Finding Winter

Chapter 5

Autumn was released from the hospital, but even when she got home she was still passing in and out of a relentless nightmare. Her eyes had only opened a few times, but even then she wasn't completely there. They would look past everything but nothing at once- like something beyond our world and nothing that could be conjured by our own matter was calling to her.

My mother said that Autumn simply had the flu- something passed down from the bat.

But after what happened yesterday, I knew that wasn't the case. Maybe the being that had possessed her yesterday was speaking to her internally.

I honestly had no clue. I stopped asking questions last night and made no effort to remove the blanket I draped across my mirror a few days ago. My brain was in shock and made every effort to block out any further questions or concerns. And honestly, I didn't mind. Being momentarily oblivious finally enabled me to have the first good night's sleep I had after seeing the blue orb.

It's true what they say. Ignorance is bliss.

The delicate scratching of my pencil against the vast whiteness of paper helped clear my mind. All that mattered now were the gentle strokes of the line curving up to meet the head of the beast I encountered yesterday. With a quick brush of my hand, I cleared any eraser crumbs and blew the rest away, holding the picture above the homework I had to do and looking at my finished piece under the light on my desk. It was exactly how I remembered it- a towering, skeletal shadow with fingers that whipped around in the air like wisps of string but with the edge of sharpened steel, an open, sinister tear at the bottom of it's head that acted as a wicked grin, and lengthy legs that stretched across the floor and into infinity.

Now that I transferred my memory onto paper and could look at it for a while longer, the more the monstrous figure matched the shadows that attacked me in my childhood nightmares.

But why was I seeing them again? It had almost been ten years, and it was in plain daylight. I had also been fully awake, and the spirit mentioned that 'they' were coming.

Before I was able to wander any further into that path of unanswerable questions, I took my mind off it by sketching my sister when she was possessed by the mysterious being, propped upright in bed with legs crossed- leaning in with intrigue yet picking at Autumn's nails with disinterest.

Most of the shading was done in black and white, but I took a red colored pencil and filled in the eyes. Chills fevered my body as my drawing reminded me of all I went through yesterday.

Kalum. Jodah. I was Kalum, which could only mean that my sister was Jodah. Those seemed to be the names that we were given. And the colors, what did they have to do with anything? Once I punched Julian, I noticed that my arm was glowing blue. Before the spirit inhabited Autumn's body, my sister was radiating with an orange light.

"Matthew!" My mother hollered from the bottom steps of the stairs, "Aren't you going to eat?"

The frantic ticking hands of my desk clock suddenly caught my attention, and apparently I ended up drawing from early morning to late noon. Time passed way faster than I anticipated, but I honestly wished it would go faster. Sleeping at night was the only way to relieve me from the constant cycle of mystery and questioning, but I guess a good bowl of hot soup would do for now.

So I yelled back to my mom to let her know I was coming down and trotted down the steps to see a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup waiting for me on the kitchen counter. Usually, I don't like soup, but due to the recent and foggy weather the idea of it seemed alright.

"After you're done, bring a bowl of soup up to your sister." mindlessly muttered my mother as she rustled around in the kitchen cleaning things up.