C o n c e n t r a t i o n- A war story

C H A P T E R 3

Aurelia?

Has she really gone?

I kneel down and take her hand, shaking it. She can't be dead! My sister, she can't be! Aurelia would never go like this.

I arrange her splayed hair into delicate plaits, separating them into equal sections. After then arranging them into hearts, I turn to go. Get help. Tell someone.

What am I meant to do?

I just found my sister... dead?

I shudder. Maybe there was a reason why she was so insistent on moving, maybe there was a reason behind her headaches. Maybe she knew. maybe she was simply scared. I don't want to admit it, but it all adds up to one painful truth.

I brush it off as I walk for the door. Until I turn around for once last glimpse of her body before I get help. And then I see it. In her neck.

A raw wound, the skin ripped open and blood pouring out in waterfalls, untamed.

If she was alive, she can't be now. There is no way. At all.

It is only then I notice the note beside her, written in the same cryptic handwriting. The same . Incoherent  words. I pick it up. The words scream at me.

'SERIUE DAWRIUS MAUTER'

No sense, as usual. I crumple it up and push it deep into my pocket, preparing to go out and inform someone about Aurelia. If she had been alive, I might have paid more attention to the note  lying crumpled in my pocket. I might have noticed how the words were slowly fading to a readable language. As it is, I don't.

At all.

It is just another fragment to my sisters life. Just another thing that can't be explained about her whatsoever. I have grown used to it now, and easily ignore it whenever it comes around.

As it is, I walk put of the room, closing the door softly behind me. I want it to be as if she is merely sleeping, as it is, I want it to be so that if I am too loud she will wake up from her peaceful dreaming.

After closing the door behind me, I run down her corridor and out on to the deck. I look around, there is no one. I sprint up to mother and father's room and thrash on the door wildly. Nothing. As I run, the sea gets wilder, shaking the boat vigorously.

We rock on uneven waves and I am suddenly glad I have no memory of travelling before. My relief turns to panic again seconds later, all I have to do is think of Aurelia's motionless body with blood pouring out of the desolate wound.

My fingers instinctively go up to my neck, the place where she was wounded. It's as if my body wants to make sure that I am safe and in one piece as well. The tension lifts and I relax when I find nothing there- the skin is fresh and pieced together normally.

"Help!" I scream into the wind, directing it at no one in particular. I just want my sister to be alright, for life to return to her and for her to live. I wish I could say I didn't want much- I'm desperate.

"Help!" I scream again, louder this time. The screaming lashes of cold that batter my face still push the words right out of my bitter mouth, forcing them into regions of unknown sea. I shudder violently. How will I ever get help?

I remember vaguely where the paramedics on the ship were and begin to walk in that direction. The rain beats down and the ship becomes slippy. I hear a voice booming, telling us to all stay in the cabins where it is safe. I ignore it, Aurelia needs help.

Direly.

Eventually, I think I reach the cabin. My brain has gone fuzzy, deflecting all thought. I struggle visibly to stay up and moving. Lightning starts to strike, and the captains voice appears again, shouting at everyone to stay inside where it is safe. I am not safe.