Ungifted

03: Night Terrors

June:

"Wait up, Pete!" I can remember calling out between heavy pants as my naked toes squished the cold, wet sand beneath them and my tired legs started to ache. "Slow down!" I shouted again, slowing my sprint down to a jog; then, a walk; and then, eventually a complete stop. My brother Peter, being a teenager while I was still only nine, was always faster than I was, but he never rubbed it in my face. Instead, he would slow down and let me catch up or, occasionally, he would kneel in the sand and let me climb on his back so that my legs rested on his hips and my feet dangled loosely in front of us. We would laugh and giggle as he gave me a piggy-back ride all the way to the ice cream parlor that was located almost two miles from our lakeside summer cabin.

Peter was a plain kind of fellow when it came to his ice cream, or any type of food for that matter. Vanilla was always his flavor of choice while I was a gambler and took a risk on a different kind of ice cream almost every night until I ran out of flavors to choose from and started over, skipping the flavors that I had already deemed displeasing, of course.

While we did sometimes fight, Peter had always been my best friend. I liked to think that he thought of me the same way even though he was five years older than me.

Every summer our family would take our annual trip to the lakeside cabin for a two month long getaway of relaxation. The main purpose of this vacation was to give my dad a break from his stressful work as one of the most sought after lawyers in the nation, but Peter and I took advantage of it all the same.

Our early morning walks along the beach with our bare toes grasping at the cool, spongy sand and our late night ice cream runs at the small downtown ice cream parlor were what I looked forward to all year especially after Peter had left for college. My first year without Peter was tough. Nonetheless, every summer when he would come home from college,  it seemed as though Peter and I got closer and closer; that is, until the fire.

The fire that swept through our entire, small town was horrifically unexpected, destroying almost every building within a three-mile radius, including my family's summer home that had held so many warm childhood memories with Peter. I can still remember the thick layer of smoke that was constantly filling my lungs with each breath and my dying brother's muffled screams among the crackling of wood and shattering of glass.

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I guess Jay did have a point. There really wasn't any point in fighting Kayla. It would just create more problems, but oh how I would have loved to knock that bitch out cold.

"Thanks for the help," I thanked Jo with relief as we finished scrubbing the once-disgusting, but now-spotless tile floor of the girls' corridor.

"I couldn't let you do it by yourself," Jo replied with a smile as I picked up the bucket and sponges and made my way to the small closet down the hall to put them away. "And you're officially free from punishment!" she exclaimed before continuing, "For now anyways."

"Oh shut up!" I jokingly punched her arm.

"Oh wait. I forgot that you're new boyfriend won't let you get into any trouble," She joked as we entered the hallway and put away our cleaning supplies. "What's his name again?"

"I've only talked to the guy twice. He's not my boyfriend." I continued, "It's Jay by the way."

"Well I think I'm going to call him sexy pants. Or, how about cutie wootie? Dream boat? Lover boy. Oh wait, I know--"

"Jo shut up!" I interrupted.

"Oh come on, June. I was just getting to the best one!" she protested and pouted.

I ignored her and continued my walk down the hall to the supply closet.

I rolled my eyes as I heard Jo mumble behind me. "Big Papi."

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That night was a long, sleepless night. In fact, every night that I can remember since the first time I was brought to the compound--no, since the day Peter died--was identically sleepless.

As the minutes of tossing and turning restlessly  progressed into hours of the same condition, I eventually nodded off. This much-needed sleep only lasted briefly until the blood-curdling screams began.