Imagine (12 page)

XVI

imagine a revolution

G
azing open-mouthed at the woman standing, arms wide open, in front of me I ask
“Who are you?”  

She could definitely be related to me. I’m truly fasc
inated, she continues walking towards me slowly and the closer she gets the more I can’t help but think I could be looking at an older version of myself, what I am going to look like in a couple of decades.

She
looks to be in her mid-thirthies or so. Wrinkles underneath her eyes make me think that she may even be a little older. Is she is related to me? Why has Mom never spoken of a relative that looks so much like me?

“Sweetheart, do you not remember me at all?” she asks calmly.

“Should I? Lady, I don’t know you from Adam. I find it very strange and uncomfortable that you’re here now, saying all of these things. Calling me sweetheart. Please explain yourself, but
don’t
come any closer.” Screams from the village fill the air. I can’t trust anyone right now, especially not some weird lady who knows my name and looks just like me, claiming that she is my mother. 

She stops in her tracks and thinks f
or a second before talking “Okay, I’ll stay right here. I have to be honest I was not expecting to get this kind of a reaction from you; I thought you’d be happy that I have come to rescue you. That we are reunited after all of these years, nothing pains a mother more than to be forgotten by her own daughter, but you were very young when you were stolen from me.” she takes another step towards me as she finishes her last word. 

“What are you talking about? Stolen? My Mother’s name is Maggie, I have grown up with her my whole life” Keagan comes speeding around a corner on the path.
 He and that man must have had a terrible fight because his nose is bleeding and his clothes are torn. At first he only sees me but when he looks around to see why I have stopped running he spots her. A look of pure terror crosses his face.

“Trish, get away from her
now
. She’s a Dark Creator; she’s one of the people attacking Haven right now to get you, trying to trap you for her own wicked use.” I look back and forth between the two of them, both staring right at each other. Her face changes, she lifts her arms and out of nowhere a ball of bright light is flying through the air towards Keagan. I am terrified, in that instant I wish for a miracle. I picture a force field making the ball of light bounce right off of him and back at her. As the ball is just inches from his chest I let out a cry and run towards him.

T
o all of our amazement the ball of light bounces away from him and back towards her, she throws herself to the floor and the ball of light carries on down the pathway towards the lake. I throw my arms around Keagan to make sure that nothing else happens to him, nothing else can be fired his way. 

 
              “You’re much stronger than I could have ever imagined Trish” she says as she gets up from the ground, dusting herself off. “I didn’t mean to hurt him; I didn’t know you had a boyfriend. I merely thought he was a Guardian, coming to take you from me.”

I don’t correct
her; I just want to be away from her so I grab a hold of a stunned Keagan and push past her. 

“Trish!” I hear from behind me.
“Don’t run away, we have so much to talk about. These people are lying to you, we are meant to change the world together, you and I!”

Keagan is pulling me along now, not giving me the choice of turning back.
 I glance behind me and make eye contact with her, her hand reaches out helplessly as if to reach for me. 

We continue sprinting and I am soon breathing very hard, barely able to keep up with Keagan.
 We crash through some very tall grass and dodge past trees. It looks as if the grass in front of us is moving and I can make out the faint sound of footsteps somewhere out in front of us. Keagan, hears it too as he slows us right down to a walking pace and puts his finger to his lips indicating for me to be quiet. 

“Gladly” I whisper. Happy to be able to catch my breath.
The footsteps stop too, Keagan pulls me against him and we duck behind one of the large trees. Its rough bark scratches the bare skin on my arm. My heart still skips a beat with being this close to him. I really miss his hugs.

Keagan whispers “Don’t move
an inch!” The grass in front of us parts as Kia and Sam almost run straight into us. Kia looks like a deer caught in headlights, beyond scared. Sam has a look of sheer determination on his face. I let go of Keagan and put my arms around Kia, she is shaking with fear.

Sam is t
he first to talk. “It’s
beyond
crazy back there. Bodies all over the place. We were on our way back to the beach. It’s the only option we had.”

“I know a safe place, come with
us. I can protect you and your Sister.” Keagan tells us

“Why should we trust anything that you say dude? You’re one of
them.
Someone whose job it is to torture Young Creators like Kia and Trish.” Sam states.

“Look
Sam, it’s how it’s been for hundreds of years now. Until now it has worked, we have managed to protect everyone. I took no joy in causing the hurt that I have, especially…” He glances my way quickly but then continues, making my heart skip a beat. “I did believe that it was all for the greater good. That was until my mother talked to me today, before all of this, she shared with me some things that I was not aware of, and making me reconsider
everything
.” Keagan replies. 

He
looks at each of us in turn, looking us all in the eyes. I can’t explain why, but I do believe him. Helen did speak to him, hearing her parting words as we left in a hurry helps convince me of his intentions.

“I belie
ve you Keagan.” I say calmly. Sam is looking at me with a distinct look of doubt on his face but reluctantly, he nods my way.

“Well what other choice do we have? Lead the way. We don’t have time to waste here talking all day.”

“Where are we going?” I ask Keagan.

“We are heading to a rebel camp. Young Creators and Guardians living together on the island. They did not agree with how things were being done at Haven and split from the main group.
Brother Lorrus has been searching for them for months now, to no avail.  Occasionally there are signs of them but no one knew where they were hiding. That is until my mother told me. I know someone there, someone who should be able to help us. Let’s go, this way.” With that Keagan leads the way. Kia and I walk next to each other and Sam brings up the rear as we head deeper into the tall grass and thick trees.

