“How about after school?” Bev read my mind. I was so
excited that I could do back flips.
“Okay.” My voice had so much excitement that it scared me. I
raced up to my room, not caring about breakfast. I wore my
favorite shirt today with my favorite jeans. A white and blue,
striped, low-cut blouse. Dark blue South Pole jeans. I straightened
my hair until it was an inch longer. I cleaned my converse, and put
eyeliner on.

Grabbed my stuff and flew down the stairs.
“Emma I know you’re excited and all, but you need to eat something.” Ben was so paranoid about my health. So I grabbed a banana and ran out the door. I was so happy that I totally forgot what time it was. I took my phone out and saw that I had 30 minutes until the bus would come. So I started to text my friends the good news.
“Oh my god. I may not move! And I have a long lost brother! Can you believe it Annabelle! Because I surly can’t.” I was so hyper that I couldn’t punch the letters in. It took me 5 minutes to type the message I looked at the house across from the bus stop and it was vibrating. I then realized that I was shaking, pretty hard too. My phone went off after I stopped shaking.
“WHAT! Are you serious? You have a brother? What’s his name? How old? Is he cute? Is he single? Where does he live? Who does he live with? Details!” I thought that it was kind of weird that Annabelle would be that desperate. She didn’t even know him.
“His name is Ian. He is 13, sorry Annabelle. He lives here, with a guy named Kyle. And he’s almost my age. One year older. I saw them in a dream. They are so cute. Especially Kyle (back off I saw him first.)”
“He’s 13? WOW. Don’t tell anyone that I asked if he was single.” I couldn’t help but laugh at Annabelle.
“Don’t worry I won’t. Although I did get a laugh out of it.”
“Ha ha. Very funny. But if you like Kyle, then he must be cute. What does he look like? (And Ian).”
“Ian has kind of long caramel brown hair, with big blue eyes. Kyle is muscular. He had dark brown hair, and brown eyes to match. His teeth white, his smile so beautiful.”
“He sounds cute, Ian too. How tall are they?”
"I don’t know. Kyle is probably 6’2”. Ian 5’8” that’s my best guess.”
“Wow, Kyle is tall.”
“Yup.” I was so into my conversation that I didn’t realize that James was next to me. I didn’t even realize that it was cloudy today. I put my jacket on. 5 minutes later the bus came.
“Amy I have big news!” So I told her what happened, in full detail. While I was talking to her, she was texting everyone, my exact words.
“A brother? Wow, and you said that you saw them in a dream?”
“Twice.”
“W-O-W. I want a long lost brother.” She had her pouting face on. I giggled.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing” The day went buy in a blur. I don’t even know if I talked today. But I didn’t care. I was going to see my brother.
“Mom when can I go?”
“In an hour.” An hour? 1 hour of complete boredness. I might as well do homework. I dragged my feet as I walked. Once I pulled my things out of my bag, I went to Algebra 2. Nothing. Chemistry. Nothing. History. Nothing. English. Nothing. This had to be a first since I had no homework. Now what was I going to do. I grabbed a pencil and pad and started to doodle. I haven’t doodled in a long time. I forgot that I could draw. I started to draw a very detailed arctic wolf.
“Emma it’s time to go.” I was half was through with the first wolf when Bev came in.
“You haven’t drawn in years. You were so good. Do you want to finish before you go?”
“No.” The words came out really fast.
I jumped into Bev’s car and waited for her. She took forever to get in.
“Where do they live?”
“Down at the beach.”
“Would I have to change schools?”
“No, they live on the edge of the boarder for schools. You’re in luck.”
“Ok.”
“Are you nervous?”
“A little.” I told the truth when I got nervous.
“Me too.”
“Why?” Why would she be nervous?
“Even though I’ve talked to them, I haven’t seen them in a long time.”
“Would it be awkward for you?”
“Yes.”
“Does Ian hate you?”
“I don’t know. I never got to know him.”
“Did you tell them that I was coming, and might live with them?” This made me nervous.
“Yes. Ian was happy. Kyle…”
“Kyle was… What?”
“I don’t know.” That was bad, very bad. What if they don’t like me? What if I didn’t like them? No. I could never hate my brother. But Kyle…
“Here we are.” I froze.
“C’mon Emma it’ll be fine.” I wasn’t convinced. But I dragged myself out of the car. When I looked at the house I was speechless. It was so, big! It was a 2-story house, painted tan, white shingles and door. There was a blue Mustang in the driveway.
“Wow.” Wow didn’t even begin to cover it. It was like I was in a fairy tale. Bev put her arm around me and squeezed me. She didn’t talk.
“Have you been here before?” Has she been here before?
“Yes. Many times.”
“But I thought you said that you haven’t seen them in a long time?”
“I haven’t, but I would come out here and just stare at the house. wishing I had the gusts to walk in.”
“Oh.” Ding Dong. Old time doorbell, weird.
I held my breath. I heard a gasp behind the door. Ian opened the door.
“Hi mom, hi Emma” Ian was cute in person. His caramel hair shined in the somewhat sun. I could swim in his blue eyes. I was about right with his height.
“Hi Ian. How are you?” Bev was the first to speak. I was so nervous.
“Hi.” I finally said. Ian stared at me with wide eyes.
“Ian, bring them in.” Kyle wasn’t in view, but he sounded close. Ian held the door open and waited for us to go. Bev pushed me in. I walked into the hallway. It was light blue, a soft color. There were pictures hanging on the walls. Mostly of Ian and Kyle together and separate. But one picture caught my eye. It was me from last year.
“You look prettier in person.” I jumped. I didn’t even notice that Ian came to stand next to me.
“Um. Thanks. This picture was from last year.”
“Oh. I wouldn’t have guessed.” Ian smiled at me. I couldn’t help but to smile back.
“You’re not to bad your self.” Commenting Ian felt weird.
“Thanks.”
“Are you 2 going to keep talking or are you going to come into the living room so we can all talk?” Kyle was waiting, impatiently.
“Yea Kyle just chill.” I stared at Ian with wide eyes. He took my hand and guided me. His skin was soft and warm, I felt home.



I walked into a big room with sofas and chairs. The room was a green. The couch and love seat was a softer green. The recliner was light leather. It looked real. The living room had a jungle them. There were pictures of tigers, monkeys, and wildlife. There were a few plants growing in here too. There was a fake vine bordering the room. It was darker than the room color. On the Southern wall was a flat screen. There are 2 windows, one that was facing the front yard and one on the side of the house.



Kyle was sitting on the couch. Ian sat next to Bev on the love seat. He didn’t look like he hated her. I just stood.
“Emma take a seat.” Ian was so sweet. I was about to sit in the recliner when I saw something near it. It was a glass tank. It had a snake in it. That frightened me. I could feel my eyes turning deep sea blue. I looked at Ian’s face for an answer. I saw his eyes change to green. That surprised me a little, but at least I knew he was my brother from that. I saw he jerked his head toward Kyle. There was enough room for the both of us, so I walked over and sat next to Kyle. I could feel heat rolling off his body. His heart was thumping loudly. It sounded like music to me.




The room was quiet. I could here a clock ticking in the next room. I was staring at the snake. Kyle followed my gaze.
“I see you have seen our snake.” He knew what I was looking at.
“Yea. What type of snake is it?”
“Cobra.”
“What’s its name?”
“His name is viper.” Kyle chuckled at his pun. I thought it was funny too.
“Why do you call him Viper?”
“Because he’s fast, and it reminded me of the car viper and the snake viper at the same time.”
“Oh. That makes sense.”
“Is he going to bother you?”
“No.” I didn’t know if that was a lie or not. I didn’t want them to move their pet because of me.
“Is Viper harmless?”
“Very. He doesn’t even eat meat.”
“What does he eat then?”
“We feed him lettuce.”
“Like a bunny.” I mumbled to myself.
“Yea I guess so.”
“Can… I hold Viper?” The question scared me more than it scared Kyle.
“Um, sure.” Kyle got up and walked over to Viper. He took him out and the snake was twisting himself around Kyle. That scared me a lot.
“Um… Never mind. Sorry.” Kyle stared at me like he didn’t mind at all. He seemed scared for almost letting me hold Viper.
“It’s no big deal. Everyone gets the same reaction.”
“Oh. Ok.” Before Kyle put Viper back, he began to stroke it. Once he put Viper back he turned to face me.
“Do you want to feed him?”
“Sure.” Sure? What was I thinking, that I wanted Kyle to like me? Kyle walked out of the room and came back with a head of lettuce.
“All you do is grab a leaf and put it into your palm, then stick your hand near his face.” I was shaking so Kyle took my hand into his.
“Here let me help you.” He grabbed a piece of lettuce and stuck our hands into the tank near Viper. I was so scared. Viper came up to my hand and started to lick the lettuce. Then my hand, it tickled. I started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Kyle’s voice sounded worried.
“It tickles.”
“Oh, yea it does. It’s like feeding a horse.”
“I’ve never fed a horse before. Or even ridden one.” Kyle’s eyes went wide.
“Well then I guess I’ll have to take you sometime. If you would like that is.”
“Ok, sure. Sounds like fun.” I was really starting to like Kyle.
“So do you want a tour of the house?”
“Sure.”
“Um, I’ll do it Kyle.” I forgot that Bev and Ian were still here. I jumped at the sound of Ian’s voice.
“Oh, yea you go head Ian.”
“Thanks.” I walked toward Ian and he took my hand and pulled me out of the living room. I walked into the kitchen. It was tortilla shell colored, with a small glass table with 4 chairs. The counters were marbled; there was a silver refrigerator. I didn’t see a door that led to the pantry.
“So this is the kitchen.”
“Um, where’s the pantry at?” I felt stupid to ask.
“Oh, it’s… right here.” Ian opened 2 cupboard doors that were attached together. I would have never guessed that.
“Oh, that’s cool.” Ian pulled me into the dining room. It was the same color as the hallway. It had white chairs that surrounded an oval mahogany table. He was moving quickly. He pulled me up the stairs, into another hallway. This hallway was cinnamon red; it reminded me of the Christmas cinnamon. That was my favorite sent. Ian took me to the left first. There were 3 rooms; Ian took me to the one to the left.
“This is my room.” His room was nice it was clean. There were so many sport trophies. Posters of famous sport stars on the walls, sport ball’s pillows on his bed, and there was a soccer ball in the corner.
“You like sports.”
“Yea I’ve done everything.”
“Wow. Isn’t there one sport that you haven’t done?”
“Yea, lacrosse. I think it’s too dangerous. And water sports. I can’t do those until I get older.”
“Wow that’s a lot.”
“Yea. I’m hoping to get a scholarship for collage for sports.”
“You’re getting prepared for collage already?” I wasn’t even ready.
“Yea.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know yet.” We walked out of his room and into the one in the middle.
“This is the office.” There wasn’t much in it. It was a pearl white; there was a computer, a desk with paper all over it, and a small couch. The next room looked like it would have been a spare but it was empty. There was wood flooring in it. There were tarps over the floor.
“Why is this room empty?”
“Oh, it’s for you. That is if you want to live with us.” My eyes were becoming clouded from ears. I pulled Ian into a tight hug.
“Does… that… me a… yes?” He asked with little air. I released him and stared into to his green eyes that are golden brown now.
“Yes, I would like that.” This time Ian pulled me into an airtight hug.


Finally we went to the other side of the hallway. There were 2 doors. One I expected to be a bathroom and the other the master bedroom. The bathroom had a kind of an underwater theme. There were fishes on the shower curtain. The bathroom was a darker blue that the downstairs hallway.
Next was the master bedroom. The room had a beach theme to it. A white king-size, canopy bed, the curtains were white as well. There were shells on the dressers, pictures of sunsets, and picture of the waves rolling over the sand.
“Wow, it’s so pretty.”
“Thank you. I designed it myself” I turned around to see Kyle leaning in the doorway, Bev was trying to peer around him.
“You design rooms?”
“Yea. It’s sort of a hobby of mine. I designed Ian’s room too.”
“Well I guess that will come in hand when I need someone to design my new room down the hall.” I said all of that with a huge smile on my face.
“You’re going to stay with us?” Ian sounded so happy that it looked like tears of joy would roll down his face.
“If that’s ok with mom and Kyle of course.”
“It’s ok with me.” Kyle down, Parents left.
“Well, as long as it makes you happy, then sure why not.” Ian pulled me into a tighter hug than last time. I was glad when Kyle pulled him off of me. I felt the color coming back to my face.
“Emma it maybe ok with me but you’re going to have to consult with your father though.” My smile faded quickly, I knew that he would never go with this. I was his little girl. I took my cell phone out and began to dial his number.
“Who are you calling?” As if Bev didn’t know.
“My dad.” I walked out of the room, down the stair, out of the house and stopped in the driveway.
“Hello?” Yes he answered.
“Hey dad it’s me Emma.”
“Hi Emma how is everything over there?”
“Good, um. I’ve decided that I want to live with them.”
“We should talk about this at home.”
“I agree, but Ian and Kyle have to come and be apart of the decision.”
“Alright. Let’s talk now, at home.” I snapped my phone shut and walked in side the house, for what might be the last time. I walked into the living room full of worried expressions.
“Well?” Kyle was the first to talk.
“We are going to talk about it.”
“Ok, we’ll wait here.”
“No I mean WE are ALL going to talk about it.”
“You mean that Ian and I are going too?”
“Yes, your part of the decision.”
“Let’s go then.” We walked out of the house, as I got between the 2 cars I stopped.
“Um can I ride with Kyle? It’s always been my dream to ride in a mustang.”
“Sure I don’t mind as long as Kyle doesn’t.”
“Nope it’s good with me.” A new smile flashed across my face. I jumped into the passenger side and waited for Kyle. He got in and pulled out of the driveway waiting for Bev to lead the way. I guess Ian was riding with her because he wasn’t in the mustang.
“2007?”
“What?”
“The mustang, is it a 2007?”
“No it’s a 2008.”
“Oh.”
“You were close.”
“Yup, but not exactly. So what do you think you would be able to design my room as?” This question caught him off guard. His face went deep into thought.
“What makes you think you will be able to stay with us?”
“I don’t know, I have a good feeling that I will.”
“Hm. What are you into?”
“Sports, some cars, music, art definitely.” I was going down a list. Music was my life, but sports were fun. But art was a passion.
“Sports?” He asked like I couldn’t play anything.
“Yea I play sports. What, did you think that I don’t play sports?”
“No, I just would have never guessed.”
“Oh.” That’s still the same thing.
“What kind of sports do you like to do?”
“Um, flag football, basketball, volleyball, and softball.”
“Flag football? Really?”
“Yea, me and my dad we watch football all the time.”
“Favorite team?”
“Collage or professional?”
“Both.”
“Collage is Gators and Crimson tide, professional has to be, don’t laugh but the jaguars and saints.”
“The Jags? Really?”
“Yea, I’m sticking to my city. I was born and raised here and I don’t want to move.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Yea well we just met so there are a lot of things that you don’t know about me. But what about you, what’s your team?”
“Gators and Steelers.”
“This should be interesting then, 2 different teams. What about Ian?”
“He goes for who ever he feels like it. Or what I say he goes for whoever is winning.”
“Um, what grade are you in.” His face became unreadable, so expressionless.
“I’m home schooling myself online. I’m the manager for Home Depot. I built the house that we live in.”
“Wow that’s..., you accomplished a lot. But what grade are you in?”
“I’m ahead of my age. I’m a freshman in collage but I’m 17.”
“Wow, now you have accomplished a lot. More than me, which is a lot.” The car became silent for the first time. I didn’t want to interrupt it but I had so many questions and I just wanted to talk to him.
“I also draw; I guess I’m an artist.”
“What have you drawn?”
“Before I came here I started to draw a wolf. I was half way done. I guess it looked good. I’ve painted a mural of a sunset in Hawaii. It looked better than the real thing, or so I’ve been told.”
“When I’m at your house you’re going to have to show me that one. I think it would look good in my room over my bed.”
“Speaking of bedroom’s, what are we going to do with it?”
“I already have something in mind. It will be a surprise, while I’m doing it you’ll have to stay in my room. I know you don’t want to be near Viper.”
“Have you ever thought about having little ones? Kyle took his eyes off the road and stared at me like I was stupid.
“I meant little Vipers. Sorry for the confusion.”
“Oh I thought you meant something else.”
“Yea sorry about that.” We didn’t talk for the rest of the way there; I guess I just made things awkward. I was so hoping that Ben would let me stay here. I already felt like family here, like I belong forever.



I haven’t felt my eyes change all day. I looked in the mirror and found that my eyes were normal blue green. That is so strange; my eyes have never done that before. We pulled into my driveway. I stepped out feeling cold. I looked at the shiny blue mustang that I may never see again. I heaved a giant sigh and walked to my house. Ian found me and we walked in together after Bev, Kyle came behind us. I embraced myself for Ben's explosion.


We walked into the living room and sat down. Ian, Kyle, and I on one couch; Ben and Bev on the other across from us. No one spoke for a whole 10 minutes, the slowest 10 minutes of my life.
“Let’s get this over with.” I said as I folded my arms cross my chest and settled in for a long evening.
“Emma why do you want to live with them?” Ben said ‘them’ like they were big spiders that I needed protection of.
“Because after spending most of the day with them, I feel like I belong and because I’m not moving away.”
“But you don’t know them.”
“I would have if you had told me I had a brother!” Ben was lighting my cannon that was aiming at him, waiting to go off.

“Now you know that we thought that that was for your own good.” Ben’s face was turning blue. I had him right where I wanted him.
“Well you were wrong!”
“What did you want us to do?”
“Tell me that I have a brother!” we were both yelling at each other.
“What do you want me to do?” he stood up this time. I stood up and walked up to his face. I wasn’t his eye level so I stood one my toes.
“Let me decide for myself.” I spat the words right into his face not caring.
“Your only 16.”
“So, I’m about to turn 17 anyways. I thought that you wanted me to grow up. Well I am and you just won’t admit that I’m right!” I walked away from his and went up stairs to pack.
“Where do you think your going?” Ben was following me.
“To pack.”
“Well I’m glad that you see it my way.”
“I’m not going with you and mom I’m going to live with Kyle and my brother!” When I picked up a box full of my things, he grabbed it and through it against the wall.
“No your not!”
“Watch me.” I walked passed him and he grabbed my wrist. I tried to break from but he spun me around to face him. I kicked his leg, he let go of me and I ran down stairs.
“Let’s go.” I walked out the door and stood by the mustang waiting. I heard the door close.
“You’re not leaving.” It was Ben. His whole face turned red. My eyes felt hot again with anger. They turned red
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want to lose you to your brother.”
“Well I don’t want to leave and I feel save with them. Like I did with you.” I used pass tense because I didn’t feel safe with my parents any more. They were going to take me away from my friends, my school, my now brother, and my life. I spoke again before he did.
“You and mom were talking about it last night. I thought it was a good idea; you didn’t seem to mind then. Why do you mind now?” Tears filled my eyes.
“You know that I’m only protecting you because I love you, right.”
“If you truly loved me you would let me decide for myself. I’m not 9 anymore. Dad, Kyle skipped 2 grades because he was too smart for his actual grade; Ian already has collage planned out. Kyle is the manager of a major business place. I love to paint and draw and I’m really good at it. I could have a career as an artist.” I finally got him to see my point of things. I got to see his; I always got to see his.
“I trust you Emma, I just don’t trust them.”
“Part of trusting me IS trusting them dad. Just let them prove that to you.”
“How will they do that?”
“How ever you want them to. We have until Friday.”
“Ok, let’s go talk to them about this again. And don’t walk away with out deciding please.” He knew me so well; I smiled at that thought. We walked into the house with his arm around me smiling. The atmosphere changed drastically since I was in here 10 minutes ago. I could taste the anger from Ian. Worriness from Kyle and Bev. Nervous from me, and scared from Ben. I sat down between Ian and Kyle; Ben sat with Bev once again.
“Ok I’ll make you a deal, if Kyle could earn my trust you could live with them.”
“How would I get you to trust me sir?” Kyle was probably trying to suck up. I prayed that that would help.
“Well you could tell me how you skipped 2 grades and how you became manager and how you raised Ian.”
“Why don’t we go into another room and discus this?” Why did Kyle want to go into another room?
“Sure.” Will had a look on his face like he read his mind. Could he read his mind?


Ian leaned into my arm; so I wrapped it around him.
“It’s going to be ok.” I was soothing Ian when I think I was trying to soothe myself. It has been an hour and they were still talking. Bev was pacing; she was wearing a line into the carpet from where she walked. Ian was sleeping on the couch it was 11pm. Something hard came down onto the kitchen table; it made me jump.
“Mom, what do you think they are talking about?” I was getting so nervous.
“Probably what Kyle has accomplished.”
“Well that will take awhile. Kyle has accomplished a lot.”
“How do you know?”
“I was talking to him about what he has done, in the car on the way here.”
“So you already basically ‘interviewed’ him?”
“Yes that is how I made my decision. He’s nice, sweet and he could help me with collage preparation. Ian is prepared for collage because Kyle made him go for his dreams. Imagine what I could accomplish with my dreams that would be a lot.”
“You would be a great, successful artist.”
“What dad is doing isn’t necessary.”
“I know but he’s just over protected.”
“I’m almost an adult; he needs to learn to trust me.”
“I do trust you Emma.” Ben was listening to our conversation and cut into it. He was leaning in the doorway. The posture reminded me of how Kyle leans just like that.
“So I’ve decided that you could stay here if you wish.” A smile flashed across his face; it touched his eye. I felt like I wore a bigger smile. I jumped up and hugged him real tight.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Tears filled my eyes. I found out what my true eye color means, happiness.
“Now if you are planning to move in with them, you need to pack.”
“Will do dad, right away.” I started to walk away when he caught my wrist. Or so I thought it was him.
“Need some help?” It was Kyle with Ian behind him.
“Sure, follow me.” We walked up stairs.
“Ok I’ll do my cloths and you (Ian) can get my school stuff, Kyle, you can get my paintings and sport stuff.” I gave them both 3 boxes to start out with. I already got my closet done so I went to my dresser.
“Wow you’re a really good painter.” I turned to see Ian and Kyle looking at one of my paintings.
“Which one is it?”
“The one with the boats and the dock.”
“Oh, that one I did 3 years ago. My most resent is the wolf I was telling you about. It should be on my bed I think.” I heard gasps behind me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong, you’re just extremely good.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“Knock knock.” Ben came in.
“Oh hey dad what’s up?”
“It’s awful late Emma.”
“Oh we should get home. Sorry about that sir.” Ian and Kyle stood up at the same time and started to walk toward the door.
“Um, it’s a little too late for you to be driving Kyle. Why don’t you stay here for the night.”
“Thank you but we have to get home. It’s a school night and Ian isn’t suppose to be up this late.”
“Neither should you Emma.” Ben didn’t sound like he cared how late I stayed up tonight.
“Thank you for the offer though.” We all left my room and walked down the stairs and outside. Kyle shook my dad’s hand, then mine. I felt something that was in his hand that was now in mine. I hugged Ian, and then Ian hugged Ben and Bev. We waved good-bye and watched the mustang drive out of site. Once we were in side, I went to my room to get ready for bed. I looked at the note from Kyle.
“I know you would want to keep in touch so here is my cell phone number (759-8292). I bet you still have a few questions you would like to ask me. I know I do.” That was nice of Kyle, I copied his number into my phone and texted him.
“Hey it’s Emma. I will talk to you tomorrow. It’s to late for me to talk.”
“Ok tomorrow then.”


