WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!

The Book of Revelations

"Where are we going? And what's going on?" asked Charlotte as both of them walked briskly but slow enough so as not to attract attention.

"You will soon find out where we're going. But as for what's going on, I have no more clue than you have. Well ... Actually, no. But all I know is Aurelia cannot be trusted."

"But WHY?" said Charlotte, a little exasperated by this dumb idiot who probably has got it all wrong and a little because of their fast walking. She knew the way they were going. It was the same route she had taken early this morning to reach Aurelia's from her home after she got her urgent message in the morning. She had woken up early to meditate and compose herself because things were going so fast, and she couldn't keep up.

"Because! I saw something! Some ... things. And I heard some other things. You know? When we went down after Aurelia called us, she showed us that big hole in the screen. I was taken aback, quite literally ... I fell down on a chair—"

"How do you know about the big hole in the world, but you never saw it?"

"What do you mean? It just happened a while ago—oh! Of course, that happened but did not happen cos I went back in time."

"What – the – hell are you even talking about?"

"Just listen to me! So, it did happen, but it did not happen to you... cos I went back in time... Anyway, so when I fell on the chair, I don't know what but I was really guilty that I caused all of this you know, with the burning of the roses, smashing of your telephone, throwing Daniel on an isolated island—"

"You did WHAT? Toby, have you lost your mind? What are you talking about?" Charlotte said, stopping dead in the street.

"LISTEN! Don't worry about Daniel; he was working with Aurelia anyway. He was only a thorn in the side. Anyway, what happened is not important because none of it matters. Aurelia's behind all of this ..." he said, grabbing her hand and urging her forward. "We cannot wait here, they'll catch us, and I don't know what they are going to do to us. Just trust me. Let me say my piece."

Charlotte, already overwhelmed by all of this, now didn't know what to think. It was breaking her mentally. She decided trying to figure it out will lead her nowhere. Instead, she must embrace stupidity like Toby because he seemed to be dealing really well with all of this. She nodded and started walking with him.

"So, like I was saying, when the guilt came crashing over me, all I could think about was turning back time; I wanted to correct all of this. That's when I went back to the Ministry. I was somehow in President Obama's private bathroom, which smells really nice, I tell you, if it were a hotel, I would have rated five stars!" Toby said, turning a corner and entering an alley; Charlotte didn't know this route. The alleyway was shady, literally and figuratively.

"Anyway, I heard them discussing ... remember when Aurelia shipped us off to ... err, Daniel? She did not want to discuss the real thing in front of us. President Obama was asking Aurelia if they had a chance or something ... and Aurelia said if he wanted the truth or sugar-coated candy—"

Charlotte knew this: she had caught a fraction of this conversation before. Maybe Toby wasn't as big a fool as she was thinking? But wait, no, he just said sugar-coated candy; that can't be right.

"You mean she said 'sugar-coated lie'?"

"Yes, that's what I said," Toby said, walking straight to the end of the street.

"No, you said candy."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm just really hungry. I can't remember when I last had anything to eat. Anyway ... so I heard them talk. They were plotting, Lotty. They were going to make me look like a fool. They ensured that the situations would lead us to believe it was all my fault, but they were the ones behind it! They have opened that hole in the sky! Aurelia and Obama together, probably all of the Ministry too, I don't know. Aurelia said that she was ensuring we couldn't learn to use our powers, and although keeping us so close to them is running a big risk, it's the only way we can be monitored. She made us think that they delivered us our powers, but no, Lotty, we've had it with us since we were born."