Steel Ethereal

Ch. 4 Dispatched

Luciana

If I were awake, I'd know my own snores would be the only sound in the small, barren bedroom. But even if I could comprehend what the hell went on while I was unconscious, I wouldn't care. I was exhausted and a girl needs her sleep.

The hours soar by my closed eyes that surely flickered up, down, side to side. Being a heavy sleeper means I'm guaranteed to not wake up once throughout the night until my alarm went off.

My mind sped to sleep the moment my head had touched the pillow. Moments before doing so, my thoughts went wild. My mind projected images that were either mundane or obscene, no in between. These thoughts would become the dreams that snatch me from the conscious world. A world not even my neighbor, prudish and always knocking on the near paper thin walls to get me to keep quiet, could steal me from.

This was my freedom. A time I could truly sleep with both eyes shut. A night of winding down after cracking a few skulls both literally and figuratively.

My bed is a twin size and simple like the rest of my room. Though I didn't make it every day when I woke up, I wasn't messy. The bathroom was pristine when I was actually around to clean it or use it. Maybe I kept my bed messy because it would be the only thing to give my one bedroom apartment character. I rarely cooked for myself. Years of having to cook for myself and one other can do that before living in my own apartment can do that.

Still, sleeping in a simple, bland apartment beat laying half embedded in mud. Rain that fell all around a makeshift shelter, somehow always finding a way to drench me even if I was properly covered. The drops collected on my side or plopped themselves right on my face through the shelter. It was fucking annoying.

Being out in the open meant I had no choice but to sleep lightly. That or risk having someone sneak up and slit my throat in my sleep. Then there'd be no more Luciana. On those nights, I was lucky to get three or more hours of sleep. Less so if the nights were calm and quiet, where it was easy to pinpoint sounds that weren't part of the wildlife or to have an overcautious mind run wild.

The thin, watch-like device around my wrist buzzes. My alarm. I continue to sleep through it. The buzz this late at night is the only warning I'd receive for what was to come next. By this time, most people would wake from their sleep.

The small device buzzes once more, this time a small jolt of electricity spreads through my arm, causing it to go uncomfortably rigid.

I cry out and bolt upright in bed. The shock interfered with my dream, making it a terrifying end. Heaving breaths come to me as I slap hard at the small device. Luckily my strength doesn't break the device. I slap my hand again to my arm that went rigid. In my dream that same arm was cut off by some asshole I fought. Hence, the sensation of the shock.

The shock could only mean one thing: This was important and not to be ignored.

I fall backwards in my bed and thrash around in a tantrum like manner. I grunt and muffle my cries behind a pillow.

Fuck this. I wanted to sleep, but I guess I can't anymore. It's almost like I'd been dunked in frigid, arctic water as I sit up and look around the room.

Puffing my cheeks out in fury, I look through the device, and bring up the holographic message attached to the alarm to see who had hailed me even though I knew who it was already.

It's several minutes before five in the morning and three minutes past being too goddamn early for this shit. The sun is still hidden somewhere behind the mountain bordering the city which pisses me off more.

The Alto-mitter, the small watch device that seemed to have a use for everything blinks its message board. Red for crucial information. I hover my hand over the holographic button to bring the messages up.