An Author's Struggle - What Lies Ahead

Ch 22 - Nella

Staring at the text file, Murphy lingered over the delete button. He read it several times over, but still failed to make a decision.

On one hand, it seemed so real it could be true. On the other hand, it was just the type of nonsense his mind would conjure in a dream.

Too much weighed on those misaligned ten thousand words. The fate of the world itself, really. Millions of lives at stake, hinging on a 9,6kb file in some dweeb’s computer.

“I need more evidence…” he ultimately forfeited the decision for later, and went to sleep.

Again, he dreamt that night.

The sybil whispers sung horror in his ears, prodding him to avoid the same mistakes. He twitched and winced in resistance, burrowing deeper into the pillow — but they did not end.

« Mu—hy, y— —ve to dr—. »

Something different. Choppy words formed, their cyan unobscured by the stygian darkness of his shut eyes. They shone like a guiding star in his dream, but their flicker was too brief. He blinked, and they faded away — never to r