The Darwin Project

Chapter One

Hey guys! Thanks for reading, please write a review if you have the time, all comments, compliments, or constructive criticism, are appreciated! I have already written and edited the first 50 pages of this story so I should be pretty regular with updating (I'll post a new chapter every week), so don't forget to check back for more next week :)

-Miranda

Chapter One:

His screams wake me up again tonight. I wake with a jolt, fumbling around for the light switch. Running my thumb blindly along the chord of the lamp on my nightstand, I feel for the dial. The lamp clicks on, the light flickering between on and off for several moments until it finally produces a steady dim glow.  I slip out of bed, shivering at the coolness of the night air and dart out of the room as fast as possible, not bothering to tip-toe. If his screams didn’t wake our little siblings already, then my footsteps won’t disturb them either. I rush into the next room, and over to my brother’s bed.

“Ty! Ty!” I say, roughly shaking him. “Wake up. It’s ok, you’re dreaming!”

Ty yelps and jolts up in bed, swinging his arms wildly at me.

“Ty, its ok, it’s me!”

 Finally, he realizes what is going on and falls back onto his pillow, exhausted. I plop down next to him, relieved that the screaming has stopped. Maybe Gracie and Benjamin slept through it tonight. Ty is breathing hard, and I wait in silence for him to calm down. He doesn’t say a word.

“It happened again, didn’t it?” I ask quietly.

“Jess, I don’t want to talk about it,” he says roughly, rubbing his face with his hands. Even in the darkness of the night, I can see the glistening of tears in his eyes and the hallow emptiness of his expression. And just like every other night, despite the fact we sit only inches away from each other, I can’t help but feel as if my brother is still miles and miles away from me. 

“Ty, I-“ 

“Jess, I said I’m fine!” he snaps. Frustration boils up in my stomach. I know it’s the nightmares. I know it’s not his fault. But knowing doesn’t make things any easier.

Before my brother came home from the island, I had a hard time understanding my classmates when they talked about their older siblings. Nightmares seemed childish. They were not for those eighteen year olds who returned to us, or anyone older for that matter. I had outgrown them when I was seven, learned that the scary monsters and the horrors of my dreams were not real. They were figments of my imagination, and when the sun rose in the morning, they would disappear, and I would be safe. But it is not like that for Ty. It’s not like that for anyone who returns home after that long, strenuous, terrifying year on their own. Who return from the Darwin Project. Because for them, the nightmares are real. They are memories seared into their minds for eternity. They are the images that will haunt them long after the sun comes up, and images that will follow them for the rest of their lives.

“Maybe if you could tell me what you saw, it would help you to sleep better,” I suggest softly. I have a feeling I know what it was.

“I can’t,” he replies, choking back the tears.

The bugs, right. It's so easy to forget that you aren't even safe to speak in your own home. Not unless you want NWA picking apart your conversations.

"We can go for a walk, get some fresh air, and maybe then," I suggest. Code talk for get a little bit of privacy. He would know exactly what I meant.