Sweven

“You are asleep in this world, but awake in another” “How on earth am I supposed to live here?” I snapped. “It’s just for a week Crescent. Your room will be ready by then. Come on sister, don’t be a troublemaker now.” My brother tried to convince me. “Whatever.” I dragged my luggage as I crossed Cayden. I was already annoyed by the fact that I had to move to his place in the middle of my summer session. It was all so mysterious, because mom and dad literally did not gave me any explanation. A week back, they just told me that I am changing school and will be attending the same as my brother. Cayden Bella Nord, or my brother, was attending Silver Oakland academy, which was in the Hillsborough town of North Carolina. I am still mad that I had to move from the sunny lifestyle in California to this cloudy, wet, cold and damp weather. Nothing suits me here- my lifestyle or even the people. I entered Cayden’s apartment and as expected, it was a mess. There were pizza boxes, beer cups, and clothes all around. Amazing! It has been worse till now and I can’t wait to see how horrific it will be from here. Cayden came beside me with a sorry look. I just rolled my eyes and stomped in. He took me to his bedroom and placed my belongings. Fun fact- I hoped to see his bedroom even messier, but turns out that it was immaculate than I expected. “How come, your bedroom is so clean?” He gave me a confused look. “Well, you see, I hardly sleep in since I have been doing night shifts. So, you can say it is unused and ready for you.” I gave him an understanding nod and started to look around the room. The walls were white in color with a mandala painting in blue. The bed was clean and freshly made. There was a study table on the right side of the bed with a chair and a small pot of lavender. The room wasn’t big but enough for me and had an elegant and aesthetic touch. There was a large glass door right beside the study table that opened up to the balcony. It overlooks the Eno River. The tall, dark and shady woods and the clear crystal like water gave it a mesmerizing view. In a nutshell, I actually liked the peace and tranquility that surrounded the room. “Crescent…” I turned to look at my brother who was now standing at the doorway. “I know, I did not visit you back in California for two years and you are mad about it.” I bit my lower lip- a habit when I am nervous or trying to gulp down the harsh words that might flung out of my mouth. Cayden continued, “… but I just want you to know, that you always have been my little sister and you still are. I am sorry that I was so indifferent towards you guys, especially when you needed me the most. I missed you, and I want to make up for the lost time. Could you please forgive me, maybe?” I knew I am a cold-hearted b***h. All my life, I have been a kind of rebel and my parents had to deal with a lot of complaints because of me. Cayden was my light to be honest. He is the perfect elder brother that any sister could ever ask for. With his darkish black and brown hair, and eyes like deep, blue ocean, he was the most popular guy back in our hometown. He is elder to me by three years and the most decent and well-behaved guy. He was admired, loved and adored by everyone. While, on the other hand, people feared and hated me. Even though we had so many differences, Cayden still believed in me. Mom and dad did not have to worry about our academics. While Cayden was the famous basketball player, I on the other hand was pretty much famous for beating up guys. I am not all proud about it, but as I said, I was a rebel and a badass b***h and that didn’t make Cayden treat me differently. Cayden moved to Hillsborough three years back. It was shocking to me since he always wanted to study in NYU. I didn’t know why he moved here, but I was convinced later that he actually wanted to study in Silver Oakland. To be honest, I never heard of it till Cayden moved here. Mom said that it is quite underrated since the academy is from a small town but has a deep history and amazing faculty. Weird that she knows about it so much! “I just missed you. One moment you were interested in my life, and the next I know that you were gone. It was hard for me to cope up without you, when you knew I always look up to you.” I said to Cayden with a lump in my throat. I really missed him. When he left, I was sad but I knew that it was about his future. Every day I used to wait for his calls, but then gradually it started decreasing and then he used to just talk to mom for a minute and hung up. Oakland changed him, my brother, and I couldn’t accept it. I had a seed of deep hatred growing within me for this place as I lost Cayden. But all hell broke loose, when mom and dad told me that I will be attending the same academy as Cayden in the middle of my summer session at my high school.. A part of me was happy; because I knew I will be away from home and get to confront Cayden. But the other part was incertitude about the bonding of us. “I am sorry crescent, but I had no choice. I-I got busy with my life and I hardly had time. But, trust me; I was elated when mom told me that you will be here soon. I know you hate this place. But maybe, give it a chance. I am sure you will fall in love with it just like I did. What do you say?” He asked with his assured smile and I gave in by smiling back to him. Cayden opened his arms for a hug with his boyish grin, and I hugged him back. Duhhhh! I missed these bear hugs from him. He is so fricking tall that he can easily lift me up and throw me on the floor, like they do in WWE! My stomach growled out loud and I took a step back. Cayden eyed me and then burst out laughing. “Jerk, at least have some modesty to feed your sister. I am starving and all you care about is making fun of me.” I elbowed him in his stomach and I heard a loud “oof”. Well deserved! “…that hurts baby shark. But yes, it’s late in the afternoon. Let’s go to the nearby diner or, we can order pizza. What do you want?” I was honestly tired from all the flying and riding and so I went with the later idea. Cayden left the room so that I can change while he orders our pizza. After an hour of a warm and comfortable shower, I came out. It was such a relief. I laid down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. There were small neon stars stuck up to the ceiling. I smiled because I knew Cayden did it for me. He knows what an absolute crazy person I am about the stars, the supernatural and the universe. I looked to my left that overlooks the river and closed my eyes. The sunlight felt good and warm. The sound of the running river made it so dreamy. He was right; I can fall for this place. I was lost deep in my contemplations when I felt a gust of wind hit my face. I slowly, partially opened my eyes, and saw a dark silhouette standing in my