The Illusionists

Chapter 1

The lonely aIley. Not a soul in sight. I am the only one in this place. Again. The wind is howling in the night. The moon is playing hide and seek with the clouds. I start walking down the empty path in the hope of finding something. Anything. But I just keep walking and walking. All of a sudden, a light illuminates down upon me. "We have come"...

I wake up with a start. The deep voice still ringing in my head. I stare at the opposite wall in a daze. After a few seconds, I trilling sound I immediately grab my book from the bedside table and start flipping through the pages till I reach a blank one. The image of what I just dreamed of is fresh in my mind. I start drawing the scene in my book. That voice. I have never heard it before but it still rings a bell. As soon as I am done drawing, I get up and get ready for school.

I have been dreaming the same dream for the past two weeks. Ever since my 16th birthday. On the night of my birthday, I dreamed of that alley. It has never stopped since then. Every night it kept going furthur and furthur. Today is the first time I heard that voice. Yesterday I saw the light. Normally, a person forgets their dream as soon as they wake up. But I remember every single detail of every single dream. When I realized that my dreams were not going to go anyplace else soon, I decided to draw them.

I'm Elena, by the way. Elena Tyndall. My parents? never at home. Work, work and work is all they do. Calling them Workaholics is an understatement. Everyday, I have the whole house to myself. Quite boring. I would have those big parties that everyone throws when their parents are not home... but, I frankly don't have many friends. Correction, any friends. Except Evelyn. But I don't really think that counts because we've been together since, before I can even remember.

The stairs groan as I walk down them. Past all the pictures that hold no memories of me. I shiver as I feel their eyes on my back. Silence engulfs the whole house. My mom and dad are working almost all the time. I never get to see them unless I stay up really late in the night which I don't usually prefer doing. This lack of people in my life has made me a very calm and neutral person. I head towards the kitchen and start preparing my breakfast. Usually two slices of toast and a Glass of cold milk. I quickly eat up my breakfast and leave the house to go to school.

As soon as I get out of my house, the icy grip of winter causes me to shudder. The flowers in the garden are long past gone. The ivy weaves its fingers around the fence. The only benefit of having parents who work around the clock is that I get my own moped. As I drive towards school, the voice I heard in my dream keeps repeating over and over again.

We have come

It was unmistakably a female's voice. But what did she mean by that? Who had come? And for what?

Ever since I realised that every night something new happened, I grew impatient to know what happened next. I once tried sleeping the whole day to see if I would see anything new. But I saw nothing. Everything was blank. My dreams only come alive at night. I haven't told a soul about my dreams. Not that I care about anyones opinion.

Besides, I don't exactly have that many friends. Just one girl. Evelyn. She has been with me since kindergarten. I am not much of a social person. I like to keep to myself. The only reason I am with Evelyn is because she doesn't push me for anything. In fact, she is the one who does most of the talking.

I carry my book everywhere I go. I keep thinking that one day I will find that alley. I have seen Evelyn see my book a couple of times without my knowledge. But she doesn't ask me anything about it. Which is why I respect her so much.