The Wrong Sister

I'm Not Surprised

After we ate the pizzas chloe and I decided to go to bed. Our beds were each next to a large window that let the light in. Chloe decided to open her window to let the sounds of the crickets ease her into slumber. I didn't. They were loud and I had enough trouble sleeping already.

Eventually I went to sleep after staring at the moon for what felt like hours. I finally found some calm. I slept deeply. My thoughts constructing my nightmares. Slowly my muscles began to tense and my breathing turned laboured. He was there. He was outside my window. He was staring at me. I couldn't move. I was stuck. I couldn't see anything, but I could feel a presence.

My heart rate increased my temperature was rising. I shivered. I was freezing and sweating.

"Can I have her..." the whispering voice trailed off.

I stopped breathing.

'It's just a dream. It's just a dream. He can't find you. No one is there.' I chanted in my head trying to relax.

Finally my fear released me and I jumped up to look through the window. No one was there.

I sighed. 'Of course no one is there. Why would anybody be there' I breated myself.

To scared to go to sleep I read until the early hours of the morning. My eyes were throbbing. My heartbeat was in my ears. I couldn't handle much more. I looked out at the moon comforted by its presence in the quickly brightening sky. My eyes closed slowly but the imprint of the moon stayed behind my eyelids reassuring me that I was safe. I was being watched over and protected.

A sharp pain came from my upper back and the rest of my body was squashed under the weight of my loving sister.

"Artemis! Wake up! You sleep for so long." She yelled.

I groaned trying to push her off me without hurting her. She was in my space and I was starting to feel trapped.

"Nope! I'm not getting off until you get up." She sang happily unaware of my inner struggle.

"Chloe get off of me. I'm serious." I said in a stern voice trying to make her understand that I wasn't joking.

"Come one Artemis I'm not hurting you!" She laughed bring her head down to breath on my face.

She was too close to me. Too much of me was being touched. I couldn't stand it. Her face transformed into his.

I screamed desperately trying to push her off.

"Jesus, Artemis. Clam down. I was just trying to wake you up. You always over react." Chloe huffed as she got off me and walked down stairs angrily.

I scrambled off the bed trying to control my breathing.

'It's not her fault it's not like she's being malicious. She just doesn't understand' I thought to myself.

I needed to calm down.

I slowly made my way downstairs. My mom saw my face and a look of recognition entered her eyes.

"Go have a bath, Artemis. It'll help."

I nodded and listened to her advice.

In the bath I slowly drew myself out of that place. I stopped seeing his eyes, his smile, his laugh. I thought about the moon. My protector. Always there for me. I know it's a childish idea, but it was keeping me going.

I heard my mom talking to someone. It was a male. He had a beautiful voice deep and rough. It relaxed me. Brought me the tranquility I had been desperately seeking, but it left me with deep seated longing for something I didn't understand.

I heard Chloe talking to the man. Their voices were muted, but I knew what was about to happen. Chloe is beautiful.

That hurt for some reason.

I scoffed at myself. 'God, Artemis why are you being so insufferably jealous? Your sister is beautiful. Be happy for her. They will no doubt go on many dates, if Chloe likes him that is, and you should be happy!'

I got out of that bath and walked back to my room glancing around for Chloe. She was nowhere to be seen, as expected.

I decided to spend the rest of my day exploring our new property. 'Chloe was right. It is beautiful.'

I heaved myself up onto the top of a low cliff face and looked over the land. Rolling hills with valleys and secrets lay before me. I smiled I was going to discover every last one of them.

As I walked along the edge of the cliff I looked down marveling at the divine beauty of the rock formations.
Down one stretch of rock I saw what I thought looked a bit like a ledge. I climbed down the cliff to land precariously in front of a thin cave mouth.

I grabbed my phone and turned on the flashlight as I shimmied my way into the cave. It widened out, quickly changing to resemble a corridor. I walked slowly admiring the stalactites on the surprisingly high ceilings. Then I came to a seemingly dead end with a small hole in the wall.

'I can probably get through there,' I decided, 'besides it's been straight the whole time, it's not like I'm going to get lost.'

I tried up my hair and squeezed myself through. After about 2 meters of crawling it opened into a massive cavern. There were 5 points of entry that I could see with my phones torch.

I wanted to go further, but I needed to be safer. 'I can't get lost under here. I'll get some chalk and try again' I concluded.

By the time I got home I was filthy and worn out, but smiling widely. Chloe was in the kitchen gushing to my parents about her date.

"It went well then?" I questioned gulping down as much water as possible.

"Artemis he is the most amazing man I have ever met. Maybe a bit intense, but he makes me feel so important."

I smiled at her response, "Is he in love with you already? That must be a new record."