Life was becoming something else for me,I couldn't explain all the things that were happening to me.I needed answers but who was going to give them to me.My spirit was completely down as I walked into the house with Aurora.
"What's wrong with you?" Aurora stopped on the entrance door, she was completely fed up with my sudden change of altitude.
"Just let me be Aurora" I said acting like I was, about to fall when I walked past her.
"You are acting stranger than usual"
"Whatever" I muttered,and slammed the door behind me.
Mom appeared from the kitchen wiping her hands and trying to find out what was wrong from Aurora's face.
"Anything wrong sweety?" She asked.
"It's Mike,he is acting all strange again"
"What happened?"
"It started when he suddenly stopped walking on our way to school this morning"
"Strange" mom dropped the piece of cloth on the dining table."Then what happened?"
"He was staring at the forest and after that followed a loud scream, like he had a nightmare in the middle of the day" Aurora said, walking to the table to have a seat now.
"Screaming" mom said,as if she has just heard a forbidden word."But did you ask him why he screamed?"
"Yes but he just increased his pace, ignoring our questions"
"That's strange I think he's going through something we don't know anything about" mom said, taking her seat opposite Aurora.
"Yes, but there's no need for asking he will just ignore me"
" Maybe if you had taken him seriously he would have told you"
"Take him seriously" Aurora gave a quick sigh." For a big brother all he does is tell fairy tales"
" Aurora" mom hit the table to call her to order.
" You know I'm not lying mom"
" I know his stories may seem like fairy tales, but they may be true"
" I know they are not" Aurora said, like she was very sure.
For a thirteen years old girl she knew a lot and could easily outsmart those of the same age with her.
"Don't say that Aurora" mom said with a calm voice.
"Yeah mom" She sluggishly stood up."I have to go change my clothes now" She said and left the room.
"What's wrong with this boy" mom pondered within herself."Is he about to run mad or something" then she stopped and rejected any thought of his son running mad."No no no my son can't run mad" She said, shaking her head in rejection.
I yawned and stretched my body when Aurora entered the room, she was surprised to see that I hadn't changed my clothes yet.
"You haven't changed your clothes yet" She said as she dropped her bag on her bed on the other side of the room.
I just ignored her and turned my face the other side.
"Did Chloe break up with you or something?" She said to draw my attention.
"Shut up Aurora" I mumbled, squeezing my pillow against my face.
"I'm sorry but don't let it get it to you"
"Don't let what get to me?" I asked, trying to pick out her point.
"What a brother" She chuckled."Now turn around so I can change my clothes"
"I'm not even looking at you" I mumbled."And you are only thirteen"
"Oh so a thirteen years old girl can't get some privacy"
" What happened to not caring if I was looking"
" I was only twelve then"
I didn't know that a year could make a big difference in a girl's life.
" Whatever" I said and covered my face with my blanket.
*****************************************************************
I could feel the sun rays fall on my face through the window,it was morning already and I was still feeling depressed but I wasn't planning to stay like this for the rest of the day, I would see if I could get some cheering up at school.I looked down to see that Aurora was already up and had gone to get ready for school,I quickly got up and went straight to the bathroom to brush my teeth,I wasn't planning on doing any chores that morning since mom would still do them later,I only did it sometimes to make her feel good about me and I also felt good when I did them.While I was brushing I looked in the mirror to discover that my eyes were swollen maybe it was because I had been closing and rubbing them more often lately.
"That's just great" I spat the used up paste into the sink.
*******************************************************************
The walk to school was normal as usual, just me and Aurora talking and walking to school but the talks were less in this occasion, with the topic being mostly Aurora trying to tease.
"Your eyes look swollen up from all your crying last night"
"I wasn't crying Aurora" I tried to control my temper.
"Your eyes don't say so"
"I don't have time for your jokes Aurora" I increased my pace a little bit,so that she would try to catch up and then stop talking.
"Come on Mike I don't know you like this" She said after catching up to me.
"Well maybe you should get used to the new me" I said without even looking at her.
Aurora was right ordinarily I would try to laugh at her jokes and then make one targeted,we would laugh together as we walked to school most of the times, but I had a lot going on my mind and those things just couldn't let me laugh at anything,yes I needed some cheering up but Chloe was the only one that could make to at least pretend to feel bette.As we got near the forest road my body began to shake, my heart increased and before I could know it I was already sweating.
"Are you feeling okay?" Aurora asked breaking the long silence.
"Don't I look okay?" I asked pulling the collar of my shirt as if to adjust it.
