Read Fan Fears: A collection of fear based stories for Free Online Page B

opinion that when we die, it's over. A flick of the light switch, an eternal dreamless sleep.”
    “Why are you doing this to me? How is it even possible?”
    Ashba smiled. He was cutting a notch out of the seat between his legs with the knife. “A question in two parts. The why should be fairly obvious, even to you. The how is not as complicated as you might think.” He looked at her, waiting for a response that never came. He went on. “The pacemaker inside you is run by software. The software itself at its most basic is code. A computer language made up one ones and zeroes. Remarkable really to think of all the people out there who are able to live because of those numbers. Pacemakers, dialysis machines, x-ray machines, almost all modern technology is powered by those two little numbers.”
    He grinned and leaned closer. “Your pacemaker, as you may recall, was a new model. I was one of the doctors involved in developing the product for maximum efficiency. During the early days of testing, several software patches, or firmware were sent to me by the product manufacturers to use in our static models. There were patches to simulate everything from arrhythmia to high altitude exertion. The idea was to test the unit under every conceivable condition. All I had to do was go into the archives and find the suitable software patch for my needs and overwrite the default settings.”
    “Without operating?” Colleen said, unable to take it all in.
    “Without operating,” Ashba repeated. “It’s not that difficult. Cardiologists all over the world wirelessly transmit software updates to pacemakers all the time. It’s routine.”
    “So somebody could re-overwrite what you did to me,” she replied, seeing a flicker of hope, which Ashba shot down.
    “Sadly not. As a precaution against such a thing, yours has been set to read-only. Unfortunately, only the installation of a brand new unit will help you now, which we both know is never going to happen.”
    “You’re a monster. I'm glad I told the police about what I saw.”
    “And in doing so have ruined innocent lives.” Ashba fired back, his eyes alive with hatred.
    Although she knew she shouldn't, the anger exploded from her. “Innocent? You’re not innocent. You’re a disgusting excuse for a human being. Soon you’ll be a killer as well as a paedophile. Don't try to tell me you’re innocent.”
    “I wasn't referring to me,” Ashba said, standing and walking towards where she sat. He was pointing the knife at her, the blade inches from her eyeball. “You think I don't know what the consequences are of my actions? You think I’ll allow them to put me on trial, send me to prison?” He shook his head and crouched so they were now face to face. “I’ve made my contingency plan, don't you worry about that. You will go first but I’ll be right behind you. I know my life is as over as yours. The innocent people I'm referring to are my family. My wife. My children. How can they live with what you did? How can they get over the pain you've caused?”
    She could see the fury in his face, and he was speaking through gritted teeth. A tear rolled down his cheek. His grip on the knife was turning his knuckles white, and she was sure he wasn't going to wait for the pacemaker to slow her heart down. He was going to kill her right then and there. She reacted without thinking, instinct taking over. She batted the knife arm away from her face with her left hand, at the same time bringing her right hand up into his face, palm first with as much force as she could muster. In the quiet of the house, the noise was deafening as his nose shattered and blood ejected out of his face. He tried to lean on the chair behind him for balance, but it slid across the wood floor and he went down hard.
    Colleen scrambled to her feet, waiting to see if she would be struck down by the defective machinery in her chest. The front door was down a long, narrow hallway and seemed like it was a