New Haven

WE’RE HERE (SAY IN CREEPY VOICE)

Coming out of LAX Dusk saw Gucci, Prada, and other designers she had never heard of, then again, she wasn’t into labels. Dawn on the other hand was beginning to drool at all the pretty people. She seemed to fit right in. After almost three and a half hours of traffic and David getting lost twice, the girls finally arrived and parked in front of their new beach home in a small city called Port Hueneme.

The city consisted mainly of a huge navy base, a single high school, several beach apartment complexes, shopping centers and a mini mall. There was a fast food joint on every corner and a coffee place with free Wi Fi on every block. It had a library and colleges within driving distance. All in all, the city was a far cry away from what the girls were used to. Dawn and Dusk looked out their car windows in amazement. Back in their hometown they still used dirt roads and dial up. Dawn was smiling bigger than a fat kid in a candy store.

Her smile got even bigger when she saw their new house. The house itself was pretty awesome and huge. When compared to their small apartment back home. It was a classic white color with beach themed wind chimes hanging by the entrance of the door. Its wide porch with a dolphin themed tiled walkway that led to the beach. At the bottom of the porch and to the left there was an artistic bike rack that Dusk noticed right away. She walked towards it and noticed it also served as a place to put a surf board if a person wanted to. This suddenly made her feel obligated to take up surfing.

Dawn called to her from the car, “Come get your crap! Do I look like Lurch to you?” Dawn said sarcastically.

“No you look more like Igor,” Dusk replied to her sister. “Nice hump.” She said as she patted the back pack on Dawn’s shoulder.

“Shut up!” Dawn laughed handing Dusk her bags. “I’ve been sitting in the car for hours. My back hurts, my legs are stiff, and I can’t feel my butt anymore.” Dawn complained as Dusk grabbed the rest of her things. The girl’s took their things up to the third floor of the house, which was considered to be the attic. They found it to be unlike anything they had thought. It wasn’t like any nasty backcountry attic that you see in horror films. It was completely decked out and open with its very own balcony. Dawn and Dusk were excited to have the attic for their room. That was until Sara, their mother, came in with a small box in her hands and reminded the girls not to unpack all of their belongings. For, they would not be staying in their new home long.

“Now, girls, remember that your new school has housing so you won’t need to take much with you,” Sara turned towards the open door with the box still in her hand and began to yell, “Because your father decided to rip my babies out of my arms by sending you girls to boarding school on a deserted island.”

“It’s not deserted honey,” David yelled back from downstairs, “They have their own town on the island and there’s even a hospital.”

“That’s not a hospital. I haven’t seen a hospital…”

“We haven’t been to the island yet, darling,” David continued to yell.

“Don’t you darling me. You’re taking my girls away and for what? For more money? You hear that girls! Your father’s selling you for a beach house and a promotion!” Dawn and Dusk tried their best not to laugh at their mother’s overreaction. David had only put them in a private school thirty minutes away from her.

“Honey you forgot to add, ‘a whole lot of money’ to your list.” David said as he climbed up the latter to the attic. “And this isn’t just any beach house sweetheart. I mean look at this attic.” David motioned to the space they were in, “This is a pretty sweet set up!”

“I hope you kept the rental car for another night because you’ll be sleeping in it!” Sara said as she exited the attic. Stomping as she went and leaving David a bit worried.

“She’s great isn’t she,” David asked his daughters.

“Oh yeah, I can see why you married her.” Dusk replied as David began to help the girls unpack. Dusk and Dawn felt a little guilty for their mother’s outburst towards their father. David had called ahead to all the local public schools, but regrettably none of the public schools would take Dusk and Dawn. Their previous ‘criminal’ records made them infamous. In the end, the only school that would accept them, considering their very colorful admissions records, was a local private school not even on land, but on a neighboring island off the shore of Port Hueneme beach. The girls could see the top of the school on a clear day from their windows with there telescope. According to school guidelines, they were going to have to live on campus. They were only going to be allowed to visit the main land and their parents on weekends and during holiday vacations. All in all the change didn’t seem like it was going to be all that bad.

“You girls know that I’m not sending you away for money, right?” David asked his girls.

“We know,” Dusk told her father reassuringly.

“It’s for a hell of a lot of money and first thing tomorrow morning we’re going to the bank,” Dawn said matter-of-factly. “You have fourteen years of allowances’ to make up for.” David began to laugh at Dawn’s joke.

