[Continuing] Horror

I remember when Anna was younger. Maybe about four or five. And she tip-toed into my room in the middle of the night and she had managed to pull herself up into my bed. By the time I had rolled over and took notice of her, she was already fast asleep. Half of my being wanted to shake her, demand why she had done this, scold her for coming into my room without permission... Then I saw her face. Her small, doll-like face with streaked with tear trails. I sighed. She had had another nightmare. I was sure of it.

Anna claimed she could contact the spirit world. That supernatural creatures would speak to her. I entertained her for a few years but once I was older, I realized how ridiculous she was being. How naive. But there was one thing I couldn't explain: The nightmares. Anna had terrible, vivid nightmares that would wake everyone in the house with her screams. To hear her describe what she saw in her dreams would even send chills down my spine. There was no explanation for how well she could recall those horrifying images. Abuela said Anna had the "ojo tercer." The Third Eye.

"Anna," I said after a moment. "Do you remember the bedtime stories Poppa used to tell us to get us to go to bed when we were being too noisy?"

I heard her clothes shift in a nod.

"Do you remember how he told us we would be safer here than in England? How this was the land of our ancestors, even though we had never set foot on Spanish soil? How the blood, sweat and tears of early Spaniard explorers enriches this dirt? And, in every story, no native was killed in this forest?"

"I thought you didn't believe in those stories... You said I was--,"

"I know what I said, Anna. But now I'm saying that maybe you were right... Maybe there is more to this world than meets the eye. So how do we get out of here?"

I felt her throw her arms around me and squeeze me tightly. The sudden shock of feeling her body's weight against mine forced me to take a few steps back. I wrapped my arms around her and patted her on the back like Momma did. I couldn't believe it, but I was putting my trust in my younger sister. I, who should have protected her from any danger. I, who convinced her this was safe.

"First," she said with new-found excitement in her voice. "We need to contact the spirits of good. They'll know what to do."