Amber's screams caught upon her dry lips as she sat bolt up in her bed and frenziedly searching her room for any sign of the nightmarish images from her dreams, her eyes darting wildly around her room in desperate search of her foster sisters only to find herself entirely alone. The tattered mattresses and bunk bed from her dreams had been replaced by a sturdy wide white wood framed bed with a mattress newer then anything Amber had ever had in her life. The worn out blankets, that barely kept her warm at night, were replaced with a large thick comforter that she felt lost in. The paint peeling walls and piles of hand me down clothes that she had long called home was all just a memory from another time in her life, a time that now only existed in her dreams. Only pristine white bedroom furniture gleamed in the waning moon's light, surrounded her with the reassurance that all was but a nightmare. Although it has been over five years since she last stayed within the walls of that dreadful foster home it was all that filled her mind at night, causing her to awaken with her nightgown drenched with sweat and her breath coming out in quivered gasps as she tried hard to regain her senses and ground herself in reality once again. They were only dreams and she knew that, but for some reason they felt more real then life itself. She clearly remembered every detail clearly, every sight and sound, down to the multicoloured landscape of dying leaves to kiss from her first love, Jessica Wright, when she was merely eleven years old. She had not seen Jessica since the girl's disappearance from the foster home almost six years ago and yet to this day she remembered the scent of the girl's body and the taste of her lips. Usually the nightmares had only been vague glimpses of the past, things she recalled happening all those years ago coming real during the night hours. This time however was very different indeed. It was nothing like she remembered happening before and the emotions the dream bared still held strong to Amber's tender heart. With trembling hand Amber lightly placed her fingers to her lips. She could still feel Jessica's last kiss and there was a lingering scent of the girl upon her the tips of her fingers. She bit at her lower lips as a deep longing rose from somewhere within the dark depths of Amber's mind. Her front teeth cutting through the soft flesh of her lips and her tongue taste the faint tang of blood. There was no pain and Amber did not realize what she was doing until she got that slight taste of copper and forced herself to released her grip upon her lip. She wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand and pulled back as a small pang of pain finally made itself known. Glancing down at her hand to see a streak of crimson coating it, the very sight of which sent a wave of images through her mind, images of her beloved Jessie swinging a blood soaked bat over head, splashing decaying walls in a morbidly artistic display. The sight of which sent her body into another fit of trembles as tears broke free from the corners of her eyes, tears that she had fought so long to keep at bay and never allowed to show in front of anyone. The vision conflicted with her very view of Jessica, whom Amber saw as sweet and protective. She could not conceive what could have brought her to imagine Jessica having any murderous intent in her body. This very thought confused and frightened the girl. A sob arose from within and Amber felt a need to hide before it escaped her throat. With nowhere to run she turned to her pillow and proceeded to bury her face into its fluffy fold, warping the pillow around her head as a low howl escaped her and loneliness threatened to overcome her. After Jessica had run away all those years ago Ma'am, their foster mother, went into a frenzy, she searched the entire house for the girl and eventually fell down the basement stairs, breaking both of her legs. She was sent to the hospital and deemed incapable of taking care of the girls any longer; as such the girls were rescued from the nightmares of that house. On numerous occasions Amber had asked the heads of the orphanage if Jessica was every found, but time and time again her questioned were returned with a sad eyed shake of the head. She was beginning to think that her girlfriend was no longer among the living and this crushed the teenaged girl's soul even more. However she clung to some hope that the girl would return to her. Her new family, a loving couple by the name of Jane and Stan Howe, did everything they could to ease the girl's worries and stress. They surrounded her with many wonderful things and give her more love then she could ever have and yet she wanted something more, and that caused a tremendous guilt to well up inside of her like nothing else. She was grateful for everything that life had given her over the last few years, that she felt no reason for tears. The fact that she was indeed crying made her feel all the more distressed as she curled her legs under her body and shook with each sob. The Howe's had sent her to a number of doctors in an attempt to help her tormented mind and she was more then willing to attend the appointment, longing to be freed of the nightmares that haunted her. The fact that Amber never was able to tell Jessica how she truly felt hung heavy on the girl's mind but it was the one thing she never brought up to the doctors. She did not wish to worry her new family