So by now, I'd imagine you have questions. Maybe they'll be answered here.
The whole appointment consisted of questions about Emma, and my dreams. She'd been gone nearly a year now. Nobody had found her, she disappeared so suddenly. Nobody had seen her since then. No tips came in, there was confusion. But someone had to know where my older sister was.
"Do these dreams show faces?"
I snapped back into reality again. "No. Just Emma," I muttered.
I didn't pay much attention to the rest.
The whole ride home was silent. I ran through memories of Emma. I was so jealous of her. I hated her. But I missed her, at the same time. My jealousy overrode my longing to see her face, her gorgeous face.
Our parents cut my brother, Vincent, and I out of the will. Emma was so beautiful, nobody bothered to glance twice at Vincent and I. I thought Vince and I were cute. We had the same lips and smile. But Emma was the one who never had a single issue. Emma didn't have ADHD like I did, or dyslexia like Vince. She had long, pale blond hair. She had deep blue eyes, a nice shade of cerulean. Vince and I had light brown hair and dark brown eyes. But we looked alike, just like Emma, minus the hair and eyes. Maybe the fact that Vince and I were twins, and Emma was the baby, had something to do with it.
Or maybe, Vince and I just weren't good enough to be loved, too.
I dozed off, and for once, I didn't dream at all. There were no nightmares. There wasn't anything. It was peaceful.
Emma's voice woke me. "Sarah! Sarah, please! Help me! Sarah!" I screamed again, but this time, Vince was shaking me. "Sarah! Wake up! Stop!" he hissed. I stopped, and I stared at him. "You're not the only one with the dreams, Sarah. Please, help me," he cried out. Tears streamed down his cheeks. "All I see is Emma. She screams, Sarah. She stands in the street, she calls me, she bleeds, she cries. Sarah, I don't know what to do!" he cried out. I stared at my older brother. The first thing I could do was hug him. I cried, too. "How long have you been dreaming?" I asked softly. "Six months," he said under his breath. "I've been having them for three . . . Why haven't you screamed?" I inquired. "A voice tells me that if I scream, I'll die . . . This started happening in the fourth or fifth month." His tears flowed again.
Emma stood behind him suddenly. She sobbed. "Help me!" she shrieked. Vince stood up, staring at her. "Emma, what happened?" he screamed. She screamed again, fear in her eyes, as she stared at us. She was soaked and bleeding still, sobbing now. She turned and she ran, dashing into the woods behind our home. "Vince, follow her!" I called out. I threw my heels, chasing after Vince, who had taken off after her.
The thorns tore at my shins as I ran. I fell, but Vince darted after her still. Relentlessly. I cried out as my head hit the ground. "Vince!" I screamed. He was gone. "Vince!" I shrieked, louder. I closed my eyes, and Emma screamed again. I opened my eyes, and crawled toward the sound. Thorns stabbed into me in various places, but I went.
The pain became excruciating. I breathed in heavy pants, unable to breathe. Rain poured over me, and I cried out. "Vincent! Come back! Please!"
"Sarah, please, don't leave me!" he shouted. I opened my eyes, looking for him, but seeing nothing. "Where are you? Say something!" he hissed. I opened my mouth to speak, but my voice was lost somewhere inside of me. I couldn't move. The hands . . . The hands! "Vince!" I shrieked, finding my voice. The water poured over my face. "Sarah, breathe!" he shrieked at me. I couldn't . . . It felt like there was water in my lungs. It held me down, kept me pinned to the ground while I drowned.
I wished I'd never chased after Emma.
Vince's hands grabbed my face. "Breathe, Sarah!" he screamed again. I wanted to scream that I couldn't, that I was drowning inside of myself.
If I was as dead as I felt, I'd be turning blue under the pale complexion I'd acquired. Vincent's voice faded away, though he pleaded with me to breathe. Emma's voice echoed in my ears.
"Sarah, isn't this nice?" she cooed softly. "We're together again. After so long, we're together." I stared blankly at her face. She was beautiful, dry, and clean. She looked the same way she looked before she vanished. "Forever is a promise. Forever is my promise," she said in a voice as quiet as a breath. Vince's voice was so dim behind me, but she cringed away from the sound slightly. She held a silver blade in her hand. It was stained amber . . . Dried blood.
Her fingers tightened around the blade. She raised it and stared at me, her eyes changing from the beautiful blue to a dark black. "I'll never break a promise," she said, smiling. This was the smile that a murderous model would wear as she watched the judges perish. She looked beautifully frightening. And I knew I was losing myself.
Vincent
Sarah was the only person who understood me and didn't think I was crazy. She was lying in my arms, heart barely beating. My mentor dashed out of the woods, staring about. She was just beautiful in every way, and as old as the universe. I had no idea what she was, but she was the only woman I'd found it in myself to love as any more than family or as a friend.
"You love this girl. She is your sister?" Adonia said softly. "Yes," I breathed. "She is all I have." She blinked twice, thinking. The activity in her brain registered with me as thinking of a solution. "Your late sister. The blue eyed one. She's been tainted by death. She called you and your twin apart, and she's about to claim your sister for her own. Do you love her enough to die for her?" Adonia breathed softly. "I owe her my life. Yes," I said. My voice cracked. She held a silver dagger in her hand, the same dagger she'd held so many years, and I offered my throat. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and then I saw Sarah and Emma.
Sarah screamed, and then I realized only I could save her.
Too late.
