by Elle A. Rose
***
Entering the house from our walk, I can tell that the others are relieved that everything has calmed down upstairs. “Thank you both for such a wonderful walk. Before I sleep tonight, I think I’m going to go to my room and read for a little while. You know it has been decades since I last read A Wrinkle in Time.”
As I start to walk up the stairs, I see Olivia shake her head so I open a line of communication with her.
“I’m glad you like your gifts.”
“Of course I do, thank you again.”
In the hallway upstairs, I see that Christopher and Judy’s bedroom door is partly open.
I knock and Christopher responds before my second rap on the door, “Come in.”
Living in a house with vampires, there is not much privacy. Christopher was able to hear me outside the door before I knocked, but I did not want to be rude. “Hey Christopher, how did you sleep?” I am not happy with what I see. Christopher and Judy are both still lying in the bed with nothing but a silk sheet-which is not doing a good job of covering them. Actually, the only thing the sheet has done is mold and define every aspect of their bodies. I guess I should have just gone to my room. The look on Christopher’s face shows he is enjoying this moment of my discomfort.
“My rest was well, sister. How was work?”
Now I see Judy is the one who is uncomfortable. I sense she is concerned that I may tell Christopher about our little talk today. “My day was fine. Lisa says ‘hi’, and she really enjoyed the other night.” Knowing my brother, he did not tell his companion about all the flirting he did with my coworkers Friday night. “Well I’m off the do a little reading before I sleep tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow.” The enjoyment has left Christopher’s face. If Judy was not sitting next to him, clothing or no clothing, my brother would have attempted to lunge at my throat for my last statement. I guess he is trying to be good and play nice with me for Judy. I only wonder how long that will last.
Stepping into my room, I attempt to shrug off the stress of the day. I have had much harder days than today in my lifetime, but for some reason, there just seems to be a lot of pressure pushing on my shoulders. As I slip out of my work clothes and into my favorite sleeping shirt, I can only think back to the conversation I had with Judy today. I do not understand what is going on with her. She seems to be making my brother very happy, and for that, I should be grateful. However, there is still something that is really bugging me. I really do hope that it is me being a protective little sister and worrying over nothing.
I slide under the covers and a true weariness comes over me. I have no idea why I am so tired. I have looked forward to reading my book all day under the covers in my bed. The lunar cycle is really wearing me out. I am certain the full moon along with the return of my family is not helping my case right now. I only hope if I dream tonight, I will not awake screaming. My night terrors upset my family. I bet they are hoping in the past fifty years all of that will have passed. I know it has not though. Hopefully tonight will be a very calm night for me and tomorrow I will…
“Good morning, Amber, how did you sleep?”
I was not positive that I truly was awake yet. I did not wake up screaming but I do have heartache. I wanted to think I was still sleep. Olivia always had a knack for knowing when I woke up. As I sit up in bed, I pat the right side for Olivia to come join me. “I won’t say it is a good morning, but I’m no longer tired so I can say I slept well, despite the dream I had.”
A look of worry has come across her face.
“Oh, Amber, are you still having the same dream. I swear to you if…”
I hold my hand up to stop her. I know what she is about to say.
To this day, she still feels awful about turning me. We all know it was the only way, but it is hard to make that choice to take someone’s life. “No, mother, actually I didn’t have that dream last night. Please understand, I do still have that dream. This, however, was the first time I dreamt of something different, though, I cannot say out of the two which I would prefer.”
“Would you like to talk about it?”
“The dream was nothing new. It was like my other dream, a part of my past that I cannot change and will haunt me day and night.” I can see by the look on Olivia's face that she understands.
There are not many things that I can say I would want to change. The two on the top of my list are the two that I guess will haunt me forever though.
“The dream was about Lance, was it not?”
Olivia reaches up to stroke my hair back in place.
“Yes, yes, it was. It was weird in a way. It started close to the beginning of the relationship and ended when we parted ways. It was more than a dream, it seemed like I was reliving that time in my life.”