• Who screamed bloody murder?!

    Hello, my name is Bliss, Bliss in the morning Dew. Yeah, that’s my real name, though on my school records, my last name is Dawson. I’m 14 years old and I just got out of The Libby Rose House, which was a house for “troubled” teens. I live with my mother, father, and sister, and I think I’m losing my mind. Again.
    It happened last night, while my sister Dawn and I were walking down by the river. We did that often, when our parents would fight. Even though the fight started a few hours ago, you could never be sure when it would be over. We needed to get out of the house and we didn’t want to walk in on the argument, so we took the long way home, through the woods and past the river. Though Dawn never says it to my face, but she thinks it’s my fault. They didn’t start to fight like this until I got sent to the Libby Rose House. My mother blames him for my “breakdown” and in turn, he gave all the blame to her. So, naturally, Dawn said I was the cause for our parents resenting each other. I hated them all, yet I was forced to have to tolerate them. A fact that I refused to accept.
    As we walked, I heard a scream. Faint, but it was obvious it was close. Dawn turned to me, frowning.
    “Did you hear that?” I asked. She shrugged and kept walking. I heard the scream again, this time much louder.
    “Where is it coming from?!”
    I kept walking toward the screams, but Dawn stayed back. Soon, the faint screams were so loud that it hurt my ears. I was so close, I could almost reach out and touch ‘em, yet I saw no one. Dawn’s eyes grew wide, like she was scared.
    “It’s underneath us…”
    I looked at the wet mud under my feet. I got down on my knees and pressed my ear to the ground, getting mud and dirt on my face and in my hair. The scream was so loud, that I yelped and jumped from the sound. It was a woman’s voice. It sounded familiar but I couldn’t sure because it was muffled at the same time. Dawn ran off toward the house, leaving me behind. I called out her name, yet she didn’t stop. She was so far away that she probably couldn’t hear me. I ran for miles, never slowing, trying to forget the screams as I went. But they wouldn’t stop. Again and again, they replayed in my mind, until finally… I wanted to scream. I finally got home, panting from the exhaustion. I had to tell my parents, I had to save that woman. Before…before it was too late. I ran through the front door, and then froze in place. My sister sat at the table, nibbling on some cookies. My father was on the couch, cranking his fingers, probably still mad at my mother. And my mother…no where in sight. Dawn sat as if nothing was wrong, she just continued to eat.
    “Dad! We need shovels, now! Dawn put down the cookie! We got to hurry!”
    My father looked me up and down. “What are you blabbering about?!” Yeah, he was still mad.
    “There’s a woman buried alive by the river! She’s screaming daddy, she’s just lying there screaming! She NEEDS our help!”
    My father paused, and then rose from the sofa. He towered over and placed his hands on my shoulders.
    “Darling, you took your meds today right?”
    I shoved him off, he almost toppled over. “I don’t need those meds, I’m not crazy dad! I know what I heard! Ask Dawn, she was there!” I turned to my sister. She looked back and forth between my father and I. She shrugged. “I have NO idea what she’s talking about! Bliss, are you sure you don’t need Libby Rose?” I looked at her, my mouth hanging open. I could not believe she was lying about this. I knew she heard it, and I knew for a fact that she couldn’t possibly think I was losing my mind.
    “What?! You were standing RIGHT there! I know you heard it! You heard it!” I gushed out words before I even knew what they were. She was lying to my face.
    “Sorry but NO! I think you need to lie down.” Then she finished the last of the cookie, and then walked past me, up the spiral staircase, and vanished behind her bedroom door. I felt the tears threatening to fall, but I refused to let them. My father looked at me, his eye-brow raised.
    “Maybe we should re-hire that nurse, Ms. Webkins was it? I should give her a call; I should ask your mother first. Do you know where she is? I’ll go ask Dawn. What do you want for din___”
    “Shut up!” He stopped and stared at me, eyes wide in shock.
    “Shut up, Shut up, just shut up! I know what I heard, and I DON’T need that senile old hag of a nurse! I’m not losing my mind! Where’s mother!? She’ll listen to me! I know she will! I-I know she will.”
    My mother wouldn’t listen to me. She would just start fighting with my father again. I was thinking mostly about Dawn. She lied about hearing the screams, when she was the first to run. She made our father think I was having another breakdown, when I’m far from crazy. She lied for a reason, and I needed to know why.
    “Dawn!” My father called up the stairs. The door creaked and she poked her head out the door.
    “Yes?” She looked at me and I could’ve sworn she smirked at me. What exactly was she trying to get from this?
    “Where’s your mother?”
    “She left a note. Check the table.” Then she closed the door behind her. I hate her.
    My father walked to the table, with no sign of concern on his face. He picked up a small piece of pink paper, with what looked like chicken scratch, scribbled on it. My father read the note out loud.
    “So sick and tired of the drama! I’ll be gone for a while, please don’t look for me! Kiss the girls for me, see ya…maybe.
