The Resurrection of Aubrey Miller(21)

“Go.”
It’s only then that I pick up on Kaeleb’s slight hesitation. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows slowly before clearing his throat. “Right. Well, I might as well go first since you look like you’re about to pass out.”
My torso is hunched over my legs which are crossed in front of me, feet tucked under my thighs. My chest rises and falls with each rapid breath I take as panic streaks through my body at the thought of being forced to reveal even one of my closely kept secrets. Lord knows I have plenty of them.
Still holding on to my hands, he begins to lean forward and doesn’t stop moving until he’s so close his nose is only centimeters away from mine.
“I’ve got one that covers both of us,” he whispers softly. His eyes glide over my face, not stopping until they land on the one mark I wish he had never seen.
A lopsided grin forms, then he brings his eyes back to meet mine. Tightening his grip around my hands, he presses off of his knees, moving forward until his heated cheek is flush with mine and his warm breaths tickle the shell of my ear. I hold my own breath as my heart ricochets off the back of my ribcage and listen as he whispers softly, “I know your secret, which in turn has been my secret…Bree.”
I jerk back instantly, the previous pounding in my ears now bordering on excruciating.
Bree.
My fingers involuntarily shoot straight out, releasing me from his hold.
It’s too much.
Cold replaces warmth as the blood drains from my face, blackening my vision.
I can’t breathe.
Upon the passing of the name from his lips, my past and present collide, the explosion so fierce it blows the steel door wide open. For the first time in ten years, a Level 4 memory escapes its confines, leaving me spinning out of control as it steals my consciousness.

Chapter Eleven

“Bwee! Bwee!” My four-year-old baby sister Adley yells from across the house. “I’m cold!”
Even though I’m only two years older than she is, I can do a lot of things that she can’t. So as I step toward the bathroom, I already know what she wants. Peeking my head inside, I watch her for a couple of minutes, her chubby body floppin’ around the bathtub like a fish when it’s out of water. With golden ringlets just like mine sticking to her face, she giggles when she sees me before pulling them away from her eyes. She really hates that.
I can’t help but smile at her. I love her so much.
“Bwee, can you turn on the hot watah? It’s cold,” she asks. Her light blue eyes beg me, causing crinkles to form on her forehead. I glance over my shoulder to look for Mommy, but I don’t see her anywhere.
“Sure,” I answer and shrug my shoulders.
The tile on the floor is cold under my feet as I walk to the bathtub and turn the knob with the letter “H” until the water flows. We just practiced writing “H” last week in school. I’m really good at that one.
Holding my fingers under the water, I shoo her back with my other hand. Once it’s run a little bit, I turn the knob until the flow stops. Hot drops fall and I watch them closely until there are no more, making sure she doesn’t burn herself.
Adley stands up, turning and placing her bare behind on the back edge of the tub, her eyes filled with excitement as she leans back and lets herself go. Water splashes over the side and onto the floor as she flies down her homemade slide.
“Adley, you know what Mommy said. Don’t do that or you’re gonna hit your head on the bottom.” She just giggles and turns over and over in the water, her toys floating as they ride the waves all around her.
She’s gonna get in trouble…again. But Mommy and Daddy won’t stay mad. She usually just does something really cute and then they laugh, forgetting why they were mad at her in the first place. She’s so lucky.
Shaking my head, I leave the bathroom and her giggles behind. Mommy is in the living room on the phone, so I go to my room to play. This is the only time I don’t have to share my toys with her and I plan on using every minute.
I pull out my favorite Barbie, the one I hid from Adley last week. Just as I take off her shiny pink dress, I hear Mommy scream. I’ve heard her scream before when she sees a spider or when she trips over one of our toys, but this…this was a different kind of scream.
Dropping the doll to the floor, I hop up and yank my door open, running down the hall as fast as my feet can go. The sound of Mommy and Daddy yelling stops my legs from moving as I pass by the bathroom and my feet slide across the wood floor, almost coming out from underneath me as I skid to a stop.
The door is barely cracked, so I press my face against the side and look through the opening. I watch Mommy running around the bathroom while Daddy pushes on Adley’s chest. He pinches her nose and then blows into her mouth, but nothing happens. Her cheeks puff out and I can’t help but think how much it reminds me of one of those fish that blow up like a balloon.
Blood is on the floor under her head, the red so bright against the white tiles I can’t stop staring. Suddenly the door flies open wide, scaring me, and Mommy hits my shoulder as she runs out, but she doesn’t say anything. She’s crying as she runs to the phone on the couch. After she grabs it, I listen to her screaming and the fear in her voice gives me goose bumps.
“She hit her head…Water…Not breathing…”
I’m so scared. So scared, but I have to help. I’m a big girl. She needs me.
The fog in the air makes it hard to breathe, but I step into the bathroom anyway. My feet slowly make their way to Adley, her naked body jiggling around while Daddy keeps pushing on her chest and blowing air into her mouth. Mommy’s voice is still loud in the background, but I can’t really focus on anything other than Adley’s pretty pink toenails that I just painted last night.