Work of Art

Chapter 1- Rain

Rain. It was always my favorite weather. It made relaxing sounds and comforting feelings when you were inside. It was beautiful and fun to be in when you were outside.

My sister Annabelle and I always used to play in the rain. Ever since we were little. When we would start to hear thunder, or the sky was cloudy we would wait by the window to see if the water would fall down. If even a single droplet fell to the ground, we would get so excited and start screaming with joy. We would hug each other and run upstairs to get our raincoats and boots. We would put them on and our mother would say, "Be careful!" As we ran out the door. We stuck our tongues out to catch the small cold drops. We jumped in puddles. We ran around being children.

But as we got older, the rain didn't excite us as much. And we would be in our separate rooms, doing whatever the hell we were doing. We fought more than ever and avoided being together some of the time. But at the end of the day, we always made up. Because we loved each other more than anyone else. We were best friends.

We had a one year age gap, me being older. She complained about getting my hand-me-downs, because she wanted new clothes, but she secretly loved wearing my clothes because they were "cooler than her's". I read that in her diary when I was snooping around her room once.

We lived in a large house with a big backyard, a pool, and a play set. My dad is the one with money, but that's not why my mother married him. She really loves him. And he loves her back. My mom was a muggle born witch who was always teased for the things she could do like moving things without touching them. She was deemed a "freak" in school. My dad on the other hand was a pure blood who was born into a wealthy family who believed that only pure bloods should be allowed in the wizarding world and was disowned when he married my mother.

We had an overall happy family. A lot of my friends have divorced parents, or abusive parents, or strict parents, or a troubled and misbehaved brother or sister who got into trouble all the time and had to be sent away. But I could never relate to that because my family was, well, happy. And I was thankful for that.

If there was one thing my mom always told me about the rain, was "Do NOT get in the pool while it's raining. You will be electrocuted." We listened for the most part, but we were 13 and 14. We were starting to not listen to our parents as much. Every teen does it.

One day it was raining and to my surprise, my sister came into my room.

"Let's go outside in the rain! Like we used to when we were kids! C'mon!" she said joyfully.

"No. I'm studying. We go back to Hogwarts in a week." I said firmly.

"Please, we never do it anymore. I miss it." She pouted.

I felt really bad. We hadn't done it in a while, had we?

"Fine. But not for too long." I reluctantly agreed.

So we put on our raincoats and boots just as we used to and I was getting happier by the second. It had been a pretty bad day so far and this was brightening up my mood. I thought I had made a good decision.

It was not.

I did everything I used to with her. We jumped in puddles, played tag and fell in the mud on top of each other, we were laughing for 5 minutes straight, jumped in the wet trampoline and slid down the wet slide, and caught drops of moisture on our tongues.

"We should do this more often!" I yelled.

"Yes! We will do it again soon!" She shouted back. We giggled.

"Elle! Look!" She shouted as she started running for the pool. She jumped in as she screamed "CANNON BALL!" She plunged underwater.

"Annabelle, please get out now. You know what, mother has always told us." I pleaded for her to get out of the deep water.

"Do you know how small the chance of being struck by lightning is? Just get in for a second." She laughed.

Just then lighting struck somewhere in the distance and lit up the sky.

"Didn't you see that Annie? Mom knows what it's like to be one in a million that's for sure, and we don't want you to be the one in a million getting electrocuted by having the water struck by lighting. There is a much higher chance of that." I warned.

"Your hair isn't even static!"

"Because it's wet!"

More lighting made the sky bright for a split second.

"That was way closer Annabelle. I'm getting worried. Get out or I'm getting mom."

"Just get in for one second and I'll get out."

I bit my lip in hesitation.

"Fine. If that's what it takes. But just for a second." I started to take off my rain boots so they wouldn't get soaked. She floated on her back as she waited for me. I was about to jump in. I got ready to start running. Thinking to myself "maybe this isn't so bad after all". I turned around to face the pool.

"Only for you, Annie. I'm risking my life for your enjoyment." I rolled my eyes in sarcasm.

"Oh come on, it's not that deep, bitch, I love you too." She giggled.

Then it happened.

The second after she said I love you.

A bright white light flashed in front of my eyes, temporarily blinding me.

And I was thrown back into the air by an unimaginable amount of force.

At first I was focused on the sharp pain in my back because I had hit it one the cement.

I was confused.

Then I looked at the pool.

And there was my sister.

She wasn't moving or speaking.

And her eyes were closed.

My body went into shock, denial. No this isn't real. This is a nightmare. I have nightmares all the time. Wake up Eloise. Wake up. I wasn't waking up. This was too real. My sister. My best fucking friend.

She was dead.

I ran over to the pool. I was screaming. I think I screamed "no" at least 20 times. I screamed so loud my parents heard me. The whole neighborhood heard me.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST F-FUCKING LISTEN TO ME?!" I sobbed. I was on the ground. I didn't  think I could ever get up. And sometimes I still feel like I'm on the ground, unable to get up. Feeling like I will never be able to move past what's happening.

"Honey, what happened?!" My mom asked worriedly.

But I couldn't even choke out one word. The rain turned into hail and it was pelting onto my back. It hurt, but nothing could hurt more than what was happening right then. I couldn't hear anything. My parents screaming was muffled and I wasn't even aware they called the paramedics. It probably took them about ten minutes to get there but it felt like five seconds. I heard the sirens and saw their lights behind me reflecting on the water. I saw people taking her body away on a stretcher and my parents hugging each other my mom sobbing into my dad's shoulder as tears streamed down his face.

Memories of when Annabelle and I would play hospital flooded my head. Then I blacked out.

I woke up in the hospital. And I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.

I'd spend the next 2 years trying to feel something again. My tragic past making others think they can manipulate me and take advantage of me. And at first that was true.

Though I'd do anything to get my sister back, the things that have happened to me have shaped me into the person I am today. And I've met some pretty amazing people along the way.

This is WORK OF ART.

A/N: did u like the first chapter? very heavy but i love it. nervous to publish. pls no hate