Dispersal
The camera stopped filming, and, with a sweep of her hand, Mara dismissed the illusion, and the depiction of her political opponent dispersed into a cloud of vapor. The scene she had constructed was exactly that of a clip from a news conference that the opposition had aired that morning.
Of course, Mara’s version had a few slight changes that would paint the opposition in a negative light. Make him stutter here, make him get the numbers wrong there, have him mispronounce the name of an esteemed foreign dignitary- every one of these small changes made her opposition look that much worse. Hopefully, when the video was disseminated across the internet, it would help Mara create the image that her opponent was a flailing incompetent man, the obviously incorrect choice for Magistrate.
Mara smiled and let out a breath. She patted Jeremy, the figure who had been hunched behind the camera, on the back. Then Mara went over to the window and drew the curtains, letting in the light. She unlocked the door.
“How was it?” Mara asked while poking her head out of her apartment, scanning the hall for anyone that may have seen.
“Looks good!” said Jeremy in the too-chipper tone that he always used.
For a response, Mara merely nodded. The campaign had been going well, aided by Mara’s certain advantages. Not many people could form swirling vapor into a near-perfect illusion. As far as Mara knew, she was the only one. Of course, this talent was best if no one else knew of it. And so Mara, as well as Jeremy, her assistant, were the only ones privy to the knowledge of magic.
That night, Mara and Jeremy were in their office, looking at how much traction their video got. The results were highly disappointing. It had gotten less than one-sixth the views than any of their other pieces had. Mara went to check how the opposition’s video had done, only the be slammed face-first with a series of headlines commenting on the assassination of three politicians that had been in the running.
In the early morning, before dawn, there was a debate between some of the major candidates from the three major political parties. It appeared that almost as soon as they were out of sight and out of earshot, the killer had attacked the candidates. For in the halls was a horrific scene. Lamps and tables were smashed, a chandelier had dropped from the ceiling, and a cracked flashlight lay discarded on the floor. And the bodies…
Mara turned her head away and gripped the table, nails digging into the wood. There had been another highly publicized assassination just two weeks prior. That even had been bad enough. This new assassination was worrisome indeed. Mara looked to Jeremy and saw that he recognized the implications as well. At this rate, there were fewer and fewer high-profile candidates left. There was every chance that when the killer next stuck, it would be her who was dealt the blow.
Jeremy had volunteered as bait to protect Mara. They both worried that the assassin might strike at Mara next. To keep her safe Jeremy asked to be wrapped in an Illusion of Mara, while Mara was cloaked, almost invisible upon the couch. Mara suspected, or rather, worried that she might be the next one attacked. There was no basis for this claim, only a feeling.
This feeling was confirmed not three hours after they had turned out the lights. At first, Mara had been disbelieving as she saw the figure enter, not through the doorway, but through the window. It glided along towards the bed where ‘Mara’ slept. All the while the figure didn’t make a sound. Then, it bared gleaming fangs, which looked almost akin to needles. It bent down, ready to drink.
Jeremy burst from the bed, leaping up with a violent force. He slammed the creature square in the chest. Although, it had little impact. And, immediately, the creature counter-attacked. One of its hands shot out and grabbed at Jeremy. It squeezed Jeremy’s arm and brought him closer. Flecks of blood dotted the area where the monster grasped his arm.
Panicking, Mara dismissed the illusion around Jeremy, hoping to at least confuse or startle the aggressive creature. So, in a soft puff of light and vapor, Jeremy’s form morphed from that of Mara to reveal, once again, his face. The creature was indeed startled, as its grip went temporarily slack, and it stumbled backward a step and blinked its red eyes. Then came a horrifying, piercing cry that ripped through the room and the monster rushed back towards Jeremy.
Jeremy, afraid, skittered back a few steps, hoping to be out of reach of the monster. Blood dripped from his arm, and there was a flash of terror on his face. But he needn’t have worried. The illusion around Mara had faded as well, and she was now exposed. The monster turned towards its now exposed prey, its fangs bared.
Mara froze for just a second. Soon, however, she shook herself from fear’s grasp. Mara reached for a steak knife and held it in trembling fingers. The creature came closer, and Mara made stabbing motions with the knife. Her efforts were for naught.
