Nothing Left to Burn [YoungWritersShortStory Contest Entry]

II.

It had to have been at least a month ago that Erin woke up at night. Now, there were sights and nightmares. At first, she took pharmacy sleeping pills that were prescribed to her mother, not that they ever saw her and they helped for two minutes before Erin's eyes opened, her forehead drenched with cold sweat.

        Giving up her need to sleep, she managed to have her eyes stay open. She had tried not to think about those cynical things and tried to delve in some happier times. However, from the intruding voices, she got snippets of conversations. It did not help to just climb into bed after eating dinner.  She had to make her way to the bathroom to throw up all of the contents that she had began to digest. It was a lesson learned not to stuff up on too much food, even her favorites.

        Now, the brunette had found sleeping on the first floor of the house to her advantage. Her bed was right by the window. Her brain processed things fast. She slept in her outside clothes and pulled the covers up to her chin to avoid suspicion when her parents came in.

        Even though she felt her humanity pull away every time she slipped a sleeping pill into her sister's water that she traditionally had ever night before bed, Hayley would understand, was what Erin thought to fill up the void of guilt.

        When they were younger, they used to just spend time leaning into each other as their eyes got droopy reading about adventures that ordinary people got into before they realized that they mattered more than that. As they grew up, everything wasn't about just imagining fun going on journeys and quests. But they still read those books anyway because it reminded them of an innocence that they used to have.

        Erin had a feeling what she was going through was only a little part of what happened to those people. It was just the beginning of the very beginning. Nothing had happened yet.

        As she crawled out of the window, she turned her head back, perched on the windowsill checking off that she had locked the doors and Hayley had gotten her nightly "treatment".

        Turning her head so fast that her world spinned, Erin balanced herself and the ground slipped out from under her for a second before hitting the soil. She took gulps of the relatively cool and clean air from all around her. It was days before that she realized that the oxygen and free space helped her clear all the things from her mind.

        A prick on the back of her neck told her she was going to hear something. Another patrolling officer. Not now. They seemed to be more constant lately.

        Erin ran to the grove of trees that she found near her house. She didn't want to take the risk of being seen on the street past curfew. It was a risk that she was unwilling to take.

Then as if it was programmed, there was a shock that went through Reyna. Chills made their way up her arms. All the voices were male and monotone in her brain playing the same message.

        "No, Gwendolyn, I can't stay anymore... you can't... please bring me..."

        Fear filled her senses after the message finished playing. It was evident that something was wrong. Someone else was channeling into her mind. That wasn't right.