Dark Nightmares

Tears streamed down my face at a never ending flow. I didn't want to stop crying. I felt as
though if I cried long enough and hard enough she would come back.
They lowered her coffin in the ground.
This could not be happening. I wanted so much for her to just wake up. I clenched my fists.
A sob burst though my lips and my mother put an arm on my shoulder.
"I heard it was an animal attack. One of the worst ones to happen here."
I looked over. It was Mrs. Cruse whispering to one of her gossip friends. Did they have any respect
at all? This was a funeral and they were talking about her savage death, with her sister standing beside them.
"She shouldn't have gone off in the woods alone like that." Mrs Cruses' friend said. "What was she thinking?"
I clenched my fists harder.
"Well..." Mrs. Cruse glanced in my direction, and glanced back when she caught me staring. Her friend followed her gaze. I glared.
Stupid old women, I thought.
I turned back to my sister. Come back, come back, come back! I thought fiercely.
She should not have died. My sister was careful about where she went and what she did, and she was never alone. There was always someone with her. Something was wrong.
The Priest stood back up to the beautifully arranged flowers by her grave.
"The family is free to come up now."
I walked up, twisting the white rose in my hands.
"I'm going to miss you so much." I whispered. "This isn't your fault. You should not have died." The tears were flowing faster now. "Say hi to dad." I hung my head as I dropped the flower in. This was getting to be too much.
My mother stood beside me. She kept silent as she dropped her rose in.
"We have all lost a great friend," the Priest began, "I wish the best for this family. May God be with you, and may you find your way."
With that, everyone began to disperse and chatter in sad depressed voices. I looked up and caught someone staring at me from across the deep hole in the ground.
He looked young, seventeen or eighteen, and had white skin and deep icy dark eyes. His dark hair was messy, it hung in slight stringy curls around his face, and his black clothes made him stick out. Everyone else here was wearing gray.
His eyes started burning a hole in mine. I looked away. Weirdo.
"Robin!" I turned around. Amie rushed up and hugged me, her vanilla perfume overwhelming. She stepped back, holding my shoulders. Her green eyes were watery and her makeup was smeared.
"You know," she said "Clair would not have wanted us to keep crying like this." I smiled and took a deep shaky breath.
"Yeah, she would kick our ass and tell us to get a life." Amie nodded. It was silent for a moment.
"I'm so sorry." She hugged me again.
I shook my head. "It's okay."
"Amie!" We both turned and found her boyfriend, Eric, against their car, arms crossed.
"Let's go! We're going to be late!"
I sighed. "Is he still..."
"Yes." she said angrily, glaring back at him. "He swears up and down he's not though. And then he tries to accuse me of it."
I shook my head. "That's always a sign of cheating." She laughed with fake humor. "I bet if i caught him on tape, he'd still swear it wasn't him."
Amie and Eric started dating three years ago. Only two weeks after they were together he started cheating on her, but she was so in love she didn't want to see it. Now though, she regrets it. She say's she wants to leave, but she can't bring herself to do it.
I had this suspicion that he was beating her, but I couldn't do anything about it until she admitted it.
"I guess I should go." She pushed her dark red hair out of her face. "Call me though. I think we both need a night out." I smiled and nodded as she turned for her car.
I turned back at the grave, kneeling beside it, not caring the ground was wet with the recent rain. Tears started falling down again. She was down there. Alone. I closed my eyes.
"Please wake up." I whispered.
I couldn't leave. I didn't want to leave. If I left, then she would really be gone. She was only eighteen. She hadn't even moved out of moms' house.
I gripped the edge of the grave, leaning closer.
"Robin?" I didn't move. I knew who it was. "Robin, honey." My mother knelt beside me. "You know she wouldn't want you to be grieving like this."
I shook my head roughly." She would do the same for me."
"Sweetheart." She put her hand on my shoulder. This time I jerked away.
"I'm fine."
She sighed. "Please come home with me. We need to talk." Now she wanted to talk. After all these years, she chooses now to want to talk.
"No."
"Honey..." She leaned and took my arm gently. I jerked away again.
"I'm not leaving her."
"Hon, they need to start burying..."
"I'm not leaving her here alone!" I put my head in my hands and started crying. Really crying. I couldn't help it.
She sighed again. "I'll be at home."
"Have fun going home to an empty house." I choked through tears. She stood there a moment before walking away.
My mother and I were never on the same page. We always fought, about everything. She kicked me out when I was sixteen, after my father died, saying she couldn't deal with my reckless ways and that I might influence Clair to do the same. I had to live with Amie until I could get a place of my own. We haven't talked much since then.
Clair understood our mothers injustice and we became closer than we ever were. Sometimes, when she was upset with mom, she would sneak over to my place. She was always happy, and she had so much spirit in her. But now...
I shook my head. I could feel fire coursing through my veins at an incredible speed. The fire I always felt when I got angry.
Clair wasn't attacked by an animal. I knew that. We always had animal attacks here, but nobody died from them. And Clair would never be by herself, especially in the woods. She had always been scared to be alone. Which was why I couldn't leave her now.
"I'm sorry for your loss." I turned my head. It was the boy who was staring at me before.
I slowly stood up. "Who are you?"
"I'm Alec. I was your sisters friend."
I frowned. "She never told me about any Alec." He lowered his head. " Maybe she was ashamed of me."
"Why would she..."
"I need to talk to you." He interrupted. "It's important."
"Regarding?"
"Your sister."
I glared at him. It didn't matter what he needed to say. I was not ready to talk about her. "You need to leave. Now."
"It's important." he repeated.
"I don't care. For all I know you just crashed the funeral to pick up grieving girls." I glanced around. "Well your out of luck. Bunch of old women here."
He took a step closer. He smelled really sweet and tangy. I was taken off guard, breathing in his scent. I haven't smelled anything like that before.
"You don't look much like her." He took another step closer. His eyes were a dark swimming blue. I stared, my mind going completely blank. "Why?"
I answered immediately. "I look more like my dad. She gets her looks from our mom." My dad had dark brown straight hair. I inherited that from him. Clair got moms' bright blond curly hair.
He took another step closer. Our bodies only an inch apart. His scent was overwhelming. My head started to swim. It felt like I was going to pass out. He was taller than me. A head taller, but he held my eyes as easily as if we were the same height. He reached his hand up, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. His touch sent a shiver down my spine. He leaned in closer. Was he going to kiss me?
I sucked in a breath. "I have a boyfriend." A lie, and I could see he knew it.
He tilted his head. "Then he's very lucky." He sighed. His breath was ice cold, but it smelled great. I leaned in, breathing it in.
He grabbed my shoulders. "You're in danger." He said urgently. "I need to talk to you."
Before I could respond, he looked up at the dark rainy clouds.
"I need to go." He dropped his hands and stepped back. Gradually I could feel my mind returning to me. What the hell was that?
"I'll see you." He turned and walked off. He was walking toward the trees, not the exit.
It took me a moment before I could move again. I looked back at my sisters grave. "You knew this guy?" I whispered. I've never seen him around town before, and I didn't think it was likely that Clair would hang around him. But then again...I remembered the way he smelled, and how his eyes held mine. I shivered and shook my head. He was crazy.
I took my spot back by her grave and stared. This was going to be a really long day. I should call Amie, I thought. I really need to relax. More tears started streaming down my face as little beams of sunlight seeped through the clouds.