Lost Shadows

C1: Birthday in a Cemetery

I love Chloe, she has been my best friend since forever and has been there for me for as long as I could remember. But she could sometimes be overbearing with her excitement. Almost a year after the accident, on my 17th birthday, she decides it would be a good day to overwhelm me with her delight and elation.

"Happy Birthday Apryl!" She all but screams at me.

"I don't want to celebrate today, Chloe. Maybe next year," I reply solemnly.

It is my first birthday since I lost my sister. Usually on each of our birthdays, we would stay up all night and wish each other happy birthday at the strike of midnight. But I went to bed early last night, waking up late before going to school. Celebrating was the last thing I wanted to do.

I attempt to avoid Chloe and her cheerfulness for as long as possible, yet somehow fail to succeed. She knows exactly what I'm going through, she's just doing her duty as my best friend.

I end up letting her get me a cake with candles. She even decorated my locker and sung happy birthday for me, completely off key I may add, but it's the thought that counts.

Chloe comes home with me after school to celebrate, my foster parents, Molly and Greg are working as usual. They tended to avoid me. They barely acknowledge my existence anymore. They blame me for my sister's death, not that they really cared to begin with.

Chloe and I decide to have a movie marathon and soon, for a while, I forget my sadness. I was sent back to a time when I was happy, when I didn't have a care in the world. But, that didn't last long.

"Chloe," I shook her awake, "Chloe, wake up."

She groans and rolls over, falling off the couch in the process.

"What?" She complains, her hand grasping around, searching for something. "It's one o'clock in the morning, Apryl!" She groans again as she finds her phone.

"We have to go visit Sophie."

"Isn't it a bit late for that?" She questions.

"Please, Chloe. I have to talk to her," I beg.

She sighs, "OK, give me a minute and we can go."

I tell Chloe to stay in the car when we get there. I want to do this on my own, face my fears. I walk through the cemetery slowly. An eerie silence settles over the atmosphere, I become shrouded in the darkness of night. Translucent figures float around the clearing, shadows that watch me. They've alway been there, ever since the crash. I pick up my pace in attempt to avoid them. I weave around the gravestones, searching for Sophie Gray among the alphabetised names. The air cool on my skin, my cheeks flush and mist rises from my mouth as I breathe. Finally, I find it.

I sit by the curved rock, jutting out of the grass. The moonlight bares down on it, shining enough light for me to read the face of the stone.

Sophie Amelia Gray
Beloved daughter, sister and friend.
You will be forever in our hearts.

I fight to hold back my tears as I remember her smile, her laugh, her kind eyes. Sophie wasn't just my sister. She was my best friend. She was the one who was there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on, she was the one I trusted with all my secrets, she was the one who I shared all my best memories with. I love her. I miss her.

"Hey Sophie," I smile slightly, imagining she was in front of me and actually listening, "I know if you were here right now, you would be cursing at me for waiting all day to come visit you. But I'm here now."

I sit in silence for a moment, picking at the grass. I am about to start talking again, when I hear someone behind me. I turn around to see a young man, probably around the same age as me. He has beautiful sea green eyes and dark brown hair.

"Excuse me Miss, but what are you doing away from home at such an hour?" He says with a lovely English accent.

"I could ask you the same question," I say, standing.

"It's not safe out here for a beautiful lady such as yourself." His body flickers.

"Do you plan on hurting me?" I take a step back.

"No Miss," the beautiful stranger assures.

I watch him for a moment, assessing the situation. He wears a white shirt, tucked neatly into his khaki coloured pants with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. An old fashioned dark haired beauty. His hands are held behind his back and he stands tall, though not in a threatening way. He watches me with kind, curious eyes, awaiting my response to his presence. As I go to respond his image flickers, like static on a television. I gasp and step away from him, eager to leave.

"OK, well I'll be going home now," I turn and begin walking back towards the car.

I look back to see him standing exactly where I left him. I pick up my pace and begin jogging. Suddenly, my foot gets caught on something and I stumble, failing to break my fall. I land flat on my face and feel something pierce my side. I looked down and see a sharp, jagged rock embedded in my side, a wisp of dark mist around it. I feel it twist inside me and hear laughing surround me, coming from every direction. I begin to find it hard to breathe as I lay there with blood running down my side.

'I'm going to die,' I think to myself, 'I tripped and landed on a rock and now I'm gonna die."

"Apryl," I hear someone calling my name, "Apryl, you're going to be alright."

I look up into green eyes. I feel his hands over my abdomen, but then again it's like feeling nothing at all. Coldness burns through my body and suddenly, I can breathe again. I run my hands over my stomach, the skin that was ripped apart a second ago is now perfectly healed. My hands travel over my body, searching for any sign of injury, my clothes are covered in my blood but I have no wounds.

I hear sirens in the distance, the wailing getting closer with every second. I sit up to flashing lights and see an officer running towards me. I sigh, could my night get any worse?