Illusion: Destiny Awaits (In Editing)

9 - Christi

"So if a person is poisoned with Kontravado, then you'd have to kill the person to remove the potion? That's horrible!" I exclaim. Lupo frowns, nodding.

"There is one place where you can find a cure, though. We cannot tell you. It's far too dangerous here." Lupo paws at the surrounding area as if to say our secret hiding spot isn't secret enough. Sabrina pouts in response.

"Hey, what does Kontravado even look like?" I ask, eyeing Sabrina. She nods in agreement. "If we're going to encounter it in the future, shouldn't we know how to detect it?"

Skifter shares a look with Lupo. "Well, we never really were supposed to tell you, but if you ever need to know what it looks like, it's a dark murky blue, but only in a bottle. Once infused into the object, the object will flicker bright blue when the Kontravado has been activated. Hopefully, you'll never have to see that in the near future. Any other questions?"

"Why were you screaming when we called each other while I was in prison?" Sabrina asks me. The question comes as shocking.

"What? I was never screaming!"

"But it... it sounded like... you were... screaming." I furrow my eyebrows, then look to Skifter and Lupo for advice.

"That's another thing Zaroho did. He transported Sabrina's phone to the prison, and you just overlooked everything. Sabrina's phone did not survive the water, and the screaming wasn't real. Zaroho tricked you again." I look at Skifter like he's crazy. I shake my head, then proceed in talking to Sabrina. We chat softly, then pop out of our hiding spot as our moms call us to lunch. Reaching the picnic table, I see Skifter close by. I shoo him away, but he stays. I glance at my family members, hoping they don't see him. They don't; phew! I nudge Sabrina urgently, all of a sudden.

"I sprinkled all the food with the mentelavar! We can't get brainwashed!" I mutter, and her eyes light up in acknowledgment.

"Uh oh."

"Calm down," Lupo assures. A basket appears in his mouth, a picnic basket, to be precise. In it are the same foods my mom packed.

"Aren't those foods covered in mentelavar?" Sabrina asks. Lupo sets the basket down and speaks.

"No. Those are." He motions to the picnic basket sitting patiently on the table. Sabrina exchanges a look of confusion with me, then we both shrug it off, grab a sandwich from the copied basket, and settle down in secrecy at the table.

"Did you girls take some of the sandwiches?" Mom asks, eyeing the sandwiches in our hands.

"Uh, yeah," I respond, hoping there are sandwiches missing from the mentelavar sprinkled basket. Some, apparently are missing. Hmm, thanks Skifter.

We sit down casually, acting as if everything is fine. As if everything is fine! I'm nervous though. What will the mentelavar do to my parents? It won't hurt them, right? Skifter must hear my thoughts because he busts into my mind and responds. It will only brainwash them. They will no longer know that you and Sabrina were gone. They will instead, think that life went as normal. Everything that happened in their life while you and Sabrina were gone will be what's in their minds. The mentelavar will only make it so that you and Sabrina were never "gone" to them.

So their memories of us being gone, will be replaced with memories that are at the same time, event and place, but we were there with them?

Yes, Skifter answers. It will be as if you never disappeared. I ponder a little more before taking a bite from my cucumber sandwich. I watch as—one by one—my family, along with Sabrina's, eats the food. I grab Sabrina's arm. I'm too nervous to watch. Then, Jago runs to Sabrina and shoves a piece of pie in her mouth. I tackle Jago.

"Sabrina!" In my mind I say, Whatever you do, Sabrina, don't swallow, don't swallow. She swallows. The mentelavar is now inside of her. Great. Just great.

✦

"Arf! Arf!" I bolt out of bed, just to come face to face with Ash. His tongue goes lolling around, and I laugh. Oh, gee. School. Today. What will people say? We didn't brainwash them! Oh, gee. Sabrina! She's been brainwashed too! Does she remember me? Of course, she does! But does she remember our trip to prison? Does she remember Kase? Does she remember why we're here, living today? Does she know we have school today? Does she? Hmm, so many questions! So little answers!

—click— "Christi? You there?" Gee, (I'm saying that a lot, aren't I?) Sabrina's phone still must be in the hands of her mom. Darn!

—Beep!— "Yeah, I'm here. We have school today, ya know?" —click—.

"Yeah, I know, well... uh, see ya at school, I guess!" Another crackle, then she's gone. I grab my bag, hoping school won't be as I expect it to be.

I swing the door open and feel the fresh California air across my face. I sigh, delighted, and hop across the sidewalk. Sabrina joins me, after running across the street and we stroll down, on our way to school.

Once there, I breathe deeply. So far, no one has asked us about our disappearance. Thank goodness! I'm not ready to explain anything. I don't know if I can explain anything. That is if I'm allowed to. I walk with Sabrina to our lockers, and I think. I forgot my locker combo! Great. Ah well, just have to try it out, I guess. After three whole tries, I get it. The third try was out of memory! I'm remembering things now! Sabrina also gets hers, and I open my locker to see the same pop of color from the streamers Sabrina gave me. I'm so happy. I put my stuff away. I open my purple backpack and grab my books.

Then, we get attacked. People swarm around us. They squabble and chat, asking us questions we can't answer. I don't understand! How long were we gone? Was it really that long? I turn to Sabrina and cringe as we are engulfed by the noise and rustle of all the students trying to get in on the gossip. Then, something unexpected happens. Adelaide steps out, shooing people away. She smiles warmly at us, her face producing a genuine grin. Not a stuck up sneaky grin, just a friendly grin. I'm so stunned, I can barely move. Confused, I realize. Everything has changed.