“Um, I don’t think she’s joking David.” Dusk told him. David looked at his youngest. Rolling his eyes, he put up his arms in surrender and said,

“Okay. I’ll take you girls shopping tomorrow.” A smile spread quickly across David’s face as he looked at the women in his life.

“What’s so funny David,” Dusk asked her father.

“Out of the three women in my life, one wants me to sleep in a car, the other wants to take me to the cleaners,” David said pointing to Dawn, “And the other will wait to smother me in my sleep for ruining her school trip that she’d been saving for.”

Dusk smiled shaking her head, “How little you know me dad. Smothering is messy and leaves too much evidence behind,” she said adding to David’s joke, “I would use something classier. Maybe, an insulin overdose.”

“Think about this much, do you?”

“Pretty much,” Dawn burst out in laughter at Dusk’s comment. The three of them stayed in the attic unpacking and moving things about for the next twenty minutes. Then Sara called from downstairs that lunch was ready.

“So what’s the verdict? What do you girls think” David asked Dusk and Dawn, walking down the stairs to the first floor of the house.

Dawn wrapped her arms around him, “What do I think,” she said, “this place is amazing David. Am I right Dusk?”

“It’s okay” Dusk answered.

Dawn looked at her sister in disbelief, “okay, did you just say okay? It‘s the biggest house we’ve ever lived in! Don’t listen to her David. This house is awesome! Can we go site seeing for a bit?” she asked.

David shook his head at Dawn, “We have way too much to do today and your mother just made lunch.” Dawn looked up at him with her best puppy face on full display for their father. David started to laugh as she begged him and told him that they would start as soon as they got back. Dawn told him that it would do them good to know where they were going to be living for the next four years.

“You wouldn’t want us getting lost and confused every time we stepped out of the house?” Dawn asked her father. David thought about it for a moment, “Well…,”

“David, come on!” he smiled at Dawn and nodded his head in agreement.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you dad! I promise I will totally unpack my clothes tomorrow and Dusk can unpack all her creeper drawings. I have to go change into something beach worthy now!” Dawn raced back up to the attic. To all the unopened boxes and started to tear open her box marked clothes. She was obviously looking for a bathing suit to swim in.

“My art is not creepy!” Dusk yelled as her sister raced up the steps.

“Yes it is, even David agrees,” Dawn yelled from the attic.

“You think my art is creepy,” Dusk asked turning to David completely surprised.

“You draw the same thing over and over again honey. That’s a little…’’

“That’s weird, not creepy,” Dusk defended.

“It’s of a black death looking tree.”

“Point taken,” Dusk said admitting to herself that her dead tree fascination was a little ‘creepy’, “Yeah well, you know you just got played right,” Dusk said to David as she walked passed him following Dawn up the stairs.

“Yeah, I know, but I have to let you guys win sometimes.” David shouted up to Dusk as she went up the stairs.

Dawn ran right out of the house and straight to the beach. Dusk following right behind her. Dusk picked a spot to set down a blanket. She watched as Dawn ran in and out of the in coming waves. Her laughter and screams filled the beach winds. She laughed as Dawn turned to wave at her sister as she got hit from behind by a huge wave. The wave pushing Dawn forward into the surf. The warm summer breeze hit Dusk as she dug her feet deeper into the sand where she sat. She lazed back soaking up the summer sun as Dawn continue to play in the surf. The heat felt good on her skin. Dusk reached into Dawn’s beach bag and took out a towel to use as a pillow.

Ah! This feels so good. Sun’s out, I got my music, and now I’m just going to take a little nap and Dawn will wake me when she’s ready to go. Dusk thought to herself as she snuggled her body deeper into the sand.

What is it doing? Dusk heard a voice as clear as if she had been doing her own commentary in her head, which she usually did, but this particular commentary wasn’t hers or Dawn’s. It was a boy’s voice. Is it relaxing? Taking a beach day? Dusk looked up; taking out her earphones from her ears, she began to scan the beach. But, being the beginning of summer the beach was completely full of people. Is she here for her? Dusk heard the voice say as she noticed him. A tell cute boy looking straight at Dawn. He stood out in the beach crowd oddly wearing a sad expression. Dusk was filled with a sudden want to comfort the boy.

“It doesn’t matter… it’s not my place to interfere…” the voice said as the boy turned and began to walk away leaving Dusk utterly confused by what just happened.

“What the heck…” Dusk said out loud.

