It's Not Magic

Thirty

Morning light was starting to shine through the small windows at the top of the hallway, casting very little light upon my situation.

I was standing at a crossroads, one blocked off, another standing open. The blocked path seemed more secure, and I could faintly detect a lot of minds on the other side. There was plenty down the other way too, which presented me with me dilemma. Which way would I risk?

Standing there, I noticed that the path blocked off, two giant steel doors with a keypad, seemed less used, despite the more modern feel to it. The one standing open seemed more traveled, and as I looked closer, it appeared to be stained with a dark color that I could only assume was blood. It had to be the way I needed to go.

Images of the kids from the night before flashed through my head, and gritting my teeth, I started my trek down the open hallway, the potent iron smell fueling my anger. The hallway was dark, what little light there was making seeing easy enough.

As I walked, I let my conscious wander, feeling, reaching, for other minds. The only downside was that I couldn't tell who's mind I was sensing, making me all the more cautious. Thankfully, what minds I could detect were farther up the hallway. So I did what any normal person would do, I kept walking.

The minds I had been sensing became people, uniformed ones, at that, and my heart caught in my chest. But I took a deep breath, slowly blinking, focusing on their consciousness. You don't see me, I thought, pushing it out towards them. As I looked up at the officers, I saw them blink, confusion flashing across their face, but that disappeared quickly, replaced by their standard neutral expressions.

My gaze made it as far up as their noses, but I looked away before I could reach their eyes. They can't see me, I reminded myself. No one knows I'm here.

That thought held true as the officers got closer to me, not once looking in my direction, acknowledging my existence. Not once did they look back once they passed either.

My breath came a little easier after that, but I didn't relax. I didn't dare relax here. My legs tightened with every step, knots forming under the scars. The hallway was too familiar, everything was, right down to the suffocating smell of death and bleach. I could feel the cool sensation against my neck and arm, as if the knives were pushing against them again, cutting deeper, and harder.

I swallowed, my fingers brushing against the risen skin on my neck, the thin line I tried so hard to ignore. But I kept going all the same, reminding myself why I came here. So I could have a home to go back to.

Focusing again, I reached out my conscious, ignoring the tightening in my gut. Several more minds were scattered in the hallway ahead, and I suspected none were friendly.

More uniforms started appearing in the hallway in front of me, and I did what I did with the two before them, pushing thoughts of my "invisibility" towards them. They all reacted the same, not realizing I was walking past them right under their noses. A magician breaking into their HQ, and they didn't even realize it.

I watched as they walked past, their expressions remaining the same, even as my shoulders nearly brushed against theirs. I recoiled, even without touching, the thought of even being close to them stabbing my core, threatening to shatter my illusions.

But they kept on walking, and I released a breath, although the feeling remained. I took another deep breath as I started walking forward again, but I couldn't ease the wrenching in my gut. I reached a branch in the hallway, and I searched for any minds, finding a larger amount in the hall that veered left. So that was the way I went.

The walls became hard to look at, even with the few steps I'd already taken, their rusty stains adding to the feeling of them closing in, crushing me. My breathing started picking up pace, but I forced myself to think of why I was here. Those kids didn't deserve to be here. I wasn't going to let them suffer the same fate I almost had.