Sweet Sleep (The Children of Ankh Book 1)

by Kim Cormack

  They looked at each other and smiled and started running through the field before the trails. This was the ritual race home they’d had since they had first been allowed out of their yards alone as children. Kevin had always been sneaky. He knew using fair play there was no possible way to beat her in a race. He shoved her over per usual, and she fell with a gentle thud into the grass.

  “Cheater,” she yelled out of breath, as he kept running away from her. She lay sprawled dramatically in the grass laughing. Kevin was laughing hysterically as he covered a good twenty feet.

  “Cheater,” she yelled again and slowly rose to her feet spitting out the freshly mown grass from her mouth.

  She would let him win; it was good for him to win sometimes. Kayn could take one for the team today, especially to see him this happy. Kevin let out an obnoxiously loud cheer as he vaulted over the fence to his yard. He raised his arms in silent, fake, fanfare and took a bow. He had never once won graciously in the whole ten years of their friendship.

  Sure enough, they walked inside Kevin’s house to the amazing smells of his mother’s cooking. Her stomach began to grumble loudly. The delicious aroma filled her senses.

  Kevin’s mom greeted her with a giant bear hug and said, “Hello there, beautiful. Go wash your hands and I’m not going to ask you why, you’re both covered in grass.” His mom raised her eyebrows and added, “We are at the table ready to eat so hurry up, you two.”

  Kayn glanced into the mirror and pulled the grass out of her hair letting a little smile escape as she washed her hands in the bathroom sink. She started giggling as she thought about how wrong it looked when two teenagers of the opposite sex showed up covered in grass. Well, anyone else—with them platonic wrestling would be completely normal. Kayn was sure that if her dad walked in and they were wrestling on her bed. He wouldn’t even flinch.

  Kayn sat at her usual spot at the table with his family. Kevin’s family mirrored hers. They were always cracking jokes, and talking loudly about their day. She loved everything about the Smith house, from the mismatched frames filled with family photos in the dining room to the extremely outdated green shag carpet in the living room. The living room was completed with a mismatched, yet cozy, couch set with two fluffy lounging felines that could always be easily seen from the dining room table. Kayn swore they had not moved an inch in years.

  Kevin’s granny sat at the end of the table, her wispy white hair wildly untamed. Kayn could envision Kevin’s grandmother as a beautiful younger woman. There was a black and white picture in the hallway. Beautiful didn’t quite encompass Granny in her youth, for she had been enchanting. She had rich crimson curls and exquisitely structured high cheek bones. There was obvious power, and immeasurable strength of spirit in her innocent, wide, doe eyes. Physically she looked as thin and frail as a newborn fawn. She had untold stories in her eyes. She was a girl with many secrets. The chapters were written in the creases of her smile.

  She was not the picture of pin up perfection, but she had an unexplainable quality that made you curious. You wanted to know more about her with one look into her eyes. Granny had worn the same shade of dark blood burgundy lipstick even then. She always wore lipstick ten shades too dark, and her teeth were worn, yellowed from age, always seeming to have something stuck in them. If she got some false teeth it would make her look ten years younger, but she didn’t seem to care in the least.

  She stared at Kayn the whole meal without speaking a single word to her. It was very unusual. Kayn couldn’t help herself. She asked, “Is there something wrong?”

  “You know something is amiss, don’t you?” Granny whispered. It was as if she were afraid of the words that might slip from her lips.

  “Kayn had some stomach pain earlier. She’s probably coming down with the flu or something,” Kevin answered for her.

  “Perhaps,” Granny Winnie replied. She glanced back down at her plate. Granny looked a little bit ill today. It looked as though she had more to say, but for once she remained silent then she looked directly into Kayn’s eyes with unmasked sadness and said, “Always listen to your instincts, child. They are never wrong.” As Kayn was preparing to leave, Granny stood up and made her way over to Kayn, hugging her so tightly that she had to squirm away in order to breath.

  Granny leaned in and whispered in Kayn’s ear, “You survive. You fight hard.”

