Estranged by Alex Fedyr Read Free Book Online Page B

help!”
    “ And what the hell makes
you think you can help me?” Kalei growled.
    Lecia sat up a bit straighter, a goofy
grin growing on her face. “I’m an unofficial Estranged
counselor.”
    Kalei scoffed. Why did this not
surprise her? “Unofficial? That means no one’s stupid enough to pay
you, right?”
    Lecia lost her smile and picked up a
note of defiance as she said, “Well, there isn’t any institutional
recognition yet, but that’s going to change when I publish my
book.”
    Kalei couldn’t take this naïve little
woman seriously. “Ha! A book?” The words came out easily, but Kalei
quickly shut down as a fresh wave of pain rushed back into her
skull.
    Lecia drove on. “Yes, a book. Is that
so hard to believe? I want people like you to understand that there
are more to Estranged than just highs and death.”
    Kalei didn’t hear her. Her
own breath became labored again. She could feel the sharp bite of a
craving creeping in. It started in her heart and seemed to work its
way into her arms, causing her muscles to twitch and clench at the
impulse to just grab one hand.... Gah! Kalei fought it. She reminded
herself that Lecia had almost died by her. Of course, the girl had
it coming, considering she was wandering Downtown alone, but
nonetheless, Kalei refused to let herself be the one responsible
for the inevitable. As much as she couldn’t stand Lecia, she had to
admit that nobody deserved what she was going through, not even
this stupid little woman. So Kalei fought the aching need, and the
need retaliated by sending sharp muscle spasms through her body.
Kalei tried to pull herself back to the conversation, hoping to
distract herself again. “I don’t care what you’re spouting; you
need to get out of here. You need to leave Downtown before you get
yourself killed. Do you really think all your counseling and your
books are really going to help anything? Because they aren’t.”
Kalei let out a groan and pulled her arms close as she fought off
another spasm.
    Lecia looked to be conflicted between
concern and frustration. “Look— will you just listen to me! I can
help you, I promise.”
    Kalei raised her eyes to meet Lecia’s
and growled, “The only thing I need from you is another bullet to
my head.”
    Lecia quietly asked, “You want to
die?”
    Kalei didn’t even have to think about
it. “Yes.”
    Lecia scooted another inch closer, but
Kalei pulled away. She said, “You already know that can’t happen.
“
    Kalei let out another groan. “Since
when are Estranged immortal?”
    “ They always have been.”
Lecia shrugged as she continued, “People just don’t want to believe
it. They see an Estranged die on the street and they don’t want to
see him or her get back up. So they let themselves believe that
they won’t. Of course, SWORDE does a good job of —”
    “ I don’t care!”
    Lecia paused. She looked into Kalei’s
eyes this time. “I think you do.”
    Kalei buried her head in her arms. “I
don’t. I don’t care, I just need you to go away.”
    Silence fell. The spasms had subsided,
but now the muscles along Kalei’s arms slowly began to clench
harder and harder until she felt like the flesh would burst from
her skin. And still it continued. No matter what she did, she
couldn’t fight it. The sharp pains, the spasms, the aches; it all
kept coming back at her in one form or another. “What’s doing this
to me?” she asked weakly.
    “ The darkness.”
    “ The darkness? You’re
saying that bullshit they spout on the news is—” Kalei paused to
curse as a particularly vicious stab of pain wrenched at her hip.
“You’re saying sad emotions are ripping me to shreds right
now?”
    “ Well, they aren’t really
emotions anymore. I mean— yes, you still have emotions, and yes,
the darkness is driven by sadder ones, but the darkness is... kind
of a living thing now.”
    “ What? You mean I have
something living inside me?”
    “ Well— it’s not really
a thing .