Cheating Death

Chapter 2

Present

Dove moaned as she slowly woke. She opened one eye to see her little sister, Anna-Marie, laying in peaceful sleep. Dove pushed some of Anna-Marie’s hair out of her face, and then got up.

Dove walked like a zombie on the way to the kitchen. She stumbled over the threshold, but quickly regained her balance. The young woman started to make her famous pancakes as she started to think about her dream.

Hey, Dove thought. I could make an amazing novel out of it!

Dove snorted. Like she could ever put the effort into writing a novel. Novels . . . Ethan had used to read them to her before. He had been a huge reader.

She cursed as tears sprung to eyes. It happened every time she thought of her lost brother. Everything reminded her of him, too. And it tortured her because she couldn’t do anything about it.

Dove had only been five when her brother was taken, so it wasn’t like she could actually do anything to help. And on top of that, her parents had done close to nothing. Sure, they had had a search party for him, but only for a few months. When no trace came up, they quit. Then they moved to Raleigh, North Carolina; said the town reminded them too much of their lost son. Apparently, it hurt too much.

A few months after they settled into the new environment, there was going to be a new member of the family. Sometimes, Dove thinks that they had Anna-Marie to take Ethan’s empty place. Dove thinks that her parents are forgetting their only son, her only brother, completely. This is why she can’t help but feeling somewhat sour towards her parents.

Dove pulled out the rest of the things that she needed to make a filling breakfast.  She had just graduated high school a month ago. In that month, she had learned how to cook.

Everything was sizzling and popping when Anna-Marie walked into the kitchen. She was still wearing an oversized t-shirt and matted red hair.

“Hey, honey. Sleep good?” Dove asked as she flipped the pancakes.

“I guess so.” Anna-Marie said quietly.

“What’s wrong?” Dove could tell that something was up when she heard her tone of voice. She quickly got over to Anna-Marie’s side. She pulled her over, and they both sat down on the couch.

“It was my dream last night. There was a boy there. He was about nineteen, I think. He had golden blonde hair, and purple-ish eyes. Really pretty color, if I do say so myself. His skin was darker than yours, but not by much. His face was somewhat angular, kinda like yours. He looked vaguely familiar.”

Dove got an idea. Her heart blossomed with hope; a hope that she tried to push back down. She ran to her room and dug out an old school picture of Ethan. She ran back into the living room and slammed the picture down in front of Anna-Marie.

“Is this what he looked like? But older?” Dove asked, trying to push that hope back down. This hope was really stubborn, though. It kept jumping right back up.

“Ya.” Anna-Marie’s brow furrowed. “Isn’t that Ethan?”

Dove nodded her head excitedly. Anna-Marie’s young face grew grave.

“He’s in horrible danger. He needs help.”