The Truth in Nightmares

The Truth in Nightmares

Prologue
“Are you sure all of this is absolutely necessary,” Keyshia asked, more than a little bit bored. Her sister always went a bit over board. Her sister just glared and continued. Being only 8, Keyshia doubted that she would ever understand what the big deal was.
“I mean, what is this going to change…you do the same thing every time and this time isn’t going to be any different,” Keyshia continued, she was becoming aggravated, “can’t we just stay.”
Without a word, her sister got up and left the room. Keyshia stared after her puzzled. Resigned to her fate she opened her closet and threw her clothes into her suitcase. Slowly, she put her stuff in the car and sat in the passenger seat and waited to leave her home… again.
“In time, you will see that this is for your own good,” Her sister said before starting the car and taking off. Keyshia sat quietly and remember all of her past homes, past lives, past friends.

1.
“KARRIE!!” Keyshia yelled breathlessly, as she tossed and turned fretfully in the bed. Embracing her baby sister, Karrie murmured comfortingly “it’s okay sweetie, I am here, I’ll always be here, shhh calm down, everything is okay.” Keyshia just shudder internally and continued to shake, as she mumbled incoherently. Keyshia sat up, confused and daze as she looked around the unfamiliar room.
“Are you okay now?” Karrie asked her sister. Numbly, Keyshia nodded and tried to recall the details of her most recent nightmare.

All I could see is darkness, as I rocked back and forth. I was in some sort of confined space, probably a closet, with my hands pressed so hard against my ears it hurt. But no matter how hard I tried I could still hear. No matter how hard I tried to block the scary sounds out, no matter how hard I cried, I could still hear the screams. The door creaked opened eerily, and Karrie crawled in the closet and hugged my 5 year old body tightly to her. Even though it was dark, I could see her silent tears as they streaked down her 13 year old face. “We have to leave,” she whispered, and as hard as she tried, I could still hear the sadness, the fear, the protectiveness in her voice. Slowly, we crept out of the closet, with me still in her arms, she shielded my body with her own, and with the night as our disguise we made our way out of my first home that now held only terrors and sadness in place of the tender love that was once there. “If I should fall,” Karrie began, “ just run…run as far away as you can, don’t stop till you absolutely can’t run anymore… try to go to a police station if you can…okay? That was all she said as she took off running. I was still in her arms and I could feel the uneven rhythm of her heart, I could hear her fast and ragged breath, and I could see the sadness, obvious in her large sea green eyes. I was a witness, the only witness. I saw my sister grow up in a second, in the second that it took to save our lives. We ran until we disappeared into the night…….

As she remembered, Keyshia let out a whimper, and held on tight to Karrie just like she did when she was 5. Although, Keyshia was not aware. She didn’t know, didn’t find out till much, much later when history began to repeat itself.

2.
Karrie was the only parent that Keyshia had ever known. Within the first few months of living alone, Keyshia had seen the pain in her sisters eyes as she attempted to answer Keyshia’s questions. Keyshia would hear Karrie crying late at night as she remembered their parents. As she remembered. So Keyshia stopped questioning their past, and just lived her life as she knew it now.
“Karrie, I remember my dream this time, and I have dreamt the same dream before… I know I have, I can just tell. Why? Am I going crazy?” Keyshia was babbling to her sister. Her sister, without meeting her eyes calmly said, “all in time…when you are ready…no when you can handle it…you will know…trust me.”
Keyshia stared warily at her 16 year old sister, wondering what she was hiding. After all, there were never any secrets before…or so Keyshia had thought.
Trying her best to ignore the feeling of unease in her stomach, Karrie flicked on the TV. But what she saw, intensified the feeling. Their family picture was on the screen, it was a fairly old picture, taken when her family was together and happy…not to long before everything changed. She breathed a sharp intake of breathe. As always, Keyshia heard her and glanced up worriedly, she too noticed the picture. Karrie watched as Keyshia’s eyes widen as she recognized the picture.
“mommy…..daddy…” Keyshia whispered. And then she fell. Karrie rushed to her side, and checked for any head injuries…one look at Keyshia, and she knew that her memories had broken free of the jail cell that Keyshia had subconsciously put them in.

“MOMMY!!!!” I cried out panicked. Her mother whispered to her quietly, her breath jagged…it was her last.
“shhh…I love you, hide and be safe, Karrie will take care of you, I love…….you.” With that, my mother fell in a puddle of her own blood. I, however scared obeyed my mother, and let only silent tears leave my eyes, tears that I thought would never end as I grieved for my dead mother…slowly I crawled into the closet. Before I closed the door… I heard my father yell out in cry of torment… ‘for my daughters and my wife’ he had said… There was a bang that rang out effortlessly in the silent night….a few seconds later there was a thud as something…no someone…fell against the floor. My little 5 year body shook violently with the force of my silent sobs, as I lamented…for I knew that my father had died as well. The only person I had left was Karrie. And I despairingly wondered for how long? The door slowly creaked open…..

Tears leaked out effortlessly from Keyshia’s still closed eyes, as she remember how she had watched her mother die, heard her last words, then less than 2 minutes later heard her father sacrifice himself to save whomever was still alive.
“Karrie…why us?” was all Keyshia said, as she cried silently, “how could I forget!!” she yelled angry at herself for forgetting, and the bastard who made her whole world crumble, crashing all around her.
She felt like she was suffocating, drowning in the damage, the ruins that was her life.

3.

“We have to go Keyshia,” Karrie told her sister after she was reasonably calmer.
“But we just got here,” Keyshia complained fretfully. And she thought back, “why do we always keep moving,” she asked her sister.
Her sister just stared at her waiting for the truth to hit her sister. The person who had murdered her parents, they were still out there…waiting for them to slip up…waiting until the pursuit was over and the sisters were captured. Keyshia whimpered, what are they after she wondered.
Quickly, she got her still packed suitcase and shoved it in the car and sat waiting for her sister to join her. And together, they took off. Maybe if they would have stayed a little bit longer, they would know that although it was not safe to stay, it was not totally safe to leave either.
The atmosphere was heavy in the car, filled with shared grief…as the girls lamented internally. It wasn’t long before, several police were tailing after the girls however discreetly.