I lay in my bed and stared outside, a cold breeze flowing through the window. Tonight had been... different. I can tell you that much.

The fight I had with my sister was not exactly fun and the guilt was killing me in the inside. I try texting her while Matt was giving me a ride home. But she hasn’t texted back and I'm not texting her again, I might seem like I'm desperate to get forgiveness from her.

I wouldn’t blame her if she couldn’t forgive me, because I stole her dress, yelled at her, and I slapped her, all in the same night.

Harmony’s dress was now safely back in her closet, so now all I need to do is wait for a reply on my phone; which didn’t seem to be happening any time soon.

I watched as more dark clouds rolled in over the moon, casting a dark shadow over everything. I shivered; I’ve noticed that whenever there’s a storm, something bad always happens to me.

I leaned over to close the window and I pulled the covers over my head, phone in hand. I stared at my phone for a while, still awaiting a reply. She must really be mad at me. She hasn’t even come home yet. But that’s probably only because she and all of her friends went out to eat.

I heard a sudden vibration coming from my phone. Hurriedly I scrambled to open my phone. I wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed, or happy, because it wasn’t my sister. But it wasn’t all that disappointing either. The name of the sender was Matthew.

I pressed open and read his message- Hey, so how was your day? =-)

            I smiled; I had thought that he was probably mad at me for slapping my own sister. I quickly typed in a response- it was pretty good for the most part... except for... well you know =/

      I waited a few minutes before he responded. My phone went off. I flipped it open.

            Well that’s okay- everyone makes mistakessometimes... so want to tell me why you guys were fighting?

      My heart leaped at the first half of his message. The second part made me have to think for a long time before I reluctantly typed in my answer.

            Well, she was mad that I borrowed her dress... but it wasn’t my idea. It was Veronica’s.

      I didn’t have to wait too long after I sent the message. In fact, it was almost right after.

            You still could have said no if you knew your sister would be upset.

      I thought about it for a second. That’s exactly what my sister told me, it was still my choice. I could have said no.

            I know...is all I could text back. He didn’t text anything else after that. Either he didn’t know what else to say, or he fell asleep.

            I lay in bed for a while, unable to sleep and dwelling on everything that had happened today. It wasn’t a pleasant day to say the least and even though I got to spend it with a boy that I really like, I can’t help thinking that he doesn’t like me very much for what I had done to my sister.

            As I thought about the day’s events and how troublesome I was to everyone around me, I hadn’t realized how tired and drowsy I had become, and suddenly I was drifting off to a deep sleep.

***

I opened my eyes and shut them again when I woke up to a bright light. It was morning and the sun was shining through the curtains and onto my face.

Suddenly, the light was gone and something had shielded me from the light. I opened my eyes, surprised to see my sister standing in front of me and staring at me intently. I searched for emotions on her face, but there were none, none that I could really even see.

“Harmony, what are you doing in my room?” I asked. She didn’t say anything; she just frowned at me deeply and continued to stare at me angrily. She must still be angry about last night.

“Harmony, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for last night, it was really rude for me to slap you like I did,” I apologized, sitting up so we were at eye level.

She opened her mouth to say something to me, but nothing came out. I watched as her lips moved quickly, saying something that I just couldn’t hear.

            “What?” I asked, unable to comprehend what was going on. She moved her lips again, saying something over and over. But I still couldn’t hear her. Her lips were moving as if she were speaking, but there was nothing coming out.

The more she moved her lips the more deeply she frowned upon me. But even though I tried to read her lips, it just didn’t make sense to me.

“Um, Harmony, I can’t hear you,” I said uneasily. She moved them again, this time more calmly then before.

I didn’t say anymore, still trying to figure out the words that were obviously coming from her mouth, but still inaudible.

She gripped my shoulders forcefully and I stared at her in horror as her eyes became black and grew into an angry force of energy.

***

And then I woke up. I looked around my room and sat up, my sister was nowhere in sight and the thoughts of the dream flooded back to my mind quickly. The evil look in her eyes was menacing and gave me shivers as I thought about it.

I stepped off of the bed and onto the cold floor, heading to the door quietly and going downstairs and into the kitchen where my mom was making breakfast as usual.

I sat down just as she placed a plate of eggs in front of me.

“I had a really weird dream last night,” I yawned.

“Oh? And what was it about?” asked my mom.

“It was about Harmony,” I replied. Her face fell as soon as I said my sister’s name.

“Um... by any chance do you know if she maybe stayed at a friend’s house last night?” she asked, a worried expression covering her face.

“No... Didn’t she come home?” I implied. She shook her head, “her dad is calling all of her friends’ parents right now, to see if she slept over and just didn’t call home to tell us.”

Just then my dad walked into the room, phone in hand. My stomach sank; the look in his eyes was filled with despair as he shook his head, signalling that she was nowhere to be found.

“Well, maybe we should wait a while longer... I'm sure she’ll come up soon,” mom smiled, trying to ease the tension floating around the kitchen. I smiled at her uneasily. My dad still looked worried though.

I decided to go for a walk, maybe that would calm me down a bit. Perhaps I would even come up with an idea to where she may be right now.

