Nova
I can feel the vibration in my bones.
I don’t know what it is. Can’t see it from this angle.
A hum fills the room. Low. Steady.
Then warmth.
It starts at my wrist. At the mark. Spreads up my arm. Across my chest.
Everything gets hotter with it.
Something reaching inward.
My heart stutters. Speeds up. I can’t control it.
The warmth keeps spreading. Down to my stomach. My legs. My fingertips.
I try to move, jerking my arms. The restraints hold.
I try to breathe but I can’t fill my lungs all the way.
The hum gets louder.
The warmth turns to pressure. Inside me. Under my ribs. Behind my sternum.
Something is pulling.
No.
No no no.
I force my eyes open.
The room blurs. Lights too bright. Shapes moving beyond the glass.
Then one shape gets closer.
Presses against the glass.
Palms spread flat. Face too close.
Lena.
Her eyes are too wide. Too bright. She’s grinning.
But it’s not right. Not her, the Lena I know.
She leans closer to the glass. Still grinning.
“Come on,” she whispers.
“Let go.”