Sairah woke up next to Sierra's dead body that morning.
She looked into the lifeless eyes beside her without reacting. Blood was on her sister's face from the hole in the side of her head.
This . . . had happened before. Specifically on the morning of her birthday this year.
"Morning sis." She whispered.
Sierra's eyes blinked but the fatal wound remained. "Morning Sairah." Her voice was a shadow of what it used to be. Gravelly and hoarse.
Sairah noted the paleness of her complexion. She almost seemed grey. "What's it like being dead?"
Sierra looked downward as if distraught.
Sairah was still calm despite the sense of doom filling the room. The gorgeously bright island atmosphere was not what was presented before her now. Everything was dingy.
"I wish I got the chance to live like you." Said Sierra. She locked eyes with Sairah again. "Live the way that you live now."
Sairah gulped.
Sierra's eyes started filling with tears but they were black.
Sairah saw her choking. "What's wrong?"
Black ink erupted from her sister's mouth the same time it came out of her eyes.
Sairah frowned as it kept coming out and falling onto the bed. She did not know what to do or say. "I'm sorry-"
"Sairah!"
Sairah actually woke up this time.
Jade knelt next to her in bed. She had been shaking Sairah to wake her when she noticed her talking in her sleep. She just came from the bathroom after freshening up.
Sairah breathed heavily while staring at Jade.
Jade held her chest. "What the . . . what the f*ck were you dreaming about? D-did you see your sister?"
Sairah sat up to hold her head.
Jade really hated how distant she had become. "Sairah?"
The older one sighed. "Yeah."
Jade crossed her legs on the bed. "What about her? I-I heard you asking her what it was like to be dead. What does . . . Sairah are you okay?" Would her girlfriend be like this from now on? Because she'd reached the age that her sister had passed?
Sairah shook her head and climbed out.
Jade got up too and stopped her before she could go to the bathroom. "If you're having nightmares about someone who's dead then-"
"Who said anything about nightmares?" Sairah said after facing her. "It was a lovely memory."
"What? You woke up panting and you asked her what it was like to be dead. I heard you." Jade folded her arms crossly. "Look, you've been less . . . open for the past few months and I know it's got a lot to do with her death, your age and . . . have you been talking to Dr. Jung? Are nightmares a part of it? Is that common for you now Sairah?" She was so worried.
Sairah imagined her sister's smiling face then the ink covered mess of a while ago. "I just . . . I don't dream about her all the time. It's mainly sometimes like . . . every . . . other night?"
Jade's mouth hung. "When you say dream you mean nightmare right?"
Sairah flung her head back. "Jade it'll go away."
"If you've been having a problem for three months then you need help with it. What do you and Leigh even talk about with Dr. Jung when you have sessions? The weather?"
