Misled

Chapter Two

I burst out laughing. Clutching my stomach, I tried to stop by pinching myself but every time I looked at the guy, invisible feathers continued to tickle me. Unsurprisingly, I saw the old man taking a peek at us, probably wondering what we were up to.

Elysian guy raised his eyebrow and looked at me dubiously. I wanted to flail my arms and say, 'Hey! I'm not the one who's the nutcase here'.

"I'm sorry," I said while still chuckling, "it's just that I find your joke fitting since it's Catharsis today and all."

I took hold of the shelf to balance myself, but I saw him frown. "Who said I was joking?"

I immediately stopped. I scrutinized his face and found that there really was no hint of humor on his deadpan expression.

Panic jolted me as I noticed the old man listening to our conversation. “This is not funny.” If it continued, we would be arrested for defying Code 0067.

“You’re the one who was laughing!” If the Elysian guy could still raise his eyebrow, he would have had by now. “Look,” he said as he folded his arms in front of his chest, his brows knitted, “I’m not kidding. You asked me where I’m from. I answered you. What’s wrong with that?”

My jaw dropped. Nobody comes back when they stepped in Elysium. Except for heralds. I studied him from head to foot. He didn’t look like a herald, besides, his face was bare. Heralds covered their faces.

I felt a tingling sensation run down my spine. I secretly glanced at the counter by looking at the faint reflection of the old man on the windows. From the look of his movement, he was pretending he wasn’t listening, but I could see his head tilting to our direction every now and then. He could report us to the Authorities if I didn’t think of a way to distract him.

I wasn’t an actress but I had to try being one now. I widened my eyes and pretended to recognize Elysian guy. “Oh! That’s why I thought you look familiar. You’re one of the actors in the play!”

He wrinkled his forehead and was about to say something when I cut him. “You’re the one who played Elysian who went back to Ur and got killed by the heralds, aren’t you?”

I stole furtive glances at the old man and saw him nodding. There were plays shown after every Catharsis and all the citizens were familiar with it because we were forced to watch it. Every single time. I looked back at Elysian guy and prayed he got the message I was trying to send.

His face was deep in thought and he kept on stroking his chin. I know he was weighing things but before he say anything regrettable, I grabbed his hand and headed towards the exit. “Let’s go! You could’ve said that you were looking for the stage, you know. That would made it a lot easier for me”

“But—”

I silenced him with a glare. ‘This guy doesn’t know when to shut up!’ I said to myself. I faced the old man and showed a cheerful expression. “Thanks for allowing us in!”

The old man smiled, completely taken in by my ploy.

As soon as we were outside the shop, I felt my limbs relax. I had no idea how tensed I was back in the shop. I pulled the guy away from the shop and towards an alley.

“What was the all about?” he asked, pulling his hand away from my grasp.

“Are you nuts?! We could go into jail because of what you said!” I hissed.

His eyebrows twitched. “Wha’d I say?”

“That you’re from Elysium!” I poked him on the chest.

He stepped back and lifted his hands up as if from a surrender. “Woah, woah, woah! Hands off, crazy lady. I’m telling the truth.”

When I heard him say that, I closed my eyes and massaged my now aching head. “Look,” I tried to explain when I opened my eyes again, “let me give you Ur 101 in case you’ hit your head and has forgotten the Codes. Elysians aren’t allowed to go back here. Only heralds have the right to do that. Any claims that a person came from Elysium defies Code 0067—“