The Sirens Gift

Chapter 5.

“Addy…” A knock at my door killed the silence I had been washed in. “Adalaie… it’s been three days… Please… come out…”

I sighed, wiping a tear from my cheek as I sat up. My auburn hair fell in a knotted mess around my shoulders as I stood.

Sabrina’s eyes softened as she laid eyes on me. She didn’t speak, she just stepped into my room with me and sat beside me on the bed.

“Just tell me what’s wrong…” she said softly after a while.

“I don’t know Sab…” I whispered in a choked up voice, “I just…” there was a pause as I thought. “When I went back… he wasn’t there… and something didn’t feel right… nothing feels right…”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean like… I love you guys… you’re the best family I could ever ask for but… but do you ever feel like something is missing…? Do you ever feel like some part of you on the inside is incomplete and broken…?”

“I have to be honest, Addy… I’ve never felt that way… I don’t know how it feels…”

“It feels… so empty… and numbing… I have you and dad, and I know I should be so thankful you’re my family… but something feels wrong… and I don’t know what it is… but when I looked at the ocean the other day, thinking about him being there… I felt like I was… supposed to be there too…”

“With… him?”

“Yeah… well… No. I mean, I feel like I should be in the ocean… I’ve never felt more at home than when I was in the water… that’s always been my safe place, but when I looked at it after that I felt so sick and lost... I just…” I sighed and dropped my head into my hands, “I don’t know Sabby…”

“Hey…” she put her hand on my back and pulled me into her body as she hugged me. “I can’t say I understand… but I get it…” she snuggled close to me as her other arm wrapped around my shoulders. “What can I do to help?”

“I don’t know…”

“Would it help if you went to the lighthouse?” She asked.

“I’m not sure… I’m kind of scared to go back…”

“Maybe you could try… maybe if you take a swim it’ll kinda clear your mind and help you relax…” she squeezed her arms around me. “I know you always get run down when you go without your swims for long… maybe it’ll perk you back up.”

I sighed with a nod, “You’re right… I shouldn’t avoid the ocean because of that one instance…” I smiled at her. “Maybe it… was just a dream and I’m freaking myself out…”

“C’mere. Let me brush your hair first.”

“I’m not 5 anymore. I can do it.” I laughed as I stood.

“Yeah, but I’m still your big sister, and you need me today. So just let me.”