Abby Chapter 1 - 01

Next Page

Abigail Olter had just turned 19 years old and currently lived with her friend, David, in the middle of downtown Steelsoul. The tall concrete jungle had a strangely empty atmosphere. The large buildings had been transformed into megablocks that had hundreds of apartments, as well as grocery stores, restaurants, and entertainment venues. 

The air outside was toxic to those that didn't get the monthly injections, and only a few of the blocks had clean air inside. 

The way the city of Steelsoul prevented people from leaving was most cruel. Money was not something that was used a lot. Everyone had a Steel-Acc, a device that worked as a digital wallet. To live in the city, you don't need much of a starting fund. There are limited options for those without money, but they still get a place to sleep and food. Opting out is a different story as they basically become the property of the city. In Abigail's case, it wasn't quite as severe. She came from a lower middle-class family, so she could afford an opt-out service that would just require her to commit to 6 months of work wherever the board members for the city's Manor of Law would choose. That, as well as a hefty sum of cash.

The streets were getting dangerous. The cost of injections kept rising, so crime had become a necessity for a lot of people as a secondary source of income. 

Abigail, or Abby to those that knew her, had heard of more and more cases of women disappearing in the streets. Tonight, she nearly fell prey to the horrible and unknown fate that so many girls had been victims of. A masked man, clad in black, had stepped into a puddle, and the sound was all she needed to turn and run. Moments after she started sprinting, she heard the footsteps of someone giving chase. The man was faster than her, but she wasn't that far from the entrance to her block.

Slamming her ID card against the scanner, the heavy steel door opened for her. She leapt through the door and shouted, "Emergency close!"

Thanks to her quick thinking and good stamina, she had just barely made it to safety. The masked man would yell angrily, giving her a brief impression of the man's twisted and violent plans for his next catch.

Abby had been working out daily the last two years. She had a close call a while back, and ever since, she made up her mind to never be a victim. One by one, her friends stopped contacting her. They disappeared into thin air. No one reported on the disappearance of girls, and they weren't allowed to. The city's Manor of Law had ruled that it caused a general unrest, and thus, reporting on such matters became illegal. One of many laws that had slowly turned the city of Steelsoul into a hell on earth.