The ocean roared in the background. The open blinds were swinging away from the windows on this windy night. Amber had woken up to go to the bathroom and was now having trouble falling back asleep. She looked at the clock: The neon-green numbers read 1:42am. She had at least five more hours until she could go swim laps in the pool. Amber got up and made her bed, pillows and all, even though she was hoping to get back to bed sometime this night. She was meticulous about making her bed. If she wasn’t in her bed, it had to be made.
Amber walked over to her desk to turn on her light. Through the open window, she spotted a van parked across the street as the blinds moved with the wind. Then she saw an orange flicker of some sort. There were people sitting in the van! Amber watched them for a few minutes and when she was convinced they were watching her house, she decided to wake her parents.
She darted into the hall toward her parents’ room, grabbing her white stuffed bear before she left the room. There was a faint glow coming out of her brother’s room, so she quietly opened his door. Nick looked up from the computer.
“What are you doing up?” he whispered.
“There’s a van parked outside with people in it. Nick, I think they’re watching our house.”
Nick stood up abruptly. “Stay here. I’ll go get Dad.”
“Okay,” Amber said, clutching her bear.
Nick put his arm around her. Nick was five years older than Amber and never missed an opportunity to play big brother to his little sister.
“Don’t worry. They’re out there and we’re safe in here. Can you do me a favor and tell Michelle I’ll be right back?” He smiled and kissed Amber on the head, then grabbed her bear out of her hand. “Still carrying this thing around with you?”
“I love him,” she smiled.
The instant message chimed from Nick’s computer. “Never mind. I’ll tell her.” He leaned over and typed a quick reply.
“Let me see your bear really quick,” he said. Amber handed the bear to her older brother. She could barely see what he was doing in the dim light. “He has a hole,” he told her. “Sew that up and make sure nothing falls out, okay?”
“Okay,” she answered. “Amber,” he said, hugging her, “no matter what, no matter where you go, make sure you always take that stupid bear with you.”
“He’s not stupid, Nick.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
He kissed Amber on the cheek and disappeared out of his room. She sat down at the computer and thought about typing Michelle an instant message. Michelle was Nick’s first love. But Amber didn’t feel like explaining that she was hiding in Nick’s room because of a strange car outside. Michelle treated Amber like an eight-year-old sometimes.
“Amber?”
“Yeah, Mom,” Amber replied, looking up from the computer. Her mother walked into the room. She was on the phone, and wearing a long yellow silk robe. The yellow looked alluring against her tan skin. She had long, glossy black hair and electrifying blue eyes. Even in the middle of the night, she was dazzling.
“Where are Dad and Nick?” Amber whispered as her mother spoke on the phone.
“Downstairs,” she whispered back with a big smile.
“Yes, we’re at 131 Breakers Isle,” her mother spoke into the phone. “There is a van sitting outside our house and we can see people sitting in it.” There was a long pause. “Okay, we’ll be waiting for you. Sure, I’ll hold.” She winked at Amber and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Without warning there was a loud crash and both women jumped up. Her mother quickly hugged Amber and said, “Hide!”
Amber ran into Nick’s closet. There was a plastic shelving container in the corner filled with T-shirts. She squeezed behind it as best she could and sat there, shaking, unaware of what was going on in the rest of the house. Amber’s mother closed the closet door behind Amber and ran out of the room. The closet was completely black at first. A few minutes went by before some light peered through the crack of the closet door. Suddenly there was shouting, and then a gunshot, followed by screaming. Her mother was screaming. Amber wanted to run. But she was frozen, paralyzed with fear.
“AHHHHHHH!” Brooklyn abruptly sat up, screaming. Her eyes were still closed. The door flung open and Rachel came running in.
“It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe here,” she said as she wrapped her arms around Brooklyn, trying to wake her up. Greg and Mary came running in a moment later and turned on the lights. They stood at the foot of the bed, taken aback at the sight of Brooklyn and Rachel rocking on the bed. Greg wondered if he and Mary could handle such a fragile girl. She finally managed to rise out of her deep sleep. Her hair was stuck in sections to the sheen of sweat on her forehead and cheeks. Her knuckles were white from gripping her bear so tightly as her entire body convulsed from fear. “It was just a nightmare,” Rachel whispered, still holding her.
Brooklyn closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It had been like this almost every night for two weeks. She wondered if the nightmares would ever stop. “I’m okay,” she said, opening her eyes, embarrassed.
“Can I get you anything?” Mary offered.
“Um, no, I’m okay . . . well . . . a little self-conscious . . . maybe some water, please.”
“I’ll be right back.”
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I’ll be in my room if you need me,” Greg said, as he retreated back to his room. He knew that Brooklyn suffered from PTSD, but he felt as though her nightmare wasn’t something he could handle.
Brooklyn and Rachel sat on the bed in silence. Mary came back a few minutes later with a chilled bottle of water, and sat down in the oversized chair facing the bed.
“Who’s that?” asked Mary, pointing to the bear that Brooklyn was still clinging to. “You haven’t let go.”
“He’s my teddy bear, Nicky,” Brooklyn replied, squeezing the bear a little harder. “My brother gave him to me. It’s the only thing I have now that’s mine from before.”
“Well, I’m glad he’s here with you.” Rachel winked. “He looks like good company.”
“I had a best friend,” Brooklyn blurted out as she looked down. “Before…you know…it happened. Her name was Sasha and she was my best friend since kindergarten. She probably hates me.”
“Why would she hate you?” Rachel asked.
“Because…I just left. She probably doesn’t even know why. And worst of all, I never said good-bye.”
“Brooklyn,” Rachel said, sweeping Brooklyn’s hair out of her face. “I’m sure Sasha knows you care about her.”
“Have you ever been left before…for no apparent reason? I read in a book once that there’s usually a reason, it’s just you don’t know what that reason is. And, in this case, it’s, well, a pretty good reason, because it’s not like I had a choice. But that doesn’t make it any easier. The fact is that if it was me that was left behind and I didn’t know why, I would feel awful. With no closure, it makes it ten times harder to get over someone. I wish I could tell her I’m sorry and that I don’t have a choice in any of this.”
Mary and Rachel sat in silence, looking at Brooklyn. They both knew that Sasha would never hate her. The truth was that Sasha didn’t even know Brooklyn was alive. As a matter of fact, all of her remaining relatives and friends thought she had died along with her family. Only a select few people actually knew the truth.
Mary and Rachel stayed with Brooklyn. No more words were exchanged. Brooklyn laid in bed thinking about her last birthday with her family. After thinking about them for a while, she finally drifted back to sleep knowing her parents were guarding her.
CHAPTER 8