Rising Storm

Nightmare

Darkness engulfed the whole location. Stormi had no idea where she was, or why she was there. The only sound was that of a slight breeze whistling in unseen trees.

"Hello?" Stormi called out, uneasiness rising throughout her body.

"You're the next one," A gruff, male voice said. The voice seemed to come from everywhere.

"W-what do you mean?" Stormi stammered, looking around.

"You're the next victim. Prove them wrong. Don't let them win," The voice said.

"Who are you? Where are you?" Stormi asked.

"You'll find out soon enough. We'll meet face-to-face, and I'll explain there. I don't want to begin to talk and you wake up."

"When though?" Stormi pleaded, desperate for answers.

There was a long pause, followed by a sigh. A boy appeared in front of her... The same boy from the woods! She stared at him, her mouth hanging. Up close, he was scary looking, shoulder-length, dyed black hair hanging from his head. His face was tall, his jaw line set and his mouth a firm, small line. His complextion was so fair that his skin seemed to glow. Blue-grey eyes set his mood eerie, as they were filled with mystery and darkness. He was wearing torn-up, black jeans and a basic printed tee. A leather jacket was unzipped and draped over his shoulders.

"W-who are you?" Stormi stammered.

"Arrow," Was the only response she got from him. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Calihan..."

She stared at his face, nervousness surging through her body. Though, at the same time, the sight of him filled her with a feeling of peace and safety.

He nodded to her. "We'll get to know each other later on. As for now, though, this meeting is coming to an end. If you ever need anything, just call me," He said as he began to fade away.

"Wait! I have questions!" Stormi cried, though there was no response.

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around. "There has to be a reason behind that... He's a real person..." She told herself. "But how do I find out who he is?"

She forced herself to her feet, trudging to her closet to change her clothes from the day prior. She quickly changed into a basic t-shirt and some blue jeans. She grabbed her black paisley bandanna and tied it around her head before leaving her room, heading for the living room. Skye was eating a bowl of cereal at the table, reading the newspaper. 

"You're up early for being up so late," He noted as soon as he saw his sister.

"Yeah. Couldn't sleep," She responded, grabbing a box of frozen waffles from the freezer. She popped two of the frozen circles into the toaster before leaning against the counter to wait. "So Skye... If you wanted to figure out who someone is, where would you go to look?"

Skye looked up at her from behind the paper. "Well... I mean, you could Google it, or go to the library and look at the collection of local newspapers."

She nodded. "Okay, thank you..."

He returned to his paper. "Why do you ask?"

The question she prayed he wouldn't ask. One that she truly couldn't answer, as she didn't know the answer to it. "Well... I..." She thought for a moment for an excuse. "I'm doing a research paper in history class about local legends. I wanna do something different than everyone else."

Skye nodded. "Alright. I can give you a ride to the library on my way to work."

Stormi smiled. The clinging sound of the toaster alarmed her that her breakfast was done, so she grabbed a plate with some butter and syrup before creating herself a plate of food.