Static Bride

In a world fueled by Ether—a volatile energy mined from the alien element Anonium—humanity’s golden age hides a dark secret. This strange power has stirred the Engine, an ancient, otherworldly machine buried beyond the veil of reality, its static-laced whispers eroding the boundaries of time and sanity. As its influence seeps into Corwood, Tennessee, society teeters on the edge of a collapse no one sees coming. Rachel Harper, a fierce high school basketball captain, can bend time itself—but every twist leaves her reflection flickering with static, her identity slipping away. Her best friend, Emily Voss, is tormented by visions of her own deaths across endless alternate lives, each one chipping at her will to keep going. When they discover their powers are linked to the Engine, they’re thrust into a mystery that’s as personal as it is incomprehensible. Elijah Carter, a grizzled agent of the Paranatural Intelligence Agency (P.I.A.), tracks the supernatural ripples tied to Corwood’s new Ether reactor. With his rare gift to see echoes of the uncanny, he’s hunting answers—but the Engine’s shadow might be more than he can handle. On the streets, drug lord Dezerea Hernandez peddles Gloom, a substance that turns users into hollow, static-veiled shells. She claims it’s to unmask a threat to humanity, but her cure might be hastening the end. As Rachel’s bond with the Engine tightens, its cold logic threatens to overwrite her entirely or liberate her. Emily battles to outrun a fate she’s seen too many times. With the Engine’s awakening ticking closer, the girls face a brutal choice: defy their destinies and risk shattering reality, or fade into the static of a world beyond saving. Warning: This meta cosmic horror tale weaves violence, techno-horror, psychological unease, poems, heavy foreshadowing, red herrings, and fourth-wall fractures, and a character with meta awareness with meta aware powers that rival comic book characters such as the one above all or the presence