Below is the first chapter of my debut novel, The Niagara Event. Pre-order is available soon. Release will be August 11th, 2026

Chapter One

Lisa

“You’re practically bouncing,” Brooke drawled. Her smile was dry as she walked beside her roommate, Lisa. The two university freshmen had just met the day before. Already, Lisa worried that if she wasn’t careful, Brooke might turn out to be too boring and grounded for anything fun.

“Of course I’m bouncing! Why aren’t you?” Lisa asked with a little hop. “We’re at one of the top schools in the nation, getting ready to unlock the knowledge of the universe!”

“I know,” Brooke said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, but this is Tessalumen Power Lecture and Lab with Dr. Delligatti! He’s famous!”

Brooke raised a brow. “He’s only famous because his students do research for the Tessalumen Evaluation and Management Agency. Their work is what’s famous. It’s just always associated with him because he’s their teacher.”

“And now he’s our teacher!” Lisa squealed. “Tessalumens are the cutting edge of physics and he’s going to teach us about them!” She felt like she’d burst with excitement. 

Tessalumens transformed the modern world. They altered the physical properties of materials, which is how buildings were able to be hundreds of stories high. But better than that, they interacted with human biology, transforming some human’s potential. Perhaps, in this class, they’d learn more about the secrets to igniting a Niagara Event. 

Maybe Lisa would get one, and maybe she wouldn’t. Everyone said you just had to wait and see. But Lisa was sure she’d experience a Niagara Event, if only because she wanted one so badly she could taste it. Then she’d have an exceptional Niagara Skill, something unique and amazing for the rest of her life.

“This is just a general ed class,” Brooke said. “We’re going to hear the basics, not cutting-edge research. You might want to slow down.”

“But we’re cool freshmen doing cool university things!”

Brooke’s lips tugged up in a smile. “You do look pretty cool in my jacket.”

Lisa smoothed out the soft green suede on her arms. “See? Another thing to be excited about. My roommate has an amazing closet and we happen to be the same size…!”

Brooke was short and rail thin, with a blonde bob cut with a streak of blue. Luckily, Lisa had a similar physique so they could share clothes. Lisa had to be careful with the tones of the clothes since she had dark brown hair and large green eyes, but there was enough diversity in Brooke’s closet that it wasn’t a problem. As soon as Lisa had seen Brooke’s closet, she had squealed with delight and hadn’t stopped talking since.

They turned a corner and were greeted by a small sign beside a door which read: Tessalumen Power Lab 2C.

The lab inside held a professor’s workbench and nine large tables, each with four barstools. In the center of every table was a nondescript rock the size of Lisa’s fist. Every desk had at least one chair taken, and Lisa led them to a table at the front where a dark-skinned student sat.

She stuck out her hand. “Morning! I’m Lisa and this is Brooke. Nice to meet you!” She was beaming. The student stared at her for a moment, then held out his hand. 

“Garrett,” he said after a brief pause. 

Brooke just gave a little nod to the student before settling into her seat. She slid her Diffi off her wrist and expanded it into a tablet for note-taking, then pulled out a thin mini monitor that telescoped open until she had dual screens ready to go. 

Lisa didn’t bother getting out her Diffi, instead reaching for the rock sitting in the center of the table. It was heavy, but not too heavy to lift with one hand. “Metalite,” she said, awe in her voice.

The rock shimmered with silvery iridescence. Metalite had a unique relationship with tessalumens that Lisa didn’t exactly understand. It somehow negated Niagara Skills and yet it was supposed to be the reason technology had advanced. She felt a thrill of possibility. 

The door at the front slid open, and a tall, lean man entered. He pulled his tablet-sized Diffi from under his arm and set it on the instructor’s bench. His gray-blue blazer had deep pockets and a faint hexagonal weave. His face was lined but lively, with sharp eyebrows.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice projecting with practiced ease. “I’m Professor Delligatti. If you’re here for Tessalumen Power Lecture and Lab, congrats! So am I.”

A few students chuckled, Lisa included.

