"AINSLEY!"
I shot upright in bed, sweat pouring down my face. My heart was pounding against my rib cage as though it were trying to escape. Another assault of pounding resounded from the other side of my bedroom door, matching the tempo of my throbbing skull in almost perfect succession.
"AINSLEY, DAMMIT! GET OUT OF BED! I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS TODAY!" I could hear the irritation in my mother's voice through the door.
"I'm up! I'm up! Geez!"I kicked my blankets to the floor in a heap. Swinging my legs over the side of my large four-poster bed; I curled my toes in the soft, fluffy shag of my area rug and stretched my arms high above my head with a satisfying yawn, like that of a bear waking from a long slumber. The large, red number projected on the wall showed it was 6:45A.M.
With a groan, I stood and shambled my way across the room to the vanity mirror that once belonged to my sister, Cecilia. It seemed so out of place in this room, with it's white paint and and pristinely carved wooden details. My room was a place of darkness with its grey walls and dark curtains, the only evidence of life dwelling there being the few cloths strewn about the floor. No light or happiness entered here...not since she disappeared. About 2 years after her disappearance, my mother decided to "cope" by purging all evidence of Cecilia's existence from our home and lives. It took a three day battle to convince my mother to let me save the vanity from the scourge.
I was shocked to take in the sight of my reflection. My face appeared hollow, eyes sunken and blackened from lack of sleep. My skin took in a sickly yellow tone and the usual honey color of my eyes appeared to more closely resemble murky swamp water. My long, red hair was plastered against my face and neck, slick with sweat. I looked more like a corpse then a living, breathing person.
I gathered my belongings and made my way to the bathroom. As I did, i heard my mother shouting a quick goodbye up the stairs as she headed out for work, followed by a stern warning about "not being late for school again" I stripped off my sweat stained pajamas and got in the shower, turning the water hot enough to nearly melt my skin from my bones. I stood beneath the assault of hot water with eyes closed. Breathing in the scents of vanilla and lavender, I allowed water to wash over me and down the drain, willing it to take my sadness and my nightmares with it.
I had grown weary in the passing months. My family was torn apart by the disappearance of my sister. My parents withdrew from me and poured their every waking hour into finding her. Countless searches, plea's to the public, and false leads, but no evidence was every found. Then just as life began to return to some sense of normalcy, my father was driving home one night and hit a patch of ice, launching him over the side of the bridge and into the cold lake below. When his old dodge truck was pulled from the water, it appeared that he was ejected from the vehicle sometime during the impact. Sadly his body was never recovered. My mother changed when he died. She became overbearing and overprotective. She insisted on knowing my whereabouts at all times, and scrubbed all evidence of Cecilia and my father from our home. It's been 8 months since he died, and nearly 3 years since Cecilia was last seen. Yet after all this time, I was still haunted by their loss. Every day, a New day would come and so with it a new nightmare.
As the water turned cold, I was reminded of the biting wind in my nightmare, of the fog that hung low and menacingly as it twisted and curled about my ankles, and the pain stricken face of the green eyed boy. I shuddered at the memory or the dream, turning off the water and stepping out into the steam filled room and shoving the terrors of my oat recent nightmare to the back of my mind, I began to ready myself for another New Day.