This has to be the weirdest dream I have ever had. I was at a funeral; Ian was next to me. But where was Kyle. I looked around trying to find Kyle in the crying crowd. My eyes stopped on the coffin. I looked at Ian; he looked back. I stared deep into his green eyes and saw the answer. I unwrapped myself from him and walked toward the open coffin. My heart was racing because I already knew the answer but I didn’t want to believe it. I peered into the open coffin and was horrified. Kyle was in there white, cold, and dead. But how did he die?



I started to cry, a deep cry. Ian came over to me and hugged me. I hugged him back and we were crying in harmony.
“How?” I barley got the word out of my mouth before another set of tears filled my eyes.
“He died saving you. Remember?” What? That’s terrible. Why would Kyle try and save me? Save me from what? Was I going to die?
“Why did he save me?”
“Because he…” Someone at my door disturbed my nightmare. I woke up finding that I was actually crying in my sleep.
“Emma may I come in?” It was Bev. I wiped my eyes and the dry spots where the tears had already dried.
“Sure mom, come in.” My voice was a little hoarse.
“Emma, school is canceled today.”
“Why?”
“There was a shoot out on campus this morning.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Yea, but on the bright side Ian and Kyle came over to help finish us pack. There right down stairs in the living room watching the news.”
“What? Why did they come so early?”
“The sooner the better I guess. Plus we are behind the packing.”
“Ok I’ll be down there soon.” Bev left and I jumped out of my bed; took a shower and through some cloths that I didn’t pack yet. Brushed my hair and put make-up on. This all took 10 minutes. I ran down the stair skipping 4 at a time. I took a sharp left and saw Kyle and Ian. I ran to Kyle and gave him a hug. Kyle was warm and soft. He smelled of the ocean. Did he surf? I didn’t see a surfing board when I was in his room.


I looked up at Kyle’s face and he was expressionless. To me I felt like he was reborn. I knew that my dream would come true and I had to tell him some how. But he might think that I was delusional. I didn’t want that.
“Happy to see me Emma?”
“You have no idea.” I felt like I was going to cry again. But I held it back, not really winning.
“Hey Emma thanks for my hug too.” Ian was jealous because Kyle got a hug before he did. I let Kyle go, but Kyle didn’t let me go.
“Um Kyle can I go give Ian a hug?” I felt silly asking him that.
“Yea in other words Kyle, ‘let me go so I can give some love to my long lost, dearest brother.’ ” I couldn’t help but laugh at Ian’s quoting of my words.
“Wait your turn Ian.” What was with Kyle today? He wasn’t acting like himself today.
“Kyle… can’t… breathe.” I gasped the words out.
“Oh sorry.” He smiled and released me. Ian walked over and gave me another airtight hug, so I gave him one back.
“Ok Ian you can let me go now.” Ian was hugging me for 20 minutes straight.
“I’m not going anywhere Ian. Seriously let me go.” My side was going numb again. I looked at Kyle for some help.
“Ok Ian let go of Emma or else.”
“What are you going to do? Kiss her to death and squish me? Yea right as if.” I looked at Kyle for someway to explain what Ian had said.
“Ok Ian you asked for it.” Kyle came over to us and began to tickle Ian. He fell to the floor laughing.
“Thanks.” I could finally breathe right again. Ian’s face was pure red and he was still laughing. I grabbed Kyle’s hand and pulled him toward the kitchen.
“Now what was that about?”
“What was what about?”
“What Ian said about kissing me?” As if he didn’t know that.
“Oh that. Ian had a dream where we got together. I know completely weird and gross right?” No not right.
“Yea what was he thinking?” By this point we were just inches away from each other’s noses.
“I told you so Kyle.” Ian was watching us. That bugged me.
“Ian can’t we have at least 10 minutes alone?” I hoped that he would take my request seriously.
“5 take it or leave it.” He didn’t play fair I ought to give him that.
“Fine.” That was good enough though. Ian left with a strange look on his face. I looked up at Kyle and stared daydreaming. I have never daydreamed before; it felt funny. I was dreaming that my parents would walk in on us kissing. That got my attention to come back to the present.
“Emma is everything alright? You had this weird look on your face.” Just then Ian walked in once again.
“It’s been 6 minutes and your parent’s are coming in a few seconds.” I backed away from Kyle and sat down at the table. Just as I did so my parents walked in just as Ian said they would. How did he know that? Was he just like me? My phone started to vibrate. I had a message it was Annabelle.
“Hey Emma I haven’t seen or talked to you in like 2 days. Is everything alright?”
“Yea everything is great. I’m staying here!”
“Yes! So you’re going to stay with your brother and Kyle?”
“Yup. They are awesome.”
“Cool. So if you’re not busy, do you want to go to the movies and then the mall?”
“Who’s all going?”
“Everyone, me, Bianca, Amy, Persia, Lexi, Jared, Jake, Eric, and Sean.”
“Um at what time?”
“12ish.”
“Yea that would be great. I need to finish packing and that won’t take long. See you soon.” I snapped my phone up and found everyone staring at me.
“What?” I asked them concerned.
“Who was that?” Of course Ben would ask.
“Annabelle. She wants me to go to the movies and then the mall. Can I?”
“Have you finished packing?”
“I’m almost done. I just have to finish packing my cloths.”
“Ok. But what about Kyle and Ian?”
“Oh I need to get some work done and get Ian to school since his school didn’t get canceled today.” Kyle looked at Ian with a grin on his face.
“Actually it was canceled today.” Ian looked back at Kyle with the same grin but with smug.
“Ok then you can help me.” Kyle’s grin went even bigger. I couldn’t help but laugh. They looked at me.
“Sorry I remembered something funny.”

I walked up to my room and found that everything was packed.
“Well I guess I need to find my paintings then.” I went back down stairs and walked up to Bev.
“Hey mom where are all of my paintings and drawings?”
“I have them. They’re in my closet.”
“Ok.” I went back up stairs and took a left to my parent’s room. There room reminded me of Kyle’s living room just without Viper. Their bed was green; there was a stuffed tiger that looked so real. The tiger always creped me out when I was little. The eyes would seem like they followed me. I looked away and hurried to the closet. There were 2. Which one had my paintings?

Bev said that they were in HER closet. I looked into the one on the right. It had Will’s cloths in it so I went to the left one. I saw a huge box immediately. I peered into it and found my paintings. I dug through it and I didn’t see any of my drawings. I looked around and saw a big stack papers. I took them off the top shelf and looked through them; my drawings. They were all here. I took the box and the papers and went to my room.


The first one I pulled out was a painting that had a bald eagle that was sitting in a branch off a cliff. 2 humming birds near flowers was the next one. The next 4 were sunsets. One of them was at the beach, the next was from a window, the next was one with mountains in it, and the last one was in the rainforest. It had a parrot and a snake; this one would be good for the living room. The next few were sports. There was one with all the sports equipment. One with the jag paw prints that let to a jaguar. And the last one was a football field over look.


I went through my drawings. They were mainly animals. There was a lynx, husky, bear, parrot, tiger, and a mountain lion. The drawings reminded me that I still needed to finish my arctic wolf. The front was done I just needed to finish the back. I was so into my drawing that I forgot what time it was. I looked at my clock and saw that it was 10 minutes to 12. I looked at my drawing and saw that I just needed to sign my name at the bottom to complete it. I through my jacket on grabbed a few 20’s from my stash, put my converse on and took off.
“Mom can you give me a ride to the movies?”
“Sure. Is it still the same theater you always go to?”
“Yes.”
“Ok let’s go.” The drive took all of 15 minutes; I was late. I saw my friends standing outside with tickets in their hands. I jumped out and run over to them.
“Hey guys what movie are we going to go see?”
“Well me, Jared, Sean, Jake, and Bianca are going to see a romantic comedy.” Amy would go see one of those. I wasn’t surprised.
“And we’re going to see a horror film.” Annabelle, Eric, and Persia would pick a good choice so I went with them.
“What’s the movie called?”
“Moon Day.”
“Great let’s go.” We got into the theater and sat right in the middle. The movie was half way over when we realized it was a chick flick. I got bored. I looked at Annabelle, who looked at Persia, who looked at Eric. We all got up at the same time and left.
“Nice pick Annabelle.” I said with heavy sarcasm.
“It’s not my fault. The reviews said scary horror film.”
“Do you have the reviews with you?”’
“Yes. Here” I looked at the reviews she printed.
“These are for Moonless night. Not Moon Day!”
“Look why don’t we just go the mall and wait for the others. I have enough quarters for the game room.”
“Ok, I bet I can beat you at Dance Dance Revolution.” Said Persia
“Loser buys the winner anything of their choice.”
“But it has to be $20.”
“Deal.” We shook hands. Eric just rolled his eyes
“Ok I’m going to text Amy to let her know.”


We left the movies and entered the food court. The food court always smelled so good. We ran to the game room and found Dance Dance Revolution empty. Usually we had to wait. Persia inserted 2 dollars worth of coins and we began. We picked Crash, Butterfly, and random choice. I won Crash; Persia won Butterfly. It all came down to the tiebreaker. Amy and they just came up to us before we went to round three.


Annabelle was filling them in on what was going on. We were in the middle of the song. Just then there was this fight in the food court. We all turned around, even Persia and me. The cops came and broke it up. There was this boy that caught my eye that was being held by a cop. I ran over there.
“Ian what are you doing?” His lip was bleeding
“Nothing Emma.” I turned to Persia
“Go get a napkin.” Persia took off to the nearest food stand.
“Why were you fighting?” Anger filled my voice. The officer let him go and I took him to sit down. My friends came with me.
“Those guys over there were talking about you. I didn’t like what I was hearing so I came up to them and told them to stop. The group leader, I guess, stood up and started to push me so I tackled into him like I would if I was playing a football game.” Persia handed me the napkin and I started to dab the blood on his lip. I noticed that there was an even bigger cut on his forehead. I put the napkin on it, grabbed his hand so he could hold it there.
“Does Kyle know that you are here?”
“Yea he told me to come and get you, he’s outside in the car.” My eye’s drifted toward the parking lot searching for a blue mustang.
“Emma who is this?” I would have expected Annabelle to know who he was.
“This is Ian my brother.” Everyone gasped.
“Look I’m sorry guys but I have to go now.” I turned to Persia.
“We call it a draw?”
“Sure besides you were winning anyways.” She smiled.
“Great I lost 20 bucks and you got beat up.” I looked at Ian when I said the last part.
“See you guys later.” I turned and Ian followed me. I pulled my cell phone out and called Kyle.
“Hey Kyle we have a problem. We’re outside in the front.” I hung up and gave Ian a dirty look. He looked down at his feet. I looked up when I heard the mustang pull up. Ian got in the back seat and I got into the passenger seat.
“What’s the problem?” I’m surprised that he didn’t notice that Ian had a cut on his lip or that he was holding a napkin to his head that had blood on it. We got into the car.
“Ian.” I just said his name and Kyle looked back with wide eyes. Ian gave him a weak smile.
“What happened Ian?” Kyle was mad and worried at the same time. I looked into the mirror and found my eyes emerald green. Ian told him the story and he got grounded for the rest of the week. Which was only 3 days.


We got to my future house and Ian went straight to his room.
“So what type of work were you doing?” Was that any of my business?
“Your new room.”
“Oh. May I see it?”
“No it’s not done yet.”
“Oh, so what do you want to do?”
“Go to the beach?”
“Sure. But I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”
“So. Just get your cloths wet. They will need to get washed anyways.” We walked down to the beach he was towing me to a certain spot. The sun was already beginning to set. The sky was orange, pink, and dark blue. This would make a great painting. I saved the sunset into my mind so that I could paint it for later. We walked to the edge of the water where it would come close to touching our feet. I took my shoes off and threw them far up the beach. Rolled my pants legs up and started to walk toward the ocean about to be lost into it. Kyle grabbed my arm and turned me around.
“What do you think you are doing?” Like he didn’t already know what I was about to do.
“I’m about to…” I bent down, put my hands in the water and cupped them until they were full of water. “Get you wet.” As I said the words I through a hand full of water at him. He jumped back and I ran deeper into the water. He followed me; once we were knee high deep he started to kick water on me. I did it back to him. We splashed each other for what seemed like hours. I looked at the sun and it was half way under the horizon. I then realized that I had to get home.
“I have to go.”
“Where? You live here now.” I started to run the other way when Kyle tackled me into the water. Now my cloths were fully wet.
“What was that for?”
“I don’t want you to leave.”
“I have to get some clean, dry cloths.” I looked at my cloths and drenched them out. A lot of water came out from a little area.
“Well maybe you should have thought of that before you went into the water.”
“Well maybe you shouldn’t have tackled me like so.” I tackled him hard into the water. I heard the breath get knocked out of his lungs.
“Now you can tackle way better than I can.”
“You’re just trying to soften me up.”
“Yes I am. Is it working?”
“A little. I have an idea. C’mon.” I took his hand and we ran out of the water and onto the beach. We grabbed our shoes and I looked at the sunset and then at Kyle.
“I’ll race you back to the house.”
“Ok, but loser has to…” He was thinking of something bad that I wouldn’t do.
“Loser has to pay for dinner.” Not as bad as I thought it would be.
“And the winner?”
“Gets to decide if they will let the loser kiss the winner. If you want that is.”
“Deal.” I drew an even line in front of us.
“Get ready to take out your wallet Kyle.”
“On your mark.” He ignored me. “Get set.”

“GO!” Once I said the word I took off like a bullet from a gun. I couldn’t tell how far Kyle was back but I just kept running. I ran all the way back to the house and I was about to tag the door when I found Kyle sitting there waiting for me. I tried to skit to a stop but ran into Kyle. He caught me and stood me up.
“Wow how did you get here so fast?”
“Short cut.”
“No wonder I didn’t hear you behind me.”
“So it is 7 o’clock and I believe that you have to pay for dinner. And I do believe I owe you a kiss.”
“First things first. What’s for dinner? Second my money is wet. Thirdly I have to get dry cloths on if we are going out to eat.”
“Ok but my thing is first.” My heart pounded loudly that I could hear a ringing in my ears. Kyle walked closer to me and without thinking I took my step too. Before I knew what we were doing his lips were crushing mine. The kiss lasted all of 5 seconds. The slowest 5 seconds in my life. Either one of us spoke we just stared at each other. We were still an inch from each other. My mind was racing. Going over everything that had happened today. The movies, the fight Ian got into, the beach, the race, and then the kiss.
“Are you stunned that I kissed you? Or have you never kissed anyone like me before.” Leave it to Kyle for spoiling the moment with a joke. But it was true I have never kissed anyone like Kyle before.
“Ok what I was going to say before we raced was that when you take me home, we grab some of my things, and cloths bring them here and then we can finish our bet.” My arms were locked around his neck. I released my hands from each other and stepped back some.


Kyle went to tell Ian that he was going to take me home and be right back. I sat dripping wet in the car waiting. When Kyle was in I leaned into kiss his cheek.
“Thank you.” I said with feeling.
“You’re welcome. For what though?”
“For the best day of my life. Letting me stay with you. And for taking care of Ian.”
“Oh.” He leaned in to kiss my lips. Then pulled away. “You’re welcome.” I smiled and he pulled out of the drive way and drove off. The sun was setting quickly. I wanted to watch the sunset on the beach. Then I wanted to watch it rise in the morning.
“Um Kyle do you think maybe you could drive a little bit faster?”
“Sure.” He was still driving really slowly.
“Kyle I want to paint the sunset from the beach but I can’t do that if the sun goes down.” That made him drive faster. I hid a smile. It took a few seconds to get to my old house. Or that’s what it seemed to take. My parents weren’t home. They probably went to eat dinner at a restaurant. Or maybe a farewell party. I unlocked the door and stepped in. Everything was in boxes and furniture was missing.
“Wow they got a lot done today.” Kyle noted me while he closed the door behind us. I looked around the living room. It seemed so big without the couches, TV, and paintings.
“Yea, they must have some help.” My eyes got big as I walked into the kitchen. Everything was gone or in boxes. My eyes stopped on a note on one of the cabinets. I picked it up and began to read it.




Emma, we are leaving early so you need to get your stuff from your room and take it to your new house. Dad and me are taking the furniture to Miami and then coming back for the rest tomorrow afternoon and to say goodbye. The house is going to be for rent I’ll give you our new number tomorrow.








Love you with all my heart,










Mom
I read through Bev’s note. I have always been jealous of her handwriting. I read through it at least twice until I realized that Kyle was standing over me reading it too. How long has he been there? I jumped when he put his hand on my shoulder.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”
“How long have you been standing there?” my voice was cracked.
“Long enough for me to read it once. So they are down in Miami?”
“That’s what the note says.” My face became hard.
“But?”
“But my mom would have called me to tell me that not write a note.” She wasn’t making any sense.
“So you mean to say that she didn’t write this?”
“No she wrote it. It’s her hand writing.”
“Ok maybe she trusts you.”
“I guess. Ok lets get my things.” He stepped beside me and put his hand out and waited for me to go first. Instead I grabbed his hand and took off toward my room. I opened my door and found the boxes stacked in front of my bed. My bed was bare and the sheets and comforter weren’t on the mattress.
“You can leave your bed set here. It wouldn’t match your room.” I stared at him confused. We grabbed as many boxes as we could and went for the car. It took us 10 trips to get everything out.
“What are we going to do about my furniture?”
“Leave it here for your parents to take back with them so you can have a room when you visit.” That made sense; I left Bev a note so that she understood. We got into the mustang and I looked up at the sky. I may not have enough time to paint the sunset. Kyle must have seen that I was looking at the sky because he drove even faster that he did to get here.


When we got to the house, I grabbed as many boxes as I could and walked in. Ian heard that I had to kick the door open and he came down stairs. He realized that I had my things and went to help.
“Um where do you want me to put this?” I asked Kyle as he came in and stood next to me.
“In the living room. But your cloths can go in my room.”
“Ok.” I put the boxes down and looked for the one labeled ‘Cloths’
It wasn’t in the one that Kyle and I carried in so it must still be in the car. I passed Ian and saw the box. I followed him, grabbed the box and went up stairs to change. My cloths were hard, cold and smelled salty, as did my hair.
I went down stairs to help but they were already done
“You look like you could use a shower.” At least Ian could see that. I stood there looking confused. Which bathroom could I use?
“You can use mine Emma.” Smiling at Kyle I went up stairs. I heard them talking.
“I thought that you weren’t going to do that?” Ian was smug when he said that.
“Well I did. And I don’t regret it either.” Kyle snapped his answer at Ian. I grabbed a pair of jeans, a shirt, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. The shower was hot and long. It would have been longer if Kyle didn’t knock on the door saying that the sun was going down and to save some hot water for them too. I got dressed and looked in the mirror. I was wearing my skinny jeans and a plain green shirt. I walked into the bedroom to find another boxes. It was labeled “Toiletry”. I opened it to find my blow dryer, straightener, and make-up. It didn’t take me long to dry, straighten my hair, and put make-up on.


