Sickening Thoughts

Chapter 2

In the middle of the night, Aurora had just awoken from a deep piercing pain in her arm. She held back a wince to not disturb the rest of her family's slumber. Aurora saw something move swiftly, but only for a few seconds before it escaped out the window.

"Hey!" she hissed at the figure. She knew it was hopeless anyways; a lost cause. Aurora sat on the edge of her bed and ripped a part of the linen off to wrap around her arm as a bandage. There was a little dot of a scrape, but a lot of blood had been exposed from it. She tried going back to sleep, but after hours of trying she finally gave up and watched the sun rise. After a while longer, Aurora's dad and little brother were awake.

She walked into the kitchen and they greeted me with a sleepy wave. After having coffee, her Dad gestured to the bandage on my arm. "What's this?"

"Oh erm, nothing much". Even though Aurora made a point of it not being a big deal, he unwrapped it anyways. After looking at it he was shocked. Her arm was puffy and red and irritated. She was surprised too, but not as much as him. He quickly checked her face side to side and told her to look left and right with just her eyes.

"Father, you're scaring m-"

"Just do as you're told!" he said. Aurora obediently looked from left to right as the frightened expression on his face grew, then grew into some sort of sign of sadness. "Justin," he spoke to my little brother "I'll be back... I'm taking your sister to the hospital". It made her curiosity grow when he said I'll be back. Did that mean Aurora wouldn't return?

Her heart went cold. What had happened to her? She thought back to the figure she saw at midnight, how she felt a pain in her arm. Father had to force Aurora into the car and started driving off. "Father what's going on?"

He sighed and looked over at her quickly, then back to the road. "Your mother had a disease. One that had not yet been named. It's been breaking in our lands. People were getting it in groups and your mother just happened to be a part of one of those groups. Three years ago, you remember.."

"What does this have to do with explaining what's going on right now?" Aurora asked impatiently. He didn't seem bothered by her lack of patience considering that he was rushing her to the hospital right now.

"I didn't tell you guys because I didn't want you to worry. The disease... it broke out again. Few people have gotten it but you show the exact symptoms. There's no name for it, let alone no cure".

She looked down her my lap. By this action he thought Aurora might've been sad, and she was at first, but now she was just thinking that there must've been a cure. A way to defeat this disease.

"I'm sorry, Aurora" he said as they stopped at the hospital entrance. He stayed in park and they sat in silence for a couple of minutes as he looked downward. It was pretty awkward because she hadn't seen him cry, ever. When mom died he was able to hide it by going in his room or taking a shower, in places where they couldn't see him. But now it was just them, in the car, alone. He had his arms and head resting on the steering wheel as Aurora twiddled my thumbs. She almost thought she saw a tear slip down into his lap when he quickly got out of the car and stood up, then came around to her side and held her hand walking in. When they got there, a guard was waiting at the front entrance. He was a special guard meant to take the people with the unnamed disease. She couldn't believe it. It must be some kind of joke, Aurora thought. When the guard took a hold of her arm, she screamed in resistance. 

"Father you can't let them take me! Am I ever coming back? Don't you love me, won't you save me? Please, don't go I can't do this!" her eyes burned from holding back tears as her throat tightened. Father looked at her with a sad, apologetic look.

"I love you, my starlight" that was his nickname for her. One she'd probably never hear again. He quietly said goodbye as he sullenly walked back to his car, his head hanging down. Aurora reached out a hand for him, but it was worthless.

"There's no use in putting up a fight" the guard said as she kicked his leg and pinched his skin. "I'll find a way to fight this I will go back home!" she said. And some part of her believed that was true. And another part of her believed she would die here. Scared. And alone.