(#1) Roommates by Day, Enemies by Night

Chapter 18

I firmly believe that a story is only as good as the villain.~Clive Barker

Dedicated to Perfectioners for the amazing new cover she made me. I LOVE IT! Thank you soooooo much!

A/N: Special chapter here for you guys. Start reading and you'll understand.

Siena

It wasn't that long ago that I thought birds were propelled by magic and that the world was a stationary thing in space. It wasn't that long ago that I was making my first friends, scraping my knee for the first time, picking flowers and getting dirt under my fingernails. (which I still do today)

I opened my eyes. I was standing on a grassy lawn. At my feet, a young girl was digging in the soil, dragging her arms across her forehead to rid her tiny body of the sweat droplets trickling down her face.

I gazed down at her, wondering who she could be.

"Honey!" A woman called. "You can dig in the dirt later! Please come help your sister with your things."

"Coming Mommy!" The girl said, standing up. She turned around and ran to her mother, and in the split second I saw her face, I knew. She was me. Five year old me. But why was I dreaming about this?

"Siena!" A young girl, ten, walks out, her arms laden with boxes. "What did you pack in here?"

"Sorry Lessie!" Younger me said. "I wanted my books. Leave me alone!" Younger me huffed, crossing my arms.

Her sister's face breoke out in a small smile. "It's fine. Just take your stuff in and put it in your new room.

"But I don't want to!" Younger me whined. Wow, even as a child I was lazy.

"Siena!" My sister said. "Please?"

"Fine." Smaller me grumbled. Wow. I didn't want to do anything.

I followed my younger self as she picked up the box and walked into the house. Struggling up the stairs with the massive collection of books, 5-year old me drops the box on the bed and immediately unwraps it, taking out the books slowly and reverently. She strokes the spines lovingly before gently setting them aside on the barren mattress. I remember this. I would do this every time I took a book out, just look at it for a few minutes before reading it, enjoying its feel, texture, smell, sight. 

She unpacked the rest of the books and placed them on the bookshelf, the only other piece of furniture in the room, save for the bed.

Once she's done, she stepped back and admires her handiwork. The books are only on the bottom three rows, for she is too short to reach anything above that. They are as carefully organized as those in a library, by genre, then author. Her face broke out into a wide smile before she giggled in glee and jumped around her room. The only thing that could bring me bliss; books.

"Mommy! Lessie! Daddy!" She said, flying down the stairs. "Come see what I did."

"I can't now sweetheart." Her father said gently, placing a hand on her petite head. "I promise I will later."

Her face dropped in sadness. "Ok Daddy."

"But you don't have anything to do right now." He father said gently, trying to cheer her up. "Why don't you go play outside?"

Her face brightened at that. "Ok." She agreed, already halfway out the door.

"Be careful." He called, but it's too late. She's gone. He sighed, shaking his head in exasperation. "Kids these days."