New Dawn

The Sun's Rays

Prologue – The Sun’s Rays

6 Years ago

Aurora had spent the day in school listening to her teacher whom sang miracles to her ears as she read the brilliance of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare’s view was captivating and Aurora only wished that she could be as radiant as him one day. For now, she could only be the best that she could be and with using Shakespeare as a guide, study her hardest.

“O Hazela, Hazela! Wherefore art thou Hazela?”

            Her gleaming voice soon cracked full of nervous as she peered up the stairs. The house’s lights were all turned off leaving a murky shadow that lounged around the house. Aurora felt cold on a summer’s day as she closed the door and shut out the fading sun. She hated the dark.

“Hazel?”

            She didn’t much like being on her own either. Hazel was Aurora’s older sister. She had left school early today. Aurora wanted to go with her, but she was a good girl who didn’t skip school to follow her sister and she knew her sister would be ok. So she hoped. Her sister’s attitude and other values had been changing ever since she turned thirteen and it was like her moods would change from day to day. Only for the past year or so she had a different feeling towards her. Her sister would have come home wouldn’t she? The door was left unlocked, so she must have been here.

“Hazel. Are you home?”

            She moved forwards instead of standing in the doorway and thought to put her bag down in her room. The stairs screech as she climbed them and approached the first door to the right. Hazel’s room.

“You better not try and jump out at me again Hazel. I mean it. You’re not going to scare me!”

Her voice shivered as she said the words with as much anger as she could muster to cover her shaky voice. When Aurora placed her bag on her bed, she checked her room to see if Hazel was going to jump out of her wardrobe. Or if she was under the bed. When nothing happened she moved to Hazel’s door placing a light knock on it and feeling an electric shock run down her back making her quiver as it creped upon her. There was no answer. Just silence.

“Hazel. Are you in there?”

            Aurora knew it was rude to enter a room without permission, but she slipped it open just a little to have a peck to see if her sister was there. She looked and she saw her sister’s figure facing the setting sun. At least she thought it was her sister. The figure looked so limp as she opened the door to see what it was the figure was messing with.

“Hazel! What are you doing?”

            No answer. Just a step up onto her window ledge as if she was in a trance. Aurora followed the long knotted rope of old curtains from the loft with darting eyes to see it was tightly attached to Hazel’s bedpost. She was shocked taking in the scene before her with feelings overwhelming her and she could think of nothing more than to get that rope off from around Hazel’s neck.

“Hazel, No!”

            Dashing towards her, thrusting her arms around her waist, and then pulling Hazel down to the ground as hard as she could. Her weight crushing the small child.

“No Hazel! Don’t do it! Nooo! Please don’t do it! Please! Don’t do it!”

            Shouting through tears and almost breaking her lungs, Aurora’s screamed at her sister, trying to break her out of the hazardous trance-like state she was in. Her voice came out scraggy, sore, and broken, but she didn’t care as long as Hazel wouldn’t jump. As long as she was safe. And alive.