Illusion

1 | Trouble in Paradise

She bolted around the room in a panic at unnaturally fast speeds - faster than any human could ever possibly try to move. Her dashes lifted a thin cloud of dust as her survival instinct kicked in and she snatched her old messenger bag from the floor, grabbing her sole possessions and stuffing them inside. 

Her school bag lay on the floor and she picked it up, flinging it up onto her shoulder. She flashed to the window, realising that she had done all of her preparation in mere seconds. Her legs and spine quaked with fear as her skin faded into transparency. She pulled the window open while she adjusted her bags to prepare for the jump. 

Iris snapped her head back to the door. The policeman had already started to smash the door in and slowly, the once sturdy front door was starting to give way. She looked back out of the window. It was a long way down - around about 60 feet. If she fell and didn't start running in time, she would tumble to her untimely death. She willed herself to continue and sat on the window ledge, throwing down the bag she held in her hand and watching it land and roll in the dry grass. A deep breath filled her lungs as she leaned forward and walked her feet down the wall. She held onto the sides of the window for dear life, trying to mentally prepare herself for what she was about to do. 

Iris was hanging out of a window - something she never thought she would have to do. Her heart was pounding in time with the banging on the door. Her hands were becoming slippery with sweat and she would soon have lost her grip. She had to do it. 

One. 

Two. 

Iris released her hold on the window and started to run as fast as she could, thanking the Gods for her unnatural powers. She found herself speeding down the wall and as if time stopped, she discovered she was running upright, approaching the ground at a more humane speed. She was sprinting down a vertical wall, an event she'd only ever witnessed in unrealistic childhood movies. 

A rush of adrenaline filled the small, white-haired girl and she let out a squeal of surprise. Iris almost forgot that she was about to run face first into the dirt - almost. When she was a close enough distance from the ground, she jumped, but her misestimating meant that she landed on the ground off balance. 

Iris hit the grass, but a wave of pain shot up from her ankle on impact. She fell onto her side with a hiss of pain. Grabbing her ankle, she tried to figure out where she was hurt most. She poked and prodded at the bone and a stabbing pain throbbed in her ankle, making her foot spasm. She remembered that she was on the run and struggled to stand up. 

A soft breeze blew outside. One Iris was happy to feel because it began to cool her down, to calm her down. She managed to stand up, limping on her left leg. She could get it checked out at school; she'd tell the nurse she tripped up. 

Iris picked up the stray duffel and began to limp down the familiar road to West Marshall High School. She looked back every now and again to make sure that she didn't have any cops following her. 

She arrived at school, knowing immediately that she was late for her first class. In her painful journey to the nurse's office, Iris had stuffed all her clothes in her locker and strapped her watch onto her hand. Her flat stomach rumbled when she remembered that in the rush to leave, she didn't have breakfast. She glanced at the watch on her wrist; there was about two hours until the first break. Four hours until lunch. Iris wasn't too late, but her visit to the nurse's office would make her even tardier. 

She soon arrived at the quaint, little nurse's office in one piece and walked to the desk. A list of names that had been in here was in the sign book and the injuries they had suffered. Iris flicked to the nearest available page and picked up the attached pen before scribbling her name down, the date and her incident.