A Looming Tower

4

Suddenly, I can't breathe, and when I open my eyes I'm surrounded by water. Gulping, lungs burning, I shoot to the surface.

"...Anna?!" a voice exclaims, and I whip around, at attention in an instant. I'm not in the school anymore- no surprise, given this place- but now in a pool, treading water.

You were sad, the Haunter whispers in my mind. So this dream will be sad too. Be forewarned.

"How did you- How are you here?"

I look up and there's my grandma, who died when I was seven. Her wrinkles have lifted into a look of joy.

...Oh, no. No, no, no! I look down, and there you have it: My seventh birthday present, brand new floaties on my arms. This is the day she died.

"Oh, Anna, it's been so long since I've seen you!" Dream-Grandma exclaims, and without my consent my body begins to move, pushing over the edge and dripping water onto the patio.

No, I think, get me out of here, Haunter! Help me! I can't go through this again! But he doesn't reply, and as Grandma engulfs me in a hug, the scene I know would happen comes into play. She slips with an expression of surprise, stumbling towards the pool with me clutched tight in her arms, then falling, hitting her head on the cement, holding me all the tighter. We tumble into the pool, sinking, and I'm screaming and crying as Grandma pulls me down.

No, no no no no no no!!

Her arms finally let go and she sinks to the bottom, but then I'm breaking the surface and sucking in breath. Mother is at the edge, screaming, and my real father at her side. He turns to look at me, and in the Haunter's voice, speaks. Tears stream down my face.

"I warned you," he booms, and the dream swirls as I shut my eyes tight.

When I open them, I'm in a room. The floor is green tile, the walls a bland tan. A huge window takes up the majority of each wall- behind the three ahead of me is a rocky cliff that drops to a pebbly beachside, a stormy ocean beyond. But beyond the fourth window is a daycare center, and so that's where I am. But I've never been here before, so how...

"Hey," a voice whispers, "can you help me out of this? They're coming back soon!"

I blink, looking to the source of the voice. It's a boy, green eyes flitting back and forth and hands manacled at his back. His hair is brown and tussled. The golden cuffs locking his hands together are perfect circles, connected by magnetic force instead of a chain.

Maximilian, the Haunter tells me, he doesn't know this is a dream. I nod, walking over to the boy, and struggle with the cuffs. After a moment, I sigh. "I can't get them off."

He blows out a puff of air. "Can you at least help me up?"

I struggle to lift him, but I get him up, and before I can say a word he runs towards the window ahead of us, showing the beach beyond, and rams the handcuffs into it. A crack appears, and after some heavy breathing, he hammers the glass again and it shatters. Looking back at me and smiling, he says "Come on!" and jumps through the hole. He trips on the way out, stumbling, but he somersaults back to his feet and begins to run. Without thinking, I follow.

The wind and chill are harsh out there, a blistering cold and a stormy sky akin to before. The pebbles dig into the bottoms of my feet when I run on them, and grimy sand gets between my toes, but nothing breaks the skin and so I run as fast as possible. The water splashes angrily against the sand of the beach and the wind sends spray to shower on us, but Max doesn't seem to notice.

He's running to the right, bordering the waterline, and he heads towards a run-down lighthouse in the distance. It's grimy and barnacled, but he seems to have a reason to go into it. I follow close behind but he doesn't say a word.

As salty spit begins to whip at us from the water, I finally yell in the fluttering wind. If I speak normally, he won't hear me. "WHERE ARE WE GOING?"

He turns around, still running. "YOU'LL SEE!"

I try to call out but the wind takes my breath away, and coughing, I run all the faster, head down.

"HURRY UP!" he says, and when I look up he's entering the shelter of the lighthouse. As soon as he passes by the doorway, his cuffs unlock with a click, falling into semicircles by his feet. I reach the opening seconds later, hurrying in and closing the mildewy door behind me. When I turn back to him, I see him standing over a well in the center of the stone-brick room. He reaches a hand into it.

"Why are we here?" I ask him tentatively, and he half-smiles, pulling out his hand.

"Come and see."

I walk over to him, braving grit between my toes and puddles on the floor, and look into the well with a gasp. Colors and swirls of light emanate from within, but that's not what catches my eye. What I stare at is what started it all, floating near the top.

The Orbs.

Sucking in a breath, I reach in and grab one.

--DUH DAH DAAHHHHH

Hope you liked!

--DraconisSolutus