I ascend a metal ladder, the rungs creaking with every step. The candle in my hand illuminates the rung before me. Each movement of my feet, each grasp of my hand, is deliberate. One false move, and I will tumble to the ground.

A small white door appears, the portal to the attic. It opens, and my nose wrinkles at the stench of mildew and rotting wood. I need to find what I came for as quickly as possible. Then I can leave.

My gaze sweeps by rusted trunks, old maps, microphones, and bookcases of Hamlet scripts. My skin scrawls, prickles with beads of sweat. Who knows what lurks up here.

At last, I see a piano in a corner, half covered in a black cloth. That's where it has to be. It was the only hiding place.

A hiss slithers through the air, evaporating into the shadows. Chills shimmy down my spine. Slowly, I turn, met with the two fiery eyes of a snake, its thick, red body coiled up to the ceiling. It hisses again, white fangs protruding from its mouth. My scream splices the air. Adrenaline propels me from the attic, and I float down the ladder. The snake pursues, spitting out acid that splotches my shirt. I tear through the hall, but the snake is gaining on me. Petrified, I glance over my shoulder. Its red form expands by the second, spilling into open bedroom doors. Its mouth opens wider than my body, a pit of darkness, preparing to swallow its prey whole...

I bolted upright in a blackened room, legs encased in a sheet. Panting, my eyes darted around the darkness. Where is it? My hand flew to my bedside lamp and flicked the switch. The light scattered the shadows to show my room—a bed and nightstand, a window, a desk, and two bookcases lining the cream-colored walls. I brushed away the hair stuck to the back of my sweaty neck. Gradually, my blood slowed its rush through my veins. It was just a dream.

Exhaustion overcame me, and I collapsed onto my pillow. Everything is alright. Nothing's going to hurt me. There's no snake. I just need to go back to bed.

I reached for the light switch and gave it a gentle turn. The room faded into the dark. My eyes closed, my body easing itself into sleep. But the image of the giant, red snake appeared in my mind. I pulled my sheet a little tighter, curling my legs into a ball. I just need to close my eyes and think happy thoughts.

Whenever I had bad dreams as a kid, Mom would come in and soothe me, saying, "Think about happy things. Imagine you're at a peaceful beach. The water is lulling, and you just gently float on the surface. You can feel all of the tension in your body. Just allow the sea to carry your worries away."

A golden beach unfurled in my mind's eye. I lay in shallow water that lapped against my skin. The tension in my body melted away, just like Mom said it would, just like it always did.

But a new image moulded in the distance, the image of a girl with soaked auburn hair. Her arms batted the water as she slowly sank below the ocean. A wave crept behind her, threatening to topple over at any moment.

"Help me!" she screamed. "Please, Lani, help me!!"

Her brown eyes bore into mine right before the wave crashed over her, shoving her to the depths.

Why didn't you save me? they asked. Why didn't you try to keep me from drowning? Do you not care about me? Do you not love me? Did you want me to die?

"No!" I screamed, my eyes flying open. "Kiara! I love you! I want you to live!"

My entire body trembled. Tears blinded my vision, forging painful paths down my chapped cheeks. My fingers fumbled for the tiny light switch. There was no way that I could go back to sleep. Maybe a cup of tea will help. I half-rolled, half-fell out of bed and staggered to the door, running my hand along the wall for support.

The house felt empty. It had been like that for many months since I lived alone. But now it seemed wrong. The rooms should have shaken with laughter as Kiara and I stayed up until midnight watching movies or playing games. I should be able to walk into the spare bedroom down the hall and find Kiara sleeping peacefully. Instead, the house was silent and empty. Even my own home testified that my sister was gone.

The orangey glow of a night light lit my way to the kitchen. I filled a kettle with water and placed it on the stove. It took forever to boil. I stood there, my elbows on the counter and my chin cupped in my hands, watching as the water transitioned from still to steam to tiny bubbles leaping from the bottom of the pot.

I shouldn't be standing here, I realized. I should get a mug and tea bag.

My feet took a few clumsy steps to the dish cabinet. I grabbed the first mug my hand wrapped around and set it on the counter. A wave of grief hit me again upon seeing it. Pink flowers decorated the sides, and in swirling purple letters, it read: Forever Sisters. A pang shot through my heart. My knees buckled, bumping into the bottom cabinets, and I grasped the counter for support. It was a present Kiara gave me on my eighteenth birthday.