even more by informing them that their new daughter was even more tainted then they already knew. She also never even spoke of Ma'am sons or the horrible things that happened in that dark room, those where secrets that she planned to die with if she had too. After a time her weeps began to subside and she rolled her head over to see a small white book sitting upon her night stand. Jane had given her the book to record all her thoughts and dreams, to better remember them so they could figure out what these nightmares were about and how to deal with them. Amber propped herself up on one arm and reached out with the other to take the book in her hands. Her name was written across the front in a gold embossed font that Amber enjoyed tracing her fingers across. The cover was white with brass fastened to the corners to protect them from folding and there was a brass lock along the side that held a tiny keyhole. Amber rolled over to the side of her bed that rested against the wall and reached between the mattress and the wall. Her fingers squeezed between the mattress and box spring until they touched something tiny and metal, retrieving her hand she peered at the tiny key that was between her fingers. Shakily she put the key into the lock and popped open the book, to be startled by something falling from between the pages. At first she thought that the very pages of her dairy were coming apart when she realized that it wasn't pages that has fallen free, but a old yellow envelope that had somehow gotten into her journal. Curiously she picked up the letter to glance upon its surface to find a message written in fancy hand script upon the top: <i>Urgent: For Amber Gaites Open A.S.A.P. and while out of the sight of others.</i> Amber blinked at the letter in confusion. How could someone put a letter inside of her locked journal, and better yet, why? Nervously she ran a hand through her red curls and wiped away some of the cold sweat that had gathered on her forehead. She had written in the book only minutes before lying down to sleep and did not remember anything between the pages then. She pondered over the idea of someone sneaking into her room in the middle of the night as she turned the letter over. On the back was a deep red wax seal of a coat of arms about the size of a quarter. The crest bored the image of a tree with a pair of eyes set to either side, eyes that appeared to be rather sad and Amber was almost certain that they were filled with some kind of pain. Flipping the letter over again she gazed at the scripture upon the surface and wondered what could be inside of the letter when there came a light raping at her door. "Amber?" A familiar voice softly inquired from beyond her bedroom door, "Amber, you awake?" "Yes." Amber answered in but a whisper, "One second, Sarah." Amber picked up her pillow and quickly placed the dairy and letter under it before moving to the door. Just as her hand was about to touch the knob she paused, her new parents allowed her to have a lock upon the door, for it made her feel a little more secure having the lock on her side of the door instead of the other way around. The door was still locked so there was no way for someone to enter her room. This thought disturbed her and she spun around to scan her bedroom. The windows were also closed and her bedroom was on the second floor so it was not possible for someone to enter by that means. Her eyes moved to her closet as she worried over the possibility of someone hiding amongst her few hanging clothes. This made a lump well up inside of her throat as she envisioned one of the demon teddy bears from her nightmares hiding in the closet, waiting to spring upon her. She shook her head at the notion, why would an evil teddy bear go through the trouble of sending her a letter only to attack her? Another knock upon the door caused Amber to jump in fright and she turned to face the door once again, quickly flipping the latch and opened the door ever so slightly. The very moment the door was open Sarah slipped into the room and passed her friend. Seeing as Amber and Sarah were older then the rest of the girls at the foster home, and such close friends, it was decided that they should stay with the same family. Most families were only interested in girls five years of age or younger so this made Amber and Sarah's chances at a proper home very slim, seeing as they were both preteens. Luckily, however, they found a family that was more then willing to take two older girls into their home. Now eighteen, Sarah had grown to be a tall and beautiful teenager. Her sleek black hair had grown long over the years and now hung limply around her narrow face and over a power blue housecoat. Meanwhile Amber had only gained a few extra inches over the past few years and her curly locks had become more of a nuisance to her then anything else. No matter how much Jane claimed that her hair was beautiful she hated it to no end and preferred to keep it as short as possible. Her face was assaulted by a mob of freckles that she also detested and she wished she could have the same white skin as Sarah, which the girl made whiter by day with a layer of thick make up. Amber viewed her foster sister as lucky, with her looks she could gain any friend, if it wasn't for her interest in death that is, while Amber spent her school hours entirely alone. Well not entirely for over the past few years Sarah had become quite the Goth and favoured being alone