Tales of the Greenstone Realm ~ Chosen

Part 7

 

© Joanna Bock 2012 All Rights Reserved.

First Draft

 

CHAPTER 9

 

Sarah

SARAH woke screaming but this time no one came, the images of the nightmare played over long after she woke, but for Sarah this was nothing new, what was new was Josh hadn’t come running for two days now he had been gone and still Sarah had no idea what had happened to them, all she knew was there had been a flash of light which she now put down to being a freak lightning strike and then the boys were gone.

She closed her eyes wishing away her clouded thoughts but the fresh images of her Mother came flooding in, her broken body in the wreak of her car after the truck had pushed her from the road. The police had put it down to the icy conditions and the rain, they told her it was an unfortunate accident. Though Sarah wasn’t convinced she had other theories like someone she had put behind bars or someone who had wanted revenge for a loved one. Laura had been a criminal prosecuting lawyer and had often been responsible for the prosecution of some pretty bad people, people who wouldn’t think twice for seeking retribution, Laura had left strict instruction that Sarah was to come to Southwood falls her father being her next of kin, Sarah had no idea why, he had shown no interest in her before leaving her and her mother when Sarah had been barely 3, at least that was how Sarah had believed it had happened she had since learnt that it was her mother who had done the running never giving her father a forwarding address. At 16 almost 17 Sarah didn’t know why she needed a guardian at all but her aunt Jenna had insisted it was what her mother had wanted.

Sarah had believed she was an only child for most of her life only discovering about Jamie and Rachel in the last couple of years, Josh had been a complete surprise and the fact he was her own age was overwhelming, but in a way that left her happy she had come at all, now he was missing she couldn’t help but feel like she had been torn apart all over again, she had asked some of the staff to help her but they had assured her he would often disappear with Lucas for days at a time, Sarah wasn’t convinced and if he didn’t come back by Thursday she would contact the police, 4 days was long enough she had decided which only left 2 days for him to return home.

THE rain had finally slowed to a slow drizzle when Sarah got up, she had spent the last 2 days inside because of it, and she had no intention of spending a third day indoors as well. After eating she walked out into the garden, she knew exactly where she was heading today, she had paced her room waiting until she could investigate the gazebo again; she needed to know what had happened.

The stream was a raging torrent of water today and Sarah was surprised that it could change so dramatically from the tranquil gentle flow of soft water to such a furious wash of water, the smooth black rocks were submerged or acted against the flow like a barrier causing the water to swirl and slash as it fought to pass as if angered by the imposition.

As Sarah neared the gazebo she saw nothing out of the ordinary, No gashes or impressions in the dirt that would support her theory of a lightning strike. Maybe I imagined it all maybe they ran away when I did maybe they were never here when it__ “It what. Am I going crazy now?”

Sarah walked toward the fallen oak climbing into the branches above the rushing waters. The view was amazing and she sat and took it all in for a while, the spray gently cooled her skin as it slowly soaked her clothes, the air on her face was cool and she realized she was starting to feel rather cold; her hoodie was wet and her jeans clung to her skin. Sarah sighed deciding that there was nothing to find and Josh had just left to hang out with Lucas, it was time to go home she stood as best as she could and attempted to turn her body so she could climb from the tree, a branch drug into her back and her foot was twisted between a couple of branches pushing she freed her foot and started the turn to retreat from the tree. She started to climb backward, her limbs numb from the cold, when it happened, the flash of light the electric blue blinding light, Sarah startled and screamed as she fell.