The Shadow Kingdom

Prologue

The water overwhelms all my senses at once. My greatest friend has become my worst enemy at the moment when I need it most. I felt this coming even before the car broke through the partition. The glassy ice on the winter road whispered to me, warned me that the tires would spin out of control. Tragically, I was the only one who could hear that warning.

The only sounds that I hear now are the useless cries of desperation and the quiet sloshing of water pouring in through the cracks. John is in the driver seat, struggling to break free of his airbag. Sophie is panicking; her gaze wanders mindlessly between her husband in the front and her daughters in the back. I can sense the coldness of the Ohio River through the thin glass of the car windows that are protecting my family for the moment. And I know that the glass will not hold.

The water will not harm me, nor will the cold. I will not drown, and I will not freeze, but at least, two of them will. If I wait until the car sinks far enough that the glass shatters on its own, then they will all die. John and Sophie are not very good swimmers to begin with, and I would have to struggle to pull them away from their seats. Alex is the only one I can save.

Metal is denser than water; physics dictates what must happen. I however, am the sole exception against the otherwise inviolable laws of nature. And that exception will save my sister's life.

I lie down on the backseat and kick the window as hard as I can. What should have taken several blows only required one; I magically forced the water pressure to lessen against the glass beforehand.

"Take a deep breath!" I shout to Alex as the water floods inward. I slither through the small, perilous opening, careful not to cut myself on the broken glass. Once I am free of the car, I reach back inside for Alex's hand. I guide her through the opening, reminding myself that normal people can only hold their breaths for four minutes at maximum. And what feels like a swimming pool for me will be a torture chamber for Alex.

I hold Alex close to me like a lifeguard, and we gradually climb to the surface. Before they are out of sight, I glance one last time at John and Sophie, slowly vanishing inside their steel coffin. Alex and I emerge from the abyss, and a little bit of life returns to her as the air refills her lungs.

Her body however, is in a state of shock. I have to get her to the shore immediately. I swim with one arm tightly wrapped around Alex to the edge of the shipping yard, searching through the darkness for a ladder that we can use. I grab onto the steel rungs and pull her to the ladder. The icy metal should feel normal against her hands since she's already dying of hypothermia.

We finally set foot on dry land, and I channel all my inner-strength into forcing the water on Alex's body to warm up, keeping her alive long enough for us to find help. I force her to stand up and keep walking, refusing to allow my sister to die on the snow-covered pavement. I give one last thought to John and Sophie as we leave the edge, and I whisper the words, "Forgive me."

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I wipe my brow, packing the last box for our big move. Alexandra and I have been at this for hours, ready to open the next chapter of our lives. It is impossible to believe that we are selling this house. My entire life, this has literally been the only home I've known. Even now that John and Sophie are gone, I can still feel their presence here. The thought of losing that feeling makes my blood run cold.

Surveying the room, a tidal wave of memories washes over me; the first time I won a science fair project, all my swimming trophies, paintings I love so much that I refuse to sell, and the pictures of Alex and me at our high school graduations. I owe so much to this place. All the good parts of my life are a result of being taken into this house.