Chasing Imagination

Amy

We left Nightshade’s office in single file, and I was positive that I was even more confused than I was when I went in. First of all, half the things they’d talked about I’d only known half of the story—if I’d even known that. And then there was the bit towards the end, when Nightshade began talking about war, and that was when I really got...not confused as such. Perhaps uncertain was a better word.

Did she really believe we were all going to get caught up in a war—and so soon too, by the sounds of it? I couldn’t be in a war; I knew I couldn’t. I was twenty year old Amy Harper from Kingston, and I was nowhere near ready for anything as great and terrible as a war.

‘Are we staying around for a bit?’ Casper asked, glancing round at the rest of us once we got away from the office and into the main area. There was a large, hall-like room, with ceilings twice as high as the base in Kingston, and the room was about four times bigger than our main meeting place. People stood around talking, and Felix immediately spotted someone he knew.

‘Dave!’ he called out to a passing man who looked to be in his thirties. He was dressed mostly in black, with long hair hanging unflatteringly around his face. Contrary to his appearance however, he glanced up and smiled enthusiastically at Felix as he walked over.

Imogen and Matt glanced at Casper. They didn’t seem to be taking much notice of me.

‘Looks like we’re staying then,’ Imogen muttered. She walked off and Matt began to follow, but Casper stayed where he was.

‘Are you alright?’ he asked, once the other two had gone.

‘Yeah,’ I said, forcing a smile.

‘You’re not...confused or anything?’ he prompted. There was no point in putting on a brave face—if I needed to find something out, now was as good a time as any.

‘What did she mean about the war?’ I asked, allowing my fear to show through. ‘Is she really saying there’s going to be a war?’

Casper laughed lightly; that same way he always did, as though he was sharing a mildly amusing private joke with himself.

‘Nightshade likes to say these sorts of things; they’re not always true,’ he explained. ‘She’s a great woman, but I’m not the only one who thinks she’s gone off the rails a bit.’

‘You think she’s mad?’ I asked, rather shocked at what he was saying.

‘Not mad; that’s too harsh,’ he said. ‘But just a little...shall we say eccentric?’

I laughed quietly. ‘Eccentric’ was probably being nice, but I liked Nightshade, so I wasn’t about to be too harsh on her.

I narrowed my eyes though, another thought occurring to me. ‘When you say the things she says are ‘not always true,’ what do you mean?’ I asked.

Casper looked a little uncomfortable, as though he’d rather steer clear of that topic of conversation.

He pulled a face, realising there was no point in keeping things from me.

‘I was hoping you wouldn’t mention that,’ he muttered.

‘Go on,’ I prompted.

‘Nightshade likes to think of herself as a bit of a psychic.’

‘What’s a psychic?’ I interrupted.

Casper looked angry, but not at me. ‘Wow,’ he said sarcastically, ‘they really don’t teach you anything imaginative in schools nowadays. I’d forgotten. Anyway, a psychic is someone who can predict the future. Nightshade thinks she’s one of them, even though there’s no proof that they exist. She’s often wrong about things, but sometimes she just gets these...these feelings—you can’t really explain them. She’ll just be busy talking or doing something, and an idea will suddenly come into her mind. And eerily often, those feelings come true.’

I shuddered. What was he saying?

‘You mean, you think what she said might actually happen?’ This was worse than I had imagined. When she’d first said it, I’d at least assumed that it was just a random hunch, but now that there might actually be some truth in the idea, it became so much more serious.

‘It by no means always works,’ he said quickly. ‘She’s often mistaken. But just sometimes, she’ll say something—like that, unprecedented, out of the blue, and it will happen.’

‘Oh my God,’ I whispered. ‘Then, shouldn’t we be preparing for war?’

Casper just laughed, but not unkindly. ‘Amy, war is a pretty big thing.’ He sounded irritatingly patronising. ‘It doesn’t just happen overnight. If we begin to see signs, then we’ll act, but until then—‘

‘What, signs like all those invasions across Europe that Nightshade was talking about?’ I challenged, my voice rising in fear. I didn’t even know what I was talking about—I knew nothing about the invasions in Bilbao and Rome and wherever else she’d mentioned—I couldn’t even remember that, but I knew that they meant that something might be up, and I wasn’t going to be happy until I knew for sure.

‘Please, Amy,’ Casper said gently. ‘Don’t worry about it. Being a Dreamer isn’t easy; you don’t have to make it any harder for yourself by worrying about all these things too.’

I sighed. I knew he was talking sense. If there was going to be a war, someone other than me would have picked it up by now. And yet, fear makes us blind, so I couldn’t see past those great war-like obstacles standing in our way; so obvious, yet seemingly concealed from everyone else.

I don’t know,’ I whispered. ‘You say we’d see signs; I say there are signs. I was just too blind to notice them until Nightshade mentioned all these invasions and all these disasters.‘

Casper looked regretful, as though he wished he’d never even started the conversation about Nightshade and her supposed abilities. In a way, I wished he hadn’t mentioned it either, but would I rather be afraid or ignorant? It wasn’t an easy decision.

Well, I hadn’t been given the decision anyway, so I had no choice now but to be afraid.

Casper moved a little closer and I glanced up to him. He placed one hand on my shoulder.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said. ‘If there is a war, I promise I will keep you safe.’

I smiled slightly, relieved by both what he said and little more than the mere touch of his soft skin on my shoulder. I knew I was a coward, and I was going to have to toughen up if I was ever going to survive down here, but that time would come. Until then, cowardice was not bad. It would keep me alive for now, and when the time came to be brave, I just had to hope I could do it.