"I know you're going to college, but I just wanted you to know that I'm always here for you," she had said. "No matter where you go or how far apart we may seem, we will always be sisters."

She didn't know how much I would end up needing those words. I thought that we'd be closest together during this vacation, but in actuality, she had never been further away. Sadness overwhelmed me, but I didn't cry. I was over crying, moved on to a state of complete and utter despair. She was gone, and she wasn't coming back.

I promised to take care of her, but I failed. My little sister is...

The cheery whistling of the kettle interrupted my thoughts. I grabbed a stress relief tea bag from the pantry and poured the steaming water into the sister mug. I started toward the kitchen table, but paused. A wooden chair seemed harsh, too hard to be seated in. I needed something soft, something that I could sink into, something that would ease my aches and pains. Instead, I headed for the living room, setting my tea on the coffee table. My back sank into the couch cushions, feet curling at my side. Palms wrapped around the warm ceramic, I breathed in lavender steam. It was refreshing, but it failed to ease my anxieties.

We will never be truly apart. We will always be sisters.

I had to cling to these words. Because without them, I was a shell of a human being. There was nothing left for me in this world.

I lifted the mug to my lips, though I stopped myself from drinking at the last moment. Piping-hot steam bathed my face. It would be far too hot to drink for right now, and my mouth needed some time to heal from all the scalding coffee I'd been consuming. Perhaps that was why I couldn't sleep. I had a caffeine overload.

Cold air blasted from above. Ice ran to my bone, making me shiver. My palms dug into the mug, sending warmth through my skin. The air conditioning was way too cold. I supposed I should turn it down, but it was too much work. I had nothing else to give.

Every fiber in my body froze—and not from the cold. Out of the darkness came a figure as tall as the ceiling, formed of rippling bluish-white mist that reformed its structure with each advancing movement. Only a circular cloud at the top remained stationary, with three empty holes for eyes and a mouth.

My heart thumped against my ribcage as if to free itself and run for its life. But my curled legs remained glued to the divan. The mist flooded closer and closer, the molecules parting to elongate the figure's shape. My shoulders shrunk back, eyes trained on the misty blob. My teeth started chattering as my body convulsed. It loomed overtop of me, inches away from me, and raised a cloudy hand.

"Hey babe."

A scream pierced the night. That...that mist just talked to me!

My legs untwisted from the side, scrambling to the edge of the couch. The mist floated closer.

"G-go away!" I yelled. "Y-you aren't real! I know you aren't!"

"Chillax, babe. I mean no harm. Just wanna rap a bit."

I grasped the closest thing to me, the TV remote control, and chucked it at the mist. It passed right through the figure and smashed into the wall behind.

"Aw, come on. You could've messed with my threads."

I hugged my knees to my chest. This must be a dream. Please, let this be a dream!

"This isn't a dream babe, just got some news for you."

D-did it just read my mind?

"Who are you?" I demanded.

The mist pulled back from hovering over me as if to straighten itself. "I'm Aquarius, babe."

"Y-your name is Aquarius?" I asked. This had to be some sort of sick prank.

"Totally."

My head shook along with the rest of me. "T-this has to be a prank. Whoever y-you are, stop." My voice cracked, but I forced myself to continue. "I'm suffering enough already."

"I'm not going to repeat it again, kid," Aquarius said. "I'm the Man. I'm the Aquarius, the Star Guardian."

"T-the w-what?" Pain throbbed in my head, both from a lack of sleep and from whatever this mist thing was.

"Look, babe, I gotta split," Aquarius said. "But the Old Lady asked if I'd come here and tell you that Kiara's fine. She's headed home now."

Kiara? This is about Kiara? I must have been hallucinating.

"I'm real, kay?" Aquarius said. "Quit with the dream stuff. That's the word. The Old Lady never lies. The chick will be home soon. So just hang loose till then."

"You can't be real!" I cried. "D-don't do this to me!"

Aquarius' mouth widened, and a gust of air flowed past me. "I'm a cool cat, babe. If you wanna be a square about this killer news, then you do you. But right now, I gotta split. I got another few joints to hit up. Peace."

The mist evaporated into the shadows. And I was left there on the couch, incapable of processing what happened.

I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that Kiara was safe, that she would be home soon. But I just saw mist, and mist doesn't talk. No, my grief definitely caused me to hallucinate.