Sky and the Seven Wonders | Book One: The Gathering

Chapter 1

[I am a very busy student so please point out any typing errors because I have not double checked. Thanks ]

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"An evil force has risen. In order to defeat it, you must find and gather the seven wonders."

Sky wakes up. She gasps deeply as she springs up into a seated position and slams her forehead onto the wooden base of the top bunk bed over her. The pain makes her head throb and she groans as she rubs her temples and curls in her wool sheets.

A loud sigh leaves Sky's lips as she glances at the window next to her bed. She looks through the nearly transparent white curtains and sees the sun begin to rise. The orphanage has an open field that stretches out into the horizon and it's green grass almost looks like an endless sea of algae. Faint figures of birds fly around the silent sky and dive into the trees' luscious leaves.

It's almost like the morning greets Sky with all its majestic brilliance but that's not what she feels at all. Instead, she's haunted by that dream, or nightmare. She can't even remember anything except that voice, that chilling female voice that always calls out to her in the darkness. Even the bedroom itself has an abnormal chill in the air. A shiver runs down her spine.

Suddenly, the bedside alarm blares. Sky jumps but this time blocks her head before she hits the wooden base above her again.

"Ah, God," Sky hisses and rubs her aching knuckles. "That hurt."

"Hey, turn off the alarm."

Only when Sky hears that does she realize that her alarm still is blaring loudly. She switches it off and turns to see long brown hair hanging down from the top bunk.

Emily yawns and sweeps her hair away to reveal a puffy face. "Too noisy. Too early."

As Emily slides down the ladder, Sky can't help but snicker. "What are you, a dead body? Get up."

"Good morning to you too," Emily snickers and sits on Sky's bed. "Had that dream again?"

Sky scratches her cheek. "You can tell?"

"You did wake me up when you hit the bed," Emily frowns and suddenly slaps her hand on Sky's forehead.

"Ouch!," Sky yelps.

"Stay there while I get you some ice," Emily orders as she springs to her feet.

Sky gets a good look at Emily's neon pink underwear before she disappears into the kitchen across her. She silently rubs her forehead and listens to the sound of gushing water.

"Are you sure you can handle it?," Sky yells out.

"It's just water, Sky!," Emily groans before there's a clang of something metal. "Agh, that's cold!"

Just before Sky can rush into the kitchen, Emily appears with a small plastic of ice in her hand. One leg of her pajamas is soaked.

Sky barely stifles in her laughter. "You're such a klutz."

As Emily puffs her cheeks, she presses the ice pack onto Sky's forehead. "So you had that nightmare again? I thought they stopped."

The smile on Sky's face fades. She holds the ice pack as Emily sits next to her. "I don't know why it came back today but..."

"Is it the same?," Emily asks.

Sky nods. "Yeah. Still that voice and that strange woman."

"You know," Emily crossed her arms. "I've googled dream interpretations for some possible connection but yours is just... different."