  Granny Winnie always said very strange, random, and sometimes ominous things. Kayn knew that there would be a three-hour long conversation about spiritual things, if she asked her what she meant. She knew she didn’t have the mental steam left inside of her for that talk today. Kayn excused herself to go to the bathroom.

  She attempted to call home on her cell. It went straight to voicemail. Chloe was probably on the phone; heaven forbid she ever had some kind of crisis and needed to talk to her own parents. Chloe had a cell phone too, but was always grounded from it. Yet, they still let her talk on the landline which meant nobody else could get through. Heaven forbid that her parents should spend two dollars on an extra line or call waiting. She sat on the toilet trying her mom’s cell. She was obviously going to be a few minutes late tonight. Kayn left a message, and sneaked down the hall to Kevin’s room for a quick prank before she went home.

  Kevin’s mom gave her a bag of fresh eggs to take home. It was starting to get dark, so Kevin’s dad offered to drop her off. She thanked him with a hug as she got out of the car. He left her at the bottom of her driveway.

  The air smelled amazing, like cherry blossoms in full bloom. It must have been raining while they were eating dinner. She stepped into a puddle, and twisted her ankle. Oh great, she thought. Soaked foot, eggs, and school bag in hand, she limped up the steep driveway toward the front door. The door was partially open which was not normal. However, it was windy out and quite normal for the door to be unlocked, so maybe it was left ajar.

  She turned around and noticed that Kevin’s father has driven away. Kayn felt off, apprehensive as she walked toward the door that seemed to have a life of its own. The door shifted from open to almost shut again as the wind blew. She looked at her phone. It was a quarter after eight. This was obviously a prank. They had left the front door open, and entrance lights off to freak her out. Chloe was probably hiding around the corner. Practical jokes were an almost daily occurrence in the Brighton household.

  It was almost dark outside. She stopped again, feeling uneasy for some reason. Her heart felt tight and her chest hollow as she paused again. The surrounding giant trees made it extra dark in her yard. Slivers of light flashed through the trees as they moved in the wind. She lived in a beautiful area, but very isolated. Kayn shoved her cell back in her jeans, and pocket-dialed Kevin. She stepped toward the darkened doorway’s threshold and paused for a moment again before pushing the doorway completely open

  “I’m home,” Kayn yelled as she walked in the door, kicking off her shoes and dropping her school bag. She clicked on the front hall light but it was burned out. Kayn had seen lights on upstairs as she walked up the driveway, so she knew the power wasn’t out. It’s just a burned out light bulb. Kayn began to yank off her wet socks. She tried to balance on one leg, but a small stab of pain from her freshly twisted ankle caused her to put her hand against the wall. Her hand slid off the wall, and she struggled to pull her second soaking wet sock off.

  She massaged her ankle for a second and noticing it was swollen, said aloud, “Great, there goes the track meet. Kevin’s mom gave us eggs,” she said, speaking in almost a whisper, suddenly aware that she seemed to be alone in the house. Where would they have gone this late? Her mind began to sort through the possible scenarios.

  “Mom … Dad?” she called out. Kayn was answered by silence. She moved to shut the front door but felt the stickiness on her hand. A faint sliver of light streaming through the trees made it to the doorway. She stepped to the threshold and held her hand up. The palm of her hand was covered in blood. Ripples of adrenaline coursed through her body. She felt as i
f thousands of spiders had run across the surface of her skin. Kayn froze for a split second, paralyzed with fear, shivers of terror crawling across her flesh. She started to gingerly step backwards out the door. She saw movement in the form of a dark figure in the hallway.

  She heard her sister’s voice scream, “Run, Kayn.” It was raw, primal, and shrill.

  She turned and ran, bringing the eggs in her hand with her. She could sense someone chasing her, but looking back would only slow her down. Kayn ran with no rhyme or reason in the direction that she was pointed in. Halfway across the back lawn, she threw the bag of eggs behind her hoping to slow her attacker. She slipped in the wet grass, turned around somehow, and then spotted the overgrown opening to the trails in the distance. She’d played in them as a child, hiding often from her siblings. There were a thousand places to hide. Running toward its mouth, she remembered the neighbor behind them was closer than the neighbors on either side. Kayn’s basic animalistic instinct for survival guided her. She sprinted toward the trail’s overgrown entrance bursting past the blackberry brambles blocking the path. She ignored the pain as they tore at her flesh. It only heightened her survival instinct which now possessed and drove her forward. Kayn barreled through the overgrown trail, forcing her way through where she instinctually remembered the trail had been.

