Holograham

The World Changes

The explosion threw Graham across the table. Throughout the chaos, he could barely make out the huddled figure unconscious on the ground. Graham bent over Catelyn’s immobile body, wiping her hair away from the deep gash on her cheek. Another explosion shook Graham to the core, red and orange flames lick the walls and consumed the tables. He grabbed Catelyn and sprinted to where he thought the doors were. The building collapsed as Graham lay Catelyn down on the grass of the courtyard. Looking around, Graham saw flames consuming not only his high school, but the surrounding houses and stores. His whole world was on fire.

Too many thoughts were going through Graham’s head, he was never taught what happens when the world catches on fire in school, even if he did, he wouldn’t have paid attention to a word. He wished he knew where his parents were, or his baby sister. Was the elementary school on fire too? He wished Catelyn was awake, she was better in stressful situations.

An earth shattering crash snapped Graham back into focus. He looked around the burning city to see it all fading. The red fire that was destroying his life flickered and disappeared, leaving white. Graham blinked, but the fire was still gone. His surroundings had completely changed; what was once his burning high school was now a white, unmarked building. He kept looking, but saw nothing. Where the sun should be high in the sky, embraced by blue on all sides, was white. The Edge of his city, once bending to peer down at a river, was a white wall with a single door. The door burst open to reveal people rushing toward Graham and Catelyn in black with guns. Catelyn was picked up by one of them and Graham was pulled at gunpoint to the door. His screams were drowned out by the thudding of boots and the wail of an alarm.

The fake world had already disappeared when Lydia slipped into the expansive room. The boy was screaming and thrashing about, yelling “Catelyn” or something. Lydia ducked as he was pulled by, avoiding the gaze of the men pulling the boy away, checking to make sure all of her flaming red hair was tucked safely into her helmet. This wasn’t dangerous at all, they were in a group after all. Lydia began to relax a little bit. Taking one more look around the expansive white nothingness, she jogged after the boy and the men carrying him away.

Kidnapping the boy seemed pretty easy to Lydia. She wasn’t allowed to attend any meetings, but they weren’t very long anyway and getting in here was just a quick jog. Now all they had to do was get out. Simple as that. Apparently Lydia wasn’t very good at simple; she tripped over her own feet and fell into a room. Which triggered an alarm. Which triggered ANOTHER alarm. Which triggered glares over the shoulders of the men running ahead of her.

“Lydia?!” She cringed, frozen in place. She was caught. Her brother yanked her up by her arm, lips in a tight line, cheeks almost as red as the bright hair they shared. She could tell by the wild glint in his eyes that she was in for a lecture.

“Byron! We gotta go. Grab Lydia and run!” Lydia pulled her arm out of her brother’s grasp and sprinted after the other men. Byron stood frozen for a few seconds more before the sound of heavy boots could be heard thundering through the opposite of the hallway. He ran after his sister.

*

Lydia fell down onto the rough dirt at the base of the tent. Her arm was hurting from her Byron dragging her through the campsite, and her ears were ringing from all of the whispers about her behavior hidden behind hands held against mouths. Byron didn’t hesitate a second before beginning his rant.

“How could you be so stupid?!” He began to pace as his sister rolled her eyes. “You snuck into the mission, (How the hell did you even do that by the way?), and nearly ruined the whole thing by tripping over your own two feet!” Lydia was examining her cuticles for imperfections. She finally glanced up when she noticed the only sound were the two people squirming in the corner.

“Do you think we should be talking about this around them?” She sneered. Graham and Catelyn’s eyes widened in fear.        

“They have every right to listen.” Byron shifted uncomfortably.

“Right. That’s why they’re gagged and bound. Because they have rights.” Lydia pushed past her brother into the mess of tents riddled about the barren wasteland.

*

Graham’s wrists and ankles were raw and the corners of his mouth burned.The pain fueled his fear, but not as much as it powered his anger. As soon as the cloth was removed from his mouth, he launched questions at the fuzzy-haired ginger untying him.

“Who are you? Where am I? I demand to be let go. DON’T TOUCH HER!” Graham struggled against the cloth still tied behind his back, the only thing keeping him from lunging at the kid backing away from Catelyn. Graham looked him up and down. He had red hair, brown eyes, and freckles polka-dotting his pale face. He looked to be only a few years older than Graham, who was only sixteen, but his posture and intense gaze suggested otherwise. Feet planted firmly and wide, shoulders pulled back, arms held tightly at his sides, he could have been a high-ranking military officer.

“I was only going to untie the band from her mouth.” His gaze was steady, unwavering though Graham was glaring at him with hatred smeared on his face. “But if she’s as obnoxious as you I don’t really think it’s a good idea.” He cracked a smile at his attempt at a joke; Graham didn’t find it as funny. Catelyn licked her lips slowly, waiting a while after her gag was taken off to speak, “Why are we here?”