But, despite the unearthly sounds coming from the creature before her, Mara thought that she could hear faint footsteps from outside her room. They were growing louder. Mara could see that the noise wasn’t coming from Jeremy, who lay slumped against the back wall. And soon, the person reached the room, likely summoned by the shrieks and commotion that had occurred seconds prior.
Whoever had come, most likely another resident of the apartment, instinctively flicked on the light switch as soon as they entered. Lightbulbs flickered on and burst with light. Surprised and blinded, the creature let out another piercing howl and clutched at its face. This time, its shriek was much more painful, as if it was in agony. Quaking, shivering, the creature fled out the window from which it came.
Once Mara had recovered from the shock, she profusely thanked the resident that had arrived and turned on the lights, likely saving her life. Whatever monster had visited her apartment that night had been terrible indeed. Jeremy had not been bitten- Mara shivered at the thought of what those wicked gleaming fangs could have done, the monster’s claws had pierced his skin and broken his arm.
Jeremy said that he would still be able to help her out the next day.
There was a flashlight in her pocket as Mara went about that day. She didn’t know how useful it would be, but it added an extra layer of security that she was glad to have. Every now and again she would pat her pocket just to make sure that it was still there. Although, her fear from the previous night wasn’t enough to deter her from going out and interacting with the public the next day. Her political career was too important for her, she had already given up so much.
So, she went to a rally and used her gift to artificially inflate the number of people there, making it appear that there were 2 dozen more people than there were. It had been difficult, designing and organize everything so that such a feat could be done without detection. Jeremy had worked miracles.
Jeremy, in her words, had been a trooper. His arm had been bandaged and he had been up and ready that day. Mara was thinking about giving him a day off when she heard a slight sizzle coming from a nearby circuit box. It then danced with sparks. Mara stood, horrified, as the lights in the apartment flickered off. A few people screamed, but Mara was filled with a far more real terror.
Immediately, she grabbed the flashlight out of her pocket and flicked it on. Jeremy did the same. The only things caught in the beams were the worried and confused faces of the two dozen people that had been in the foyer of the apartment with her. Mara saw a shadow move. She flicked her flashlight up and just barely nicked the side of the creature. There was no scream, at least, not from the creature. From the crowd erupted several shrieks as they stirred into a panic. In the commotion, Mara lost track of the creature. Each sweep of her beam left her with nothing.
“Mara, do you think you could start a little light show, illuminate that monster.” Jeremy’s voice came out grimly.
In response, Mara only shook her head, unwilling to reveal herself, to ruin her political advantage.
Then, everyone screamed, and Mara could feel someone tackle her. She twisted and saw that Jeremy had been to tackle her and right behind them was the creature. Mara patters her pocket, and there was a sickening lurch in her stomach when she pulled out the crushed remains of the flashlight. And the creature was advancing.
Mara felt overwhelming shock and horror at that moment. And she did the only thing that she could think to do at the moment. She hid. With her hand on Jeremy’s back, she conjured up an illusion that encircled him, once again changing her appearance into that of hers. The monster tore its way towards them, fangs gleaming white. Jeremy screamed. Mara screamed.
Jeremy was shocked as the creature’s arms found not Mara, but him. He had been shielding her when he was grabbed, assuming that she would be the one it was after. Belatedly, he realized that he was the one who was captured. He twisted around to look at Mara.
“Mara, please.” His voice came out like a croak. “You can blind it. That’s the way to kill it right. Please, Mara.”There was wild desperation in his eyes. His composed, genial disposition was breaking under the stress. Jeremy looked weak, frail. And there wasn’t anything that she could do to help. If she used her illusions, if the people knew, her political career would be over, which she could not abide.
“I’m sorry, Jeremy, there isn’t anything I can do.”
She turned away as claws raked over Jeremy. Tears began to fall.
It seemed that someone in the building had the good sense to call 911 as soon as the apartment complex was crawling with police officers. Eventually, they managed to capture and contain the beast, but they did not manage to save Jeremy
A week from that day, right after the election, Mara went to Jeremy’s funeral to remember his sacrifice.
