Rising Lights

(Amelia)

~

When I woke under the same familiar ceiling, my mind crossed with the same worries that had been eating me up for the past three nights.

Even as I skipped out on school, my mom didn't bother to talk to me as she was an empty shell of her former self. Waking, thinking, and hardly eating has become my daily routine.

Our family was stirred and utterly in shambles as a result of one closed room. Not long after Xie disappeared without a trace, that bastard Kira had the nerve to involve half the countrys police force when he stopped by two days ago.

Scoffing at his irrational behavior, I shut him up when I told him about the incident at the school and he froze while almsot collapsing on himself. Glaring at him in disbelief, I still felt the slight sting in my palms when I clenched my nails into my skin. I was so angry, and yet, my body filled with sorrow as my face didn't allow me to be shaken by anything.

All of us here, we had lived different lives since coming here to live as a family. Looking for ways to fill the gaps in ourselves, I believed as long as I was with Xie, we could conquer anything.

Even listening to Kira give his report to Mon downstairs as I walked from the restroom to my room, his voice filled the air.

"We have investigated Xie's closest friends... Both Rin and Mia have been missing since the last couple of days... Much like Xie, their families do not know where they went... "

Clenching my teeth, I shit the door to my room while laying back down on my bed. I was more upset with Xie, even though I loved her from the bottom of my heart. Had she left without me and took off with her friends, I began seething with doubt until putting myself back together.

The house had become more quiet and silent than ever before. Kola had grown distant with Mili as they were not as cheerful as usual since hearing Xie had left. I was sure they blamed themselves, yet, no matter what I told them, they seemed eager to take the responsibility of looking for her.

Each day first the last three days, they would head out from coming home from school and search for Xie around the neighborhood. Mom, being as she was, didn't stop them. I couldn't bare the feeling of coming honey empty handed and instead, let them do what they wanted.

That's how our new reality had become after losing someone who essentially kept us all together. It was now as if we had drawn lines in the sand and the only thing connected to theme as Xie at the center. Without her, we were lost and filled with more sorrow to bare alone.

~

I woke up in a haze while I caught my breath from shaking off another bad dream about Xie. Its been happening alot since Xie went missing as I would often have the same similar dream. It was about Xie and instead of being with her, I was on the outside of a glass wall while Xie was right on the other side.

Unable to hear me and my cries, I banged on the glass until my fists began to bleed. There after, she would turn to rest her hand on the glass. That moment was the closest I still felt to her as I rested my hand onto the glass with hers. Even within my dream, I could recall her exact features.

The same slight crease she made with her lips whenever she found something interesting. I had memorized her entire being into my mind as I often visioned what her touch on my skin would feel like.

Knowing I could never hurt her, I remained quiet while locking away my feelings as simply having her in my life was enough. Each night, I wake at the exact same time just as Xie is about to move her mouth to say something. I get pulled back to my sad reality in a moments notice without warning.

~

It had begun to feel as if the colors that once filled the house with comfort, had abruptly disappeared along with Xie. Even though Xie was colorblind, her smile shined brighter than the suns light whevener she walked into the room.

Its been two weeks since Xies disappeared and so far, the police had come up with nothing after stripping the entire neighborhood down for clues. Desperate, Kira even put his own engagement celebration on hold as he ran himself to the ground searching for Xie.

I would get pissed simply thinking about what that terrible man would want with Xie now that he's officialy married.

Regardless, all I could think about at this point was falling back to sleep so I could meet with Xie in that glass room. It was pathetic, I was desperate as Kira and yet, I didn't care. Looking at Xie's face gave me comfort from escaping the helish reality that now faced me.

Each time I woke, I would force myself to get up and eat something as my body had lost a few pounds. Remembering to eat every now and then made it more difficult as Xie was usually the one who encouraged mom to leave the house for ingredients.

I had stopped seeing mom around the house lately as she decided to go out in search of Xie, herself. Turning from the window as as saw her take Mili and Kola's hands, they began their pursuit after Xie even now.

Falling back into my bed, I was hardly dressed as I no linger cared much about anything besides sleep. Stretching myself on my bed, I dug into a comfortable position and doze off into yet, another familiar dream where Xie waited.

~

Even as I sat while watching Xie move around inside the glass room, I had wondered what this place was or where the real Xie was doing. Aware I was asleep, I still did nothing as Xie would simply move around and rest. Closing my eyes for a split second, I looked up in awe as Xie had stopped at the center of a room.

Tilting my head from my knees, I watched as sge raised her hands up into the ceiling. Standing up, I walked over to the glass and watched more carefully ad her eyes were seeing something other than a ceiling. Turning head, I gasped as she closed her eyes and smiled faintly as if the sun was hitting her face.

As sge sharply opened her eyes, she was spooked as she turned and I woke up that instant.

Sitting up, I turned to my school bag and took out a notebook. My favorite subject when I wnrt to school was science. As such, Irebered an important lesson from it... Observe and write what is before me.

As such, I began recording my every meeting with the glass room and Xie. For the next fiur nights, I had begun sketching a room accordingly to whatever Xie did. It was like strange seeing herive around the glass walls, as if painting them.

I then traced her every movement and found she was drawing places. Had I not taken art with my science classes, I would be in a predicament.

After stirring up the first picture, I instantly recognized the setting as the coffee shop down the road. That same day, I left the house and stopped infornt of the shop.

While sitting down to order, I immediately doze off from using up all that energy and returned to the glads room with Xie. Once there, she smiled brightly as she moved her arm for another picture. Having been blessed with an eidetic memory, I woke back up and headed home to trace the new picture.

However, instead of a place, it was a message from Xie.

["Amy! You can see what I'm drawing! I'm so happy! Look... I don't have much time, but, please don't worry about me. I'm safe and fine. I'll be back soon! So let everyone know... Also, you are skin and bones, girl! Natural beauty can get you so far... Love, Xie. "]

It was her, Xie and she had given me a message from within a dream in my head. Shaking my head as it all sounded to good to be true, I shrugged it off for a second until getting fired up by it.

My immediate reaction was to find mom and the boys to them our beloved sister was coming home.

There after, I went out and prepared dinner in advance by the time they got home. It was then after we ate together again that I told them about Xies message. Mom held a painful look as Kola and Mili both shot up and danced along as Xie was coming home.

After the boys ran around the house like they used to, mom pulled me into my room and shook me as she told me not to tell lies. Snapping at her as I argued that Xie was coming back, she slapped me as she asked how I knew.

"She told me... " Her eyes instantly locked onto mine as she wanted to know how.

Before long, I told her everything and she instantly began to tear up as she left my roon and slammed the door shut and she went into hers. Walking out into the hallway, Mili held onto my night shirt as Kola stood beside me while we all faced moms door.

"Xie said she is coming back soon... I believe her. " With that being the last thing I said that night, Mili and Kola rushed to sleep as I found myself sitting down, wide awake and unable to go to sleep.

"You said you'd come home... Don't make me out to be a liar, Xie... "

--