Cynetic Wolf

“Shhhh.” A faint scraping. My arms, my legs, everything felt funny, a strange, inescapable heaviness.

Mom’s voice. “Doc, is he going to be okay? What happened?”

“He’ll be fine. He just…” The words faded away.

It was so comfy, so warm and cozy. My eyes opened a second later. I was in bed, but in the living room, and Mom was passed out in her favorite chair. Vynce was asleep on the couch in the corner, bundled tight as the brown wool blanket rose and fell.

Tapping my head to wake myself, the AR overlay thing happened again. I jumped out of bed, clenching my fists. My body, my clothes, everything, was drenched in sweat. There were numbers above Vynce, electric blue readouts of body temperature and heart rate, like I had superpowers. I almost choked.

This is just a dream, this is just a dream. A few deep breaths. I should do the mindfulness thing Grandma had taught me. If anything could awaken me from this nightmare, it was that... Maybe I was dreaming. I’d wake up and Elly would be here.

Everything would be fine.

After what felt like hours, I opened my eyes. Please... The clock on the wall said it’d been five minutes. Shit. They were all still here. I was still here. Except no Elly. Nothing changed. Another surge of pain.

The weird numbers were still there too, floating above their faces. I tapped the side of my head and the displays disappeared. That was good to know, as long as no one else could see them. Shoot, what if they could? I’d be shot.

In the corner, Vynce stirred, blinking as he let out a yawn. “Raek!” He jumped, mouth agape. “Are you okay? You passed out. What happened?” he added, lowering his voice when he realized Mom was asleep.

“Where’s Elly? Where is she?”

He winced. “You don’t remember?”

So, it was true. The bloody knife twisted in my gut. Pure guilt.

Vynce nodded, wincing, and told me everything.

Mom opened her eyes, noticed me, and leapt from her seat, her eyes wide. “Baby, you’re okay. I was so worried.” She flung herself at me. “Three days. Three days! What happened? Come here.”

She pulled me tight. It felt so good. I cried.

Wait… “You’re saying I have been out for three days?”

Mom clenched her fists, sinewy arms bunching up. “What happened out there, baby? It looked like a warzone!”

“I don’t remember,” I lied, not making eye contact. “They attacked Elly and I exploded. I don’t remember. Somehow they died, and I collapsed.”

Despite gentle eyes, she raised an eyebrow. “Okay. Maybe you’ll remember later. I’m sure some of the adults will want to talk to you. I hope not the DNS. We’ll do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen. Attacking cynetics and all...” She lost her resolve and stifled a sob.

We all grimaced. The penalty for violence against superiors was your dominant hand, no questions asked. For murder, it was death.

“They said something about a message,” I blurted out. Should I tell her? “Before he died, the cynetic, he said he pinged someone.”

“No!” Mom gasped as a shockwave rippled through her. “So, someone might know what happened.” She placed both hands around my head and cupped my ears, looking me in the eyes. “Are you sure you don’t remember anything else, baby?”

I shook my head, torn. She’d be terrified of me… “No, nothing.”

“Vynce, Raek… we never had this conversation. Raek, get your clothes, enough for a few days, and put them in your bag. Bring a mat, a blanket, and I’ll pack some dried food. Maybe I’m overreacting.”

She took a deep breath. “In case, hide that bag somewhere, not in town. Don’t tell me where, don’t tell anyone. If anything happens, anything at all, I want you to go there and hide out. It’d only be a few days. Got it?”

I shook my head. “No way. What about you guys? I’m staying! This is my—”

“Damnit!” she barked. “No, you’re not. We’ll be fine. We always are.”

Holy crap. And she didn’t even know about the blaster yet.

What had I gotten myself into?

* * *

The next few days passed in a blur, adults coming to offer condolences, cards, and sympathy. Lots of tears and hugs. Rumors too. A few tried questioning me. One or two got angry and started yelling. Mom kicked them out, dragging offenders to the door with an intensity none dared protest.

By day three, I was cooped up, by day five, losing my mind. I was meant to roam and hunt and be free. I told Mom I was going for a hike and maybe hunting if I saw anything. We needed the food, so she caved.

“Fine, but stay south of the village. And don’t go into that forest, boy! You got it?”

A nod.

“I’m serious, Raek!” She gave me a look I’d never forget. “I can’t lose two of my babies.”

