Mind Games Read Free Page A

half-sister who is a Refuser, a grandmother who is away with the fairies. And then there is my infamous mother.
    Sally stands up again. ‘Whatever your reasons, you’re grounded. Forever.’
    ‘Well, since I have such an amazing social life, that’ll really hurt. Got anything else? Deny me virtual access, maybe?’
    She stomps off. Nanna sticks out her tongue, and I stifle a giggle.
    Dinner: no Dad as usual, and Sally is giving me the silent treatment, but Jason doesn’t notice. How such a cute kid came out of such a miserable woman is one of life’s great mysteries. Jason babbles on about Virtual Harry Potter World: at ten years old, a few months ago, he finally got access to more levels. And he was SO excited to meet Luna. My namesake. He can’t understand why I won’t plug in and play with him.
    ‘Couldn’t you, just this once…’ Sally says, finally breaking the wall of silence.
    ‘No. I can’t. In case you might have forgotten, that is kind of what being a Refuser is all about.’
    ‘But it’s so much fun , Luna,’ Jason says, and starts telling me all about playing Quidditch, before disappearing to plug in and play some more.
    Before heading up for the night, I go to Dad’s office. Check his life support. His skin is pale, too pale. How long has it been since he’s unplugged? I check a screen log – weeks. I consider an emergency unplug, but what would my excuse be this time? Being pulled from whatever game he is guiding newbies through this evening would make him as grumpy as imaginable. These evening hours are prime time for paying customers. I blow him a kiss, and turn out the light.
    That night it’s the same nightmare, but knowing what it is doesn’t make it stop. There is no escape.
    I’m lying still. It’s warm, soothing; I want to sleep, to drift, to both plug in and disconnect at the same time. To be part of the Game at last.
    Click. The interface shimmers, my vision goes soft. But I’m not in; at least, not properly. The screens and room around me are all still here. But the virtual hallway beckons. My stomach lurches, and I fight to make reality disappear. I hate it.
    I stand, and enter the hall. One step; two. And stupidly, I start to hope. This time, it will be different. This time, I will belong. I hear voices, laughter through doors that beckon and tempt in the hall, and I reach to push one of them open.
    Then the floor shimmers, and disappears.
    I grasp wildly around me but everything turns to smoke, vanishes, and I fall. Hurtling down, faster and faster. Screams rush past me as the virtual world collapses, is gone, turns to nothing. And I know I will fall, gain speed, faster and faster until veins and skin and organs stretch out and burst apart; until I’m not a person any more, but a blur, a smudge.
    But then a hand reaches out.
    It grabs my arm tight, in a claw grip. My arm almost rips from its socket, but somehow it holds, and I stop: like slamming into a brick wall. From freefall to no movement at all, in an instant.
    The pain is so intense… I wake up.
    Not a dream, at least not that part of it: there are hands clenched on both of my arms now, digging painfully into my skin.
    Early morning casts enough light through the window to show wild, panicked eyes. Dark grey-streaked hair in wisps about a drawn face.
    ‘Luna, you’re in danger.’ A hissed whisper. ‘You must hide. You have to live; so much depends on you.’
    My heart thuds painfully in my chest from the fear of the fall, the abrupt end to the usual dream. I breathe in and out, try to steady myself so I can steady her.
    I reach my hands to hers, gently ease her fingers one by one from my arms until they release, and then hold her hands in mine.
    ‘Nanna, everything’s fine. Don’t worry.’
    ‘Don’t let them notice you, Luna, or all will be lost.’ Her eyes are bright, penetrating and focused. She is so rarely present this way, that even though I know it isn’t really her any more, that she doesn’t