It's Not All Dark

Chapter 1 - A Piece of the Sky

She's lying in the grass, well, her body is. Lifeless. She looks cold.

Her arms are splayed out dramatically along with the rest of her body, her hair blowing gently in the breeze. Her wand is just barely away from her hand, and I look back to my father, who is looking at me now. He sighs slightly before he waves his wand shortly and disappears with a crack, leaving me alone with her.

I numbly make my way over to her, and drop to my knees beside her, tears streaming down my cheeks steadily as my hands shake. I fall back on my knees and cover my eyes with my hand, one hand on her hand, and try to breathe.

Suddenly I feel her hand slip away from mine, and move my hand from my eyes, looking down at where she was to find myself looking down at a forest floor. I look around me, the dark, tall trees towering over me as the moonlight casts haunting shadows all around me.

I stand up, and start to move.

Run.

Fuck.

Don't stop.

I want to look behind me, but I can't. All I can do is keep running. My heart is pounding and everything behind me feels cold and dark.

The forest around me is whipping by. The trees diluted to black streaks as I pass them. I hit a branch and it leaves a shallowly bleeding cut on my collarbone

I hear someone screaming. They're screaming my name. It's coming from behind me.

Turn around.

I can't.

"This is who you are." The voice says. No longer shouting, but in my ear. Chills shoot down my spine at the voice. It's someone I know.

I keep running. Faster, and faster, and faster.

I hear my mother's voice ahead of me.

"Don't look back, love." She says. "You--" But her voice fades away before I can hear the rest of her sentence.

I stop moving suddenly. Everything is deadly silent. So silent I can feel the pressure in my ears. So silent it hurts, and makes me want to turn around, but I still can't. I hear a noise behind me. I'm unable to move my body but I close my eyes as tight as I can, clenching my fists so hard my knuckles turn white.

Someone laughs behind me, and it feels as if icy water is being poured into my head. Whispering starts, slowly growing louder and louder. Incoherent but crisp, and I clench my jaw so tight my face hurts.

"You can't run from this." The voice says, and I shake my head. I can't breathe. I open my eyes but it's still all dark.

"Chloé!" A different voice yells from ahead of me, and I see a flash of light and a tall silhouette reaching out to me. They come almost close enough for me to make them out when the first voice speaks again.

"Come--"

I shoot up in bed, my eyes flying open and a desperate gasp escapes from my lips. I breathe deeply as I look around quickly, searching my room for any sign of... well I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but it's not there.

"Fuck." I exhale the word, holding my hands over my eyes for a moment before I put my hands behind me and throw my head back, breathing deeply. I bring my head back up straight and gently wipe the tears from my eyes. I'm at home. I'm not in the forest.

I hate it when I dream about her, because even if it's of the moment of her death, which it usually is, it just makes me think she's still there for a moment, and then I wake up and it's all gone.