“Let’s start with a soft question. Can anyone tell me what complex power is?”

Everyone around Lisa shot a hand in the air, but hers stayed in her lap. She had no idea what the answer was. Delligatti’s eyes swept to their table, and Lisa felt herself deflate just a little. Was she the only one who didn’t know?

What would she say if he called on her?

But then he pointed at Brooke who replied, “Complex power is when electricity is fused with tessalumens.”

“Correct.” The professor nodded, turning back to the class.

Lisa hissed to Brooke, “How did you know that?”

“I read the class notes, didn’t you?”

Lisa had not. Why would she learn before she was taught? That made no sense. She tried not to scowl and turned her attention back to the professor. He connected a set of leads from a power box to the metalite that was on his desk.

“Tessalumens have varying effects on materials and we can leverage those effects through complex power. In this unit, we’ll be discussing tessalumen’s effect on metalite. You each have a sample on your desk along with a complex power supply. When complex power is fed into metalite, an amazing phenomenon occurs.”

He flipped a switch. No hum, no sound. The rock simply lifted into the air and hovered. “A Niagara field is formed.”

Lisa had ridden in cruisers that flew through the air her whole life, but watching the rock rise in the air still felt like magic. It was like the first time she played with magnets as a child. She grinned.

Dr. Delligatti spoke quietly, his audience enthralled with his simple presentation. “This is the same physics that powers our transport vehicles and many other modern technologies. Next week we’ll discuss how metalite interacts with biological tessalumens, but for today, we will measure these fields.”

Pointing to a tray with safety goggles and thin silver bangles, Professor Delligatti said, “Before we begin: goggles are mandatory. If you’ve experienced a Niagara Event then please wear cuffs as a precaution. As amazing as your Skill may be, we don’t want unknown variables in the test environment.”

Lisa lined up to grab goggles, but noticed the tray of cuffs wasn’t touched. Since every student in the room had just become old enough to get a Niagara Skill, it was possible no one had experienced their Event yet. Of course, it was also possible someone had experienced their Niagara Event and just didn’t want to be called out.

But Dr. Delligatti didn’t comment on the students’ bare wrists. He tapped his Diffi and directed everyone’s attention back to a diagram of a simple power supply channeled into metalite.

“Each table has a power source with limiters. Connect the leads to the metalite and gradually increase the power until the metalite moves, and then record the output level. All the testing parameters are in your class folder. Begin!”

Chapter Two

Lisa

Lisa lurched toward the metalite, nearly colliding with a bewildered Garrett. She whispered, “Sorry,” and reached to connect the leads of the power supply to the rock.

Brooke sighed audibly. “Lisa, did you pull up the test parameters yet?”

Lisa ignored her, but Brooke kept pushing. “How can you hook anything up without understanding what to hook up?”

“He said it was simple,” Lisa said, a little defensive. “You just clip the power supply to the metalite and turn it on.”

“The complex power supply,” Brooke corrected. “Did you check what type it is?”

“Oh,” Garrett said, speaking up for the first time. His eyes darted from the setup to his Diffi, splayed out in front of him. “I already turned it on and I didn’t double-check that.” He turned red.

Lisa leaned over the machine. “No, it’s fine. Says ‘complex power supply’ right there. You’re being pedantic, Brooke. This is a freshman class. They’re not going to give us the wrong equipment. Go ahead and set it to 10 millivolts, Garrett.”

Garrett fiddled with a knob before Brooke said, “No! It needs to be at 0.01 volts.”

“That’s the exact same thing,” Lisa said with a grumble.

“Yes, but what units are being used on the power supply? Big difference between ten and 0.01.”

Garrett’s ears turned red as he continued to turn dials on the machine.

“I suppose we’re supposed to calibrate it before we use it, too?” Lisa drawled. She put her elbows on the table and dropped her head in her hands, annoyed.

“Yes, actually, but we should have done that before—”

They heard a little scrape and all three turned to look at the metalite. It had scooted across the table. 

Wasn’t it supposed to levitate up?

“What setting did you use?” Lisa asked Garrett.

