This time the clock read 2:08 am and she knew she wouldn’t be falling back asleep anytime soon. Sharply awake, she slowly slid the quilt off her slender legs and cautiously placed her feet on the frigid hardwood floor. The humid July night gave her the hankering for a glass of cold water. The one beside her clock had grown warm over the hours of her slumber. She raised herself from the mattress, cautious not to hit her head on the canopy. Her hip-length brown hair brushed against her thigh as she ducked underneath the lavender fabric. As she crept down the creaking hallway she sneaked a peek inside her little brother's room.

“Grey?” She whispered towards his empty bed.

She walked further down the hall to her mother’s room where she cracked the door open to see if he had moved into her bed.

“Monkey?”

Her mother’s foot shifted and she hurriedly closed the door with an un-audible click. As she reached the living room she began to worry.

“Greyson? Are you in here?” She spoke softly.

Only silence responded.

Panicking, she sped towards the front door to look out the small, curtained window. The door skimmed her face as she whipped it open.

“Greyson!” She screamed from their porch.

The world went silent. She heard birds yelling back in the distance and a rustle in their shrubs.

“Goldie!”

She heard him distantly crying for help beyond the woods.

She bolted.

The wind couldn’t even touch her.

Too fast for any obstacle.

She found herself amongst the trees spying on a small stone hut with black beyond the windows.

“Goldie!”

His voice was closer now, within the hut. She closed her eyes, all she could hear was the beating of her own heart. The door’s lock clicked open and the door floated ajar enough for her to see her brother; tied to a chair.

“Greyson. Look at the door” She said, barely audible as the words floated off her tongue. “I’m behind the tree closest to the hut, stay calm.”

“Goldie?” She heard him say, clearly confused.

She could feel the blood slowly moving towards the edge of her nose. Sharp, cold air filled her lungs as she closed her eyes once again. This time the only thing on her mind was seeing the inside of that hut.

The windows cracked and shards of glass flew toward her.

This time she moved.