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

I made my way to her room and knocked. No answer. I knocked again.

"Doc! It's Liam!" I shouted.

Another knock. I listened for any sound from inside the room. For a while, I heard nothing. Then there was a scream. It didn't sound very loud, but it could have come from far from the door.

I took a risk, scanned my key card over the pad. The door unlocked. I pulled myself in slowly.

A light was flashing on the far wall of the living room.

"Stop! Stop!" A woman screamed.

I pushed myself a little faster. I came around the corner of the kitchen. Her space suit and helmet were floating around the room.

I found her sitting at a desk, her feet keeping her in place. She was leaned over, chin in her hand. Wide, green eyes stared at the flashing screen of the computer. Endless amounts of papers, folders, and books floated around the room haphazardly. A notepad and pen held by one hand.

I was just about to announce my presence when her medical drone whizzed right by out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee.

The drone was basically a metal ball with two arms and a pair of propellers at either side. A big red cross painted on its head and a round lens for an eye. It beeped as it flew around. It delivered the cup straight to her hand. Beeped cheerfully and scooted off to gather all the loose stuff hanging around.

"Midi, look at this." She said.

The drone beeped and flew back to her. I joined them quietly.

On the screen was footage from a security camera. Dated in the middle of the Earth year 2243. Static popped up on the screen every so often. It even artifacted occasionally; an obvious sign the file was corrupted.

A large room filled with a series of obstacle courses and target drones. Water to tread, ramps to run up, ropes to climb. A rock climbing wall in the far corner stretched over the ceiling. Bars hung down, still a dangerous height from the floor. Weapons were lined up on tables dotting the courses, drones wandering aimlessly.

A group of almost-human-looking kids were traversing the course. I knew the course at a glance. A stereotypical set up for training in boot camp. Team work was required to get through it, but you still had to pull your own weight. Seven of the children worked together. The eighth one lagged behind, unable to keep up and completely ignored.

“They’ve grown so much…” Reynolds whispered under her breath. “This is just a year later. They look like teenagers!”

Already I could tell there was an obvious leader of the group. The one with the golden skin and eyes of cosmic dust. A lion in disguise. Two of them were thrown up a wall. When they pulled themselves up, they reached down to grab the next ones.

The screen artifacted. Skipped forward in time. The smallest of them left behind in the dust attempted to get over the wall. Two of them were still there, watching and laughing. One of charcoal black skin, and a blond with the teeth of a bear. The runt clawed at the wall only to fall repeatedly.

Static. The screen flashed a series of colors cutting through like lightning.

Reynolds cursed under her breath.

When it stopped, the runt was clinging to the edge of the wall, kicking as hard as it could to pull itself up. Fingers were stained black, the liquid spotted along the wall. The charcoal one stomped on its fingers.

“You can’t do it!” The bully snarled. “Why don’t you just die already?!” He stomped again, making the runt let go with one hand.

She quickly clawed at the edge again and pulled herself up a little more.

“Go away!” She screamed.

“Let’s help it!” The blond grinned.

They grabbed the girl by her hair and pulled her over the edge only to proceed to kick her around. She fought back, clawing and snapping at them.

It artifacted again.

The blond laid on the floor at the foot of the wall. The charcoal lizard now locked in combat with the wolf snapping at his face. Black blood was splattered everywhere. The others were yelling, maybe cheering the fight on. A bell sounded, but it did not deter the fighters.

A woman in a white lab coat rushed into view of the camera.

“Stop!” She shouted. “Both of you, stop!”

“Doctor, get back!” A man in blue armor tackled her to the floor. He put his body over hers just in time to stop a blast of flame from scorching her. A shriek came from one of the fighters.

“I need back up,” The man called. “Get back. It’s too dangerous!”

Purple shot across the screen. The sound cut out into an ear piercing ring. It lasted only seconds before it was back on, static keeping the camera fuzzy.

Three men in matching armor were in the middle of the screen. One kept the fiery lizard at bay while the other two dragged the runt away. The doctor stood, covering her mouth. She cried, her body shaking and moving uncontrollably. The wolf gurgled, cried, and howled as it was dragged by its shoulders. Its jaw barely hung unto its face at one side, black blood pouring out. The lizard was not in good shape either. He spat flames at the armored man holding him back.

Reynolds tapped on the screen to rewind it and pause it when the runt was in clear view. She pointed.

“Look, Midi.” She played it back at a quarter of the original speed. “It looks like the wounds are already healing!”

Beep! Boop! Beep!

“I know, it can’t be possible! It shouldn’t be.”

“Where did you get this footage?” I asked.

Reynolds nearly jumped straight out of her seat. She yelped and covered her mouth.

“Oh, my god. Liam! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” She hit me in the arm.

I laughed. “If you would have answered the door...I heard screaming, thought you were in trouble.”

“No. I’m fine.” She took a breath.

“So, how’d you get it?”

She