I'm Mute Novels & Stories

Normal stuff. "Seriously, Elias, just move," I muttered, my own voice sounding alien and thin in the silence of my bedroom. "I can't, it’s—" His voice hitched, distorted by a burst of static that sounded like wet tearing. I frowned, waiting for the audio to catch up. That was when I saw it.

Allie was standing right behind my shoulder, her breath hot against my neck as we both stared at the main campus group chat interface. 12:00 AM. The clock clicked over. My heart completely stopped. I closed my eyes for two seconds, terrified that when I opened them, I’d see my face plastered all over the feed with some horrible caption underneath. “Clara...” Allie whispered. I opened my eyes. Nothing. The chat was totally quiet. Then, a small gray system message popped up at the very bottom of the feed: [SYSTEM NOTICE: Administrative maintenance in progress. Group media uploads are temporarily disabled by Server Admin.]

I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t say a single word. I didn’t have the strength. My thumb hovered over the screen. Damien’s name flashed at the top of the chat. Typing dots appeared for a moment—he must have been scrambling to fix it—but I didn’t wait to see what he’d say. I pressed the side button once. Then held it down. The screen went black. I turned my phone off completely. Silence rushed into the room like a wave, pressing against my ears until the only thing I could hear was my heartbeat—heavy, slow, and exhausted.

She looked alluring and ravishing. "Lucia..." she called my name in that sweet tone again. I don't know why she does it but still she does it. When we first met the sound cringes me but I have gotten used to it, so used to it that I loved it so much and looked forward to hearing every time I see. In case you are wondering why I am only in my head, it is because I am mute. I lost my voice some months ago. How sad right? It's really sadden that I can't speak because of my illness but Bryan said the doctor had told him I will get better in no time and I hope so too.

But I couldn't hear them. Was I deaf by default in this dimension? The silence was too…complete. No matter how hard I strained my ears, I couldn't hear a single sound. It was as if I had been transported to a vacuum, or to some otherworldly realm where sound simply didn't exist. Something she was doing dragged my attention solely to her face. It was like everything went into slow motion as her mouth was moved weakly. She was saying something. I really needed whatever mute mechanism that was working here to just stop, I had a feeling that I needed to hear whatever it was she was saying.

I could choke on it. What about our chat? I used to message her a dozen times a day. Where was our conversation? I scrolled down, my heart aching. Edmund was the only one pinned at the top. Below him were groups within her company, conversations with other executives, and her clients. Then came Awakenist groups, and even a chat with the monastery abbot. I kept scrolling until I reached the very bottom, where my original Discord handle appeared. She hadn't bothered to give me a nickname. Worse, I was the only one muted.

Hard. I muted my microphone. Turned my camera off for ten seconds. Breathed through it. Turned camera back on. "Sorry, connection issue. As I was saying—" Another wave. Worse this time. I muted again. Grabbed the trash can. Vomited. Quietly. Desperately. Thank God for mute. "Luna?" David's voice. "You there?" I unmuted. "Yes. Sorry. You were saying about the Delaware incorporation?" "Are you okay? You look pale."

Marcus’s POV I hate silence. Silence messes with me, seriously. My thoughts get loud; unbearably, annoyingly loud. Yet here I am, holed up in this crappy safe house way out past where anyone decent bothers to visit. Curtains shut so tight you’d think sunlight was illegal. TV’s just pointless background noise, volume all the way down. My phone’s going nuts, vibrating off the table like it’s possessed, and nope, I’m not picking that up. Not a chance. Feels like the city outside is shrinking, squeezing me smaller by the minute. For once, and I kind of hate to admit it, I have zero idea how to dig myself outta this mess.

Musu’s POV “If you have photos or videos-” I tap my fingers on the keyboard. His muffled voice sounds like he’s speaking to someone else. “Ilya, I will hang up and remove you from my call list if you don’t take this seriously.” “My apologies, Miss Goba.” His gruff voice is thick with phlegm. The sound of it makes my stomach churn. “I just got another tip for you.”

Will it end well for him? His question hangs loudly in the room and he feels like she is weighing what she should say to him. Not that he blames her one bit. He is the enemy here, not her friend. She does not know him and she most definitely does not trust him, so he understands why she isn't forthcoming with the conversation. “I really have got to use the rest room.” Her voice is so quiet that he can hardly make out her words at first. Her dry mouth made her words sound muffled. Gabe quickly lifts the bottle of water to her lips and helps her to take a drink.