My gut tangled. I shouldn’t be witnessing this. I slowly moved the cursor to exit, hoping they were too engrossed in conversation to notice.
She scooted closer. “You’d be miserable. You like homey, wooden stuff. And drums. And toys. It’d be so noisy. I…I don’t know. With my birthday, I’ve just been thinking. What are our next five years gonna be like? What’s your feeling?”
“I…” He glanced at the screen.
Shitting fucking hell. He saw me moving. I ended the call, my heart beating wildly.
I should’ve known not to get involved. Now, Sal’s heart was collateral damage. Because of me.
15
Better Late
Logically, it wasn’t my fault Sal and Janice broke up, if that's even what happened. All I did was help a friend build custom content. But still, if bad things kept happening, the common denominator seemed to be me.
That night, I had an awful nightmare where my brother warned me to get out of the house, that something was coming for us.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” I said, gesturing to the bare, sunlit walls and cameras.
The ceiling cracked. Then, the floors.
“Come on,” he urged.
I dove for my backpack, and the house lurched again. A huge chunk of drywall slammed into him. Dust billowed above us, blocking out the sun.
“Victor,” I cried, and ran over, hugging my backpack against my raging heart.
Huge, mechanical spider legs lifted the debris off him. I skidded to a halt as the widow’s silhouette grew. But instead of two round bulbs for a body, the limbs were attached to the spine of a voluptuous human. Kat’s killer smile and red-and-black plaid outfit cut through the fog. “Don’t worry, I’ve got him,” she said.
My lungs churned. “You’re a cyborg?”
“Isn’t everybody?” She cradled Victor against her neck, encouraging him to drink.
Where was he enhanced? His teeth?
I shuddered and turned away. “We have to find somewhere safe. Maybe True Tech?” The windows were reinforced steel.
Ash appeared, climbing over the hill of our broken home. She wiped her smudged forehead. “That shattered, just like your brother’s back.”
He clung to Kat, eyeing me darkly. If only I’d listened. Things would be fine. I just needed to find somewhere safe. My pulse throbbed in my ears. “Maybe Sal’s place?”
But in my heart of hearts, I knew I’d wrecked that too. Still, I wanted to find him.
I rushed through the piles of rubble in our neighborhood, calling his name. A man about his age and shape stumbled into the distance, peeling off his dusty shirt. Fresh claw-marks marred his back. I had to help him.
“Sal,” I gasped, jerking awake. My pajamas clung to my body in a cold sweat. “Gross,” I muttered.
My subconscious had always been an asshole. I showered, then got ready for work.
At the kitchen table, Victor side-eyed me over his peeled fruit. “Rough night?”
“It had nothing to do with me,” I said, rummaging through the fridge.
“Hmm, intrigue. What happened, dear sister?” He poked me with his sock-clad toes, then his fingers, those frozen death sticks.
“Fuck off.” I kicked him back. The last thing I needed was his judgment.
“Well, let me know if you need help burying a body.” He smirked, then offered me half his orange like a fucking gentleman.
