8

The next morning dawns and I am already up getting ready for school. It is my senior year and I have to admit, I am so over high school. Despite my perfect grades, I really have no interest in learning. I am a homebody and a nurturer.

I love to cook meals for my family, clean the house and take care of everyone. My dreams for the future involve having a family of my own. Maybe opening my own restaurant. I already know that I am not headed for college. It is just not a dream of mine like it is my sisters. I have no gran acedemic aspirations. I am content to make it through school ad then call it quits. 

“Ugh! I freaking hate Mondays!”

I can hear Halona shouting from downstairs. When Moira shouts back I roll my eyes, climbing out of bed. I have to get dressed before I head downstairs breakfast. After everyone eats, my sisters and I leave for school.

The drive is typical, me behind the wheel and Halona riding shotgun, with Moira in the back seat, applying her make up on the drive to school because she took too long curling her hair this morning. The radio is on, a pop song blaring from the speakers and all is right with the world. We sing along to the Taylor Swift song.

I pull into the parking lot and as I am getting out of the car, I spot Mason. He comes over, draping a heavy arm across my shoulders like we are a couple and the four of us enter school, feeling on top of the world. Yet the second I push through the double doors, the mood shifts. There is a heavyness in the air that instantly causes a knot to form in my gut. What is going on?

“Wow. Super funky aura today.” Moira says.

“Yeah, it is downright depressing in here. Geez, who died?” Halona jokes. She walks up to a girl standing at her locker and asks her, “Hey, what's going on around here? Why is it so, like, dreary?”

“You haven't heard?” The girl asks, surprised. The look on her face is asking what rock we live under as to why we haven't heard what is going on.

“Heard what?” Mason asks, stepping closer to join the conversation. The girl widens her eyes at him, clearly affected by his looks. She gives him a flirty smile which to give him credit, he ignores.

“Eyra Gold's family reported her missing. No one has seen or heard from her since Friday night.” The girl tells us, before she closes her locker. “Everyone is out looking for her but there is no sign of her. The pack can't even catch her scent. It's like every trace of her has just... vanished. It's crazy weird.”

Wow. I don't know Eyra personally, I have just seen her around the school. She is a senior like us and I heard that she's a siren, but that is really all I know about her. She is super popular but she is really nice. She's not your typical 'mean girl'. She was liked by everyone. “That's horrible! Her poor family must be worried sick! Do the police think maybe she ran away or his is something worse?”

The girl shrugs her shoulders. "I don't think that she ran away. That is not like her at all. She loves her family so much and they are really close. Her family is convinced that something terrible happened to her. The whole community is on the look out for her."

“I am going to go volunteer to join the search parties.” Mason says, heading towards the school office where the girl tells him the sign up sheets are.

“Me too.” Both Moira and Halona chorus. Halona turns to me, “Are you coming?”

“Of course!” I spring into action, trailing behind them. I am lost in thought, not paying attention to my surroundings which causes me to bump into someone and stumble backwards, falling against the wall of lockers. I put out a hand to brace myself and everything suddenly goes dark as a deep cold settles over me.

I look around and I am standing in the middle of the woods. It is night time and clouds cover the moon, leaving the world around me pitch black. I shiver from the bitter cold and I look down at myself. My shirt is ripped and bloody and the short skirt I am wearing is covered in mud. I don't recognize the body that I am looking at. The body that I am in. It is a horrible experience.

I lift my head as I hear a sound and fear tingles through every nerve in my body. He is coming back. I don't know how I know this, but I am certain. Whoever he is, he is heading towards me and I am terrified of him! My blood runs cold and I feel chills pimple my skin that aren't from the cold. A deep, gnawing dread settles in the pit of my stomach.

I start running away from him, the unfamiliar legs carrying me further into the woods. I try to stop running but I am not in control of the body. I am just along for the ride. Tree limbs grab at my hair and shirt, as roots scrape my legs and ankles. I ignore the pain burning through my body. There is only one thing on my mind. Getting away from the man and the certainty of the knowledge I possess.

