The Second Generation (On Hold)

Ximena Vacker

I awoke suddenly from a weird nightmare. I remembered bits and pieces, but for the most part, I couldn't recognize anything about it. 

There was a dark room... a strange voice. A high-pitched scream...
"You won't get away!" A strange voice said. 
"Spare my brother!"  A more recognizable voice replied. "Take me..." 
The room grew darker. I could barely see anything... A loud, frigid cackle that curdled my blood. 

I tried to reach out my hand, save the voice I knew. Then, it was all gone. I was in a strange place, a maze of me. I couldn't see anything, anyone, except for me.

"You can't keep her here!"  said a different voice. "Let her go!" 
"Oh, you can't stop me..."  said another voice. I struggled to hear the name, but I couldn't hear anything. 
"Please! Let me see her at least!" said the first voice. 
"Never!" said the voice. "She tried to save him, she must pay the price. You are here too, you must pay..." 
The first person screamed. I reached my hand out but felt nothing but air...

Suddenly, my hands brushed fabric. I grabbed onto it and pulled...

"Sis?" said a voice an annoying voice I heard every day. I opened my eyes, bright lights in my face. I was safe. I was at Lillybay. My home. 

"Ximena?" The voice grew more impatient. "Dad sent me to get you. You didn't wake up yet, so he was scared that you decided to jump off the balcony again."

I got up and pushed aside my brother Aaron. "I'm awake, okay?"  I said. "And to be fair, I jumped off the balcony for a good reason!"

"What reason?" Aaron teased. "To see how quickly you would die? If you wanted to die, you could have just called me to push you off." 

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "No stupid. I jumped off to see what it would feel like to fly. It felt wonderful." I raised my hands. "I can push you off a balcony and you can see what it feels like yourself!" 

"You could have died brainless," Aaron said. "You were lucky Mom was outside creating another fountain and reacted quickly enough to use her water to catch you." 

"I could have saved myself," I replied, my mind still on the strange dream. 

"Oh yeah?" Aaron asked. "How? Last time I checked, you can't fly." He waved his arms mockingly in the air like bird wings. 

"Yeah, I could have saved myself. I would have grabbed onto the stone ledge, created a force field and use it to climb onto to windowsill above the grass. Then, I would have jumped." 

Aaron looked at me strangely. "Ximena, you are crazy." 

"At least I'm not a scardey cat like you are," I replied, now searching for my Level 5 uniform. 

I heard a soft knock on my door. "Ximena? Aaron? I  can hear you fighting from the downstairs kitchen! If you are bickering again, that must mean that you are ready! I'm coming in!" Mom said. 

I quickly made a forcefield right where the door was so that Linh couldn't force her way in. Mom sighed. "I assume then Ximena, your not ready?" 

"Almost!" I called back, now trying to untangle the knots in my hair. 

"She's  not ready!" Aaron called back. I frowned at him and hit him with the hairbrush. Aaron immediately conjured a screwdriver and hit me on the shoulder with it. 

"MOM!!" I yelled. "Aaron hit me with a screwdriver!"

"She hit me with her hairbrush first!" Aaron yelled. 

"I'm getting your Dad," Mom said. "I can't handle. Now I understand what Tam felt like when I was annoying."  

"Don't get DAD!" Aaron yelled. "Please!"