Secrets of the Pier

Chapter Five: The Premonition

Thump, thump, thump. Not this again. You're dreaming, Rachel. But where are you?? More feet pounding across the hard, wooden surface just above them. But it's far colder now. And I can feel it fading- dying, almost. As if it were ever alive. But it still has the strength to scream. To scream as loud as it can. To anyone who could possibly be out there. Help, help, help. But its voice just echoes through the room, almost like a slap in the face. "I'm alive! I'm alive!!" Where is it? Is it in a cellar, a chest, a box? And who is it?

My eyes fluttered open and I quickly rose up in my bed. Another bad dream. I fell back into my sheets and squeezed my eyes shut. If I was going to have to deal with these nightmares every night, then I might as well just stop sleeping. I rolled over to check my alarm clock; it read 4:39 am. My instincts told me to just stay up and watch netflix. At least then I definitely wouldn't have another nightmare. But mom and dad were going to make me go to school in the morning and there honestly wasn't any sense in being tired for that. So I sucked it up, rolled back over, and drifted back to sleep.

Waves crashing, slamming a huge blue sea against the pier. The clouds are dark and judging. They swarm the sky and look down on the treacherous lake beneath them. I'm falling quickly- faster and faster as I reach the water's surface. The warmth of Ava's hand is gone now. I'm all alone, staring a storm straight in the eye. A hard coldness slips over every inch of my skin and pulls me towards its depths. The lake is swallowing me now, and the tide is clutching my legs and feet, trying to pull me under. The harder I work to pull myself towards the air, the further I seem to slip. I am suffocating now- seeing stars. Stars? Or death? My life is worthless. This is my time to die. Take me, death. Just when everything is about to turn black, a sudden light grows from the corner of my vision. I don't know what it is, but the light is telling me to fight. Telling me I am stronger than I think. Telling me that I have a second chance. I begin to climb once more towards the water's surface. And this time, nothing is pulling at my feet. Further, further, further. As soon as my lips find the air, I take large, deep breaths to fill my lungs. With every will I have left in me, I tread towards the edge of the pier where there is a ladder. I grab that ladder like it is my life. I want to give up, oh so bad, but where is Ava? My best friend? "Ava! Ava!" Im calling out, throwing my voice at the wind. But I can't find her. I'm trying to ignore the pit in my stomach. The pit that tells me she's dead. The pit that tells me we both jumped off of the pier, which was primarily my idea, and that only one of us made it out alive. Minutes that feel like hours pass by. There's nothing I want more than to see my best friend's face again, to have death take me too. But I shut my eyes. I turn around. I climb and climb, up the ladder to safety. Because I am selfish, and have given up on my best friend. And all I feel is a constant string of regret.

I expect to see a pier at the top of the ladder. But instead, I am back in the tight room with it. I am looking at the dark figure in the room, it, from an outside perspective, like before. But this time I realize that I am not a body, only a watchful eye, a soul. The dark figure begins to speak and I quickly notice that it is not in a tight room but in fact a coffin. "Rachel- I'm alive. I've been telling you this for days. Help me, please help me. I need your help, I am going to be gone soon."

"Who are you?" I whisper cautiously.

"I'm Ava. And I'm alive. But there's not much time. I need you to hurry. Wake up." With that, the voice began to fade away and I did as I was told.

When I woke up, I felt at ease. Peaceful, almost. Like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" My mom was sitting on my bed.

I yawned. "How long have you been sitting there for?"

"Close to an hour. You've been sleep talking all night and I wanted to make sure you were all right."

"Listen mom, I have to tell you something. But you can't think I'm crazy. And you need to promise me that you will try your best to do what I'm about to tell you to do."

My mom nodded slowly and widened her eyes. "Rach, I'll listen to what you have to say and I trust that you aren't crazy, but I can't make any promises about doing anything."

I guess that's the best I was going to get. "Ava's alive. I got all of my memories back, and I know that she's alive."

My mom looked pretty shocked, but I could tell she was trying her best to stay composed. It took her a second to respond. "I'm glad you got your memories back, but Rachel, that doesn't make any sense, and you know that. The doctors did everything they could to make sure she was alive, and she wasn't. What were your memories?"

I was prepared for this reaction. "Everything was the same as I had expected. We grabbed hands and jumped off the pier together. I survived and she didn't. It was nothing more than a bucket list thing. But I've also been having these... premenotions I guess. Dreams that aren't memories. But I know they mean something, they have to. And they are telling me that Rachel's alive."

My mom looked down for a long time, clearly trying to process everything I had just said. This didn't surprise me. What she said next was what surprised me. "I believe that your memories are real. And I believe you in that you have been having these premonitions, I really do. But what I don't believe is that they are about the future." She sighed, "but honestly, I want you to believe that they aren't about the future too. So we are going to go look at Ava's body now, so you have an easier time moving on from this."

My eyes widened- I was truly in shock. I never would have expected that from my mom. I hugged her right away. "Thank you for letting me do this- I really really need it."

My mom smiled. "I want you to be able to trust the world around you, I really do. Now let's get going, I don't want to hit morning traffic."