Never (NOT a OUAT fanfic)

Prologue

Wells dreamt that water rushed between the cracks in her fingers and along her bare legs, creeping around her pinched torso. It would draw back for a moment, swell against itself and then return to stroke her in salty licks.

The water was pitch. A kind of black color Wells had never seen water before. She could not move, but she could stare out at the endless bouncing waves that almost blended with the horizon line, save for the dapples of moonlight reflecting off its surface.

That's all that happened.

The sea. The beach. And a place Wells couldn't quite describe.

But she had dreamt about it, the water, the sand and the moon for a week now. Nothing told her why and she wouldn't dare tell anyone about the strange dreams. After all, nothing happened in them. Surely it didn't mean anything, if nothing happened.

Wells tried not to think much of it as she sat awake in bed, staring at the dark far wall, thinking it was almost as dark as the water. Small beads of sweat trickled down the sides of her face but she barely registered them. All she could think about was the dream, and how this was the seventh night in a row she had woken up after having it.

Dead middle of the night.

Flustered and very much awake now, she decided to freshen herself up with some lukewarm water. Sweat was beginning to make her feel sticky.

The house was fatally silent. Wells was not used to silence like this, in this house especially. Her two younger brothers were always wrecking havoc in some shape or form. But now they were soundly asleep.

Sighing, Wells enjoyed the feeling of water cascading across her face as she splashed herself with water from the bathroom sink. It felt oddly like the water in her dream. She stopped, gripping the sides of the sink gently and peering up at the mirror.

Her blonde hair was a mess. The locks couldn't quite decide if the they wanted to be straight or ringlets, so often Wells would throw it into a bun in frustration. Normally, she couldn't help sprucing it up with a frayed blue ribbon. But that was currently too much effort.

Droplets of water were spewed across her pale skin, clinging tightly to the contours of her face and neck. Wells found it strangely therapeutic to watch the beads bleed down her chin and then her chest. Perhaps she should splash her face with water when her parents started shouting at her. They were always fighting with her. Always.

"Wells?" A meek voice peeped from behind the ajar bathroom door. Wells jumped in her skin, not anticipating anything but silence. She whipped around to see her little brother standing awkwardly, awaiting her her reply. His dark eyes peered through the small gap, large and brown.

"Mikey? What are you doing up?" She whispered, opening the door so the dim light of the bathroom washed over his half-naked figure. Mikey repositioned the round-framed glasses on his nose, magnifying his sleepy eyes.

"I heard you get up." He responded, leaning through the bathroom doorway to see if his sister was doing anything suspicious. Wells wasn't quite sure what he expected. There was nothing but the gently running tap.

"Is Jonny still asleep?" She asked as Mikey rocked back on his heels, meeting her eyes. He was almost taller than her now. The three years between them didn't seem to make an impact on height as Michael was growing at an exponential rate.

"Yeah, I think." He pursed his lips, again pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. It was a habit of his. "What are you doing?"

"Couldn't sleep. It was getting hot in my room so I needed to cool myself down." Wells excused, not daring to bring up the dream. The dark sky above the beach came back to her. So dark it looked like black cloth. "Go back to bed, Mikey."

"Okay, whatever." Her younger brother responded before lumbering down the hallway in his boxers. She shook her head gingerly at him. It seemed her two little brothers were the only reason she stayed in this house. Had it only been her parents and her, she didn't think she would have survived.

After splashing her face once more with water, Wells decided to follow Mikey back to bed. She passed the nursery on her way back to her bedroom and peeked inside, just to make sure Mikey had really tucked himself back in bed. Curled beneath the thick woolen sheets was her fourteen year old brother who looked even more boyish while he slept.

Wells' room was flooded with moonlight when she entered. It was like a silver velvet, pooling on floor beneath her window. She'd never seen the moon so bright.

Just as she was about to crawl back into bed Wells experienced a strange feeling. Like a cold shiver that snaked down her spine and then corrugated in her nerves. She looked around her bedroom but there was nothing there. Nothing but a shadow, so quick she could have mistaken it ever being there, that passed along the opposite wall and disappeared by the chest of draws.

Wells shook her head, passing it off as nothing. Without giving the shadow another thought, she stowed herself away in her covers and drifted back to sleep.