The Device

Chapter 1

There was a blast of freezing air as Natalie stepped off the bus, nodding her thanks at the driver when her friend stepped of the bus. The rain came in torrents, making her fumble with her umbrella. She glanced at her friend and rolled her eyes. She was on her phone again, oblivious to the rain that was soaking her dress.

"Lillian!" Natalie barked, clicking her fingers in front of her face. The strawberry-blonde haired girl snapped up from her phone and raised her eyebrows.

"Thank you." She said, "Now come on!" Natalie grabbed Lillian's hand and they ran across the road and headed up the hill.

The rain pelted down, cutting across their faces like knives. Natalie hated the rain, the smell, the feel and the thought that came with it. Every time it rained, she was constantly and constantly reminded of that day many years ago. If there was something that erased memory, she needed it for that.

Reaching a small, but dense, group of trees, they stopped, Natalie catching her breath, "Okay, if we run to the next tree, then we should be able to . . ." Hearing no response from her friend, she turned around and glared at Lillian.

She was, for the thousandth time, on her CCD. She marched over to her and plucked the device from her grip.

"Hey!" Lillian protested, reaching to snatch it back; but Natalie held it away from her.

"Look, we are trying to get out of this damn rain so we can get home; and it would be that much easier if you could pay attention."

But she still made another grab for her phone. This was the final straw for Natalie, who then put in her back pocket.

"Listen, you are twenty-eight, older than me in fact, and your stupid obsession with your new C. C. D is driving me insane."

Natalie turned around and leant against the tree, "I know the ads said that 'you'll want to be with it forever!' but I didn't think it would be literal." She said a tad sadly.

She saw a flicker of movement on the opposite side of the road, in the bushes that lined them.

She frowned. Was it a cat? It looked dark but it was only there for a second.

Her temporal sadness evaporated when she felt the phone slid out of her pocket. She spun around and slapped the phone out of Lillian's hands. It flew through the air and landed in a puddle of muddy water.

"Oh, god. I'm so sorry Lillian. I didn't mean to . . ." Natalie gulped nervously as it started to spark, and then a small plume of smoke started to rise from it.

"Lillian?" She warned, "Get back from it. Now." She tugged on her arm but she didn't move. Instead, she reached out to it.

"Lillian! We have to leave it. Come on!" Natalie tried again but she still wouldn't budge.

What was she doing?! It was just a phone; they could just as easily get a new one.

Lillian moved forward and bent down to the puddle.

"Lillian!" Natalie screamed. She was going to get herself electrocuted!

She felt herself being roughly pulled away. The grip was strong and felt like a man's. She gasped and reflexively turned to him.

"No!" she screamed, trying to get away from him.

"Just come on!" He said through gritted teeth. "Get away from her."

"Stop it!" she screamed desperately, "Someone help me!"

He was very strong, but she wouldn't be abducted, not today. She dug her feet into the muddy grass, getting a very minimal amount of leverage from it. They continued to struggle, but the faceless man was slowly winning. Step by slow step, she was being lead to her possible death.