  The crunching of leaves and twigs in the pathway behind her, told her he was close; far too close to do anything but react. She slipped in the mud again, skidding yet not falling. Kayn had now lost her precious half a second lead. It had allowed her hunter to close the space between them. Her heart pounded in her chest threatening to burst right through her skin as her tired legs propelled her body through the winding trail. The rocks in the clay mud cut her bare feet. The sharp reaching twigs and branches slashed at her legs, and the prickle bushes sliced her as she ran.

  “You have to run faster, Kayn, run faster,” her sister’s voice screeched inside of Kayn’s terror driven mind.

  Kayn heard the branches crunching behind her. The dark figure’s rhythm was as steady as hers. He was so close behind her that she could feel his breath on her hair and neck as he panted. He was almost touching her. He was so fast, inhumanly fast; she needed a rush of adrenaline to edge her ahead. She could see lights from the neighbor’s house peeking through the trees. She was going to make it, she thought, as her bare feet pounded over the rocks, and past branches slashing at her ankles and legs. She was almost there. She drove herself forward knowing she had only a half second lead from the hunter that pursued her, almost to safety … just over the creek. Her bare feet hit the small wooden bridge … almost there.

  Kayn felt the elation of victory as she was about to burst through the bushes when she felt heat plunge into her back. Her eyes widened in terror as the knife plunged into her again. Its blade seared a molten trail of excruciating pain through her body. A sweaty hand muffled her gasp of shock as she sunk to her knees in disbelief. Her captor’s arms were slick with perspiration. Like a python, his hands constricted around her neck crushing her larynx. Screaming and pleading for her life was now impossible. He continuously brought her to the brink of strangulation and then shook her awake, harshly reviving her.

  Kayn tried to close her eyes. Maybe he would believe her to be gone and leave her in the trails to bleed alone, allowing her to slip peacefully away, becoming one with the forest floor around her. Instead every time her eyes slipped shut, she felt the slicing, searing pain of his knife again and again in her stomach and chest until her eyes opened wide with terror. The next pain stole Kayn’s breath causing blood to sputter from her mouth.

  She gazed ahead of her and through the trees which were glimmering in flickering light. She saw a figure in the distance. Help me, oh, God, please help me; see me, please, I’m right here, Kayn’s mind screamed. She could see his shadow on his patio through the trees in the luminescence of his porch light. He was so close. A man was on the back porch having a cigarette.

  He punched her stomach or cut her … she was unable to distinguish one kind of brutality from another … only that something was searing a hot excruciating fire through her stomach. He’s killing me … please, her soul pleaded as her vision blurred from her tears. Kayn couldn’t speak. She tried to scream, but her throat was crushed. The only sound she could make was a gurgling as she choked and sputtered on her own blood.

  Why, why are you doing this to me? Her mind cried to the stranger who breathed quickly with joyous excitement and stimulation in her ear. She felt the competing rhythms of their pounding hearts with her back against his chest. She saw the twigs and rocks on the forest floor around her. Kayn could smell damp moss and the scent of tree sap and the sweet metallic taste of her blood. On her hands now, she could feel the warm stickiness that she bled out into the dirt, trickling down her arms as it escaped from her body. Her clothing was heavily soaked in her essence that moistened the earth around her.

  He let her go for a second and she tried to crawl away, but she couldn’t will her body to move forward. On her knees, her breath came in short labored attempts. She tried to grasp the ground with her fingertips, but she didn’t have the strength. His hot repulsive breath and quiet laughter echoed in her ear again, and then he began whispering things that Kayn couldn’t understand. His hot sweaty body was behind her pressing against her back. She felt her stomach churning, revulsion mixed with blinding pain. She tried one last struggling movement to get away from his grasp, and then suddenly felt some horribly blinding pain across her head and face.

