Finding Winter

Chapter 4

Slow hisses of air whirred busily in the silence.

A light rhythm of pulsating beeps accompanied by the occasional ring echoing from a distance soon joined it. And as my cheek began to grow numb and tingle from the rough, prickly wool blanket, I gradually became aware of the bright lights around me- a searing pain constricting my eyes once I looked directly into the light above Autumn's bed.

The light was absolutely unnecessary. There was already an unrelenting ray of sunshine streaming through the window- glaring off any smooth surface and consuming the entire room.

I threw my hands up to my weary eyes and rubbed them vigorously so they could adjust to the brightness, and my heart fell into my stomach when I dared to gaze at my sister's battered and bruised body.

What the hell happened to her?

Part of me couldn't help but wonder if it was all my fault. Late at night, after the ambulance drove Autumn to the hospital to receive immediate attention, the police investigated her bedroom. Her window was wide open, the items on her dresser were scattered and thrown across the room, and Autumn's blood was trickled across the sheets from the deep scratches engraved onto her arms and legs.

They speculated that someone may have broken into our house with the intentions of harming Autumn, but they were unable to find proof. There were no clues, no signs, and no fingerprints.

All they had to rely on were the crevices that tore Autumn's skin, but even then they said they had no idea what caused it. The indentations were too thin and sharp to have been caused by human hands, but the cuts were too rough to have been done by any knife or metal. They say that if they hadn't known better, it would have been from a wild animal like a bat- an abnormally large bat.

And since there have been more recent sightings of bats in Manitou, it wouldn't be a surprise if they settled the case with that.

But I know my sister.

I know that my sister was not the type to sleep with the window open at night. No matter how hot it could have been during the summer, she would sleep with it closed and prefer the fan to the cool night air. And as for as my knowledge, there were no bats in our house to begin with.

Something was strange about all this- I couldn't help but think that. I couldn't help but feel that the daunting warning I was haunted with throughout the whole evening yesterday was foreshadowing what was going to happen to my sister later. If I had only explored the fear a little more, faced it, and tried to analyze why I was feeling the way I was, maybe I would have been able to prevent the attack.

There was a reason why I felt the way I did. It was no coincidence.

I have had gut feelings before, but this was far more different than just an instinctual pull. I knew. I knew something was going to happen, which led to me think that this involved the blue orb.

While I was going through the agonizing pain in the forest, perhaps it was a transformation. The burning pain I felt must have been my nerves sparking together to form more connections in my brain and enable me to have this sort of insight. Autumn, as much as I hate to admit it, may have been right this whole entire time. Maybe we have become some sort of heroes endowed with the responsibility to predict and prevent future disasters.

What the hell was I thinking?

I groaned and let my head fall back into the little nook it created at the side of Autumn's hospital bed. The sleep deprivation was really getting to me, and I could use a few extra hours of sleep. However, it was already noon, and it would help to get a head start on all the homework and lecture time I missed today.