Mutation

Chapter 24: The Battle Begins

Hazel

"Leo, Evansby and his army are invading the colony," Maxine said.

I was stuck in an illusion.

It was like I was in some other world and heard everyone's voices from reality echoing as if they were all far away. Linus's illusion was too powerful. I kept hearing voices that probably didn't exist. Two of those voices belonged to my parents. I also heard my little twin brothers crying somewhere.

The scene took place in a hospital. I was standing in an empty hallway dressed in a hospital gown and no shoes. The place was extremely cold, and instead of smelling sterile like it should have, the aroma of blood lingered in the air. I heard voices inside of the nearest room, and I ducked my head inside of the doorway. My parents, brothers, a nurse, and a doctor were standing just inside, talking and looking disapprovingly at a body on the hospital bed.

Everyone in the room wore protective suits, as if the room were contaminated with a deadly, contagious disease. My parents were crying and my brothers looked too shocked to move. On the bed, a female body lay there with about twenty different tubes sticking out of her body all over her arms, wrists, mouth, nose, and stomach. Her face was sickly pale and she looked like she had about a few hours to live. Then I glanced at her face one more time.

The girl was me.

This was just an illusion. None of it was real. My family and the doctors hadn't even noticed me when I stepped into the room, so I must have been invisible to them. I stared at my lifeless body on the bed, and wondered what was going on. Then I wondered, What if this really happened?

"There's nothing much we can do. We've tried to get rid of it as best as we could, but it's taken over her system." The doctor said to my parents. He had a familiar British accent that I remember hearing from somewhere. But where?

"A-Are you sure you can't do anything, Doctor?" My mother whimpered. Then she collapsed into my father's arms, sobbing.

The doctor shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Roberts. But it's against the law now to let those who are affected by the mutation live out in the world where they might infect others. Hazel will have to stay in the containment unit until she...passes."

Those words stung. Then I felt another presence beside me. I turned and was shocked to see Linus standing there, right here in my illusion. Without even thinking, I lunged at him. I wanted to punch and kick him as hard as I could, but my attempts only went straight through him like a hologram. Since he was only an illusion too, I couldn't harm him. Darn.

"What are you doing here, Linus? What is this?" I demanded, still angry.

Linus only laughed. "Don't you get it, Hazel? This illusion is real. I accessed the deepest corners of your mind and found out what happened while you were unconscious for almost a year. You're not exactly as closed of a book as you thought, you know."

I clenched my fists. If only I could use my ability right now. "Alright, so you know what happened while I was asleep. Big whoop. Why is it so important that you show me this?"

"Mainly to tick you off because that's what I like to do to people. Other than that, I'm just trying to weaken you so Evansby can destroy you much easier," Linus explained, stepping away from me to stand closer to the me in the hospital bed.

I glared at him. Even though my parents, who were just an illusion, were standing in the room, I wouldn't mind killing Linus right there in front of them. "Linus, why is it so important that Leo and I have to die?"

He didn't say anything for a moment. It was like he was thinking about what to say. Finally, he sighed and said, "Evansby is a jealous man. All he wants is to be the best there is, and anyone having more power than he does makes him extremely angry. You don't understand his reasoning though. But I do. I've been in his position, where everyone judges you and thinks you're a fool. Now is the time that we're doing something for a greater world. His creation of the mutation outbreak is going to change our cruel society, whether you like it or not."