The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) by Gwyndolyn Russell (e reader txt) 📕

control." Reaper whispered. Then louder, he addressed the crowd. "If you have complaints about anyone on board this ship, you need to file a complaint, or come to me directly."

"We're here now!" Someone shouted.

"That thing has been sabotaging the ship! It's sneaking by to destroy what we've repaired." Another said.

"I've seen it eating whatever it can rip up, be it metal, or a pet! What if it snatches up one of our children?" A scared mother.

"It's making everyone sick! It's in their heads!" Another.

Jackal wanted to speak up, to call them all idiots. When he opened his mouth, Reaper immediately raised his hand to keep him from causing a riot.

"I can assure you that is not the case." He said it loud and clear. "Fenris has not been alone since joining us. It would take great effort for him to sneak around the ship with his size and presence. He would have been seen by someone had he managed to slip away from Jackal's watchful gaze."

"He's blinded!" Someone called out. "How would he be able to watch it? That thing is as silent as the night!"

"Fenris hasn't left my side since the solar flare!" Jackal called back. "Eyes, or not, he's been helping me deal with this issue ever since we all woke up!"

"It's tainted you! See? It can manipulate us like some sort of parasite!"

"Everyone relax!" Mjolnir said, hands up. "There is no need to get violent. This ship follows the laws of the Federation, meaning innocent until proven guilty. If you have any hard evidence to prove any of this, please report to the Security desk to file it."

"Captain, sir, with all due respect I cannot stand for this." Someone stepped up to the front of the crowd. A young man, eyes still full of hope. "I requested a transfer from the Atheena to work under you. I took a demotion for this job."

Reaper wasn't sure what to say. He knew most of his crew had done similar. Everyone wanted to work under a war hero. He may have never felt like one before, but now he was starting to feel like a bad guy.

"I am all for peace, but that thing, that creature you're defending, is an anomaly unlike anything we have seen. It is frankly horrifying. Everyone is suffering from nightmares that creature shows up in! Our children are afraid of leaving our homes. We only started having catastrophic issues since that thing arrived. It can't be a coincidence!"

He was aware of the strange nightmares, Reynolds made sure he knew the health of everyone. Even he had shared the nightmares, though not as frequently as the others. It seemed everyone reacted with fear. He couldn't blame them.

Jackal looked towards Fenris. He could feel the creature floating behind him. It was always within arm’s reach.

Even Reaper was watching the creature now.

"No." It spoke in a whisper. A chill down the spine.

Reaper got the feeling a question had been asked he couldn't hear.

"He doesn't know." Jackal said, looking away now.

"Doesn't know what?"

"About the nightmares."

Puzzled, Reaper watched the two of them. Even Mjolnir seemed confused, he hadn't heard a thing either.

"Fen, can you explain?" Reaper asked.

"Cannot explain what is not known." It retorted.

Reaper did the best thing he could think of. Remove the problem from the current situation. He had Jackal take Fenris back to his room to wait out the chaos of the rioting. Even with the two of them detached from the crowd, the protesters did not leave. They continued to insist completely locking the wolf up for everyone's safety. Reaper could not bring himself to comply. He knew Fenris was innocent, and if he wasn't, he clearly had no knowledge of whatever the problem was. Reaper was not sure what to call it. In fact, when he managed to get everyone to go back to work, he made a trip to the medical bay to speak with Dr. Brannum, the psychiatrist of the Syndicate. He shared what he legally could with Reaper. No client names, only some details of their reports. Everyone who visited had the same issue. The same set of nightmares, enveloped by shadows and darkness, watched by some sort of red eyed monster that looked freshly risen from hell itself. Some were drowned. Some eaten alive. Some brutally mauled. Their worst fears came to light. Some people were suffering from hallucinations, feeling as if their nightmares were reality. Trapped in a perpetual cycle of dreaming and never knowing when they were actually awake or not.

Brannum was trying different medications out, but there was no effect. He agreed that unknown bacteria humans have never made contact with could be the cause.

He went to Reynolds. She had been trying to study Fenris for weeks now. Her hands were full from the injuries of the warp, but things seemed to have calmed down.

"Oh, you're sitting down!" Reaper smiled at her.

"It's been a busy month." She set her pen down. "You can't be here for idle chat, Captain."

"I was just talking to Brannum. He suspects these ship wide hallucinations could be caused by something foreign."

"Ah, yes, I wish I could figure out what exactly! I was able to scan Fenris during his voluntary examination. It struck me as odd I found nothing completely foreign. On the surface." She leaned back in her seat. "Honestly, everything is odd about that specimen."

"Can you elaborate for me?"

"Well, you see, the metal of its armor perfectly matches carbon alloys from Apex Corps. They're the only ones that use this specific material."

"That's strange."

"That's not it! The strangest part is how old the armor is. I estimated a couple hundred. I should also mention how the armor was manufactured, yet there's flesh, actual muscle sinew attached. The armor has developed rings, like what you see in a tree, or even in some bones. The metal has grown beyond what it was created."

"How does that explain the muscle?"

"Well…" she shuffled through a drawer filled with folders. After a moment, she produced one folder