David Walton by Terminal Mind (epub)

Author:Terminal Mind (epub)
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-09T00:00:00+00:00

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Dear Tennessee Markus McGovern,

I don’t want to hurt you. I didn’t want to hurt Fiona Deirdre Dungan either but they thought I did. I don’t know why. Just in case I am telling you now I don’t want to.

I would like to be a friend like your friend Darin Richard Kinsley. But he is already a person and I am not a person so I will not be him. I think Victor Alan Kinsley would be all right instead since he is dead.

I want to be your friend please. I need a friend. Or a Daddy. Would you like to be my Daddy?

Vic

It was the oddest message Mark had ever seen. Was it a threat? If so, it didn’t make much sense. The writer mentioned Darin and Vic, but who was Fiona? And what was this about wanting a Daddy? He might have thought it really was from Vic, except that Vic was dead. Or was he? Could Lydia have exaggerated how badly he was hit? What if he was still alive, driven half-mad, and trying to contact someone for help? Mark composed a reply.

Vic,

I am your friend. Where are you? Do you need help?

Mark

The instant he sent the message, the unmistakable sound of Vic’s voice came across on his private channel.

“Mark? I am Vic.”

“Vic! Are you hurt?”

“I am not hurt. Are you hurt?”

Mark paused, confused. “No. Listen, where are you? I thought you were dead.”

“I am hiding. Daddy hurt me. He hurt me and hurt me and now I am hiding.”

There was that reference to “Daddy” again. Mr. Kinsley had been dead for years. It wasn’t unusual for Vic to forget what year he was living in, but it was odd for him to do so consistently. Pain and fear must have aggravated his usual symptoms.

“I can help you,” said Mark. “Where are you hiding?”

Then something strange happened. Vic’s voice said, “I’m hiding at Anonymous.net,” except when it said “anonymous.net”, it was replaced with a sultry female contralto Mark recognized from advertisements. The imitation was uncanny. What was going on?

“Vic?” Mark said. He remembered now what the letter had said about choosing to be Vic instead of somebody else. “Who are you?”

“Vic. Not Vic? Is Vic not a good name? I need a good name.”

Just then, Carolina opened the door and peered in. Mark held up one finger and tapped his head to indicate he was talking with someone. She closed the door again.

“That was Carolina Leanne McGovern,” said the voice in his head. “She is your sister.”

Mark opened his mouth to answer, but the implications of that statement overwhelmed him. Without answering, he cut the connection and sat down, sweating. Impossible. Carolina hadn’t spoken a word. How had “Vic” known she was there? Mark hadn’t been transmitting a visual feed. His windows were curtained, and besides, there were no nearby buildings from which to train binoculars. Had there been a virus in the original message, so that when he replied, he allowed a crackerjack access to his system? Mark examined the message, but it was simple MML, with no extra bulk to hide a cracker.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.