Prologue: The Door
The door appeared, belonging to nowhere.
And when it opened… something looked back.
No one was meant to remember it.
The calm sunset bathed the towering buildings, streets, and homes across the vast city, casting shadows that stretched like elongated silhouettes as the sun's light slowly withdrew. Shadows that would soon take over that entire expanse of the world.
It was almost like a moment of rest for the ever-diligent day, which used to greet every inhabitant cheerfully, giving way to the dark and silent night.
A night as ordinary as it was distant… one that made writers hate it in their search for inspiration.
And, for some reason, that night… felt different.
"If that's everything, then I've gotta head out, guys…"
In a large industrial park belonging to an automated gate company, a small group of five people dressed in white shirts said their goodbyes. They were engineers who, sharing a certain camaraderie, had finished their usual workday, marking the start of the weekend. That meant a period during which none of them would see each other. Whether out of courtesy or habit, that informal group of friends always made a point of saying goodbye—something that didn't happen on regular workdays.
Most of them split off, leaving the industrial park bathed in orange hues, while two remained standing. One was a not very tall young man with reddish-brown hair and dark eyes; the other had completely black hair and deep brown eyes. They glanced at each other and walked together toward the private transport station provided by the company.
As they moved forward, one of the overhead lights flickered briefly.
No one seemed to notice.
The dark-haired young man in the white shirt looked at his companion once they were seated side by side inside the vehicle.
"Don't you think Rubén and Sofía are acting weird?" the brown-eyed one asked.
"Yeah. Sofía didn't tell you, but they got back together," his companion replied in a slightly tired tone.
For a moment, the brown-eyed young man showed genuine confusion before letting out a heavy sigh, though not entirely surprised.
"That guy's an idiot. He seriously went back to him? Sometimes I don't get how Sofía can have so little self-respect…"
Their conversation about other people's love lives was brief. Just as they were about to change the subject, the brown-eyed young man's pocket vibrated. With a quick motion, he pulled out his phone and signaled his friend to stay quiet.
An unknown number appeared on the screen. He tried to hang up, but the device wouldn't respond, continuing its insistent vibration, which even caught the attention of other passengers.
Damn it, I really need to replace this soon. The screen's been acting up lately, he thought, frustrated.
After several failed attempts, he gave in and answered. Curiosity outweighed caution—if it was a prank, a nuisance, or even the bank trying to sell him something, he could always turn the device off.
As soon as he did, a sharp screech forced him to shut his eyes in irritation. It sounded like a microphone feeding back through a speaker. He was about to hang up when a voice came through from the other end.
"STAY AWAY."
The voice was raspy, metallic, like iron being torn apart by a crushing machine.
"STAY AWAY…"
"FROM HER."
Is that a threat? he thought, mentally reviewing whether he had upset anyone recently. But he couldn't recall anyone who might hate him so directly. Extortion? Maybe… though something about those words planted a deep unease within him.
"STAY AWAY…"
"THE DOOR."
"STAY AWAY."
"STAY AWAY."
"STAY AWAY."
The voice repeated itself over and over until it warped into unbearable screeching, like hundreds of metal pieces being crushed together. Frightened, the young man pulled the phone away from his ear and forced it off. His heart pounded rapidly.
When he checked the call log, he was surprised to find no trace of the mysterious number.
"Are you okay?" his friend asked, intrigued by the sudden change in his behavior.
"Yeah…" the young man replied, trying to convince himself as he stared at the screen. In the end, he decided to forget about it and continue the conversation.
When his stop arrived, he said goodbye and got off, just as the night fully covered the city. He walked calmly under the glow of the streetlights, which lit up in unison, marking a familiar path.
For fifteen minutes, he walked almost completely alone…
Until the sound of cars disappeared entirely.
Too quickly.
He sank into his thoughts, disconnected from the outside world.
Suddenly, the streetlights began to flicker irregularly. Then—absolute silence.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
On the fifth step, he stopped.
In front of him…
there was a door.
It didn't cut through the asphalt.
It didn't seem to be supported by anything.
It was simply there, swaying imperceptibly as it let out a strange creak.
The young man's pupils shrank as he stared at it. The door, made of dark wood, looked as though it had been torn from an old house. The symbols carved into it seemed to tear at both soul and mind, as if they stripped the spirit bare with a single glance.
THE DOOR.
THE DOOR.
THE DOOR.
A sharp pain pierced him like red-hot needles, burrowing into his mind.
Eyes.
Eyes formed by concentric rings…
Incomprehensible tongues.
Chaos.
Order.
Triangles…
that bent…
that looked back at him.
EYES. EYES. EYES.
A tale inscribed around the door, recounting ages before creation, the collision of eras, the union of all things. Three words impossible to remember or recount.
His mind collapsed, devoured by those visions.
THE LOCK OF ETERNITY.
The door slowly opened.
Inside…
a single white eye stared at him.
THE GREAT THRONE.
An invisible force dragged him into the darkness, tearing the ground around him apart. Unable to resist, he was swallowed by the void.
Before fading away, a final whisper echoed:
"DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR."
From the darkness, flashes of violet, green, red, cyan, and yellow returned a faint thread of consciousness to the young man.
Through a window beside his bed, he could barely make out lights outside. His body burned with fever, and on the verge of unconsciousness, he heard a distant voice:
"Hold on…"
And then, he let himself be dragged into the darkness.