    -Elizabeth
    My father sighed, and then carefully folded the note. The gesture showed a whiff of sorrow. They’ve fought often, but never once then our mother left. But I had no time to think of that. If no one would believe me than I would have to save that woman myself. Then, Dawn would be proved a liar, and our father would have to believe me. I wouldn’t be that psycho teenage girl on Bloodlust Avenue. For once, I’d be a hero.
    “Dad, I’m going to go save her now, see you later!” I ran out the back door and towards the shed. I grabbed two spades, then ran for the river. My father called out after me but I didn’t slow, I couldn’t slow down. I was going to prove that I wasn’t crazy.
    Her screams were hard to find. She was dying, slowly losing the strength to keep living. I needed to save her soon. If I started now, I could be finished by midnight. I needed help. I didn’t know how good her lungs were and even if she could last. I plunged the shovel into the ground, and started digging. From the sound of her voice, she must have been at least 7 feet deep. I dug and dug for hours. The sun had set, I could barely see the shovel in my hand anymore. Charlie Watson came running up from behind me. Charlie was the same age as me; in fact, we meet at the Libby Bose House. Now we go to the same school.
    “Well darling, don’t mean ta be a buzz-kill, but ‘cha aren’t getting’ ta China at the pace ya’ goin’!” He snorted. He always tried seeing how he’d sound with an accent. I guess he thought he sounded silly.
    “Charles, I ain’t got time for your nonsense so unless you going to start digging, get lost!” I didn’t have time for his foolishness; I had to save the mystery lady. With each second, her screams grew softer and softer.
    He pulled both hands to his chest. “Ouch! Darling, I reckon I could lend ya’ a hand! You looking for treasure or somethin’?”
    “Charlie, please don’t talk like that! And no, there’s a woman buried down here, alive.” I felt Charlie’s eyes on my back. He stood over me, eyes wide. But not because of shock, but more like…fear.
    “Bliss, you can’t be talking like that! You’re going to end up back in the House! Now tell me the truth.”
    I shock my head but I didn’t look at him.
    ‘”Charlie I’m telling you the truth! Me and Dawn found her this morning, when we started walking past here. She…She told our father that she didn’t here anything, but she was lying and now my dad refuses to believe me, so I have to prove her a liar! So please stop talking and help me dig!”
    “Now Bliss, you can not seriously make me believe that___”
    “Ssshhh! Listen…”
    We stood in the cold November night, waiting for a scream. A scream that I thought might never come. Please scream! Please scream! Cry, Yell, Holler! Say something! Please! Then, she started singing. Her voice was beautiful, and again, it had a familiarity to it. Though I couldn’t be sure. The words danced up from the ground in a graceful array. Though the song was short, it was as beautiful as a symphony.
    “My gosh, there is a woman down there!”
    “I told you. She’s singing. She knows she only has a short time now. We have to hurry! We can’t let her die Charlie! We just…can’t.” Then, foot steps stomped on the hard ground. “Bliss, get back in that house right now!” My father was standing there, panting like a mutt. He was about to say something, then he noticed Charles. He thought I shouldn’t hang around “those messed up kids”. He said I was messed up enough just dealing with life.
    “Charles, you best be gettin’ home. That’s goes for ya’ too, darling!” Sadly, my dad’s accent was not a fake.
    “Father, there’s really a woman buried down here! She’s singing now! You have to believe me, ask Charles!” I turned to him, pleading for him to stand up for me. I hoped he wouldn’t do what my sister did.
    “Mr. Dawson, she’s telling you the truth! There’s a woman buried alive and Bliss was trying to save her! Sir, please listen!”
    “You both need to go back to Libby Rose! How can you expect me to believe that someone is buried alive down here!?”
    “She is! She’s singing, ‘Morning will dawn soon enough. Our pain shall melt away. Spring flowers, autumn leaves. The Goddess of beauty.” I tried to mimic the woman’s lullaby. My father was staring at me in utter disbelief.
    “What did you say?” I began to sing the song again.
    “Morning will dawn soon enough, our pain shall melt away.”
    “But…but that’s…our song. Your mother sung that to me on our honeymoon. Th-that means…my god!” He ran past me and grabbed the spade lying next to Charles. He started digging, and then Charlie took the one I had and helped my father. I smiled. They were going to save her; my mother was going to live. I started back to the house, hoping to find another shovel or two. Half-way there I stopped. Dawn. Dawn had lied for a reason and I wondered. Was that the reason?! Did… did she try to kill our mother? Was she the one who wrote the note… the one who buried her alive? But-but why? She couldn’t have! She was with me most of the morning. MOST of the morning.
    The sound of a twig breaking startled me. I turned and Dawn stood there with a shovel. Her eyes were red and puffy, as if she’s been crying for hours.
    “Bliss, you always seem to find a way to ruin my life…” Then she swung the spade, and hit me in the head. I felt the wet moisture of blooding rushing down my face. I faded in and out. My head pounded, and I couldn’t hear my own breathing. My sister stood over me, still clutching the spade. She bent down, and held her lips close to my ear.
    “This time, no one will hear you’re screams…” Then I fell into a deep menacing pool of blackness, all the while, wet dirt trickled on my face.