Crappy summary, no? Well, enjoy this story!
Shock was exaughsted.
The day had been filled with pranks, fights, and the constant threat of Lock and Barrel trying to kill each other.
She crawled into her bed, the cool sheets and cuddly blankets welcoming her.
She hoped for a peaceful night. One of rest, trying to build up energy for the next day.
Shock did not get her hope.
She dreamed about the day that haunted her, through her short life and eternal death.
She dreamed about her brother.
The dream would happen every so often, she could never pinpoint a special time or certain change in her... Flow (both magic and hormonal).
This is how it went...
"Shiela? Where are your father and brother going?" her mother would ask. The raven headed girl would always respond-
"Down to the lake. Dad says that he needs to stop playing that video game so much."
The rest of the dream would always blurr for what counted as an hour in the dream. Shock would vaugely recall the next day of what she had done on that fateful day.
Reading a book, playing her OWN games on the system (Ben was always on that thing) and writing in her journal.
All of these things were, of corse, completely accurate to the day it had really happened.
It wasn't until an hour had lapsed in the dream that her mother would say-
"Shiela? Where is Ben?"
And the ten-year-old would respond-
"I told you, he's with Dad by the lake."
"But I've seen your father come in. Ben isn't here," her mother would say.
"Oh, I'm sure he's just lost in his own thoughts somewhere near the lake," she would reply, shrugging it off.
"Your brother HATES water,"her mother would say, her voice chilly and worried. "Go get him."
And Shock would set out the front door to find her wayward little brother.
Ben didn't look like Shock (but as you have seen, she was called 'Shiela' back then).
He was light in features, while she was dark.
But that didn' matter right then.
Shock would set out on the hilly land (for they had lived farther out of town) and head towards the small lake at the edge of the property. She came over a hill to see the sparkling, rippling greeny-blue of the lake.
She set out at a reluctant trot down the hill, not in any sort of rush.
She would see some mass tangled in the reeds at the far edge of the lake.
"Ben? Ben? Where are you?" She would call.
Shock checked the near side of the lake, and went to check the other side.
As she reached the half-way point around the lake, she would see a glimmer of bright, golden-yellow at the tangled mass in the reeds.
Curious, the girl would go to investigate, not at all sure what she would find.
"I'll look to see what it is, and THEN I'll find Ben," she promised herself.
Shock would walk over to the mass in the thin tubes and pull them apart, only to choke back vomit at what she saw.
There, lying in the dense, tangled weeds, was Ben.
Water and blood dripped from his blonde head. His eyes were broken, open and bleeding. Something ("or someONE," Shock thought later") had puntured and ripped them out, none too neatly. Congeled blood came in streams from his empty sockets.
His mouth was slightly open, his lips and chin bloodied. He seemed to have put up a fight, as his blue shirt was torn, and bruises littered his arms, neck, and face.
Shock picked up her brother by his shoulders, gently. She could swear that the air chilled and a blood-chilling giggle rustled around in the empty, open hills. Her heart jumped. Her eyes welled.
"B-Ben?" She whispered, trying to see if the boy still lived.
Alas, the boy was gone.
Shock screamed, and dropped her brother's corpse. She sprinted home, tears blinding her.
"MOM!" she shrieked. "MOM!"
"What is it, dear?" Her mother would ask, worriedly.
"Mom," Shock would manage out between the pants and loud sobs, "Ben is dead! I found him by the lake."
Her mother would scream, and run to the lake, Shock hot at her heels.
They would reach the lake, then the reeds, then the corpse. And just as Shock's mother would reach for the eight-year-old corpse-!
Shock woke. Her eyes were swimming in and spilling tears.
Once again, the dream had come. Come back to haunt her.
Perhaps she would go to the overworld today (after pestering Jack enough to let her go alone) and visit his grave.
But she had been so close to sweet forgetfullness about her only biological brother's demise.
Yes now it was clear and fresh in her mind.
Ben Drowned.