The Astral Hacker (Cryptopunk Revolution Book 1) by Brian Terenna (best ebook reader .txt) 📗

and my body shakes. The world is distant and fuzzy. My thoughts dart around like piranhas in a feeding frenzy. I can’t grasp onto them, and all I see is red.

Am I in Silent City? Can I start over?

No. I’ve fallen into the sixth level of hell. I lower my head into my hands, trying to reboot, to gain any sense of the world. Nine-one-one, a part of me says, but my body is numb and my will nonexistent.

A vision of terror flashes in my brain. The piranhas flee in all directions. Nothing remains. Only blood. And scissors.

The horrific image of her gory, sliced-up body haunts me, and I wish I could hide from it. Why did she do it? Why now? She was supposed to be better.

Next to her body, she wrote a message on the wall. ‘I can’t face him. I’m sorry, Fae. Run to the clouds.’

At the end of the message was a drawing of an eye, with two lines projecting from the bottom. One was longer and ended in a spiral. The other was short and ended in a triangle. A streaky, dripping eyebrow completed the image.

It must have been the symbol Barbra hallucinated and feared. There was something odd about the message and drawing. It looked unnatural, or too natural. Shiny. Red. Dripping.

I shiver and hug my knees.

A sound tickles my ear. Something distant. Small.

I blink and return to the world.

“Fae,” says Sunny.

I want to respond. Instead, I stare at the wall next to my poster, shaking.

“Fae.”

I see him now. Metal, impervious to pain. I wish I was him.

“Oh hell, Fae. What do we do?”

He’s asking me? I open my mouth to say…what? I shut it and lower my head, my gaze landing on my hands. They’re streaked with blood.

I scream and shuffle back on the carpet. The pungent smell of it makes me scrunch my nose. My heart flutters as I stare at them in horror. Why am I bloody?

Sunny raises his hands and lowers them calmingly. “Fae, you’re safe now.”

I look up at him slowly as I remember. I pulled the scissors from her chest. Why did I do that? I don’t know. It just felt wrong to leave them inside her.

“We’re going to be all right. I can get us through this,” he says.

His kindness reaches me even through my foggy mind.

“I’ll call the police,” he says.

Yes. That’s what you do. But then when they come, they’ll question me. I’ll have to see her pale face and lifeless eyes again. A cold dread runs up my spine. I can’t.

The image of her blinks into my mind anyway.

I swallow the acrid bile that rises in my throat and force away the horrific image.

Barbra’s note appears before me. ‘I can’t face him. Run to the clouds.’ She had written it with her dying hand.

“We have to go,” I manage to say.

“What about the police?” he asks.

“We have to go,” I say more forcefully. I push myself up and stumble, feeling weak and uncoordinated. My robe falls open, and I shiver again despite my pajamas.

I stare at my bare wrists. Goosebumps dot my skin as much from my shock as the air conditioning. I glance at my bloody hands. The sight of them makes me sick. I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing it weren’t true. Why Barbra?

I stumble to the bathroom to wash up. The water is hot, almost scalding. Fitting for this hell. I soap and scrub vigorously, trying to erase the memory as much as the blood.

I start toward the door, then look at my pajamas. Clothes. I need them. I stagger over to my dresser and pull out shorts and a T-shirt. Somehow, I dress myself.

Sunny grabs his bag. His seal, Bean, sticks out of the top.

I glance absently at my bear but turn away. That part of my life is over. I grab my bag and walk out of my room, numb and cold. Something makes me look toward Barbra’s door. I nearly collapse.

Sunny reaches up to help steady me. “Come on. I’ll help you.” He extends an arm around my waist to steady me.

“Call the police now, but we’re leaving,” I say.

He does.

I walk down the street, but I don’t even remember leaving the house. The warm summer air suffocates me. It’s a stark contrast to the cold air inside. The slight breeze feels strange on my skin, like the antennae of some giant insect, ready to devour me. Despite the heat, the sky is overcast. Its gray pallor weighs on me, and each step is like walking through mud.

I continue forward, focusing only on the next step until my feet ache and dusk takes the sky. I slow, then stumble as if my feet are so used to walking they can’t stop.

Sunny looks up at me, a frown on his face. “Where are we, Fae?”

I’m alone on a dark street. Buildings are in disrepair, and trash litters the side of the road. I don’t recognize this part of town. But at least I’m away from the horror.

Someone grunts from across the street.

I jump back.

A gruff man with jutting ears and a hard face eyes me.

His look is like worms crawling under my skin. I feel exposed and at risk. What would I do in Silent City? Get away, then find weapons, food, and shelter.

Sunny tugs at my hand. “I’ll take us somewhere better. I’m accessing town maps now.”

I follow him, unable to do anything else. As we move on, I can’t stop thinking about the feeling of sticky scissors on my hands. Then I realize that since I touched them, I left fingerprints. My stomach flutters with anxiety. I know I should go back, but it’s obvious she killed herself. I