22 January 2013
Chapter 1 and part of chapter 2 of a story I'm writing ... Warning: this is long :)
Chapter 1
There was darkness. Just nothing but darkness. I was drowning in it. Drowning in the darkness. That's when I heard my name being screamed. Always screamed, never whispered. Then I woke up in a hot sweat. Always the same, every night, and I didn't expect anything else anymore. I looked at the clock on the dest at the end of my bed. It was 3 in the morning and I knew I couldn't sleep now so I got up and went down into the kitchen. When there, I made a pot of coffee. It was still dark out but my St. Bernard, Barnaby, knew what that meant. With his lead in his mouth, he nudged me with his nose. I was dressed so quickly that he didn't have time to whine and we were out the door 5 minutes later. Morning jogs always got me prepared for the day. It helped to clear my mind and, with Barnaby beside me, it calmed my frantic heart. The dream always made my heart beat faster and the cold morning, with the safety of Barn beside me, helped to calm it and me. I jumped in the shower as soon as we got in and I was out by half 4, when the phone rang. I answered with my normal, "yellow" "Oh, you're up" She replied, sounding shocked. "Yep, why are you up so early anyway?" I said, pottering around my kitchen wondering what to eat. "Got a call from mum" She said. "Oh yeah, how is she?" There was shuffling on the other end. "Zac's coming home" "When?" I asked. "Today" was her answer. "Okay, thanks, Mir" I replied then hung up the phone. Miranda was my best friend. She had been adopted by the Finch family when we were 11. So Zac, an old friend of mine, was her brother but she always warned me when he was coming so I could stay away. That was his request but we were no longer kids. Barn gave me a look. "Do you want to go see Miranda today, Barn?" I asked as he watched me. "We're 20 now, no longer kids, so why can't I say hi?" He nodded slightly in a way that only a dog could then pushed his nose into my palm. So it was settled, I would take Barnaby to see Miranda and I'd go no matter what.
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I always took Barnaby to work. Well I took him practically everywhere and had since I got him. I'd had him a year, I'd been persuaded into getting a dog by Miranda, and I was glad I did. A year or so ago I was having daymares as well as the nightmares and they were always the same. The same emptiness of me remembering the night I nearly killed both Zac and me. The emptiness I felt as I lay unconscious on that bed and how we could've died that night. Then he told me he was moving and that was that, he was gone. I stepped into work and was greeted by a smile. It was nice to step into work and get that smile each morning. "How you doing, Ivy?" He asked as he bent down to stroke Barnaby. "Alright. How was your weekend, Michael? How's Sara?" I replied, going out back to hand my coat up. I put my bag and Barn's lead in the desk then went back into the main part of the shop. "Sara's good, going on her first date tomorrow." He grinned. "I promised I wouldn't go and embarrass her. I got to play amazing brother this weekend and she loved the lake" I could tell by the way his green eyes shone that he had a good weekend. He was close to his sister but hardly saw her so I knew how much it meant to him. "First date already?" I grinned, feigning shock. "You should've told me, you know I want to meet her." "I know but she's a nervous wreck at the moment" He shrugged. I laughed. "Sounds like me" "Yeah, I heard about Zac" He said as I noticed the box by the door. "Yeah, should've know Miranda would tell you" I replied as I picked up the box and placed it on the counter. It was addressed to me. "Have I ordered anything lately?" I added. "Not that I know of" He replied, passing me a pair of scissors. I nodded in thanks then pierced the tape on the box and flung it open. There lay two objects in the box; a note and a book. I knew the handwriting straight away so I made Michael read the note. "Ivy," He read. "I would ask you to read it all but there is no point. Just read chapter 10. Zac." I grabbed the book and took a seat on the floor. It was easy to find chapter 10 because there was a note in the corner. The note was two words.
"The Truth"
Chapter 2
I placed my hand over hers on the steering wheel. She was worried. "Ready?" I asked as her light grey eyes fixe on me. She smiled slightly. "Can't you drive, Zac?" She asked but already knew I wouldn't. I shook my head anyway. "You need practice." "Yeah, I know." She sighed. "Just cars and fog never go well" She was right to worry, she had reason seeing as a month before then we had crashed. I just knew her too well, if she didn't drive on a foggy night now, then she wouldn't ever again and I couldn't have that. "It'll be fine" I promised, giving her hand a light squeeze. She nodded then started up the car. I was surprised because usually she questioned and questioned until she talked herself out of it. I knew better than to pick her up on it though. "So where are we going?" She asked with a slight smile. She knew where but she had to hear me say it. "The lake" I grinned. She nodded again then pulled away from her house. I lit up a cigarette as she switched the radio on. "Window" She snapped without looking at me. I don't think I've ever moved so fast in my life. I knew she would either kick me out of the car and make me walk home or take my smoke away so I practically jumped to open the window. When I turned back she was smirking to herself. It took me a while to realise that she was holding her little finger up on her left hand. I laughed. "Are you sure about that?" I asked turning to face her fully. "Yep" She grinned. I moved closer to her, my mouth near her ear, and repeated myself. It was then I kissed her. I kissed her repeatedly and after a while she let out a little moan. "Do you have to?" She whispered. I moaned back then kissed her again. "Just relax, Ivy" I replied as she groaned and I imagined her closing her eyes. It took me a while to remember we were still driving and I think she realised at the same time because I heard her utter the word "shit" and she never swore so that got my attention. I looked up just in time to see the car plunge into the lake. I fumbled with my seatbelt as the car filled with water.
Opuss № I