Chapter 1: The Memory Market

  The city pulsed with an electric, human-like rhythm that seeped into my bones. Neon lights flickered overhead, buzzing like angry bees, casting strange shadows that danced on the glassy surfaces of the skyscrapers. The air was thick, heavy with the scent of rain that never quite fell, mingling with the sharp tang of ozone and a faint trace of cigarette smoke. The world felt both alive and unreal, suspended in a haze of flashing lights and distant murmurs. This was the city now, where dreams were bought and sold, and no one truly felt anything unless they were plugged into someone else’s mind.

  I wasn’t supposed to be at this party.

  But Leo had dragged me along. Of course he had. Leo, the one who never knew how to sit still, how to just be in the moment. His hand was on my shoulder, his voice barely audible over the pounding bass that vibrated in my chest.

  “You need this, Ash,” he said, pushing me further into the crowd. The music was a chaotic blend of synths and beats that made my head spin. The lights—blinding, erratic—cut through the room in sharp stabs, making everything feel like it was happening at a million miles an hour.

  I wanted to pull away. I wanted to leave. But Leo’s hand was firm on my arm, and his eyes were wide with excitement, urging me forward.

  The glass of the building reflected the madness below, and I felt smaller with every step I took deeper into the party. The laughter around me felt hollow, like a distant echo I wasn’t meant to hear. I was there, but I wasn’t there.

  “Ash, take this,” Leo’s voice broke through my daze, thrusting a small crystalline disk into my palm. It was cool to the touch, smooth like glass, but with an almost imperceptible pulse. My fingers curled around it instinctively, and a strange warmth spread through my chest.

  It was a memory.

  “Just one dream, man. Let go.” Leo’s voice was soft, almost coaxing, and for a moment, I wondered if it would be easier to just slip into whatever he was offering.

  I hesitated. Taking a memory—trading it—was dangerous. They said you could lose yourself in it, fall too deep, and never come back. Memories weren’t just memories anymore; they were currency, and currency had a price.

  But I didn’t say no.

  Without another word, I pressed the disk to my temple.

  The world exploded.

  The noise, the chaos, the clamor of people faded into a dull murmur, as if they were miles away. The music was gone, the party was gone. I was standing on the edge of a cliff, the air crisp with the scent of saltwater, the rush of wind in my ears. Beneath me, the ocean stretched to the horizon, its waves crashing against jagged rocks, each ripple a song in the deep.

  I looked beside me.

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  There she was.

  Leila. Her laugh, that laugh I’d long forgotten, bubbled from her lips. It was a sound that wrapped around my heart, like home. Her eyes shone with something pure, something untouchable, and for a second, I felt weightless.

  I could feel the warmth of the sun kissing my skin, and the gentle brush of her fingers against mine. I could hear the soft rustling of leaves in the wind, the distant cry of a bird above, and the quiet lapping of the waves beneath us. I could feel her laughter vibrating in the air, in my chest. This was real. This was everything.

  My heart hammered in my chest, and for the first time in so long, I wasn’t thinking. I was feeling. Every second stretched into infinity, and I was consumed by the beauty of it. The world was perfect. It was a moment frozen in time.

  But then, just as suddenly as it had come, it was gone.

  The music hit me like a wave. The bass, the lights, the chaos. My breath caught in my throat, and I gasped, feeling as if I had just emerged from underwater. My hands were trembling. My chest was tight.

  I looked down at the disk in my hand. The warmth was fading, slipping through my fingers like sand.

  The memory... it was gone.

  “No,” I whispered, panic rising like bile in my throat. “No, that wasn’t supposed to happen. I didn’t—”

  “You sold it,” Leo’s voice was quiet, almost fearful. I heard the tremble in his words.

  I froze. The world felt like it was spinning in slow motion. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, drowning out the noise around me.

  “Sold it?” I barely recognized my own voice, the words scraping against my throat. “What do you mean? It was just—just one dream—”

  “No, Ash,” Leo cut me off. His words hit me like a slap, sharp and real. “That wasn’t just a dream. You sold your memory. That kiss, the way she made you feel—you sold that. Do you even understand what you just did?”

  The floor shifted beneath me. My legs felt like they couldn’t hold me. I stumbled back, the room tilting, blurring. I wanted to scream, but the sound lodged itself in my chest, thick and suffocating.

  “No,” I whispered again, my voice barely audible. “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t—”

  Leo didn’t say anything. His eyes were wide, full of something I couldn’t name—guilt, maybe? I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t even think straight. My mind was spinning, trying to grasp the enormity of what had just happened.

  The door to the room opened. A figure stepped inside, tall and unnervingly calm. His eyes gleamed a piercing shade of blue, like nothing I had ever seen. His clothes were dark, and silver tattoos snaked across his arms, glowing faintly under the dim light.

  He stepped closer, his gaze fixed on me with an intensity that made the air feel colder.

  “You’re going to want that memory back,” he said, his voice smooth, almost too smooth. “Because it’s not just gone. It’s been bought.”

  I swallowed hard, a knot of fear tightening in my gut. “Bought? By who?”

  The figure smiled, though there was no warmth in it. “That’s a question you’re going to have to answer soon. If you want it back, that is.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could speak, the lights flickered. The hum of the city outside suddenly stopped, a heavy silence hanging in the air. The floor beneath me trembled. The ground seemed to shudder, like something immense was shifting, awakening.

  For a moment, everything stood still. My heart raced. Was this just the beginning?

  The figure tilted his head, his eyes gleaming with a cold amusement. “You should leave. Now.”

  And then, without another word, he turned, walking toward the door.

  I took a step forward, my pulse hammering in my ears, but as I reached for the door, the world seemed to collapse around me. The air grew thick, and a low rumbling noise echoed through the walls, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Something... something was coming.

  And it was coming for me.