Glance Lock Screen Stories Novels & Stories

Please confirm final approval. I stare at the screen. This isn’t reflection. This isn’t confusion. This is consent. My thumb hovers. Then presses YES. The screen confirms. And somewhere, already, the story starts changing without me.

**The Unfinished Story** The next morning, Claire awoke to the soft light of dawn filtering through the curtains, painting the room in hues of gold and pink. For a moment, she lay still, her thoughts a tangled web of past and present. The locket rested on the nightstand beside her, its weight a constant reminder of the words her grandmother had left behind—words that had stirred something deep within her. She reached for it now, running her thumb over the smooth surface, feeling the delicate engraving beneath her fingertips. *Live. Love. Forgive.* The words echoed in her mind, a mantra that felt both daunting and liberating.

Leo said, pointing to a circular desk in the center of the room. Hundreds of screens were flickering. They showed the "Collapse" Rowan was causing. Across the globe, the simulations were failing. People were waking up in their pods. The "Content" was being replaced by the Golden Ink. **[SYSTEM ALERT: UNAUTHORIZED NARRATIVE OVERRIDE]** **[SOURCE: THE UNDER-STORY]** **[STATUS: UNSTOPPABLE]** "He’s winning," I said, a tear of joy rolling down my cheek. "He’s breaking the machine."

These pictures we took were when we took swimming together. I pressed the three dots on my phone then click “Set as screen lock.” I smiled at myself and turned on and off my phone. When the screen lit up, his abs immediately appeared on me. I just convinced myself that it was his phone and he should be the wallpaper because I was embarrassed to think why I put him on my screen lock.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any way or by any means either electronic or mechanical without express permission from the author except for brief quotation in a book review. Any infragment of copyright will be punishable by law. At First Glance © 2021 by Nothando Dlamini Disclaimer This is a total work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to real life individuals, living or dead or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

"The command line is unresponsive! The system is... it’s locking me out!" I shoved him aside and took the controls, my fingers slamming against the keys. Nothing. The screen began to glitch, lines of code fracturing into white noise. A window popped up in the center of the display—a window that hadn't been there before. It wasn't a system error. It was a greeting. A single line of text appeared, written in a cold, elegant font: “Greed is a fascinating thing, Julian. It makes even the most careful men forget to look at the bait.”

"... Ah. Maybe I haven't noticed your presence. I was really spaced out. Sorry." Mace just smiled at her sweetly and took out a black notebook. It has wide pages and it was designed for goths. The sheets were colored into black so it's kind of odd to write them down because the written phrases can't be seen in the eyes because of their pigment. It's like writing for nothing, but this kind of note can be helpful too. Writing down your secrets is possible and safe, the only way to read all the writings is to let luminous shine upon it.

“Biometric unlock. Retina scan for the high-clearance partitions. Don’t access anything outside the directory I’ve flagged, or the system will flag you and lock us both out.” “You’re giving me keys to your kingdom after four hours?” “I’m giving you keys to the armory. The kingdom is a different set of credentials.” A ghost of that wolfish smile flickered at the corner of his mouth. “Don’t get greedy, Mrs. Vance.” The title still stung, but it stung less this time. Progress, maybe. Or maybe I was simply too focused on the screen to care.

Because, obviously, the Alpha King is going to leave his private office unlocked during the biggest pack ceremony of the year. Solid plan, Clara. Really thought that one through. With a sigh, I push myself away from the door and glance around the frame, more out of habit than hope. Maybe there's another lock. Maybe— Ahhh. "You emotionally constipated shitface!” Because apparently a normal lock would've been far too convenient. My eyes settle on the sleek fingerprint scanner. It just sits there staring right back at me. Smug little rectangle. For half a second, I actually consider hacking it before remembering I'm not Stefan fucking Vance.

I tapped the screen once. EXECUTE.