Chapter Four
THE GARDENING WORLD
The impact of hitting the ground knocks the air out of my lungs, but for a moment, I don't try to regain it; instead I just dig my fingernails into the dirt below me and squeeze my eyes shut and breath in the sweet smell of grass. I tense my body and stop breathing entirely; listening, listening, for a trace of a threat or an indication that the fluttery sing-song voices are going to start up again.
I shiver, remembering the last verse. Right now I feel completely insignificant, like a fly to the Universe; only less than that; a particle of dust, or an atom, or nothing but an electron; whizzing around busily and minding its own business, unaware of its surroundings and the rest of the Universe, unaware that it is nothing but energy.
I take a deep breath, then another, filling my lungs once more with air. I am still loosely holding my sisters' hands, Jasmine on my right and Patricia on my left. I can hear their breathing on either side of me, then I open my eyes and sit up.
My head hurts immediately, as if I have a bad headache. "Ow," I say, clutching it and closing my eyes again. I feel disoriented and out of it now, unaware of what my sisters are doing.
"Bethany?" comes the hoarse voice of Patricia, still on the ground, "Jasmine?"
"Yeah," we both reply.
"Bethany, are you okay?" asks Patricia from in front of me. I open my eyes. My sister is looking at me with worried blue eyes. Jasmine is lying on the grass still, on her back and staring up at the sky. I look around for the first time.
We're outside, in what looks like a garden. There a stone paths and beds of flowers and sweet-smelling herbs, and everywhere, there are fruit trees. A little bird whose feathers are the darkest blue, almost black, sits in one of the branches of these trees; as I look at it it chirps and flies off in a flurry of dark feathers.
"Did you hear the song?" she asks in a surprisingly calm voice.
"Yeah," I shuddered, "It was horrible."
"What do you mean?" says Jasmine confusedly, sitting up to look at me. "Look up to the stars to see your one true destiny. Follow it and treasure it, be who you ought to be."
I frown at her. "That's not what I heard," I say.
"Me neither," adds Patricia.
"What did you hear?"
"A horrible song about people getting lost and never returning home, about them being eaten by whoever was singing it," I shiver.
"That's not the one I heard," says Patricia suddenly.
"What? What did you hear?" says Jasmine, confusion visible in her green eyes.
Patricia blushes, then starts singing in a soft sweet voice.
"My heart was a lonely ocean,
All there was to see
Was my thoughts, my wishes, and
Ultimately, me.
I had no one to myself,
No one to love and cry,
And I thought if it stayed this way
Then I would surely die."
YOU ARE READING
I Dare You
Paranormal"Listen to this," Jasmine says again, her eyes sparkling with excitement and her cheeks flushed. "Gemma just had the best idea - for a dare - I dare one of you to do the most terrifying thing you'll ever do! I dare you to do something you won't forg...
