The Remedy Files: Illusion Read Online Free PDF Page B

through the Clinic door.
    “Shhhh…” I look around quickly as though I am covering a big secret even though the waiting room is empty and Doctor Bordine is nowhere to be seen. I wink at her. “Maybe I was.”
    “Evangeline!” Jacqueline waits for me to come around the corner to the front desk and then grabs my hands, turning my body to completely face her. “Tell me details!”
    I laugh, pulling my hands from her and turning my attention back to the appointment books that were open on the desk. Jacqueline is always interested in the details of other people’s lives. She has a constant battle with the questions we are never supposed to ask but does a great job of holding them in. Because of her rebellious curiosity that is a smaller scale replica of my own, we became friends at a very early age and have always remained close through each Level.
    When I had first met Gavin, I ran back to the community, joining my Level classmates in the Home cafeteria. Once I found Jacqueline, I pulled her to the back of the room away from earshot of all the others. In hushed whispers I told her about the strange boy I met that lives in the woods.
    Jacqueline, who has always been esteemed as one of the smartest students in each Level of school, had put her tiny 6-year old hands on her hips and said, “People don’t live in the woods. They would be dead. We can’t see dead people.” Even at such a young age, her confidence in the world and her beliefs were so strong that it even made me doubt whether or not I had indeed met a boy that lived in the woods.
    I had returned to the same spot the next day to meet Gavin once again to prove to myself that it was real. I quickly learned from that situation to not share my secret with anyone else so I never brought up Gavin to Jacqueline again. But I did continue to see Gavin day after day.
    When we were 9 years old, she took notice that I was disappearing more often. Jacqueline never forgets details so in reference to three years earlier when I told her about the “boy who lives in the woods”, she started saying I was visiting my “imaginary friend”. It became a regular joke between us, but I could always tell she wondered about the truth. There were days when I learned something so amazing from Gavin that I wanted to rush back to Impetus to share it with Jacqueline. Unfortunately Gavin made me promise to never share the details of our visits with anyone else.
    “They wouldn’t understand, Evie. You would be putting yourself and me at risk.” Gavin would always say.
    “But, Gavin, if they knew what you’ve told me…”
    Gavin’s eyes would narrow in on me, his tone firm and rasp, “They aren’t meant to know. End of discussion.”
    I had a lot of secrets over the years because of Gavin, causing me to constantly refrain from sharing anything with Jacqueline. It was the worst part of my friendship with him.
    “Did you get today’s shipment in?” I flip the pages of the appointment book until I reach today’s date. I’ve become quite good at changing the subject.
    Jacqueline sighs, loudly throwing herself on the chair next to me and leans back into the table. She stares at me until I turn to face her. Her thin bottom lip is jutting out in a forced pout.
    Ignoring her look, I follow-up with, “Did you do inventory and check the cube levels?”
    Realizing that I am not going to expand on my whereabouts, Jacqueline sighs again louder for her typical exaggerated dramatic flair, spins once around in the chair, and leaps up. “No, miss Evangeline. I’ll go do that right now.” She slowly walks backwards down the hallway to the office in the back, keeping her eyes on me and the pout on her face evident. As she disappears in the room, she pops her head out one more time, sticks her tongue out at me, and slams the door.
    The door that had been closed to the right of it immediately swings open. Doctor Bordine walks out with one hand behind his back and his other scratching his