It seems like we are walking for hours. Night turns into day, the sun rises directly ahead of us which must mean that we are heading east. I am astonished that we are still on solid land and have not even seen any water or a beach yet, we are supposed to be on an island
after all. I glance around at our surroundings now and notice that the trees are thinning out at last; I can see snow-capped mountains in the distance. The sun is rising over them, it’s actually quite picturesque.

Sam and Kia are walking side by side now, talking in hushed voices, Kia notices me looking at them and nudges her brother with her elbow, they stop talking immediately and walk in silence. She looks completely worn
out; bless her, long hair sticking to her face with sweat, her skin streaked with dirt. Looking down at my dirty clothes I notice I am exactly the same. For once I am happy that there are no mirrors around.

Keagan stops, turning to us he says “Almost there, to warn you they may be hostile towards us at first, they know that I am a Guardian from Haven.
 So just let me talk to them and explain to them what’s been going on. Okay?”

“That makes a lot of sense” Sam says sarcastically, “but don’t you think that they would be more receptive towards us? Se
eing as though
we
are the ones that have been kidnapped by your crazy cult.” 

I agree with Sam, but at the same time Keagan has said that he knows someone there who can help us, he would be be
tter at explaining everything to these people. I can tell that they don’t really like each other. I guess I can understand the hatred on Sam’s part; Keagan was part of the group of people that has put him and his little Sister through the nightmare that they have experienced here. But why is Keagan looking at Sam like he wants to rip his throat out?

Kia comes over to me and puts her head on my shoulder I can see the exhaustion in her face. “Trish, please just make them make up their mind already, I’m exhausted and my body hurts. I don’t think I can take much more
walking. I
need
water, we all do.” she pleads with me.

“
Okay I’ll do my best to make the silly boys see sense.” I tell her with a smile and I rub her back. “Hey guys, why don’t you give it a break? Let’s get there, wherever there is. We can all explain why we’re here together. Between us, we should be able to explain everything properly.” I tell them, I can’t help thinking that I sound like my Mom, nagging.  

Keagan and Sam both stare at me then look at each
other; Sam shrugs his shoulders as if to say “I guess the girl’s got a point.”

Keagan on the other hand seems less pleased with my
intervention; he just scowls at me, and not saying a word as he reluctantly continues walking.

As we walk I begin thinking.
I take it that he doesn’t like that I am trying to make decisions for the group, telling them what to do and above all, disagreeing with him.  I wonder if it’s just me that he has issues with or is it women in general. Come to think of it now, the way that he acted at Dalton Academy is beginning to make sense. I thought he was just quiet, but I’m beginning to think that he does not seem to like strong minded, opinionated women. I guess if I grew up how he did, in a place where the women were always serving the men, seeing to their every need, then I may feel the same.

O
n the other hand you have Porsche, a totally self-assured young woman, she doesn’t seem to fit into the docile and submissive role of women at Haven, she even has a man’s job, and she’s a Guardian. I always thought she was quite manly.  

Just thinking about
Haven still makes me cringe. I can definitely see the charm in living in such a place though, a place that is built on such simple values, and the same simple values are shared by everyone because of the common cause, one that they all live for.

But it depends on those common values,
I’ll always remember the day that I arrived there, everyone seemed to be living in fear, they seemed sad, intimidated, even the Guardians. 

During my time there though I actually witnessed a closeness and bond. Take the morning I spent with Helen for i
nstance, the women at the lake seemed happy as they washed dishes in the sunshine with their friends. Just in that one morning I developed a bond with Keagan’s Mom. Such a loving and compassionate lady. I hope I grow up to be like her.

In all of the places
I have lived before in my life until now it always felt like I was surrounded by ambition, selfishness, people looking out for number one and these things only brought unhappiness, crime and hopelessness to the world. One thing that I will never understand is why everyone is selfish nowadays. Even families fight with the ones they are supposed to love the most, leaving many broken homes and relatives who simply don’t talk to each other because of a single disagreement. Just look at my Mom and I, if she is my Mom that is.

Maybe that’s because things are easier in modern society. Only a couple of generations ago your number one goal in life was a simple one, to provide food and safety for your family, families were much larger then too which meant that people had to work together to accomplish their goal.

Take Indian tribes for example, they always lived in large groups and every person from child to chief had their role to play. Much like at Haven.

Keagan, clearing his throat, brings me back from my
contemplations. “Trish? Have you been listening to a single word I have been saying to you?”

“Errrrrrmmm…..Nope, sorry I was lost in my thoughts for a second
there. What were you guys talking about?” Keagan sighs, and with a scowl on his face, he repeats what he has just said to the others.

“We are about five minutes
away; everyone has to be careful from now on. Stay alert. When we see someone please be careful about what they share okay? We cannot trust
anyone
here completely.”  

“What’s our story then?” I ask

“They are going to know that you and Kia are Creators. But do not mention, under any circumstances the Collectors specific interest in you, Trish. It’s just going to raise too many questions.” Keagan replies.

“That should be easy,
let’s get there. I’m tired and could kill for something to drink. How about it?” I can see Kia giving me a thankful look and Keagan, glancing her way, seemingly understanding my urgency.