Illusion

Chapter 2

Callie

We had escaped that night. After a good 10 minutes of me staring at the knife while James and the ginger checked on everybody, we managed to find our way through the various hallways. We emerged into the main room, and we were, indeed, below the giant statue of James in the middle. For a second, I thought there were people around us, dancing, laughing, and talking. But they disappeared, replaced by a group of seemingly sleeping bodies. 

Everyone gasped, and I finally realised that the bodies were dead. A teenage girl screamed and ran towards one tall man. She dropped to her knees and sobbed, holding his hand. I tried to slow my pounding heart and walked up to her, setting my hand on her shoulder. 

"His name was Jordan. He was..." the girl trailed off, tears racing down her face. By now, the people back at the statue could probably see how soaked his shirt was as she cried.

Jordan had short, chocolate-coloured hair, his grey eyes were wide, frozen in panic. A tear ran down my face as I watched the girl cry at his side. 

"Annika?"

I looked back and saw a blonde boy slowly walk up to us.

"Is that..?" he mumbled once he reached us. 

The girl nodded, breaking into tears again.

The other boy looked at me.

"Jordan was her brother. He was all she had. Their parents were also killed by the South long before the war even started. He's raised her since then. He basically was her mom and dad in one."

James stood beside the boy, followed by Kami, and the ginger haired boy hesitated, before joining us. Annika continued crying, unaware that we were beside her.

I examined our mini group. They were all serious, sad, or emotionless. I looked behind me, seeing the rest of the group slowly slinking off. I snorted, sitting beside Annika as her tears slowed down. 

"I tried to get him to follow us. He refused. He wanted to make sure I survived. It's all... my.." she trailed again, choking on tears. 

"It wasn't your fault." I whispered.

"How about.. we bury him?" James spoke up after some time, and everyone looked at him

Annika nodded, standing, trying to stop her tears. 

All the boys picked Jordan up, walking him outside. We found a nice spot in a field a couple minutes away from the hall. We buried him, and James invited us to stay at his house for the night. It was around 3 in the morning, and we all lived quite a ways away, so it was reasonable to stay with him for a while.

The blonde boy walked with Annika, Kami and James were at the front, the ginger was just behind them, and I was at the back. Despite it being late July, it was quite chilly in the darkness. My hands trembled as I looked at my watch. It was 3 am. I groaned and kept stumbling along.

"So.. Am I supposed to instantly know everyone's names?" I spoke up after we took a sharp turn into a cozy, yet creepy alleyway. 

No answer.

"Guys? No? Okay.."

-

After ten minutes of me attempting to start up conversations, James led us to a small trailer. We were all about to walk inside, but he shook his head the the streetlight gleam. I cocked my head and followed him, everyone else closely behind me. 

He crouched and slid under the trailer. I followed, and in the cramped space, I saw a door on the ground. He opened it, and we all slid inside, before finally being able to actually walk down the stairs as the ground rose above us. We were greeted by a dimly lit room, with a couch, table, and kitchen. I waited in my spot before he led me and the ginger boy to a dark room.