over having friends. She always said that the only friend she needed was Amber and that she was glad they became sisters in the end. This meant that the girls got teased a lot at school, but Amber was just happy to not be entirely alone. Currently Sarah was nervously playing with the ends of her hair as she paced in the middle of Amber's room. Amber silently closed the door and made sure it was securely locked before approaching her friend, and sister, "What's wrong? Another nightmare?" Amber inquired lightly as she tried to place an arm around the girl. Sarah shook her head, then nodded, followed by shaking her head again. She switched from playing with her hair to chewing on her thumbnails, "I'm so confused." Sarah stated as she hit the side of her head with her free hand, "My head feels like it is going to crack open." Amber gingerly took Sarah's hands and gently pulled them down, "What are you talking about? What happened?" Slowly she ushered the girl to her bed and sat down. Sarah wiped at the side of her head as she lowered herself next to Amber, "Have you been having more dreams about that place?" Sarah did not need to say more for Amber already understand what she was talking about. "Yeah," Amber admitted with a sigh, "I just had a really strange one with these weird teddy bears and some strange red-haired girl." Sarah quickly glanced up at Amber with a shocked expression upon her face, "Did she also have red eyes and did she get along with Penny really well?" She asked in a low nervous voice. Amber stared at her sister in disbelief, "How did you know about Kimberly?" She wasn't sure how she knew the girl's name, but for some reason the moment she mentioned Kimberly's name a clear image of the girl appeared in her mind. A small child with long red hair and the saddest looking eyes she had ever seem, but there was strength to the girl, something that she could not quite describe. Sarah bounced on the bed excitedly, "We shared the same dreams again, didn't we?" Now it was Amber's turn to rub at her temples, "I guess so, but..." Over the past few years Amber and Sarah had been sharing the same nightmares about their old home. It didn't happen very often, but when it did they both remembered the dreams vividly the next day, as if it really happened. At first they figured it was just them remembering the same events since they both spent several years at that foster home, however nothing like this had every happened before. Amber muddled over her memories before she spoke again, "Didn't she arrive just after Jessica ran away?" She inquired carefully. "That's what I remember too." Sarah stated, and then pulled out a photo from her housecoat pocket, "But when I checked the photo of us at the adoption centre she wasn't there." She handed the photo over Amber to take a look for herself. Amber snatched up the photo and stared at it. There, staring back at her, were her foster sisters; Amber and Sarah stood in the back with Caitlin and April in front of them. There was no sign of Jessica or Kimberly. The photo had been taken the day after they had been removed from Ma'am's care and placed back in an orphanage. She remembered they all wanted to have a photo to remember each other by before they got split up again. Jessica not being there made some sort of sense, but what happened to Kimberly. What happened to her after Ma'am fell down the stairs? "D... di... did... Jess...?" Amber stammered she needed to know if Jessica really did return like in her dreams, but couldn't bring herself to ask the question. She glanced at Sarah with tears in her eyes, biting at her trembling tattered lips she took a deep breath and swallowed hard, "Did... she return...?" She could feel her voice crack on that last word. Sarah slowly nodded her head and placed a hand upon Amber's, "She came back for us." She stated firmly, "She didn't abandon us after all." Amber's eyes fell back to the photo, "Th... then wh... where is she...?" She asked in a low voice. "I don't know, but I think this may give us some answers." She pulled out a yellow envelope from her other pocket and held it out to her sister. It held the same scripture as the letter that Amber had found in her dairy just a moment before, however this one said "Sarah Richards" in place of Amber's name. Amber took the letter and gazed at the words upon its surface, "How did they know your real name?" Amber inquired curiously, glancing at her pillow from time to time, wanting to compare it to own letter, but not sure she should mention it just yet, "Shouldn't it say 'Howe' instead of Richards?" They had taken the family name of their new parents soon after being adopted. Neither of them wished to return to their old lives and somehow changing their names felt like a small bit of closure in their lives. Only their parents, the adoption agency and themselves knew their old names so the sight of someone using those names sent a shiver through Amber as she considered who it could be. Sarah shrugged, "I wanted to wait till I talked with you before opening it." Sarah stated as she took the letter from the girl's hands and scanned its surface, "Did you get one?" She inquired curiously. "What makes you think I got one?" Amber asked worriedly, she was not sure why she didn't want to tell Sarah that she did indeed get a letter. Maybe it was because a part of her wished that it was a letter from Jessica, a letter delivered through her dreams, and that she wanted to