He stuttered for a moment and the metalite moved again, and this time so did a couple of chairs. They scooted out, away from the three students. 

Lisa frowned. This wasn’t the experiment. She shared a look with Brooke, and then it happened again. This time Lisa felt herself move, like a strong wind she wasn’t expecting throwing her off balance. Brooke also stepped back as if shoved. They were being pushed away from the epicenter of the phenomenon. 

Away from Garrett.

His eyes were wide and scared as he looked at his hands. “I didn’t, I don’t, I mean I haven’t had my…” His voice trailed off and the pulse happened again, shoving at Lisa, Brooke, the tables and chairs, and even some nearby students. 

Garrett’s breathing quickened, and the pulses came faster. Not just shoves now, but shockwaves. Tables rocked and some lab chairs toppled over, making students jump. They were muttering and staring at Garrett’s group. A monitor shattered on the far wall with a pop.

Lisa felt her breath catch. It was a real Niagara Event! She was a witness to Garrett’s transformation from normal into something exceptional. People who had Skills were rare enough that to see someone experience their first, their Niagara Event, was incredibly lucky. But she didn’t feel lucky. She was terrified.

Lisa spun toward Brooke. Her voice was a high squeak. “What do we do? Should we turn off the power supply? Do you think we should—?”

“Just get out of the way!” Brooke snapped, ducking as another pulse slammed the air between them. 

Lisa was frozen, helpless. Her mind felt slow, like syrup. Where would she move to? There were tables and chairs everywhere. She would be pinned. There was nothing she could do.

Garrett clutched the edge of the table like he was clinging to it out of desperation. His face was pale, and he looked to her, his eyes wild. Something passed between them, and his look made her chest ache. Fear, apology, and desperation were tangled up in his eyes. But what could she do? 

A girl at the neighboring table screamed as her stool buckled and she fell hard onto the floor, clutching her wrist. Another gasped as a shockwave pinned her between two tables, then cried out in pain.

Lisa just stood there. “Help! We need help! We can’t—!” Another pulse struck and sent her reeling into a stool. Each wave was more powerful and violent.

Lisa searched the room for some sense of hope and she saw Brooke. Brooke had hopped on top of a nearby table, where she couldn’t be pinned down, running to the box with cuffs. That made sense. If this was a Niagara Event, that meant a cuff could mute the Skill. Why didn’t she think of that? And then—

“GARRETT!”

Dr. Delligatti’s voice sliced through the chaos. The professor had vaulted over a toppled bench with startling speed, coat flaring, one hand already holding open a metallic cuff.

Garrett had barely turned to the professor before Delligatti lunged, caught the student’s wrist, and clamped the cuff in place.

As if a switch was flipped, the pressure was gone.

Garrett blinked. The tables and chairs stopped their movement. Students were groaning, pulling themselves upright, wide-eyed and breathless. The girl who was pinned gasped, pushing away at the tables, sucking in air. 

Lisa sat on the ground, arms around her knees, eyes wide. She hadn’t even realized she had fallen. 

Dr. Delligatti stood and looked out across the room. “Anyone injured?”

A few hands rose.

He nodded solemnly. “We’ll get med-techs in now. You are all dismissed, don’t worry about the lab for now. I was going to save next week to discuss how metalite interacts with biological tessalumens. Spoiler alert,” he held up Garrett’s wrist where the cuff caught the light. “It mutes Niagara Skills. How does that work? Come back next week, folks.”

He was smiling in a good-natured way, as if he were finding the silver lining. A few students were holding wrists, ribs, or were limping a little. Lisa swallowed hard.

University was supposed to teach her things, and Niagara Skills were supposed to be amazing, but she was still shaking from fear. That could have gone much worse. His Skill had been dangerous, not fun at all. Garrett was now stuck with that ability for the rest of his life, his one opportunity for amazing cashed in. 

It had happened without warning or fanfare. One moment he was normal, the next a powerful yet uncontrollable force. She had just gawked and stood useless. She looked down at her shaking hands.

So much for day one.