I put my things back into the boxes and went down stairs. I walked into the living room and found them looking at my paintings and drawings. Both of their eyes were wide as they looked at them.
“I’m good aren’t I?” They were startled at the sound of my voice.
“Yea, these are amazing.” Ian was still speechless. I figured he must have been looking at the sport paintings.
“Where’s the one you were telling me about?” I walked over and kneeled down beside him. I dug through the box until I found it. I picked it up and showed it to him. He gasped, I giggled.
“This is perfect.” Ian looked at the painting and gasped too.
“This is better than the one tonight.” Ian still had wide eyes as he spoke. I dug through the box to find the jungle picture. I pulled it out and they both gasped in harmony. Kyle took the snake and parrot and placed it near Viper. He was probably going to hang it above Vipers tank. That would be a good spot for it. Ian and I went through the rest while Kyle took a shower. By the time Kyle came down stairs we had already gone through my paintings.
“Man Kyle she is the best artist I have ever seen!” Ian grabbed my animal drawings and shoved them into Kyle’s hands. He looked through them with wider eyes then before.
“I think you found what you’re going to be.” Kyle spoke barely a whisper.
“Well if they are as good as you say they are, then maybe we could take a few down to the museum. And maybe they would take them in.” They both stared at me like I had just agreed to not take a million dollars.
“What?” They didn’t answer me. A few minutes have passed and no one spoke still.
“They’re my paintings I can do what ever I want with them.” I folded my arms across my chest. The conversation dropped and Ian went to his room. Kyle and I sat on the love seat and said nothing. I remembered what I said before we went to get my things.
“So what will it be?”
“What? Oh dinner right. How about pizza on the beach? That way you can draw while you eat.”
“Sounds good to me.” I took my cell phone out and began dialing my favorite pizza place. Kyle took my phone and snapped it shut.
“Why did you do that?”
“Because the pizza is already here.”
“What?”
“I told Ian to order while we were gone.”
“But I was suppose to pay for it.” I was so confused. Why did he break the bet?
“Yea I know. But I did because I was the one who was suppose to pay anyways.” Now I was really confused. I stared at him waiting for an answer.
“Because I cheated. When we took off, I was already losing and I was the fastest person I knew, besides you. And I panicked, so I took a short cut through the dunes. I knew that you wouldn’t know it.” I let what he had said melt into my brain. I was thinking about the rules. First one to the house won, loser pays dinner, and winner gets to kiss loser. There was nothing about short cuts.
“But the rules were first one to the house won, loser pays dinner, and winner gets to kiss loser. We didn’t agree to anything about shortcuts. For all I care you could have tripped me to slow me down. There was nothing in the rules about that either.” He flinched when I said he could have tripped me. He was letting his brain process this all.
“You’re right but I still felt guilty anyways. Ok we have the pizza, do you have your things you need to paint?” he was changing the subject.
“Yea my canvas, paint, paintbrushes are in the box.” I nodded my head in the direction where all of my paintings were. I grabbed my things; he grabbed the pizza, plates, napkins, water, and a blanket. We walked out of the house.
“So where is the short cut?” I asked curious. He nodded his head to the left side of the house. We walked a few feet then we turned right and went up the dunes. Once on the top of a dune, I saw where we were. I wanted a redo race.
“Last one to the spot where we were at earlier has to dress up like a ballerina and dance.” He looked at me with a huge grin on his face.
“GO!” we both took off at the same time again. This time I got slowed down by my things but so did Kyle. I felt like I could run for miles. I let my legs carry me without any trouble. I felt like I was flying. I felt free, the more I felt free the faster I ran. I got to the spot in no time at all. I stopped and waited for Kyle to get here. He finally showed up about 2 minutes after I did.
“It’s about time you showed up.” I said jokingly.
“It’s hard to run with pizza, plates, and bottles of water in your pockets.”
“Yea it’s hard to run with paint, brushes, and a canvas. You have it so hard.” I used heavy sarcasm.
“So when do I get to see you dance?”
“As soon as I get a ballerina outfit.”
“Hey you didn’t have to race me you know that.”
“Yea I know but I thought that you weren’t serious.”
“I am but how bout I make you a deal. Instead of doing that you tell me something that you have never told anyone before.”
“Deal.” We ate in silence and then I began to paint what was left of the sunset. It turned out nicer than I thought. I added some dunes in it in the bottom left corner and from the dunes to the right corner was water. Kyle was looking over my shoulder. I could feel him breathing on my neck.
“What do you think?” I held it up for him to see it.
“Lovely. Like you.” I blushed really hard. I felt my face and neck get hot. I didn’t move or speak.
“That was cheesy wasn’t it?” He didn’t wait for my answer.
“So do you want to here about the secrete or not?” I turned my head to look at his face.
“Yes.” He took a deep breath and exhaled.
“I was adopted like Ian.” My eyes got wide.
“That’s why you took him in?”
“Yes. My parents got divorced when I was in middle school and I lived with my dad. He abused me.” I gasped.
“I’m so sorry.” He rolled up his right sleeve and I saw a faded mark on his shoulder that ran down to his elbow. I gasped again. I didn’t realize that I was holing my breath until my lungs started to protest that I should breathe again. I looked at him. He shook his head. The mark was from his father.
“How?” I looked at him. I could feel the tears coming up into my eyes. I forced them back.
“I came home one day from school and he just started to yell at me. He was drunk from what I could tell. He was saying that I was late. I told him that I was early. He didn’t like me talking back to him. But I kept my voice even and calm when I told him. He grabbed my wrist.” He showed me his right wrist and it was a light blue than a dark tan. I could feel my anger change my eye color to red. He continued. “So he took me into the kitchen and grabbed a butcher’s knife and stabbed it into my shoulder and stopped at my elbow.”
“How did you survive?” That part made no sense.
“Well the neighbors heard me scream, I have a good set of lungs, and they called the cops. The cops came in and found me dripping in blood. My dad still holding the knife in his hand. I lost about half of my blood. They rushed me to a hospital and stitched me up. Then put some blood in me. My wrist was badly bruised and it never healed. I don’t feel pain in it any more.”
“So what happened to your dad?”
“They sent him to jail for 50 years.” He was shaking his head. His expression was a mask. I couldn’t read it.
“Then what happened to you?”
“I went to live with a good cousin. His name was Carlos. He died when I was just about to be in high school. Carlos taught me everything I needed and more. I was home schooled then. About a few months after I lived with Carlos, Ian came. It was great that Carlos took him in like that. All 3 of us built the house. Carlos was the manager of Home Depot. I became manager when he passed”. I saw something sparkle on his cheek. I brushed it off with the back of my hand.


I felt so bad for Kyle. I just wanted to make him happy. But how would I do that? He looked at me and put the back of his hand on my cheek and I felt something wet smear across my face. I then realized that I was crying to. That made me laugh. I didn’t realize that the sun was gone. I lay back on the blanket and looked at the stars. It was a clear night. I looked for a constellation. I found Oran, the big dipper and the little dipper, and the North Star. There was a star bigger than the North Star. I must be a planet.


Kyle then laid back and looked at the stars too. I saw a shooting star then. I closed my eyes and made a wish. I prayed that it would come true. I heard Kyle mumble ‘make a wish’. I kept my eyes closed. I was dreaming. I was in a strange house. I saw Kyle and I guess his dad. I was watching what had happened. Kyle was curled up on the kitchen floor with blood everywhere. The dad was still holding the knife and was crying. My eyes got hot; if they got any hotter they would be on fire.



The seen changed. I saw 3 guys building a house where my new home was. I saw Kyle and Ian easily. I guessed the other person was Carlos. He had really dark hair. Blue eyes and a big grin that seemed stuck on his face. The seen changed to a prison cell. It was Kyle’s dad. He seemed older than the time I saw him with Kyle. His cellmate had something in his had a dagger. He was walking toward Kyle’s father. He was asleep, and the cellmate stabbed him in his heart. Blood oozed from his heart. The cellmate smiled, he was satisfied.



My dream ended and I found myself screaming when I woke up. It took me a few minutes to realize that I wasn’t on the beach anymore. I was in Kyle’s room. Once I got my eyes to adjust Ian came into the room with Kyle on his heals. Ian flipped the light on and stared at me.
“I killed your father!” I said at Kyle in sobs. He just started at me. Ian’s mouth was open like he understood.
“What do you mean you killed him?” Kyle’s voice was cracking. Ian and Kyle came over and sat on either side of me.
“I have these dreams that come true. All the time no matter how bad, no matter who gets killed, they all come true! I had dreams that were terrifying. One was the story you old me about you scar, one was where you, Carlos and Ian were building the house, and the last one would be real soon. I was in your father’s cell, and he was sleeping.



“His cellmate walked over to him holding a dagger and stabbed him in the heart. I killed your father. I’m so sorry!” I leaned into his chest and cried. He was stiff but at the same time soft. He was rubbing my back.
“You don’t know if that will come true or not.”
“Yes I do Kyle. Do you remember a few nights ago that on the news they said that a little boy just dropped dead?”
“Yea the police said that there was no evidence on how he died.”
“That’s because I killed little 9 year old Andy. He was 4’9”.”
“They didn’t say anything about how tall he was on the news.”
“That’s because I knew how tall he was in my dream.

“Do you know how I found out about you and Ian?”
“Yea I was wondering about that. Because mom didn’t say that she told you about us.” Ian spoke; Kyle might be in shock still. I could tell that he was confused. His heart was beating really fast and it would skip some beats. I pulled away from Kyle and sat up.
“I was dreaming about the both of you. And you 2 were talking about me. Ian you asked Kyle if I was still alive. Kyle, you said something that upset Ian and he told you to never talk about me like that again.” I watched both of their eyes grow too wide to be normal.
“How did you know that?” Kyle finally spoke.
“I told you, my dreams come true. I guess I can see the future. But instead of predicting what will happen next… I create what happens next, I guess.”
“So you had a dream that my father’s cellmate was going to stab him in his sleep?” His face had a worry look. I nodded my head. Afraid that something else will come out of my mouth besides words. I felt sick to my core. Everyone stared at each other not saying anything. I couldn’t stand the quiet. I looked around the room.
“How did I end up in your room?” I asked Kyle changing the subject. He looked at me.
“What? Oh. Well after 5 minutes of looking at the stars I realized that I was talking to myself. Because you fell asleep and I didn’t know it. I called Ian to help me get your things and I carried you in. We had to make 2 trips, but I didn’t mind. The night was nice.”
“Yea Kyle was more than happy to carry you in.” Ian said so smug at Kyle. Was there something I was missing? Kyle gave Ian a look so dirty that I had to cut his view from him; I was afraid Kyle was going to strangle Ian.


He looked away and opened his mouth to speak but snapped it shut.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed? You have school tomorrow and you’re still grounded.” Ian peered around me and glared at Kyle. He got up and stomped out of the room and down the hall. The room was quiet for 3 slow minutes.
“Am I missing something?” Again I changed the subject. Again I broke the silence.
“With what?”
“You and Ian? He keeps saying something that up sets you? What is it?”
“It’s nothing” He turned away. I put my hand on his cheek and made him look into my eyes.
“You can tell me anything. Also Ian is my brother and if I need to protect him I will. If I need to talk to him about something I can and will. But I can’t do that without knowing what is wrong.” I held his gaze he couldn’t break free. I could tell that I was winning. He grabbed my hand and put it on my leg.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about and it’s 3 in the morning.” He got up. His back was stiff; he turned the light off and closed the door. If he won’t tell me, then I will pry it out of Ian. I looked at the clock. It really was 3 in the morning. I had 2 more hours before I needed to get up and get ready. Was Kyle going to take me there, or was there a bus I needed to catch?


I closed my eyes and dreamed a little. It was in the morning the sun was just beginning to rise. I was talking to Ian.
“So can you predict the future like I can?”
“Yea basically, but I don’t kill people like you.” I looked down ashamed.
“Then what do you do?”
“I can see the future. Like at the mall. That guy who I was fighting liked you a lot. I sped my dream up and saw that he would abuse you and then eventually kill you.” I gasped I guess I’m glad Ian got into a fight then. I was awakened by the alarm clock. It took me 2 minutes to figure out how to turn it off. It was set for 5:30am. Did that mean that he was taking me? I was down the stairs ready by 5:40am. I found him sitting on the couch with keys in hand. He looked at me; I couldn’t help but to smile.

He smiled back. We sat there smiling at each other for a while. Until the grandfather clock stroke 6am.
“We should get going if you want to be at school on time.” He got up and he was twirling his keys around his finger. I went back up stairs to grab my backpack and jacket. I went back down the stairs taking four at a time. We walked to the car and got in. it was quiet for a while.
“Why were you saying my name in your sleep last night?” I looked at him. I never knew I could sleep talk. What else did I say?
“I was?”
“Yea, you were saying something like ‘How dare you touch him!’”
“Oh, that must have been when I saw you get cut by your father. I didn’t like that very much.” I gave a weak smile. We pulled up to my school and I saw my friends staring at the mustang. Most of their jaws were hanging open. I laughed. Kyle looked at me.
“What’s so funny?” he was trying to look in the same direction as I was.
“My friends. Their looks are ridiculous. It’s like they have never seen a mustang before.” Amy, Annabelle, Persia, Bianca, Lexi, and were looking at Kyle. Sean, Jared, Jake, and Eric were looking at the mustang.
“Oh.” I got out and joined my friends. They were staring at me. I felt my face get hot. My eyes have been normal for a while.
“What?” I asked after silence for almost 5 minutes straight.
“Who was that?” Everyone asked at the same time.
“Was that Kyle?” Annabelle was the only one that knew about Kyle. Everyone knew about Ian.
“Who’s Kyle?” Amy spoke for everyone. I looked at my friends’ faces. Amy’s face had excitement and furious. Probably because I didn’t tell her about Kyle. Annabelle’s face looked worried and annoyed. Persia’s, Bianca’s, and Lexi’s faces were all the same; dumbfounded. Sean had a jealous look. Jared looking at Amy with some disgust. Eric and Jake were still looking at where the mustang drove off.


I looked at my friends’ faces at least 5 times before answering. I opened my mouth and began to speak. I was looking at my feet. I have never thought that I would be able to say this but saved by the bell. Relief filled my veins. I walked past my friends keeping my head down. My hair fell into my face. I couldn’t really see where I was going. I bumped into someone. It felt like I ran into a wall. It pushed me down, the sky spun. A familiar face came into my view.
“Are you okay?” His voice so familiar. Black skater hair tickled my face. It was Robbie.
“Robbie?” He smiled like I was a baby saying my first word. That smile touched his ears. It was more of a grin. My head hurts badly. I lifted my hand to the back of my head. Thankfully there was no blood, just a big knot.
“Sorry about that Emma. Here let me help you up.” He stretched his long arm towards me I took it. He was the one doing the work. I just stayed limp.


Once I was on my feet again, I fell on him. I was glad that he caught me. This reminded me of Kyle. He would probably carry me in his arms. Would Robbie do that? Where was Rachel? Why do I talk to myself?
“What happened?” My eyes stayed closed.
“You ran into me. Pretty hard to, you knocked me down.”
“It felt like I ran into a wall.” I chuckled at the thought of me running into a wall. I would be the one to do that, blind folded though. He chuckled with me but not at the same thought.
“I’ve done that before. I broke my nose.” He was supporting my body on his. We were walking together. Normally I would want this. But today I wished it were Kyle.
“Where’s Rachel?” My mind was blurry.
“Oh we broke up Monday.” What was today anyways?
“What’s today?”
“Wednesday.” It has been almost 3 days since I was about to move. We were in the hallway. No one else was in the hallway. We were late.
“Robbie I have to… We’re late for class.” I tried to pull away but he wouldn’t let go of my wrist. He spun me around and pulled me to his chest and held me there.
“What’s the hurry? It’s not like we would get caught.” I tried to push a way from him but he just held me tighter.
“Robbie stops it.” I couldn’t get another word out. His lips were crushing mine. He was also suffocating me. I could feel my eyes getting really hot.


They must be turning red. I got my right arm free. I pulled it back and slapped him in his cheek. He stopped.
“What was that for?” He didn’t seem to like that. I didn’t care.
“So I could do this.” I kneed him in is groin and I heard a whimpering noise. I took my hand and thrusted it up on his nose. He fell to the floor. His hands were covering his nose and dripping with blood.

That made me sick to my stomach. I hated seeing blood. It always made me sick. Just then the back doors opened, both at the same time. The sunlight blinded me. There was a person standing in the middle. I couldn’t tell who it was. I just stood there with my fist in the air. I slowly lowered it to my side.
“What the heck happened?” It was Kyle, his voice was furious.
“Um.” How was I supposed to explain this?
“Did you?” He couldn’t finish his sentence. I gave a weak smile. He smiled back happily about that.
“Why are you here?” Why was he here?
“Well Ian called me when I was on my way home and he said that you were in trouble by some kid.”
“How would Ian know this?”
“I’ll let him explain that.” He turned his head away.
“So what were you going to do, if I hadn’t hurt him?” I looked at Robbie. The blood was going onto the floor.
“Well I would have done the same thing pretty much.” I kept my eyes down.
“Great minds think alike.” He took my hand and towed me toward the doors. He opened the passenger door for me. I got in and waited. I didn’t have to wait for long. He was at my side in an instant. I watched how he drove the mustang. Learning his movements. I yearned to learn how to drive a mustang.
“What are you looking at?” He must have seen me looking at his hands.
“Oh, nothing.” He didn’t buy it.
“Tell me, please.” I couldn’t argue with him. I signed and held my breath.
“I’ve always wanted to drive a mustang. It’s my favorite car in the world, for now at least. And I was just wondering if there was a special way to drive them. So I was watching you. It’s silly I know.”
“No that makes sense.” He begged to differ. He pulled the car over and stopped. I looked up from my hands and stared out the window. We weren’t in the driveway. I looked at him for an answer.
“Do you want to learn how?” My jaw dropped. I just then remembered that I was holding my breath. I let out a gust of air.
“Right now?”
“What’s more perfect than the present?”
“Does that mean a yes?” He got out of the car and walked to the passenger side. It was a definite yes. He held out his hand to me. I hesitated. He smiled at me while I was staring at his hand.
“Are you afraid?” He flashed his teeth at me and I took his hand. That was a challenge. I don’t back down from challenges. I got out and climbed to the driver’s side.
“Do you have your permit?” Why didn’t he ask me that when I was in the passenger seat?
He trusts me.
Trust is what a family needs. Trust and support. I grinned at him. It was more of a ‘like I need a permit’ grin.
“Ok, it’s just like driving a regular car. But it goes faster.” I put it in drive and lightly put my foot on the gas. Within a millisecond, everything around me went blurry. But the craziest thing of all was that I could see perfectly. It was like a dream. It was like heaven. I earned my wings and I was taking off.

I didn’t run any stop signs or red lights. From as far as I knew, I was under the speed limit. I knew exactly what to do. I felt the road getting rougher. I gripped the steering wheel tighter. I was so into my own little world that I forgot that Kyle was next to me. I forgot that this wasn’t my car.

He shifted his weight to the right and that’s what brought me back to reality.
“Take this right coming up.” He informed me before I missed it. I turned sharply. I left marks on the road. I felt like I could do anything in this car. I was already flying. I stole a glimpse at Kyle. He was sweating. His red shirt had dark spots on it. What was wrong with him?
“Are you ok?” He looked at me like he realized that I found something.
“Yeah I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“Well maybe it’s just my eyes but you’re sweating like crazy.” He looked at his shirt and realized what I meant.
“Oh, it’s nothing I’m just really hot.”
“No you’re nervous. That’s how my dad got when I drove. He didn’t trust me that I would be able to handle driving. He ruined 5 of his best shirts because he was so nervous.” Nervous doesn’t even begin to cover my dad then. One time I caught him hyperventilating.


At the memory, I laughed. Kyle thought that I was laughing at him.
“I do trust you.”
“No I know you do it’s just a memory of my dad when I was just beginning how to drive.”
“Oh.” I pulled up into the driveway and cut the engine. I sat still in my seat.
“How did it feel?”
“It felt amazing. No amazing doesn’t even begin to cover it.” I didn’t want to leave the car. But I had to talk to Ian about something. I had to pry my hands free from the steering wheel. Kyle was out of the car and got the driver’s door. He held his hand out waiting for me to take it.
“I can’t move” I tried to give a smile but I failed. But I really couldn’t move. My whole body was numb with excitement. Kyle rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand and yanked me out. My legs weren’t that numb. I could walk at least. I felt like I was walking, but after a few seconds I was in the same place as before.
“Can you walk?”
“I think so.”
“Best thing that you have ever done?” I nodded. Apparently my head was the only thing I could move.
“Just give me a minute.” I leaned on the mustang and let my felling come back to my legs. My legs were the only things I needed right now. I looked at my eyes in the window of the driver’s door. They were golden brown, pure excitement. I got off the car and headed for the house. I held my head up high, shoulders squared. Ian was on the big couch with his head in his hands.


I walked up to him and stroked his hair. He looked up. He started to say something but I shook my head to quiet him. He got up and wrapped his arms around me. I did the same. I new what he was feeling. The same way I felt when I realized what I could do. He must hate himself. Kyle came into my view. He looked at me, that look was asking if Ian was going to be okay. I shrugged my shoulders. Ian was shaking hard. He was scared; I’m scared. Was Kyle scared?
“Emma what’s happening to me?” He said in sobs.
“The exact same thing that’s happening to me. Dreams come true. And not the way you want them to.” I walked us to the couch. Kyle sat on the other side of Ian.
“Trust me Ian everything will be okay. I’m learning how to control my dreams. I spent years with no one that could help me. My friends just comforted me. They couldn’t do anything else. But you have me. You won’t be alone.”
“How can you control something that is out of your control?”
“Patience, understanding, and trusting.”
“I feel like such a bad person.”
“But you’re not. You’re just a person with a gift that can’t help what he dreams about.” He stopped crying. He face was all puffy. His eyes were golden brown. The opposite of what mine means. His was sad mine was excitement.

