INK: Red (INK Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

hours too long. They could be coming to get him any second now.
    What's the plan? Where's the poker? Ah, there, where I was sleeping.
    With the cold metal in his hand he at least felt ready — well, as ready as he'd ever be anyway. He went to the window again, looking out into the parking area. It was clear, so maybe he had time to come up with something.
    Think. Come on, they will be here for you soon.
    Nothing. He was empty. It was all too much. Kathy was gone, what should he do? Vengeance? Yes. No. How? Run? Yes, run. Get away, before there were more of them — a lot more. He needed to think, he needed time to gather himself, to come up with a plan. He couldn't go back, not for the punishment they would dole out, not for anything. He had to come up with something, anything.
    The tears fell.
    Kathy had been his everything, bringing him back to life even after he thought he had been dead to the world, ready to just give it all up and take away the emptiness he felt by just finishing it all. Not that he ever would really, he always knew that; he just felt like it would be a release. But life was too precious, any life was better than none. He had a duty, he had to stay alive.
    He'd met Kathy on one of his darker days, when such thoughts came and went in a loop of misery and depression. Then he saw her, and he was never the same again.
    She'd brought him back to reality, back to life, giving of herself, offering him hope and a chance to look to the future for the first time in years. He thought she was probably one of The Awoken, those that had been effected by The Lethargy but in the opposite way: slowly opening up, becoming something more than Whole, a form of enlightenment but different. There were rumors, more than that, there were reports on the news for a short while, stories of people suddenly having the ability to see things, see data streams running around the world, understand the way things worked, look into your mind, talk to the trees and enter the minds of animals, even human beings.
    And The Commorancy, just about the only bit of hope there was left.
    Marcus. Marcus Wolfe — the name had become legend in an instant, then the hype faded along with the reports. All that remained was static.
    Edsel had tried for a while to gain entry to The Commorancy, to get an invitation, but had given up when his life suddenly took on real meaning at last. But it was as legendary as The Eventuals, just harder to become a part of. Now it was too late. Or was it?
    Maybe he could gain entry, get an invitation, finish what Kathy had begun when he'd been brought back to life by her and started to understand the beauty of the world they found themselves so alone in. He could get one of the seven Rooms, where it was said people would become Awoken, have the ability to see things ordinary people couldn't. Awaken, be useful. Do something with his life, for her. So she would be proud of him, smile if she saw him, her eyes twinkling like they always did when she was happy, or even just staring off into the distance, lost in dreams and entering The Noise, slowly learning about what was awakening inside of her.
    Yes, he'd do that. He had a plan.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    FOOD
    He had to eat, he had to drink, and he really, really, needed a pee.
    Oh boy, this is not going to be pretty.
    At the mere thought of it his testicles shriveled up so much he wondered if they'd ever drop back down again or would forever be lost, just like his heart.
    Man up, how bad can it be?
    It was bad.
    Edsel was on the floor, curled up, almost, but not quite cupping his groin, knowing it would only make things worse. Sweat covered his body. He was hot. Cold. Hot again. Shivering and sick. And the sweat? The musty sick smell of sweat that hurt so much. What kind of body design was this? As each bead popped to the surface through his ravaged pores a tiny geyser of agony erupted, like pins were being forced out from inside, rather than the other way around.
    And he