Illusion

Chapter 1

Callie

The bright lights burned my eyes, the flashing, the moving, it all made me dizzy. I looked around for anyone I knew within the crowd of dancing people. Then, she caught my eyes. My best friend Kami stood in a corner, laughing with some guys. I closed my eyes for about a minute, calming myself down and attempting to demolish my headache. I slowly opened my eyes again and my head continued throbbing. I groaned and continued walking. 

I was surrounded by the Northern folks, the people who wanted to leave the ruinous country of Dapeta. I had watched from my home in Tridua, a Southern Province (I left with my family when the war first started to try and join Erda)  as a fighter jet shot past me, going north towards Erda. That night, on the news, there was a report that Erda had thrown attacks on us. I never doubted that we were the ones to throw the first attacks. 

"CCAAALLIEEEEE!" I jumped as the call came from behind me. I turned warily and found a stumbling Kami leaving the crowd. She was being followed by a guy who I instantly recognised. He was James Myles, the president of the "rebels", which is what the south calls us. The fact that Kami could even get near him was amazing. 

"This is James, he's prethident of us," I rolled my eyes at my friend.

"Kami, how you managed to get drunk at a formal party is beyond me."

"Noooo, I'm fine," she slurred, "I've only had. . ." she counted her fingers, restarting a few times, "like 3 glasses of wine."

My eyes widened, only 3?

"Kami," James spoke up, "remember?"

"Oh yeah, it was 13!" She giggled, I groaned. She had always been alcohol sensitive, getting drunk easily.

"Whatever, you need to sit down and drink some water. No more partying." I was about to leave Kami with James when there was a loud noise followed by screaming. The crowd broke into chaos and left me confused. 

That's when I felt a hand on my arm. I spun and found an unfamiliar guy holding my arm. 

"What are you? Deaf? Blind? We need to go!" His voice calmed me somehow and I let him pull me into the crowd. That's when everything went dark and I felt the cold floor on my face. 

-

It wasn't until a few hours later, as I was told, that I woke up again. I was in a dark room and, well, screamed. 

"Shh!" I heard a low voice whisper-yell.

"Cut her some slack, Ishmael! She just woke up." This voice was softer, it was close to me.

"She's going to get us killed," I knew this one from somewhere.

"Callie, are you alright?" This voice was Kami, I knew it.

"Wh-"

"Cameron saved you. The South attacked the party and a guy was running at you. Cameron saw you blankly staring at a wall and grabbed you." That was the unfamiliar, soft voice.

"If you two don't shut up this instant, we're all going to die within the next day."

I sat back against the wall behind me. I didn't know where we were, just that there were obviously soldiers near us, searching. If they managed to kill James, they would win the war. Tons of us would be killed, and the survivors would definitely be punished in terrible ways. 

I listened to the whispers of the others in the room, all worried about our futures. I wondered where James was in this blob of human beings. He would obviously be near the back, nobody would put the lives of the entire North at risk just so James could sit at the front. 

I ran my fingers through my long, blonde hair. I heard many names in the crowd, people introducing themselves, hoping that they would die near people they knew. 

"Shh!" James snapped, causing the room to fall silent. "They're just above us."

We were all spread apart, probably lining the outside of the room. Even with that space, I could hear  the pounding of people's hearts. 

To try and help myself calm down, I focused on the darkness surrounding me. I had always had a limited "ability" where I could tell if there were objects near me if I focused enough. I imagined different shapes taking form in my head, when they settled on one; a knife. It was very close to me, not yet touching another person. I reached at both sides for it, when I felt cold metal touch my fingertip. With a little farther of a stretch, I yanked it away and set it on my lap. That's when I heard the voices above us.

"I saw them go behind this statue, and they never came back."

"Well, obviously, there's nothing there. Let's check outside."

"No! I'm certain..." I tensed up. The others were panicked too, you could feel the electricity. I didn't even know where we were and I felt that they were close to us.

"Aha!"

It was the same voice as before, the one investigating the statue.

"What?"

"I found it! I found the opening!"

"Seriously?"

In the room, I heard James, from right beside me, "Oh no.."

I stretched towards him, touching his arm, and set the knife in his lap.

"Where'd you find this?" He whispered.

"Right beside you."

We sat in almost silence for a while. It seemed that everyone was giving up. We had tried, at least I was pretty sure we tried. 

For the first time, I saw the faces of the people surrounding me. The hallway directly in front of me became dimly illuminated. I saw the faces of at least 20 people, all blank and scared at the same time. Soon, 3 silhouettes emerged from the light. 

"There!"

It all happened in a couple seconds. They started leaping at us. I jumped at James, grabbing the knife back and held it behind my back. I stood and walked to the entrance, the men stopping in front of me, staring down at me. i pulled out the knife, threatening them, hoping it would help us get away. A ginger haired boy shoved me back, holding up the knife at the soldiers, and he whispered something. He jumped at them, they yelled it such a cheesy way, and ran away. 

"I had that!" I yelled at him.

He smirked, "Sorry, kid, but girls can't fight."

Rage flowed through me, and I gritted my teeth, staring as he walked away and helped James make sure everyone was healthy.

"Girls can't fight," I mocked staring at the knife on the ground. He had dropped it when the men ran away.

-

A year later, I regret not questioning what I saw.