Ruby’s eyes snapped open. She sprang up from the bed, breathing heavily. Trickles of sweat ran down her forehead, making her hair stick to it. Her hazel eyes were wide, lips parted as she breathed heavily through them. She placed her hand on her chest, as though it could calm her fast beating heart. Looking beside her, she reached for the jug on the nightstand. She picked up the glass to fill it with water. After rushing down the content, she placed the cup back. She slightly slammed her head on the headboard, shutting her eyes so she could calm down.

The loud ringing of the phone interrupted the quietness of the room, making Ruby jerk up. Realizing it was just the phone, she calmed down and reached for it beside her. Looking at the caller’s ID, her lips pulled up a bit into a small smile. She swiped the screen with her thumb and placed it on her ear to answer it.

“Good morning”. Her voice came out raspy. She rested her back on the headboard.

“Morning sweet. You sound weird this morning. What’s wrong?” Darrel’s inquisitive voice came up from the phone’s speaker.

“I had a bad nightmare”. She said.

“There is no good nightmare, Ruby”. She chuckled.

“What was it about?” Ruby braced herself to start telling him.

“Remember the dead body at the mortuary last week? The one whose eyes were brutally pulled out?” She asked.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I had a nightmare about her. It was horrible”. She said. Her eyes went distant as she began to remember the things she saw. An image of the unknown woman’s eyes been pulled out flashed across her eyes. She shut her eyes, shaking her head to get rid of it.

“It’s okay Ruby. That was the first time you saw a dead body face to face. So it’s normal for you to be paranoid about it”. His voice was low and assuring, trying to soothe her.

“You don’t know Darrel, it looked so real. Like vivid, I felt it”. She was at loss of words on how to explain what she saw.

“It’s just a figment of your imagination. You have nothing to worry about”. Ruby sighed, rubbing her forehead. She dropped her hand back on the bed.

“Yeah, maybe it’s just my imagination”. She said, agreeing with Darrel’s theory. Deep down, she still felt wary of it. She shoved away the unsettling feeling.

“There is no reason to panic Ruby, remember there are going to be more bodies. You chose this path for yourself so you don’t have to be scared of anything”. Ruby nodded, even though Darrel couldn’t see her. He was right. This was what she chose, and she had to face the ugly side of it.

“I wasn’t scared of the body, Darrel”. She said, which was true.

“Yeah, I know that. Even I was surprised at how you took it so calmly. I freaked out the first time I saw one. It had its arms chopped off. Damn, the world is cruel”. Ruby smiled humourlessly.

“Yeah, it is”. She agreed. Ruby heard him sigh.

“Anyways, I just wanted to hear your voice this morning”. She giggled silently, like a lovesick teenager.

“Why aren’t we living together?” He asked. Even though he had laced his voice with humour, she could still hear the sadness there. Not that she didn’t want to live with him, she just felt that they had not reached that stage yet. And there was her younger sister whom she didn’t want to bother him with.

“Patience darling, patience”. She heard him laugh, and she did the same. There was silence between the two for a while.

“Alright, see you soon. Good bye”.

“Bye”. She muttered. Ruby waited for him to hang up and when he did, she dropped her phone on the bed.

Ruby looked up at the clock, and it was already past seven in the morning. Her eyes widened a bit, as she had slept for longer than usual. She was the type to always wake up early. But she had nothing to worry about, as it was a Saturday. She climbed down from her bed. Ruby stood on her toes, yawning and stretching her arms up. Walking a bit, she stopped by the mirror to see her reflection. Strawberry blonde hair scattered across her head like a nest. She frowned a bit, and shook her head. Feeling the floor cold under her feet, she looked around for her eyes to stop at a black slipper. Walking towards it, she slipped her feet inside before leaving her room.

Ruby opened the door. She was greeted by the familiar girlishness of the room. Most part of the walls were painted pink and the rest white. Pictures and stickers were placed almost everywhere. Places like the wardrobe and the shoe rack were a mess. A girl laid sprawled on the bed, under a mess of bed sheets. Her hair long strawberry blonde hair was scattered across the bed. Hair covered her face, to make it invisible.

A smile touched Ruby’s lips, as she stared at Emma who was still sleeping. She walked towards the bed. Raising her hand, she tapped her on her arm. Emma groaned, and threw her face into the pillow with a puff. She continued sleeping.

“Wake up, Emma”. Ruby received no response from her.

“Emma!” She called out loud, but Emma continued to lie down. Placing her hands on her waist, Ruby stared at her sleeping form with pursed lips. She picked up a pillow from the bed, and bashed it against Emma’s head repeatedly.

“Get up! Get up, lazy woman!” Emma sprang up, and used her arms as protection from her sister’s abuse of pillows.

“Stop it, Ruby. I’m up”. She snatched the pillow away from her and dropped it on the bed. When it came to looks, there wasn’t much difference between Ruby and Emma. Emma was like the younger, immature image of her. While Emma had long hair, Ruby had kept hers shoulder length and it was wavier than Emma’s.

“God Ruby, who wakes someone by hitting them with a pillow?” Emma asked, slightly irritated her sleep was interrupted.

“You refused to get up, so I had to use a harsher approach”. Ruby responded, folding her arms as if daring Emma to question her. Emma threw herself on the bed, groaning.

“It’s a Saturday Ruby. Let me get more sleep”. Emma whined.

“Mhm, and you have self-defence class today, which starts at eight. It’s past seven already”. Emma hit her arms on the bed in an annoyed manner.

“Well fuck self-defence class”. Emma muttered.

“Language”. Ruby warned.

“You know, if I had inherited Dad’s witch genes, there would have been no need for any kind of self-defence class. Just a few words and poof, the bad guys are gone”. She said dramatically. Ruby raised a brow at her.

“Being a witch is not that easy, Emma. You can’t even handle calculus, how would you handle a whole book filled with different spells”. Ruby said, as a matter of fact.

“Spells are words, calculus are numbers. And numbers are terrible”. Ruby couldn’t help but smile at Emma’s words. The girl was like light in a dark place. Naïve, and unaware of the evils of the world. Emma meant everything to her. She was the only family she had left, after they had lost their parents. While they lost their Dad before Emma was born, they had lost their Mum to a rogue vampire.

“Stop being lazy and leave the bed. Remember, time waits for no one”. Emma pouted, getting up from the bed.

“Freshen up, while I prepare breakfast”. Ruby left Emma’s room.