Expelling Demons [On Hold]

4

Ashlyn

I stare at my sister and her washed-out skin, berry-stained hands, pulsing blue veins, and dark, dilated eyes. The eyes scare me the most.

Her eyes used to be innocent, cute, dark brown orbs. Now they are black as night, and the iris almost completely covers the whites of her eyes.

My sister scares me.

She lays on our couch now, still breathing, apparently. Her breaths are not more than whispers of air from her lungs to the world and back. I don't know how she is still alive.

My mom was stressing over her when I finally got her back to the house. It took me too long to carry her ten-year-old body back home. We could have lost her. It would have been my fault.

Mom's not here anymore. My sister is dying, and Mom is at our neighbor's house, screaming in pain.

Soon I will have yet another sibling, but it won't make up for Myana if her soul is lost.

I've been running around the kitchen frantically searching for any kind of drug that might help her. Is she in pain? Can she hear me? Can she respond?

"Myana?" No response. "Myana!" Not even a flicker in response.

I would run to a neighbors house if I could, but all of our neighbors who have either had kids or have any medical experience are next door with my mom.

Panic bubbles through my skin as I start to slip into a panic attack. I claw at my hair and frantically search the room for anything that could help me.

I am yanked back into reality as my eyes land on a government issued pill bottle. X19.6. These are stimulants. A stimulant should work, right? Myana's breathing so slow maybe this will help her. Maybe?

"You can't just leave her comatose, Ashlyn," I scream at myself.

Quickly, I grab the bottle and run back to my sister's limp body. I wouldn't even know if she were alive if not for the small hissing noise of her hot breath.

I shove the pill in her mouth, surprisingly coax her to swallow, and wait.