Eyes Of Lybrinth

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

ELIA

  I woke up gradually, trying to work up enough energy to open my eyes. Stretching my legs, I sat up and scooted Amy's arm back and over next to her side. It was still dark and raining outside, but I didn't need a clock to tell me that it was the middle of the night. I pushed the blanket down to my ankles and swung my legs out and off the side of the bed. The shock of the cold floor against my bare feet startled me awake as I grabbed a pair of socks off the floor and pulled them on.
  The window was open and a chilly breeze fluttered through it and blew the curtains toward me. I was right in front of the window before I realized it was actually a door when my hip hit the doorknob. It seemed strange to me that there was a large window in the middle of the door and that the glass slid upward like a normal window. The unlocked door creaked open when I turned the knob and I stepped out onto the roofed porch with no walls. I closed the door as softly as I could, willing Jen and Amy to stay asleep. The cold wind bit through my clothes and I pulled the sleeves of my shirt down over my hands and tucked them into my pockets. My hair was loose and the wind pushed it all over my shoulders and behind my back, the water in the air transforming the ends into tight ringlets. The rain was still pouring down and I leaned against the wall to watch it.
  The creaking of the door opening next to me startled me and I spun to face the figure. In the dark I couldn't make out who it was. "Hello, Elia." I didn't recognize the voice, but it was a male. "Sorry if I scared you. I didn't mean to. Can't sleep?"
  "Do I know you?" I asked. I should have been more worried or scared than I was, but he just didn't seem like something to be afraid of.
  "Right, sorry."
  I half expected him to try to shake my hand or something, but instead he walked to the edge of the porch, seeming to watch the rain. "Again, do I know you?" I repeated.
  "No, I can't say that you do." He didn't turn to face me, so instead I went to stand next to him. He was tall, standing at least two feet taller than me. Was it possible for anyone to be eight feet tall?
  "I needed to talk to you," he said.
  I turned to face him but he continued to watch the rain. "Okay, well, you lost me. Are you a friend of Learus'?"
  "Friend?" He seemed to think that was fairly amusing as he let out a small, deep throated laugh. "I wouldn't really say that."
  "Could you get to the point, then?" I knew I was being rude but I was tired and didn't care. This time he turned to face me. In the little light there was, I could see that his hair was blonde.
  "I came to warn you about him."
  That caught me off guard. "What do you mean, warn me." I said it as a statement.
  "Elia, you do not want to get close to this guy. Trust me."
  "I don't even know you." I crossed my arms and didn't bother to hide the annoyance in my voice.
  He clasped long, slender fingers around my wrist. "You can't trust him."
  "What makes you think I do?" I retorted.
  He cocked his head to the side and looked at me. "Come with me. I want to show you something." He removed his hand from my wrist and turned to walk back into our bedroom the way we'd come out. "My name is Selwin, by the way," he said.
  As I walked back through the door, I saw that we weren't in our bedroom, but in a clearing in a forest, somewhere that I didn't recognize. It was still raining and the sun was almost set.
  "This is what will happen if you trust him, Elia." He motioned for me to look behind me with his head. I turned and saw, in awe somewhat, what lay ahead of me.
  Jen, Amy and what looked like Slim were all on their knees in a circle around someone sprawled out in the grass. There were two people I didn't recognize, too. A boy and a girl with black hair were there, too, but I couldn't see their faces. What surprised me the most, though, was seeing me. I saw myself kneeling on the ground, holding the person's hand that was in the grass. Slim seemed to be trying to comfort me but I was crying and didn't know he was there. It was like watching a silent movie of myself. Stepping forward, I saw who was on the ground.
  Samuel was on his back, his head in Jen's lap. She was cradling him, her body curled around him so I couldn't see him through her wrenching sobs. A long gash ran from the middle of his chest to his belly button, like someone had slit him open as if he were a piece of meat. Blood spilled out of it and all poured out over his clothes, pooling in a puddle of mud and grass and rain beneath his body and my knees. He was dead.

  I sat bolt upright, flailing around in the blankets. My hair was tangled around my face and I choked on the scream that was stuck in my throat as I tried to make sense of where I was. Jen sat up next to me, propping herself up on one elbow. "E? What's wrong? Are you okay?"
  "Where am I?" I gasped. "Where are we? Where am I?" I looked wildly around me, trying to get my eyes to focuse on Jen's face.
  "Elia?" Amy sat up on the other side of Jen. "Honey, what's wrong?"
  "It-It-Samuel," I sobbed, crying into Jen's neck as she wrapped her arms around me and patted and smoothed my hair down.
  "It was just a dream," Jen whispered. "Don't worry, love. It was just a dream."
  I pulled away from Jen and crawled out of bed. "I'm going to see if he's okay," I whispered, stifling my tears with my hands and hardly able to see where I was going. I pulled open our bedroom door and padded into the living room. I knew the room the boys were sleeping in was right next to ours so I pushed open the door. I stumbled over Gabriel's sleeping form but I knew the twins were sharing the bed in the corner. Slim was asleep on his side on the edge of the bed so I crawled over him, knowing he wouldn't stir. He was a hard sleeper. Sam was next to the wall so I pushed him closer to Slim and crawled under the blankets next to him, my back to the wall. Burying my face in his neck, I felt him move his arm over me and pull me closer to him, never waking up.
  I was still crying as I drifted back to sleep.