Whisper

Chapter One: Black and Blue

"Venus?" I hear my little brother Jake call from my doorway. I force my eyes open and roll over. What's he doing up so late?

"Jake? Did you have a nightmare?" I ask him, a sense of worry washing over me as I look into his big brown eyes.

"Yeah." He says, looking down at his feet.

"Awe, it's okay buddy, they're not real." I say. I stand up off my bed and walk over to my sweet little brother. He's dressed in an adorable onesie with Toy Story characters all over it. His shaggy blonde hair falls slovenly over his tiny pale forehead as he frowns at the ground, his brown eyes becoming glossy as he tries to hold back tears. Poor thing, he's been having these nightmares all week. He's only five, his mind shouldn't be plagued by such menacing dreams. I kneel down and give him a hug, trying to make him feel better.

"Come on Jake let's get you back to bed." I say softly. I take his hand in mine and walk down the hall back to his room.

"There you go, nice and cozy." I say as I lift him off the ground and tuck him back into his Star Wars themed bed. I glance over at my other brother, Mark, making sure he hasn't woken up as well. His usually bright blue eyes are closed and his brown hair spikes out in every direction I can think of. Half of his pale face is smashed into the pillow, making his head look round and squishy like a marshmallow. I smile internally at his cuteness.

I lean down and give Jake a kiss on the forehead, running my fingers through his soft hair to comfort him.

"What was your nightmare about tonight?" I ask, trying to make my voice soft and inviting.

"Well..." His bottom lip quivers a little and a frown threatens to expose itself.

"It's okay buddy, it's not real. I'd never let anything bad happen to you, you know that." I whisper, giving him a small smile.

"I know but, nothing happened to me." He says, his voice becoming shaky at the end. Confusion clouds my brain, what does he mean? Did he dream about someone else's death?

"What happened?" I blurt out before thinking about the question. I keep my expression calm, as to make him think I meant to ask that.

"Someone took you." He whispers, his eyes becoming watery again. I stare at him in shock, what the hell. How bad are his dreams getting? What five year old has such nightmares?

"Who took me?" I ask, composing myself and focusing on calming Jake.

"The spaceman." He whispers, seeming to have trouble getting the words out. I was abducted by an astronaut?

"An astronaut stole me?" I ask, tilting my head to the side a little.

"No." He simply says.

"What did the man look like?" I ask, ignoring my instincts to stop asking these questions. He's clearly becoming more and more upset but, my curiosity is getting the best of me.

"He wore a suit that was black and his face was covered." He says. I go to ask another question when he suddenly speaks again.

"He's a bad, bad man." A tear streams from his eye down his soft, puffy cheek and he frowns at me. I should've stopped asking questions, now he's more afraid than before.

"Awe no, don't cry Jake." I say, quickly lifting him into a hug.

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise, I'll always come back to you, okay?" I say, rubbing his back and giving the side of his head a kiss. My poor brother he's so upset, why didn't I stop asking those questions?