Agnes

The rain is getting heavier. It hasn’t let up for three days. I stand on the bank of the river and watch the water rise. I think if the rain doesn’t stop, the waters will rise to meet our doorstep. Perhaps we should travel to higher ground until the rain stops. No one seems worried though, so I must just be overthinking the danger.

I glance at my older sister, Clare. She looks calm. Dietrich is only my brother by marriage, but I can’t imagine my life without him. His arms wrap around Clare and I find myself jealous of the electricity between them. I’m lucky to have them, after our parents orphaned us, Clare and Dietrich brought me into their home and I’ve never wanted for anything.

I look again at Clare’s face. She’s not as calm as I’d thought. There is something there. A tingle runs down my spine and she shivers as if she feels it too. Something is wrong. Not the rain. There is something else. Like someone is watching us.

The wind begins to howl and kicks up a cloud of something that, I swear, for just a moment, is a deep yellow color. The blood in my veins runs cold.

A voice behind me pulls me from my thoughts. Leuthold quickly approaches. His eyes are as wild as his hair. Clare turns to him as well and now the fear in her eyes is clear.

Leuthold asks if we are okay. He tells me he had a feeling he couldn’t explain and had to find us. Dietrich nods and says he feels it too. I can’t help but wonder if they feel the same thing I do. It seems not. Whatever has unsettled them has done so far stronger than whatever I’d felt.

He wraps his arms around me and I feel my stress start to drain away. He is still tense. I look up to the sky and a dark cloud moves in front of the sun. The cloud is yellow. My blood turns to ice. We need to leave but I’m not able to speak. I can’t warn the others. Even if I could, I’m not sure what I’d say. I’m afraid of a cloud. It doesn’t make sense, and yet, I’m terrified.

A laugh unfreezes me enough to step back and knock Leuthold over. My fingernails cut into my palms as my fists grow tighter. There is the laugh again. I look to the others to confirm they can hear it. I can’t tell and I’m still unable to speak. I look around, but there is no one.

The yellow cloud is sinking from the sky and I feel it wrap around us. It’s a strange cloud, more like sand swirling around me and grinding on my flesh.

The rain pours around us and I watch the water rise above my feet. The spell is broken and I hear myself yelling to the others to run. My throat stings with the effort. I trip in the mud and the water climbs as I try to stand. Clare and Leuthold pull me up and we turn to run, but it’s too late. The mud is washing us down, down into the water.

I’m down on my knees again, but this time I’m not alone. The other three are crawling next to me. A bot of lightning lands across the bank and I jump, which sinks me deeper into the muck. In my struggle, I flop over onto my back and the pouring rain fills my mouth. I sputter and work with all my energy to flip over. Dietrich grabs at me and is able to turn me over, but there is no point. The water is rising and we are in over our heads in only moments.

The violent storm pushes and pulls the water, spinning me and dragging me against my wheel. I’m free from the mud now, but the water rips me from my family. I hear their cries when my head is above water, but I cannot stay above long enough to find them.

I spit out water only to take in more. I swallow so much water, it hurts. I can’t breathe, I can’t see. I swim but can’t tell if I’m swimming to the surface or farther down. I can no longer tell if I’m moving. My lungs burn. My thoughts are fuzzy. I think I’m going to explode if I don’t get some air.

The water is yellow. It swirls all around me but won’t let me breathe. The yellow, whatever it is, is going to kill me. I won’t escape. I swallow another gulp of water. This is the end. I have not found my family. As I feel my life pull away, I hope they made it out.

The laugh in my ears gets louder and I swear it tells me they are already dead, but I can’t tell if it’s real. I stop breathing. I stop seeing. It’s the end.