1 Start of Something New

What is the greatest mystery mankind has ever and will ever face? More mysterious than any Sherlock Holmes novel, more illusive than dark matter, more enigmatic than the existence of life among the stars, and more profound than the existence of God.

Death and what comes after.

The million-dollar question that every human to have existed and will exist will ponder at some point in their lifetime.

After all, in life, there are only two guaranteed things, death, and taxes.

And I, like everyone else, pondered what came after as well. Seeing as it was the only thing I could ponder on since I found Holmes novels dull, I wasn't smart enough to study the profundities of dark matter, didn't believe we were the only sentient species in the infinite universe and didn't believe in God, the Almighty.

And throughout my life, I had experienced many of the things that life had to offer. Some good, some bad, some okay. And with the amalgamation of those experiences, plus a very unhealthy dose of institutionalized religion, I came to the conclusion there is no afterlife or God. There is only the here and now.

I forget who said it but they said, I find it more comforting to believe that this isn't simply a test. And wiser words couldn't have been spoken.

That's not to say I was dead set on that conclusion, after all, it wouldn't be the worst thing to know I was wrong about the afterlife and paradise did await after the end. Even so, a sense of peace overcame me when I stopped thinking about the afterlife and started focusing on life, the only thing that mattered.

At least, that's what I used to believe.

Until I woke up in someone else's body.

~

"Uuhh, what the hell happened?" I groaned as my consciousness returned to me.

Opening my eyes, a starry night greeted my vision.

"Why am I outside?" I wondered out loud, sitting up only for pain to rack my brain.

A headache so intense it felt like my brain was being prodded by a red-hot poker caused me to keel over, clutching my head for even the slightest reprieve. But that wasn't the only thing that was happening to my brain.

Along with the horrible headache came memories. Memories of childhood, of school, of friends, of crushes, and of a high school party that led to the discovery of a crystal that ended with a black screen.

Thankfully the ending of the memories also meant the end of the headache which allowed me to think clearly and come to the realization that those memories were mine. Well, mine, but also not mine, more like the memories of the body I was in.

And the body belonged to none other than Matt Garetty, deuteragonist-turned-protagonist of the film Chronicle.

"Holy shit." I muttered as Matt's-er-my memories finished syncing. But before I could ponder on the situation and try to make some more sense of how I came to be where I was, I heard someone calling out my name.

"Matt! Matt! Are you okay?!" said a voice I recognized from Matt's memories and turning to look in the direction of the voice confirmed my guess.

Walking in my direction with another person in tow was my cousin, Andrew Detmer who was played by Dane something in my past life and very much looked like he did in the movie.

"You good?" asked the person following Andrew whom I also recognized as my friend and quarterback Steve Montogomery, played by Michael B. Jordan.

'Holy shit. I really am in Chronicle.' I thought before being shaken from my thoughts.

"Matt? Are you okay?" asked Andrew with a worried face.

"Uh, y-yeah. I'm fine, Andrew. Just a little shaken up." I said, speaking to him as if I were always Matt which was odd because it felt like I was.

'Something to think about later.' I quickly thought before putting my attention back on my friends.

"Oh thank god. I was worried." said Andrew, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Me too. Glad we made it out okay." said Steve.

"Wait, how did we make it out okay? The last thing I remember is blacking out?" I said.

"Don't know. I woke up out here." said Steve.

"Me too." said Andrew.

"Weird." I said.

"Y-you think it was that crystal thing?" said Andrew.

"The crystal? It's just a rock, no?" said Steve.

"I don't think so. What rock do you know glows different colors, causes nosebleeds, and collapses tunnels?"

"Wait, so you think that crystal is alive?" said Steve with incredulity on his face.

"Alive or a government experiment or an ancient artifact or something, but that's not just a rock. No way it's just a rock." said Andrew, looking over at the now collapsed entrance with a slight look of fascination.

"Matt, what do you think?" said Steve.

"Don't know, and right now, don't care." I said, causing confusion to appear on their faces.