“How much am I like you?” I had to think about that.
“Well the dreams are one, and the eyes changing to our moods. That’s all I can think of.”
“Oh.” My phone vibrated. I pulled it out and read a text from Lexi.
“Where are you Emma? Why does Robbie have a broken nose? Why did you cut school?” I took a deep breath and replied back.
“I’m at home (my new one with my brother and Kyle). Why do you think I had something to do with Robbie? It could have been anyone. I cut because there was something that I had to take care of.” I hit send and closed my phone. Ian and Kyle were staring at me.
“What?”
“Who was that?” Kyle got the words out before Ian did.
“My friend. She was wondering what happened to Robbie.”
“What did you say?”
“I asked her what makes her think that I supposedly broke his nose.”
“You broke the guy’s nose.” Ian said that like he didn’t see that coming.
“I guess so.” I shrugged my shoulders like it wasn’t like it mattered. But it did. My phone went off again.
“Well you were the last person seen with him and they have you on cameras.” Oh great. I’m going to get detention. Unless, I was using self defense. Maybe there was a way to get out of it. I would think of something.
“Okay, well he came on and I didn’t want him to so I used self defense.” I looked at the time on my phone. It was 8:45am. What time was Ian supposed to be in school?
“Ian what time are you supposed to be in school?”
“Actually Kyle is home schooling me, because I’m quote ‘Always late’. I laughed at that.
“Oh.”
“So Kyle how is that think coming?” Ian winked at Kyle. They were hiding something from me.
“What are you guy’s hiding from me this time?”
“Actually Ian I believe it’s almost done. Go check.” Kyle winked at him back. Or at me, I couldn’t tell. Ian broke free from my grip and raced up stairs.
“So did you have any pets before Viper?”
“Yea I had a dog. He was a Dalmatian.”
“Let me guess his name was Spots.” He eyes tightened.
“No his name was Dynamite.” My eyes narrowed wondering of that was a joke. He saw that I was waiting for him to continue. He did.
“I had him when my parents were still together. He was brown with a white spot. He only had one spot. I thought Spot was so original. What about you. Have you ever had a pet before?” I signed.
“Yes. I had a cat. He was gray and white. I named him Demon.”
“Demon? That’s a weird name.”
“Well when I brought him home he kept attacking my parents, and then me. But he wouldn’t scratch. He would just grab your ankle and run.”
“Well what happened to him?”
“He ran away. I have never gotten another pet again. He was my best friend. He would follow me around where ever I went. He slept on the foot of my bed.” I missed Demon so much. Kyle must miss Dynamite. I felt my eyes change to deep-sea blue. Ian came down just then.
“I believe it is ready. It’s all in order.” Kyle grinned at Ian and then at me. I looked at Ian and then at Kyle. My head moved back and forth. I stopped when I saw Kyle pull out a blindfold.
“What are you going to do with that?” My eyes stayed fixed on the blind fold.
“I’m going to use it to cover your eyes.”
“Why?”
“So that you won’t peak.”
“Peak at what?”
“You’ll see.” He stood up and wrapped the blindfold around my eyes. He pulled me up and guided me out of the room. But I ran into the wall.
“Owe! Don’t guide me into the walls!” They snickered.
“That wasn’t me that was all you.” I heard Ian laughing up the staircase.
“Um I don’t think that I can make it up the staircase”
“No problem.” He knocked my legs from underneath me and cradled me against his chest.
“Always have to carry me don’t you.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
“When I have to.”
“Have to or want to?”
“Hm. Both I guess.” He couldn’t see it but I was giving him a dirty look. He was walking up the stairs. How was he doing that? He set me down on the top.
“Are you ready?”
“That depends what it is.” I heard a door open. He pushed me forward and then stopped me. Someone untied the blindfold and took it off.
“Tada!” They both said at the same time. I looked at the familiar room. It use to be empty. It was going to be my room. The walls were different colors of blue. The wall closest to me was a regular blue. The one across from me was a little bit lighter. I turned and stared at the next wall. It was brighter than the one I was looking at. I did a complete 360 from where I started and stared at the back wall. It was the darkest one of all.


They all had black music notes on them. My pictures were hanging all around the room. But I was missing a few. Besides the one that was in the living room, and the one in Kyle’s room. Ian must have taken the sport ones. I stopped looking at the walls and looked at the rest of the room.

The bed was a full; the cover was a lighter blue than the lightest wall. It was on the dark wall in the left corner. On the regular blue wall there was a desk with canvases on it. There were pencils, colored pencils, paintbrushes, and paint. It was an art studio. A lamp with 7 lights was next to it. The window was in the middle of the middle wall. The curtains were a really dark blue. I walked over to the curtains and through them back. I had a view of the beach. The sun was gleaming on the water.


I had a great view for paining and drawing. There was a door on the right wall. I opened it and walked in. I saw my cloths hanging in it. I looked to the left and saw a small dresser. I looked down to find all of my shoes lined up. That wasn’t going to last long. This is my closet. This is my room.


I looked down at my feet. The wood flooring was polished. I was finally home. I had my own room. I looked at my bed. I didn’t even realize that there was a full-length mirror next to it. Between my bed and mirror was my bedside table. It had a radio clock. I looked at the time. It was almost my lunch period. I had to back to school.

I turned around and looked at Ian and Kyle. They were watching me. My eyes change from blue to normal.
“This is amazing. Thank you so much.” I walked over to them and hugged them both at the same time.
“So you really do like it?” I pulled away to look at Kyle.
“You don’t know me that well and you created a room that is all about me. It is the best thing I have ever seen.”
“Good.” I was startled when I heard Ian speaking.
“This is great and all but I have to get back to school. I have missed so much already.” Ian’s look was pleading. Kyle nodded his head once in agreement.
“Let’s go then.” I walked past them and down the stairs. I got to the living room and grabbed my stuff. I looked at Viper’s tank. Something was different about it. There were some white things in it. I walked over to Viper and looked into the tank. I knew what they were now. I heard Kyle entering the room. Closely followed by Ian.
“Well looks like Viper is a she, not a he.” I turned around. They were staring at me in confusion. Ian came over to me and looked in the tank. His eyes got wide.
“Um Kyle, I hope you have a bigger tank than this. We are going to need it.”
“What are you two talking about?” Kyle came over.
“Viper laid eggs.” I was the one to answer. Ian was speechless.
“Oh this isn’t good.”
“What are we going to do?” Kyle looked at me.
“You are going back to school and we’re going to think what to do.” He sounded like my father.
“Okay dad.” I mocked him. He glared at me and I glared back.
“Tussah.” I walked past them and Kyle followed me out to the car. I got in on the passenger side. I didn’t want to drive again. Half of my body was still numb. The engine roared to life and we took off. Being the passenger was different. You seemed to be going so slow. But I was at school within a matter of minutes.
“See you later Kyle. Good luck with Viper.” I got out and closed the door. I sprinted to the main office to get a late slip.


I hoped that they would recognize me. I walked in and went to the desk. I looked around the room. It was a mint greenish color. There were fake plants in the corners of the room. The lady behind the desk was an old lady. She had gray hairs, wrinkles, and seemed really nice. She smiled. Her teeth flashed in the light. Her eyes were like stars shining in the midnight sky.
“Can I help you hun?”
“Yes, I just got here. Can I get a late slip?” She smiled again and grabbed a pen and a small piece of paper.
“Sure. Your name is?” I didn’t know that she was going to ask me for my name. I started to panic. Should I say my name or just walk out?
“Um, my name is—” I took a deep breath and sighed. “Emma Sturnn.” She wrote my name down as I spoke. She probably didn’t know what I did. She didn’t mention anything to me as she handed me the slip.
“Thank you.” I took it and walked away. I went straight to the cafeteria. I found my friends sitting in the usual spot. They didn’t notice that I had came in and walked over to them.
“Hey guys.” I tried to smile. They turned to look at me.
“Emma what happened to you? You were here before the bell rung and then in 1st period you weren’t there.” Jared noticed everything that happened to everyone. I rolled my eyes.
“Didn’t Annabelle tell you what happened?” I sat down next to Jared and Sean.
“No she didn’t.” Everyone turned to look at Annabelle. Her face turned red. I sighed and went into my story in details. Annabelle wasn’t paying attention because she had already heard this before. I kept wondering what they were all thinking. Would they think that I made this up? Would they laugh? Would they snitch on me? I finished my story with a deep exhale.

I looked at my friends’ faces. They all had the same ‘are you serious’ look. Once again school went by in a blur. I was daydreaming most of the day. I saw police chasing someone. They were in pursuit. It was a dark blue mustang. It was Kyle’s mustang. Only it wasn’t Kyle driving, I was. Next to the mustang was a yellow Lamborghini with two thick, black stripes going trough the middle. I didn’t see who was driving it. I was running away from the cops, but why? Who was in the Lamborghini? The bell rung and school was over.

I got up and walked out of the class. I started to walk where Kyle dropped me off, but I changed my course. It was like my feet where guiding me. I saw Jared just when I turned around. His face was hard like rock. His face was red and swollen. I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. He jumped.
“Jared what’s wrong?” He shook his head and walked away. More like he ran away. I tucked my hair behind my ears and ran after him. I didn’t have to go far. Bianca, Amy, Annabelle, Lexi, and Persia were blocking his path. I walked over to them and joined the half circle.
“Jared all we want to know is what’s wrong.” Bianca’s voice was soft but hard. He finally spoke.
“You killed my father Emma!” He jabbed his finger at me and yelled. What was he talking about?
“Jared what are you talking about? I haven’t killed anyone that would hurt my friends. Anyways I haven’t had any really bad dreams.” His face wasn’t red anymore it was purple and changing to blue.
“So you haven’t had any dreams?” Lexi spoke and everyone was looking at me.
“Well I have but it wasn’t with Jared’s dad. It was Kyle’s dad and he was in jail. His cellmate stabbed him in his heart while he was sleeping.” My face was turning red. Not from Jared but from the thought of what Kyle’s dad did to him. Now I was the one that was crying. Why was I crying? He deserved it.

Jared put his hand and on my shoulder. His touch was warm, comforting. I shrugged it off.
“You shouldn’t accuse me for something you’re not sure of Jared!” I was in his face yelling. Now everyone was trying to touch me and comfort me. I didn’t like that. I could feel my eyes changing colors to black. I turned my back on my friends and walked the way I should have gone. Kyle was probably wondering where I was. When I got to the parking lot I didn’t see Kyle anywhere.

I pulled out my phone and checked to see if had and missed calls or text messages. None. I called Kyle. No answer. I called the house. No answer. What was going on? I heard a loud screeching noise behind me. I whipped myself around and saw a yellow with black striped Lamborghini. The same one from my daydream earlier today. I found myself holding my breath and wide eyed. There was a man behind the wheel.

He looked like Kyle, but it wasn’t his car. The man stepped out of the car. It wasn’t a man but a teenager. He had sandy blonde hair, brown eyes, and well built, better than Kyle. His smile blinded me when he smiled. His hair was messy.
“Are you Emma?” He started to talk to me. I held my breath even more. I could feel my face turning purple.
“Yes. Who are you?” I was surprised that words came out of my mouth. Or was it just my imagination?
“My name is Keith. I’m Kyle’s twin brother.” That did it. My knees couldn’t hold me anymore. I fell to the ground. My eyes rolled into the back of my head. I was still conscious though. I could feel a pair of hands cradling me and carrying me. What was up with everyone carrying me?

The pair of hands put me in the back of the car. The Lamborghini’s engine growled as Keith stepped on the gas and took off. How could Kyle not have told me? I was so mad that I could breathe fire. My eyes were burning in my head. They were hurting so bad that I began to cry.

My eyes changed to red. I wanted to kill someone. Rip someone limb from limb. Why did I want to kill someone that is innocent? I could hear the car shifting from one gear to the next. I opened my eyes and the car was spinning. I sat up and saw that we were going almost 100 miles per hour.
“Keith, why are you driving so fast?” I was surprised that I even remembered his name.
“We need to get to Kyle as fast as we can” His face was hard as rock. His eyes were like fire, blazing with rage.
“Why? What’s wrong?” My stomach was churning. He sighed and looked down. I was becoming impatient.
“Well?” He still wouldn’t talk. I climbed over up to the passenger seat.
“The cops are after you and your brother.” I grew confused.
“Why are they after us?”
“Because they know that you two are the ones that caused the unsolved crimes. Like the children mysteriously disappearing, the one little boy dropping dead without any warnings. My dad getting killed by his cellmate. A little girl almost drowning because she couldn’t come up for air.” He shook his head sadly.
“Okay but how does that have to do with me and Ian?”
“The murderers said that they felt possessed. The mother that saved the girl felt possessed. My dad’s cellmate felt possessed. Everyone that felt possessed said that you and your brother’s faces came in their minds.” I felt as though a whip had slashed me on my back at least ten times.
“Okay, but why are you taking me back to my house? Isn’t that where the police will be?”
“No. They won’t be there until after we leave.” We. Did that mean that he was coming too?
“How do you know that?”
“Ian saw us leaving and then saw the police at the house with no trace of us.” That got me thinking of my last dream.
“What kind of cars were we leaving in?” He looked at me like I was crazy.
“Why does it matter?”
“Because I had a dream that you were driving your car and I was driving Kyle’s mustang. I saw a lot of luggage in the back. But I didn’t see Kyle or Ian in either car.” Now he looked at me like I just won a million dollars.
“Wow you’re way better than I thought you were. Kyle and Ian were in a Porsche next to you on the right” By how fast we were going, we made it to the house in no time. I jumped out and ran inside.
“Ian, Kyle where are you guys?” I practically yelled for them. My heart was in my throat. Ian came down the stairs and bounded into my arms. Kyle appeared next to me with Keith.
“What are we going to do?” I spoke through tears and Ian’s hair. My eyes changed to a color that I didn’t know, again. I looked at Kyle. His face was worst than a corpse.
“Emma your eyes are purple. What mood are you in?” My eyes are purple? That was a complete first.
“Well I’m sort of scared. So when they’re purple, I’m scared?” That made some sense but I never knew that purple could be an eye color.

Things about me were unraveling within days. I was surprised at how many new things were happening to me in one week. I found out I was going to move. I had a long lost brother. And the police were after us. With all my thinking I remembered that my parents were coming back up to pick a few more things. While they are going to up here they are going to give me their new house number.

How were they going to do that if I wasn’t here? Where were we going to get the Porsche? Where were we going to hide? Some many questions swirled in my head. I needed an answer for all of them.
“Our parents are coming back up today to give their new phone number to us.” Kyle’s face went even whiter than it was already. Ian stiffened under my arms.
“So? What does that have to do with us?” Keith was behind me. I could tell that Kyle got the brains. It was so obvious. I wasn’t going to answer his question. I closed my eyes and tried to daydream again. I was trying to see if I could see something that would help us.

I heard a ring in my ears. I closed my eyes even tighter. I began to see red circles on the inside of my eyelids. My eyelids were protesting in going any tighter. I wrapped my arms around Ian even tighter. I heard a whooshing sound and felt cold breath on my face. Gasping was the next thing I heard. I felt my nails digging into Ian’s back.
“Oh.” Keith’s voice interrupted my concentration. I opened my eyes and looked down to find Ian’s eyes watering. I released him and looked around. Kyle and Keith left my side and went into the living room. I walked over to them.
“Where are we going to get a Porsche from? Where are we going? And why aren’t we packing up our luggage?” I blurted all of my questions out in one breath. I folded my arms across my chest and stared them both down. I looked over at Viper’s tank and saw that it wasn’t the same one from this morning.
“We have a Porsche. It’s in the garage; you’ve never been down there before. The luggage is already packed and ready. We don’t know where we are going. Anywhere but here. Probably out of the state.” I was speechless. I wanted to say something but I couldn’t.

Everyone was exchanging looks with each other. My throat was dry. If I opened my mouth I would see my lunch again.
“People we’re cutting the time really close. The cops will be here in 45 minutes.” Ian was the only one with enough strength to speak. I couldn’t move myself. I needed to sit down but I couldn’t move.

I zoned out of the present. I watched all the color melt away into nothingness. Everything disappeared, the furniture, Kyle, Ian, Keith, Viper and her tank. Everything was dull and gray. Then different colors filled the empty space. I was in a motel room. Kyle, Ian, Keith were next to me. They had their hands up. I did to. I looked around the room. It was powdery blue. White beds took up most of the rooms. There was a small circular table near the door.

A TV was on the opposite wall of the beds. In between the beds was a bedside table. A lamp was sitting in the middle. I looked behind me. There was a marble counter and two sinks. On the left was a door. It mush have been the bathroom. My eyes wandered down towards my feet, plain gray carpet.

My head drifted back toward the front door. There was some black cylinder right in front of my face. A thick finger was on the trigger. The finger was shacking so hard that it shook the gun. The finger was flexing. I followed up the arm. The chest had a bulletproof vest on. I kept going up and stopped on the face. It was a man. He had black hair and a perfect tan, his eyes hard brown. In those eyes was fear.


Sweat was rolling down his face. He seemed sick. I peaked around him out the door. Cop cars were surrounding the motel. All of the police ready to fire their guns. I heard a helicopter in the background. My eye shifted back onto the man holding the gun.
“P-put your hands behind your head.” Why was he stuttering? Was he afraid of me? Thinking over that in my head gave me an idea. Maybe I could talk my way out of this.
“You don’t have to do this. You can just walk away right now. Why would you arrest innocent people? We didn’t do anything wrong.” His hands were shaking really hard now. The gun was moving up and down slightly.
“S-shut up. You have the right to remain silent.”
“Look we are just kids struggling through life.”
“Why do I have to listen to you? You and your brother are criminals.” His arms were shaking now. I was about to get through to him. I could feel it.
“How are we criminals if we can’t even control what we do? Well I’m learning how. And I’m helping my brother.” I looked back at Ian. His eyes were wide with fear. But he was calmer than the policeman. I looked at Keith and Kyle. Wide eyed and shocked. I turned back to the policeman. His gun was beginning to lower.
“I have to do this. Right or wrong, it’s my job to take people that are wanted away. If I don’t then I get fired.”
“Then why don’t you get a new job? Either you’re going to end up getting stabbed, shot, or killed. Or people you love are going to turn on you. You can get a better job than this.” He lowered his gun completely. I lowered my hands slowly. A smile was twitching at his lips. I smiled without hesitation.

He put his gun away and smiled with me. He turned around and closed the door. What was he doing? I started to back away. I put my arm behind me searching for Ian. I found someone’s arm and grabbed it. This skin was rough, cold, and unfamiliar. I turned around to find that I grabbed Keith’s arm. Keith smiled down at me. I quickly released it and found Ian’s arm.

Ian looked at me and his eyes darted over to a corner and back at me. He kept doing this for a while. I looked in the direction that he wanted me to, I saw Viper. Her eggs hatched.

I looked back at the front. The colors were melting. Everything was disappearing. I was back at Kyle’s. Everyone was sitting on the couch still talking. Keith had his head in his hands, Kyle was rubbing his eyes, and Ian was curled up into a small ball on the love seat. I walked over to him. I put my hand on his shoulder he jumped. He looked up at me.
“Emma what were you thinking when the cop closed the door and I told you to look at Viper’s tank?” How did he know that I was dreaming? I sat down next to Ian. Kyle and Keith were staring at me.
“How did you know I was just dreaming?” He smiled.
“I have vibes when you do. I pretty much look through the future when you’re dreaming. I don’t know why but it just comes naturally to me.” This made perfect sense, a connection between brother and sister. A perfect plan was beginning to form in my head. I looked at the time; the police would be here in 25 minutes. We were running out of time.

“Never mind that right now. We have to get going right now.” I walked out of the room with them staring after me. I didn’t here anyone move. I stopped, where was the luggage? I turned around and went back to them.
“Where is the l—” I stopped mid in my question. What I heard froze me in place.
Time was up.
Time to turn myself in. No. I was not going to jail innocent. No body was. The sirens were getting closer. We have to act quickly. My eyes jumped from one face to another. They didn’t move. They gave no signs of hearing the sirens.
“We’re out of time.” The words barely came out as a whisper.
“What?” Kyle was up looking confused. His face cold and unreadable. Keith looked out the window. All color drained from his face, cold, white, lifeless. A face that belonged to a corpse.
“They’re coming. They’re coming! Go to the cars! Grab everything that you can!” Yes, Keith knew what was happening. I ran toward Viper’s tank. I tried to pick it up. It was too heavy. Ian knew what I was doing and came over and helped. We carried it out to the garage. I walked in behind Kyle. 3 Cars occupied the whole thing. The blue Mustang was the one farthest from me, the black Lamborghini was in the middle, and the yellow Porsche was first. I walked over to the Porsche. I let my hand glide across the glossy hood.

I stared into the spotless window. I saw myself staring back at me. I moved onto the Lamborghini. Keith was in the driver’s seat starting the car. The Porsche roared to life next to me. I jumped. Turning my head to see Kyle starting the car. Ian was over at the Mustang without Viper. I looked back at Keith who was now strapping in Viper’s tank.

This was my cue to get into the car that I would be driving. Driving away from the cops, now that I’m a so-called criminal. I fumbled my pockets for the keys, like they would just magically appear out of thin air. A clinking noise was coming from next to me. I turned my head to see Ian holding the keys out to me. “Oh.” I smiled sheepishly. I grabbed the keys and went to the driver’s side of the car.

Before I could start the car Kyle was by my window. I started the glorious car of my dreams and rolled down the window.
“Okay, you see this button right there.” He pointed at a small red button. “This button connects all of the cars. It pops out a GPS and it is a small cell phone. Kind of like a blue tooth headset but you don’t have to put the earpiece into your ear. Just talk basically.” He gave a half-hearted laugh.

I nodded my head like I understood. But he wasn’t convinced.
“Go head and hit the button you’ll see what I mean by connection.” He waited for me to. I hesitated a little. I let my finger fumble to find it. Without thinking I pushed it. A GPs screen flipped out of the dashboard. I saw 3 dots on the screen that were lined up.

“The blue dot is you, the black one is Keith, and the yellow one is me and Ian.” I stared at the dots. I would definitely keep my eye on the yellow one. “Um Kyle not to be a pusher or anything but the cops are coming, fast.” Keith’s voice came from nowhere. Now I knew what Kyle was talking about the talking thing.
“Okay the red dots are the police. Stay clear of them. And the green strips are blocks.”
“What are the orange dots?”
“Those are other cars.” He smiled a smile that took up most of his face. But I could see no humor in it.
“Everything is going to be okay Kyle. Just have a little faith in me. I know what I am doing.”
“I hope you’re right Emma.” Ian’s voice was coming from nowhere. I looked over to see him staring out the passenger window of the shiny Porsche. I rolled my eyes. Kyle walked away and went to his car. The garage door opened. One by one we all raced onto the street. Kyle and Ian were first, then me, and then Keith. Even though this was my second time driving the mustang I felt like I’ve driven it forever.

“Okay. So where are we heading?” There was no curiosity in Keith’s voice. Just wanting to know. I was getting nervous. I was gripping the steering wheel to tight. I could feel sweat rolling down my face. I was remembering what I saw. The motel, the cops, viper, and what I was about to do with viper. No one knew the answer to that.
“Anywhere but here.” Everyone agreed with that.
“What about Indiana?” It got quiet. I could tell that they were thinking about it. We weaved in and out of a few cars before anyone spoke.
“How far is it from here?” I mumbled way to low for anyone to here.
“I have a friend up there. We could go and visit him. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. It’s a good 11 hours from here.” Ian must have visited that friend before. How else would he have known? I heard a lot of beeping noises then. “Destination set.” Came from the GPS system. I looked at it and it showed a map of how to get there.
“So if someone puts in a destination it automatically sets it for all of them?” I was so creped out about this. But it was cool.
“Yes it was one of my ideas.” Ian was so smug about that. I didn’t need to look at his face to tell. The tone in his voice was enough. I snickered to myself.
“Who tricked out these cars?” That has been bugging me for a while. I know for a fact that they didn’t come this way.
“Um, well, me and Keith worked on them. But Ian cam up with all the features. Pretty cool huh?”
“Very.” It stayed quiet after that. The sun was setting. The sky was full of color and life. Yellow mixed with the orange, Orange with the red, Red with the purple, purple with the horizon. It was so beautiful. I have never seen anything like it before. The way all the colors molded together. I sighed a deep, long sigh. This will probably be the last time I would be able to watch the sunset.

