Estranged by Alex Fedyr Read Free Book Online

the girl in the face for disagreeing with her.
As a result, Kalei was transferred to another school – this was her
fifth such offense – and Kalei hadn’t seen Lecia since. She didn’t
regret it either. Lecia had always been ridiculously stubborn in
her opinion that Estranged weren’t all bad. Kalei couldn’t stand
it.
    Then Kalei remembered something more
immediate: the hand with the clear fingernails. A wave of panic hit
her, but before Kalei could say anything, a sudden wave of nausea
made her roll over and heave. It was a painful, wrenching process,
especially as there was nothing in her stomach to expel. As the
spasms slowly subsided, Kalei let out an exasperated curse, and
then asked, “What happened? Did I kill—” Kalei almost heaved again.
“My hand, I think I touched...”
    Lecia’s smile widened. “No worries.”
Her voice was cheerful as she held up a handgun, shaking it in
midair like she was showing off a new toy. “I stopped you before
you could do any damage.”
    “ What? Wait—” Kalei shook
her head as she tried to clear it. The nausea gave way to the more
familiar stabbing in her heart. Kalei wished she could go back to
the nausea. “What are you saying? Did you shoot me?” She glanced
down at her body in search of some sign of blood or damage. Despite
the internal agony that ripped through her, outwardly, she was
fine.
    Lecia’s tone was so sweet
it was starting to piss Kalei off. She said, “Yup, I shot you right
between the eyes.” She smiled again and pointed the gun at Kalei’s
forehead, innocently closing one eye as she looked down the sights
at Kalei. She whispered a soft “ Bang” before pulling the gun back
and setting it down beside her.
    Kalei flinched at the blatant
disregard for gun safety. This woman had clearly lost her mind.
Nonetheless, she could feel something warm on her face where Lecia
had pointed. She reached up above the bridge of her nose and her
fingers found something wet and sticky. She pulled her hand away
and saw blood. Her hand quickly shot back to her face, where it
searched for the source— the injury— but there was none. The skin
beneath the blood was completely smooth.
    Lecia watched the process with gentle
concern. “If you don’t believe me, you can check the back of your
head. You were a cop. You know what firearms do to a person’s skull
at close range.”
    Kalei’s hand moved to the back of her
scalp and she felt... skin. Her hair was gone. This time, there was
no blood, just smooth, fresh skin.
    Was Lecia implying – it wasn’t
possible. If it was – the thought was absolutely horrifying.
Although as much as Kalei didn’t want to believe, it made sense.
She recalled the woman she saw in the store, the Estranged that had
closed her eyes, even though she should be dead...
    Could Estranged really – could they
regenerate themselves?
    Kalei tried to wrap her head around
the idea, but before she could make another mental step, the
pounding in her head turned to a screaming siren and it was all she
could do to squeeze her eyes shut in an attempt to block it out.
She couldn’t think, but her emotions still ripped and roiled
through her. Kalei’s sense of helplessness, confusion, and
frustration grew, but the heightened emotions only fed the—
whatever it was that was consuming her from the inside out. She
hunched over and grabbed at her skull as she tried to find a way
out of this madness. Her breathing became ragged; a harsh whisper
slipped through her lips. “What is happening to me?”
    She hadn’t expected an answer, she
hadn’t even meant to say anything, but she heard Lecia’s voice
answer, calm and reassuring. “It’s the darkness.”
    Kalei squeezed her eyes tighter; every
muscle along her body was beginning to seize and contract. She
forced herself to respond past the internal hell that was trying to
bury her. Maybe if she could just keep her attention on the
conversation, she could climb her way out. She demanded,