Cryptic Authenticity

Guns and Wands

Eva

I walk down the street after a successful shopping trip feeling quite satisfied with getting everything that I wanted at the mall in about an hour.
A new pair of shorts, three Star Wars themed T-shirts, a couple of books that have been on my reading list for a while now and the most important of them all- the camera pen. It's rather ridiculous that I want a spying gadget like this, but it is about time I got it. For the past three weeks, someone has been stealing the money I keep on my study table. My little brother Zac has a reputation of troubling me and managing to get away, so this time I want to catch him red-handed.

I search for the pen in the shopping bags and find it after about a minute of shuffling. I take it out of its plastic case and decide to test it as I walk home, which now is barely five minutes away. I find the switch and turn it on and casually begin recording the street ahead. "And there's my favourite coffee shop, it's called Aster- best coffee in all of UK according to me," I say into the pen.

As I near the shop I see a guy yelling at a girl in a bright yellow dress. "How could you do this to me?" He screams at the top of his voice. People notice the brawl and begin gathering to witness the show.

"We broke up a month ago Derrick! You have got to let it go, why do you want to create a scene? I'm done. I'm over you. I've moved on, you should too." The girl says with a rather stern tone as though explaining an angry five-year-old who isn't allowed to eat any more candy.

"YOU. ARE. MINE." Derrick screams even louder.

The size of the crowd is ever increasing. I feel someone try to push past me to get a better view.

"Let it go." The girl replies in the tone that says I give up and turns around to leave. That's when she hears everyone scream and gasp and turns around to see Derrick pointing a gun towards her head.

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" She says in utter shock. I spot a police officer quietly making his way through the crowd that is at Derrick's back gesturing us to be quiet and not draw any attention. The girl notices this and begins beating around the bush to buy time.

This is when I realise that I am still recording. I make sure the pen is positioned in a way that it records Derrick clearly. I feel someone shove me in the back once again but decide it is best not to retaliate.

The officer has almost reached the front of the crowd but he will have to move quickly because Derrick is losing his patience and is about to shoot. The officer has finally made his way through the crowd and points his taser towards him. A flash of red light hits him and he falls to the ground. He does not squirm like people do when they are tased. Weird. Red light. Weirder. It's like in the Harry Potter series, as though someone has stupefied him.

I want to slap myself for thinking about Harry Potter in this situation. I see the officer examine his taser in confusion for a second and then rush towards Derrick. Red light. What if he was stupefied? Idiotic nerdy thoughts. I feel someone push past me and in about a second I'm swallowed by the crowd.

Curiosity. A blessing and a curse take control over me. What if he was stunned by a wizard? Maybe he was? But it's just an imaginary world, isn't it? What if the aurors arrive and alter everyone's memory about this incident? I'm just over thinking. What if I'm not? I need time and a clear mind, I have the incident recorded. I can go home and re-watch it. But if it is all true the aurors will be here in no time. I have to get out. There's an alley next to Aster, I can get out through there.

I casually back out through the crowd and discreetly rush towards the alley. The amount of crowd helps me go unnoticed. Once I'm in the alley I make a run for home which is only two blocks away. The shopping bags become a hindrance as I run. I turn the pen off and dump in it one of the bags. I run and run without stopping.

I can now see my house. The door is slightly open. I burst into the house and run to my bedroom, lock the door and the windows and sit on my bed panting heavily. I have gone mad. I scamper through the bags and get the pen out, fetch my laptop from the table and connect the pen to it. I quickly find the video and skip through the part where he gets tased. Red light. He got hit by a red light. I was right. Something is off.

I pull out my phone from my jeans pocket and dial El's number. She picks it up after two rings and says, "Thou have foundeth no other being to trouble it seems"

"You suck at Shakespearean, come over. Stat. It's necessary."

"Okay."

I hang up before she can say anything else. Elizabeth and I have been friends from the time we were born since she lives one block away and our mothers have been friends at work. We have codes for various situations. Stat means my life doesn't hang on it but it is highly important. Vatican cameos (inspired by Sherlock) means my life hangs on it- luckily we haven't ever used that one.

Two minutes later she's knocking at my door asking me to open up. I do so and find her panting. "So are you just gonna stare and my beautiful face or tell me what's up?"

I gesture her to sit on the bed as I narrate the entire tale. " I can be wrong about the whole deal though. " I say and then proceed to show her the video on my laptop.

"Oh. My. God." She says while staring at the screen with her jaw dropped. "This is so weird Eva! The whole lives we have been obsessing over a world that we did not think existed but it does!" She continues.

"I don't know El. I mean don't get your hopes too high. Maybe we are over analysing the situation. What other proof do we have besides the red light thing?" I say still confused.

"I did not just run my ass off for an 'over analysing'. Look carefully smarty pants. The light did not come from the taser. It came from behind the officer."

"Behind him?"

"Yes. Look." She says zooming into the footage.

That's when I see it. Even though the video is l blur the light came from behind the officer. From something that looks like a wand? Because of the zooming, the footage is too blurry so it's hard to say. "Yes, but we still need some solid proof. This incident must be all over the news by now. If it is true, the aurors might have altered it in everyone's memory. They might have even altered the CCTV footage. We'll know what's what then." I say.

We both rush out of the room and down the stairs at the same time hence creating a ruckus. "What is up with the two of you? Barging in and out? It's Sunday, can't I have some bloody peace for once?" I hear mom shout from the kitchen.

El and I apologise and make our way to the living room. I get the remote but can't turn on the tv because my hands are shaking too much.

"Give it here shaky." Says El as she snatches the remote. She turns on the tv and quickly finds the news channel. As expected the incident is all over the place. A handsome reporter is almost done explaining the incident. Once he finishes the CCTV footage begins playing. The camera must be somewhere above my head so I'm not visible. Good. That means no one will be coming after me to erase my memory. I managed to get away unnoticed. I can now hear my heartbeat. El has her complete attention to the tv. Then it comes. A blue flash. A blue flash. From the taser. In this footage, the officer doesn't examine his taser in confusion. Derrick squirms as he hits the ground. I cannot believe this. I turn to face El and her expressions mirror mine.

"Eva, this can mean one of two things. Either we have gone mad or the wizarding world is real." She says as she squeezes my right hand.

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Cover made by VeraWinters282013
She has some fantastic stuff on her page, you should check it out.

I'll be posting the second chapter soon. Hope you guys enjoyed this one :)