I would miss Florida and its warmth it has brought me over the years. I would be on the run for as long I can be. How long would that be? Would they catch me and kill me? Or Ian? I shuddered at the thought. We wove in and out of cars for the longest time. I could tell that we were on the high way. The green forest surrounding me got thicker and thicker with the night. Pretty soon the night swallowed the forest. Leaving it all pitch black.

I have never driven on the high way before. I was even more nervous than before. “Um guys maybe we can find a hotel to stay for the night. This is getting a little bit difficult for me.” I heard a disappointing sigh.
“Ok I guess we could.” Keith was unhappy that I mentioned it. Maybe he was hoping that we could drive for a few more hours.
“Yea I agree with Emma. Ian is falling asleep.” I heard a soft snore from Kyle’s car. Ian was asleep but not deep into slumber.
“Where would we stop at with out getting noticed at all?” Everyone was deep into thought. But I was finding it hard to keep my eyelids open.
“I don’t know but it better be real soon.” I yawned an enormous yawn. We passed a sign that had a lot of hotels. We turned on the next exit. We passed Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn, Days Inn, Hamilton Inn, and Park Way Inn. I scanned the parking lot of all the Inn’s. The one that was less crowded was the Park Way Inn. There were only 2 cars in the whole entire lot.
“Hey lets try the Park Way Inn.” One by One we all drove into the lot. We got out and stood there for a while. I looked at the cars. They stood out like brand new cars in a junkyard of rusty old cars. That was going to be a problem.
“Crap.” Everyone turned to look at me. “Do we have any car covers?”
“Why?” Everyone spoke at the same time.
“Because compared to the other cars, we stand out. The police would tell where we are in no time if they saw the cars. We need to hide them.” They exchanged glances.
“Oh crap. You’re right.” Keith let his head fall back. He put his hands on his face and just stood there. Kyle was deep into thought and Ian was leaning on Kyle’s arm trying to stay awake. I could tell by the way they were acting that we didn’t have anything to cover the cars up. I moaned and let my head fall back.
“Unless…” Kyle shook Ian to wake him up and walked to the side where there was a lot of dirt. He bent down and picked up a hand full of dirt. He let it fall slowly through his fingers. He kept doing that for a long time. He stopped and looked at his hand.

I slowly walked towards him with curiosity. He grabbed a hand full stood up and walked toward us. I stopped. He walked past me and to the cars. He threw the sand at the Porsche. I could see a big dirt spot on the side where it hit. I then under stood what he was doing. Disguising the cars and blending them in with the others. I ran to the dirt and did the same thing but to the Mustang.

“Of course.” I heard Keith whisper these words very quietly but I could still here him. All of us were soon doing the same thing. Pretty soon the cars were no longer shiny or clean. Kyle was a genius. I smiled and we walked into the motel. The lobby was plain. An artificial plant was in a corner; there were torn sitting chairs on the walls. There was a big circular rug in the middle. I came to a stop at the lady behind the check in counter. She was kind of old but not that old. She had gray hairs but her face seemed so young. She looked up.
“Can I help you?”

“Yes, we need two rooms next to each other.” Keith smiled a breath-taking smile. The lady smiled back and turned around. When she turned back around she was carrying 3 things, 2 keys and a thin folder.
“Okay I just need you to sign this and you’re set.” She handed him a pen and walked away with the keys. Keith hesitated; his hand was shaking. The lady came back over with a frown on here face.
“Is there something wrong dear?”
“Um, no ma’am. I’m just… admiring the lobby.” He looked around to make his story true. With out another word he signed his name. The lady smiled and gave him the keys. I grabbed a map of the place and walked away. I was half way around the corner when the guys started to follow me. Why did they take so long?

I grabbed a key from Keith and looked at the number, 306. Of course we would be the farthest away from the cars. I could feel their eyes on my back. Soon I wasn’t at the motel. I was on the road behind the wheel a mustang.

But not the one I’ve been driving. This one was an old 1980 mustang. It was midnight blue with 2 thick pure white stripes going down on the car. I was in a small town. I drove by aging stores that weren’t very popular. I came to an intersection and stopped. I looked over next to me and saw Keith lying next to me. Or at least I think it was Keith. It also looked like Kyle, but then again it didn’t. Over one of the eyes was a faded pink line. I don’t remember either of them having that. He was wounded; I could see blood trickling throw his fingers.

I moved his hand and I gagged. On his side was a deep gash. The smell of blood was so overwhelming that it brought me back to the present. I was sitting against the wall on the floor with my head on my knees. Kyle, Keith, and Ian were all crowded around me. I looked at their faces one by one. Kyle and Keith both had a hard mask composed on their faces. I couldn’t tell them apart for the first time. Ian was the one that scared me. His face was of fear and shock.

He knew what I saw and was terrified just like me. Ian was breathing heavily. I could see that his face was turning red. A tear fell from his eye. I whipped it away.

“Please tell me that that’s not going to happen.” I looked away. “No! It can’t! Please Emma don’t let it be true” His voice cracked and he started to cry. “I’m sorry Ian.” I didn’t look at him. He got up and ran off.
“Ian wait.” Kyle got up and ran after him. I stared at Keith wanting to tell him but I didn’t want to scare him.
“What did you see Emma?” I didn’t look at him. He took my face into his hands at made me look at him.
“Nothing.” I pulled my face away, got up and walked away. Leaving him kneeling on the floor. I was heading toward the lobby. I yanked the door out of my way and walked to the mustang.

I unlocked the backseat door and got in. I crawled in and formed into a ball. I locked the door and sobbed. Not to long after I heard a tap on the window. I looked up. But I couldn’t see much. Tears were blurring my vision. I reached up and let my hands search for the lock. I found it and let my arm go limb.

“Do you mind if I join you?” It was Keith. I shook my head. I didn’t know how he was going to fit back here. I was taking up the whole seat. He lifted my back up and he slid in under me. Then he was trying to pull me into his lap. I let my whole body go limb. Somehow he managed to get me on his lap. I curled back into a ball and hid my face into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me.

“Okay. What is all this about? Ian is upset and won’t tell us a thing.” I didn’t say anything. Part of the reason was that I couldn’t I was sobbing so hard. Nothing could get out but sobs. “Okay. I’ll just wait until you’re done.” He did. I don’t know how long that took. It seemed hours until I was able to stop. I looked at my phone. It only took me a few minutes.

“You done?” I nodded. I took my face out of his shoulder. He looked at me and grinned. He took his finger and dried my face some. I was breathing heavily. But it passed soon, to soon. I didn’t want to tell him. But he has a right to know. Right? I thought he did anyways. I took a deep breath. “You sure you want me to tell you? It’s pretty bad.” He nodded slowly. I took another deep breath.

“Okay. I was driving a 1980 mustang. I came to a stoplight and looked at the passenger side. I saw you. But he looked like Kyle. But he didn’t look like him either in someway. So I don’t know if it’s you or Kyle or someone else that looks like you. Anyways you or Kyle or who ever, was bleeding and it looked like dying.” I paused. Keith was like a boulder. He was extremely stiff and cold. I started to move my hand up and down his arm to make him somewhat warm.

“It looked like the person was stabbed in the side. It was a deep gash. And by the color of the face a lot of blood was lost. And that’s it.” He was so stiff he didn’t feel real. After some time he finally spoke.
“What did this person look like next to you?” his voice sounded shocked and worried. I thought long and hard. “Um, he had shorter hair than you, the same color. Not very muscular like you and Kyle. And that’s all I can remember.” I looked up at him. A tear was falling from his face. I tried to whip it away but he moved his head away.

“Did he have a scare over his left eye?” his voice was cracked and nervous. I tried really hard to remember such a small detail. I nodded. Keith closed his eyes and tried really hard not to cry. But he wasn’t succeeding. I crawled out of his lap and onto the next seat. I was trying to get him to look at me. He tried to turn the other way but I caught his face.

“Keith tell me what is going on.” Now tears were beginning to form in my eyes too. He drew a deep breath and took liberty on me. “That wasn’t me or Kyle. It was Kris.” Now I was REALLY confused. “Who’s Kris?” He freed his face out of my hand and turned away.

“He is the youngest. He is my other twin brother. I’m the oldest, and Kyle is the middle child.” I was in complete shock. “We haven’t heard from Kris in years. And now all of a sudden he comes into your dreams and is going to die. What a great way to have a family reunion.” He snorted and shook his head. Silence fell between us. The only noise was coming from out side, crickets and frogs.

“Wait. There are 3 of you?” he shook his head. Great. Another awkward silence filled the air. I yawned a huge yawn. I hadn’t realized how tired I was until now. I was barely staying awake now. My eyelids felt heavy. I rested my head on Keith’s shoulder and that is the last thing I remembered.

I had a dreamless night. It was so peaceful. There was something really soft and warm under my head. I rubbed my cheek on it and rolled over. My eyes fluttered open. But I was still so tired. I was in a bed. Keith must have carried me in. Again with people carrying me.

I looked at the clock. It was 3:17am. I looked over to the bed next to mine. I couldn’t tell who it was. I sort of didn’t care either. I rolled back over and instantly fell back asleep. I did have a dream this time. But it was nothing bad. There were just 3 roads in front of me. Trees and shrubs separated the 3 roads. To my left was Keith standing in the middle of the road. He was waiting.

I looked in front of me. Kyle was standing there. Waiting too. What was going on? I shakily turned to my right to the other path. There was a dark figure standing there. The path had thick fog going through it. I stepped towards that road.

When I was in reach of the mysterious figure the alarm clock went off. I woke up stiff. I groaned and rolled over. I grabbed a pillow and put it on top of my head to try and muffle the sound out. The alarm stopped. I sighed and closed my eyes. I was getting ready to slip under into the dream world when someone jumped on my bed. “Wake up Emma. We have to leave.” That someone would be Ian. I groaned and rolled over to face Ian. “What time is it?”
“5am.” I groaned even louder. I only fell back asleep for about 2 hours. There was soft knock at the door. Ian jumped off my bed and opened it. The cool air of the early morning flew in. I shivered and curled up even more into my blankets of warmth. The door closed and I became warmer. I relaxed some. Then I was blinded. Someone had taken the pillow off my face and turned the lights on. I sat up and demanded who did that. But something stopped me, or someone I should say. I was totally not ready for this, and completely surprised.
It was Annabelle.
“I’m dreaming. I must be dreaming.” Annabelle giggled; it was very annoying at this time in the morning.
“No you’re awake. She knocked on our door and asked where you were.” Kyle shrugged like it was no big deal. “Yea and she scared the crap out of us also.” Keith was a little annoyed with her. He looked at her and she smiled and blushed. Then she started to twirl her hair. A sign that she was flirting. Great. And unexpectedly Keith returned her smile in a flirting way also. Great.

“Okay so why are you here?” I folded my arms across my chest and stared her down. She fidgeted with her fingers and looked down like they were interesting all of a sudden.
“Well, everyone was worried about you. So I got my brother and we sort of followed you here.” She gave me a guilty smile. Something triggered an old memory of mine.

“Kris.” I whispered the name. Everyone looked at me. Keith surprised. Ian, Kyle, and Annabelle were confused. My eyes were wide. I felt them change. My eyes haven’t changed in what seems like forever. “Yea Kris, my brother. What about him?” I looked at Keith. He was shaking. In a stern voice he spoke. “Is he here with you right now?” Annabelle turned to him. “Yea he’s out in the car waiting. You know you look a lot like Kris. It’s unreal.” She turned to Kyle. “So do you.” Then she turned to me, then back at Keith and back at Kyle. “Is there something I’m not getting?” Just then there was a knock on the door. We all jumped.

I got up and opened the door. I wasn’t really shocked by who it was. It was Kris. The chill of the crisp morning air made me shiver. I looked down and realized that I was wearing shorts and a tank top. How did I get into this? Seeing Kris unharmed made me want to hug him. I was feeling tears forming in my eyes. I blinked my eyes to stop them from spilling over. “Kris.” My voice was weak. Barely a whisper. He smiled at the sound of his name. “Emma. It’s always good to see you.” He acted like nothing was wrong. Like I wasn’t the most wanted person in Florida or maybe even America.

“Kris.” Keith said his name like he was the enemy. Kris peered over my shoulder (which wasn’t that hard for him to do. He was over 6ft.) and looked at Keith. The smile vanished from Kris’s face. “Um Kris, why don’t you come on in and take a seat.” I stepped aside for him but instead he grabbed my arm and pulled me outside and closed the door. It was freezing out here.

“What are we doing out here? It’s freezing.” Kris shrugged out of his jacket and draped it on my shoulders. I grabbed it and wrapped it around me. A wonderful smell came from the jacket. It smelled like the mountains and rain.

“I don’t know why we are out here. I panicked so I grabbed you and went out here.” I was confused. Why did he panic? “Why did you panic?” he looked guiltily down at his feet and shifted from one foot to the other. “Well once my dad was put into jail I sort of left them. I packed as much of my things I could carry and left. I walked about 10 miles before I found Annabelle.” He paused, still looking down. “She was a small little thing when she was younger. Well she was playing in the street and a car was going to fast. And lost control. And you can tell what is going to happen next.” He stopped and was still.
“You saved her.”
“I saved her. Her parents were very grateful and we just started talking. And the whole time Annabelle would not let go of me. They asked where I was going. I told them that I was heading nowhere in particular. They asked why, so I told them. They told me that I could stay with them for now. I said no I couldn’t. They said if it wasn’t for me Annabelle would have been dead and it would be a burden if they didn’t repay me somehow. So I stayed with them.

“And I got a job to help pay the bills. They didn’t want it so I said that it would be a burden if I didn’t repay them back somehow. So they kindly took the money. And I sort of never left. And I started to call them mom and dad. And I have never spoken to my brothers or anyone from my family since I left.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. But I could see the hurt in his eyes.

I walked over to him and hugged him to try and make him feel better. He hugged me back. He sniffled a little but he stopped. I released him and he released me. He went back to looking at the ground. “You know you have to face them now don’t you.” I said looking at the ground with him. He looked at me, finally.

“Right now?” I nodded. He moaned. I walked behind him and pushed him in. he wasn’t fighting that much. I just had to tickle him at times when he stopped. We made it in and my whole body was numb. The warmth was melting away the coldness. I took off Kris’s jacket and gave it back to him. Everyone was staring at us.

Kyle looked hurt, Ian wasn’t really paying attention, Keith was furious, and Annabelle just giggled. I sat back on my bed and got under the covers. It was quarter to 6am. Was that it? It seems like it has been longer than that. No one spoke for along time. “I’m going to take a shower.” I got out of the bed and headed toward the bathroom. I passed Kyle and Keith. They looked upset. I’d have to deal with them later. I searched for a suitcase that had my stuff in it.

I took out a pair of jeans and one of my favorite peace shirt. I got undressed and into the shower. I let the hot water run and I just stood there. It felt so good on my cold skin. I let the water numb my body. Mixed emotions filled me. I could feel my eyes changing every few seconds. My head started to hurt. After a good ten minutes I got out. I heard them talking, loudly I might add. I was slowly getting into my jeans when I heard a door slam.
I quickly put my shirt, brushed my hair and got out of the bathroom.
Kris was gone

Annabelle was sitting on my bed still. Looking at her hands. I looked at Keith; he was sitting in a chair with his head in his hands. Kyle and Ian were still looking at the door. I grabbed my jacket and ran out the door. Everything was still dark. The street lamps casted an orange glow here and there. Frost was on the ground. It was hard for me to run and keep my balance.

I finally found Kris. He was in his bright cherry red 2000 Chevy pickup truck. He was lying in the bed of the truck. I jumped in and laid next to him. I was gazing at the stars. It reminded me of the time I was gazing at the stars with Kyle on Tuesday. And now it was Thursday, or maybe Friday. I didn’t know and I didn’t care. All I knew was that I have a brother and 3 twin brothers that are all so cute. But 2 are against the 1. So now there will be a feud of the brothers. And on top of that the one brother was going to get hurt and possibly die. And this all happened within a few days.

Kris sighed. “I don’t think Keith will ever forgive me. Kyle has, but Keith has always been stubborn. God why did this have to happen? Life would have been so much easier if I had normal parents.” I turned and looked at him. “You know that if your father wasn’t put in jail then you would have never saved Annabelle from being runned over. And Ian and I would probably be in jail right now. And I probably would have never met Ian. Actually I would probably be in Miami hating my life. And I would have never met you, Kyle, or Keith. And a lot of other things.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “You’re a hero Kris. No one can take that away. Not even Keith.” He shrugged my hand off, turned, and smiled at me. “C’mon lets go talk to them.” I smiled back.

We got out of the truck and walked back to the room. It was a lot easier for me to walk without falling. The sun was already beginning to come up. We had to hurry and leave. But what will happen to Annabelle and Kris. Surely they would come because Kris was going to die, maybe. So did that mean that they had to come with us? But if they don’t would they turn us in?

I was about to open the door when it opened from the inside. Kyle was carrying luggage closely followed by Keith and Ian. Both of them were carrying luggage. Keith walked pass Kyle and me and threw a luggage at Kris. He caught it and looked at it. Keith smiled. “Well since you came here and you’re stuck with us you have to carry something too.” Keith started to laugh. And everyone joined in. I waited for them to go so I could hang back with Annabelle but I didn’t see her. I looked in the room and saw her still sitting on my bed looking at her hands.

I walked over to her and sat next to her. I saw a tear drop from her face. She knew. I put my arm around her and she buried her face into my shoulder. I could feel the tears seeping through my shirt. She looked up at me. Her face was red, her eyes were puffy, and she had black streaks going down her face along with tears.
“It’s going to be ok Anna.” She took a deep breath and hiccupped.
“No its not. Kris is going to die. And there is nothing anyone can do about it.” She sobbed even harder. “Even though he’s not related to me, I still love him like my own brother.” She hiccupped again. I sighed, how was I going to fix this?

“Annabelle, I promise that I will try to keep him safe, but I’m going to need your help with this. Watch his every move. And if I have anymore dreams about him I will try my very best to make them good.” I could feel my eyes changing. But it wasn’t just one color; it was multiple. Annabelle shook her head and was amazed by my eyes. We laughed.

Something about Annabelle made me think about earth. About how nice and green and soft it can be but it can also be disastrous and full of danger. She was a pure Taurus. She was such a shy, earthy person. And I am a pure Libra. Always trying to keep everything balance and everyone happy. We walked back to the guys arm in arm. Kris was leaning against his Chevy. Keith was finishing putting luggage in the Porsche. Ian was in the Porsche waiting for Kyle. Who was leaning against the Mustang.

Annabelle stopped at the sight of her brother. She turned to me. Her eyes searching hungrily for some help. I sighed. This is going to be hard for her.
“Okay Annabelle, just go over there and give him a hug and just talk to him. Maybe he could calm you down.” A smiled stretched across my face. And Annabelle just snorted. She smiled and slowly walked toward her brother. She stopped half way and looked at me unsure. I nodded and smiled. She ran over there and hugged her brother. A true Libra. I laughed to myself and walked over to Kyle.

“So are you ready?” Kyle had his arms folded across his chest smiling.
“Do I have a choice?” I asked annoyed because I will never be ready. He chuckled. “No you don’t.” I sighed.
“Then I guess I am.” I got in the drivers seat and started the car. I heard the Lamborghini start and the Porsche started. And to my surprise the Chevy started. I looked back to them. Then my eyes shifted to the GPS. There was a red dot on the screen.
The Chevy.
“So they decided to tag along.” Kyle smiled and tapped the top of the car and walked away to the Porsche.
“Don’t act so surprised Emma.” Annabelle had figured out the communication between the cars. I could here Ian laughing.
“Hey Keith can you talk to any car you want without everyone else hearing you?” I was being smug.
“Um yea, just say the car or person you want to talk to. Why?”
“Just wandering.” I said this in an evil tone. We pulled out of the motel and drove to the inner state. Kyle was in front, then Kris, then me, and last but not least Keith. As I drove I was thinking about a report I did a few years ago. It was about the Zodiac signs. I can still remember it line from line.

‘Have you ever thought about the Greek signs, or as most people know them as the Zodiac signs. Every sign has a purpose in life; therefore everyone has a purpose to be alive and there. One person could throw the whole universe off balance. All zodiac signs follow one of the elements: Earth, Water, air, and fire. Aquarius is the one who starts the new world. Breathing life and air into the universe. Pisces are the ones that create paths for us to take, the choice giver. The one that gives us multiple streams and rivers for us to decide our future.

Aries are the ones that give life an adventuring edge. They will always be there to guide your way and keep you safe and warm no matter what. Taurus are the ones that gives everyone secrecy and shyness in some ways. But they have a danger side to them. They are the ones that are so close to earth. Gemini’s are the ones that keep everyone on the go and moving. They are always wanting to do something and looking for new things to try out. They keep the air flowing around and around.

Cancer’s are like strong currents in the water. They can go one-way or the other. Compassionate and caring with friends, family and lovers. Yet they can be real tough with their jealous remarks and ever changing moods. But they are the ones that keep us alert for danger and our enemies. Leo’s bring the best out of people. They stay positive and they can get a good laugh out of any bad wild fires. They keep people light on their feet. Virgo’s love to help others anyway possible. They try keeping everyone healthy and happy. They are such earthy people; anyone will be lucky to have Virgo as a friend.

Libra’s are the ones that keep everything in balance. Even though they daydream and get distracted a lot, they always know what to do in bad situations. They always have a guiding breeze to help you. Passion, desire, and power are nothing but Scorpios. Scorpio’s are the oldest and wisest souls every. They mainly have all the answers. They bring us knowledge and understanding. They are the perfect water flow.

