The unexplained two percent was beginning to scare the shit out of Josef Stern.
They had said that it was just procedure. A few samples here, a soul snap there. But Josef had felt a general unease all the same. Sure, he knew of others that had undergone the process. Some had discovered interesting past lives, and most had found the experience vaguely pleasant.
Josef did not doubt his friends for a moment. Ninety-eight per cent of the time, a soul audit proved to be a minor inconvenience. The authorities advertised the fact. Apparently, what happened to the other two percent of the population was not in the general public’s interest. That was what was starting to terrify him -the unexplained two percent.
He always had been a worrier. Overly cautious was his employer’s description, and maybe his natural penchant for making two and two add to anything but four was getting in the way, but Josef was sure that his audit had lasted longer than two days. It was so damn hard to keep track of time. Surely, he had been kept longer. He hoped that Remy was not worried, and then hoped desperately that she was. No one consciously thought of anyone who failed an audit. Selective memory had become a practised art form. Scholars were required to master it before graduating. If Remy still remembered, he stood a chance, however slim.
He blinked up at the harsh light above and tried to tell himself that being strapped to a chair in a totally white room was just part of the procedure. Christ, the room was white, floor, ceiling, walls, totally, brilliant dazzling white. Apart from the ceiling lights, no line or border could be perceived. It was overpowering to the point of sickening. Josef’s only defence was to close his eyes and let his mind wander. Regrettably, it wandered down paths that he would have preferred it not to.
Mar Garcia
Founder of TBM - Horror Experts
Horror Promoter.
mar@tbmmarketing.link