balcony. I sat up all startled and look directly at the spot. No one. There was no one. I got up from my bed and tip-toed towards the mezzanine. The curtains were swaying back and forth because of the wind. I thoroughly examined all around, but there was no one. After some time I realized that it’s probably my mind playing games with me. My empty stomach is making me hallucinate all these kind of stuffs. It is unusual of someone to stand in the balcony when literally it is on the third floor. The only way is the entrance to our apartment. But there is no mistake that I saw someone. “CRESCENT… The pizza is here!” Cayden shouted from the front door and I didn’t give much thinking about what I saw. I made my way to the kitchen, crossing the messy living room. He better clean this mess up, or he is going to regret it soon! The kitchen was beautifully furnished and to my surprise, all the plates and cups were on the shelf and not in the dishwasher. I was impressed. “Do you want a beer?” He asked as he kept foraging the refrigerator. “Nope. I don’t drink.” Cayden stopped whatever he was doing and looked up at me with a ‘Why are you still alive?’ look. “…what!!? You know very well that I despise drinking and smoking. But since you asked, I will take a coke.” I reply with a sarcastic smile. My brother takes the cue that he is in danger, takes out the can of coke without any further taunting, and places it on the table. We both take our places on the stool and start ravishing the pizza. “This is so good. Damn, I miss Del Popolo now.” I said as I took a bite. Cayden was already on his second slice. “Napoli Pizzeria is the most wanted pizza house here. The fun part is, I get a discount on every order since Nyall works there.” “Who’s Nyall?” I asked intrigued. “I didn’t tell you about my friends?” Cayden asked surprised. “The last time we talked on call, it was me wishing you on your birthday and you asked for mom soon after that.” Cayden gave me a blank look. “I am pretty much empty regarding your lifestyle and your friends. Enlighten me.” I asked him with a smile. Deep down, I was still not over the fact that we drifted so apart, but I wanted to fix it as much as he wanted to. And, I was not ready to ruin it by my ego or, my words that lacked emotions. Cayden smiled and started telling me about his life and everything he did in this span of three years. I realized, he loved this place and was happy. The way he was talking about the town and the city, I knew my brother was doing well. Honestly, it made me smile. “….. And there’s a river walk where we can visit. How about this Sunday?” He asked all excited. “Definitely. I would love a walk. Do we have any library here?” Typical bookworm me! The fact that I am such a b***h, and yet I read books, people hardly believe it. I mean, why are you judging a book by its cover dude? “We do. And I have good news for you.” I eyed Cayden as he was smiling like a kid in the candy store. “Well, I might have come across a job vacancy at an old book store, and I guess you might….” “OMG, YES. YES. I would love to.” I didn’t even let Cayden finish and I was already screaming with joy. Cayden laughed as he saw me doing my little happy dance. “Very well. I will let Nyall know. He might visit us in the evening. I will introduce you guys.” “Is he hot?” I asked mischievously. My brother’s eyes got wide as I kept smirking. “Baby shark, I don’t approve you of dating my best friend. It was the rule and still is.” “Whatever. I bet he is boring as you.” “We both know who had more love interests back in California.” He challenged me. “And we also know that I don’t like getting into meaningless relationships. A reason why I rejected them all.” I snapped back. “Well, I was glad to be honest. I didn’t like guys going around you anyways. So ya, I was glad. But that doesn’t mean the rule changes. Best friends are still out of league!” He lectured me. “You don’t have to worry. I might probably end up with a girl by the lack of all ‘boys’ in my life. You know very well, that how they feared to even approach me.” Cayden burst out laughing. “I do remember what you did to that David. He was such a dickhead and he honestly deserved it. I was glad that you kicked him in his balls.” “I don’t like it when someone has trouble in taking NO for an answer. He was pathetic. I tried to talk to him and make him understand. But, his head were in the clouds. I had no option left but to give him a taste of how ruthless I am at times.” “I don’t blame you. He was a jerk.” “I know right.” We both grew silent as we were reminiscing the old memories. It was already four in the evening. The weather was turning a bit cold and I could see the diminishing orange glow of the sun. The golden hour looked really beautiful from the kitchen window. The cascades of the rippling river water were shining and glowing as the sun was setting down. “Crescent…” I turned to look at Cayden who was deep in his thoughts. “Do you still get those dreams?” He looked up at me as I gave him a confused look. “… The ones that kept you awake at night often? The ones where you were running always?” Realization hit me what he was talking about. “I do. But I have been taking sleeping pills for a year now. It is funny that you still remember about them.” I joked to make the situation light-hearted. He smiled and opened his mouth but got interrupted by the door bell. We both turned towards the door in sync. “That must be Nyall. Let me get it.” Cayden got up and walked out of the kitchen. I sat there as I heard him opening the door and soon there was a deep voice greeting him. I waited patiently as Cayden entered the kitchen with a guy behind. Nyall was a blonde guy, near about 6ft.tall and with a good physique. He had ice blue eyes that went well with his fair complexion. He was seriously good looking and I could tell that my brother was already warning me to back off. We both greeted each other and he hugged me, despite my prejudice towards any unwanted touch, all the time Cayden eying us. He joined us for the pizza and got along well with us. The evening passed by in a good company and by the time Nyall bided us goodbye, I was already in bed, exhausted and sleepy. Cayden came in to wish me night. “Did you take the pills?” He interrogated. “Yes. It was a good day Cayden. Thanks for everything. I am glad I am here with you.” I mumbled sleepily. “Good night baby shark. I am glad you are here. Sleep tight. Tomorrow we go for a fun ride.” He switched off the lights as I drifted into a sound and peaceful sleep. That night, I had the dream again. I was running beside a river in a long white dress and all I could hear my family asking me to keep running. I stopped and I see the silhouette again among the woods. The peaceful sleep turned into a disturbing one, despite me taking the pills.