Imaginary - Book 2 - Chapter 27 - Relaxation (Patreon)

“So, I’ve got to ask, what made you suggest we come to town today?” Kyle asked as he bounced down the sidewalk backward, like an excited puppy. “I mean, I love coming here, but over the last few months I got the impression that you had absolutely no interest in coming down here.”

“Well, that’s because I didn’t really. I didn’t really look at it that closely when my mother and I first passed through, and since the BEI field office was located there, I figured it was full of offices and essential services,” I replied. “However, yesterday Mac and my mother told me there were a ton of social and entertainment venues in town, and I should invite you all to check them out.”

“There are! There are fast food places, arcades…” Kyle replied absent-mindedly as he turned to look into the front window of the nearest store.

“A dance club, roller rink, bowling alley,” Amelia continued, picking up from where Kyle trailed off.

“There are even a couple coffee houses, a board game cafe and library,” Kira said.

“I think what our friends are trying to say is, there’s something for everyone,” Olivia laughed. “I came in a couple weeks ago to pick up some new art supplies, but didn’t explore much, so we can discover everything together!”

“Sounds good,” I chuckled. 

When I asked everyone if anyone wanted to go into town, I hadn’t expected the idea to be so popular, or for everyone to be so enthusiastic. Kira immediately suggested that we meet at the edge of town, and walk in. I didn’t understand why, but since everyone else seemed to think it was a good idea, I went along with it.

It turned out that everyone was so enthusiastic because the town was, at least in part, designed with students in mind. At the end of the main path that led from the academy to the town was a large set of bike racks, similar to the ones found outside every school building. In addition to that, the path led directly into a narrow pedestrian street that seemed to cater to students.

I wasn’t that interested in the myriad coffee and fast-food places lining the road, but I appreciated that whoever was in charge of town planning had made the effort. 

Since we weren’t particularly hungry, I let the others drag me towards the main road so they could show me their favourite places.

“Now, where should we go first?” Amelia asked.

“I don’t know… I usually stick to the east side of town. There’s a row of cozy stores that I like to go between,” Kira said.

“And most of the more sporty activities are located on a side road a couple of blocks down,” Amelia admitted.

“How about we just browse then?” Olivia suggested. “Tamera and I haven’t been here before; it might be fun just to stroll down the main road to see what there is. We can always make our way towards the roller rink, or gaming club; we just won’t rush there.”

“Hey! What about my favourite places? Why don’t we head towards one of them?” Kyle asked.

“Because half of them are fast food joints, and none of us are hungry,” Kira replied. “We have to come back this way to get back to the bikes; we can stop at one on the way back. Fair?”

Kyle stepped back and raised a hand to his chin, like he was thinking. “Fair,” he declared after a couple of seconds. 

“So what is on Main Street anyway?” I asked. “It seems like everything you guys like is off the beaten path.”

“Bad things! You shouldn’t be here!” Crackle declared, making me jump.“We should go home now!”

The rest of the sparks flittered about nervously, and frost even grabbed the back of the hoodie I was wearing and tried to pull me away from the street.

“Tamera, you okay?” Amelia asked, shaking me by the shoulder lightly. “You kind of zoned out there for a moment.”

“I’m fine, but the sparks are…” I said, unsure on how to politely describe their behaviour.

“They’re freaking out,” Olivia declared. “They don’t want Tammy anywhere near Main Street.”

“Why? Kyle and I come here all the time, and we’ve never had a problem,” Kira asked. 

“I’ll ask,” I said, turning to the tiny form floating in front of me. “What’s going on? Why are you all worked up?”

“There are bad things coming,” Crackle declared. “It’ll be here soon!”

I raised an eyebrow, then turned towards Olivia. “Do you feel anything?”

“No, but Doctor Micheals has me on a new medication, so if there’s a Rupture forming the effect might be muted,” Olivia said.

“Even if the effect was muted, I’m confident you’d be able to sense a Rupture forming,” I told her. “You used to be in agony every time a Rupture formed.”

“I might still be… it’s not like we’ve encountered a Rupture since the attack. You have no idea if the meds are doing anything,”I said.

“That’s true,” Olivia replied quietly.

“What is it that you have problems with?” I asked Cackle. “Do you smell something foul again?” 

The sprite shook their head. “No, it’s just… bad vibes.”

“Bad vibes?” I repeated.

“Really?” Olivia asked. “What’s that mean?”

“I don’t know, but we shouldn’t be here,” the fairy declared. 

The pulling on the back of my hoodie stopped, and Frost crawled up on my shoulder. “Cackle… it’s behind us.”

“What’s behind us?” I asked exasperated. 

“We don’t know. Something bad! Go forward!” Sprout exclaimed. 

Olivia and I exchanged a look. “What is it?” Kira asked quietly. 

“Now they claim something is behind us,” I explained quietly. “Although they have no clue what ‘it’ is.”

“Do you trust them?” Kyle asked.

“They’ve never led me astray before,” I replied. “I may not understand their methods, or what they’re talking about, but they always seem to be working to my benefit. I’d say we trust them.”

“If that’s the case, what do we do?” Amelia asked. “If we head back we risk running into… whatever is back there, but if we move forward and whatever’s behind us is dangerous, we could be putting people in danger.”

“We cross the road, and move towards one of the less populated sections of town,” Kyle said.

“We get on a side road and head west,” I declared. “The BEI office is on the main road near the edge of town. They even have a response team stationed there. If anyone can help us, it would be them.”

“I never thought I’d see the day where I was looking forward to seeing the BEI,” Olivia muttered. 

“Let’s hold off on thanking them until we figure out what’s actually going on,” Kira whispered. “Although I’m not sure we’re actually in danger, we should probably get moving, just in case.”

I nodded, then looked over at the Sparks. “If that… thing gets closer to us, warn me, okay?” 

“Absolutely,” Crackle declared.

“Right away,” Frost declared.

“Good,” I said, before turning back to my friends. “They’ll warn us before something happens, but like Kira said, we should get moving.”

Amelia nodded and stepped out in front of everyone, immediately breaking out into a brisk walk. “Everyone follow me,” she declared. “Stick close together and don’t get separated.” 

Olivia locked arms with me, and the two of us started following, Kira and Kyle just a step behind.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, I couldn’t help but sigh. “Today was supposed to be my chance to relax. So much for that,”