Aurora (#1)

f o u r t e e n

"Hey Kiera, do you want to go down to the lake?" I asked my sister as we ate breakfast.

"Now?" She replied, stuffing her face with bacon.

"Why not. It's going to be really hot today so why don't we have a sister bonding day today." I suggested. She looked hesitant, probably wanted to say inside with the AC.

"I'll make a picnic basket." I tempted her.

"Okay fine. Let me go and change into my swimming costume." She said, shovelling the rest of her breakfast in her mouth.

"You're such a pig." I moaned, grimacing as she grinned at me with her mouth full. "You're disgusting." I shuddered. While she changed I put together the picnic basket. I filled the slices of bread with her favourite topping and added bags of chips, biscuits and a few juice boxes. My sister ran down the stairs in her white sundress with a towel slung across her arm. She dumped the towel in my gym bag along with my towel.

"Shall we?" She asked. I nodded and grabbed the basket. I locked the door behind me and we made our way down to the lake. It was a beautiful place just beyond our backyard and perfect to enjoy the summer. As soon as we saw the lake we threw off our clothes and dove in.

The crystal clear water was cold, but in the summer heat it felt good on our skins. I shivered slightly but as soon as I submerged my body in the water I felt warmer already. When I resurfaced my sister splashed water in my face. I gasped dramatically, “Kiera! I’m going to get you!” I grinned evilly as I returned fire and splashed her with the cold water.

We continued to splash each other in the face till we were both spluttering. I was laughing loudly when the water suddenly started turning red. My eyes widened as the water became stickier and redder. "Kiera!" I shouted as I saw my sister struggling to keep herself afloat. She was a strong swimmer so I didn't know why she was drowning.

"Aurora!" she screamed, arms flailing. I tried swimming towards her but the water was getting thicker preventing me from moving. It felt as though someone was holding on to my legs because I couldn’t move.

"Kiera!" I screamed as her head dipped under the water. A metallic smell wafted into my nostrils and it was then I realised we were drowning in blood. The water had turned into blood. "Kiera!" I screamed as she called for me. I tried pushing my legs and propelling myself forward but I wasn't moving very fast. I felt myself being pulled under and the blood had reached my neck. I flailed about, trying to keep my head in the air. I continued to scream as I saw my baby sister get pulled under the blood.

"NO!" I let out a blood curdling scream as I saw her body fall in lifelessly.

I woke up feeling cold and wet. My throat was dry, probably from screaming through the dream. The time on my alarm clock showed it was 3.00 am, nowhere near the time I needed to be awake at. I curled up in my bed and cried. My body was trembling from the nightmare and I didn't have energy to get out of my bed. I continued to cry till my mouth was dry and my throat hurt even more.

I finally got out of bed at four and jumped in the cold shower. I was already used to having cold showers, the temperature didn't effect my skin like it did before. I quickly dressed in my school uniform and grabbed my bag. After the nightmare I had lost my appetite so I left with just an apple in my bag for lunch. I couldn't stay in the apartment anymore so I travelled to school a few hours earlier than usual. Since it was only 5.30 I just walked around the neighbourhood. I passed the school and walked down the road, mindlessly passing the slow moving cars and admiring the beautiful infrastructure this part of town had to offer.