ILLUSION?

Beware cupcakes!

I and Eddy got off at the same stop. We said goodbye in a somber tone and went our way. His house was just across the street from mine.

I walked into my house and was instantly hit by a missile of joy. Arya jumped at me and I toppled over. She was rather big for a Dalmatian, so her head reached up to my elbow when I stood. I wiped the saliva off my face with my sleeve and went to the kitchen.

It was really my nose which led me there. Mom was sitting on a chair in front of the oven. The oven's timer ticked and she got up. She wore a pair of mittens and opened the oven door. A wave of warmth and goodness hit me and I sniffed the air.

Mom brought out a tray with cupcakes and kept it on the wooden dining table.

"You're back!", she said, "Just in time"

"I could gobble all of that", I said in delight

"All yours", I was about to grab a cupcake when she pulled the tray away, "But first...", Here it comes, I thought, "...Your report card"

I saw her smiling through the corner of my eye as I hastily searched for the report card in my backpack. I found it and handed it to her. She removed the mitten on her right hand and placed it on the table. She took the report card and analyzed it with sharp eyes. Light bounced off her sharp ears as she read the report.

She was quite short for a woman of her age; I was only a few centimeters shorter than her and I was only five foot two inches tall. She had blond hair which had not passed onto me, I got my dad's curly brown.

"Hmm...", she said, "...It's okay bu-"

"Okay? I got an A in four subjects!", I was angry.

"Yes, but you'll have to work on your Math and French"

"Yeah whatever, but more importantly can I eat the cupcakes now?"

She acted as if she was thinking then said, "Fine"

And that was all I needed to devour the cupcakes. I must've been a wanted criminal in the cupcake world seeing as I showed no mercy.

I left one cupcake for my mom and sat back on my chair. My left hand dangled over the side of the chair and Arya started licking it.

After a few minutes of talking with mom about my day at school and her talking about the new dog they had brought in to The Animal Home (she worked as a veterinarian there) and how she had never seen an animal in such a state.

"...I mean one of its hind legs was twisted at a such a weird angle, it hurt just to look at it and I still get chills when I remember it", she said in a concerned tone, "But thankfully we were able to operate on it after giving it a few doses of pain-killers; now it's probably sleeping with a heavy cast on its leg, it will be back to normal in a few months' time"

I left for my bedroom and took a quick shower then picked Gone from my bookshelf and sat down on the bed and started reading.

》》》》》》

This time I was in a cell. I looked around and saw a pretty well lit space the size of a really small bedroom. It had a tiny study table on which there was a drawing book, some colour pencils, a few fidget toys and a bottle of water.

I heard a voice. It was quite different from my own voice – it was much hoarser and was in a really low volume. But the strange thing was, the voice came out of my mouth.

I missed the first few lines of what 'I' said, and then I focused on the sound.

"...Y - you have to help me please", said the voice which came out of my mouth. I tried to speak but I couldn't.

"I know you're trying to talk but you can't - not like this, he will hear you", said the voice. I was shocked when it responded to me. That was when I knew that this wasn't just a dream.

What should I do?, I thought.

"Get me out of here", squeaked the voice, "I – I - I can't take it anymore, if this continues, I - I will go mad, o – or die, like the others"

I don't understand, where are you?

"I don't know, but I know that you're close, I don't know how, I just know it, and I've been trying to get to you for a week"

At least tell me what's happening to you? Who is 'he'?

"They're making me do things", he shuddered, "Those things, they're terrifying", he sighed, "I've been fighti-"

The voice became distant and wavered like an out of range radio signal.

"I'm losing consciousness, I'm exhausted, please...find me"

I woke up sweating. I couldn't believe it. As much as I had denied Eddy and Terra, I was finally beginning to realize - these dreams, weren't just dreams.