Alex had spent months preparing, studying, and learning everything he could about the supernatural world. Books, journals, online forums, even visiting old hunters' haunts without drawing too much attention to himself. If he was going to survive in this world, caution and knowledge were his greatest allies. But there was a difference between theory and practice.
Tonight, he was going to put it to the test.
It started with whispers—hunters in passing mentioning strange happenings in a small town in Montana. People disappearing, only to return days later, confused and with chunks of their memory gone. Some never returned at all.
That was enough to get Alex interested. The way it was described didn't match the usual suspects—no signs of demons, vampires, or the usual creatures he had read about. Something about it *felt* different. And different meant dangerous.
By the time he arrived in town, the disappearances had started increasing. The locals were terrified, but no one had any solid leads. The only thing that stood out was an old bookstore.
Which led him to now—standing in front of the store, its flickering neon sign barely holding on, the building looking like it had existed before the town itself.
His gut told him to turn around. His brain told him he should listen. His curiosity told them both to shut the hell up.
He stepped inside.
The air was thick with dust and something heavier—something that settled in his bones the second he crossed the threshold. The place was a mess. Shelves packed with ancient books and artifacts leaned against walls with peeling wallpaper. A scent of paper, ink, and something almost metallic lingered in the air. The deeper he walked, the more the atmosphere pressed against him, like a hundred silent voices trying to reach out.
"Hello?" he called out.
No answer.
Of course not.
"Great. Classic horror movie setup," he muttered under his breath, moving further in. His psychometry pulsed at the edge of his senses, something he'd learned to ignore unless he wanted a flood of impressions slamming into him all at once.
Then he felt it. A pull. Not physical, but something was calling to him. He turned toward a display case near the back. Inside, an old, leather-bound book sat open. The pages moved slightly as if touched by an unseen hand.
He didn't touch it immediately. He wasn't that stupid. Instead, he let his ability stretch out, just a fraction, to brush against the object without fully connecting. The moment his senses made contact, a sharp jolt ran through him. Images flickered in his mind—people hunched over books, whispering to themselves, their voices growing frantic, then silent. Their eyes... empty.
Alex pulled back with a sharp breath, his heart hammering.
"Okay. That's bad."
He stepped away, his instincts screaming at him to leave. But he knew himself. He knew he wasn't going to. This wasn't something he could ignore.
A sound broke the silence—a shuffling noise, like paper rustling in the wind. Except there was no wind.
He turned sharply. The book. The pages were turning on their own.
"Nope. Nope, nope, nope—"
The second he tried to move, something latched onto him. Not physically, but inside his head. A sharp pull, like a hook sinking into his memories. His vision blurred, and for a horrifying second, he wasn't in the store anymore.
He was... somewhere else.
***
Memories flickered like a film reel spinning too fast. He was a child, sitting in front of a flickering TV. Then he was older, walking home from school, the sound of rain tapping against his hood. Then—
Gone.
They were being pulled. Siphoned. Erased.
Panic hit him like a freight train. He struggled, his mind clawing to hold onto what was his. He knew what this was now. The store wasn't haunted. It was alive. And it fed on people's memories, piece by piece, until there was nothing left.
' Not happening.'
With every ounce of willpower he had, he forced himself back into the present. His hands clenched into fists, his breathing ragged. He reached for the one thing he had that could turn the tide—his own power. His psychometry surged, and this time, he didn't just let it touch the book. He *pushed* back.
A shockwave of information slammed into him. The Archive. How it worked. The rules it followed. It wasn't evil, not in the way a monster was. It was a force, something ancient, something that simply was. But it had weaknesses. It could be broken. And it could be drained.
Alex's lips curled into a grim smile.
"Let's see how you like getting something taken from you."
His power absorption flared to life. Instead of letting the Archive feed on him, he turned the tables, pulling at the energy, at the essence that made it what it was. The moment it realized what was happening, the entire room screamed.(not literally)
Shelves rattled. Books flew from their places. The walls themselves seemed to ripple as the Archive fought back. But Alex didn't stop. He wouldn't stop. He took everything it had stolen. Memories, knowledge, fragments of people long gone. He felt them flood into him—thousands of thoughts, moments, lifetimes compressed into seconds.
And then—
Silence.
Alex stumbled back, gasping for breath. The store was still. The oppressive weight in the air was gone.
His head pounded, but he was himself. His memories were intact. And more than that...
He knew things now. Things he shouldn't. Rituals, languages long dead, knowledge that had been lost to time.
A slow grin spread across his face.
"Well, that's a hell of a bonus."
He turned and walked out without looking back.
As he stepped onto the street, the neon sign above the entrance flickered once, then died.
The Living Archive was no more.
***
Back in his motel room, Alex sat on the edge of the bed, running a hand through his hair. The headache was fading, but the weight of what he'd absorbed lingered. He pulled out his notebook, flipping to a fresh page. If he was going to use this knowledge, he needed to sort through it, understand what he had gained.
One thing was certain—he had taken a major step forward. And in this world, that could be the difference between life and death.
Leaning back against the headboard, he exhaled sharply.
"Guess I'm officially in the game now."
Outside, the wind howled against the window. But inside, for the first time in a long while, Alex felt like he had an edge.
[ P.S: i know many of you would wonder how he just took a great amount of knowledge and memories with but barely a headache that is a good question now to answer that i would like you to know that power absorption is not simply just absorbing powers but it can also make a what should i say an archive of its own to store the abilities and or knowledge/memories which are related to a mental power or anyother power that works with knowledge and memories so that helps with the burden also the applications of PA are many but he is currently in his development phase so with time he will unlock them ]