"Look guys, whatever that crystal was/is can wait until after we've gotten the hell out of here and slept off almost dying. We can talk about it some other time." I said.

"Agreed. I don't really want to think about this shit right now." said Steve, as we both looked at Andrew.

"F-fine." he said with reluctance.

"Good. Let's go." I said as we started walking back toward the party.

~

After dropping Andrew off at his house, I drove home, took a shower, and plopped into bed. I finally had some time to myself to think about everything that's happened so far.

'Whew. A lot to think about and process. Okay. First of all, I've transmigrated. It seems this time around Matt died after the cave collapsed and I entered his body somehow. Rest in peace my friend, I'll make the best of using your body. And I have to say of all the bodies I could've inhabited, this one is pretty top-tier. A 6' foot pretty jacked and pretty handsome body is more than I could've asked for.

But that also means I died. Which I'm oddly okay with. Not like I had much going for me. Orphaned at a young age and forced to live with my shitty uncle and aunt before being kicked out with no support for college. Destined to live a life of mediocrity. Not really something I'm sad about losing. Though dying and waking up in Matt's body does really overturn my view of death and what comes after. Oh well, this is way better than nothing for eternity.

I've also inherited Matt's memories too. Glad I don't have to pretend to have amnesia, seems like a pain in the ass. Mom's name is Debb Garetty and dad's name is Greg Garetty. Huh, I don't remember Matt's dad's name being brought up in the movie. Goes to show I really am here. Anyways, it seems like my memories are intact from both lives which is good news.

But something I noticed earlier is just how comfortable I am as Matt. Like I've always been him and my past life was a dream or something. It's interesting but not something I'm all too worried about to be quite honest. Makes things a lot easier for me.

Moving on to what happens from now, even though it's been a while since I've watched Chronicle, I do remember the story pretty well. Especially the most important part, the power they gain from the crystal.

If I remember correctly, Andrew tells the other two about the powers a few weeks after the incident which means it's a safe assumption that Andrew is the one to discover the power first. Too bad for him, I know about it so I'll be the one to break the news. After I get some practice with it since I want to be one step ahead of Andrew considering he does go all homicidal maniac.

This brings me to another important thing to take note of, helping Andrew and his mom and saving them from my abusive and drunken uncle. It should eliminate the problem of Andrew going all drunk with power since he didn't really go off the rails until after suffering from some abuse at the hands of his father. Not to mention the death of his mother to cancer which will be impossible to stop.

But all that can wait for later. Right now it's time to try out my new powers.' I thought before sitting up on my bed.

'Don't really know how to go about doing this except holding my hand out like a Jedi and hoping that works.'

Looking around my room I saw a t-shirt on the ground that I decided would be my target, so I held out my hand toward it. Then I began to think about moving the t-shirt.

After a minute of thinking about wanting to move the shirt, nothing had happened. A little frustrated at the situation, I channeled that frustration into my thoughts of moving the shirt and it worked. I felt something move from my brain and out of my outstretched arm causing the shirt to precariously float a foot off the ground before falling back down onto the ground.

"Holy shit." I whispered.

'I have powers.' I thought as the reality of the situation settled in.

From an ordinary guy with zero prospects in life and no one to care for to a superpowered individual with the world as my oyster.

PLOP

"Huh?"

Looking down on the bed, I saw a tiny wet spot before seeing a teardrop fall again.

"I'm crying?" I said as I touched my face to feel some tears falling down my face before wiping them away.

'Haha, guess this is too much for me.' I thought as I finished wiping away the tears before putting my focus back on using my powers.

'Anyway, seeing as my frustration made my powers stronger and Andrew's anger made his stronger in the movie, it's most likely Psychokinesis. Also, the whole energy leaving my brain thing really cements that notion. But as much as I want to continue trying out my new power, I really want to sleep to reboot my brain. Too much has happened in one day.'

Done thinking about the day, I lay back down and closed my eyes, unaware of the smile that graced my face.