Arcane Awakenings Books One and Two

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I tossed the broken glass into the rubbish bin and put the dustpan and brush away, brow creasing when I heard a strange noise. It sounded almost like someone crying, and it was coming from Daniel’s room. Eyebrows raised, I tiptoed down the hall and peered into his bedroom.

Daniel still lay on his bed, only he was now curled up on his side with his back to me. Sobs racked his body and I crept further into the room, hesitant to intrude yet wanting to help. I got close enough to touch him, and could see he was clutching something to his chest.

I stretched out my hand, reaching for his shoulder.

‘Angel,’ he said.

Startled, I jumped back, letting out a soft squeal and smothering it with my hand.

‘I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault,’ he said, and started murmuring the same name repeatedly. ‘Angel.’

Goosebumps covered my body at the anguish in his voice. I rubbed my arms, shivering in the cool morning air, as I leaned over him. His eyes were closed, and he didn’t react when I squeezed his shoulder. But with my touch his breathing eased, and the murmuring stopped.

I straightened up, relief swamping me at a mundane explanation for his out of character behaviour. This Angel must be his girlfriend and they were going through a break-up. Not that he’d ever seemed serious about any of the girls that showed up from time to time. Tall and fit, with the same indigo coloured eyes as me, teamed with light brown hair, he attracted them without even trying, but I didn’t think I’d ever heard him mention a girl named Angel before.

Should I wake him, and see if he wanted to talk about it?

No, better to wait and ask him about it in the morning, when he wouldn’t be embarrassed to have his little sister find him crying drunk over a girl. I went back to my room, lay on the bed and closed my eyes, vainly hoping this time my sleep would be dream-free.

When the first ripple subsides, instead of a child’s bedroom, I am surrounded by trees, moonlight creating dappled shadows on the grass at my feet. Through gaps in the trees I see a high mesh fence with a large sign hanging from it. I walk toward it, getting close enough to see it is a danger sign for an electric fence. I stop walking and stare at the sign, puzzled by its appearance in my dream.

A soft voice calls my name and a second later I hear running footsteps behind me.

I spin around. A young woman dressed in a long white nightgown runs toward me. Barefoot and with dark blonde hair flowing behind her, she emerges from the shadows cast by the trees surrounding us, enveloped in a golden glow.

I stop breathing, time standing still as she halts in front of me, staring at me with my own eyes. The vision smiles, her expression joyous. I smile back, marvelling at the replica my dreaming mind has created, though there are subtle differences. The vision has hair that hangs below her waist in gentle curls, while mine falls halfway down my back and I have a side swept fringe. But our faces are exactly the same.

The vision steps forward and takes my hand. ‘Andie, help me.’

It is eerie to hear my name, in my voice, coming from a vision whose mouth doesn’t move, but at the same time it feels so familiar, like something I’ve experienced hundreds of times before.

I shake my head, pushing my confusion away to focus on the vision’s plea for help. ‘What do you want me to do?’

‘I need you to come and find me, Andie. They’re hurting me. Please, you have to find me, and make them stop.’ Tears form in her eyes, the hand holding mine gripping tight.

‘Who is hurting you?’ Though I know this is a dream, the desperation in her eyes has me longing to make her fear go away.

‘They are.’ The vision points back the way she came, and I can just make out several figures running through the trees in the distance, torchlight flickering as they search.

Sounds drift in the still night air, and I hear voices calling, still too far away to make out the words. I strain my ears, listening carefully, and gasp as what I hear sinks in.

They are calling for Angel.

The fear in the vision’s eyes intensifies and she squeezes my hand. ‘Please hurry, Andie. I need you. Help me.’

Her form wavers, though she clings to my hand so hard it hurts, and soon I can see through her. Then she vanishes, leaving me with four half-moon shaped indents in the back of my hand.

Heart pounding, I opened my eyes, still seeing the vision’s terrified face, my terrified face. I pulled the quilt up to my chin to ward off the sudden chill that gripped me.

Where had this new dream come from? Had it been triggered by Daniel’s mention of someone called Angel?

The burgeoning dawn sent gentle light through the open window and I reached over to turn off the lamp on my bedside table, wincing as the movement caused pain to flare on the back of my right hand. I held it in front of me and stared in shock at the four distinct nail marks, just like the ones from my dream.

Had I made the marks in my sleep, causing me to then dream about it happening? It was the only explanation that made sense, and yet it seemed impossible I could do that to myself while I was asleep.

A voice sounded in my head. ‘Help me, Andie. Please, save me.’

I launched off the bed, pulse racing as I scanned the room. I backed up to the wall and switched on the light. Brightness flooded the room, dispelling the shadows but doing nothing to calm my thoughts. I was wide awake, alone in my room, hearing voices. A strange current moved over my skin, wrapping around me before flitting away, and the hairs on my arms rose.

I wrenched open my door and bolted down the hall to Daniel’s room. He was fast asleep, lying on his back, one hand holding something on his chest. I wanted to wake him, to have him reassure me I wasn’t going crazy, that a voice, my voice, hadn’t just spoken to me in my room, to explain away the marks on my hand.

I put a hand on his shoulder, ready to shake him, but hesitated. If I told him what had happened he’d be sure to mention it to Bill and Joyce the next time he spoke to them. They would be quick to take it as another sign of my inadequacy. Joyce would ramp up her campaign to get me back on my medication, and maybe this time Daniel would side with them.

I couldn’t bear it if he started to look at me with disappointment in his eyes too.

Maybe I had imagined the voice, the dream affecting me more than I’d thought. I rubbed my arms and gazed at Daniel, torn over what I should do, fear this was some kind of mental snap freezing me in place.

I was not going crazy. I wasn’t.

I leaned over Daniel, needing to talk to him, to tell him what had happened, even if it might lead him to think I was crazy. My fear gave way to curiosity when I realised the item he was clutching to his chest was a photograph.

Was it a picture of his girlfriend, this mysterious Angel?

I peered down at it, but the bulk of it was obscured by his hand and all I could see was part of the background. After checking to see if he was still fast asleep, I carefully prised the photo out from under his fingers. I held it up to the sliver of light coming through a gap in his curtains.

My knees buckled, and I gripped the bedhead to stop myself from toppling over.

Identical twin girls with dark blonde curls and indigo eyes smiled up at me. A caption beneath the photo read ‘Andrea and Angela, 3yrs and 5 months’ and below that was the date the photo had been taken, fifteen years ago.