The sunscreen bottle fell from the bag as it knocked against her leg causing Dusk to look down. She looked up with the sun block bottle in her hand and looked to where the boy had been but he was gone. She turned back to where her sister still played in the water. She yelled at Dawn holding up the bottle of sunscreen up for her sister to see. Dawn came running up to Dusk, soaked from head to toe. She held out her hand for Dusk to squeeze sun block onto the palm of her hands.

“Hey, don’t be stingy,” Dawn said as she grabbed the bottle and began to lather her self in sun block, “it’s not like you need it. You never get burned.”

“I also never get a tan, Ms. Malibu beach Barbie.” Dusk pointed out to her sister. Dawn smiled at that.

“That’s so true,” she said turning around and sitting on the blanket that Dusk had laid out. Dawn began loosening her bikini top straps and handed Dusk the sun block. “But my tans always come after being fried like a grilled cheese sandwich.”

“You don’t fry a grilled cheese. That’s why it’s called a grilled cheese sandwich.”

“Well I do. I fry it with butter on the outside and inside and extra cheese in the middle. Mmm. Great! Now I want a grilled cheese.” Dawn stood up and looked down at Dusk, “Are you are going in or what?”

“WOW you’re spastic,” Dusk said laughing at her little sister, “You just said you wanted to eat something.”

“I can wait. So you gonna get in or not?”

“Nah. I didn’t bring any extra clothes.”

“Oh come on, we live on the beach now we can walk home wet and change there!” Dawn said as Dusk smiled at her sister, who clearly was in love with that simple fact. “Come on. It’s boring going in all by my lonesome.”

“I’m not going in! So just…”

“What’s going on over there?” Dawn said cutting Dusk off mid sentence. Dawn looked past her sister towards the food shack that was at the beginning of the pier. Dawn started walking towards the small crowd that had gathered in the eating area of the food shack. Dusk quickly got up off the sand, following after her sister.

“Maybe their giving like free ice cream or drinks or something,” Dusk said when she caught up to Dawn.

“No way, I love free stuff!” Dawn yelled as she went into a full on sprint towards the food shack. Dusk chased after her, and was huffing and puffing by the time she caught up to Dawn who was standing at the front of the crowd.

“Excuse me.” Dusk said as she pushed forward to where Dawn was. She could see someone was hurt when she got through the crowd. An older man was lying on the floor with his eyes closed.

“Did some one call 911 already?” the middle age man said. Dusk took him to be the owner or manager, told the girl behind the counter as she nodded, “It’s going to be all right,” He said trying to comfort the older man who now had his eyes slightly open. He seemed to be having trouble breathing.

“I have his medicines,” a young kid yelled running up to the crowd. “Move! Excuse me! Move please!” the boy weaved frantically through the crowd and bent down next to the older man on the floor. “I’m his grandson. This is his heart medication.”

Dawn and Dusk stood there watching as the old man lay on the floor of the food shack fighting to live. His grandson continued talking to him the entire time, urging him to open his mouth so he could take his medicine.

“Where is that ambulance?” The manager yelled at his cashier girl.

“They’re on their way,” the girl replied looking worried. Suddenly a cool breeze crept through the crowd as Dawn lifted her head. She saw a beautiful woman standing just on the out skirts of the crowd. She stood calmly and completely cool in a black plain business suit. Dawn looked up toward where Dusk was looking at the women as well. Dawn was stunned at the beauty of the woman. Dusk grabbed Dawn’s hand never taking her eyes off the woman as the EMT came backing everyone away from the old man. The EMT lifted the old man onto the stretcher as the woman made a move forward and then stopped looking straight at them. She took a step back and tilted her head looking at the girls with a blank expression. After what seemed a little too long of staring the woman turned her attention back to the old man being lifted into the ambulance.

“Only family can ride with him and we only have room for two people,” the EMT told the woman as she neared the ambulance. The woman suddenly moved next to the young boy who was looking at his grandfather and whispered something into his ear. The young kid seemed to shutter at her touch. He turned to the EMT and announced that the woman was his aunt. She boarded the ambulance with the boy and the older man. Once inside she glanced back at the girls never taking her eyes off them the entire time until the EMT closed the doors of the ambulance. The ambulance drove off in a hurry towards the nearest hospital.

“Do you think he’s going to be okay?” Dawn asked Dusk, still holding her hand. Dusk thought of the beautiful woman who left with the boy and the older man. She ran her hand up and down the goose bumps on her arm. Remembering how the woman had made her feel cold and calm, a frightening thought crossed Dusk’s mind.

“No Dawn. I don’t think he’s going to be okay.”