Chapter 1- Underwater
737 Words
Chapter 1- underwater
My lungs burned as I desperately fought to move the water around me. I could just make him out in the gloom struggling against the weeds that held him captive. I pushed myself impossibly harder, my muscles trembling from exertion and adrenaline. I felt myself being pulled backward. A yanking like a great hand from the sky was dragging me back toward the surface. I reached and kicked and opened my mouth in a silent, desperate scream. My fighting was futile. My brother disappeared in the inky depths and I was dragged away from him. He was lost to the bottomless darkness, my brother, my twin, my self.
My eyes snapped open. I was panting, like I had in fact just come up for air. My heart constricted in a familiar way that felt like it was being mangled sickly by the walls of my chest. This was a feeling I felt every time I had this dream and every time I thought about Orion.
I was born a twin which is a unique and powerful bond second only to that of a fated mate and I had lost him. By that same token, the pain was only second to that of losing your mate. I tried to slow by breathing and force my heart to slow and relax back into shape. It took a little while, probably at least ten minutes, as silent tears ran steadily down my cheeks, landing on my old flattened pillow- staining the old threadbare pillowcase like countless tears I had shed here before. Tears for myself mingled with countless tears for my twin.
It was early, several hours before I had to be at school. I sat up slowly and took in the familiar surroundings. My room was very small, closer to a closet which was especially ridiculous when you consider how many beautiful, well-appointed bedrooms there were in my parents' manor house. I kept the space tidy. I didn’t have very many belongings to call my own anyway. I got up with a groan and went to look in the small mirror above my low dresser. Atop the dresser was an old-fashioned wash basin so I could avoid the bathrooms as much as possible. I didn’t like being in the public portions of the house. My family dynamic was more than a little lacking. My restless night was evident in the deep circles under my eyes. I tucked a wild curl of my auburn hair behind my ear. I looked at my face seriously. I wasn’t terribly special to look at. I had the same fair skin as my older sister, but my hair was light auburn and curled somewhat wildly to the middle of my back where as Olive, has shiny, straight, dirty blond hair. I do have similar plump lips to hers, but she has hazel eyes whereas I have stormy gray eyes. I stared into my large eyes hopefully. They were Orion's eyes. Sometimes I was able to pretend for just a moment when I stared into my own eyes that I was staring into his eyes and I could almost see a familiar flash of him in the reflection. There was something else I hoped to see when I started into my eyes, I hoped to see the dark flash of my wolf, today of all days, I hoped.
It was the day before my 18th birthday and tonight at midnight I was praying I would finally feel my wolf. Everyone else I knew my age had been hearing and feeling snatches of their wolf for years now and I was worried fate was punishing me further by denying me a wolf. That would be the final great loss. If I did not shift tonight… I don’t know if I would have the strength to fight the darkness any more.
I poured some water into the basin from the jug I kept nearby. I quickly washed my face, never able to enjoy the sensation of water even for the briefest of moments. I brushed my teeth quickly and threw on some work clothes. I had my morning chores to get through, which I planned to rush through as quickly as possible because I had a special mission in mind for this morning before school. It was wildly outside my comfort zone, but I felt deeply, instinctually, it was the right thing to do.
- Writer
