Read Online Translucent by Nathaniel Beardsley - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Nathaniel Beardsley
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causing he r friends to back away. She must’ve seemed like a madman, but she didn’t care. She had to kill him.
She leaped through the broken window, getting her legs scratched as they scraped against jagged shards of glass still stuck in the frame. She landed with a crunch on more glass, and , without slowing down, sprinted towards the Sandman, brandishing the knife all this time. She hurled herself at him, knife extended in front of her in a position where she could stab him.
But once again, he was gone. It was like he’d never been there, and Karena found herself careening towards the ground, caught terribly off balance from having expecting hersel f to be crashing into someone. He r arm got cut with the knife when she landed , and it began to bleed tremendously. Not caring, Karena got up again and spun around, looking for him.
He was s tanding not thirty meters away, in the exact same position as the previous two times. Unmoving. Karena began to feel hopeless. It was impossible to catch him. There was no way he would just let her catch him and slay him. He was invincible .
Nonetheless, she pushed on, with a vigor she hadn’t anticipated. She suddenly found herself sprinting even faster than she had before, an aggressive look in her eyes, but also a determined one. It would end now. She wouldn’t let this continue the way he intended it to. She had to kill him.
He was standing in the middle of an intersection ; there were no cars. Karena went off the sidewalk and sprinted towards him. She knew it was foolish, this whole pursuit, but she wouldn’t give up. She ran in the middle of the street, focused on him and him alone. In seconds she was running out into the intersection, and would be at him in just another second. She knew he would disappear, but she had to…
A car flew out of nowhere, brakes squ ealing, and it careened into her body, throwing her to the side and causing her to go sailing through the air. She slammed into the pavement, and immediately felt a physical pain like nothing she’d ever experienced before. It was impossible for her to describe it. Her vision was red, and she could vaguely see bl ood dripping onto the street around her. She could vaguely see the Sandman standing there, in the same position in the middle of the street.
People came out of the car to tend to her, but she ignored them. They didn’t matter. They would be gone in moments, anyway. It didn’t matter what happened to her now, if she was taken to a hospital or if she just died. She was going to start over again no matter what happened.
And then, the Sandman reached into his pocket and pulled out the hourglass. Karena could scarcely see him, but she could see his face. It was the same face as before, but it was older now, maybe 20 years older than the last real time she’d seen him when she’d first woken up as a baby. But nonetheless it was easy to tell that it was the same man, the same expression, the same everything.
The sand was at the bottom of the hourglass. Karena saw the Sandman raise his finger through her blood-stained eyes. And then, all sound disappeared except for one noise.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
“You win,” she muttered through her swollen mouth. “This time, you win. But not next time. ”
And everything disappeared.
20
The pain left Karena’s body, or at least the physi cal pain, not the other pain . And the other pain was much stronger. She knew what was going to happen now. Everything was black, and she felt the bedding form under her body as the world came into existence. Her new body was unblemished, free of all bruises and cuts, but she did not want it. She wanted her old body, the one that was 15 years old. Not the one she’d just been in, but the one before that. The original one, where she hadn’t had any worries, or at least any real worries. The body where she could freely live without the surveillance of the Sandman, where she could grow up properly like an ordinary human being.
She leaped through the broken window, getting her legs scratched as they scraped against jagged shards of glass still stuck in the frame. She landed with a crunch on more glass, and , without slowing down, sprinted towards the Sandman, brandishing the knife all this time. She hurled herself at him, knife extended in front of her in a position where she could stab him.
But once again, he was gone. It was like he’d never been there, and Karena found herself careening towards the ground, caught terribly off balance from having expecting hersel f to be crashing into someone. He r arm got cut with the knife when she landed , and it began to bleed tremendously. Not caring, Karena got up again and spun around, looking for him.
He was s tanding not thirty meters away, in the exact same position as the previous two times. Unmoving. Karena began to feel hopeless. It was impossible to catch him. There was no way he would just let her catch him and slay him. He was invincible .
Nonetheless, she pushed on, with a vigor she hadn’t anticipated. She suddenly found herself sprinting even faster than she had before, an aggressive look in her eyes, but also a determined one. It would end now. She wouldn’t let this continue the way he intended it to. She had to kill him.
He was standing in the middle of an intersection ; there were no cars. Karena went off the sidewalk and sprinted towards him. She knew it was foolish, this whole pursuit, but she wouldn’t give up. She ran in the middle of the street, focused on him and him alone. In seconds she was running out into the intersection, and would be at him in just another second. She knew he would disappear, but she had to…
A car flew out of nowhere, brakes squ ealing, and it careened into her body, throwing her to the side and causing her to go sailing through the air. She slammed into the pavement, and immediately felt a physical pain like nothing she’d ever experienced before. It was impossible for her to describe it. Her vision was red, and she could vaguely see bl ood dripping onto the street around her. She could vaguely see the Sandman standing there, in the same position in the middle of the street.
People came out of the car to tend to her, but she ignored them. They didn’t matter. They would be gone in moments, anyway. It didn’t matter what happened to her now, if she was taken to a hospital or if she just died. She was going to start over again no matter what happened.
And then, the Sandman reached into his pocket and pulled out the hourglass. Karena could scarcely see him, but she could see his face. It was the same face as before, but it was older now, maybe 20 years older than the last real time she’d seen him when she’d first woken up as a baby. But nonetheless it was easy to tell that it was the same man, the same expression, the same everything.
The sand was at the bottom of the hourglass. Karena saw the Sandman raise his finger through her blood-stained eyes. And then, all sound disappeared except for one noise.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
“You win,” she muttered through her swollen mouth. “This time, you win. But not next time. ”
And everything disappeared.
20
The pain left Karena’s body, or at least the physi cal pain, not the other pain . And the other pain was much stronger. She knew what was going to happen now. Everything was black, and she felt the bedding form under her body as the world came into existence. Her new body was unblemished, free of all bruises and cuts, but she did not want it. She wanted her old body, the one that was 15 years old. Not the one she’d just been in, but the one before that. The original one, where she hadn’t had any worries, or at least any real worries. The body where she could freely live without the surveillance of the Sandman, where she could grow up properly like an ordinary human being.
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