"The sun isn't even overhead yet and you are sweating"
"Am I" I wiped the sweat on my forehead with the back of my palms.
"Yes"
"I don't know why that's happening" I tried to force out a smile.
As we got close to the forest road I got ready for the worst.A blood bath,a mysterious person or maybe another terrible vision, but we walked past the forest road and nothing happened,I was surprised but also glad that my day didn't start with strange things I heaved a sigh of relief.
Chloe was able to cheer me up a little bit like I had expected, she was really caring and always tried to convince me that she believed all the strange things I told her had been happening to me lately.
"Did anything strange happen this morning? She asked as we sat down to eat lunch.
"No for now" I shook my head.
"So you are still expecting something to happen"
"Why do I bother expecting,it will still happen if not today then tomorrow"
"But have you found out any reason for all this?"
"Where do I even start" I said depressingly poking my food instead of eating it.
"Stop acting like that, you sounded better few minutes ago"
"Chloe you won't understand, this is more than me"
"Then we will find a way through"She stopped to look at me and I was still busy poking my food "together" she added, taking the fork away from my hand and placing her hand on top of mine,then the bell rang lunch was over and everyone quickly returned to their various classes.
*******************************************************************
I got home still feeling depressed but I felt a little better now,and my plan was to go straight to my room and have a siesta which had suddenly become a new normal for me.
"Where are you going Mike?" mom asked as I was about to open the door to our rooms.
"To have my siesta mom" I said and quickly shut the door behind me.
"He hardly sleeps in the afternoon" mom muttered to Aurora.
"Well…. Like he told me this morning that's the new him" Aurora said and quickly followed behind me.
"What is going on with my children?"
Mom wasn't only worried about me turns out she was also worried about Aurora.
By the time I woke up the time was already 5pm,so I decided to go outside for some fresh air, Aurora was no where to be found,so she must be at the back of the house.I was staring at the orange sky when I heard mom call me from inside,I got annoyed by her just calling my name but I still went inside to find out why she was calling me.
"Yes mom" I said as I stepped into the kitchen.
"I checked your room but you weren't there"
"Yes I wanted to catch some fresh air" I said blinking my eyes slightly.
"Ok so I want you to go pick up some groceries from the town"
"Ok mom" I said and turned to leave.
I thought this was one of the errands I would do later but it was already late and I had to hurry on this one so as to get back before the sky got dark.
"You haven't taken the money Mike" mom called me back.
"Oh yeah" I turned back and collected the money from her.
I got down from the hill as fast as I could and had to run so that I would be back early,I ran past the forest road without even paying attention to it.By the time I got closer to the city I was already tired and panting,so I had to walk slowly as I walked down the to the town I could see the orange sky turning dark I was already running out of time.As soon as I got to the town I quickly rushed into one of the grocery stores there, but I wasn't going to be going home anytime soon because the number of people waiting just to buy some items there was larger than I expected.
Finally after waiting for about thirty minutes I was able to get what I wanted, but as I stepped outsideI realised that the sky had gone completely dark,I was afraid but still I had to go hom,I swallowed hard before starting my journey through the dark night, this was not a nice time to be alone if you think about the strange things that had been happening to me.As I walked home in the dark I felt like someone was following me,and the more I increased my pace I could hear him increase his this continued until I got near the school fence then I couldn't handle the stalking anymore and decided to run but as I ran a little distance I heard a loud screaming voice, what had just happened?I stopped walking,I wanted to go and check what caused the screaming but a part of my body kept pushing me to forget about it and go home,and after a short battle with my own body I decided to go check it out.I dropped my bag out of shock of the scene that was lying in front of me,it was as if the man had stabbed himself which was very similar to the three men,as I was staring at the body in shock I heard something move.
"What do you want?" I asked acting like I knew what I was up against.
The swoosh sound passed me again but I didn't get any reply.
"Hey show yourself why are you protecting me"
Turns out the man that was following me was a robber who was just trying to take my grocery judging from the mask he had on.
"Because it's my job" I heard a voice say behind me.
I would normally run away in situations like this but something just kept from running away.
"Your job?" I became less scared now."And who is your boss?"
I didn't get any reply the only thing I could hear was more swooshing.
"Who are you?"
"Your protector" the voice replied quickly.
"That's not a good explanation I need to....." before I could finish, I could hear him swooshing away he was gone and the only thing I could do now was to pick up my bag and go home,I looked at the man and I felt some kind of pity for him, what will happen to his family now,I assumed immediately that he had a family, but all that didn't matter now that he was lying dead in his own blood.