wake

chapter 1.

WAKE

Chpat4t 1

A cool wind blew across the lonely beach. Not a person in sight. Cold monstrous waves threw themselves against the wet rocks that enclosed the edges of the water... the beach was surrounded by three large cliffs that arched over the aggressive waves. Colossal clouds covered the sun leaving the beach dreadful and dry. A woman appeared from the rocks; her dark hair swished with the waves as the strong winds blew against her, but she didn't move, not even an inch. She stared off to the end of the beach, the woman leapt from the slippery rocks landing on the rough sand below her. A child no more than 3, stood holding a small white bear on the other side of the freezing beach.

"Mon Enfant" the woman exclaimed in French. Her voice echoed through the beach like a choir of angels. The child's eyes filled with awe, as a bright smile stretched across his chubby face. he pushed off the wet sand and began racing toward the woman. She watched as the boy made his way towards her, tucking her thick wavy hair behind her ear. Her eyes began to tear at the sight of her child. A dim red dot flashed onto the boy's forehead.

"arrête ça arrête!" The woman yelled to the boy. She took off towards him her hair waving in the cold, sharp wind. She threw her body onto the boy, squeezing him to the point his face was almost blue.

"Maman?" The boy asked, very confused in his horrible French. He tried to raise his arms, but they were held down by his mum.

"Shhh," the woman stopped him, "count to ten for me,"

"une" he smiled; a single tear fell down her warm cheek.

"Deux" the boy continued, his bright smile resting on his flushed face.

"Trois" he giggled. The woman let out a painful sigh, the boy stopped his counting.

"Mum- "the boy spoke softly. Her body went limp. the world seemed to spin around them, as the sand slowly sunk beneath him.

"Mummy!" The boy cried as the wind roared through the beach. The woman collapsed onto the sand. Ever so slowly the sand turned red beneath her. The boy stood terrified at the sight of his mother, as her skin slowly lost its warmth.

"Manan!" He exclaimed in French, He yelled out for anyone to help. He was alone. His scream echoed through the beach. Louder and louder until it was all that he could hear, "Maman, Maman...MAMAN!".

A small girl shot up from her covers in a cold sweat.

"J.J!" she called with an Australian accent out to the empty attic. Within seconds of her scream, a tall blonde boy emerged from the stairs that led up to the attic. Her cousin raced to her side on the thick mattress on the wooden floorboards. Grabbing her shoulders, he could feel the burn scars through her thin shirt,

"she's dead!" she cried to him, he pulled her into his chest. "he's all alone and she's dead!" she exclaimed her voice muffling into his pyjama shirt.

"Hey, hey, Lex look at me. it's alright. it's just a nightmare." The boy grabbed her face smooshing her cheeks together before pulling her into another hug. He stroked her frizzy brown hair, trying to calm her down. It wasn't working,

"You don't understand Jakob. It's real I know it is" she cried, tears soaking his pink pyjamas. "You have to believe me..."

he continued to stroke her hair, signing.