I hurried out the door, bag on my back. Freedom. The wind at my back, the rustling of leaves… I lost myself, lost track of time. I chased the scent of a rogue buck for a while, a twenty pointer by his hooves. The thought of meat, of juicy, non-plant-based steak for the winter drove me farther.

At last, I found the poor guy. I wasn’t the first. A pack of wolves or wild dogs had caught it, tearing flesh from the bones and leaving behind a bloody carcass. It wasn’t worth carrying home, the good parts were gone. Plus it was getting dark.

Time to head back. I’d been out all day, and while it was fun, pained darkness haunted me. I thought about Elly, about what was happening to me, about everything. Images of her bloodied face assaulted me. Stabbing guilt.

Gunfire snapped me out of it. That’s odd. Why would someone hunt so close to town? Maybe a wild dog roamed a little too close, or stole one of Mr. Leot’s few chickens.

Something wasn’t right. The streets were dead silent and empty. Was that blaster exhaust? The burnt acid stench of charred skin torched my nostrils.

I turned onto to our street and the smell was stronger, nauseously so. The door to Ms. Ivey’s house was ajar and I ran over. She’d know what was going on.

Ms. Ivey was tied to a chair in the middle of the room, red hot heating strips and burns covering her arms and legs. Her head was gone, blood everywhere. She was unrecognizable, except for the Moon-shaped birthmark on her right hand. Ugh… Who’d done this?

Sick to my stomach, I backed out. Don’t touch anything. I’d seen crime holos. Fingerprints, fragments of skin, hair, bone… My DNA shouldn’t be anywhere near this.

Someone was watching me, I could feel it.

I spun and a tall, black-clad officer with narrow blue eyes stood on the path, eyeing me. He looked to Ms. Ivey, and back to me without a reaction. My gut told me he was an emulate, I don’t know why. What was an immortal doing here, the house of a simple teacher? Had he killed her? Why?

“Excuse me, sir.” Walking toward him, I bent my head in an intentional timidness. “Can I help you?”

His mouth opened, confused. “Well, I… we’re investigating two missing cynetics.” He reached for his hip holster.

I didn’t hesitate, striking like lightning, fist pummeling his chin before surprise even registered. Landing on him, my claws ripped at his eyes, fists pounding his head and chest. Power coursed through me. If I didn’t kill him, I was dead.

He pulled a blaster and aimed for my head. He fired, but I dodged it and horror appeared on his face, mouth hanging open. He fired again but my left hand pinned his arm to the ground.

The man was bleeding everywhere at this point, some blue pseudo-organic mixture. Even his body’s mechanized skeleton and inhuman strength couldn’t stop me. He was losing and he knew it.

I had to finish the fight before more officers showed. Ripping a brick from Ms. Ivey’s path, I brought it smashing onto his forehead.

His components and memory chips exploded everywhere, blue goo gushed over the sidewalk. It was over.

The surrogate body spasmed twice and stopped. He—or it, or whatever he was—was dead.

Wait, what had I done? Shaking, I stood. The shock should have been crippling, or at least slowed me. Instead, I felt calm and relaxed, despite the tremors.

Our window was dark and the place was deserted.

Where were they? Mom had said to run. I did.

It was light out when I reached the edge of the forest. I was lucky, no cops or townsfolk along the way. Everyone must be hiding. But what was going on?

Despite sprinting, I was far from winded. Blood pumped through my veins, power like I’ve never felt before. In a small clearing, I shimmied a tree, and pulled the bag from my back. Thank you, Mom.

A few sips from my canteen to quench my thirst. Now what?

It got dark fast. A wolf howled and it hit me: I was an outlaw. What was I going to do? The DNS would find the body and know something happened. Things would get worse.

And Ms. Ivey, that was all my fault. She died being questioned and tortured. The burn marks on her arms and legs were seared into my mind, her headless miserable body. Ugh.

And where were Mom and Vynce? Were they okay?

There were three possibilities where they could be: home, our old campsite west of town, or captured. As long as it wasn’t the third. I had to go see for myself.

It took three gut-wrenching hours of sneaking to reach our street, three-to-four times longer than usual. But no one saw or followed me. Approaching from the back, I scurried through the Ivey’s and Lonet’s yards and hopped the ugly mini fence into ours. Everything was dark and deserted. Not a good sign.

I crept to the window. The place was a mess. Tables and chairs were tossed about and glass shards blanketed everything. Even a few caved walls, like a bomb went off.

Were they okay?

Out of the corner of my eye, movement. A hand clapped my shoulder.