the fridge couldn't be heard. As Marc sat down, he was barely able to notice the thin veil hanging in the air like some fog. It was so thin, so dim, he nearly missed it. The reason he was focusing on it was because it was weird.

“... This, it definitly isn't dust, nor fog... It's... It's faintly glowing? Did I hit my head? Wait, what exactly happened? There was that weird earthquake, then the loud detonation that knocked me out?”

He looked around the room once more, sharpening his senses to detect anything.

“The lights are out, the fridge isn't making any noise. The power is down. I need to start the generator. Damn, where did I leave the torch or the candles again? Whatever, I'll use the lamp of my phon... God damn it!”

When he tried to stand up, he felt something break under his elbow. When he lifted it at eye level, he realised it was his phone. The screen was completely smashed, and the whole thing was bent inward. There was no doubt that the thing was as dead as it could be.

Marc looked at it for a minute before slowly shaking his head and leave the kitchen with a hand on the wall. Even if there was no light, he could still reach the generator because he knew where it was. In the garage.

“... With the lamp on the shelf above it... I should have put it on a more accessible place. How stupid of me. Too used to the convinience, now here I am walking in the darkness with my source of light for emergencies far away from me...”

******************************

AN:...