I opened the door and walked out, shouting behind me that I was going for a walk and wouldn’t be back in a little while.

The sky was blue today, it was a nice change from all the gray days we’ve been having lately, such a relief, too. Most of the days that it’s been raining something strange happens every time.

I continued down the road, the yards in this area were starting to look like they were becoming green again. I guess all of the rain has been watering all of the plants.

I'm glad things are finally growing again; it was starting to make me feel depressed with all of the dead plants around here.

As I neared the park I noticed a familiar face swinging on the swings next to the playground. Her hair was blowing in the breeze and she had a huge smile on her face as she swung high up in the air.

She waved at me energetically when she saw me walking towards her. She slowed down a bit, but only enough so that we could talk to each other as she sailed back and forth.

“Hey Veronica,” I smiled.

“Hey Mel!” she laughed as she swung, “what brings you here today?”

“Do I need a reason to be here?” I asked.

“Not really, I was just asking. Curiosity I guess.”

“I see,” I smiled, “is that swing taken?”

“Nope, feel free to take it,” she said. I walked over to it and sat down, holding on to the chains that attached it to the rest of the structure. I swung gently against the breeze.

“You look down, what’s wrong?” she asked after a period of silence.

“Well, my sister kind of went missing after last night,” I sighed, “she’s not at any of her friends’ houses, so we aren’t sure where she could be...”

She didn’t say anything but looked sympathetic with me. If we don’t find her soon, who knows what could or did happen to her.

I should stop looking to the worst case scenario though...maybe she’s at a secret boyfriends house, that’s what I'm betting right now... but didn’t she tell me that she likes Matthew? I doubt that she’d go out with a random guy that she doesn’t have feelings for... well; then again, she’s gone out with boys who she only thought were cute, so I guess anything is possible with her.

“Well... I'm sure she’s safe,” Veronica reassured with a small smile, “I doubt anything bad has happened. I bet she’ll even be back in a few hours!”

“Thanks... but you never know,” I frowned, “anything can happen.”

“Yeah, anything...”

I nodded as she went into a small daze. She looked almost... sad? I couldn’t quite tell. Suddenly, her eyes were bright and cheery again, she looked at me dead in the eye.

“Didn’t you and your sister fight the other day?”

“Uh... yes,” I said slowly, “what does that have to do with anything?”

“Then why do you care if she’s gone?” she enquired curiously. I stared at her, not sure what to say. In fact, I was appalled. I continued to stare at her; she obviously didn’t seem to realize that what she had said was a problem.... what if my sister was dead? The last thing we would have ever done together was fight. And I am not okay with that.

“That doesn’t mean anything... I'm still worried about her!” I argued.

“I don’t see why you should be, but don’t worry about it,” she smiled, “she’ll turn up somewhere.”

I nodded agreeing, I hoped she was right. If she wasn’t then I’d be kind of really upset. I probably wouldn’t talk to anyone for weeks. Even just the thought of it made me uneasy.

“Wow, look at the time,” she muttered to herself, “man, I have to get home quickly.”

“So soon?” I asked.

“Yeah, sorry I can’t stay longer,” she apologized.

“That’s alright,” I said as she stood up.

She waved to me as she walked off, saying something that I couldn’t quite make out.

Out of nowhere I felt a sudden vibration in my pocket. I rummaged through my pocket, trying to find the source of the vibration. It wasn’t long before I managed to salvage it and stop its infernal vibrating.

I opened the message. My heart fluttered when I read the name that flashed on the screen. It was Matthew.

What’s new? The text message read.

I typed back a hurried response, Not much, I just finished hanging out with veronica. How about you?

It didn’t take very long for him to send another text message, just finished doing homework. I'm really bored though, want to hang out?

I almost burst into song at the thought of it; in fact, I think my heart is already singing. I felt another vibration, but when I looked at the screen it wasn’t Matt, it was a phone call. I pressed the green button and held the phone up to my ear.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Hey come home right now,” demanded a voice. It was my dad.

“Why?” I asked.

“Your sister isn’t home yet... so were going to go look for her.”

I sighed, “Alright. Be home soon”

I looked at my phone again when I hung up. So much for hanging out with Matt... I reopened the last text message he sent me and replied.

I can’t... my sister is missing and I have to help search for her.

Your sister is missing? I can help search for her if you want he replied a minute later.

Ok, I sent.

The walk home was quick, if I didn’t get home soon enough my parents would probably be really upset with me later on.

I neared the house and through the windows I could already see my mom on the phone and my dad getting his car keys and his jacket on.

When I walked through the door my mom looked like she was going to go crazy, she was gripping the phone and dialled phone number after phone number, asking people to come and help look for Harmony. In the pit of my stomach, I knew that this would, in no way, end well.

My dad and I got in the car while my mom stayed home and made phone calls. We drove off to look for her, not really knowing where to go first.

The worst possible scenario popped into my head, making my head ache and making my thoughts swirl around in a whirlwind.

I didn’t really notice where me and my dad were going  right now because I was deep in thought, thinking about the last words I had spoken to her, the last conversation we had ever had. It wasn’t a very happy one; in fact, it wasn’t a very good conversation at all.

