The Awakening

"Eric Eric…wake up."

A faint voice echoed throughout the room. With heaviness in my eyes and my head feeling dizzy, I slowly opened my eyes to see my sister in front of me, shouting

"What the heck are you trying to do, sis."

"Uh, what am I doing…I ran as fast as I could to your room... you tell me what happened."

"what"

"You were screaming like anything."

I tried to recollect what happened but couldn't recall anything

"Nothing, I don't know, probably some dream which I occasionally get."

"Some dream, you screamed as if something bad happened and who is this, Alan? You were calling out his name a lot."

"Alan?" I tried recalling, but nothing ringed in my head.

I was clueless as to what she was blabbering about. Me screaming? I have never done that... for as long as I remember, I was getting some bad dreams, but I have never screamed. My sister would not lie about something like that. Damn, I can't remember anything. That's strange. I usually remember them

"Well, Whatever, I am awake now…no thanks to you, that is."

"Idiot." She looked relieved. "Get ready and go to college at least today. Don't just waste the money mom and dad spend on you."

"Elise, wait…," I stopped her, "thank you."

I could see she was blushing. She turned her face around

"Idiot." She said in a soft voice, "come down. I have prepared breakfast."

I got out of bed and took a cold shower, put on my black jacket, a white t-shirt, and blue jeans, and walked downstairs to the kitchen

As I walked towards the kitchen, I noticed some bread loaves on the table and left out a big sigh. The bread can only mean a jam sandwich or an egg sandwich.

"Eric, why are you crying?"

"uh"

I wiped my eyes, and it was wet … why am I crying that too from only one eye

"You have tears in your left eye but not right… You just had some bad dream. I am not an expert, but it usually means you are sad… Is everything okay, Eric?"

"Yes. Probably some dirt got in. Don't worry, I am okay."

"Be sure to share if anything happens. Okay, I am your sister, after all."

"don't make the situation more awkward than it is, sis."

"Fine, there are sandwiches on the table. Eat them before you go."

"Seriously, today as well."

"Do you know anything better to cook?"

I left out a big sigh and took the plate and sat on the couch in the living room, and turned the tv on

It was left on the news from yesterday night when my sis was watching

[in the report]

[Reports are coming in hot. Today, an hour ago, 50 people are reported missing from the Colnago prefecture from a small town. These reports are coming in daily, and so far, nearly 3000 people are reported missing. If any one of your family is missing, please report them to…]

"Hey, why did you change the channel?"

"Come on, sis, they are obviously making this stuff up to gain attention. Do you think people just disappear out of nowhere?"

"Well…"

"See, you can't do something like this for several days and not get caught by anyone, not even on the CCTV or phone."

"But…. but. You know, that village they mentioned is not too far from here."

I laughed

"Do you think something like that will happen here?"

"but it is better to be careful..since we are here alone in the house."

"yeah yeah, fine…."

***

It was a pleasant morning. The sun's rays were just about to be out, with a little bit of fog still lingering around the town.

I lived in a small town outside of the central city and went to a nearby college on foot

College was one of the things which I hated to my core. The very thought of going to a four side wall room to learn something that won't even mean anything unless you wanted it resonated in my mind and creeped me out

"are you planning to go to college today at least" she sounded a bit assertive in the way she said it

"of course not. What do you think."

"at least dropout, you idiot…they are paying for your college."

"as if they care about."

"hey"

"if they were, we would all be living here together happily…are we living that way?"

"Why are you being soo arrogant today…if you are not planning to go to college, just say no and shut up."

"I am almost an adult now. You don't have to tell me what to do."

"eric", she shouted

"what" I shouted back

"really…" there was a pause on her end, and she closed her eyes and left out a sigh "do whatever you want. I am going outside for a while" she walked out and, on her way, slammed the door as hard as she could

On a pleasant morning, my mood was also spoiled. I agree with my sis to some extent that they are both supporting us, but why did they have to leave us in the first place

I think I was around 4 or 5. I don't remember exactly the events that unfolded, but since then, my sis has been the only one who looked after me. She is nearly 10 years older than me..maybe I did lash out at her a bit today. Perhaps it was due to that dream that I had this morning

About the dream, I get those occasionally, not every day, but when I do get them, I usually remember them. My sis had me tested. It started when I was around 8. Most of the time, they were nightmares or some gore things which I would not do in everyday life…they call it nightmare disorder. There is no cure as such for this

My mind is wandering everywhere today. Maybe I should take a walk outside to clear my mind

***

I came back from my walk a bit late.

I guess sis would be back by now

As I approached the gate, I noticed something was off; the gate was open, which would be generally closed as my sister never leaves the gate open ever, and hardly anyone visits us

I moved with caution. As I got close to my house, I noticed that the door was wide open, and no one had left any footwear outside.

(Bang)

I heard a loud noise coming from my house. All the neighbors came out. It was definitely a bullet sound. I started to tremble. I couldn't move an inch. Knowing that my sis was there inside, I pushed myself

everything will be alright, eric, everything will be alright

As I got near the door, a man walked out, holding my sis in his hands with a gun pointing at me.

He wore a mask covering the lower part of the face

"Eric, run" my sis shouted, to which the man twisted her arm. She cried in pain

I couldn't bear to watch; I was utterly helpless

"what do you want from us."

He didn't speak, but as soon as I asked, he fired a bullet right at me

For some odd reason, everything around me started to move slowly…I was able to see the shot that he fired. I couldn't move my feet, but I was able to move my body and titled my body sideways, avoiding the bullet

Just as I dodged the bullet, everything went back to normal

The man was not surprised it was like he predicted I would escape, and in a split second threw his gun and held a knife at my sister's throat

"wait…" I shouted

Tears were flowing out of my sis's eyes.

Again the man didn't respond

"you shall know what pain is…" with a deep voice, the man said

I noticed his hand move a little

"no…." I screamed and ran towards him

He didn't utter a word and sliced my sis's throat without hesitation. Her blood splashed on my face

Along with my sis, the man also collapsed on the ground

I went into complete shock. My brain stopped working. I kneeled before my sis. My eyes were all wet, and my vision started to get blur. I was about to lose my consciousness as well. I felt like puking

She didn't deserve all this. After all the things she did for me. this is how I have repaid it

I felt a sense of heaviness in my heart, and slowly it started to spread throughout the body

I held her hand

"I'm sorry, but I will not leave anyone responsible for this. I won't spare anyone, I promise. I promise "

My tears fell on her hands and my vision blacked out, and I slowly collapsed on the ground