Living In Lies | #OnceUponNow

Chapter 11: Hallucinations

     Once I got the locker situation figured out I headed outside. As I thought, Hannah was waiting there in her, scratch that, our car. As I speed walked to the large truck she seemed to simultaneously look up from her phone as though she knew I was coming her way. Must be a mother's sixth sense.

     "And what on Earth could have taken so long? There wasn't a zombie apocalypse in there, was there?" Hannah asked as I began to sit down on the comfy seats. I threw my bag on the floor by my feet and closed the door before I replied.

    "No. No zombie apocalypse today, but I can't make any promises about tomorrow," I answered.

    "Mmhm. Whatever you say," she said.

     We sat in silence for a bit. It wasn't that awkward silence that makes you feel compelled to utter even the slightest mumble, no. It was comfortable. We just sat there, enjoying each other's company. I sat leaning against my window, watching the buildings and trees as they zoomed by, lost in my thoughts. The only thing I could think of was Melody. Melody. Should I tell Hannah? She needs to know at some point, but I don't know. This is kind of personal. I'm known for keeping things like this to myself, but this is different. I've decided. I'll tell her later, but right now, I'm going to enjoy this.

    I sat there, just staring, listening to the low hum of the radio in the background, playing some song that was most likely way overplayed. It was soothing. Between the smooth movement of the car and the melodic sounds coming from the speaker I couldn't help but let my eyes droop and drift off into a deep sleep.

     "Let's go Catriana! Come on!"

     "I'm coming, I'm coming! I had to get my Starlights!"

     "Oh, I'm so excited! I can't wait!"

     "I know! These are going to be the best booster-boots since the Comets!"

     "Tell me about it! I can't believe I saved enough trilons for them!"

     "I know! I've been saving for a whole year for these Moonstars! I can-oof!"

     A sharp pain in my back. Did someone kick me?

     "Oh! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

     "Look what you did Catriana. You hurt her. You need to watch where you're going,"

     "Hey, you okay?"

     I slowly started opening my eyelids. Everything was blurry, but was slowly focusing. I could see the outline of a girl with a strange hair-do. Strands of her hair were sticking up in different directions and was in a sort of pixie cut. Her hair was strawberry red, but it didn't look dyed. It looked, somehow, natural. She had deep purple eyes and skin with a slight gray tint to it. She was wearing a peculiar dress consisting of neon lights and a silvery fabric. Once my eyes came into focus I noticed that she was not normal. What's going on?

     "Hey, girlie, you okay? You seem kind of pale."

     The one who said this wore almost the exact same outfit with neon orange eyes and the slight gray tint to her skin. Her hair was longer than the other's but it was styled in a way that I wouldn't believe possible. Her hair was in pigtails on the side of her head and came down in swirls. It was as though she had two tornadoes on each side of her face. The color was a deep blue. Is it Halloween or something?

     "Have you made a vow of silence or..."

     "Who... who are you?" I questioned, snapping out of my daze.

     "Oh! Why didn't you ask! I'm Catriana," the girl with the short hair stated, "and this is Veolina," she was suggesting toward the bluenette, "And you?"

     "Oh, um, I'm Alice," I said, still very confused as to what was going on.

     "Alice? What kind of a name is that?" Veolina asked.

     I chuckled. "I could ask you the same thing."

     I took my now adjusted eyes off of the girls for the first time and sat up. I was on what felt like concrete, but was oddly warm, as though it was just laid down, but dried instantly. I looked at the scenery and gaped at what was around me: robots, flying cars, rocket boots, anything you could imagine, they had. The buildings were of odd shapes and made of what seemed like different scraps of metals. There were no roads, just people floating through the air wherever you looked. Everyone looked... different, though. They all had a gray tint to their skin that seemed get darken as you aged. Their hair colors varied from blood red to neon green and their eyes the same.

     "What is this place?" I asked the girls.

     "Did you hit your head or something? This is Netrom. Netrom City? Ring a bell?" Veolina asked.

     I ignored her statement and pointed to the nearest flying shoes in sight, "What are those... things?"

     "Those? They're booster-boots of course! Back in 40985 they made them. These are old though. Those are the Starbuster 1.0's. The newest ones are the Moonstars. They come out today. Everyone's getting them, including us. I'm so excited! You must have some serious amnesia, huh?" Catriana explained.

     "Yeah, yeah." I answered, not paying attention to what she said as I was too busy being flabbergasted as I watched the boy in front of me put the boots on and take off of the ground.

     I was thrown out of my trance by a loud speaker from above:

     "Attention wonderful citizens of Netrom City! The Moonstars will be going on shelves in two minutes. I repeat, the Moonstars will be going on shelves in two minutes!"

     "Oh my Valecity! We need to get going! Sorry but we gotta go. Hope you find your way around alright!"

     The next thing I knew they were gone, blasting off into the sky. I stood up, trying to take it all in. This is unbelievable. How can this be? I turned and saw a very large electronic projection on the side of a building. It seemed to be counting down until what seemed to be the sale of these so called "Moonstars".

     Forty...

     I started hearing a slight buzz in my ears. I tried to ignore it, but it kept getting worse.

     Thirty...

     I started to get a slight headache.

     Twenty...

      Everything felt as though it was shaking.

     Ten...

     The headache became more of a migraine.

     Five...

     My vision started getting blurry once again.

     Four...

     I rubbed my temples, hoping that would sooth the pain slightly.

     Three...

     I dropped to my knees. I felt as though my head was going to burst.

     Two...

     It was almost unbearable at this point. My vision got more blurry until I couldn't see anymore.

     One...

     Black.