be the only one to read it, alone, however the chances of it being from Jessica were slim to none and she laughed to herself for being so silly. Sarah studied her sister, "You did get one, didn't you?" She probed, "Did you open it already? Who was if from? Was it something naughty, is that why you won't show me?" Amber flushed and shook her head, "I'm sorry. I was just being stupid." She remarked, and then pulled out her dairy and the letter out from under her pillow, "I found it just a moment ago." She said, while tapping the book upon her hand, "I don't know why I hide it from you... I just..." Sarah shook her head, "You don't need to explain." She glanced down at the letter and dairy, "Where did you find it?" "That's the strange thing." Amber noted as she opened the book, "It was between the pages, as if someone had stuffed the letter there while I was sleeping." She remarked, taking another glance at her closet then back at Sarah, "I know I locked it and the door before going to sleep so how the hell did it get there?" "That's strange." Sarah agreed with a nod. "Where did you find yours?" "Under my pillow." Sarah explained, "I know it wasn't there last night and I locked my door to so there is no way anyone could have put it there while I slept." Sarah carefully picked up Amber's letter and compared the two, "Where do you think they are from?" Amber shook her head, her eyes never leaving the envelopes, "I have no clue. I was wondering about that when you arrived." Sarah handed Amber her mail, "You open yours first." She stated nervously. Amber lightly took the letter in hand; she could feel her hands sweating as she turned it over to look at the wax seal once again. She glanced up at Sarah as she licked at her dry lips, "Why don't we do it together?" Sarah flinched slightly, "A... alright..." She said worriedly. She fiddled with the seam of the envelope, pushing her thumb under the fold of the opening and running it down to the seal where she stopped, "I can't do it." She stated as she let the letter drop to her lap. Amber took a deep breath, "Fine, I'll go first." She held the envelop between both of her hands with her thumbs on either side of the seal. Holding her breath, closing her eyes, she twisted the seal quickly, breaking it in two. Nothing happened, no crack of thunder or other ominous sound filled the air as her teenaged mind expected, she opened her eyes to see the wax seal had crumbled in her hands like ash and now was a pile of red dust upon her dairy. She glanced up at her sister for a moment to see Sarah watching intensely. She turned back to the letter, brushing the dust to the ground before she opened the flap. Inside she found two pieces of paper, one appeared to be a photo and the other some sort of ticket. "What is it?" Sarah inquired curiously, leaning over Amber's shoulder to get a better look. Silently Amber pulled out the photo to see an image of a group of teenaged girls sitting around a circular outdoor table eating. Amber's eyes immediately fell upon a tall boiish girl sitting at the far end. She was years older, had short spiky military style haircut and wore baggy overalls, but somehow Amber knew exactly who it was the moment she set her eyes upon the girl, "Jessica..." She breathed in shocked amazement. "Jessie?!?" Sarah stared down at the photo, she to found Jessica as quickly as her sister, then her eyes spotted something else about the photo, "That's Kimberly!!" She exclaimed, pointing at someone in the photo. Amber followed Sarah's finger to a short girl with long red hair and a flower covered dress. From her slouched posture and the way she sat close to a tough looking girl in black leather and long blonde hair it was apparently clear that this girl was very shy, and then she noticed another girl who looked exactly identical to the first however this one had short red hair and dressed a black t-shirt, "And so is she..." Amber said in a puzzled tone. Sarah fell back upon the bed, "There really were two of them." She stated, suddenly realizing her mistake and slapping her forehead, feeling stupid for displacing the notion earlier. Amber glanced down at her sister, "Two of them? What are you talking about?" Amber felt as if she was being left out of something. Sarah sat back up and fiddled with her letter, "During that dream I remember helping Kimberly change out of her nightgown so she could take a bath. I offered to brush her hair and... Well... she ran away from me. Then later she appeared in pyjamas instead of a nightgown and was so open about changing in front of us that it shocked me, it was as if she were two different people. She claimed to have hit her head, but it looks like it was her twin that I'd met before. I thought there was something strange going on, but I didn't bother to push the girl too hard considering it was her first day at the foster home." Amber glanced between the images of the twins on the photo, "They were very different now that I think about it, but the first Kimberly was around for such a short time I didn't really think about it." She shook her head in frustration, "This is insane. We are talking about this girl as if she part of our family. She was only part of the dream, wasn't she?" Sarah stared at her sister, "Don't you feel it? She was there and it was more then just a dream. I remember her being there for weeks, or was it months, and then there was the way Penny and her grew closer. I also remember the two of