Body Flicker Novels & Stories

The screen flickered once before stabilising, and then the progress bar appeared. 0%… 12%… 45%… The numbers climbed with agonising steadiness, each percentage point dragging time forward inch by inch. I found myself counting them without meaning to. Breathing with them. Willing them faster. Then— A sharp, electronic chirp cut cleanly through the silence. It was wrong. Out of place. Too abrupt. A red box bloomed in the corner of the centre monitor, pulsing like an open wound. Léo’s posture shifted instantly. Every trace of stillness vanished.

he said. The lights flickered once and went totally black.

The man typed quickly on the computer, and the images appeared on the monitors. Alexei crossed his arms, his eyes fixed on the screens. The first few minutes showed only snow falling in front of the gates. Then a staff member doing the shift change, the steam of his breath visible in the cold air. A few more minutes. Still nothing. Then the image froze. For exactly one second, the screen flickered, an almost imperceptible glitch. When it returned, the clock in the upper right corner had jumped forward almost four minutes. Alexei remained completely still.

The security camera’s red light was blinking—once, twice… then it held solid. From the screen came a faint click. And then— The feed went black.

“Enjoy being fucking see-through.” The screen behind me flickered to life.

“You’re glitching, Mel.” “Stop saying that!” “You flickered when I touched you.” “No—” “You did.” He cupped my face. “Do it again.” “Jamal—” “Shh. Just focus.” His thumb brushed my skin— —my vision flickered white. My hearing static-buzzed. My knees buckled. He caught me. “There,” he whispered. “You feel that?” “I’m just dizzy—” “That wasn’t dizziness. That was a system error.” I shoved him back. “Stop calling me a system!”

For the first time a faint hint of amusement flickered in his eyes. (Translation: W-won't it break?) "Nahi." He said. (Translation: No.) She let out a small breath and finally placed her fingers on it. Carefully. Like it might react. Ryker opened it again for her, the screen lighting up. She flinched slightly at the sudden brightness. It looked too bright from the closeness. She blinked for a few times and it pierced straight through her eyes due to the din surroundings but soon she adjusted to the lighting.

The screen changed, flickering once. Then Natalie appeared, bold and elegant. And the video began.

My eyelids flutter open, but the world is an unfocused blur. A sharp sting pulls at the edges of my vision, making it hard to concentrate. My eyes feel as though they’ve been sealed shut, like it was crusted with remnants of dried blood and sweat. Each blink is like scraping sandpaper against my skin. I barely manage to peel them open and, for a moment, all I can see is the dim flicker of a single lantern swaying above me, casting erratic shadows on the four corners of the canvas walls around me. The lantern’s light dances wildly, its movements jarring and unpredictable. It’s like the flickering of my thoughts—disjointed, fragmented, struggling to come together.

"You okay?" "Yeah." I answered, blinking my way back to the present. "Can you just—get me some water. Please." I could feel her gaze on my skin. I kept my eyes on a fixed point on the wall and kept my body completely still and after a moment I heard her set the laptop down and get up. I breathed in and out slowly It's not the same thing, I told myself. It's not about you. I pressed my nails harder into my palm, my feet tapping the ground in irregular rhythms.