1 Running in the Rain

I was going to be late. Again! It's not anything new though.

School was let out four hours ago. There I was, running up a hill with my books above my head, to give me some shelter from the rain. I was only halfway home, in the felids next to the school.

"Fuck! Rylee will kill me!" I muttered to myself.

Home overlooked the town and the lake. It wasn't one of those fancy homes but it's home. The house itself was an old house, but the inside was modern.

The owners of the house Rylee and Dan did all the renovations. They were very close to my parents and were the only one who took me in after the accident. They treated me as if I was their own child. Rylee and Dan could never have a child no matter how hard they tried. When they heard that my family disowned me after my parents died, they took me in without a thought. They became my new family.

As I entered the front door, the rain slowed down to a light drizzle. I closed the door without thinking, letting it slam shut behind me.

"SKYE GARDNER! GET YOUR ASS IN THE KITCHEN! RIGHT! NOW!" The dreadful screeching of my foster mum Rylee reached my ears. I whispered a quick fuck and left the puddle of water I was standing and in headed into the kitchen. Rylee and Dan sat at the opposite ends of the table.

"You're late?!" I nodded my head afraid to answer her. "Care to explain?!" She asked once again in a serious tone.

I looked down at the newly formed puddle around my feet and said. "I. I was studying and. and I lost track of time!" I stumbled over my words as the coldness of my drenched body finally kicked in.

"Don't lie to me! We both know you lost track of time reading again." Rylee let a smile slip. "Dinner is in the microwave and go shower before you catch a cold. You are a baby when you are sick. Oh, and no foul language!" How did she hear that?!

I nodded my head and went up to my bedroom had a shower, got changed, had dinner and then went to bed.

…

A sudden chill awoke me from my sleep. I was outside in our backyard once again. If I took another step forward, I would have fallen down into one of the rose beds.

Not thinking anything of my little trip, I started my way back inside. Back in the comfort of my bed. My mind flicked back to all the times I've gotten cuts and bruise from my little sleepwalks. There was this one time, I decided it would be great to chop up some air; I ended up waking up with a cut on my palm that needed 6 stitches. Ever since then, we have always locked anything that I could hurt myself away before going to bed.

I will probably someday hurt myself or even kill myself. It wouldn't be that surprising though. With that last thought, I curled back into bed and drifted to sleep.

…

The green trees whizzed by as we flew down the highway. "Mummy! How much longer!" My voice filled the car.

"Sweaty, you asked the same question five minutes ago!" Mum's soft voice filled my ears.

"Mummy! I'm bored!" I whined while playing with my feet.

"Stop whining. Well, be there soon!" Mum answered for the tenth time.

Giving up on mum I whined to Dad. "Daddy. I need to pee."

"No, you don't you just went." He glanced at me in the mirror.

"But Daddy! I need to pee!" I gave him my best puppy eyes, which always works.

"Fine! But there's nowhere to stop so you will have to wait after we cross the bridge. Can you hold it in for five minutes pumpkin?"

"Yes," I whined, as I turned to look back out at the green blur of trees.

Finaly after what felt like a lifetime, the trees broke away to a beautiful array of colours. The horizon was filled with hues of red blended with oranges, purples, crimsons. We finally made it to the bridge and every one of us was awestruck by the sight. Suddenly a car in the oncoming traffic started to swerve, the car started to gain speed while the driver started to swerve even more.

"Honey! Watch out!" Mums fear filed scream erupted out of nowhere. Dad swerved, but our car was not quick enough. The car still hit us and suddenly we were pushed over the bridge rails.

Screams filled the car as we plummeted towards the water. A loud bang when off and then there was nothing. Panicked I started to struggle. Mummy turned around and looked at me, her expression calmed me down as quickly as everything started. She carefully unpluged my seat belt and wound down my window. Water suddenly and quickly started to pool around us.

Mummy was saying something, but no words reached my ears. Slowly her voice filled my ears as she told me, "Swim Skye. Mummy and Daddy will be right behind you."

The water was now at the window and showed no signs of slowing down. I swam and swam, but I was not moving. Suddenly, mummy's hand grasped my ankle to take the seatbelt that had wrapped itself around my leg.

I took one big gulp and helped slide the seatbelt off my leg. Hesitating to swim away not wanting to leave Mummy and Daddy behind. I took my last gulp of air. Water soon filled the car and by this point; I had no chose. So I swam!

Mummy and Daddy were right behind me. Right?!

I took a quick glance behind me and they were both still trapped in the car. "Mummy! Daddy!" I screamed in the water, my voice barely recognizable. I was losing air quickly as vision started to blur. The car was drifting out of my sight with mummy and daddy still in it. Panic started to flow through my veins once again. Mummy and daddy could be trapped in the car. The idea forced me to take a big gulp of water into my lungs.

Hands wrapped around my waist trying to pull me out of the water, but I struggled to escape out of their grasp. I needed to get to Daddy and Mummy or they will die. This person needs to let me go.

I struggled and struggled against the arms, but finally, I gave up. With no more energy in my little seven-year-old body, I went limp. Involuntary, I took another gulp of water as everything faded…

…

Waking up from my nightmare, I find myself wet and cold. I was swimming in the lake, in the middle of the town. Weak and numb, I was struggling to stay afloat to keep my head above water level.

Breathing in some water, my struggling worsened as I started to choke. It was too much like the accident! All the memory I kept hidden of that night resurfaced. My nightmare was becoming a reality again.

With the little about energy left in my numb body. My vision started to spin as the last amount of energy left my body, and slowly I drifted into an unconscious state. but just before a feeling of arms wrapped around my upper torso.