them being taken to that dark room with Ma'am's sons and how she cried afterwards. If it were only a dream I don't think that part would be so real, would you?" Amber frowned as she gazed at the photo in search of some kind of answer. She did remember that night Kimberly and Penny were taken and how Kimberly cried in the washroom afterwards. She remembered being there for Kimberly the way Jessica was there for her when she first arrived at that house, soothing Kimberly's worries and keeping her out of trouble. Kimberly was like her little sister, no she was her little sister, just like Caitlin, April and Sarah are. There was no doubt about it; Kimberly was as real as Sarah was sitting next to her. She lightly touched the photo, longing to enter it and join the joyous feeling that seemed to emit from it. "You're right." Amber finally said with a deep sigh, "She's one of us and no matter how I look at it I can't pretend that she was just another dream." She curiously turned the photo around, in search of some answers to where the photo was taken; when she found writing on the back, "Look at this." She held the photo out so Sarah could read along with her. <i>"Take the ticket and go to the train station at exactly 4:15 AM, go to the third platform and get on the second last car, no other. What ever you do don't lose your ticket or allow anyone to know where you are going. We will see you soon."</i> "Ticket?" Amber glanced back into the envelope to find a train ticket marked 4:15 am, that day, Platform 3, "Who would send me a train ticket?" Excitedly Sarah opened her letter and held up the same photo and train ticket, "Who ever it is wants us to go together." Amber glanced at the clock to see it was only quarter after two in the morning, "We only have a few hours. What do we do?" She asked anxiously. Sarah jumped off the bed and ran over to the closet, "You want to see Jessica again don't you?" She stated as she opened the closet doors and pulled out a duffle bag from the upper shelves. Amber nodded slowly, "But the Howe's have given us so much. We can't just run away." Sarah tossed the bag at Amber, who caught it, "Don't lie to me." Sarah stated sternly, "You have been miserable since Jessica ran away. You can hide it from the doctors and the Howes, but I know you better then that. You still love her and you will not be able to go on until you see her one last time." Amber stared down at the photo again, "See her again?" How many times had she wished to set her eyes upon Jessica one last time, to hold her and tell her how much she loved her, too many times to count. Sarah did not wait for an answer as she opened the top drawer of Amber's dresser and grabbed a handful of clothes, "You're going." She partly ordered, then stuffed the clothes into the bag on Amber's lap, "And I am going with you." She stated, staring the girl directly in the eye. Amber snapped out of her daze, "We can't just run away. What about school and our new home and everything else?" Sarah took Amber's cheeks in her hands and forced the girl to look her in the eyes, "We either stay here and you mop around here miserably forever, or we chase this dream and find out where it leads us." She tapped the photo in Amber's hand, "Don't you want to know what they are doing in our memories and where they are now?" Amber nodded, "Yes, but how do we know this is not some kind of cruel joke?" Sarah shrugged, "We don't." She said with a deep sigh, "But I would rather know it was a joke then to not know at all." She stated simply. Amber let out a deep breath and glanced at her night table and a photo of her new parents. No matter how much she told herself that they were her parents they did not feel like family. Her family would always be her sisters from the foster home and she knew it deep in her heart. It wasn't just Jessica that she was missing. It was everyone and the thought that she could be back with them again made her heart race in a way it had not in done in years. Sarah was right, she had to find out if her sisters were awaiting her at the end of this journey or she would be haunted by the fact that she turned down even a possibility of seeing them again. "You're right." She finally admitted, "I'm going with you." Sarah smiled, "Come on then. We need to pack." She insisted as she took the duffle back in one hand and pulled her sister off the bed with the other, "You get your things together, while I get some of mine." Quickly, she dropped the bag and opened the bedroom door then halted, "She didn't abandon us." She suddenly said in a low whisper. Amber blinked and turned to face her sister, "What?" She did not quite hear Sarah's mumbles. When Sarah turned to face Amber there were tears in her eyes, "Jessica would never abandon us. No matter how many times I said she was dead I hoped she was still out there and I knew she would come back for us someday." She stated softly. Amber nodded, "I always believed she would come back to us too." She agreed and returned Sarah's smile, "Get your things. We have family to get back to." Sarah ran across the room and threw her arms around Amber's shoulders, "I miss everyone so much." She cried softly into her sister's shoulder, "Jessica, Penny, Caitlin, April and even Kimberly. I want us all together again." Amber rubbed Sarah's back as she soothed the girl, "We will be back together again. You'll see." ***** To be Continued . . .
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