The Disappearances

Part 5

75 Years Before

Callista would wake up and walk through the town watching as people moved away. She could hear them whispering about her as she passed by. Callista hated every moment of it. Back on Nebeus, she could get away with anything and people would treat her the same way. In this town, breaking a regulation makes you an outcast. She continues to walk around as a failure.

Callista walked into the woods to release her anger by shooting. Before everyone hated her, Callista would assist anyone that struggled to fire an arrow. Now, she just shoots by herself. After 20 minutes, she gave up and traveled back to her house.

Most days Callista would stay inside her house sitting and doing nothing. Sometimes she would be reminded how much she failed to escape and ends up breaking something in the process.

Four weeks had passed and Callista remained in her house. No one ever saw her leave or enter. Everyone knew she was still alive because they would walk past her house and see her sitting in a chair looking at a wall. All the hope that was brought back, was gone the moment Callista refused to leave her house. Callista started to become like everyone else when she first arrived.

With each day that passed, Venita couldn't stand it anymore. She couldn't accept what she saw every time she passed Callista's house. Instead of walking past her house, she knocked, waiting for a reply that wouldn't come. Venita waited patiently for a reply. After 10 minutes, she grabbed the knob to find it unlocked. She walked into the house and moved toward Callista.

"Callista, you have to snap out of this," Venita said.

"What's the point? I lost everything. I lost you as a friend, I lost the faith of everyone here, and I lost the hope inside of me. What do I have to look up to?"

"You didn't lose me and haven't lost yourself. The point is we need you to lead us to freedom. You gave everything they needed to fight back. You know when they take us, they test us. They injected us with a serum," Venita confessed. "Everyone that lives through it is brought here, but they aren't the same as they were before. I know you get pain that comes and goes. The reason for that is the serum going through your body. The serum affects us in unthinkable ways. Some can manipulate fire or water, some can make engines that can destroy an entire city, some can read minds, some can levitate objects and more. The ones that fail die the moment they are injected. We are so lucky that we lived because out of 20 people captured only 5 to none survive," Venita finished.

"You knew all of this?" Callista asked as Venita nodded her head. "How can I convince everyone to trust me again?"

"Tell them the truth. Tell them what it means to be free."

Callista listened to her words carefully. She was stuck on what to say but she finally figured out what to say. She hurried to get ready and headed out with Venita by her side. Callista quickly made her way to the courthouse while Venita told everyone to meet up in the courthouse.

Everyone made their way to the courthouse. They all started to whisper about Callista but she ignored it. She took a deep breath, looked around, and breathed out before starting.

"I know you have no reason to trust anything I say, but everything I'm about to say is true. I'm sure all of you know what Argyll Barnett did, and you probably know what you could do. We have to find a way out. If we don't, then everyone here and everyone in Nebeus will perish. The only way to stop that from happening is to find a route out of here. We can only find a way out if you put your trust in me again. I can't tell you what freedom is but you imagine what that could be. When we escape, whatever happens in the future is your decision."