E.R.I.C. (The Almost Series Book 2) by Christina Leigh Pritchard Page B

thoughts. They belonged to someone else. Who could do this to me?
    “What’s happening?” I jolted. Tears streamed down my face. Messages I didn’t want to read appeared before my limited visuals.
    Kill the human host.
    “I can’t do that!”
    Kill the human host.
    “But the human host is my mother!”
    Sharp jabs of pain shot up my spine.
    The voice echoed inside my skull. “ I said kill the human host.”
    “I won’t do it!”
    Electrical currents paralyzed me. I couldn’t speak and my eyesight blackened. Something or someone forced my arms outward into the diver’s position.
    “You will kill the human host,” the voice said. “You’ve been reprogrammed.”
    My body struggled against me. I dragged my feet along the sand, feeling waves crash into my toes.
    “Kill the human host.”
    “No.”
    “Then I will do it for you,” the voice said.
    My body jerked forward, arching and splashing into the sea. I swam faster than I’d ever gone before. My breath was sucked straight from me as I dove, like a sea monster, faster and faster, towards the boat.
    I couldn’t focus. Somehow, had the boat tipped? A girl with dark hair blocked my way to my human host. Shay .
    “I must kill the human host,” I said.
    “Stop it, Eric!” Shay pleaded with me. “Don’t do this!” I could see her eyes moisten. Was she frightened? What was the cream puff doing in the water?
    Helicopters hovered above me.
    Darla screamed.
    “Hurry, go!” Shay shouted to my mother. “Just cross into Miami! Hurry!”
    “Eliminate all interference and kill the human host,” the voice said. “Drown the intruder.”
    My arm jerked forward.
    What was I doing?
    “Eric!” Shay screamed, her head dipping into the waters. I shoved her down, feeling the waves ripple as she struggled to surface.
    “She’s not the enemy!” I tried to say. My lips wouldn’t part. I gagged, attempting to resist killing my little cream puff.
    Drown the intruder.
    My heart pounded.
    Drown the intruder.
    Shay struggled less.
    “Shay!” Darla cried. “My Shay!”
    I released Shay.
    She gasped for air, grabbing at my arm. “Don’t do it, Eric, please!”
    Drown the intruder.
    I resisted.
    My body jerked forward, submersing her. Why was I trying to kill Shay?
    “Let her go!” Darla yelled. She swam towards me. “You’re killing her! Stop it!”
    Drown the intruder then kill the human host.
    “I don’t want to kill anybody,” I tried to say. “I’m killing my friend.”
    Men dropped into the ocean waters from the helicopters above. Two divers grabbed Darla by the arms. A cage lowered towards them.
    She kicked and slapped at the men. “Save my daughter! She’s dying! He’s killing her!”
    I was killing Shay. She wasn’t moving anymore.
    My eyes watered.
    Why couldn’t I release her?
    A woman in military garb dropped behind me. Her body bounced back to the surface like a buoy.
    She reached for the back of my skull, hitting me behind the ears.
    “Reset!” she said.
    I dropped into the water, sinking to the ocean floor, watching the combat woman grab Shay around the waist. My eyes dimmed as a rope was wrapped around the foot of the woman. She held Shay in her arms, disappearing.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
    Negotiations
     
    S.H.A.Y.
     
    Strong hands pressed against my diaphragm. I gagged, water spilling from my lungs. “Are you okay? Dr. Cole asked.
    She wasn’t in her usual doctor’s coat. She had on a wet suit and military gear that I remembered creating when I was eleven. “I thought you said those vision goggles sucked?”
    She laughed. “Yes, you’re just fine.”
    “You said I was a failure and nothing I made worked right.”
    “You’re just as obnoxious as normal.” Dr. Cole held a medic-pen, another one of my designs. She scanned my body, checking my heart rate, temperature, and whether my body was a candidate for shock.
    “Your vitals are satisfactory.”
    “Darla! Where’s my mom?”
    Amie, my