Nightide

Prolog

Zera's body shot three inches above her bed after her brother, Zariah, jumped on it to awaken her. "Heaven's sake!" she laughed sitting up against her pillows.

"Come on, we have school today! Hurry, and get ready," his light blue eyes danced with excitement. He crawled off her bed and stood by the door looking expectantly at her.

"Oooh, you are the only boy in the world who'd be excited for school," she said as she tossed a pillow. He caught it with a wink and faced the outside wall.

"Hurry and get dressed," he ordered in a stern tone she knew he had to force.

"Well, maybe I'll just take my time, then." He looked over his shoulder and pouted. "Fine, just turn around," she giggled. He did so and she pulled away from the bed. She pulled on her uniform and pulled her thick blond hair into the necessary bun to complete her school uniform.

She made a long pause by her mirror to make sure everything was in order. Her brother stepped behind her. She stared at their likeness. His soft blue eyes matched her eyes, except hers weren't holding joy like his. Their facial structures were even the same: small and slightly round. Their hair was also the same soft blond.

She thought about the many times she'd been mistaken for her brother because she'd put her hair up and under a hat. How often would she be mistaken this year? "Come on," her brother prompted as he pulled at her wrist and forced her outside and down the hall. She laughed and pulled away once they reached his car.

He darted to his side and was in before she opened the door. She rolled her eyes at his eagerness and lifted the door handle, but before pulling it open she froze. Her purse. She'd forgotten it.

"You go ahead, I have to find my purse."

"Can't you just go the day without it?" he whined.

"No, I can't," she said, but smiled. She waved then headed back inside. Her purse search began. It began under her bed then traveled to her drawer, closet, bathroom, the downstairs' closet and bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, the couch, but she found nothing. Every room came up empty. Once she reached the verge of giving up she remembered she'd left it in her brother's car the day before so she wouldn't forget it today.

She slapped her forehead and groaned. "I'm so stupid," she complained. "Oh well, no use in crying. Guess I will have to go a day without it."

Twenty minutes later, Zera made it over the hill's crest and faced the oncoming intersection. She stared in mortification at the sight she beheld and all the blood drained from her face. Her blood froze in her veins. She knew that car in the center of that jam. She knew it inside and out. It was Zariah's car.

Her heart leaped into overtime and she sped down the hill to the intersection, ignoring the people trying to stop her. One of the cops finally caught her arm and pulled her back. She stared helplessly as they began to cut the top of her brother's car off. The old man who held her by the arm was short and round. His black hair was cropped short and hidden beneath a hat.

"Miss, you need to clear the area," the old cop stated formally. She shook her head.

"Miss, do you know him?" the cop asked as he released her.

She nodded,"He's my brother. Is, he..." she didn't finish as the loud noise intensified. She flinshed and watched them drag Zariah from the car. His body was coated in blood- his skin wasn't even visible- and a metal bar had stabbed through his left leg. Two people lifted him onto a stretcher and carried him to the ambulance. She walked blindly to the vehicle and looked in.

"Hey, miss, back away," the paramedic warned and pushed her back with his flat hands to her shoulders, "You need to clear the area." Zera just stood staring at her brother's bloody form.

"It's her brother; let go to the hospital too," the cop said. She turned around and met the old cops gaze and nodded thankful for his kindness and climbed into the back of the ambulance.

A few minutes later the cop climbed in, too. "How're you holding up?" he didn't wait for a response. "I'm going to let you know what I saw happen, okay?" again he didn't wait for an answer: "You're brother came into the intersection too fast, or his breaks went out one, because when the light changed, he didn't stop. A truck was coming at the same time and crushed his car into the other car. You saw it. Then a car rear-ended him. The other people are being put on stretchers and in other ambulances. I hope he makes it out okay." With these words the cop climbed out of the vehicle and a female paramedic replaced him.

"He'll be okay, miss," the woman assured, we're not going to let him leave you." The woman touched Zera's hand and gave a comforting smile. "Let's get this thing moving!" she shouted to the people in the front seat.