Dreams

When I opened my eyes, desolation lay before me. The ashes of those two footballers lay by the door and the remains of Tarrison by the large chair. The real Angel was slumped in the corner of the room, dead. Quest was a quivering wreck, but he was alive.

Zandra was still covering her eyes, shaking. Out of the 15 people on the room, we were the only ones left. The bell rang and Mrs Snow entered the form room and subsequently fainted. Members of the rebels were in the classroom within minutes, I knew all of them by name, but I couldn’t give away my Dad or the Cleansers would kill him.

The Cleaners were among us, and I knew it for sure. Who could I trust? I don’t know why I knew to stab ‘Angel’, guess it was my fathers influence. Anything suspicious is regarded as a threat.

“Was that a Cleanser?” Quest stammered, hardly able to speak. I nodded gravely, and his head was in his hands. “That wasn’t a terrorist, that was something else. You know, alien.”

I didn’t know what to say. “That’s impossible.” I finally said. “Aliens don’t exist.”

“How do you know?” he questioned, looking more frightened than curious.

“I don’t ok!” I shouted. “I just don’t want it to be real.”

While Quest developed his alien conspiracy theories, I grabbed one of the phones from a rebel. All the lines were secure, so I could talk to Dad.

“Hello,” I said eagerly, awaiting his response.

“Who is this?” Dad replied. I had forgotten that these phones don’t have caller id.

“Sorry, it’s Cole,” I hurried; I didn’t want anyone to catch me.

“Why didn’t you say so in the first place? What’s wrong? You sound worried.” Dad could always tell what I was feeling; it was like a special gift.

I decided to come right out with it: “A Cleanser took over Angel, it was trying to find me, it was trying to find you. The rebels are here now sorting it out, but I thought you would want to know, it might be important.”

A long silence followed. “Dad, are you still there?” I asked.

“Yes, I was just trying to take it in,” he replied. Now I could tell that he was worried. “This means that everyone could be a Cleanser. Go home now, don’t leave, and tell your mother what happened. Bring anyone that survived the encounter with you, and his or her families. The Cleansers will no doubt go after them. They don’t leave traces. Hide everyone in the underground bunker. I love you your mother and your sister so much, make sure they know that. Goodbye.” And the line disconnected. Seconds later, all the rebels received a message through their earpiece and left without a word.

I was confused. It all seemed so final, but he was coming back in a few weeks. I grabbed Quest by the arm, dragging him to his feet.

“You need to help Zandra, we need to get everyone to my house.” I insisted. Quest looked so weak he could hardly support his own weight, but he trudged over to Zandra, peeled her hands from her eyes and helped her walk.

Once we reached my house, I left Quest and Zandra and I ran to find the families. Angel’s family was closest, so I went there first. I felt an obligation to save them, after what I had done to Angel. I rung the doorbell, but there was no answer. So I banged on the door, and it opened. Not because someone opened it from the inside, but because the door was hanging for dear life on smashed hinges. Someone had broken in.

I stepped over the threshold and a shiver ran down my spine. Something bad had happened here.

“Hello, is anyone here?” I shouted, running from room to room.
I came to the living room last. Two piles of ashes were in the centre of the room. Angel was an only child and her parents were dead. I ran to her bedroom and grabbed some of her things, shoving them in one of her bags. Then I ran. I ran to Quest’s house and banged on the front door.

“Hello Cole,” Mrs Byrd said sweetly. “Shouldn’t you be at school? If you’re looking for Quest, he’s not here, he promised me he wouldn’t skip school again.”

“I’m not looking for Quest, Mrs Byrd. I’m actually looking for you, Mr Byrd and Perla, you need to get your things right away.”

Mrs Byrd laughed. “Cole, pranks don’t work on me. I live with Quest, I have become immune.”

“This isn’t a prank Mrs Byrd.” She looked worried; I wasn’t usually a serious person. However, since being attacked by a Cleanser and abandoned by my Dad, the only person who could help me, I had to do something. “Quest was in an incident involving the Cleansers and it’s not safe for you to stay here anymore. The longer I stand here explaining myself the more likely it is that they will be able to find you.”

Mrs Byrd wasn’t laughing anymore; her face turned an ashen white. She ran into the house, screaming for Perla and Mr Byrd as she went. They were packed and at the front door in ten minutes. They made their way to my house while I went in search of Zandra’s.