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Chapter two- I wake up in a truck

 QUINCY

I woke up in a truck. I know, it sounds super creepy, right? But it was true. 

I hate trucks.

I really, really do.

Unless they are armoured, have machine guns mounted on them, and are painted black.

I hated this one though.

My head was pounding, my heart racing, and I was practically having a spaz attack. ‘Well you certainly are awake now.” Kat chuckled. “Here take this.” She chucked me a machine gun. I think this truck just got way cooler. “I take it you need no further instructions. Kill anything, that’s not us, that moves. Now GO!” she commanded in that shit scary voice that she used in the hospital. So, having no idea what I was doing, who I was up against, where I was, or why I didn’t cringe when she told me to kill, I jumped out the back door of the truck.

What I saw nearly knocked me flat. Hundreds upon thousands of teenagers, were lined up in rows, wearing camo, and staring blankly ahead, unblinking. They were dressed in army clothes, grey camo patterned, all with the same face, the same white hair and grey eyes. They looked familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. I poked one. It fell over.

“So what’s the deal with you guys?” I muttered underneath my breath. 

“You tell me.” I heard a voice behind me. I span around as soon as I registered the noise, and shot aimlessly with the huge gun I was holding. “You’ll have to do better than that.” The voice sneered. I span around again. I heard a fluttering of wings. Looking up, I saw a huge black raven fly overhead, barely visible against the huge grey storm clouds boiling in the sky above me. It landed next to me, and I was tempted to shoot it, remembering what Kat told me, but somehow, I didn’t think it would quite be right. “You know you should kill that thing.” I whipped around again. Blake was standing behind me, dressed as he usually did, in a plain black button up tee with the cuffs rolled up and a couple of the top buttons undone. I finally noticed why I thought the ‘clones’ looked familiar. 

They were Blake.

***

“Hang on, how come you are here? And more to the point, what’s up with them? And, where exactly is here?” I directed my question at the Blake who was wearing different clothes to the rest of them. His eyes shone, but in an eerie way, like tarnished silver in the sun. It was definitely Blake I was looking at, but he didn’t act like Blake, he wasn’t the Blake I knew. “They are part of an operation. I gather your one already told you about magyk?” he sneered. I shook my head. He turned away from me. “Very well then. To put it bluntly, magyk exists, you are a, well, witch, and there is a big-ass war on right now, and you are the one person who can stop it. Basically, everyone wants you on their side. They will use everything they have got to get you to side with them. We are an operation seeking out victrillicas. I trust you know what they are at least?” I nodded, aiming my gun at his head. “Good, so 21111998 hasn’t been completely useless.” He was really starting to freak me. So, I got up my nerve, and shot him. The sound of the machine gun fire and the thud of him hitting the grassy landscape shocked me. But I didn’t stop shooting until every single one of the ‘Blakes’ were floored, glassy eyes staring. As I looked around at the masses of bodies heaped around me, the landscape started to fade, and I heard someone calling my name.

As I came around, I saw I was in the truck again. I sat up super-fast. “Blake what the hell just happened?” I frantically searched around for him. Finding he was next to me, I pulled him down until he was sitting next to me on the floor of the truck. “First of all, what does the number 21111998 mean to you?” I asked him. He went slightly pale and asked where I heard that number. I told him it was irrelevant, and asked him again, what does the number 21111998 mean to him? He got shifty, and I figured he was just playing around. He took a breath, as if he was about to speak, then he seemed to change his mind. I looked around for Kat, but could only find Nisha. “Where’s Kat?” I asked her. She thumbed towards the cabin. I walked up to the divider screen in the wall directly ahead of me, bumping my head on the wall as I did so, because the truck was jolting so much. Opening the small screen, I stuck my head through. 

“’ello poppet. I was wonderin’ when you would re-join the land of the living.” Kat grinned in a fake cockney English accent, turning her head towards me as she spoke. Kat was on the left hand side of me, and a girl with chestnut hair only a few shades lighter than Kat’s was on my other side, driving painfully slow down the beaten track.

The girl couldn’t be any older than me, and she was driving this huge truck! She had green eyes too, but hers were darker, much darker, than Kat’s. 

“Hang on, fatal injuries, supposed to die? What’s up with that?” I asked, now finally able to speak confidently to Kat. “Well honey,” Kat laughed “we have to say that to all of our kind, so they can easily fade from that other, oblivious world, in order not to raise suspicion. ‘Our’ world would be the magyckal world, like in Harry Potter, except much more real, way closer to home, and far, far more dangerous. Oh and by the way, this is my daughter Joniatii! Say hi Joni!” Kat seemed to be awfully cheery about all this. Joni blushed and murmured hi, but continued staring ahead persistently.

“Okay, so what about that weird dream I had?” I asked. Kat’s look told me to explain. So I told her the whole story, start to finish, (more or less, minus some of my comments, the ruder exclamations etc.). Kat was silent for a while, chewing on a thought, and then she spoke up. “Ok honey, here’s the deal. Blake is a real human being, yes, but there are other well, how you put it, ‘clones’ and they do recruit victrillicas, but they are called Korekutā, quite literally, collectors. I believe you imagined them as Blake, because you have always been afraid of being let down by the ones you trust most. My guess is, it’s because you think that if your own parents didn’t care enough about you to keep you, or at least write a note, then nobody else cares about you either. 

“Look around you. There are five other people in this truck with you. Caspian, Joni, Nisha, Blake and I are your only family now. I'm sorry, but you will have to forget all about everyone else. I know it sucks at first, but the only time you will go back to that other world you grew up in is if you are needed to for us. Oh, and you may also go to your funeral, if you wish. You don’t have to, but some recruits do want to.” She finished in a rush. 

“Meh. I’d like that thanks.” I replied because I really didn't care. As long as my friends and such never find out the truth, I'll be fine. Only problem is, I don't plan on staying dead. Not in the slightest.

I stare out the front window through the small squarish hole in the divider, when I notice Joni's facial expression. She looks like she hasn't slept in days and is hyped up on too much coffee. Way too much. Joni looks absolutely terrible, so I felt I should at least try to help.  "do you want me to drive for a bit?" I offered, speaking directly to Joni. She grimaced, but nodded her head slowly, keeping her eyes on the road. When she suddenly stopped the truck, I flew through the opening, whacking my head on the steering wheel. Joni gave me mumbled apology, sliding open the back door and hopping in, closing it with a thud.  As soon as I got into the front seat I was hit with a sudden realization. I knew exactly how to drive the truck, how it worked, and everything about it. 'well maybe this could be pretty cool' I murmured under my breath.

I started driving, managing to get us to the 'destination' a lot quicker than expected. Two days early to be exact. As soon as we parked, I got straight out of the truck, and looked around. We were in front of a great big grey cement compound. Oh joy, I'm going to prison. Was my last thought before some huge beefy guys in grey uniforms appeared.