He is going to kill me.

I hear footsteps pounding behind me, gaining speed and drawing closer to me. Suddenly a stinging pain shoots through my scalp as my hair is caught in a merciless grip and I am yanked to the ground, my head hitting the firm earth with a resounding thud.

“Oh, you shouldn't have tried to run..” A masculine voice chides. “I was just trying to do something nice for you and then you had to go and do a thing like that. Now, I can't be held responsible for my actions.”

Suddenly I feel a sharp blow land on the side of my face and I gasp in pain, falling backwards into the cold darkness.

“Aria!”

I open my eyes to see Moira looking at me, her eyes filled with concern. I look around to see that I am leaning against a locker, holding the side of my face. I have no idea what just happened to me or how long I have been like this, but people are staring at me as if I am some kind of freak.

I straighten up, embarrassment coursing through me. I turn to look at the locker that I am leaning against and I jump back. Pictures of Eyra are taped to the locker, along with cards and notes with heartfelt messages. There are flowers and stuffed animals on the floor to complete the shrine. Was I- Eyra?

“I-I- I need to go home. I will leave you the car.” I hand Moira the keys and rush away, ignoring their calls for me to come back. I don't know what I would say to them even if I did stop.

I leave the school and just start walking, not sure exactly where I am headed. I think about what just happened and I am so confused. It was as if I were in someone else's body, feeling what they felt and seeing what they saw. It happened when I touched Eyra's locker. Eyra, who is now missing.. Was I reliving her memories? Is this what happened to her? She was attacked by a man who she thought was going to kill her? Did he actually.. kill her?

I look around, realizing that I am heading into an unfamiliar part of town. I see structures further down the road but mostly all I see are trees off to my right. A weird sense of deja vu twists my stomach. These trees look familiar though I know for a fact that I have never been here before. Then it hits me why the trees seem so familiar to me. This is the grove of trees from my memory. This is where she was.

Moving forward, I walk into the trees. I look around but I don't see anything out of the ordinary. It all just looks like trees to me. I am not really sure what I was expecting to find, but it just looks like I would expect a group of trees to look like. Nothing feels amiss, so I am just about to turn away when something catches my eye. I have no idea how I spotted it, but now that I see it, I know it is what I was looking for.

Less than a hundred yards in front of me is a tree with what appears to be blood on it. I move towards it, stopping to examine it. I lay a hand on the tree and cold envelopes me as screams fill my ears. Terror overwhelms my and I drop to my knees. The horrible deeling of desolation flooding me scares me.

It is so real, I could practically taste Eyra's fear. I brace myself against the cold ground and take deep breathes to calm myself. I notice a trail of blood leading further into the woods so I steel my resolve and climb to my feet. I follow the trail into a small clearing. I look around, immediately recognizing the terror and despair flowing around me. This is where she was when he found her. Is this where it happened?

I close my eyes and replay the sting of him grabbing me and the strike of the blow he aimed at me. What happened next? Where is Eyra? I look around, turning in circles to inspect every inch of my surroundings. When my eyes land on a huge stain on the earth my stomach drops and tears fill my eyes. That is way too much blood. I move forward but something is pulling me in another direction. I have to choose between my logic or my instincts.

Following my gut, I turn and head towards a small revine. A part of me already knows what I am going to find there but still I move forward until I am able to see down to the bottom of the incline. Before I can stop it a shrill scream breaks free and echoes around me.

Laying broken and exposed below me is Eyra Gold. Her eyes are closed and I am not sure if she is alive or not, so I scamper down the loose ground and draw nearer her. As I get closer, I know without a doubt that she is gone but still I want to check her pulse, just to cling to the vain hope that she might still be alive. She is blue and distorted, swollen and just hours away from decomposing. I don't have to be an expert to know that she has been dead for a while.

When I tentatively touch my fingers to her neck, my body shakes and I fall backwards to be consumed by the inky darkness.