The "Back-Rider" Resident's sharp, loud cry of pain echoed urgently within the stone house in Mai Mingle's mind, making her eardrums ache. "My back!"
"I want my back!"
Accompanied by the shriek, a hurried shadow slid off Emily's back and lunged toward the blurry edges of Mai Mingle's vision, like a bug scrambling for its life after someone flipped on the lights.
"My back my back my back my back when I was little my dad carried me on his back the warm sun shone on my back lying on his back I could see so far I could see a safe and stable life ahead of me my back my back I want my—"
That string of words was like a chain of exploding neurons in her brain. As the bio-electric sparks died out, the voice vanished without a trace in an instant, along with the "Back-Rider" Resident.
'Rules… Rules… Emily…'
