The Redeemer

Prologue

Ellie Smith stared at the chalkboard in front of her, trying to pay attention in class but she felt her eyes become heavier and heavier. She didn't sleep well last night either. For days she had the same dream haunting her.

Ellie was sitting on the porch while her grandma tended her little rose garden. She loved roses very much, said that that was probably because her parents named her Rosalie. Whenever Ellie and her twin brother Daniel visited her, Ellie would always go watched her from the same spot, tend and talk to the roses with so much love.

Rosemary turned toward her and called her over to smell the roses that had just bloomed.  She stood up a and walked there just as she was about to leaned down to smell them, the roses started withering then turned into dust. It took a matter of seconds and Ellie was so shocked that she looked up to where her grandmother was standing with wide eyes but her Rosalie was nowhere to be seen.

The wind suddenly picked up and dark clouds covered the sky and heavy rain started falling. Ellie was frantically looking around for her but couldn't find her. As she was getting drenched she had a very bad feeling. A felling that didn't leave her, even when she woke up.  

Something hit her head and she turned to see Daniel grinning at her, holding little pieces of what she presumed used to be his eraser. Ellie stuck out her tongue at him and turned back to listen to the history teacher talk about the Roman Empire. Soon again her thoughts wondered away and once again the feeling that something was wrong washed over her.

There was a knock on the door and the teacher went out of the classroom for a moment. She came back a few minutes later with a serious expression on her face.

"Daniel and Ellie Smith, please go to the Principal's office." Ellie turned to look at Daniel and could see that he had the same worried expression as she had. They picked up their things and walked out of the classroom. As they walked toward the Principal's office, Ellie could feel her hands trembling. Daniel looked at her hand then took it in his, then knocked on the door.

"Come in." The Principal said and they walked in. "Please take a seat.” 

"Why were we called in?" Daniel asked tensely.

"I got a phone call from your parents. Your grandmother collapsed and was rushed to the hospital..." Ellie's mind went completely blank and she didn't even notice when their parents arrived to pick them up. They immediately rushed to the airport and hours later they arrived to the hospital.

***

Jonathan and Victoria Smith headed straight to the doctor,  while Daniel and Ellie went to their grandmother's hospital room. The nurse was just checking on her when they walked in.

"How is she?" Daniel asked while Ellie went to take a seat on the chair next to the bed, taking Rosemary's hand in hers.

"She is sleeping now, after we gave her some medicine to stabilize her condition." The nurse said and after checking the IV she went out. Daniel sat down beside Ellie and leaned his head on her shoulder. 

"She looks so small and vulnerable in this bed." Ellie whispered as she gently stroked her small hands. 'These were the hands that wiped the tears from my face whenever I got hurt while playing. These were the hands that braided my hair and taught me how to play the piano. These hands that once seemed so big and strong were now all weak and wrinkled.' Ellie thought as a single tear slipped down her cheek.  

The doors opened and their parents walked in. By the look their father's face, Ellie knew that this was something serious and that Rosemary just barely survived. Daniel and Ellie both stood up to give their seat to their parents. While Daniel went to grab a drink from the wending machine, Ellie went to sit next to the window. She gazed up to the clouds that drifted across the sky and soon fell asleep.