  The lights flickered and then went out. In the woods she lay, as a bleeding angel in all her glory. Her arms posed gracefully above her head, and her hair soaked in the mud, blood, and feces in which she lay. Dying, fading into the other realm, her form was christened by the rain, as though the trees had begun to weep for the brutality she had endured.

  Kayn awoke in frigid darkness. The pain that pulsated through her seemed to recycle in waves until it began to slowly dull and become a tolerable numbness. She struggled to open and focus her eyes. She could smell her blood. Kayn could taste the sweet repulsive flavor of it in her mouth. It made her want to vomit. She was lying in mud, and she felt hot stickiness behind her. Kayn could not manage a single breath. Shuddering, she began to relive the brutality that she had experienced. Her mind began feeding her slivers, flashes of inhuman savagery. Her mind, numb and disoriented from blood loss, clicked through scattered memories from her childhood.

  Help me, please, her mind pleaded into the forest through the sounds of the rain tapping the branches above where she lay. They seemed to be shielding her, and as her vision came into focus she imagined the lush green branches above as giant arms. They protected her, covering her from the elements allowing her one last peaceful moment. They are beautiful, she thought. Her mind wandered through mystical visions of the majestic cedar trees alive and somehow capable of offering her protection.

  The calm smile on her face that had been contorted with anguish signaled his essence back to her. Her vision came into focus and once again the trees came to life. They cackled and mocked her. "You’re going to die, you silly bitch," they chanted. They waved their branches, howling as the wind whistled through the trails which had suddenly become icy cold. Kayn’s consciousness snapped back to reality. She had lost a lot of blood … none of this was real.

  A man stood by that same tree whose imaginary arms had shielded her from the rain, still waiting, veiled in mist. The change in temperature had caused the forest floor to come alive with a dancing mist that seemed to add a thickness to the tapping sound of the rain drops.

  Writhing in the mud, Kayn willed her body to move; her fingers clawed at the ground around her until she was spent. She lay in stillness for a moment, feeling like a half dead animal waiting to be finished off by its hunter. She concentrated on each breath … in and out … a little air. She was alive. It felt like she was breathing through a straw and somebody had pinched the end.

  The streams of light fr
om the moon that had been dancing through the dark stormy clouds had now vanished, leaving only a cold dark night with no final visions of beauty. Kayn longed for some light, but was left with only the flickering of blurry dark images. She couldn’t see anything in the absence of light and began to panic again, for she could feel her grasp on life being absorbed into the mist.

  I’m so scared. I don’t want to die. Please help me, her soul sobbed. The only answer was the crackling quiet sound of the rain. Kayn couldn’t see anything at all now as her vision clouded with tears. She had to stop herself from crying. Her head pounded with the blinding pain that had abruptly returned. She could sense that he was still nearby watching her. His dark shadow loomed in the distance as it had in the hallway of her house.

  Please, please, no more, she pleaded in her mind as he came closer. He stood only a few feet away from her now. He was watching her with his head tilted to one side. Her heart was begging: please don’t hurt me any more. She was trying to wriggle, but no movement came from her now. She willed herself to grasp at the moist cold earth with her fingers, but she was unable to move. Her body was nothing more than a broken shell. How cruel for her mind to still see and desire life at this point. Kayn looked into his eyes, pleading to know, why are you doing this to me?

  She was so cold her body gave an involuntary shudder. Kayn realized then that she was naked, completely exposed to the elements. Why was she naked? Her eyes were full of tears again. She felt instant, almost overwhelming shame. Kayn could still feel the sticky heat behind her as her blood drained from her body, soaking into the dirt. The pain in her head began to numb as the lights through the trees began to flicker again.

  The dark mass of her violator suddenly appeared beside her, leaning in so close that she could smell his putrid breath, moist over her face. Every hair on her body was standing on end. The electrical power between Kayn and the man in the dark was like a charge. He ran a finger over her exposed breast and said, “You were never to be born. This situation had to be corrected.”