The Awakening

Shawn

            GONE. My sister is gone, there’s no answer anywhere to where she’s at. Amelia Sherwood has vanished off this world, my sweet little sister is nowhere to be found. Weeks have passed and the police have no clue where she’s at, if only we had a start to the mystery of the disappearance of my sister we might have a chance to find her.

            Right now I have lost all hope; all hope that I will ever have in finding my sister. My friends can’t even cheer me up; my parents are grieving miserably alongside me. Amelia was only seven when she vanished; she was such a bundle of joy. Her smile was enough to cure a suicidal man’s thoughts. The world needed her; she was the blooming flower in the dying field.

            I have given up on religion; God would never take beautiful soul like Amelia’s if he was real. This only proves there’s no such thing as God, he isn’t real, and if he was real Amelia would be back in our family. She would be alive, oh if only she was alive and safe. I just need to know if she’s safe and happy, that’s all I care about. I would give up anything to make sure she’s alright.

            The tears that run down my face every night doesn’t seem to cure anything, they seem pointless. My tears are a waste of time, she’s been gone for three months and counting. Everybody tells me to give up and just move on, and it’s so tempting just to go and move on and be happy.  It’s just really strange that she’s gone and there are no clues at all.  If there were signs of blood and perhaps even a fragment of her pink dress she was wearing, then maybe I could move on a bit faster.

            I’m not even sure what’s the status of my girlfriend Lidia, she seems still have faith in me. If it wasn’t for her I would probably be dead by now, you know? Suicide? Lidia just seems to have all of the right answers, when Amelia was declared missing I plummeted down into a deep pit of depression. Everything in my life was completely worthless; all that mattered was finding Amelia. Which was impossible on my own, I needed help from the police, by then who knew where she might be?

            Then out of the blue a ray of cold sunshine appeared, it all started when my mom knocked on my apartment door one day. Her face was flushed with seeds and I didn’t know what was wrong with her. I told her to come in, my mom in her mid thirties she’s a pre-school teacher. She has dark black hair just like me; we are part Cherokee so our cheekbones are pretty high on our face. I have more similarities to her over my father and Amelia.

            Amelia received most of my father’s genes, blond hair, blue eyes, and light blond eyebrows. I on the other hand received most of my mother’s jeans, black hair and dark black eyebrows. I also received my father’s blue eyes, mine are fuller and wider. Lidia calls them ocean eyes compared to her chocolate brown eyes.

            Well back to this morning when my mom showed up in my apartment, did I mention that Lidia was there? I asked her to leave the room while mom and I talked. “So Shawn, we found Amelia’s dress today.” She informed.

            “What? Did it provide any answers? Was Amelia nearby?” These questions flew through my head. “There weren’t any bloodstains on it, was there?” I asked painfully.

            “Let’s just say none of the above, the dress was found turned in at one of the Goodwills in Los Angeles. The shop owner reported the dress because he had seen it mentioned on the news. So that’s basically the whole lead, they found a hint of Amelia’s DNA but that was all they found. They are going to continue looking around the Los Angeles, that’s all they can do until they find her. We can’t really do anything but sit a wait, I know it makes me sad too; we just have to power through. God is testing our family in such an extreme way and we just have to live through it.” Mom explained.

            We live in Catawba County, North Carolina far away from Los Angeles, California. She was right, there’s nothing I can do, and we can’t help out with the search at all. Everything is just going to downward from now on.

            “Mom, have you ever thought that God was just a fairy tale? Or one of those legends that have been around for ages? Don’t you think that is why we can’t find Amelia, because God just isn’t around to care about his lost little angle?” I asked.

            “Shawn don’t talk like that, if God weren’t real then we probably wouldn’t have had you. Have I not told you the story of how you came to be?” My mother shrieked.

            “Yes mom, I understand. The doctors said that you couldn’t have a baby and then out popped me. I know the story mom, which it still doesn’t explain why Amelia is nowhere to be found!” I yelled at my mother and immediately regretted it. She was going through a worse time than I was, she lost her baby girl.

            “SHAWN! If I ever here you talking like that ever again, I will have you bend over and I will whip you right now. I don’t care if you’re eighteen, you’re still my son! Have I not raised you correctly?” Mom burst with a fit of anger.

            “I know mom, I’m sorry. Ever since Amelia left us, I’ve just been a little bit moody.” I explained.

            “A little bit? You’ve been in your apartment, cared for by your girlfriend all the time. You haven’t even bothered to call your own parents in a week! We thought that you had gone off the edge and killed yourself! You aren’t the only one going through this, your father and I have gone through the same amount of sorrow as you have. For you to be talking bad against God like that really pisses me off! God had a reason to take Amelia away, and its either going to be good for this family or good for someone else. God is all about the greater good, can’t you realize that Shawn? Please…” My mother was brought into tears again.

            “Mom, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean it, I swear. We’ll find Amelia and everything will be all better again. Mama please don’t cry, every time you cry my heart cracks just a tad bit more. I’ll find her, I swear. If I have to travel to Los Angeles to find her, I will. I love you mama. Don’t cry.” I pleaded for her to stop crying.

            Suddenly the door was open and knife went straight through my mom’s back, I gasped in horror. The shock hasn’t over come my emotions yet, I was paralyzed in fear.  I looked through the door and a pale man was staring into my soul. His black hair was all over the place, it was going all kinds of directions. He was dressed in odd red suit; it was buttoned up with string. He was wearing boots that went up to his knees and dark brown pants tucked into his boots.

            Then I looked into his red blood stricken eyes, he looked hungry…

            All I could do was scream out; “You killed my mama!” he let out an evil grin and walked toward me. Then he snapped his fingers and a red headed lady with bright blue eyes walked in with my girlfriend in her right arm. She had a knife to Lidia’s throat, and a cloth was wrapped around her mouth. “Lidia!”

            “Well it’s nice to meet you Shawn Sherwood, now please invite me in so I can get a closer look at you.” The man offered.

            My mouth gaped open and I looked at my mother’s dead body, blood was streaming out of her mouth and the knife was still in her back. “No! Stay away from me! Let Lidia go!” I cried and cried. I didn’t know what to do, I felt rooted to the ground. My fear paralyzed me!

            “My mate will kill Lidia if you do not come with us willingly; if you hold a grudge and try to escape she will cut your girlfriend’s head off.” The man threatened.

            “What are you doing here? Please I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t hurt Lidia.” I bargained. I couldn’t lose another important person in my life; all I had left was my father and Lidia. My mom was gone just like Amelia…

            “Come then follow me, you and your girlfriend shall be my latest recruits. Oh and my name is Crow, I’m your worst nightmare.” Crow cackled.