Sagittarius is the ones that follow their dreams. They go for their goals and don’t stop until they have reached those goals. They help everyone reach their goals. They have a sense of adventure and a love for life. They are the ultimate fire keepers. Capricorn can be two different people. The first one is always rising higher to the top, never stopping. The second one is a little bit more of an adventurer. But they remain in a small domain. They are truly from earth.’ That was my favorite report ever. It got me thinking. What are everyone else’s signs? We have a Taurus and a Libra; an earth and an air.
“To Kyle and Ian.” After I said their names I heard a static noise.
“What’s up Em?” it was Ian.
“I was just wandering what your zodiac sign was? And Kyle’s.” silence fell over the two cars.
“Okay? Um I’m a Pisces and Kyle is an Aries. Why?” curiosity clung to his voice.
“I was just wandering, thanks. Hey Kyle how do I go back to all the cars?”
“Just say all the cars or everyone’s names.” He said this slowly like I was dumb. But that was really simple too.
“Okay thanks.” Ok so we have three Aries, one Taurus, one Libra, and one Pisces. So three fire, one earth, one air, and one water. So we had three people to show us the way and keep us having an adventure. One person to keep us close to earth and can tell who has lost it. One person to keep everyone in balance and stop them from ripping each other’s heads off. And one person that gives us the choices to where to go.

It started to rain. I love the rain. There is just something about it that makes me want to go out there and just stand in it. I love how it has that fresh smell to it. I looked at the sky; it was a light gray. But I looked behind and it was so black that it looked blue.

This was not going to be good. I was going to have to drive in a massive thunderstorm. A squiggly, white line slashed threw the angry sky. I sighed deeply. This was going to be on long day. Crack. Another white line broke across the sky. The storm was moving in fast. I began to drive faster. Thud. A large chunk of something fell from the sky and hit the top of the mustang.

Oh great hail. There was no way I was going to drive in hail!
“Kyle we need to find a place to stop at, again. We got hail, which is never good.” Kyle sighed, or at least I think it was Kyle.
“No Emma we are fine just keep going.” Just then a couple of storm chasers came past us going into the storm. My breathing became heavy.
“Kyle there is going to be a tornado! We need to stop and take cover!” Things got so bad out side that I couldn’t see anything out my window.
“Kyle I cant see a THING!” This was Kris now. I heard a screeching noise outside the car. I looked out my rearview mirror and was horrified. There was a huge tornado coming our way. I sped up. I went past Kris and Kyle and took the lead.
“Oh my god! Tornado! We have to get off this road NOW!” still Kris. I could here Annabelle crying in the background. I wanted to cry too.

This suddenly became a life or death. Where I was it wasn’t as bad as back there. It was actually clear. The sun was still rising; the sky was going from fire red, to creamy orange, to a light sky blue; with big white puffy clouds. Then you look back and it was a horror film. I was going somewhat over a hundred miles an hour. It stopped raining and there was no hail. I looked back and I was watching the tornado evaporate back into the clouds.

But it wasn’t over. It was getting stronger. We had to find shelter. And soon.
“Take this next exit and go to the right.” Ian said with determination. He was choosing a path for us. I turned off onto the next exit and went right. There was a big red brick building. You couldn’t miss it. It had a sign that said shelter. The sign was old and the red and white paint (the red paint was covering the whole sign, and the white paint was the words.) was fading and peeling off it. I drove fast to a car garage. I parked in the middle of the first floor. I quickly got out and watched everyone else pull in and park. Once they were all out I took off for the building towing Ian behind me. The wind was picking up now. A branch from an oak tree came flying toward us on the left. I tried to jump out of the way before it hit me, but a branch hit my face.

It slashed me from the corner of my left eye to under my nose. It was a deep gash. I could feel the blood trickling down my face and into my mouth. I ignored it and kept running. I was cautious now. Ian pulled on my arm and I stopped. A big black tire came and rolled right in front of us. Once it was gone, I looked around I took off again. I could feel Ian slowing down. So I pulled his arm even more. We finally made it. I threw open the door and practically threw Ian in the building. The cut was beginning to sting like crazy. I closed my eyes tightly, sucked it up ad turned around to look for the others.

I could feel the blood dripping down my chin and onto the pavement. I put my hand to my face and could feel the wet stickiness. I looked at my hand and it was drenched in deep scarlet. I shook my hand trying to get it off. Big thick drops flew everywhere. But my hand was stained with it. I whipped my hand on my jeans. By the time I got most of it off Kyle, Keith, Kris, and Annabelle showed up. Annabelle was covering her mouth and breathing in deeply. Kris took her inside and glanced at me with sorry in his eyes. I smiled and nodded.

Keith shook his head and went inside. Kyle reached out about to touch my face and pulled his hand back. Then he did something I wasn’t expecting. He took off his shirt and started to dab my face with it. I winced at him touching my face. I didn’t realize how bad it hurt until now.

He stopped when I winced. He must have thought I didn’t like it when he touched me. I winced at that thought. He sighed.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” He shook his head and looked down. I put my hand on his shoulder.
“I wasn’t wincing because of you. I’m wincing because it hurts.” He looked up. I could see his eyes out of his shaggy hair that was covering most of his eyes.

His beautiful brown eyes. I moved his hair out of the way so I could look at them better. He started to damp my face again. I was trying not to wince this time but I wasn’t succeeding. So I just smiled at the same time. Then the door flew open, I looked over my shoulder to find that Ian came out. His caramel hair being tossed around by the powerful wind. And this reminded me that there was a tornado coming. I sucked in a breath and looked over Kyle’s shoulder.
“C’mon guys! Get in.” Ian yelled over the roaring wind. And turned around to go inside.

I saw a huge branch that was bigger than my leg coming straight for us. Kyle and I moved out of the way, and I soared right passed us. But it was heading for Ian and he still had no idea.
“Ian watch out!” I warned him and he turned around. His eyes got huge, they turned brown, the color of fear. He froze in place. I started to run toward him but I wasn’t fast enough. The branch hit his stomach and soared him to the wall. It was a loud bang when his back hit the wall. I ran over there screaming my head off. I got to him and yanked the branch off. It was heavy. Kyle came and helped me.

I immediately saw blood seeping through his shirt. I lifted it up and was horrified. Across his whole stomach was a cut. I don’t know how deep but it was bleeding like crazy. I took Kyle’s shirt and held it to the wound. Kyle placed his hand on the shirt and I removed mine to check Ian’s back and head. I leaned him forward a little afraid that I would hurt him even more. I checked his head first. I ran my fingers through his hair and felt something wet. I pulled my hand back and saw blood. It wasn’t a lot but still. I started to run my hand through again so that I could find the spot and look at it.

I found the same wet, sticky spot and looked at it. It wasn’t bad. Just a small bump but I didn’t see any blood. I took my hand back and looked at it. I had a cut on my wrist. It was bleeding like crazy. God, this just isn’t my week. I wiped my hand on my jeans and went to look at his back. I lifted his shirt up and sighed. He only has massive bruises, thank god. A good portion of his back was black, blue and a sickly yellow. He was fine, but unconscious.
“How is it?” My head snapped up. Surprised to hear Kyle speak.
“He’s okay. Just some massive bruises and a bump on the head. Kyle exhaled in relief. He picked him up and we went inside, finally. I heard people talking. I hope none of them would recognize us. Come to think of it I had no idea where we are. I looked around. But I really couldn’t see anything. It was so dark in here.

I could only see flashlights and candles everywhere. What I could make out was that there weren’t that many people here, good. There was an elderly couple sitting on chairs on the left wall. A small table was between them with a candle on it with some food. Some people were on the ground sleeping or talking. One thing that I noted was that there aren’t any windows. And the room was small it could hold maybe 150 people. Surprisingly it felt good in here. It wasn’t hot and it wasn’t cold. In the far right corner there were mats, mattresses, pillows, and blankets. And next to them were 2 flashlights. One on both sides.

I turned to look at the front and in the left corner were food, plates, water, and plastic utensils. With a big flashlight. It must have been a spotlight. On the right wall there was a fire extinguisher, first aid kit, and 3 tall stacks of what looked like batteries. I counted 12 people including my group, this is good. My wrist started to sting, great. I looked in the middle because that is where it is the brightest. I could see Keith, Kris, and Annabelle sitting on some mats talking to two males and one female. Annabelle’s head snapped up and gasped. And everyone else from the little circle looked up. The female got up and went to the mats and brought one over and laid it down.

Kyle walked over and gently put him down. And the female carefully lifted his head up and put a pillow under his head.
“Is he okay?” one of the men asked. He really did sound concerned.
“Yes, but he needs a doctor to look at his stomach. The cut doesn’t look too bad. And his back has bruises everywhere.” He simply nodded, got up, and went to grab the first aid kit. I looked at the woman confused. She smiled.
“That’s my husband, he’s a doctor. His name is Charlie. And I’m April. Hi.” April was a lovely woman. She has silver hair that was almost to her waist. She had gray eyes that were shaped like olives. Her face was slightly round. And she had high cheekbones. She was a pure angel. I could see the halo around her head.
“Hi, I’m Emma. And this is my brother Ian.” I gave her a small wave. I heard a gasp behind me. I turned my head around to find a young girl that is maybe 14 staring at me, oh god.
“I know who you are!” her voice was all excited like she was happy to see me. I like I was a celebrity. Her voice carried throughout the whole room. The people that were sleeping groaned and rolled back over. I quickly crawled over to her and clamed my hand on her mouth.
“Shhh! Now I am going to take my hand off of your mouth and I want you to be silent and I want you to go over to the circle. Shake your head yes if you will do what I told you to do.” I paused and waited for her. She nodded in agreement. “And keep your voice down will you. People are sleeping.” She nodded again. I slowly took my hand off her mouth. She didn’t say anything but her eyes were still huge with excitement.

I started to crawl back to the group. She followed quietly and sat next to me. Everyone was looking at us. Except for the woman. She was stroking Ian’s head, weird.
“Ok, now talk quietly Lisa.” The other man spoke. The girl named Lisa nodded.
“Ok. This is Emma Sturnn. The girl that was in all those people minds that said they felt controlled or what ever. And they ended up doing bad things to other people. And this is her brother Ian. He is the one that can go through people’s minds. And every mind they were in, the people said that they could see one of their faces. And now they are on the top most wanted list. And to me personally I think that this is just a big misunderstanding. Am I right?” she turned to me when she said the last few sentences. Everyone was looking at me.
I was in the spotlight. I had to tell them.

I hesitated to answer. I looked at my hands. Then I looked at Ian. The doctor named Charlie was back and cleaning Ian’s wound. April was holding a flashlight over him so that he could see what he was doing. Kris was holding Annabelle. And Annabelle kept wiping her face with some sort of cloth. Keith was over at the mats with Kyle talking in low voices. I sighed.

“Yes. But it’s not what you think it is. See me and my brother Ian we can’t control this. It just happens, it’s uncontrollable. See it’s like, um…” I struggled for words to describe it. Then a loud crackle of thunder struck.
“Weather.” I whispered.
“What? Weather? C’mon Em you can do better than that.” asked someone from behind me. The voice was familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on who it was. I turned around to find Jared walking over.
“Jarred?” I tilted my head. He smiled.
“In the flesh” He held out his hands. I got up and hugged him. He hugged me back.
“It’s good to see you Emma.” He ruffled my hair. I pulled away and tried to put it back.
“Aw c’mon Jared.” I said laughing. He shrugged and walked over to the circle and sat down. I walked back over and ruffled his hair. But it didn’t make it look bad, just better. I pouted. I folded my arms and sat down.
“Um I’m sorry but who are you?” asked Charlie.
“Oh this is one of my best guy friends from home.” I heard Annabelle stop sniffling and she got up.
“Jared!” she flung herself to him and hugged him. He laughed.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as she got up and settled herself next to him.
“Well I was visiting my grandparents and what do you know a tornado was spotted coming this way. So we took cover, which is here. My grandparents are over there.” He nodded his head in the elderly couples direction and continued. “I was asleep and Lisa here woke me up with her yelling.” He turned to her to glare; she blushed and leaned away. “And I heard your name but I didn’t think anything of it because I thought that I was dreaming. Then there was that loud thunder and I heard your voice Emma and I got up. And well you know the rest. But the question is what are you guys doing here?”

So I told him the story. Annabelle was listening in for the first half, the part that she wasn’t there for, and then she was staring off into space. Some of the other people that were sleeping woke up and listened too.

Then I picked back up before Jared came along and interrupted me.
“Like I was saying, we don’t know when it’s going to happen, where it will happen, or who it will happen to. Like I said, its like thunder you can’t control it and you can’t predict it or what will happen.” I shrugged like it was no big deal.

Everyone was staring at me. Kyle and Keith came back over with a couple of mats. I got on one and yawned. I closed my eyes for about 5 minutes then I opened them. People were still watching me. I sighed. Would I ever get some sleep now? I looked at Jared; he turned to the doctor named Charlie.
“Alright everyone, go on about your own business. Let these poor people sleep.” Charlie looked around waiting for them to go. No such luck. I sighed and propped my self on my shoulder. I took my hand and started to move my hair out of my face and stopped. I felt a long jagged line along my cheek and winced at the pain. My cut. I groaned and turned to Charlie.
“Hey Charlie can you look at something for me?” I asked casually like I’d known him all my life.
“Uh, sure.” He came over and knelt in front of me. “What is it you want me to look at?” I moved my hair out of my face this time and turned my cheek toward him so that he could see it.

Even though his face stayed the same hard mask, I still know that it must look terrible. He took his finger and gently followed the cut to under my nose. He asked April to go get him the fog flashlight so that he could see it better. April shined it directly at my face; I had to close my eyes so that I wouldn’t get blinded. He turned my head this way and then back the other way. He signed and released my face. I turned to look at him. He had a sad expression on his face.
“Is it that bad?”
“Well Emma it’s good but it’s bad. The good part is that it isn’t all the way to the bone. The bad news is that it’s still really deep. And you will need stitches. I’m sorry.” Ok so what I’ll get a couple of stitches big deal.
“Um how many will she need?” Kris asked nervously.
“I’m not sure. 7 or 8, maybe more.” Kris winced at that. Charlie was already rummaging through the first aid kit and a black bag.
“Man I’m sorry Emma but that’s going to hurt really badly. I had to get 5 stitches above my left eye and that hurt.” I winced.
“Gees Kris that was such a nice pep talk for her.” Kyle said bitterly. Kris held out his arms and bowed.
“Happy to be of service ma’am.” He straightened back out and snickered back to Annabelle who was talking to some other people I haven’t met yet. But I bet that I would. I started to get up but Charlie pushed me back down.
“Emma I need to get started or it won’t be good.” He had a hurt look on his face. I sighed and laid back down. He brought a needle up and I half jumped back. I hated needles. Jared was behind me stroking my hair and holding my hand. I felt like a little kid, but it felt nice. Kyle was on my right and Keith on my left.
“Emma this is just to numb your face so that you won’t be able to feel anything.” I nodded.
“Wait! What about Ian?” I looked past Keith to look at him. Charlie looked over to.
“I already took care of him.” It was true. Ian was sleeping peacefully. Darn. I was hoping that I was going to have some time before Charlie sticks that needle anywhere near me. I sighed. Looks like I will just have to suck it up and get it over with.
“Oh before I get started there is something I must tell you. What I’m about to do is only temporary. The stitches will only hold long enough for us to go to the hospital and actually do the surgery.” I shot up. There is no WAY that he was going to take me to a hospital! I would for sure be thrown into jail. Along with Ian and possibly everyone else with me. I was not going to let that happen.
“Are you insane? If you take me there they are just going to hand me over to the police! There is no flipping way that you are going to do that! I don’t even care if it will help me. You won’t take me.”

I got up and ran outside. Everything was all calm and still. The sun was coming out; the sky was going from black to gray to sky blue with big, white, puffy clouds. I started to run to the garage to see if the cars were still there. But I couldn’t remember where it was. I took a left then a right and I was in a park. The swing set was tipped backwards, tree limb were scattered across the whole park. Sand was everywhere, trashcans turned over and rolling.

I saw something big and gray off in the distance. It was big enough to be a car garage so I took off running again. I was almost out of the other park entrance when I felt something hit me and tackling me to the wet grass. Oh great either Kyle or Keith found me and caught me, I thought. I rolled over finding myself face to face with Kris. Unexpecting. I would of never have guessed that. I felt my face become hard.
“So let me guess you’re going to drag my butt back there and let them take me to the hospital. Am I right?” A gleam flashed in his jade green eyes. He was still hovering over me when he spoke.
“No. I came after you because doc has something to explain to you about this. He explained it to everyone else. And I was the only one fast enough to come after you. And I was the first one out the door.” He chuckled and sighed.
“Okay so why don’t you just explain it to me while you have me pinned down, for now that is.” I smiled evilly and jokingly. He sighed. Wow does he do that a lot.
“The hospital Charlie was going to take you to was his hospital. He owns it and works there as a regular doctor. So if anyone were going to turn you in he would fire him or her because they wouldn’t know your side of the story.

He is willing to risk his job for you. So now will you go back with me? I’m giving you an option. And by the way you are no where near the cars so this is useless.” He smiled and got off of me and held out his hand. I studied him, sighed and took his hand. He yanked me up like I weighed nothing. I stumbled some and caught myself. He held out his arms wanting a hug but I backed off. I was still not going to trust anyone. I was on a very thin line, waiting for something to happen.

He put his hands down and hurt washed over his face. He turned around and walked away. After a few seconds I followed. It was a quiet walk back to the shelter and it seemed to take forever. But as soon as we came into sight of the place something grabbed me from behind.
“Ok who is it this time, Kyle or Keith?” I started to laugh but then the person threw me on to the ground. I looked around and found Kris on the ground too with two swats on top of him. I kept looking around and a lot more went into the shelter. I hear screaming then a gunshot. The swat pulled me up. He took out his handcuffs and was about to put them on me when I turned around and kicked him in the groin.

He buckled over and I ran to help Kris. I pulled one of them off of him and roundhouse kicked him in the face. He fell to the ground holding his face. But then got back up again. I went to kick him in his groin but he caught my foot and flipped me around. Threw me onto the ground and held me down with his foot.

I knocked his foot off and rolled over some and swept my leg into the back of his knee. He fell forward in front of me and I shoved the palm of my hand into his nose. Then I punched him in his stomach. I ran back over to help Kris but he already had his person down. I ran past him into the shelter.

Everyone was on the ground or on the wall in handcuffs except for one person, April. She smiled with narrowed eyes, directly at me. I stood still. None of this was making sense.
"Emma look out!" I heard Jared’s voice from behind me. Instinct kicked in and I quickly moved to the left. I heard a thud next to me. I looked down to find someone from swat next to me. He grabbed my ankle and i tried to knock me down.

I took my free foot and shoved it onto his face. He still didn’t let go, so I kicked him in the groin. He groaned, let go of my ankle, and went into fetal position. Without warning someone grabbed me from behind. April walked up, hands on her hips. She stopped in front of me.
"You-!" She slapped me before I could finish my sentence. The blow made my cut on my face start to bleed again.
"Why April? I heard Charlie ask. His voice sounded hurt and betrayed. She walked over there. Her hips swaying like she was on a catwalk. Charlie was on the floor with a swat on him. She knelt down so that she could see him better.
"Because I can." She stood up. She started to walk around the room. I searched for Ian. I saw Kyle on the floor not moving, there wasn’t anyone on him. I got a glimpse of Jared’s head against the wall. The little girl was in the corner crying.

There was a swat person trying to calm her down. He had scratch marks on his cheek. I looked at the elderly couple. They were sitting in chairs. 2 swats hovered around them. Kris came in the door with a swat behind him. Keith was on the floor shaking. I saw a swat holding a tazer. Great.
"Where’s Ian?" I asked her. She ignored me. Annabelle got free of her swat and ran over to Keith. She got stopped midway. April’s heels clinked along with her. I was furious.
"Once I heard Emma's 'touching' story I thought to myself 'I would go to jail for just talking to you' so while you ran off God knows where, I slipped out and made a call. And for a bonus, I got $10,000 reward." She smiled. I was so disgusted by her. I felt something cold and smooth on the swat person. I thought nothing of it at first. But as my hand glided over it again, it was sharp and it slightly cut me. It was a knife. I pulled it out and stabbed the swat in the leg. He released me and fell to the ground. April turned around and i punched her. She fell to the ground holding her nose.
"What the-" She didn’t finish her sentence. I was on top of her holding the knife to her throat. The swat people just stood there not sure what to do.
"You guys make one move and I swear I'll shove it through her stomach." I threatened, shaky handed and a hard face.
"Charlie is right there. I can just have him fix me till I can get to the hospital." She smiled. I slapped her.
"How about the neck?" I dared.
"Nope." She popped her "p". She was getting cocky. I narrowed my eyes.
"What about the neck, stomach, and the heart?" Her smile faded quickly.
"You wouldn’t dare." She said slightly shaky.
"You wanna bet? I've killed people in my dreams before. I didn’t even want to; I technically didn’t even do it. But I’m getting chased down anyway. So if I’m going to jail I might as well do something that is actually worth going to jail. So why not kill you? No one likes a traitor. Now tell me, where is Ian?" She didn’t answer. I put a small cut on her cheek. She screamed.
"TELL ME!" I screamed at her, holding the knife back to her throat more determined. She was breathing deeply. A flash of fear glinted in her eyes. I felt my eyes change colors.
"He went to the hospital. I had a few swat people take him." I heard a groan near the door. Kyle was stirring some. The next few minutes went by in a blur. Some how Kris got free from his swat and was rushing this way.

I hear a clinking noise. April grabbed the knife from me and threw me off of her. Kris was in front of us now. She lunged for him but he danced out of the way. I turned around to run when I kicked something. I looked down to find keys. I picked them up and ran to the closest doors. Kris was right next to me. I hear the doors open up behind us. I looked over my shoulder to find a gun pointed at us. April still clutched the knife. I looked at the keys and hit the alarm on it. The car was a few blocks away.

I turned around just in time to see April throw the knife and Kris turning into the knife. He fell down with a thud. I started to run over there when he was getting up. About half way up he took the knife out and tossed it towards me. He stood all the way up and clutched his side. Blood was dripping between his fingers. He was coming as fast as he could. Once he got to me I wrapped my arm around him.
"Kris are you ok?" I asked really concerned. He gasped, squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.
"Yea, I'll be fine." He gripped his side. We walked a few more feet before he sat down in the shade.

