Magic and Other Ways to Incite Rebellion

Chapter 2

Adam peered into his little sister's eyes, although 'little' didn't describe her anymore. His 13 year old sister was now 18 and had changed in the past 5 years. Her facial structure became less rounded and her hair was longer, and even the clothes she wore were different. If it hadn't been for her violet eyes, he would not have known it was her.

Daniella stood frozen, stock- still, with her eyes wide and shock written legibly across her face. "A-Ada-"

"Ma'am?" Her expression dropped clean off her face. All that was left was confusion. Adam could see the gears working, the billions of questions in her eyes. He knew it was cruel, but they needed to talk in a more secure place.

"But-"

"I don't have time for this, young lady," he interrupted, dragging her urgently down the alleyway. He would explain to her there. It would be safe there.

"Wait, what?"

What happened to Adam after the End Day? Just like everyone else, he was given a new life. They separated all of the families, assigning kids to everyone twenty-one years old and older. They created new last names for everyone, and they would probably find a new first name for everyone as well, if anyone would actually remember it. He was assigned a couple in their late forties as his guardians.

But shortly after he turned 18, Adam got sick. He had a blazing fever, occasional blackouts, and dreams of his real family. Nobody could figure out what was wrong with him.

Now he knew.

Finally, they sent him to The Facility for Disease, Illness, and Physical Disability. He hadn't been able to fight back as they shoved him into a padded room with nothing but a mattress, a naked lightbulb on the ceiling, and a rusty metal comb. 5 days later, he escaped.

"Excuse me, 'sir', did you hear what I just said?" Daniella snapped her fingers in Adam's face, drawing his wandering mind to reality. He shot her a guilty look.

Daniella huffed loudly, irritated. She knew that this was her brother standing in front of her, so why was he pretending he didn't know her? 'What is he doing here? Where has he been? Where are our parents? And where is he trying to take me?' Daniella had a lot of questions to be answered, and he was just being difficult, like he always was... Right?

He had looked distracted earlier. She wondered what was he thinking about, and why he didn't have brown contacts on.

Daniella finally had had too much. Something inside her snapped. She still needed to go home, before curfew, or she would be arrested. Her brother didn't seem to remember her or care for her when all she wanted to do was hug him and have him tell her everything was alright even when it wasn't.

It wasn't. It hasn't been for 5 years. It still wasn't. It might never be. It wasn't alright.

'My brother is here.' Right in front of her, right in her grasp- yet at the same time she was too far away. She was going to be late, but he seemed to not notice that curfew ended in 5 minutes. He only continued to drag her like a doll.

She needed answers, and she was not a doll.

She was never a doll.

Steely-eyed, she ripped her arm from his grip.

"Stop," she demanded, firmly asserting herself. she squared her shoulders, attempting to look intimidating.

"Daniella, I-" She cut him off with a punch to the gut, to which his response was a grunt.

"Oh, so now you remember me?" Daniella snapped.

'Shoot.' thought Adam. "I- um..."

"You have absolutely no right to touch me right now, let alone drag me across the city," she spoke in a tone so deathly low and devoid of emotion Adams heart broke and tumbled into his stomach, where it shattered further. Her words were poison, almost making him sick.

"Leave me alone to die. I'm too far away from home to make curfew, now, thanks to you."

"Danny," he reprimanded, now taking his own voice as a weapon. "You really thought I could forget you? That I wouldn't come back to you when I could?"

His voice ice, he continued, "You actually thought I would let you die." It wasn't a question. "I thought you were stronger. I thought you knew better. "

Now Daniela was the guilty one. She didn't know what to say. Instead, a single, solitary tear slipped down her cheek. "I just... I missed you."

Adam threw himself at her in a massive bear-hug, all hostile thoughts gone. She embraced her brother with all her might, though it could never have made up for the 5 years apart. "I missed you more."

"I missed you so much!" Daniella sobbed, squeezing tight. "Why?"

"...I... Dan-"

Seeing his hesitation, Daniella interrupted. "Please, promise you will tell me later, if not now? You have to explain... you have to."

"I promise. And I promise I'll never leave you again. I'll protect you from anything, and nothing will ever harm you again... Listen to me Danny. Look me in the eyes. I will not let anyone -anyone- ever hurt you. Trust me. They can't touch you. Never again."

Daniella listened to his oath, tears in her eyes once again, but this time because of the immense amount of utter feeling behind his words, and how heartfelt the sincerity of his olive eyes as they peered into the depths of her own lavender ones. She nodded her head, accepting his promise.

"Listen closely. Tomorrow- Saturday- as soon as you wake up, get ready as fast as you can. Tell your family that you are working on a project at a friend's house, or something. Meet me in this ally, but don't be watched, don't be followed. Your life is in danger."

He pecked a kiss to her forehead. "Stay safe."

Before Daniella could even say goodbye, he snapped his fingers, and she was in the air for a second before she was enveloped in a breezy green fire. She heard a pop, and then all she could see was black, all she could hear was nothing. So intense was the lack of light and sound, that Daniella began to doubt her entire life had even happened, that all that existed, and has even existed, was nothing but this absence of color or audio. Suddenly, with a whoosh a bright light appeared, first as a pin-prick, but growing very rapidly till she closed her eyes, and it collided with her body, consuming her.

Pop!

When she opened her eyes, she was in front of the entrance to her home.