Uh, okay. You should probably know, I'm not that good at telling stories. One thing I do know about it, though, is that it's smart to start at the beginning. And? Well, the beginning is a nightmare. As in, a dream. These days, though, everything's a nightmare. Which it is. Only it's real. Other than that, nothing's different.

I awoke by walking into a wall. You see, I have this annoying habit of sleepwalking. I've never woke up outside our house, and usually I wake up when bumping into stuff, but it seems I'm a lot more flexible in my sleepwalking than when I'm awake. And, of course, you can never know. Therefore, I always lock the door if there's a slight chance I'll fall asleep. This time, though, it seemed I had forgotten it. Kind of weird, I never forgot nowadays. Oh well.
I heard screaming, and it took a second before I realized it was me. Using this new knowledge, I shut my mouth, instantly killing the screams. I spent a couple of minutes enjoying the newfound silence, before I could hear Sinth's rapid footsteps in the stairs. «Rak! You alright?»
I looked down at her with a surprised look on my face. Seriously. Shouldn't she be used to it by now? It sure as hell wasn't the first time. Not the second or third time, either. But then I could see her tearstreaked cheeks and worried face. I smiled weakly, trying to calm her down. Somehow, I don't think it was working as well as I dared wish.
«Worry wart,» I said and lightly pinched her nose. «Maybe I'll start being an insomniac,» I continued lightly, trying to joke it away.
«Rakich Enyv, do you have any idea what you-»
«DON'T!» I interrupted her, my voice on the brink of hysteria. I realized how I sounded, and calmed down. On the outside, at least. That hysteric pitch just wouldn't go away. «You sound like mom. Jeez. Don't do it again.»
Sinth nodded, shuddering a little. I sighed, pulling her close to me. «We're one messed up pair, aren't we?» I mumbled into her hair. I could feel her relax and nod again. She pulled herself slightly away, and I gave her one of my cockiest grins.
«Well, we better sleep. Tomorrow is another dayyy~,» I said in what was my best sing-song voice, breaking the comfortable silence. Sinth nodded, before blushing slightly.
«You wouldn't mind if.. if I borrowed your bed?»
At my glance she hurried to explain. «With you, of course. I just want to..»
«Of course,» I cut her off, almost laughing and giving her one of my special looks, the «Of course, duh»-look. We turned towards my bedroom – we were standing pretty far away from it, in one of the many corridors. I was kinda freaked, this had to be the farthest I'd ever walked while sleeping – and when there, crept in to my oversized bed. I swear, it looked like it was made for elephants or something. Okay, not quite that big. But almost.

While Sinth hurried under the covers, I preferred laying over them. I heard a sleepy «G'night, big sis,» from my right, followed by deep, quiet breathing. I smiled, carefully moving out of the bed – tiptoeing over the wooden floor. I assured Sinth was asleep before I started working.
I pulled out one of the drawers in my own little dresser, and skillfully sorted away the clothes. A worn book, binded in leather, and with thick yellow pages, was found at the bottom. I murmured a «Hello» to it, and looked for my loyal pencil case. Once found, I snuggled back in to the bed, book and pencils in hand, still making no sound whatsoever. The figure beside me was still asleep, but from earlier memories I knew she was a light sleeper. It was kind of annoying, actually. I always had to watch my steps around her, and she was always on guard.
What? What you giving me that look for?!
Oh yes, I know she looked like an average nine and a half year old, but she was clever. Very clever. And I feared, I knew (it felt like I knew, anyway), that under that mask of innocentness and shyness, there was a cold, calculating person. I didn't look forward to the day it sprang out.

Or, I reflected, maybe I was just being paranoid and idiotic. Maybe she was as innocent as she appeared to be. Somehow, that explanation didn't do it for me. But then again, I was (and still am) one of those people who sees conspiracies in every single thing, even their ice cream.
I sighed, and concentrated on the book. It meant a great deal to me, since almost every thought I'd ever had was documented there. I stared off in space for a couple of minutes, gathering my thoughts, before I focused, and began to write.



The sun broke through the curtains, promising another warm, sunny day. I grunted when the sunlight hit my face, and snuggled closer to the warm body beside me. Unfortunately, that ray of sunshine was enough to wake me. Sinth's not the only light sleeper in this family.
I slowly sat up, grunting again as I did so. Some minutes passed as I cleared my mind for new day, my eyes resting on Sinth's sleeping form.
Finally awake, I realized something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
The lower half of my body was cold. No, not just cold. Freezing. I should have gone numb long time ago.
The upper half of my body was, if possible, even worse. It was burning, with the intensity of true fire. My hands were worst, and I whimpered at the weird sensations.
To lightly sum it up, my legs felt like they were carved out of ice and my arms could've put a house on fire. I stumbled out of the bed, wincing with every movement. Putting my hands on my knees for support, I stared in horrid fascination as my skin started to melt. With a fizzling sound, the skin that was in contact with my hands, started to flow down to the floor, almost like water. I stared in a few more milliseconds before I collapsed on the floor, the melting stopping at once.

I let go of a shrilling scream, having built up in my chest. Sinth woke with a gasp.