I had blood on my hands, jeans, and shirt. There was a slight trail behind us. We had to get out of here and to the hospital. I sat down next to him. I heard a clink. The keys. I took them out of my pocket. I examined them closely. They didn’t give any information. I didn’t even know if we were heading in the right direction. I sighed. I looked at Kris. He had his head against the brick wall. His breathing was becoming fast and ridged. I had to get him to the hospital, fast. I hit the alarm button on the keys. I could hear the car alarm a block or so away.
"Kris?" He rolled his head over to me and grunted.
"I’m going to go get the car. Ok? Stay here and keep breathing." Tears were welling in my eyes. They changed yet again.
"I promise" Was all he said in his hoarsely voice, in barely a whisper. He gave me a some what smile. His warm eyes barely having any life in them. I was almost out of time. I got up and hit the alarm again. I took off as fast as I could,

My legs felt like jelly. It was hard to run. And it didn’t help with my vision being slightly blurred. I rounded the corner and hit the alarm. The sun finally came out. IT was peering out of the clouds. The beams of light shining around the clouds giving them a golden lining. Like heaven about to accept a soul from a dying person. No! I ran another block.

There were no cars in sight. I hit the alarm again. The beeping sound was coming from behind me. I stopped and slowly turned around. There parked on the curb was an old, pale blue mustang. I ran toward it and got in. The tan leather was squeaky. I shoved the keys in the ignition and turned the keys. Making the car grumble and slightly shake.. I slammed it in reverse and maneuvered the old car around the corner. It didn’t take me long to reach Kris.

When I got to Kris he was laying on the sidewalk. He was so pale it made my heart skip a beat. I almost forgot to stop the car before i got out. I ran to Kris and sat him up. He grunted again the movements.
"C'mon Kris the car is waiting." I got his arm around my neck and slowly got him to his feet. He put all of his weight on me. God he was heavy! Or I’m just really weak.

I got him in the car, finally. I took my jacket off and looked in the glove box. I found a picture. I took it out and looked at it. It was a picture of Charlie holding up a fish. So this was his car. I put the picture back and pulled out a pocket knife. Kris coughed and wheezed next to me. I placed the knife in my lap. I looked up to find a GPA. I turned it on and punched in 'hospital'. It created a red line on the road I should take. It was 5 miles away.

I came to a stop. This place looked familiar. I looked at the abandoned, brick buildings and at Kris. I reached over and looked at the wound. It was horrible. Blood was drying but still coming out. I covered my mouth with my hand and adverted my gaze. My dream has come true. It was Kris, not Kyle, not Keith. I single handedly; well single mindedly really, killed Kris. God I hate myself! Why did I have to this curse! I have finally killed someone I know. Kris stirred next to me and moaned. He was still alive, I still have time.

My mind went into hyper mode. Charlie is a doctor right? So he must have something in here to help Kris. I turned around to look in the back. I felt in the pockets on the back of the seats. I pulled out a small roll of gauze. Perfect. I carefully pulled his blood covered shirt up and wrapped the gauze around him. I pulled his shirt down. I slammed on the gas and went left. I was up to 80 miles when the hospital came into view. I gradually slowed down. Did I really want to risk going in? I looked at Kris and sighed. I had to. I got out of the car and got Kris out. Slowly we went into the building. He was still breathing, barely.
"Help! My friend was attacked. He lost a lot of blood." Nurses and a doctor came over. They put him on a stretch bed. They wheeled him through some doors.
"What happened?" Asked a nurse.
"We were running away from them. He turned around and she threw a knife at him! It was horrible!" I covered my face with my hands. I was talking in deep, quick breathes. The nurse put her arm around me.
"Ok dear. Calm down. Now do you remember what she looked like? She asked. I nodded my head quickly.
"She was about my height. Blonde hair, thin. Oh and her name is April, a doctor named Charlie told me to come here." Her face went pale. She must know them.
"That’s not possible." She whispered and got a picture of Charlie and April out.
"That’s her!" We were passing occupied rooms. I was looking into them. That’s when I saw him.
"Ian!" I went up to the glass window. He had his eyes closed.
"You know this young man?" She asked curiously. Her face went paler, if that was even possible.
"Yes. He's my brother." I blurted out. The nurse’s eyes went wide.
"You're-- You're Emma Sturnn?" She was shaking now. I closed my eyes. Crap I just gave myself away.
"And you know Charlie personally?" She asked surprisingly.
"Yes he was going to take me here personally because the cut on my face is so deep he needed the right tools. Then April tried to kill everyone and here I am." I said worriedly.
"Ok since you know Charlie I'll keep your secret. Come with me. I'll go get a doctor to fix you up." She walked quickly. I swayed a little bit. My vision was spotted with black dots. Next thing I knew I couldn't see anything and I felt the floor beneath me. I then passed out.

I was in a court room being questioned.
"That will be all Miss Sturnn, you may step down now." I got up and sat next to Ian on the right table. The judge coughed.
"I call--" The man was interrupted by the judge coughing insanely again. He then was coughing up blood. I stoop up. Everything was fading. I then began to hear my name. Also an irritating beeping noise. I jerked some and opened my eyes. The nurse, Charlie, and Ian were standing over me. I was sweating like crazy.
"Emma are you ok?" Ian asked nervously. He knew what I saw. Charlie dabbed my forehead with a cold, wet wash cloth."
"Ian..." I reached for him. He took my hand.
"I'm here, I'm ok." Tears were in his eyes.
"What happened?" I asked.
"They said that you just fell over from the loss of blood from your head. Emma you were out for 3 days." I couldn't believe it. What happened to April? And everyone at the shelter?
"How's Kris?" I barely got his name out of my mouth. Ian looked away.
"No..." He shook his head. Kris was gone.
"I thought I was going to lose you to. Then your heart rate picked up dramatically. He shook his head.
"Um Emma what were you dreaming about? You were shaking and jerking. We had to hold you down." Charlie asked shyly.
"I was in the court room, I don't know for what really, and the judge started to cough up blood." I shrugged.
"Do you remember what the judge looks like?" Charlie asked in curiosity. I replayed everything I could remember. The man and the blood covered judge.
"All I remember is that he's black, chubby, and bald." I squinted my eyes in concentration. Charlie wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. His eyes were wide.
"That's your judge you're going it have in two days. I must go call him and bring him in so that I can try to save him." He quickly walked out of the room dialing on his phone. Ian was stroking my hair, I looked up at him.
"Where's everyone else? What day is it?" Ian stared at me with big hazel eyes.
"Ian?" I was getting worried.
"They're in the waiting room. April is being trialed for murder." His voice was low and quick.
"How are Kyle, Keith, and Annabelle taking it?"
"Hard." He shook his head.
"Emma, mom and dad are here." His voice cracked. Crap. The next few hours are going to seem like forever. I sighed.
"Let’s get this over with." Ian squeezed my hand and walked out. Bev and Ben walked in. Bev practically ran to me/ Ben stayed near the door.
"Oh sweetie! Are you ok? Does anything hurt?" Her hands were fluttering around, unsure what to do. I adverted my gaze to Ben. His hand was still on the door knob.
"Dad, I'm still the same person I was Monday." I said trying to get him to relax. He released the door and came over to my bed. He stroked my hair.
"I know you are, but it's a lot for me to take in all at once." He tried to smile but was unsuccessful.
"Dad if you don't want to stay here you can go." I removed his hand from my head. He got up, walked to the door. Got it half way open, turned around about to say something but thought better of it and left without another word. I looked up at Bev. Tears were sliding down her cheek.
"Don't worry about your father Em. He's just well..."
She was at a loss of words. I looked at my hands.
"I know mom. I need to talk to Annabelle." Her hands shook. I looked up at her with pleading eyes. She smiled, nodded, and got up. Annabelle came in soon. Her face red and puffy. I scooted over and patted the bed beside me. She came over and laid down next to me. She cried in my shoulder, I wrapped my arm a round her comforting her.
"It's just so unfair." She said between sobs. I shushed her and rocked her slowly. I ended up falling asleep again. I was about to start dreaming when some one woke me up. I groaned rolled over and mumbled.
"What?" I asked in an angrily voice. I heard a sniffle.
"It's me." I rolled over to see Kyle. His eyes were ringed with red. Dark shadows were under his eyes. Geez has he gotten any sleep yet?
"Kyle...I tried, I really did." I started to cry, I put my head into my hands a cried. Kyle's strong arms were around me in an instant.
"I know, I know. Shush, it's ok Emma. It's ok." He rocked me back and forth.
"Emma I need you to pull your self together. We have to plan his funeral. No one wants to do it with me." His eyes were pleading, his face so expressionless. His eyes full of sorrow. I nodded and whipped my face. I felt a puffy line of where my new scar will be. It was huge. Ugh, great. I let my fingers trail from tip to tip. It was so long.
"We'll start after the trial." He got up, kissed the top of my head and left. I haven't heard anything about my trial. It was Aprils. Was I going to have a trial, or was mine and Aprils combined? All I have to say is that she is 100% guilty. Everyone knows that she killed Kris. I wonder how Charlie is taking it.

I rubbed my head. My hand went to my face, there was gauze covering a good portion of the left side of my face. I groaned in annoyance. Keith came in soon. His face was red, his eyes full of sorrow. I gave him a small smile, he just stared at me. He opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and left. I sighed and let my head fall back. I heard the beeping of the monitor next to me. I had to get out of here and out to my friends. I had to find Keith and talk to him.

I pulled at the wires that were attached to my arm. With a few more hard tugs they came off. I threw the covers off and swung m legs over. Ok take this slowly Emma, I thought to myself. First thing first, I need to get some real clothes on. I looked over to where the other chair was, in the corner. There was a bag. I got up and peered in. Clothes, thank god. I quickly changed and walked out.

New problem, where is the waiting room? I walked till I found a nurse.
“Um excuse me, where is the waiting room at?” She looked at my face and was puzzled. She shifted the towels she was carrying
“It’s through those doors, take a left and keep going straight.” She looked after me when I left. I didn’t run. I slowly walked not wanting to pass out again. No one was staring at me. Good I was blending in with my messed up face. Once I walked into the waiting room everyone looked up in surprise. I scanned the room looking for Keith, I didn’t see him.
“Where’s Keith? I need to talk to him.” I didn’t wait for them to answer, I turned around and left. I went up to the nearest desk.
“Where is Kris Vivaldi’s room at? I’m a friend of his and I heard he passed on.” I was pleading. She looked up from her computer.
“I’m sorry dear visiting hours are over.” She went back to typing.
“I’m a patient here. One of the nurses told me that I could walk around for a bit since I’ve been out for 3 days. Please.”
“I’m sorry dear I just can’t allow it.” I felt my eyes change colors with rage.
“Fine then, tell me where Charlie’s office is. I’m a friend of his, I’m Emma Sturnn.” My voice turned sour and demanding. She blinked in surprise.
“Oh miss Sturnn! I’m sorry I didn’t know. I’ll call Charlie for you right now.” Not what I wanted but it’ll do.
“Emma!” I turned around to see Jarred jogging up to me. He took me into his arms and hugged me. Then he pulled back and held onto my shoulders.
“What do you think you are doing up and about? C’mon I’ll take you back.” He started to push me.
“Jarred stop it! I’m fine ok? Just tell me where Keith is. And don’t treat me like I’m 5! I’ve been in a lot more crap than you have, so stop.” My voice was rising with every word I said. He had his hands up in surrender. A few of the nurses stopped and stared at us. I turned back to the nurse behind the counter.
“He’s on his way dear, and please try not to shout.” I nodded my head and said I was sorry. Soon Charlie, Keith, and Kyle showed up worried. Kyle stood next to me and took my hand comforting me.
“Emma what’s wrong? And why are you… Never mind.” Kyle looked at Jarred and stopped talking. I ignored him.
“Keith why did you come into my room and then walk out with out saying anything?” I asked. He pulled his eye brows together.
“I never came into your room when you were awake. When you were asleep still yeah, but that’s it.” I was confused.
“But I saw you. And no I’m not delirious.” I added because of some of the looks I was getting from them. I turned to Charlie.
“Where is Kris’ body right now?” My voice softened some but not much. Charlie sighed and motioned me to follow him. He led me through many hallways and a set of doors. I was soon staring at the corpse of Kris. His eyes were cold, his body paler than the last time I saw it. I walked over to his body; I rested my hand on his. It was so cold and smooth. I choked back a scream and tears. I left a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.
“It’s ok Emma, I’m here for you, I always was and always will be.” I sniffled. Something about Keith’s voice wasn’t right. I turned around to look at Keith and ask him what he meant when I screamed. Everyone in the room jumped. Kyle who just came in, Keith, Charlie, and Jarred. Everyone jumped but Kris who was standing there next to Kyle. How was this possible!
“Emma what’s wrong? Did you see something?” Charlie came towards me taking me to a chair. I stared at Kris the whole way, then to his body, then back at him.
“Emma tell me what is wrong.” Charlie was going crazy. Everyone was crowding around me. Kris just stood there looking at his body.
“Kris.” I got my mouth to form the words but no sound came out. Kyle who was kneeling in front of me stared at me in concentration.
“Kris?” He asked I nodded. He took hold of my hands.
“I know it’s hard. But trust me you’re going to get though it.” His eyes were so worried. My eyes were on Kris who was watching his body. I pointed at where he was. Kyle turned his head and sighed. Got up and went to talk to Charlie. Kris walked over and kneeled where Kyle was.
“Emma can you see me?” I nodded.
“Can anyone else.” He took my hands in his.
“I-I don’t know Kris. I don’t think so.” My voice was below a whisper. I leaned closer to him.
“Are you a ghost now?” My voice cracked.
“Yup, and let me tell you this place is crawling with ghost, it’s kind of creepy if you ask me.” He shuddered and chuckled.
“Emma who are you talking to?” Keith asked, he had some demanding in his voice. I looked up into his eyes.
“Kris he’s hear as a ghost. He hasn’t moved on yet.” I looked back at Kris. He nodded in a approval.
“I’m not going anywhere until April is thrown in jail” said Kris with a final nod. “I have to go somewhere but I’ll be back.” And with that he disappeared before me. I sat there puzzled over where he went. Where do ghost go during the day?

I looked around the plain white room, anything colorful stood out. I heard the door click and looked to see who it was. Charlie. He must have stepped out when I was talking to Kris.
“Emma the judge is here. They already took a few tests and scans on him. He has pulmonary tuberculosis. He should be fine. He’s so grateful of you! He wants to meet you Emma. Right now.” His face had a smile plastered on it. It almost seemed fake, like he was hiding something.
“Right now? Can it wait?” I was complaining, I was just so overwhelmed with everything. Kris gone; now is a ghost and preparing for his funeral, April, Annabelle, Ben, Keith, Kyle, Ian, Charlie and how he’s hiding something from me, and now this. I wasn’t wonder woman; I was a lost and confused girl.

I got up avoiding everyone and ran out the room. I passed nurses, doctors, and patients. All of them staring at me. I ran into a few people, muttered I was sorry and headed for the parking lot. I searched for my mustang. It was at the very back. It was unlocked so I opened the door and got in. I searched for the keys hoping that they would be in here. I heard a clinking noise next to me. I looked over to the passenger’s seat and saw Kris sitting there dangling the keys.
“Thanks.” I muttered to him and grabbed the keys. I pulled out of the parking lot a lot quicker than I anticipated on.
“Where are you going Emma? You can’t run away from all of this, it’s still going to be there when you get back.” His voice was hard. I just shrugged not really caring. He sighed.
“Take this next left.” He pointed where the turn was. I glanced at him. My eyes narrowed.
“Why?” My voice curious but also nervous. He shook his head, his shaggy hair flapping around his face.
“I’m taking you to where you need to go.” He looked out the side window.
“And exactly where is that at?” No answer. “Kris. Where are you taking me?” I put some demanding behind my tone. Still no answer.
“Take a right then keep going straight, I’ll meet you there.” He disappeared. I was furious with him.
“Kris get your disappearing butt back here!” I screamed into the air. He didn’t come or respond to me. I swore under my breathe turning on the street he told me too. Where was he taking me? I took my hand and rubbed my face. My finger found the thick line on my face. I looked at it in the mirror. It was big, red, and there for ever. Hm maybe it will be a nice battle scar.

I soon pulled into the parking lot where Kris wanted me to go. He wasn’t anywhere in site. I gripped the steering wheel with anger. I can’t believe he brought me here! Of all places, I wanted somewhere to be able to think. Not get arrested. I got out of the car and slammed the door. I heard a whistle and turned around. Kris was leaning against a tree in the shadows. I walked over to him. My hands curled into fists with every step.
“Why did you bring me here Kris? Do you want me to get arrested?” I stuck my hand out at the building. His face was covered with a mask that I couldn’t read. His eyes narrowed, he leaned forward. His face just inches away from him. My hand lowered slowly.
“I brought you here so that you can talk to April.” He said in a final tone and leaned back against the tree.
“You brought me here to talk to April. Do you realize where April is? In that building, the county jail.” I pointed at the jail. Was he trying to get me arrested?

“Emma do you trust me?” He asked me. I hesitated.
“Yes…” I heard a door open and foot steps. I whipped my head around to see a few police officers walk to their cruisers. I quickly ducked behind the tree and held my breathe. My heart thumped loudly in my chest. I was sure I was caught. I started to peer around the tree when I stopped my self. No I was not going to get caught.

I slid down the trunk almost in tears. What was I going to do? I was way in over my head.
“You can come out now, they’re gone.” Kris said in a bored and slightly annoyed tone. I slowly looked at the parking lot, no one was there. I waited a few more minutes before I got up. I lifted my foot slowly; I set it down and stepped on a twig. I jumped and hid back behind the tree. My heart was now in my throat.
“Will you just go inside already?” Kris appeared before me making me jump.
“Kris, you scared me! Don’t sneak up on me like that; you almost gave me a heart attack.” I had my hand over my heart to make sure it didn’t come out of my chest. He knelt down beside me.
“Well?” He asked.
“Well what?” I asked in a hushed tone.
“Are you going to go inside or not?” He tried not to scream the words at me. He was becoming impatient.
“Since when did you become so bossy?” I asked accusingly. He rubbed his neck and looked around a little ashamed.
“I’m not trying to be bossy; you’re just making me nervous with your paranoia.” I chuckled lightly.
“I’m nervous enough for the both of us.” We both couldn’t help but laugh lightly. We sat there in silence for a few minutes.
“Look Emma, I promise you nothing will happen to you in there. You’re safe; I’ve already been inside to double check. It turns out some guy that works there can actually see me. So we talked and he said that he will make sure no one will hurt you.” His hand was on my leg but I couldn’t feel it. ‘I promise’ was the last words he said to me before he died. My heart squeezed with pain. I fought back the tears and the memory. I reached my hand up to touch his cheek. I lightly place my hand on his face. I could feel his skin, so smooth. But as I put some slight pressure on his cheek my hand started to go through him. I quickly pulled it back and clutched my hand as though it was hurt.
“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have done that.” I looked away.
“It’s ok, it didn’t hurt or anything. There’s no need to be sorry.” I nodded at him. I sighed.
“Ok let’s go in.” I rounded the tree slowly. With every step I took I wanted to go the other direction. I looked over at Kris to see what his expression was, he wasn’t next to me. I stopped immediately. I was about to turn around when I heard him.
“Keep going, I’m with you but I’m not going to let you see me until the time is right.” What was up with his fortune cookie crap? Him dying has changed him a lot. I walked up to the door shaking with fear. I took a deep breathe before opening the door.

It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, or wanted to see again. It was so depressing. I stood there looking around taking everything in. So unbelievable, I felt as though I walked straight into hell.
“This way.” I heard Kris say to me as a rush of wind pushed me down a hallway. Where ever the wind blew I followed. Surprisingly I felt safe and not so scared. I was almost confident, almost. A guard was walking down the hallway and headed straight for me. I froze mid step.
“Can I help you miss?” He asked nicely, even though I could hear the suspicion in his voice.
“Yes, I am looking for April Lenivo” I repeated everything Kris told me to say.
“What business do you have with her?” He was towering over me. Make yourself look bigger. I almost jumped at the sound of Kris’ voice. I did as he told me to and stood on my tip toes and almost got directly in his face. Say your name and he’ll take you to her.
“I’m Emma Sturnn, she tried to kill me but instead she killed a friend of mine, Kris Vivaldi. I need to talk to her.” He took a step back surprised. He straightened out and turned on his heel.
“Follow me then.” I had to jog to keep up. We passed a few more guards, I felt so small and weak. I tried to hide that my squaring my shoulders, lifting my chin and narrow my eyes. I heard Kris chuckle next to me. Obviously it didn’t work so I stopped. The guard to me into a room with other people. He sat me in a chair and walked away. I looked at the other people.

There was a thick glass in front of everyone. The people on the other side were wearing bright orange clothes. There was a phone in each booth. April soon sat in front of me on the other side. She had a black eye and a split lip. I couldn’t help but snarl at her. She didn’t change her expression. We both picked up the phone at the same time.
“What do you want?” Acid rolled off her tongue. I had the urge to strangle her.
“Why did you kill Kris?” I was still snarling at her. She snorted.
“It’s not like I planned to, I threw it expecting to miss but it hit him.” She shrugged her shoulders. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a tight bun.
“Look is that all you wanted to know?” She was getting bored. I tried to think of something else to say. Ask her what happened after you left.
“After I left to get Kris some help, no thanks to you, what happened?” I tried to make my voice sound angry but it came out in a squeak. April let out a long sigh.
“After the knife hit Kris and you left everything get complicated. The SWATS were asking me why I threw the knife. One of the twins came up to me and punched me in my eye. That one friend of yours took a gun from the SWAT and hit me across the mouth.” Well that explained the damages to her face. The place where I cut her with the knife on the cheek faded away. She continued.
“Charlie didn’t say anything to me he just walked out of the building. After that there was a lot of screaming and yelling going on. Out of everyone the old grandma was the worst. She kept going on and on about how I’m not going to heaven for that blah blah blah. Oh and she tried to hit me with her cane! I mean really haven’t I had enough hits already?” She shook her head. I felt power rippling next to me; I glanced over to see the wall. Kris still was invisible. Soon April started choking and clutching her throat. She gagged and clawed at her throat. I was frozen with fear. Kris was doing this; he was going to kill her. A live for a life April, it’s only fair.
“Kris, stop it! Do you understand me? She’s getting what she deserves! Stop it! Please, I don’t want to witness another death of a person I know. Kris.” My voice was pleading and I was banging on the glass. I could see him now, He was standing over April. She fell on the ground during my plead. What about me Emma? I didn’t deserve to die. She killed me; I’m only returning the favor. April kept flailing her arms around. I started crying. I turned around and ran to find a guard.
“Help me please, someone is dying! Please!” I was yelling like crazy. People from every booth came and crammed in mine. A guard soon came over to April. Fine Emma have it your way. Kris hissed the words in my ear. April stood up scared and pale.
“I need to take her back to her room.” The guard didn’t wait for me to say anything he just took her and left. People started asking me questions. I was more over whelmed than I was earlier. I pushed out of the crowd and sprinted down the hall.

