RUN
The sky is dark. The kind of dark which looks like a thin cloak of midnight blue has been draped across the land. The fabric settles gently among the stars, catching the five-pronged glittering lights. 0
All I see is the overview of the Rocks. I can't see or feel my body, but I can hear my thoughts, and I can see everybody else. The Rocks are basically what the name suggests- a formation of large rocks overlooking a concave depression of dark water. The water is ocean-deep and tonight, it's pitch black. I can hear the life within stirring slowly, as compared to the party occuring all around the Rocks, coarsely loud.
Everyone is dressed in shorts and short-sleeves shirt, an unspoken word of defeat to the warm summer days. Boys and girls linger along the circular outline of the water, laughing and giggling. They play their music obnoxiously, each group trying to tune out the volume of another. All the sounds together create a horrible noise that makes me want to clap my hands over my ears. But I can't do anything.
There's a girl who catches my attention. She's seated amongst the rocks, watching the event unfold before her. Beside her sits a boy who chats to her, but she doesn't seem to be listening. She's nodding, but there's a glazed look in her eye. Like she isn't really here. I immediately feel a connection with her. I want to shout that I'm not really here, too.
She swings her legs slowly, and there's a brilliant burst of lights overhead. Caught among the stars, thousands of colours fill the air. They sparkle and explode, red and gold colouring the seam of blue. Green jets of light splitting at the ends, bright blue solidi doing cartwheels.
It's a fireworks show.
The show lasts for a few minutes and when it ends, everyone breaks out into applause. A silence falls over momentarily, before it is cracked by a faint smatter of conversation. A sudden shout breals across the Rocks and I feel my attention dirft to where the noise is coming from.
At first, I think that a fight is breaking out among a group of people. There's shouting and all I see is people being pushed about, shoved against the rough slants of the Rocks.
A scream tears the world apart. Bodies begin to fall to the ground and I spot a trail of red slowly leaking along the cracks of the shafts.
This is not a fight.
This is a murder.
One by one, bodies topple. The blood that was initially a snake-like trail unfurls and grows into a river. Everyone's screaming and slamming into each other, desperately searching for an escape. I want to close my eyes, but I can't. All I can do is to keep watching.
I can't spot the murderer. The scenery becomes a crimson show and I spot the girl from before, with her boy friend. He grabs her hand and he's talking really fast- his lips are moving rapidly- she nods and they dive into the water. I think that if I could hold my breath, I would.
I anticipate them emerging from the other side when I catch it. A sign of the killer. It's a mere shadow, but it's so ominous, I know it is the killer. The shadow waits on the other side where the girl and boy are bound to arrive by at any minute. I'm torn, pleaing for anyone to listen to let me have my voice, so that I can scream for them to turn back. That the killer is standing by where they'll be within seconds.
RUN, I think.
Their heads emerge from the vast pitch black. The boy begins to ascend the rocks, but the girl hesitates. Her mouth moves swiftly, but he's not listening; he's too busy scaling the boulder.
RUN, I think again.
It's too late.
The boy scrambles up and pulls himself onto the ledge. His head turns upwards to meet the sky above and the world comes to a standstill.
Blood showers the rocks that catch the boy's limp body as he falls.
The girl never rises from the water.
I'm screaming.
Morning jerks me into the view and I feel the scream in my throat, like a knife that scrapes against my airways. It's raw and there are tears that bead the corner of my eyes.
It takes me a full minute to stop. My head throbs as I survey the room. I'm drenched in sweat and shaking even though the room feels warm.
I blink, confused about why I was screaming. Then it hits me- the nightmare. The killer appearing out of nowhere, a boy and a girl, an ocean of red.
The tears leak from my eyes and my shirt catches the droplets. I draw my legs to my chest and inhale sharply. The motion draws effort and I pant from the recovery.
It can't be real, I think weakly.
"It can't be real." I mumble, trying to force truth into my voice. It feels so real, though.
I seal my eyes shut and try to concentrate, to think about it logically.
The Rocks and a real place, and there is a fireworks show.
Which happened yesterday.
This time, the fear starts to creep in.
Still, I have never seen that girl and boy before. And how can I have dreamt of real events? I don't believe in prophecies or ridiculous third eye stories; this has to be an illusion. Jealousy marred my desire of wanting to be at the Rocks to watch the show, resulting in this terrible nightmare.
I scramble off my bed. My feet hit the floor with a resounding smack and the impact sends a jolt through my body.
"Link," I say, my voice shaking, "show me the news."
Instantly, a screen materialises before me. The screen is filled with numerous articles, all headlined with the words 'MURDER' and 'THE ROCKS'.
A shiver snakes down my spine.
There are so many articles, an option to go through other pages appears at the bottom of my screen.
"That'll be all, Link," I whisper. My whole body trembles and I sink to the floor, all the heat seeping away from my skin.
It's real.
I watched the whole murder unfold and I didn't save the boy. My throat constricts and a wave of nausea sweeps over me. I have to wrap my arms around my body to stabilise myself, trying to create a shield against the thoughts threatening to spill over me. It doesn't work, though. Because I hear a feeble thought enter my mind, and it shakes me to my core.
If I was there and I didn't shout at the boy to turn around, does that make me a killer too?