Imagine if she were dead; imagine if the last thing we were to ever do together was fight. I had slapped her... after she had cried and had gotten upset with me. What kind of sister am I?

Then it occurred to me, the last place I had seen my sister was her dressing room at the theatre. If she were dead, then that’s where she would be.

“Dad, what if she was still at the theatre?” I turned to him. He didn’t say much, he just looked at me and made a u-turn in the middle of the busy road, almost hitting a large SUV.

I held on to my surroundings as we sped down the road. It didn’t take very long before we ended up in the parking lot of the theatre. My dad and I both scrambled out of the car and headed for the double doors at the front entrance.

We both pulled on the doors and tried to yank them open, but it was no use. They were locked. If anything, we were going to need to call the police or the theatre manager if we wanted to get inside.

“Dad, can’t we just call the police or something?” I asked quietly.

He took out his cell phone without answering my question and dialled nine-one-one as fast as he could and within ten minutes the police showed up.

My dad explained the situation to them and the two police officers gave each other worried looks, probably afraid of what they could possibly find if they wandered into the dark building.

One of them took a ring of keys from his pocket and headed towards the door. After picking through the keys and finally picking the right one, the door opened effortlessly.

We switched the lights on so we could see where we were going as we headed into the cold theatre. I shivered; I should have brought a sweater with me.

We walked down the long dimly lit halls, looking into every doorway that we passed by, just in case Harmony was in one of the dark rooms.

One of the police men went to go check the stage area, while the other one plus my dad went to go check the bathrooms.

But I knew better, what reason would she have for being near the stage or even in one of the bathrooms? Why not just check the one place that she was last seen? Wouldn’t that be easier?

I looked around, making sure that my dad didn’t notice that I was gone, I shouldn’t really be looking for my sister by myself... I mean, what if she's dead? Once again, the worst scenario invaded my thoughts, causing my stomach to sink even further than it already had.

In the back of my mind, I knew something was wrong. And as I headed towards the door that said dressing rooms my feeling was getting even worse.

I pictured it in my head... my sister, lying on the floor, her eyes closed, and her skin white; blood everywhere. Just the thought of it made me want to cry and scream.

I closed my eyes and began to pray as I walked down the long, narrow hallway. I couldn’t remember which door was hers. The name plates were gone and it was hard to tell which one had been originally hers.

I tried opening the first door, it was locked. If this one was locked, then the others were bound to be locked as well. I picked through my hair, looking through it to see if I could find some sort of bobby pin that I could open the door with.

I picked open the lock, peering in as slowly as possible, frightened by what I might find. There was nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief, and moved on to the next door. I opened that one too, still finding nothing out of the ordinary.

A few doors down I started to get a strange feeling, like I was getting closer to something. In a way, I didn’t exactly want to find my sister. If she was really gone, then I didn’t want to find her remains. I didn’t want to find what used to be my amazing sister.

I was finally nearing the last door and then I remembered- this was her dressing room. I stared at it for a long time. Not wanting to open it myself. I debated on going to get the two cops that were somewhere in the building, and getting them to do it.

But since I was the last person to see her last night, then I think I should be the one to find her, even though I might not like the looks of things.

I shook these thoughts out of my head. I didn’t want to think of my sister as dead. I was going to open this door, and find nothing. Just like the rest of these dressing rooms, empty, not a morsel in sight.

I prayed in my head, that I wouldn’t find anything. That it would be just as empty as any of these other rooms in this dark cold building.

I placed the pin inside the key hole and fumbled around with it until I got it. The door opened effortlessly. I peaked inside... not a thing. Everything looked just as clean and tidy as if it had never been used before.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I twisted around and screamed as loudly as possible.

“Calm down, Mel,” said a man, “It’s just me.”

I looked up at the man. It was just my dad. He had a sympathetic look on his face and he smiled calmly at me.

“We haven’t found anything, Mel,” he explained, “let’s go home.”

“Nothing?” I asked, shocked that we hadn’t found her. I was so sure that she would be here... where could she be?

“No, she has to be here. There’s no other place that she could be!” I argued.

“Sweetie, we can look somewhere else. There’s no need to waste our time here...”

I walked with him out of the narrow hallway, where the two officers were waiting to escort us out of here.

My dad kept pulling at my arm, trying to drag me out quickly as I continued to search every crevice that I could possibly find.

I finally pulled away, about to argue that I could walk out of the building without someone holding onto me, but I ended up pulling too hard and falling over.

Unfortunately, I had bumped into the wall... well, it was more like a closet. As I landed, I could hear something inside of the closet.

My dad pulled at my arm again, signalling that it was time to leave, but I knew better.

“Wait!” I cried out, “Look in this closet first!”

My dad rolled his eyes and pointed at the door, showing me the exit. The two policemen gave each other a look and headed for the closet. I moved out of the way, letting them unlock the door and opening it.

All of our jaws nearly fell off when we saw what was inside. It took me a moment to figure out what I was really seeing... and once I figured it out, I screamed.