Once I was in my car I bawled my eyes out. I can’t believe Kris. He was never the one for revenge. He attacked April and tried to kill her.
“I didn’t mean to, I swear but something came over me and...” I jumped scared at the sound of his voice and of him. I fumbled the keys and desperately started the car.
“Emma what’s wrong? Why won’t you talk to me?” He almost sounded sad. I didn’t answer him. He put his hand on my arm, I cringed away from his touch. His face looked like as though I slapped it when I did that. Good he needs a good slap.
“Why did you attack her? That really scared me Kris. You could have killed her!” My knuckles were white against the steering wheel.
“I didn’t mean to. I was just mad and I imagined myself choking her and there I was choking her! Then you told me to stop but I couldn’t let go. It’s hard to explain ok?” He started out the window.
“I’m not a monster...” He disappeared then. And I was happy he was gone. I started my crying back up. I know he was mad and all but that was just not him! I couldn’t believe it. What if he tries to kill someone else? Like me. Yes it’s true that April deserved to be punished but that didn’t mean she needed to be killed. Unless the jury thinks so then I won’t complain. I pulled up to the hospital, parked and walked inside. I didn’t search for anyone. I went straight back to my room to go lay down. I opened the door and saw Kyle sitting in a chair asleep. I smiled sleepily and walked over there. I shook him a few times before he opened his eyes.
“Hey sleepy head. How are you?” I whispered to him. I knelt down so that I didn’t have to stand any more. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes.
“Emma? Where have you been?” He gripped the arms of the chair. My smile faded.
“Kris took me to the county jail to visit April.” I got up and sat on my bed. I laid back and closed my eyes. Kyle dragged the chair over and took my hand.
“What happened?” His voice was a mixture of emotions. So I told him what happened. Then I shrugged like it was no big deal or anything. Now that I actually thought about it, it really wasn’t that big of a deal. Or I’m just so tired that I really don’t care. I started to feel bad for yelling at Kris.
“You really can see him can’t you?” His voice cracked. I opened my eyes to look at him. I nodded.
“I wish I could see him.” He shook his head. I squeezed his hand.
“It’s something you know, to see him after he’s already dead.” My voice came out as a whisper. My throat tightened up. I couldn’t talk about it any more. I took my hand back and closed my eyes. I heard Kyle stand up. He bent over and kissed me on the lips. Then he walked away. I heard him whisper something but I was already asleep so I didn’t catch it. Even when I was sleeping I could still feel the warmth on my lips from his. Thankfully I didn’t dream at all that night.


I woke up to the smell of blueberry muffins. I inhaled deeply remembering the sweet scent. My mouth watered and my stomach growled with hunger. I yawned and stretched out. I sat up rubbing one of my eyes. Annabelle sat in the chair next to my bed. She had her eyes closed while she nippled on the muffin. I looked over at the bed side table. There was a tray there, and it was for me. She was eating my muffin!
“Hey isn’t that my muffin Annabelle?” I folded my arms across my chest. She lifted her head up from her muffin surprised. She knew she was caught. Her eyes were wide and her mouth covered in crumbs. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’m sorry Em, it just smelled so good! I- I couldn’t help myself!” She cried at me and went back to eating my muffin. I cleared my throat.
“I’ll go get another one...” She got up and left for the kitchen. I chuckled silently to myself. I needed to talk to Kris to say I was sorry. I was about to call him when he appeared before me.
“Kris I-” He cut me off.
“Emma Charlie is psychic. I know you’re probably still mad at me but I’m telling the truth. He knew you were coming here. He knew you would get hurt. And the worst part is he made April kill me. He controlled her when she got the knife. He planned this all.” His arms were spread out and he was breathing hard. I stared at him in confusion.
“Huh?” He sighed and sat down.
“When I disappeared yesterday I went to Charlie to watch him. He was in his privet office leaning over a crystal ball. I know this sounds completely fake but hey look at you and me. I just need to believe me.” He was talking really fast now. I got out of bed and folded my arms.
“Take me there, now.” He nodded once and went out the door. I followed him out. I pasted Annabelle on my way. She was holding two muffins. She called after me but I just ignored her and took a muffin out of her hand.

Kris took me through some hallways and warned me when someone was coming. I ducked into closets here and there. Soon I was standing in front of a door that read PRIVET. I ignored the sign and tried to open the door. Just my luck, it was locked. I turned to Kris and smiled. He walked through the door and opened it. I have to admit having a ghost around was really fun and efficient. I walked in and shut the door. I set my muffin on the desk.
“Ok now what? Where is this crystal ball you speak of?” I was looking around and going through drawers with no luck. Kris cleared his throat. I looked up. He was opening another door. I hesitated before I walked in. There were books on top of books all over the room. There was a trash can over flowing with crumpled up paper. Thick, heavy, velvet curtains hung all around the room. On the floor near a corner was a circle of candles. He was practicing magic.

On the walls were papers with strange writing on it. Some of them had pictures. There was a large table at the middle of the room. Books were open and scattered all over it. And in the middle of all the mess was a large crystal ball on a golden holder. I walked over to it and sat in the chair. I was speechless. Kris came and rested his hand on my shoulder.
“I don’t believe this. All this time he has been a fake.” I picked up a doll with push pins in it.
“How did he even become a doctor in the first place?” Kris was looking at some of the books. We have to get out of here. We need to go somewhere safe. Safe, where is safe for me?
“April is innocent. She’s getting punished for something that she had no control of. That sounds familiar don’t you think?” Kris looked down at me. April, we need to talk to April again. Kris’ head looked up to the door.
“Someone is coming.” Kris disappeared because he could. I looked around frantically and dove behind a curtain closest to the door. I just thought of something, I left my muffin on the desk in the other room.
Don’t worry Emma I already took care of it. I sighed in relief. Only to hold my breathe at the sound of Charlie walking in the room where I was. I closed my eyes to try and calm my breathing down. Charlie dropped something on the table, making me jump.

I heard him jumble some words together.
He’s looking at the crystal ball. Kris was keeping me up dated on what was going on. I heard some murmuring and a sigh of disappointment.
“Ah, April is still alive? I thought I got Kris to kill her!” he hissed under his breathe. So Kris was telling the truth.
“The only reason I brought him here was to kill her. How did I fail this? I must see what happened.” He muttered a few more words.
He’s looking at what happened. He now knows it was you who stopped me. I heard Charlie curse under his breathe. I heard loud thuds of books falling to the ground. Some of them were hitting the wall. One landed right next to me. I cringed away from it as much as I could.
He’s furious with you. He’s holding up a dagger know. He’s holding his arm out over a large bowl. I heard a cry of pain. He just cut himself! Has he gone mad or something?

Pause. Now he’s holding up a vial of, what is that? Wait where did he get that cat? He just poured the liquid into the cat’s mouth. The cat, it’s... it’s dead. He just poisoned the cat! My god he’s going to poison you! A scream caught in my throat. I clammed my mouth shut and put my hands over my mouth. He wants to kill me.

I heard a buzzer and Charlie groaned in annoyance. I heard feet stomping, some more kicking of books, and a door slam. A few minutes went by before Kris appeared next to me.
“He’s gone. Get out of here, now.” I walked out from the curtain and was halfway out the door when something caught my eye. I turned around and fell to my knees. It was the cat. The mouth and eyes were open. The body laid crumpled on the floor.
“He threw her when she died.” He pulled on my hand urging me to come.
“Emma let’s go, the hallways are clear.” I got up unwillingly and ran out of the office. Once I got to my room I shut the door and threw myself on the bed. I heard the door open and close. I jumped up scared it was going to be Charlie. It was Keith. I wiped my face with the back of my hand.
“Court starts in an hour. Are you ready?” He came and sat next to me on my bed. I wiped my face again and nodded.

We arrived at the court house around noon. The room was packed. A few people were standing in the back. Everyone from the shelter was there, even a few of the Swat’s. My mom was there too, but no Ben.
“All rise for Judge Turpin” Said the bailiff. I stood up. Judge Turpin wasn’t the same Judge that I saved. This one was a woman. Her hair a dark red color. She wore a long lack rope.
“This court is now in session.” She slammed her gavel. I looked over at April. She was in the same out fit I last saw her in. She was in cuffs. Everyone sat down.
“Ok so this case is about April Lenivo murdering Kristopher Vivaldi. Let’s have our first Witness.” Judge Turpin looked at her notes.
“Miss Emma Sturnn. Please come up to the stand.” I slowly rose from my seat and went up. I pleaded to tell the truth on the bible. And the questions began.
“So tell me Miss Sturnn, what was your relationship with Kris?” Said the guy from my dream, Mr. Karsh. I cleared my throat.
“I was his friend and I am friends with his sister Annabelle. I am friends with is two twin brothers Kyle and Keith. Kris has been with me since we were at the motel before we went to the shelter.” He seemed pretty satisfied with my answer.
“Oh and I was there when April threw the knife at him. I was the one that took him to the hospital. I’m assuming that most of the people here know who I am. So, I was the one that had the dream that Kris was going to die.” He blinked in surprise. A lot of the people whispered.
“Ah yes. Well...” He looked through his notes. He didn’t know what to say to that. I pretended that I was bored. But really I was scared and shaking.
“You may step down now.” I quickly went back to my seat. I was so shaky that I stumbled on the way. He went back to his desk to sort some things out. The jury were writing things down and exchanging thoughts. I looked around the room. I could feel peoples’ eyes on the back of my head. No doubt they were talking about me.

“April come up to the stand.” Asked Mr. Karsh. April slowly walked up to the stand. She swore to tell the truth.
“Mrs. Lenivo tell me, what was going through your mind when you threw the knife?” He walked around finger stroking his chin.
“Well I’m not actually sure.” Her eye brows furrowed together in concentration.
“I kept hearing a voice in side my head telling me to throw the knife. It was encouraging me. But it wasn’t my voice, more of a man’s voice. I don’t know who it was though. Then I had no control over my body, that’s what it seemed like anyways.

“Then the knife was shaking in my hand. And then some how I threw the knife at Kris, but I was trying so hard to stop my self. But like I said I had no control over my body.” She was staring off into the distance; tears were swimming in her eyes. More murmurs went through the room. Some people even stood up and started yelling at April.

“She’s lying!” Said one
“Don’t believer her, she’s a witch!” Exclaimed another.
“Order in the court! Order!” Judge Turpin slammed her gavel. People slowly sat down and quieted down.
Stand up and back her up! Kris hissed in my ear. My heart was pounding in my chest. I wasn’t going to stand up and talk when I wasn’t on the stand.
Just do it. I stood up every one looked at me bewilder.
“April is telling the truth. She was being bewitched by her husband Charlie. I’ve been into his office, he’s been practicing magic. He’s physic!” I was yelling at everyone in the room. Now everyone was yelling and pointing. Judge Turpin just sat in amazement.” She soon called order back to the court.

“Do you have any proof of this Miss Sturnn?” She asked me.
“I-uh… No ma’am I don’t.” I hung my head and folded my hands in each other. I slowly sat down. Charlie stood up.
“How dare you accuse me of such non sense.” He stormed out of the court room. Good rid dens.
“She’s telling the truth.” I looked up to see Kris standing in the middle of the court room. I heard a few people gasp, and a lot of confusion.
“Kris!” Said Kyle, Keith, Annabelle, Ian, and me at the same time. I looked over at Kyle, his face was pure white. He was staring at his brother’s ghost.
“That’s not possible...” Keith took a step foward as he said it. I quickly went up to Kris.
“Kris, what are you doing?” I hissed at him in a whisper. He stared at me with determined eyes.
“I finally found out how to make my self visiable to everyone and not just you. I came here to save April and you.” He cupped my face. He looked up at the judge. She was just staring at him bewilder.
“Ma’am, I have brought you proof of what Emma is saying is true.”He took someting out of his pocket and unfolded some papers. He walked up to the stand and gave them to her.

She grabbed them and looked them over. Her expression didn’t change. She looked up at Kris.
“How did you get these?” she looked at them then back at Kris. He chuckled.
“When you’re a ghost you can do alot of things. Like be invisible and take pictures with an invisible camera. Then go to a computer in a room that’s locked and print them out. It’s quite simple.” He kept smiling at his little joke. He turned around to talk to the court room.
“April was being possessed by Charlie. He was the one that actually killed me. He was the one that saw Emma and me coming.” He held his hand out to me and April.

The doors opened then. Everyone turned around to look who was entering the court room. Charlie came in with a big grin and eyes closed.
“Emma I forgive you about the faulse accuse.” He dusted his shirt and headed for his seat in the middle of the room. He still didn’t open his eyes. As soon as he sat down he opened his eyes to find everyone staring at him. His eyes went straight to Kris. His face drained of color. He scrambled to get up and out of the court room.

Kris jumped and disappeared into the air. Charlie fell down with a loud thud. Kris stood infront of him. He knelt down.
“Where you going Charlie? The fun just started.” He picked Charlie up off the ground. His feet kicking the air wildly.
“You can’t do this to me! I brought you here!” He bellowed at Kris. Kris just shook him.
“Tell everyone you’re secret.” He kept shaking him.
“Alright.” He wheezed. Kris put him down but still had a hard grip on his shoulder.
“I planned this whole thing. I was the one giving Emma her dreams. I’m the one that killed all those people. I’m the one that let Ian skip throught the future. I was the one that killed the brother’s dad. I was the one that made Emma’s parents move to Miami. I was the one that got your parents give up Ian. My father has been training me to do this for years.

“I did all of this because Kris, Kyle, and Keith’s dad killed my family. When he was drunk and out of control. I was the one that made him hurt Kyle. And I was the one to kill him.” He looked at everyone in the court room. Kyle was furious, I could see his chest rise and fall with anger. Keith curled his hands into fists and stared him down. I on the other hand just sat down where I was.

All my dreams weren’t true. Ian was sent to another family because of him. Kris died because of him. I was on the run because of him. Everything in my life happened because of him. I don’t believe it.
“Bay liff take this man into cusity. He will be in prision for the rest of his life.” She slammed her gavel. The bay liff walked over and took him from Kris.
“As for you April, you are free to go.” She smiled at her. April cried tears of joy and thanked her. April ran down to me and hugged me. I hugged her back happy she was safe.
“And as for you Miss Sturnn. I will press no charges. Court dismissed.” She slammed her gavel, got up and walked out of the court room. Everyone cheered and was happy. Except for Kris. I went over to him.
“What’s wrong? You just saved me and April. You’re a hero.” I put my hand on his shoulder.
“I have to go soon. I don’t know when but soon.” He looked away.
“What do you mean Kris?” I was worried.
“I can’t stay a ghost forever Emma. I have to move on and leave everyone here.” I blinked in surprise. I totally forgot about that. He was a ghost, he has to move on from here.
“Then let’s make the most out of it.” People soon started to crowd around us.

“Emma dear, I need to talk to you” Bev pulled me off to the side. We hugged for a while.
“I’m so happy that you’re safe.” She pulled away. Her smile twitching at the corners.
“Mom what’s wrong?” I put my hand on her face.
“We can’t move back up here. We’re staying in Miama. We like it there. But we don’t want to pull you away from here. So we’ve decided to let you stay. As long as you visit of course.” Ian walked up then. Bev put her arm around him.
“Both of you. Emma one more thing. Take are of Ian will you?” Her voice cracked. I nodded and whiped tears from my eyes.

I was finally back home at Kyle’s. I was sitting on the beach in the middle of the day. I was deep in concentration on my drawing. It was the plan for Kris’ funeral. He was still here watching over everyone. Right now he was helping me design the church on how he wanted it to look.

He didn’t want it to be some sad long funeral with everyone crying. He wanted it to be bright and cheerful. Yeah good luck with that Kris. But looking at my drawing right now I did feel cheerful. Flowers of every color were all over the church. The pews were a bright wooden color with flowers at the end of them.

The coffin was in the front with a vial of light over it. Kris approved of it and told me that was all he wanted. And no black outfits. He went to talk to Annabelle about not crying loudly at the funeral.

I sat on the beach watching the waves crash against the sand. It has been three days since I was at the court room. April got a place here and was helping people with their problems. She was actually living just up the street. Annabelle and Jared has been over everyday helping out.

Ian was more involved with helping me and Kyle out. Keith moved in Kyle’s room, so they were now sharing the Master’s room. I still think it’s funny. All of this happened in two weeks. Can you believe it? So much has happened. I got up and walked to the water’s end. The waves crashed softly around me.

I closed my eyes and let my head fall back. I was at peace. Two weeks ago I was here with Kyle. That seemed so far away now. The soft sea breezed lifted my hair from my shoulders. A smile crept onto my face. There was one more thing I have to do before I can go back to living life again.


Everywhere I looked people were crying. And Kris was no where to be seen. Everyone was in bright colors, but they all had a dark tone to them. I was at the back of the church greeting people. I got a lot of sympathy. I was fidgeting around. Where was Kris? I glanced around the church every few minutes hoping he would be somewhere.

I felt someone behind me and turned around holding my breathe. It was Ian. I opened my arms for him. He quickly walked into them. I hugged him tightly. He looked up to my face. I then realized that he was almost taller than me. I pulled away and looked over at the coffin. Then back at Ian. The dream that Charlie gave to me came true.

I slowly walked up the aisle. I could feel people watching me. When I reached the open coffin I peered in. Kris was so pale. I hesitated to put my hand on his. It was so cold. Tears escaped through my eyes.
“You promised me.” I whispered to the lifeless body.
“I know and I’m sorry I couldn’t keep it.” I jumped and turned around. Kris was there in a pure white, silk robe.
“Kris.” I hugged him. I looked around to see if anyone else could see him. But no one seemed to notice him.
“Only you can see me Emma. Not until I have to go. I’m sorry I haven’t been around. I was...Visiting some people.” He said.

“What did I say about people crying?” He looked around disappointed. I shrugged.
“So this is you’re last day here on Earth?” I asked in a whisper. He nodded. Annabelle walked up to me crying in a tissue. I hugged her.
“Where is he? Shouldn’t he be here by now?” She sobbed. I looked at Kris to see what I should say.
Don’t tell her I’m here. They will get to see me but not right now. I nodded.
“I don’t know Annabelle. I’m sure he will turn up soon. You know that you are going to have to stop crying. Kris didn’t want people crying, remember.” She sniffled and nodded. I rubbed her arm and sat down.

Kyle walked up to the podium. Everyone sat down waiting.
“A lot of you knew Kris in person. Some not so well. But I speak for everyone when I say that he will be missed. Where ever he may go. He lived a short life yes, but it was full of friends. His last few hours were something none of us will forget.” He paused to get a hold of himself.

“And so may he rest in peace, and return to this world to us in another way.” He gripped the sides of the podium.
“Emma will you say a few words?” This took me by surprise. But I stood up anyways. I slowly walked up. I looked over all the people. I took a deep breathe before starting.

“A few weeks ago I met my brother I didn’t know I had. I also met Kyle, the person that was taking care of him. The night I met them I had a dream that Kyle was in the coffin. I knew I had to tell him, but I didn’t know how. So I just ignored it. Then I met Keith. Now I was wondering who was going to be in the coffin.

“I still didn’t tell them that one of them was going to die. Then I had another dream that I was in the car with one of them. And he had a horrible wound on his side. Keith dragged the truth out of me. He asked me if he has a scar over one of his eyes. He did and he told me it was Kris.

“Now I already knew Kris from Annabelle because he was her brother. Not blood brother though. And some how Annabelle and Kris found us and stayed with us. Then we ended up at the shelter where we met Kris’ killer but we didn’t know it. Soon Kris had a knife in his side. I took him in a car. The dream I had came true. He soon passed away” I paused. Everyone was listening to me eagerly.

“After a few days he came to me as a ghost. He helped me through a tough time. In the end he discovered the truth about everything. And now my other dream has come true.” Kris was listening to every word I was saying. He nodded at me to continue.

“As we speak now Kris is here. He’s next to his coffin, waiting. It is his time to leave now. Time for this day to end, and start a new beginning. One with the memory of Kris.” I heard a few people gasp, and some of them clapped. Kris was in full view of everyone. He had his arms out stretched to the ceiling and he floated up. Disappearing for the last time. That was the last time I saw Kris. But some how I could still feel his warm presence.

It has been two weeks since Kris’ funeral. All is well now. No one is sad any more. I haven’t had any dreams at all. I was in my room reading a book when Kyle came in. I looked up and smiled.
“Hey Emma feel like racing again?” He gave me a cocky smile. I closed my book and walked down stairs. I was about to go out the back when he stopped me.
“Not that kind of race. I have something else in mind. He towed me to the garage. We got rid of the Porsche and Lamborghini. In the spot of the Porsche was a 2009 black Corvette. I smiled at him and got in my mustang. We went to the end of the street.
“So what are the terms now?” I asked narrowing my eyes with an evil smile.
“To the movies, loser has to buy.” He revved the engine. I revved mine in respond.
“Get ready to take your wallet out Kyle.” He looked straight forward.
“Ready, set...” I said waiting for him to finish.
“GO.” And we were off. I welcomed my new life opened armed.









The end