[Previously FEATURED] Retail workers have the least chance of being haunted, hurt, or killed. At least, that's what three cashiers assume. When Temple, Marilyn, and Martine meet little Sienna, they find out how wrong they are about job security.
S...
A/N: I've injected some Daughter of Zeus characters, because I can, and because it's a small world. Happy reading!
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"Over there." She nodded to the warped table, the only piece of furniture in the dark room. "My interface is there."
The woman slowly approached the table, watching Temple as she went. Moretz moved to the door once again, the silent guard. Yeah, they should be scared, she thought, enjoying the uncomfortable atmosphere.
No, what's that noise---
She cut off the voice. Didn't matter. Couldn't be real.
"Tap your interface on mine," Temple instructed Blue Eyes.
The woman pulled back her sleeves, revealing a rubber wristlet (an older model, she thought smugly), and lightly touched it to Temple's clear interface. An electric hum filled the room, signaling a successful file transfer. Blue Eyes rested her hands in her pocket, lingering. For a moment, Temple was sure the woman was going to pull out a weapon of her own, but when her hand came out empty, she sighed. Paranoid, she thought, but justifiably so. Can't trust citizens with dark skin. Not that she minded too much. They were some of her best customers.
"That's it, Blue Eyes." Careful not to shoot accidentally, she waved the gun at the door. "Now get..." Temple's dismissal trailed off.
Suddenly, a dim roar built up in her eyes, building.
Building.
Whispering.
"How does it know my name?"
The words flashed in her head, a memory from decades before.
Bzzz. Bzzz.
Frantic, she searched for the fly, but saw nothing.
Bzzz.
Where was the noise coming from?
She pointed the gun first at Blue Eyes, and then the politician. "You two, you're doin' somethin'."
Both of them shook their heads.
"We're leaving, remember?" The woman inched closer to the door, closer to Moretz.
On the ceiling, movement drew Temple's notice. Initially, the flitting convinced her she'd found the fly again. After zooming in with composite eyes, she knew the cold darkness had invaded her space.
It.
The Shadow.
Its presence could only mean one thing,
[Just wait. Please, stay!]
and Temple wasn't ready.
"I won't let you!" she snarled, mostly to the Shadow, but to the couple as well.
Without warning, she discharged her weapon at the nearest person. The impact knocked Moretz to the ground.
Whoopsie Daisy.
"Goddamnit!" Blue Eyes didn't take her gaze off of Temple as she rushed to Moretz.
You too, she thought, aiming her weapon at the woman. Only, the harsh grip on the weapon slackened. A whisper in her head (not Rush, someone new) commanded she release the gun, and she listened. As the weapon thudded on the concrete, Temple analyzed her involuntary actions. The whispers convinced her that Blue Eyes was somehow responsible. The woman checked on Moretz's cauterized wound, her ocean eyes narrowed on Temple.
Connection.
We're connected.
"You did that to me," Temple said, appalled and also fascinated.
She looked at her hand (is it mine?), a thing under someone else's control. How had Blue Eyes hacked into her head?
Bzzz.
At its reappearance, Temple experienced a flash of surety about the fly. It's the composite, the one Track found in the archives. The non-sensical thought slipped from her as quickly as it had come.
Pain, arching and crippling, etched itself into her eyes.
"No!" Temple was blind, repeating the refusal again and again.
Her lids bulged, and the woman watched in horror as Temple's eyes seemed to expand, nearly resting on her cheeks in their largeness.
Real.
The Shadow all those decades ago waited above her, its presence thudding through her like waves crashing on rocks.
Intangible fingers crept in her head, wrapping around her eyes and squeezing.
Tight.
Shouldn't have bought composite eyes.
Too tight.
Pop.
Then Temple thought nothing at all.
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A/N: If you've come this far, I'm hoping you'll press 'vote'!
One of the first covers for The Dark was created by kimbasgirl, and I'll be forever grateful for her help. I appreciate her artistic skill, which you can view at your own leisure below:
