Someone is Watching

Chapter one

I remember this one summer day, about 15 years ago, when our quiet little town received its first tornado. The day was nice and warm, and my sister and I had spent it climbing trees in the forest near our house. We were 10, and life couldn't be better for a couple of kids who didn't care about anything outside of our little world.

We ran in the warm summer heat, swam in the lake, and picked fruit off the trees. My sister, Lily, always had more fear than I did. That's why I had to protect her when she got too close to a wasp's nest, or hold her at night when she'd have a nightmare. That's also why I had to carry her limp body on my back across the field when we saw the massive storm approaching and she had fainted.

Let me tell you why this particular day is on my mind. I'll start with that evening at 6 o'clock. Up until then, our day had gone just like any other day, we were tired, hungry, and filled with contentment after having another adventurous day. We skipped up our gravel driveway to our home singing silly songs, I noticed that our parents' cars were still not in the driveway— they were not home from work yet. Since we lived outside of town in a safe location, our parents never worried about us being alone. Funny how I noticed the cars and not the dark storm brewing in the distance.

Our closest neighbors could be seen across a large field full of daisies and tall grass. it was always a long, beautiful walk to their house. We  went inside the air conditioned house and immediately headed for the kitchen, our stomachs growling. A strong gust of wind struck the house, howling and throwing open the kitchen window with a loud bang. "Evie!" Lily shouted as the window panes clattered against the wall.

I calmly climbed onto the counter, forced them closed, and latched them shut. "There must be a thunder storm coming." I told Lily as I finally noticed the wall of dark cloud rolling in. This made me slightly wary, as this one looked like it would have those bone-jarring thunder claps that shake the house.

I pushed it out of my mind as my stomach growled, reminding me of the sandwiches our father had made us earlier. Lily had them already on plates and we ate quietly at the table as rain began lightly tapping on the house. I could hear the wind bustling through the forest and quiet rolling thunder, I remember thinking it was quite peaceful.

Soon the wind became much more forceful, slamming into the house as I watched our weather vane whip around in creaky circles. The house phone rang, and Lily ran to answer it. I stood up from my chair and brushed the crumbs from my shirt before stepping over to the window facing the field. The rain was pouring with so much intensity, it seemed like Noah's Ark was going to float by. The thunder was getting louder, sending a small pang of fear into my chest, but once again I pushed it away.

"Evie! It's mom!" Lily shouted from the kitchen as I watched the storm clouds grow darker. "She wants to talk to you, Evie!" I turned from the window and ran to my sister, grabbing the phone from her and holding it between us. The sound coming through was crackly, but I could still make out my mother's voice. "Evie! Lily!" She sounded worried. "Listen you two, there's a tornado coming, and your father and I can't make it home!" Our eyes grew wide.

"You girls need to put your rain coats on and run over to the neighbor's house!" She was trying to sound calm, but she knew her daughters would panic, and that upset her. "Stay together and call me when you get over there, okay?" I think I muttered a reply before the line went static and I dropped the phone. It hung from the cord, bouncing up and down between us as we stared at each other.

It was then that I noticed the rain had stopped. In fact, everything had stopped; it was completely silent and calm. Lily was shaking, and she had tears welling up at the corners of her eyes.

I reached out to hug her, but before I could, her eyes rolled back into her head and her body went slack. I cringed when her body hit the floor, and in shock I didn't even try to pick her up. I'll admit, I was scared. We were home alone, a tornado was coming, and I thought my sister just died. I took a second to do what I always do when I'm afraid: I closed my eyes and slowly counted to 10, until my heart quit pounding and I could focus.

As soon as I was finished, I ran into our bedroom and grabbed our rain coats and my only flashlight. I went back to Lily and quickly pulled her arms into her coat before zipping it up. I pulled my own on, and slipped the flashlight into my back pocket. I did my best to avoid looking out the windows at those angry black clouds as I grabbed Lily and heaved her body onto my back.

I held on to her arms and sent a quick prayer to God before opening our front door and stepping outside. Where I thought there would be chaos and destruction was actually total stillness

It was silent, and nothing was moving. I felt like I was in a dream as I moved towards the daisy field. Lily was heavy on my back, but there was no way I was going to leave my twin behind. For what felt like hours I trudged through the field towards the neighbor's house, panic engulfed me as lightning struck nearby and thunder ripped through the air.

We were only half way across the field, and already I wanted to cry. We're going to die here. I thought to myself. This whole situation seemed like way too much for a 10 year to handle. But then I looked up and saw the sun setting below the clouds and behind far away mountains.

Momentarily, I forgot about the tornado, and just felt a surge of peace. The light illuminated the green mountains and struck the pretty daisies around me. I felt completely calm and serene as I gazed at this work of art before me. I took a deep breath and carried Lily to safety.

I've been thinking about that night ever since I got that damned phone call from my mother telling me I "need to come home; something has happened to Lily."

As I packed up a bag and headed to the airport I just told myself that she was in an accident, but would make a quick recovery. But I knew. I just knew that whatever had happened, I wasn't going to see my sister again.

I was supposed to have her back, and protect her when she couldn't do it herself. I should have been there when she needed me most, but I made a mistake, and now my sister is gone.

I can't explain how horrible it feels when your mother tells you that your own twin has been brutally murdered. I was completely devastated and shocked. The reality of her death didn't even seem real to me during the funeral, closed-casket. It wasn't until afterwards, when I demanded they let me see my sister, when I looked at the disfigured body of a girl I loved deeply, only then did I understand that I would never see her smile again.

Lily was never going to laugh again. She was never going to see a preview of a movie, and get excited about watching it. There are millions of things that Lily won't experience again. At least she never had to witness the aftermath of her death, and it's effect on our mother.

She was heart-broken, and the sight of her mourning her lost baby was enough break a heart of stone. Losing a sister was hard, but I can't imagine losing a child. Lily was always her favorite; her world had lost its sunshine.

Aside from feeling the sadness and devastation, I felt very guilty too. After an incident at the end of senior year, we both went our separate ways. Different colleges, different careers, even different coasts of the country. We never spoke to each other unless it was at a family holiday (and only if we had both showed up.) the only way I knew anything about Lily's new life was through our mother, and I'm sure that's how Lily knew about my own.

The few days I spent with my mother increased my guilt for ignoring my sister, and made me feel ashamed that I had let my pride get in the way of our relationship. I guess I thought she would always be around, and there would be no need to fix things. Instead of mourning for my dead sister, I was mourning for a sister I never really knew, for a sister I wished I had known.

While staying with my mother, she told me all about Lily's life, and it seemed to make her feel a little better. She told me that Lily moved to a small suburb outside of Seattle, where she was a journalist for a big newspaper. She had a nice little house and even a cute dog named Arthur. She had a pretty good life as far as mom knew. Lily seemed like a great person, I just wish we had been a part of each other's lives.

If only I knew what Lily's death had in store for me. I was going to learn more about her life than she ever wanted anyone to know.