Chasing Imagination

Amy

I sprinted on, blind and disoriented, crashing into the walls and stumbling over every crack in the pavement. I no longer cared about being quiet. The shouts from behind were growing louder, and I heard sharp bangs and clashes growing closer, their explosions deafening.

‘Stop!’ I heard a male voice yell. I didn’t dare pause long enough to even comprehend what he was saying. My lungs burned and my legs ached and there were stitches in my chest. My heart couldn’t hammer any faster and I couldn’t seem to get enough breath into my body. It wouldn’t be long before my waning energy just ran out and I collapsed. Then, I was at the mercy of the police.

The walls lit up suddenly as quickly dashing glows from behind fell on them; torches being switched on by police officers. No sooner did I feel the warm spotlights hit my back, highlighting every blonde streak in my hair. If they for some reason had any doubts about whom or what was down here, they now knew for sure. It felt as if the yellow lights were burning into my back every time they rested on me. The light was flickering and moving about rapidly, the men unable to keep their aims still as they sprinted, adding to even more confusion and insanity. The world was a hurricane of light and darkness, the torches like flashing strobe lights designed to make the whole of reality feel distant and surreal.

I staggered on, one arm dragging along the rough brick wall so that I didn’t run face-first into it, knowing that the distance between me and the police was being closed all too fast. I skidded round a corner, nearly sliding over in my haste, and out onto a road I did not recognise. I didn’t care; I just proceeded to run in the first direction my feet took me.

I had completely forgotten about the gun I was carrying until I tripped over a crack in the concrete and it flew out of my pocket, clattering to the ground in the road not so far away. Instantly, memories of being given it crashed through my mind—memories that included Casper—and I dived forward, practically landing on my stomach at the side of the road as I scrabbled clumsily and desperately to retrieve it. Behind, I could see the walls that led into the mouth of the alleyway glowing faintly, increasing in brightness as the men drew closer to the end, growing nearer to me with every passing second.

The street was so dark that I could barely find the gun—I fumbled around, my hands shaking with fear, which didn’t help with my grip, knowing that it would be mere moments until the men found me. I could hear their shouts now...a moment of desperation later and I could hear their pounding footsteps, drumming in time with my heartbeat.

I felt something brush the side of my hand. My heart leapt and my furious fumbling intensified to the limit as I grabbed the gun, almost dropping it because of my violently trembling hands but catching it at the last moment. I staggered, blind in the chaos, with hair falling across my face and obscuring my vision further, towards the side of the pavement where I pressed myself into the shadows of a tall building.

They were coming. My heart was pounding. My chest ached so much that, even now I wasn’t running anymore, I still could barely breathe.

I held the gun out ready. It was only a stun gun. How much harm could it do?

The answer was that I didn’t know. If it hit someone in, say, the head, how much damage would it do? Could I fire it knowing that there was always a chance I would permanently damage something inside them?

And then I remembered: they might have Casper.

This was for the person I loved.

(The person I loved?)

The first man skidded round the corner, almost slipping as I did.

It was now or never.

‘I love you, Casper.’

I fired.

Once was not enough. I pulled the trigger time after time; letting the electricity free over and over again, hearing each one explode through the still night as it was released.

It was about the fifth one I fired that hit the first policeman, but no sooner was he down that another two came charging round the corner. How many were there?

And moreover, what had I just done?

I had just shot a man. It was impermanent, yes—well, hopefully—but he was screaming and in serious agony.

And yet, I did it again.

And again.

And again.

The two men finally collapsed to the ground, one possibly unconscious, but the first was just beginning to try and struggle to his feet. I was about to fire my gun again at the first one and make him unconscious like one of the others—the third was still crying out from a well-aimed chest shot, writhing around on the ground—but the way he looked up at me, almost pleading, made my hands tremble so unexpectedly that the gun fell from my grasp once again. The sound as it hit the pavement cracked through the night that suddenly seemed so quiet and almost serene.

‘Amy Harper?’ he asked, cocking his head to the side as he began to get to his feet. Scared once again, though I didn't know whether it was fear at him or at myself, I bent down. I never removed my eyes from his face, reaching for the gun, patting around on the ground near me until I felt it, picking it up and standing back to my full height.

This was just a policeman. He was not a Shadow Police member; not a member of the Marauders; not a secret, underground fighter; not even part of the Imagination Regulation Branch of the police force (those who were had a special badge which I had learnt to distinguish easily).

Maybe if he was any of those, I wouldn’t have been so merciful, but he wasn’t. It was just like a doctor who worked in an Institution for Dreamers and had to inject them repeatedly. They weren’t being cruel; they were just doing their job. If they didn’t, then they would end up on the receiving ends of those syringes; not the giving end. Joining the Marauders or the Shadow Police or even the IR was optional; being a police officer often wasn’t.

And then it was the way he said my name. How did he even know who I was?

I think that perhaps I knew the answer. I just didn’t want to.

‘Amy,’ he repeated. ‘Come with me.

‘Hell no!’ I cried, recoiling sharply, which caused me to stumble in my fear and confusion.

‘Amy, we’ve been looking for you for weeks now,’ he continued. Behind him, the policeman who hadn’t ended up unconscious was slowly and laboriously getting to his feet. This was it. This was all that I didn’t want to hear.

‘Your parents reported you missing weeks ago,’ he continued. ‘We’ve been out searching; we’ve asked for witnesses and even put in a murder or kidnap investigation. You have to come with me. You have nothing to fear.’

Of course I had something to fear. Even if, up until tonight, they’d been clueless about me joining the Dreamers, the fact that I had, number one; been with Casper, number two; run away from them, and number three; shot them now proved that I was now very much the enemy.

But he mentioned my parents. My parents; who I hadn’t seen for weeks. My parents; who I’d never even said goodbye to.

‘What do you want with me?’ I whispered, feeling my voice beginning to shake.

‘You went missing, Amy,’ he said. ‘We need to take you back to the police station, inform your parents, and hear everything you have to say about the situation. Were you kidnapped, Amy? Did you run away? Are you hurt?’

‘No...yes,’ I mumbled, confused. What did I say? What did I do? Did I just shoot him again and run away? Or did I hear him out. If I went with him, I would see my parents again.

‘Come on, Amy,’ he said, gently goading, as though I was a pet dog that he was trying to tempt with treats.

‘Casper,’ I mumbled.

‘Sorry?’ He sounded official.

‘What have you done with Casper?’ I asked, weak, yet demanding. ‘Where is he?’

‘Who?’

Did I have to spell it out for him? ‘The black-haired boy wearing a black hoodie that you chased down the alleyway!’ I snapped. ‘What have you done with him?’

The other policeman that had stood up was coming forward, staggering ever so slightly. Even the third, still lying on the ground, seemed to be stirring.

The two conscious men glanced at each other.

‘Come with us,’ said the main one that had been speaking the whole time. ‘If you come back to the station, you’ll be reunited with Casper.’

It was like a rock had just fallen through my stomach. So they did have him, then.