The Majors, Rebuild and Reunite (Book 3)

Chapter 7: Erin Says Hi. Violently

~Fwhip~

My fingernails dug into the sides of Gem's jaw, the difference between my skin tone and how pale her face was incredibly striking. Her skin was slick and uneven with sweat, eyes wide as she spoke words I never thought would come out of her mouth again. 

Erin told me. 

I blinked, still meeting her eyes which I swear seemed to go hazel for a moment, irises polluted by something dark. Red. But then it was gone, emerald-green once again encircling her pupil's reduced to specks from fear.

"Who said what now?" Sausage asked, knelt on the ground to the left of me. 

Gem didn't reply, panting. Her chest heaved, strands of hair plastered to her forehead and the sides of her face. Her gaze left mine, flicking frantically around, elbows, behind her supporting her weight, tensing as her head whipped around. It was like she thought someone was watching her.  She flinched horribly when Violet nosed her shoulder with a worried whine. 

"Gem—" I started, pulling her chin straight again to get her to focus on me. "What the hell happened?" I asked, trying to keep my cool, although my tone was far from calm. 

She swallowed. "Erin— she was there—"

"So you were dreaming...?" Sausage interjected. I glared at him, silently reprimanding him for cutting my sister off right when I had finally gotten her to talk. 

"Shzzzz!" I exclaimed quickly, pressing my index finger to his lips to shut him up. 

Gem ignored my attempts at silencing Sausage, shaking her head violently at his question. "Not a dream." She replied breathlessly. 

"Gem..." I began slowly, pulling my arms away from her jaw and shoulder and instead bracing them in front of her. "You were just asleep...and you just saw a dead person...I'm pretty sure that's called a dream—"

"Oh shut up—" She snapped. Well. There she was. No more broken Gem. Or even more broken Gem, who knows. "It was too real to be a dream."

"That's what everyone says." I deadpanned. "I once had a dream about getting chased by a mint chocolate chip ice cream on a sugar cone. Sugar. Not even a waffle cone. And I thought that was very real and terrifying when I had it."

Sausage nodded along enthusiastically from beside me. "Exactly! I had a dream about—"

"No not exactly!" Gem started (and I was quite glad she had stopped him, I don't think I wanted to know what Sausage's dreams were about), panic returning in her voice as she sat all the way up, dragging her fingers through her hair and shoving it all back, a few fingers tracing her hairline almost hesitantly. "She was there. She spoke to me. She threatened me."

"Buuuuuut she's dead—" Sausage started.

"I KNOW THAT!" There was a trace of a shriek lacing her voice. "THAT'S MY POINT!"

"I think you're a bit tired after yesterday, Gem." I said, pursing my lips at the glare she gave me, nose scrunching upwards and swallowing up several patches of her freckles.

I half expected her to get up and slap me, but instead she stumbled to her feet, swaying before straightening her back stubbornly. 

Then she walked in the complete opposite direction. 

"Gem— No— I'm sorry—" I started, scrambling up after her.

"Where are you goingggg?" Sausage asked after she had remained silent, continuing forward. 

Towards the graves.

"Gem, she's not going to just walk out of the dirt just 'cause you saw her in a dream—" I tried to reason. Key word being tried.